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Language and Culture

language-and-culture,two sides of the same coin
• language-and-culture conveys both unification and separation . • Language embodies the products perspectives,communities,and persons of a culture • language is a product of the culture,but it also plays a distinct role • To practice the culture,we also need language.
The Language's Specialities
• nguages imply cultural choices. We need cultural literacy to understand language. • nguages have social questions and information questions. Some words in themselves do not carry the meening.
• Fill-in Task • 1) He’s just a green recruit fresh from college. • 2) I tried to call her many times but she was in a brown study and didn’t hear me. • 3) One day, out of the blue, a girl rang up and said she was my sister. • 4) The new office block has unfortunately become an expensive white elephant. • 5) Mary was regarded as the black sheep of the family.

language and culture 语言与文化

Historical Linguistic Techniques

When tracing the history of language, linguists have no writing to rely upon Several techniques have been developed to trace the probable changes Glottochronology: the reconstruction of past languages on the assumption that 14% of a language changes every 1000 years Core vocabulary: Comparison of words for common objects based on similarity A list of words is compiled for each of two languages that refer to objects that are common everywhere: body parts, sun, rain, stones, trees, and others The closer the vocabulary—cognates or similar words between two languages, the more closely related the two languages are thought to be.
Language Origins: Interspecies Comparison
When
language began is anyone‟s guess Defining communication and comparing different communication systems is a first step Chimpanzees have used American Sign Language and computer buttons to convey messages somewhat like languages But speech organs have long since deteriorated, so we have at best indirect evidence.

languageandculture

languageandcultureLanguage and CultureSince culture is defined succinctly as ―the totality of beliefs and practices of a society,‖ nothing is of greater strategic importance than the language through which its beliefs are expressed and transmitted and by which most interaction of its members takes place.The relation between language and culture would not constitute such serious difficulties for cross-cultural understanding if it were not for the numerous misconceptions about language and its function within a society. Perhaps the most serious misconception is the idea that each language more or less controls the way people think, sometimes expressed as ―We think the way we think because we talk the way we talk.‖ It is true that the particular structures of a language (sounds, lexemes, syntax, and discourse patterns) may reflect to a certain degree the way people think and they may be said to form ―the ruts or paths for thinking,‖ but th ey do not determine what or how people must think. Languages are too open-ended and human imagination is too creative to ever be rigidly ruled by the regulations of syntax or of any other feature of language.Some theologians and philosophers used to speak about the intuitive and particularizing mentality of the ―Hebrew mind‖ as portrayed in th e Old Testament, and they contrasted this with the logical and generalizing mentality of the Greeks of classical times as revealed in the writings of Plato and Aristotle. But the revived Hebrew language of today is certainlyno impediment to scientific thinking on the part of Israelis, and Greek was no obstacle to the inductive reasoning of the pre-Socratic philosophers nor did it later prevent Neoplatonists from usin g Greek to promote their philosophical ―flights of fantasy.‖Some people have thought that each language is so distinct that there is no valid way in which the discourses of one language can be translated into another. But at least ninety percent of the fundamental structures of all language are quite similar, and language universals far outweigh the divergencies. All languages employ figurative expressions, have poetry, use language in singing, and have a great number of literary forms or genres –from genealogies to prayers. One language-culture may emphasize the development and use of particular genres, e.g. epic poetry or animal folktales, which another language culture may seldom employ and may even strongly reject. But the people of any language-culture have sufficient imagination and experience to understand how the people of another language-culture may rightly differ in their behavior and values, since the behavioral differences within a single culture are usually greater than those which exist between cultures.The idea that some languages are far superior to other languages and that accordingly some cultures are far superior to other cultures is also a noted deterrent to understanding the relation between language and culture. When people speak about language superiority, they are usuallytalking about the literature which has been produced in such a language, or they evaluate the lexical and syntactic structures in terms of the ways these have been exploited by creative writers. The oral and written literatures of different languages can differ considerably in quality, but this is not the result of the formal structures of the language in question but of the ways in which the people of the society have invested creative talent in usingthe language as a medium for the production of valuable literary works. All languages have the potential for outstanding aesthetic expression. It is simply one of the ―accidents‖ of history which determines the emergence of literary genius.Some people, however, believe that some languages are fundamentally ugly, while others are intrinsically beautiful. In fact, most people insist that their own language belongs to the class of beautiful languages, even though it may have glottalized implosives, clicks that seem to pop and sputter, bilabial trills, and harsh guttural sounds. Phonological beauty is obviously in the ears of the hearer. Arabic, for example, is often cited as an acoustically unpleasant language in view of its various guttural consonants, but a number of Arab poets have succeeded in producing exquisite poems with rich sound patterns as acoustically sensuous and pleasing as occur in any language.A language does reflect in certain aspects the culture of a society, but primarily in its optional features, i.e. in certain of its hierarchies ofvocabulary and in the priorities given to various discourse patterns. It does not, however, reflect the culture in its phonology or syntax, which are largely fixed and arbitrary and must be such in order to function more or less automatically. Speakers are often conscious of the processes involved in the choice of words, and they are frequently well aware of the manner in which they organize a discourse, but they are almost totally unaware of the phonological system or the syntactic patterns which they employ.The hierarchies of vocabulary, that is, the ways in which terms representing classes of entities, activities, and characteristics are built up into taxonomies (both popular and scientific), reflect in large measure the manner in which people understand andclassify the world in which they live. Some form of the ―Twenty Questions Game‖ can be played in all languages, since people tend to divide up experience into classes or domains represented by sets of contrastive names, e.g. animate / inanimate, animal / vegetable / mineral, vertebrates / invertebrates, mammals / birds / fish / amphibians, canines / felines / bovines, shepherds / pointers / hounds / boxers.The formal features of lexemes are usually not as important as the taxonomic systems to which the lexemes belong. For example, the phrases morning star or evening star do not represent ―stars‖ but a planet (usually Venus), but in English we continue to use the terms althoughmost people are fully aware that the phrases are anomalies. Similarly, we speak of the sun as rising or setting, while in reality it is the earth which is moving. But there are cases in which a false classification has persisted for centuries with serious damage to proper understanding of a phenomenon. For example, the ancient Greeks placed pur―fire‖ in the class of substances rather than in the class of events, and this evidently encouraged a number of false ideas in alchemy about turning lead into gold by adding fire.The fact that a language may have a proportionately high number of terms in particular domains is an important index to the focus of a culture. For example, most languages of Western Europe have an exceptionally high percentage of technical terms, the Anuaks of the Sudan have hundreds of terms for different kinds and features of cattle, and the Quechuas of the Altiplano of Peru have scores of words for different kinds and forms of potatoes. The knowledge of certain terms is often an index to competence in a particular field of endeavor, and thedisappearance of terms from the vocabulary of a large segment of a society may indicate a significant change in the concerns of a culture. For example, it is increasingly difficult to find persons in the United States who are familiar with such terms as double-tree, hands high, to single-foot, jack, jenny, to gooseneck, withers, fetlock and fresno.Changes in culture often give rise to new types of discourse, e.g.technical prose, financial reports, and news resumes. Telegraphic style is giving way to the fuller statements employed in faxing, and commercial codes for cabling instructions to overseas agents are being dropped in favor of telephonic transfer of computer messages by means of modems.The popularity of certain types of discourse may also reflect cultural concerns. For example, lyric poetry is far more popular in Latin America than in the United States. And in general, epic poetry seems to have suffered a severe loss of popularity except in certain isolated regions, e.g. among the Nilotics of the Sudan and the speakers of some of the Dravidian languages of southern India.All of these interesting indices of the relation between language and culture are primarily matters of how language is used and are not matters of language structure. Since all languages are open systems, they have the potentiality for growth, change, and decline. In the hands of literary geniuses they can be the medium for brilliant aesthetic expression, and they can be seriously misused by persons who have little or no sensitivity for clarity or elegance.语言与文化——翻译中的语境（Eugene A. Nida）。

