The relationship between language and culture 语言与文化的关系Word格式.docx

The relationship between language and culture 语言与文化的关系Word格式.docx

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1.Language,asaconcretesystemofsigns,hasitsownsignificanceintheculturecommunication

Ithaslongbeenrecognizedthatlanguageisanessentialandimportantpartofagivencultureandthattheimportanceofcultureuponagivenlanguageissomethingindispensable.

1.1Languageisasystem

TheimportantoflanguagetothestudyinterculturalcommunicationisclearlycapturedintheAmericanpoetRalphWaldoEmerson’ssimplesentence“Languageisthearchivesofhistory.”Hisdeclarationtakesonaddedsignificancewhenwerealizethatoneofthemajorcharacteristicsidentifyingusashumanisourabilitytouselanguage–tomakesoundsandmarksserveassubstitutesforthingsandfeelings.

Overmillionsofyears,wehaveevolvedtheanatomynecessarytoproduceandreceivesoundshavetakenonmeaningbyrepresentingthings,feelings,andideas.Thiscombinationofevolutionandculturehasledtothedevelopmentofafour-partprocessthatenablesusshareourinternalstateswithotherhumanbeings.Inshort,wecanreceive,store,manipulate,andgeneratesymbolstorepresentourpersonalizedrealities.

1.2Theimportanceoflanguage

Languageisextremelyimportanttohumaninteractionbecauseitishowwereachouttomakecontractwithoursurroundings.Ifweweretosurveyanormalday,wewouldsoonseethatweusewordsforawidevarietyofpurposeswemayuselanguagewhenwefirstawake:

“Goodmorning!

”Weusewordsasawaytowritewiththeoutsideworld.Orwemayusewordstoshareanunpleasantexperienceandtogetsupportfromother:

“LetmetellyouaboutthehorribledreamIhadlastnight.”Thisexamplealsodemonstrateshowweemploywordstorelatetothepast,thatis,totalkaboutsomethingthathasalreadyhappened.

Weusewordssothatwecanexperiencesomecontroloverthepresent:

“pleasepassmethesaltandpepper.”Weeachseektoaffectourenvironment,toinfluencemanylfthedailysituationsinwhichwefindourselves.Words,andhowwemanipulatethem,permitustomakethosealterationsthroughsymbolictransactionswithothers.

Wealsousewordstoformimagesofthefuture:

“IhavemeetwithJaneatworktoday,butIdreadseeingher,becauseIknowshe’sgoingtobeupsetaboutthechangesI’mmakinginherworkschedule.”Ourwordingabilityallowsustopredictanddescribethefuture.Weusewordstopersuadetoexchangeideas,toexchangeideas,toexpressviews,toseekinformation,andtoexpressfeelings.Whenwestudyanotherlanguage,wesoondiscoverthatthesymbols,thesoundsforthosesymbols,andtherulesforusingthosesymbolsandsoundsaredifferent.

2.Language,asacultureinstitution,isbornwithculture.Itdevelopsandinteractswiththeculture

Topreservethelanguageofanationistopreserveitsspecialcultureandhistory.Whenpeoplecannotunderstandtheoldlanguage,theywillbelesstightlyconnectedtoorevengraduallylosetheirculturesandhistories.Theirenemiesknowmuchmoreclearlythanthemselvesastothispoint.

WestillrememberthatinthefamousarticleTheLastLesson,thefirstthingPrussiansdidwhentheyintrudedFrance,wastoreplaceFrenchwithPrussianintheschooleducation.Japanesealsotookthesamestrategyinordertocutofftheconnectionbetweenpeopleandtheirhistoriesandcultures.Thisevilrefusedtoonlystayinpeople'

smemoryandisstillthreateningcertainculturesandnations.ThusbothJewsandTibetansarestillfightingtopreservetheirlanguagesforthesakeoftheirculturesandhistoriesattheedgeofbeingextinguished.

2.1Explainthemeaningoftheculture

Whendeliveringdailyspeech,theword"

culture"

referstopursuitssuchasliteratureandmusic.Morebroadly,wecandefine"

asallthemodesofthought,behavior,andproductionthatarehandeddownfromonegenerationtothenextbymeansofcommunicativeinteraction──speech,gesture,epic,construction,andallothercommunicationamonghumans──ratherthanbygenetictransmissionorheredity."

Culture"

isanessentialconceptforitiswhatmakeshumansuniqueintheanimalkingdom.Allfamiliarformsofsocialorganizations,rangingfromthesimplestfamilytothemostsophisticatedcorporationdependupon"

fortheirexistence.Nevertheless,"

society"

and"

mightbeconfusingforonetodistinguish."

