Language and Culture Reflections: Diversity in Linguistic Emphasis
Exploring the correlation between language and culture, this content delves into how various languages reflect cultural values and priorities. Through examples like the Inuit language with rich vocabulary for snow and seals, the Shinzwani culture's unique word for mother and aunt, and the evolving language of the Marshall Islands post-nuclear testing, it showcases how language adapts to cultural shifts. Ethnosemantics play a crucial role in understanding how different societies categorize their world through language.
Download Presentation
Please find below an Image/Link to download the presentation.
The content on the website is provided AS IS for your information and personal use only. It may not be sold, licensed, or shared on other websites without obtaining consent from the author. Download presentation by click this link. If you encounter any issues during the download, it is possible that the publisher has removed the file from their server.
E N D
Presentation Transcript
Language and Culture Chapter 2
Language Reflects Culture Language tends to reflect the larger culture Example: Inuit have many words for snow and seal, whereas English does not (pg.18) Inuit language is an agglutinating language that strings ideas into long words English is an isolating language that puts separate ideas into separate words
Language Reflects Culture The Inuit deal much more with seals and snow than most English-speakers do, so this should make sense This is called cultural emphasis: Languages have areas of linguistic emphasis for aspects they deem important
Cultural Emphasis In Shinzwani (Comoro Islands off the coast of Africa) There is one word (mama) that means mother and aunt In this culture, both women help raise the children and therefore there is not a distinction In English, we have two words, but only one word for cousin, though other languages make a distinction between male/female cousins or cousins on mother s/father s side of family
Cultural Emphasis In Marshall Islands (Pacific) There were traditionally only two words for birthing troubles or birth defects After nuclear tests in the 40s and 50s, there are now many words to describe different birth defects because so many more exist The language changed as the culture/environment changed
Language Change History of English language http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-did-english-evolve- kate-gardoqui
Ethnosemantics After studying cultural emphasis, the next step is to try to understand how speakers see their world through understanding their language Try to understand how they categorize things This is ethnosemantics: identify how words people use reveal underlying meanings and perceptions Different from ethnography, which is a detailed study of a culture because it focuses on language
Ethnosemantics 1. Identify the way people divide language into cultural emphasis; this is called semantic domain 2. Determine the categorization system and use this as a model to understand the speaker s mental map 3. Use this to create an ethnoscientific model that shows the scientific categorization of the speaker s world
Ethnosemantics You can use this in the field to learn a new language from the native perspective The goal is to try to get from the etic (outside) perspective to the emic (inside) perspective Create a semantic domain Collect as many words for each domain as possible Create a taxonomy Conduct a componential analysis to find culturally important aspects of the language
Prototype Theory Developed in the 70s and 80s to help explain complications between categories in different languages This theory says we categorize by prototypes, or the best examples of things, and then use these examples as a way to determine what words go into which categories
Prototype Theory Example: bird
Different Meanings Let s go through some words that have different meanings in different languages Can you see how it is easy to have linguistic misunderstandings?
Linguistic Relativity Different languages have different semantic domains These seem arbitrary, meaning there is not really an obvious reason in the physical world that something is categorized in a certain way Example: Sun/Moon In French, moon/night/woman are connected and sun/day/man are connected Why are these seen as male or female?
Linguistic Relativity The answer is worldview Linguistic Relativity: languages are different, they use arbitrary categories, and knowing one language does not allow you to predict another Example: Rainbow ROY G BIV Do we really use indigo as a basic color term? Most English speakers use six colors
Linguistic Relativity Let s look more at color Some languages combine color categories (blue/green) and some divide color categories into more specific colors (light blue/dark blue) The semantic domain of color is not experience exactly the same in all humans
Are There Universals? Linguists want to know if there are universals that are the same across all languages In 1969 Berlin and Kay tried to find a universal pattern with colors They compared focal points (main categories) of color across languages and stated that all languages had a common system to name colors They also said that those with fewer categories were less advanced than those with many categories
Are There Universals? Stage I: Dark-cool and light-warm (this covers a larger set of colors than English "black" and "white".) Stage II: Red Stage III: Either green or yellow Stage IV: Both green and yellow Stage V: Blue Stage VI: Brown Stage VII: Purple, pink, orange, or gray (English goes here)
Are There Universals? They showed that societies with few categories (I, II, III) were technologically simpler than those with more categories Also that modern industrialized societies were the only ones to reach stage VII What are some problems with these results?
Are There Universals? It ranks (puts values) on cultures! It is ethnocentric because English is in the most advanced category It used categories with multiple meanings (orange is a color and a fruit) It stated it would not use borrowed words, but blue is from French and therefore English should only be in stage IV
Assignment Video Log: Linguistic Relativity (http://vimeo.com/42744105 ) Give a definition (in your own words) for this term Are some languages better than others? Explain Article: Linguistic Relativity HW: Do You Speak American?