Language and culture

Socially
discourse communities(论语社区） discourse accents(论语口音）

Historically
language is not culture-free.
To sum up

Culture is a wider system which completely includes language as a subsystem. Language expresses and embodies cultural reality. Language, as a system of spoken and written symbols used by people, reflects and affects a culture’s way of thinking…

data: 吃豆腐（tofu）in China vs. Korea and other countries 据说，旧时豆腐店多为夫妻店，丈夫半夜起来磨豆腐，白天由妻子卖豆腐，豆腐店老板娘以豆腐为常食，自然生得细皮嫩肉，同时为招徕顾客未免有卖弄风情之举，引得周围男人以“吃豆腐”为名到豆腐店与老板娘调情，且动手动脚。于是，吃醋的老婆们不满意了，以“你今天又去吃豆腐了？”来训斥丈夫。以后， “吃豆腐”便成了男人轻薄女人的代名词。
1.
The same word may stir up different associations in people under different cultural background. Language expresses cultural reality(文化现实）, reflects, beliefs, world outlooks, etc. The culture both emancipates（解放）and constrains（限制） people socially, historically and metaphorically.

语言学Language and culture(课堂PPT)

7
Properties of Culture
• Culture is human specific. • Culture is a social phenomenon. • Culture is a national phenomenon. • Culture is a historical phenomenon. • Culture contains several subcultures.
8
Properties of culture
• a. human specific(人类所特有的）: • only human beings have what can be
called culture
• b. social phenomenon（社会现象）: • it is a cooperative product of human
established by its forefathers and makes its own contribution to the development of the culture in which it lives in.
13
14
Cultural impact on language
should pay attention to the sameness and difference between two cultures
11
• Each nation has its unique culture
12
• d. historical phenomenon（历史继承性）: • each generation inherits the culture
societies, not natural things got directly from nature.

language and culture大学英语语言学课件

感谢与称赞

Байду номын сангаас
Thank you, 哪里,哪里

Other types of solutions:
accept by agreeing A: Your dress is very nice. B: Yeah, this is my favorite dress. reject by disagreeing (indirect/implicit rejection) A: You did a great job cleaning the house. B: Well, I guess you haven’t seen the kid’s room.
3
What is culture?
Culture, in a broad sense, means the total way of life of a people, including the patterns of belief, customs, objects, institutions, techniques, and language that characterizes the life of the human community.
9
The influence of language on culture
Language as a reflection of environment: language reflects the environment we live. e.g. “camel” “snow”

10
The relationship between language and culture
17
Thanks and compliments

Language and culture 语言与文化

yellow
yellow 可以表示“胆小、卑怯、卑鄙” a yellow livered（胆小鬼），yellow press（品味低俗的出版物）。在汉语中，“黄”是表示尊贵、吉祥的颜色黄色在英汉语中都有疾病与警告的联想 yellow flag 是船员们挂在海轮上表示有流行病的黄旗。
the relationship between language and culture
Language is a part of culture. Language is the primary means for cultural transmission. Some linguistic differences are due to cultural differences. Various cultures will have different responses to the same word.

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
Our language helps mould our way of thinking and , consequently, different languages may probably express our unique ways of understanding the world.
white
红白喜事白手 empty-handed white-handed正直的、无辜的、廉洁的 a white war 指“不流血的战争”

red
红运、红榜、红军、红星、红色娘子军英语中的red 既有褒义也有贬义。 red 可以表示信仰、博爱、献身、坚忍不拔，同时还含有暴力、流血、不贞洁等贬义。如go into red（出现赤字或发生亏损），see red（气得发疯、大发雷霆），red-letter day（纪念日、高兴的日子

Language and culture 介绍语言与文化的[优质ppt]

Different cultures make their different ideas , values and beliefs reflected in different languages .
Dialect in different culture
• Dialect is a mirror of culture . It reflects different culture in different area. Dialect is the form of language that is spoken in one area with grammar , words and pronunciation that may be different from other forms of the same language.
ห้องสมุดไป่ตู้
What is Language?
• Language is a purely human and non-instinctive method of communicating ideas , emotions ,and desires by a system of voluntarily produced symbols .These symbols are auditory and are produced by the organs of speech.
What is culture?
• In a broad way , culture means the total way of life of a person ,including the patter of belief , customs , objects , institutions , techniques, and language that characterizes the life of human community.

