1. Lecture 9 Language, Culture and Society

2. 9.1 Language and Culture 9.1.1 What is culture? 9.1.2 The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis 9.1.3 Linguistic evidence of cultural differences 9.1.4 Culture-loaded words

3. 9.1.1 What is culture? Broadly speaking, culture means the total way of life of a people, including the patterns of belief, customs, objects, institutions, techniques, and language. In a narrow sense, culture refers to the local or specific practice, beliefs or customs.

4. Important anthropological linguists England: Malinowsky, Firth United States: Boas, Sapir, Whorf

5. Bronislaw Malinowski (1884~1942) The meaning of a word greatly depended upon its occurrence in a given context, or rather, upon a real language situation in life. Language “ is a mode of action and not an instrument of reflection ” (1923: 312). Wood: 1) the solid material of a tree 2) a canoe The second meaning was special to the speech community in which it is used and difficult for an outsider to catch.

6. John R. Firth (1890~1960) The theory of context of situation: language is mixed with the physical objects present during a conversation to ascertain the meaning involved. It can be summarized as: a. The relevant features of the participants: persons, personalities: 1) The verbal action of the participants. 2) The nonverbal action of the participants. b. The relevant objects. c. The effects of the verbal action.

7. Relation between language and culture Language expresses cultural reality: a lucky dog vs. 狗仗人势 ; Language embodies cultural identity: from a person ’ s use of certain vocabulary, we know where he is from; Language symbolizes cultural reality: people are identified by their use of language; Language helps perpetuate the culture – it is through language that culture is passed down from generation to generation, from one place to another.

8. To sum up, we may say the relation of language to culture is that of part to whole, for language is part of culture. The knowledge and beliefs that constitute a people ’ s culture are habitually encoded and transmitted in language.

9. 9.1.2 The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis "We dissect nature along lines laid down by our native language. Language is not simply a reporting device for experience but a defining framework for it. “ "Language shapes the way we think, and determines what we can think about."

10. According to Whorf, language classifies items of experience differently. The class corresponding to one word and one thought in language A may be regarded by language B as two or more classes corresponding to two or more words and thoughts. All observers are not led by the same physical evidence to the same picture of the universe, unless their linguistic backgrounds are similar, or can in some way be calibrated.

11. In his article “ Linguistics as an Exact Science ” published in December 1940, he made a more explicit statement of linguistic relativity: Users of markedly different grammars are pointed by their grammars toward different types of observations and different evaluations of externally similar acts of observation, and hence are not equivalent as observers but must arrive at somewhat different views of the world.

12. The ideas of Whorf can be concluded to two main points. First, people speaking different languages have different thinking patterns. People ’ s perception of the world is relative to the structures of the language they speak. Second, language determines thought. Thinking cannot take place independent of thought. The former is called “ linguistic relativity ” and the latter “ linguistic determinism. ” Later people refer the two in general as Whorfian hypothesis or Sapir- Whorf hypothesis, for the theory was completed by Whorf by developing Sapir ’ s ideas and Sapir supported and took part in his theoretical construction.

13. Strong version vs. weak version The original claims the hypothesis suggests have been criticized by many linguists and they are referred to as the strong version of the hypothesis. This version remains controversial as well as influential even to today. There is also a modified version of this hypothesis, which is generally accepted. This weak version goes like this: There is a correlation between language, culture, and thought, but the cross-cultural differences thus producing in our ways of thinking are relative, rather than categorical.

14. 9.1.3 Linguistic evidence of cultural differences Address terms. Greetings. Privacy and taboos.

15. 9.1.4 Culture-loaded words 烫手山芋 vs. hot potato 雨后春笋 vs. spring like mushroom 大鱼大肉、鱼肉百姓、酒肉朋友 vs. meat and potatoes, meat and drink to sb. Sweet smile ( 甜甜的笑容 ), sweet girl ( 甜美的女孩 ), sweet nothings ( 甜言蜜语 ) Kill the goose that lays the golden egg vs. 杀鸡取卵 Cold words vs. 冷言冷语 Constant dropping wears the stone. 滴水穿石。 Diamond cut diamond. 棋逢对手。 Kill a man when he is down. 落井下石。

16. 9.2 Language and society Two views of linguistic inquiry: Monistic or Autonomous Pursuit of an independent science: Chomskyan linguistics ; Dualistic: Sociolinguistics.

