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1/61/6Unit4LanguageandCultureSomeIdeasRelatedtolanguageandculture1.InterrelationshipbetweencultureandlanguageEachculturehasitsownpeculiaritiesandthrowsspecialinfluenceonthelanguagesystem.Forexample,referringtothesamecommondomesticanimal,Englishchoosestheword“dog”,whileChinesehasitsowncharacter“狗”;Chinesehasthephrase“走狗”whileEnglishhastheexpression“runningdog”,butthemeaningsattributedtothetwoexpressionsarecompletelydifferentaccordingtoChinesecultureandWesternculturerespectively.ToWesterners,“runningdog”hasapositivemeaningsincetheword“dog”,inmostcases,isassociatedwithanimageofananimalpet－thefavoritefriend,thustheyhavethephrases“luckydog”(幸运儿),“topdog”(胜利者),“olddog”(老手),“gaydog”(快乐的人),anditisusuallyusedtodescribeeverydaylifeandbehavior,asin“Loveme,lovemydog”(爱屋及乌)，“Everydoghasitsday”(凡人皆有得意日).ButinChinese“走狗”referstoalackey,anobsequiousperson.SinceChineseassociatesderogatorymeaningtothecharacter“狗”dependingontheculturaldifference,Chinesehassuchexpressionsas“狗东西”，“狗腿子”，“狗仗人势”，“狗胆包天”，“狗嘴里吐不出象牙”，“狼心狗肺”，“痛打落水狗”，“狗急跳墙”.Wecanobviouslyseethatthemeaningattributedtolanguageiscultural-specific.Agreatdealofcross-culturalmisunderstandingoccurswhenthe“meanings”ofwordsintwolanguagesareassumedtobethesame,butactuallyreflectdifferentculturalpatterns.SomearehumorousaswhenaTurkishvisitortotheU.S.refusedtoeatahotdogbecauseitwasagainsthisbeliefstoeatdogmeat.SomearemuchmoreseriousaswhenaFrenchcoupleonatriptoChinatooktheirpetpoodleintoarestaurantandrequestedsomedogfood.Thedogwascookedandreturnedtotheirtableonaplatter!Wecansummarizetherelationshipbetweencultureandlanguageasthefollowing:languageisakeycomponentofculture.Itistheprimarymediumfortransmittingmuchofculture.Withoutlanguage,culturewouldnotbepossible.Childrenlearningtheirnativelanguagearelearningtheirownculture;learningasecondlanguagealsoinvolveslearningasecondculturetovaryingdegrees.Ontheotherhand,languageisinfluencedandshapedbyculture.Itreflectsculture.Culturaldifferencesarethemostseriousareascausingmisunderstanding,unpleasantnessandevenconflictincross-culturalcommunication.2.Sapir-WhorfHypothesisTheSapir-Whorftheory,namedaftertheAmericanlinguistsEdwardSapirandBenjaminLeeWhorf,isamouldtheoryoflanguage.Writingin1929,Sapirarguedinaclassicpassagethat:Humanbeingsdonotliveintheobjectiveworldalone,noraloneintheworldofsocialactivityasordinarilyunderstood,butareverymuchatthemercyoftheparticularlanguagewhichhasbecomethemediumofexpressionfortheirsociety.Itisquiteanillusiontoimaginethatoneadjuststorealityessentiallywithouttheuseof2/62/6languageandthatlanguageismerelyanincidentalmeansofsolvingspecificproblemsofcommunicationorreflection.Thefactofthematteristhatthe“realworld”istoalargeextentunconsciouslybuiltuponthelanguagehabitsofthegroup.Notwolanguagesareeversufficientlysimilartobeconsideredasrepresentingthesamesocialreality.Theworldsinwhichdifferentsocietieslivearedistinctworlds,notmerelythesameworldwithdifferentlabelsattached...Weseeandhearandotherwiseexperienceverylargelyaswedobecausethelanguagehabitsofourcommunitypredisposecertainchoicesofinterpretation.(Sapir1958[1929],p.69)Thispositionwasextendedinthe1930sbyhisstudentWhorf,who,inanotherwidelycitedpassage,declaredthat:Wedissectnaturealonglineslaiddownbyournativelanguages.Thecategoriesandtypesthatweisolatefromtheworldofphenomenawedonotfindtherebecausetheystareeveryobserverintheface;onthecontrary,theworldispresentedinakaleidoscopicfluxofimpressionswhichhastobeorganizedbyourminds—andthismeanslargelybythelinguisticsystemsinourminds.Wecutnatureup,organizeitintoconcepts,andascribesignificancesaswedo,largelybecausewearepartiestoanagreementtoorganizeitinthisway—anagreementthatholdsthroughoutourspeechcommunityandiscodifiedinthepatternsofourlanguage.Theagreementis,ofcourse,animplicitandunstatedone,butitstermsareabsolutelyobligatory;wecannottalkatallexceptbysubscribingtotheorganizationandclassificationofdatawhichtheagreementdecrees.(Whorf1940,pp.213-14;hisemphasis)3.TheRoleofWordsinVariousCulturesWordsareinventivetoolsforcommunication,andtheenjoymentofusingthistoolboxofsymbolsvariesfromculturetoculture.Inlow-contextcultures,theroleofwordsisofinformational;meaningisencodedexplicitly.Nottoencodemessagesexplicitlyistoriskbeingmisunderstoodinthosecultures.Inhigh-contextculturesthepurposeofcommunicationisoftensociallylubricative.Thatis,communicationfirsthasaroleinsustainingrelationships,andsecondonlywithinthecontextofarelationshipoftransmittinginformation.4.ThecontrastsbetweenChineseandWesternwritinginEnglish.ReadingIHowIsLanguageRelatedtoCultureComprehensionquestions1.Whatcanwedotoavoidattributingaverydifferentmeaningtothephraseorinterpretitmuchmoreliterally?Wehavetobeawareoftheculturalimplicationsofthephrase.2.Whataretheotherfunctionsofusingquestionformsapartfromaskingforinformation?Itservesasalubricanttomovetheconversationforward.Aquestionthathasthisfunctioncanbecalleda―socialquestion.3/63/63.WhyarethoseGermansgettingstifferandmorereservedallthetimewhenvisitingIngridZerbe?Theyareconfusedabouthowtoaddressher,forsheintroducesherselfbyfirstandlast