1-Language and Culture

2. Western culture is adventurous and exploration based. Westerners like to discover new things, invention and expand outwards. For instance, bungee jumping is considered adventurous and common in western culture, but you will probably find no-one doing such a thing in China. 3. Western culture is based on science, which attempts to resolve people and nature's relationship.
seek the notice of others; affirm their open expression risks face uniqueness
guarding privacy; valuing freedom to the right to privacy in the sense of do and think whatever they choose freedom is not recog集权制 vs 分权/分治 2 地理：居住拥挤，密切接触，“大杂院文化” vs 独门独户，分散，隐私 3 传统：集体主义/团队精神 vs 个人主义/自我奋斗、自立、自强 4 价值：统一/趋同 vs 多样/多元/标新立异 5 人际关系：等级/尊卑/形式 vs 平等/亲情/简单 6 语言：强调/重复（修辞手段） vs 简扼/同义词 7 办事：饶圈子，“面子文化” vs 直截了当，讲究实际

language and culture

Different Translation Of Film Names
Way of Translation
• 1.音译法（Transliteration）
• 2.直译法（Literal translation） • 3.意译法（Liberal translation） • 4.直意结合法
1.音译法（Transliteration）
• 罗宋：Russian. Shanghainese called Russian “罗宋 ” in the old times.
• 开司米：Kashmis. The original refers to a
specific kind of fine woolen fabric, and now refers to woolen fabrics. • 发烧友：Fancier. Refer to the people deeply fascinated by music and singers. The word was first translated by Hongkong people, and later entered Shanghai dialect. • 烂糊面：Love Me. The original meaning is boiled noodles, but because it sounds like “love me”, so “请侬吃烂糊面” can imply “please love me”. • 瘪三：Beg Say. “乞讨” in English is “beg for”, but in Pidgin English is “beg say”. So gradually beggar was called “瘪三 ”.

语言与文化(Language and Culture)

Language and CultureI firmly believe that language and culture are familiar with everyone on earth. Nevertheless, I don’t think everyone is clear about the real meaning of language and culture. On this basis, this essay will explain some basic information about language and culture, including what is language, what is culture and the relationship between language and culture. What’s more, quite a number of examples will be cited to help you have a better understanding of language and culture.Let’s begin with the concept of language. When we put a key word “language”into the online Wikipedia(维基百科)，which is a free encyclopedia to people all over the world, we find that language is defined as the human capacity for acquiring and using complex system of communications , and a language is any specific example of such a system. From this definition, we have a clear consciousness towards language. When we look into the Oxford English-Chinese Dictionary, Language is divided into several meanings as follow：1. use of words in an agreed way as a method of human communications 2. system of words of a particular community or country etc. 3. faculty of speech 4. system of symbols and rules for writing computer programs 5. any method of communication.6. professional or specialized vocabulary. Besides, I have also learned the definition of language from my linguistics class. In the book A New Concise Course in Linguistics for Students of English(新编简明英语语言学教程). Langue is thought to be a system of arbitrary vocal symbol used for human communication. Short as it is, this definition has captured the main features of language. First of all, language is a system, that is, elements of language are combined according to rules. Second, language is arbitrary in the sense that theme is no intrinsic connection between a linguistic symbol and what the symbol stands for. This conventional nature of language is well illustrated by a famous quotation: A rose by any other name would smell as sweet. This quotation means rose is still rose even it is called by another name.For my part, the definition of language is varied. Generally speaking, it is a series code that facilitates human communication. And beyond a specific context, language has no intrinsic meaning.After finishing talking about what is language, let’s know more about culture. Similarly, in the Wikipedia, culture is defined as fallowing meanings, Firstly, culture is deemed as a modern concept based on a term first used in classical antiquity by the roman orator Cicero: Cultura animi ( cultiration of the soul). Secondly, the term “culture”in American anthropology had two meanings: the evolved human capacity to classify and represent experiences with symbol, and to act imaginatively and creatively. Thirdly, Hoebel describes culture as an integrated system of learned behavior patterns and which are not a result of biological inheritance. Besides, we learn the meaning of culture from theIntercultural Communication course. Culture is defined as the group of people who share the same ancestry. There are also many renowned socialists give culture several definitions. For example, E.sapir once said that culture may be defined as what a societu does and thinks.Shortly, culture is involved in so many aspects that it is hard to give it an accurate definition. Put in another way, for different people, culture has very different meaning, according to their own value, education background, social status and so forth. So there is nothing to criticize when other’s understanding of culture is different from yours.Having known so much basic information about language and culture, we will have look at the relationship between language and culture. In the book Intercultural communication in English(新编跨文化交际英语)，there is a description of the relationship between language and culture. It goes like this: culture and language are intertwined and shape each other. Language is not a matter of neutral codes and grammatical rules. Each time we select words form sentences, and send a message, either oral or written. We also make cultural choices. We all agree that language helps in communication with people from different backgrounds. However, we may be less aware that cultural literary is necessary to understand the language being used. Personally speaking, language and culture is not two totally different subjects with no relevance. On the contrary, they are tightly related. That is to say, onlywhen language is put into a specific environment of cultural context does it have some real meaning.To have a better understanding of language and culture, several typical examples of the language and cultural difference between China and the western countries will be cited. We all know that the Chinese culture is both profound and extensive which leads to numerous idioms, allusions, proverbs and sayings, which is hard for foreigners to understand. Take some of them for instances. Firstly, take “过着牛郎织女的生活” for example, it can be literally translated as the Herd-boy and the spinning maid(mythical lovers separated by the Milky Way). But a foreigner may feel puzzled when look at this allusion, for they do not have the cultural background of the allusion. Actually, it is a folk tale of ancient China which means husband and wife living apart. If you want a foreigner fully understand this allusion, you’d better to tell him the whole tale, which also help him to know more about Chinese culture.There are also other four-character allusions in Chinese. Such as 三顾茅庐—make three calls at the thatched cottage(as Liu Bei did when he sought the aid of Zhuge Liang, a master straight then living in seclusion)—repeatedly request someone to take up a responsible post.完璧归赵——return the jade intact to the state of Zhao—return something to its owner in perfect condition.拔苗助长—stand by a stump waiting for hares to come and dash themselves against it—trust to chance and waiting forgains without pains.对牛弹琴—play music to an ox—cast pearls before swine.Most of the allusions come into being according to china’s long history. That’s why many foreigners find it hard to know comprehensively about Chinese language and culture. Nevertheless, there are some equivalents between these two different cultures. For example, in Chinese , there is an allusion called “画蛇添足” , in English, there is a similar proverb called gilding the lily. What’s more, it takes two to make a quarrel can be found in Chinese 一个巴掌拍不响. Hopefully, these make it easier to understand each other’s culture.In short, language in different cultures is hard to understand to most foreigners. The only thing to do is try one’s best to know more about each other’s culture, including all walks of life.。