17. 9.2.1 Sociolinguistics: Definition Sociolinguistics can be defined a sub- field of linguistics that studies the relation between language and society, between the uses of language and the social structures in which the users of language live.

18. 9.2.2 Relatedness between language and society Language is not always used to exchange information as is generally assumed, but rather it is sometimes used to fulfill and important social function – to maintain social relationship between people. Users of the same language in a sense all speak differently. The kind of language each of them chooses to use is in part determined by his social background. When we speak we cannot avoid giving our listeners clues about our origin and our background. The social environment can also be reflected in languages, and can often have an effect on the structure of the vocabulary. For example, a society ’ s kinship system is generally reflected in its kinship vocabulary. As a social phenomenon language is closely related to the structure of the society in which it is used, and the evaluation of a linguistic form is entirely social.

19. 9.2.3 Micro-studies & macro-studies A micro-study of sociolinguistics is to look at society from the point of view of an individual member within it, or a worm ’ s- eye view of language in use. In contrast, a macro-study is to look at society as a whole and consider how language functions in it and how it reflects the social differentiations, a bird ’ s eye view of the language used in society.

20. 9.2.4 Sociolinguistic study of language The purpose is to know more about some linguistic variations in language use by turning to potential sociocultural factors for a description and explanation. It includes studies of structural variants, address forms, gender differences, pidgin and Creole languages, etc.

21. 9.2.5 Sociolinguistic study of society The purpose is to know more about a given society by examining the linguistic behavior of its members. It includes such fields as Diglossia, Bilingualism & Multilingualism, Code- switching and language planning.

22. 9.3 Varieties of language People who claim to be users of the same language do not speak the language in the same manner. Varieties related to the user are normally known as dialects ( 方言 ) and varieties related to use as registers ( 语域 ).

23. 9.3.1 Regional dialects Regional dialects are linguistic varieties used by people living in different regions. Regional dialect boundaries often coincide with geographical barriers such as mountains, rivers, or swamps. This differentiation is accounted for by the lack of communication in the old days when travel was difficult.

24. 9.3.2 Social-class dialect Social-class dialect, or sociolect ( 社 会方言 ), refers to the linguistic variety characteristic of a particular social class. Social dialect has to do with separation brought about by different social conditions.

25. America, cake, helping, ice, lavatory, looking glass, pudding, relatives, rich, Royalties, scent, scurf, sick, sofa, spectacles, writing paper The States, pastry, portion, ice-cream, toilet, mirror, dessert, relations, wealthy, Royals, perfume, dandruff, ill, settee, glasses, notepaper

26. Speaker A I did it yesterday. Speaker B: I done it yesterday. He hasn ’ t got it. He ain ’ t got it. It was she that said it. It was her what said it. In Britain, one of the most important markers of status is accent. “ Received Pronunciation ”, a non-localized form of pronunciation, refers to the particular ways of pronouncing standard English, which is an indicator of a public school education and thus a high social status on the part of the speaker. It should be clear that social-class dialects are not distinct entities; they merge into each other to form a continuum. It is only the proportions which are different.

27. Language and Age: Language used by old generation differs from that used by the younger generation. In general, old people tend to be more conservative.

28. Ethnic dialect: a social dialect of a language mainly spoken by a less privileged population that has experienced some form of social isolation such as racial segregation.

29. 9.3.3 Language and gender Compared with men, women tend to use such adverbs: horridly, abominably, immensely, excessively, amazingly, so, most, etc. Women often use these intensifiers to excess so that the intensity of these words have weakened. What is more, the overuse of these words imply that the users are sentimental, shallow and not objective enough.

30. Oh! My dear Mr. Bennet, we have had a most excellent ball …. Jane was so admired. Every body said how well she looked. Mr. Bingley thought her quite beautiful, … I was so vexed to see him stand up with her. … I am quite delighted with him. He is so excessively handsome! … [Mrs. Darcy] is a most disagreeable, horrid man. So high and so conceited that there was no enduring him! He walked here, and he walked there, fancying himself so very great! Not handsome enough to dance with. -- Pride and prejudice

31. Wife: You always leave your papers about dear! Husband: Really? Didn ’ t I put them in place yesterday? In a sense, the overuse of the words of absoluteness or extremity may cause changes in the meaning of a word at least in the eye of a man.

32. Women may use the intensifiers at the sacrifice of the literal meanings of these words: A fine woman.. is vastly obliged, or vastly great; small ones are vastly little; and a purse could be vastly pretty, because it was vastly little.