Article 1. How does language affect people s perception of space? 2. What about the perception of time? 3. Shapes/substances? 4. Objects (specifically grammatical gender)? 5. Is it possible to understand another person s perspective on the world? Explain
Review Remember from last lecture that language and culture are interconnected Linguistic Relativity: languages are different, they use arbitrary categories, and knowing one language does not allow you to predict another In this view, your culture determines how you perceive the world, and therefore influences your language
Linguistic Determinism A second view is linguistic determinism Language influences and can determine people s ability to perceive the world around them Proposed by Sapir and Whorf Sapir (student of Boaz) analyzed the tyrannical hold that the linguistic form has upon our orientation of the world Whorf (student of Sapir) studied how words influenced actions
Sapir and Whorf Whorf created his principle of linguistic relativity Different languages have different grammatical structures and rules These grammatical categories direct how speakers think and see the world Example is Hopi Language (pg. 33) Single-action vs. Repeated-action verbs English speakers would not understand these categories
Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis Another name for linguistic determinism Two forms: Strong Whorf: language is a prison from which you cannot escape Weaker Whorf: language is a room that gives a specific perspective, but lets you leave or go to other rooms
Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis Cannot test the Strong Whorf form Since we can learn and understand other languages, the Weaker Whorf form seems more correct Example: Comparing English with Yucatec language Yucatec group items by material (everything made of wood goes into one category) English group items by shape (a table has a specific shape but could be wood, metal, plastic)
Space The way we describe space uses deictic concepts, or those that name space around our bodies These are egocentric, or always relating back to your own body (to the right of, above, in front of ). This creates relative systems of space The description between the two pictures would be different because of the position of the bodies
Space Some languages use absolute reckoning systems, such as cardinal directions, that are not dependent upon where the body is North will always remain north, even, if you move This is geographically based, not biologically based How might this cause speakers from these different languages to see the world differently? How can this be influenced by the physical environment?
Experiencing LD To fully experience language determination, you must be aware that to use a new language comfortably, you must understand its concepts This includes rules that are different from your native language In English, if I give money, I lend it; if I get money, I borrow it In Shinzwani (Comoros Islands), there is no distinction; money is just transferred (kopa)
Experiencing LD In the Ukraine, there are two types of love Liubov (general love) Kokhannia (romantic love) For time: Czech: 9:15 is a quarter of ten English: 9:15 is a quarter past nine (pg. 39) The goal is to be able to think in these terms and switch back and forth
Language, Culture, and Thought Video: Steven Pinker: Linguistics as a Window to Understanding the Brain. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-B_ONJIEcE Min 1-13 How do we understand or remember language? What did Sapir and Whorf contribute to this?
Language, Culture, and Thought So research on color, shapes, time, and space has shown that language does affect how we see the world Then there is the language that is symbolic and not straightforward Example: Time English: a straight line with equal units (hour, day, week, year, century, etc.) Hopi: cyclical, remembering and connecting to past events Non-observable things have only the present tense, so two days is one day and another day Five years from now would be this year and the next year, and the year after that
Language, Culture, and Thought The culture of American English is very time-oriented We have many metaphors to show how valuable it is: Time is money Wasting time Running out of time Other cultures don t have this Africa Time
Metaphors and Frames We see the world and speak about the world through frames These help us understand the cultural meaning behind something Are attached to ideology, or ideas about how things should be Robert Levy analyzed hypocognition, or the lack of frames He suggested that high suicide rates in Tahiti were influenced by the language not having words to express grief
Metaphors and Frames If something does not fit your frame, it is easy to dismiss The media can also persuade your opinion by the frames they use to present information
Native vs. Borrowed What is a native word? What is a borrowed one? Does English borrow from other languages or do other languages only borrow from English? West to the Rest fallacy We will discuss this more in chapter 9
Guess which words are native or foreign Moose Admiral Lemon Nippy Bandage Skunk Squash Elixir Tapioca Coffee Bathroom Llama Syrup Delicatessen Handbag Fahrenheit Bonkers Typhoon Clich Capital Stone Futon Garage Canoe Floor
Guess which words are native or foreign Admiral Moose Lemon Nippy Bandage Skunk Squash Elixir Tapioca Coffee Bathroom Llama Syrup Handbag Delicatessen Fahrenheit Bonkers Typhoon Clich Capital Stone Futon Garage Canoe Floor
Guess which words are native or foreign Admiral (Arabic) Nippy Moose (NA) Lemon (Persian) Bandage Skunk (NA) Elixir (Greek) Squash (NA Indian) Coffee (Arabic) Syrup (Arabic) Fahrenheit (Ger) Clich (Fr) Futon (Japanese) Floor Tapioca (SA Indian) Bathroom Delicatessen (Ger) Llama (SA Quechua) Bonkers Handbag Capital Typhoon (Chi) Stone Garage (Fr) Canoe (NA Indian)
Globalization Estimated that up to 9,000 languages have disappeared Half the remaining 6,900 languages are endangered Globalization affects this because it promotes the success of few languages that can be used widely More people now speak English as their second language (350 million) than as their first language (320 million) This is closely tied to national and ethnic identities so preservation is important Why don t we want to lose these languages?
Assignment Article Does English Still Borrow Words and questions Video Log: Endangered Languages (http://www.voanews.com/content/rosetta-project- preserves-key-to-endangered-languages/1713317.html) Why is it important to document languages spoken by small groups? How can this help us understand other languages ( decoder ring )?
HW #3 Lost for Words Questions (also on class webpage): 1. Everett argues that the Piraha s peculiar language is shaped not by some innante language instinct, but by their extraordinary culture. Do you agree with this? How does this connect to Whorf and linguistic relativity? 2. Describe how the Piraha have a practical view of their spiritual world. Give examples. 3. How does their culture prevent them from using numbers or counting? 4. How does this language provide evidence against universal grammar? 5. The Piraha language has very few phonemes (sounds). Is it a simple or less-evolved language?