Language and culture.ppt社会语言学 2

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Language and culture
• ★ Linguistic evidence of cultural differences • ★ Relationship between language and culture
Linguistic evidence of cultural differences 1.Speech acts in the form of routine formulas such as greeting; leave-taking, thanking, apologizing and so on also vary from culture to culture. For example: ①to respond to “thank you” ②to use “thank you”
A paragraph in Spanish or in some other Roman language, its line of thought is sometimes interrupted by rather complex digressions. A paragraph in Russian often contains digressions.
5.Literature as a part of culture, also plays a very important role in use of language. For example: Wen Yan and Bai Hua
Reference
1.孙炜周士宏中莉社会语言学导论世界知识出版社
2.The patterns of actual use of imperatives in different languages differ considerably.

语言学 Language and culture

Eugene Nida尤金· 奈达
(November 11, 1914 – August 25, 2011) a linguist who developed the dynamic-equivalence Bibletranslatio theory.
Cross-Cultural Communication 跨文化交际
Language is an indispensable carrier of culture Culture finds a better representation through language use.
the development of relationship between language and culture
5 types of sub-culture（亚文化）:
• • • • • Ecological culture Linguistic culture Religious culture Material culture Social culture 生态文化语言文化宗教文化物质文化社会文化
Dani:达尼人（食人部落）
印尼巴布亚省的瓦美那（Wamena），在附近的巴里姆山谷有几个食人部落，达尼人（Dani）是其中之一。
Evidence 2: Dani
Evolutionary Stages of Basic Color Words
Stage: Ⅰ Ⅱ Ⅲ Ⅳ Ⅴ Ⅵ
White Black
3. different customs:
big potato 大人物 vs 汉语：丢了饭碗（失业） big potato?
debategate
Billygate
gate

language and culture

在用汉语与不同文化背景的人进行交际时，表示亲属的词语常常在彼此理解对方的意思方面会造成很大困难，因为不是所有的称呼都可以找到令人满意的对应词。英语中Linda's brother married Michael's sister这句话就和很难译成汉语，因为不知道brother是指Linda的哥哥还是弟弟；sister是指Michael的姐姐还是妹妹。在汉语中，则有许多称呼来指各种具体的关系。请看下表：
在汉语中一般只用“公”和“母”（或“雌”和“雄”）二字来区分禽兽的性别。在英语中则往往各有单独名称，小动物也另有名称。见下表：
总称
雄性名称
雌性名称
小动物名称
chicken
鸡
cock, rooster
hen
chick
duck
鸭
drake
duck
duckling
goose
鹅
gander
goose
gosling
在表示自然现象的语言中，汉语中“节气”的概念在英语中是没有的。（应当指出，把“节气”译成solar terms，大部分西方人仍然不懂。）如一部常用的现代《汉英词典》中，把“雨水”译成Rain Water（2nd Solar Term），把“惊蛰”译成Waking of Insects（3rd Solar Term），把“清明”译成，Pure and Brightness（5th Solar Term）。这些名称不另加解释就没有什么意义。但有些“节气”的名称在英语中确实有对应词：春分=Spring Equinox；夏至=Summer Solstice；秋分=Autumnal Equinox；冬至=Winter Solstice。
日常生活中的用语也有类似现象。多数英美人从来投有睡过中国的“炕”（kang, a heatable bricked bed）,没有吃过“冰糖葫芦”，（candied haws on a stick），也没有用过中国的“秤”（steelyard）。大部分中国人没有住过美国的motel（专为开汽车的游客开设的、有停车场的旅馆），没有吃过pasta (通心粉)，也不需要在上班时由time clock，（出勤记录钟）证明他们是否按时上班。类似这样的英语词在汉语中都找不到对应词，连词义相近的词也没有，因为根本没有这种概念。

Language and Culture汇编

Language symbolizes cultural reality
E.g. the word “dog” ( It not only reflects people’s attitudes, beliefs and knowledge, but also embodies their cultural identity and background)
Content
dress culture, enterprise culture or food culture
Material: concrete, substantial and observable Spiritual: abstract, implicit and hidden
2. language and culture
7) Cultural-related idioms, proverbs and metaphor
1) Greetings and terms of address
1. How do you greet / address a stranger (25, female; 68, male) on the road? 2. How do you greet / address a neighbor (25, female; 68 male) of you?
Culture affects/ constrains language
(24 divisions of the solar year)
Language changes reflect cultural changes
--Online communication e.g. moving towards greater informality --Influence of science and technology e.g. computer-related words or expressions