Society"

ispopulationthatisorganizedtocarryoutthemajorfunctionoflife.Asociety'

s"

consistsofallthewaysinwhichitsmembersthinkaboutitamongthemselves

Culture,inabroadsense,meansthetotalwayoflifeofapeople,includingthepatternsofbelief,customs,objects,institutions,techniques,andlanguagethatcharacterizesthelifeofthehumancommunity.Ascultureissoinclusive,itpermeatesvirtuallyeveryaspectofhumanlifeandinfluencespredominantlypeople’sbehavior,includinglinguisticbehavior.Inanarrowsense,culturemayrefertolocalorspecificpractice,belieforcustoms,whichcanbemostlyfoundinfolkculture,enterprisecultureorfoodcultureetc.

Generallyspeaking,therearetwotypesofculture:

materialandspiritual.Whilematerialculture,asthetermitselfsuggests,isconcrete,substantialandobservable,mostofspiritualculture,theproductsofmind,isabstract,ambiguous,andhidden.Incontrastwithnatureinthesenseofwhatisbornandgrows,culturereferstowhathasbeengrownandbroughtupwith,inotherwords,whatcanbenurtured.Culture,especiallymaterialculture,isreproducedandpreservedthroughthemaintainingofbeliefs,traditions,educationandotherinstitutionmechanisms,meanwhile,itchangesslowlywiththedevelopmentofthesociety.

2.2Therelationshipbetweenlanguageandculture

Webeginourpreviewoflanguagebynotingthatitisimpossibletoseparateouruseiflanguagefromourculture.Initsmostbasicsense,languageisasetofsymbolsandtherulesforcombiningthosesymbolsthatareusedandunderstoodbyalargecommunityofpeople.Whenwestudyanotherlanguage,wesoondiscoverthatnotonlyarethesymbolandsoundsforthosesymbolsdifferent,butsoaretherules（phonology,grammar,syntax,andintonation）forusingthosesymbolsandsounds.

Worddifferentareobviousinvariouslanguage.InEnglish,weliveinahouse.InSpanish,weliveonacase.InThaiweliveinaban.Phonologyalsovariesculturally.InEnglish,wehave21consonantsoundsand5vowelsthatcombinetofrom38varioussounds.“Vietnamesehas34segmentalphonemesconsistingofvowels,semivowelsandconsonants.”TheFilipinolanguagehas16consonantsand10vowelsforming26phonemes.Portuguesehas21consonantsand13vowelsthatform34basicphonemes.Grammaticalstructuresareuniquetoeachlanguageaswell.InEnglishverbtensesexpresscontrastbetweenpast,present,andfutureacts,butinVietnamese,thesameverbreflectsallthreeandthetimeofactionisinferredfromthecontext.Syntax,orthewordorderandstructureofsentences,alsovariesdependingonthelanguage.ThenormalwoesorderforsimplesentencesinFilipinoisthereverseofthewordorderinEnglish.Thatis,thepredicateisfollowedbythesubject.Forexample,theEnglishsentence“Theteacherdied”wouldbe“Namatayangguro”or“diedtheteacher”inFilipino.InEnglish,thesubjectisfollowedbyaverbandthenanobject,butinKorean,thesubjectisfollowedbytheobjectandthentheverb.SoinEnglishwemightsay,“Thecatatethemouse,”butinKorean,“Catmouseate”wouldbecorrect.

Theseexamplesindicatethatifwewanttocommunicateinanotherlanguage,itisimportantforustoknownotonlythesymbolsofthatlanguage,butalsotherulesforusingthosesymbols.Asyouknowlanguageismuchmorethanasymbolandrulesystemthatallowsustocommunicatewithanotherperson-languagealsoshapestheprocessbywhichpeoplebecameintroducedtotheorderofthephysicalandsocialenvironment.AsNandaindicates,“language,therefore,wouldseemtohavemajorimpactonthewayanindividualperceivesandconceptualizestheworld.”

2.2.1Languagenotonlyexpressaperson’smeaningbutalsoexpressanation’sculture

Wecanhavedifferentmeaningsforthesameword.Forinstance,tooneperson,thewoesgrassmightmeansomethinginfrontofthenhousethatisgreen,hastobewatered,andmustbemowedonceaweek:

toanotherperson,grassmaymeansomethingthatisrolledinpaperandsmoked.Allpeople,drawingontheirbackgrounds,decidewhatawordmeans.Peoplehavesimilarmeaningsonlytotheexperienceincludesbaseball,tousaropeisalinedriver.Ifourbackgroundliesintheworldofjazzmusic,thewordaxdoesnotindicatesomethingusedtochopwoodbutanyhornorwoodwindinstrument.Anditislikelythatweandaphysicianresponddifferentlytothewoescancer.

Ifweincludecultureasavariableontheprocessofabstractingmeaning,theproblemsbecameallthemoreacute,forcultureteachesusboththesymbolandwhatthesymbolrepresents.Whenyouarecommunicatingwithsomeonefromyourownculture,theprocessofusingwordstorepresentyourexperienceismucheasierbecausewithinaculturepeoplesharemanysimilarexperiences.Butwhencommunicationisbetweenpeoplefromdistinctcultures,differentexperiencesareinvolvedandtheprocessismoretroublesome.Objects,events,experiences,andfeelingshavethelabelsornamestheydobecaus