33. Women have their own vocabulary for emphasizing certain effects: Females: so good, such fun, exquisite, lovely, divine, precious, adorable, darling, fantastic; Neutral: great, terrific, cool, neat

34. Women use more tag questions. This may indicate the speaker ’ s desire to avoid assertiveness and include the hearer in friendly conversation by offering the opportunity to respond, as in “ It ’ s a nice day today, isn ’ t it? ” But there is also an age difference in this characteristic: younger women appear to use tag questions much less frequently than older women.

35. Idiolect is a personal dialect of an individual speaker that combines elements regarding regional, social, gender and age variations.

36. 9.3.4 Register Language varies as its function varies; it differs in different situations. The type of language which is selected as appropriate to the type of situation is a register. According to Halliday, registers vary according to the three parameters of context: field, tenor and mode.

37. Field of discourse ( 话语范围 ): This refers to the social action. It involves what is happening, the nature of social action that is taking place and what the participants are engaged. Technical English, for example, are field-restricted.

38. Tenor of discourse ( 话语意旨 ): the role of relationship in the situation. It involves: who is taking part, the nature of the participants, their status and roles, and the type of role relationship between the participants.

39. Mode of discourse ( 话语方式 ): the means of communication. It involves what part language is playing, what the participants are expecting the language to do for them in the situation, and so on.

40. 9.3.5 Degree of formality Visitors would make their way at once to the upper floor by way of the staircase. (frozen) Visitors should go up the stairs at once. (formal) Would you mind going upstairs please? (consultative) Time you all went upstairs now. (casual) Up you go, Chaps! (intimate)

41. 9.3.6 Standard dialect A standard dialect is a socially prestigious dialect. It is usually used by the government, mass media, and schools. Any member can possibly use this dialect. It is based on a selected variety. It is not acquired naturally, but superimposed on the speakers. 普通话的定义是 “ 以北京语音为标准音，以北 方话为基础方言，以典范的现代白话文著作为 语法规范的现代汉民族共同语。 ”

42. 9.4 Lingua Franca, Pidgin & Creole Lingua Franca is a language which is used habitually by people whose mother tongues are different in order to facilitate communication between them. (UNESCO ’ s definition in 1953). Other terms used to describe such a language include: trade language (Swahili in East Africa), contact language (Greek in the Ancient World), international language (English in the contemporary world), auxiliary language (Esperanto).

43. Pidgin is a special language variety that mixes and blends languages and it is used by people who speak different languages for restricted purposes such as trading. When a pidgin has become the primary language of a speech community as their native language, it is said to have become a Creole.

44. 9.5 Bilingualism In some speech communities, two languages are used side by side with each having a different role to play; and language switching occurs when the situation changes. This constitutes the situation of bilingualism.

45. Diglossia: two varieties of a language side by side, with each having a definite role to play. According to Ferguson (1959), Diglossia is a relatively stable language situation in which, in addition to the primary dialects of the language (which may include a standard or regional standards), there is a very divergent, highly codified (often grammatically more complex) superimposed variety, the vehicle of a large and respected body of written literature, either of an earlier period oar in another speech community, which is learned largely by formal education and is used for most written and formal spoken purposes but is not used by any sector of the community for ordinary conversation.

46. 9.5.1 Examples of diglossia Arabic: Classical (H) and regional colloquial varieties (L) German in Switzerland: Standard German (H) and Swiss German Haiti: Standard French (H) and Haitian Creole (L) Greece: Katharevousa (H) and Dhimotiki or Demotic (L) varieties of Greek

47. 9.5.2 Bilingualism & Multilingualism Monolingualism: the ability to use only one language; monolingual Bilingualism: the ability to use two languages; bilingual Multilingualism: the ability to use more than two languages; multilingual

48. 9.5.3 Code-switching This term refers to the selection of a particular variety (language, dialect, etc.) when speaking, or changing from one variety to another, or mixing varieties even within sometimes very short utterances. 明天我要做 presentation 。 -- 你怎么找姜老师做答辩委员会主任 ? 他太 professional 了。 -- 我不怕他 professional, 就怕他不够 professional 。

49. Define: linguistic relativity, linguistic determinism, sociolinguistics of language, sociolinguistics of society Discuss: What are the differences between Chinese and English kinship terms? How are these differences related to differences between the two cultures?