Language and Culture---语言与文化的关系

Language and Culture●IntroductionSince human being appeared ,all kinds of languages came into being bir by bit .And with the development of languages ,cultures, varieties of cultures grew ,too .What we can not deny is that there is a intimate relationship between language and culture . There are many ways in which the phenomena of language and culture are intimately related. Both phenomena are unique to humans and have therefore been the subject of a great deal of anthropological, sociological, and even memetic study. Language, of course, is determined by culture, though the extent to which this is true is now under debate. The converse is also true to some degree: culture is determined by language - or rather, by the replicators that created both, memes.●Language as Determined by CultureEarly anthropologists, following the theory that words determine thought, believed that language and its structure were entirely dependent on the cultural context in which they existed. This was a logical extension of what is termed the Standard Social Science Model, which views the human mind as an indefinitely malleable structure capable of absorbing any sort of culture without constraints from genetic or neurological factors.In this vein, anthropologist Verne Ray conducted a study in the 1950's, giving color samples to different American Indian tribes and asking them to give the names of the colors. He concluded that the spectrum we see as "green", "yellow", etc. was an entirely arbitrary division, and each culture divided the spectrum separately. According to this hypothesis, the divisions seen between colors are a consequence of the language we learn, and do not correspond to divisions in the natural world. A similar hypothesis is upheld in the extremely popular meme of Eskimo words for snow - common stories vary from fifty to upwards of two hundred.Extreme cultural relativism of this type has now been clearly refuted. Eskimos use at most twelve different words for snow, which is not many more than English speakers and should be expected since they exist in a cold climate. The color-relativity hypothesis has now been completely debunked by more careful, thorough, and systematic studies which show a remarkable similarity between the ways in which different cultures divide the spectrum.Of course, there are ways in which culture really does determine language, or at least certain facets thereof. Obviously, the ancient Romans did not have words for radios, televisions, or computers because these items were simply not part of their cultural context. In the same vein, uncivilized tribes living in Europe in the time of the Romans did not have words for tribunes, praetors, or any other trapping of Roman government because Roman law was not part of their culture.Our culture does, sometimes, restrict what we can think about efficiently in our own language. For example, some languages have only three color terms equivalent to black, white, and red; a native speaker of this language would have a difficult time expressing the concept of "purple" efficiently. Some languages are also moreexpressive about certain topics. For example, it is commonly acknowledged that Yiddish is a linguistic champion, with an amazing number of words referring to the simpleminded.Language is never the entity which has been invented or scripted in isolation. It certainly has evolved gradually with the continuous development of a culture. A culture being a building made of social behaviors, human emotions, or way of expressing feelings, the language has continually adapted accordingly to accommodate these identified notion and gesture of human activity. Finding a symbolism every time to register it in the language, thus contributing to its growth. A language has always been a weapon to express one's ideas and feelings. And the reason enough to make this weapon more efficient to handle one's need of expressing things with intended accuracy. It has been tuned-up with each new finding, getting honed up continually to get its flawless shape with developing culture.●Cultu Culture and Language - United by MemesAccording to the memetic theorist Susan Blackmore, language developed as a result of memetic evolution and is an example of memes providing a selection pressure on genes themselves. The definition of a culture in memetic theory is an aggregate of many different meme sets or memeplexes shared by the majority of a population. Using memetic reasoning, it can be seen that language - itself created by memes and for memes - is the principal medium used for spreading memes from one person to another.As Blackmore states in The Meme Machine, memes were born when humans began to imitate each other. According to her theory, this event preceded - indeed, had to precede - the development of language. When imitation became widespread, producing selection pressure on genes for successful imitation, memes began to exploit verbalizations for better and more frequent transmission. The end result of this complex process was language, and the anatomical alterations needed for its successful use.Language, created by memes as a mechanism for ensuring better memetic propagation, has certainly been a success. Today, the vast majority of memes are transmitted via language, through direct speech, written communication, radio or television, and the internet. Relatively few memes are transmitted in a non-linguistic way, and those that are have very specific, localized purposes, such as artwork and photography. Even these media, though nonlinguistic in themselves, assume language and very rarely appear without some sort of linguistic commentary. This might take the form of a critical analysis of an artwork, a caption for a photograph, a voice-over for a video, etc.●Language as Part of CultureFor many people, language is not just the medium of culture but also is a part of culture. It is quite common for immigrants to a new country to retain their old customs and to speak their first language amid fellow immigrants, even if all present are comfortable in their new language. This occurs because the immigrants are eager to preserve their own heritage, which includes not only customs and traditions but also language. This is also seen in many Jewish communities, especially in oldermembers: Yiddish is commonly spoken because it is seen as a part of Jewish culture. Linguistic differences are also often seen as the mark of another culture, and they very commonly create divisiveness among neighboring peoples or even among different groups of the same nation. A good example of this is in Canada, where French-speaking natives of Quebec clash with the English-speaking majority. This sort of conflict is also common in areas with a great deal of tribal warfare. It is even becoming an issue in America as speakers of standard American English - mainly whites and educated minorities - observe the growing number of speakers of black English vernacular. Debates are common over whether it is proper to use "Ebonics" in schools, while its speakers continue to assert that the dialect is a fundamental part of the "black culture".English is far more world wide in its distribution than all other spoken languages. It is an official language in 52 countries as well as many small colonies and territories. In addition, 1/4 to 1/3 of the people in the world understand and speak English to some degree. It has become the most useful language to learn for international travel and is now the de facto language of diplomacy. In 2001, the 189 member countries in the United Nations were asked what language they wish to use for communication with embassies from other countries. More than 120 chose English, 40 selected French, and 20 wanted to use Spanish. Those who wanted English to be the common language included all of the former Soviet republics, Viet Nam, and most of the Arab world. English is also the dominant language in electronic communication, particularly on the Internet. However, the percentage of Internet users who are not native English speakers is increasing rapidly, especially in Asia. In fact, China estimated in 2008 that there are now more people who have online access in their country than in the U.S., which had been the global leader in Internet access.In reality, the distribution of languages globally is very complex and difficult to easily describe. Numerous migrations of people over the last several centuries have resulted in most large nations now having many different languages. There are at least 165 languages spoken in the United States today. Consequently, it is somewhat misleading to describe the U.S. as being an English speaking country. The same caution applies to other multicultural nations as well.Some parts of the world have unusually high concentrations of different languages. There are around 900 native languages spoken by the 5-10 million people of New Guinea and its neighboring islands. That is roughly 1/6 of all languages being spoken by far less than 1% of the world's people. Other language high density areas have been native California and the Caucasus Mountains north of Turkey and Iran.The majority of the languages in the world are unwritten and many of them are disappearing. About 1/2 of the world's languages are no longer spoken by children. This is the first step in the extinction of a language. About 2,000 languages now have less than 1,000 speakers. The most threatened are the indigenous languages of Australia and the Americas. By the end of the 20th century, about 200 Australian languages survived, but more than 1/2 had less than 10speakers. Two dozen had a single elderly speaker. Young Aborigines now predominantly speak English, especially in urban areas. There has been a similar pattern in California where Indian languages disappeared at the rate of nearly