Language and Culture精品文档5页
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)
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.
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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.
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Cultural impact on language
should pay attention to the sameness and difference between two cultures
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• Each nation has its unique culture
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• 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
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.
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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.
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The influence of language on culture
Language as a reflection of environment: language reflects the environment we live. e.g. “camel” “snow”
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The relationship between language and culture
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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]
![Language and culture 介绍语言与文化的[优质ppt]](https://img.taocdn.com/s3/m/4df561807f1922791788e842.png)
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.
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Language and CultureAbstract As the carrier of culture, language is considered as the main expressional form of culture which develops with nation, country and society’s development. Language is a part of a nation’s culture. The different nations own their unique cultures, history, manners and customs and so on. However, various cultural characteristics can be displayed in the form of language. This article, by analyzing the influence and the difference of historical culture, regional culture and custom culture, mainly reveals the relationship between language and culture which is interdependent and interactive. What’s more, a better comprehension of this relationship prevents us from misunderstanding in cross-culture communication.1 IntroductionLanguage is a part of culture and plays a very important role in it. However, the relationship between the two is more complex than the relationship between the part and the whole. On the one hand, language is the carrier and container of culture. All the components of culture, such as beliefs, customs, institutions, objects, arts and techniques, can be described and evaluated by language. People’s experience about them is transmitted by language as well. On the other hand, language is influenced andshaped by culture and it reflects culture. The two interact, and the understanding of one requires the learning of the other. In general, language is the symbolic image of a person, and it comprises his or her historical and religious backgrounds as well as the way of living and thinking. Culture emerged just at the moment language appeared and they developed at the same place in human history. Language brought about cultural advance and made record of its steps at the same time. In order to make sure how these two elements interact with each other, the following part tries to analyze the reasons of differences existing between them with adequate examples from three aspects: the difference of historical culture, the difference of regional culture and the difference of custom culture.2 Content2.1 Difference of historical cultureDue to the different historical development of each nation and country, culture is different from each other forming after a long historical period. It is well-known that Chinese belongs toSino-Tibetan Family and English belongs to Indo-European Family. The archaian Chinese was a kind of ideographic script which conveyed thought and ideas by images and symbols. This is the so-called pictograph which revealed the original picture of ancient people, object and natural phenomena. Because of the rapid development ofhuman civilization, the increasing emergence of indicative character, associative character and morpheme-phonetic character turns Chinese into ideographic-oriented syllabic script. Chinese is a figurative language and it reflects reflect the close relationship between Chinese people and the objective nature. However, the beauty and the association of this language can never be translated into any other foreign languages adequately. Not only the archaian characters are difficult to understand for people from other historical culture backgrounds, but many trendy characters are hard to recognize, especially those netspeaks we frequently use nowadays. For example: “顶” means supporting others, “汗” indicates veneration, “晕” indicates astonishment, “555” means the state of crying, “88” refers to saying goodbye to others and “ps” is the abbreviation of “photoshop”, If we seldom surf the Internet and are isolated from the current tendency, lacking of the popular language and the knowledge can only make a big influence on getting information and communication.Moreover, the word dragon is another ambiguous example. It is a kind of mystical animal with long body, squama and horn existing in ancient time which means power and good luck in China. However, the West cultures consider dragon as a large fierce animal with wings and a long tail, which can breathe out fire without any symbolicmeaning. It is clear that, knowing more about the diverse custom cultures avoids embarrassment in intercultural communication indeed.3 ConclusionThrough what has been analyzed from these three aspects, we may completely recognize original reasons for those differences existing between different cultures and how it is shown through daily languages. In a word, Language is the carrier of culture, the main expressional form of culture which develops along with society’s development. Language and culture are closely related to and depend on each other through their history, region and custom. The native language is acquired along with the ways, attitudes and patterns of behaving of the social group. And these ways, attitudes and patterns of behaving find their expression through language. From this point, we can know that language is an inseparable and integral part of culture, and the medium through which culture is acquired. The better people accept different culture, the better communication will be gained.References[1] 王春晖.英语课堂教学中东西方文化差异与跨文化非语言交际.[2] 乐黛云.跨文化之桥.[3] 彭晓蓉.从学习汉英习语中了解中西文化差异.[4] 陈宏?U,李亚丹.新编汉英翻译教程.[5] 何兆熊,梅德明.现代语言学.[6] http://docin/p-23117815.html.[7] http://clubsage/thread-947109-1-1.html.[8] http://wenku.baidu/view/f3bf531a6bd97f192279e9b2.html.希望以上资料对你有所帮助，附励志名言3条：1、常自认为是福薄的人，任何不好的事情发生都合情合理，有这样平常心态，将会战胜很多困难。