one a year during the late 20th century. Globally, the rate of language loss now is one every two weeks. The areas where indigenous languages are being lost the most rapidly are central South America, Oklahoma and the American Southwest, the Northwest coastal region of the U.S. and Canada, eastern Siberia, and northern Australia.There are no "primitive" languages. All languages have a system of sounds, words, and sentences that can adequately communicate the content of culture. The languages of the so-called "primitive" peoples are often very complex in their grammatical structures. There seems to be no correlation between a language's grammatical complexity and the technological level of a society or other aspects of culture. However, cultures that have more complex, diverse economies and advanced technologies have larger vocabularies. For instance, English has roughly 615,000 non-technical words. If slang and specialized technical words are added, English has more than 2,000,000 words and is growing at a rate of hundreds to thousands every year. By comparison, German has about 185,000 non-technical words, French may have less than 100,000, and Spanish even fewer. The major reason that English has so many more non-technical words is the fact that as it evolved from its Germanic roots, it acquired words from more than 240 other languages. However, it is unlikely that any one individual knows the meaning of all English words. Most Americans only use 800-1,000 words in everyday conversation. A typical American college student knows 20,000-30,000 words by the time he or she graduates. While this is 20-37 times more than the average person who has not gone to college, it is still less than 2% of all English words.Every language can create new words to describe new situations and objects. Therefore, it is not surprising that all languages change through time. None is static. However, they change at different rates at different times in response to new social, cultural, and environmental situations. Some nations strongly resist the acquisition of new words from other languages. This has been the case with the French government's response to the relentless invasion of English words in recent decades, especially in pop culture and technology. However, young people in most developed nations eagerly embrace new words regardless of attempts by their governments to retain "language purity."From hat has been discussed above ,we may safely draw the conclusion that the word men use not only express but shape their ideas .Language is an instrument ;it is even more an environment .It has as much to do with the philosophical and political conditioning of a society as geography or climate .Just as Ludwing Wittgenstein said “the limits of my language are the limits of my world”.References:⏹The Language Instinct⏹How the Mind Works⏹Words and Rules⏹The Meme Machine⏹The Environment of Language⏹ 1.爱不释手fondle admiringly.⏹ 2.百闻不如一见（眼见为实）Seeing is believing.⏹ 3.比上不足比下有余worse off than some, better off than many; to fall short ofthe best, but be better than the worst.⏹ 4.笨鸟先飞A slow sparrow should make an early start.⏹ 5.不眠之夜white night⏹ 6.不以物喜不以己悲not pleased by external gains, not saddened by personnallosses⏹7.不遗余力spare no effort; go all out; do one's best⏹8.不打不成交No discord, no concord.⏹9.拆东墙补西墙rob Peter to pay Paul⏹10.辞旧迎新bid farewell to the old and usher in the new; ring out the old yearand ring in the new⏹11.大事化小小事化了try first to make their mistake sound less serious andthen to reduce it to nothing at all⏹12.大开眼界open one's eyes; broaden one's horizon; be an eye-opener⏹13.国泰民安The country flourishes and people live in peace.⏹14.过犹不及going too far is as bad as not going far enough; beyond is as wrongas falling short; too much is as bad as too little⏹15.功夫不负有心人Everything comes to him who waits.⏹16.好了伤疤忘了疼once on shore, one prays no more⏹17.好事不出门恶事传千里Good news never goes beyond the gate, while badnews spread far and wide.⏹18.和气生财Harmony brings wealth.⏹19.活到老学到老One is never too old to learn.⏹20.既往不咎let bygones be bygones⏹21.金无足赤人无完人Gold can't be pure and man can't be perfect.⏹22.金玉满堂Treasures fill the home.⏹23.脚踏实地be down-to-earth⏹24.脚踩两只船sit on the fence⏹25.君子之交淡如水the friendship between gentlemen is as pure as crystal; ahedge between keeps friendship green⏹26.老生常谈陈词滥调cut and dried, cliché⏹27.礼尚往来Courtesy calls for reciprocity.⏹28.留得青山在不怕没柴烧Where there is life, there is hope.⏹29.马到成功achieve immediate victory; win instant success⏹30.名利双收gain in both fame and wealth⏹31.茅塞顿开be suddenly enlightened⏹32.没有规矩不成方圆Nothing can be accomplished without norms orstandards.⏹33.每逢佳节倍思亲On festive occasions more than ever one thinks of one'sdear ones far away.It is on the festival occasions when one misses his dear most.⏹34.谋事在人成事在天The planning lies with man, the outcome with Heaven.Man proposes, God disposes.⏹35.弄巧成拙be too smart by half; Cunning outwits itself⏹36.拿手好戏masterpiece⏹37.赔了夫人又折兵throw good money after bad⏹38.抛砖引玉a modest spur to induce others to come forward with valuablecontributions; throw a sprat to catch a whale⏹39.破釜沉舟cut off all means of retreat；burn one‘s own way of retreat and bedetermined to fight to the end⏹40.抢得先机take the preemptive opportunities⏹41.巧妇难为无米之炊If you have no hand you can't make a fist. One can'tmake bricks without straw.⏹42.千里之行始于足下a thousand-li journey begins with the first step--thehighest eminence is to be gained step by step⏹43.前事不忘后事之师Past experience, if not forgotten, is a guide for thefuture. 44.前人栽树后人乘凉One generation plants the trees in whose shade another generation rests.One sows and another reaps.⏹45.前怕狼后怕虎fear the wolf in front and the tiger behind hesitate in doingsomething⏹46.强龙难压地头蛇Even a dragon (from the outside) finds it hard to control asnake in its old haunt - Powerful outsiders can hardly afford to neglect localbullies.⏹47.强强联手win-win co-operation⏹48.瑞雪兆丰年A timely snow promises a good harvest.⏹49.人之初性本善Man's nature at birth is good.⏹50.人逢喜事精神爽Joy puts heart into a man.⏹51.人海战术huge-crowd strategy⏹52.世上无难事只要肯攀登Where there is a will, there is a way.⏹53.世外桃源a fictitious land of peace away from the turmoil of the world;⏹54.死而后已until my heart stops beating⏹55.岁岁平安Peace all year round.⏹56.上有天堂下有苏杭Just as there is paradise in heaven, while there areSuzhou and Hangzhou on earth⏹57.塞翁失马焉知非福Misfortune may be an actual blessing.⏹58.三十而立A man should be independent at the age of thirty.At thirty, a manshould be able to think for himself.⏹59.升级换代updating and upgrading (of products)⏹60.四十不惑Life begins at forty.⏹61.谁言寸草心报得三春晖Such kindness of warm sun, can't be repaid by grass.62.水涨船高When the river rises, the boat floats high.⏹63.时不我待Time and tide wait for no man.⏹64.杀鸡用牛刀break a butterfly on the wheel⏹65.实事求是seek truth from facts; be practical and realistic; be true to facts⏹66.说曹操,曹操到Talk of the devil and he comes.⏹67.实话实说speak the plain truth; call a spade a spade; tell it as it is⏹68.实践是检验真理的唯一标准Practice is the sole criterion for testing truth.⏹69.山不在高，有仙则名'No matter how high the mountain is, its name willspread far and wide if there is a fairy; '⏹70.韬光养晦hide one's capacities and bide one's time⏹71.糖衣炮弹sugar-coated bullets⏹72.天有不测风云Anything unexpected may happen. a bolt from the blue⏹73.团结就是力量Unity is strength.⏹74.“跳进黄河洗不清” eve if one jumped into the Yellow River, one can notwash oneself clean--there's nothing one can do to clear one's name.⏹75.歪风邪气unhealthy practices and evil phenomena⏹76.物以类聚，人以群分Birds of a feather flock together.⏹77.往事如风'The past has vanished (from memory) like wind.; What in past, ispas⏹78.望子成龙hold high hopes for one's child⏹79.屋漏又逢连阴雨Misfortunes never come singly. When it rains it pours.⏹80.文韬武略military expertise; military strategy⏹81.唯利是图draw water to one's mill⏹82.无源之水,无本之木water without a source, and a tree without roots⏹83.无中生有make create something out of nothing⏹84.无风不起浪There are no waves without wind. There's no smoke withoutfire.⏹85.徇私枉法bend the law for the benefit of relatives or friends⏹86.新官上任三把火a new broom sweeps clean⏹87.虚心使人进步,骄傲使人落后Modesty helps one go forward, whereasconceit makes one lag behind.⏹88. 蓄势而发accumulate strength for a take-off⏹89.心想事成May all your wish come true⏹90.心照不宣have a tacit understanding; give tacit consent; tacit understanding91.先入为主First impressions are firmly entrenched.⏹92.先下手为强catch the ball before the bound⏹93.像热锅上的蚂蚁like an ant on a hot pan⏹94.现身说法warn people by taking oneself as an example⏹95.息事宁人pour oil on troubled waters⏹96.喜忧参半mingled hope and fear⏹97.循序渐进step by step⏹98.一路平安，一路顺风speed somebody on their way; speed the parting guest ⏹99.严以律己,宽以待人be strict with oneself and lenient towards others⏹100鱼米之乡⏹101.有情人终成眷属'Jack shall have Jill, all shall be well.'⏹102.有钱能使鬼推磨Money makes the mare go. Money talks.⏹103. 有识之士people of vision⏹104.有勇无谋use brawn rather than brain⏹105.有缘千里来相会Separated as we are thousands of miles apart, we cometogether as if by predestination.⏹106.与时俱进advance with times.⏹107.以人为本people oriented; people foremost.⏹108.因材施教teach students according to their aptitude.⏹109.欲穷千里目，更上一层楼'to ascend another storey to see a thousand milesfurther; Ascend further, were you to look farther; Would eye embrace athousand miles? Go up, one flight.' a land of milk and honey⏹110.欲速则不达Haste does not bring success.⏹111. 优胜劣汰survival of the fittest.⏹112.英雄所见略同Great minds think alike.⏹113.冤家宜解不宜结Better make friends than make enemies.⏹114.冤假错案'cases in which people were unjustly, falsely or wrongly charged orsentenced; unjust, false or wrong cases'⏹115.一言既出，驷马难追A real man never goes back on his words.⏹116.招财进宝Money and treasures will be plentiful.⏹117.债台高筑become debt-ridden.⏹118.致命要害Achilles' heel.⏹119. 众矢之的target of public criticism⏹120.知己知彼,百战不殆Know the enemy and know yourself, and you can fighta hundred battles with no danger of defeat.⏹121. 纸上谈兵be an armchair strategist⏹122.左右为难between the devil and the deep blue sea.⏹123.纸包不住火Truth will come to light sooner or later.。

Language and Culture

Language and CultureAs we all know, language is very important in our lives. Without it we cannot express ourselves , communicate with each other , even the society will not operate . Language is the carrier of culture , the main expressional form of culture , which develops along with nation , country and society’s development . It is a part of a nation’s culture . So the different nationality has different culture .This article will introduce the relationship between English language and culture briefly.Firstly, I think it is essential to say the development of English language . Like Chinese language, English language is also has its development process. It consists of three stages , that is ,Old English, Middle English and Modern English. Firstly, Old English was from 500BC to 1066AD.The development of this stage was along with the conquest of foreign. Secondly, Middle English was from 1066AD until the 15th century .Thirdly, Modern English which we have been learning has been from the 15th century to now. And basically , we can only read Modern English partly .I can get a conclusion from the information I collected. Language isa mirror , in front of which culture is reflected . As we know, language is a kind of tool which is used for communication. And in a broad sense, culture means the total way of a people, including the patterns of belief, customs, objects, institutions, techniques, and language that characterizesthe life of the human community. And I think when we learn English, we must be familiar with its culture . Otherwise , there will be a lot of chinglish .This form is bad for the exchange between Chinese and English culture . In a word , language is an important part of culture, and the development of culture is inseparable from language.As language involves a lot of aspects , I want to only take a small pointcut to write here. Now let me take the geographic culture as an example to describe concretely .In our class we learned many idioms about boat .For example, keep one’s boat above water , to put in one’s oar, to clear the decks ,and so on .Boat is important in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. We can see that Britain is located in the Atlantic coast on the map. And it is close to Butterworth. At the same time , we know that there is the English channel between Britain and France. So we can get the conclusion that Britain is surrounded by water. And before the plane produced , people who were in Britain had to go abroad by boat . It is obvious that the situation is different from China . We can go some other countries by a carriage . As the development of science and technology , shipbuilding has been developed more and more. It provided convenience for people who would go to travel. We can see the importance of boat in Britain which is an island country. And for this geographic culture , many idioms involveboat. We can say that it is the cultural which impact the English language . On the other hand, the English language reflects the culture.In a word , language and culture are closely related to and depend on each other. Language is so important in the development of human’s history that we cannot neglect its effect .In modern world, we should not only learn our language well, but also to learn English, this most important language well .And in our studying , we should know its culture too. Just as the relationship between language and culture , we can learn English well only if we know its culture clearly .。

language and culture

Firth’s study: He developed the theory of Context of Situation情景语境which is a model for illustrating the close relationship between language use and its co-occurrent factors.
folk culture, enterprise culture or food culture

-- types of culture
material and spiritual
How does language relate to culture

In 20th century, "culture" emerged as a concept central to anthropology (the study of humanity ), encompassing all human phenomena that are not purely results of human genetics.
More about the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis

The strong version(强式说): Emphasizes the decisive role of language as the shaper of our thinking patterns The weak version (弱式说): Suggest that there is a correlation between language, culture, and thought, the cross-cultural differences produced in our ways of thinking are relative, rather than categorical(无条件的).

language and culture

Genesis 11:4–9
Go to, let us go down, and there confound their
language, that they may not understand one another's speech. So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth. —Genesis 11:4–9
What is the nature of the relationship between
signs and what they signify?
What are the elements of a language, and how
are they organized within words, sentences, and discourse?
Language and Culture （语言与文化）
• 谭颖 • tanyingrosa@
当我们研究人类语言
时，我们正在走进被一些人成为本质的东西，也就是心智的特性。据我们所知，这种特质是人类所特有的。

5.1language and culture

Part V Verbal CommunicationSession 1 Language and CultureHello, everyone. Today we are going to talk about language and culture.Before we start today’s topic, I’d like you to watch this picture and try to translate the advertisement on the cup. What do you think that “IN CHINA” mean? And how do you feel about it? Maybe a little uncomfortable? What is wrong with it?Now please look at the second picture. A Chinese student was injured badly in a traffic accident. However when the police arrived and asked: “how are you?” he said:“ I’m fine. Thank you.” Now thing about this，Why does he say that he is fine? What is wrong with his answer? What we are going to talk about today will answer those questions.Our learning objective is to understand what is verbal communication, what are the functions of language, and what is the relationship of language and culture. As we know, the word “verbal” means “consisting of words”. Therefore, verbal communication refers to oral and written communications among people. Verbal communication is the most effective way to exchange our thoughts and opinions.Language, which most of us take for granted, is one of the basic means of our day-to-day communication. Language is defined by some linguist as a distinct set of codes and symbols, along with the rule for combining them together. This is a flower. In Chinese, it is called “hua”, while in Japanese, it is called “hana” it has a different name. That is to say, in different language, there are different codes for the same object.But all the languages in the world share the same functions. In people’s life, basically, language can be used to communicate, to describe, and to reason.In 1962, linguist, Krech, explained the major functions of language from the following three aspects:First, language is the primary vehicle of communication.The primary function of language is to communicate. Some of our words convey meaning, some convey emotions, and some actually produce actions. Verbalcommunication helps us express ourselves and make us more closely related.Second, language reflects both the personality of the individual and the culture of his history. In turn, it helps shape both personality and culture.We use languages to describe reality, record our civilizations and histories. However, language also limits our way to describe reality. Each language is used to describe the world of a particular social group. For example, camels are very important in Arabic lives, in their language, they have more than forty specific words for different type of camels, while in English there is just camel. The Eskimos use more than thirty different words to describe different type of snowy weather, but for most of us, it is just snow. And there is another interesting thing about the Eskimos. In their language, there is no yesterday!Third, language makes possible the growth and transmission of culture, the continuity of societies, and the effective functioning and control of social group.In other word, language is the tool to explain and describe our culture, to pass down our culture heritage from generation to generation.It is easy to understand that different people use different codes and rules in their language as in the case of the flower. That’s why we need to learn foreign languages.Sometimes, however, many people find that even with fluent foreign language skill, they still have difficulty communicating with foreigners. Many Chinese students in American universities feel it is really difficult to communicate with their professors and fellow students. The real confusing question is why can’t we understand each other sometimes even when we are using the same language.Why is talking across culture so difficult?To answer the question, we need to understand the relationship of language and culture first. The most famous study on the relationship of language and culture was conduced by an American linguist and anthropologist, Edward Sapir, and his student, Benjamin Whorf. The Sapir–Whorf hypothesis stated that the ways we think and view the world are determined by our languages. As Sapir-Whorf argues, different thoughts are brought about by the use of different forms of language.That is to say, a person is limited by the language used to express one’s ideas. And the language used is limited by surrounding environments. To put it in simple words, language is the carrier of our culture. And our culture is passed on between generations through language. It shapes our language with social norms, values and beliefs as well. From birth, members of a social group are all shaped by their culture. Just like ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius said: All people are similar at birth, but learning and practice make them different. And while language is used to record human history, they also record the development of their culture. And a culture then, in turn, governs and shapes the language we use.We all know that in English, there is only one “YOU” because all people are considered equal individuals. Japanese people, however, use at least six different second person pronouns for different situations. This is probably because Japanese culture places more emphasis on social ranks. Now let’s come back to that question. Why is talking across culture so difficult? I think you may have already come up with the answer by now. Yes. That is because p eople who speak different languages, will have different thoughts, values and cultures. Both the two examples we saw at the beginning of this session, tell us the importance of cultural influence over languages.So today we have learned how language and culture work on each other and how, together, they shape our thoughts and behaviors. Keep in mind that effective intercultural communication requires not only learning a foreign language, but also learning about a foreign culture.At last, here is today’s critical thinking question for you: Parents of teenagers today often find it difficult to understand some words and terms their kids use.Have you ever used such terms? Can you name one or two and explain why your parents can’t understand them properly.Thank you for listening and have a nice day!。