Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 Sociolinguistics, Language and Culture Nadine Bieniek (Hauptstudium LN) Alina Biesenbaum (Grundstudium LN) Maike Ebert (Grundstudium TN) Katharina Kraatz (Grundstudium TN) Lukas Rott (Hauptstudium LN) Magdalena Szuber (ECTS Punkte) Anna Zagermann (Grundstudium TN) Jessica Zeltner (Hauptstudium LN)

Content 1. Standard Languages and Linguistic Engineering 2. Building National Identities 3. Language and Social Position: Social Inequality 4. Social Deixis 5. Social Markers 6. Non-verbal communication 7. Expressive movements between cultures 8. Human Rituals

1. Standard Languages and Linguistic Engineering The Concept of the Nation-State and the National Language Magdalena Szuber

The notion of a ‘nation –state’ A result of economic and political developments in the 19th century, particularly the French and industrial revolutions, and from these via education of elites diffused throughout the world.

The notion of a ‘nation –state’ Shift of political communities from Gemeinschaft “community” signifying relationships based on likeness, shared properties of kinship and descent or locality, e.g. home, farm, village to Gesellschaft “association” people of different backgrounds engaging in contracts of association and exchange, e.g. larger cities or industrial units as is clearly modern nation-state. (Toennis, 1955) In this sense the nation-state is an “imagined community”, basis of which (or a powerful force for its forming) is a shared, mostly standard, national language.

The notion of a ‘nation –state’ Forces producing and molding standard national languages are various, but revolve mainly around politics and economy. Standard national language is likely to reflect the speech of nation’s elite.

The Development of Standard English

The Development of Standard English The idea of a standard English emerged in the London area, center of trade and commerce, around the 14th century; English spoken in 4 main dialect groupings: Northern, above the Humber River Midland, north of the Thames and Avon rivers, south of Humber Southern, south of the Avon and Thames rivers, west of London Kentish, south of the Thames River, mainly east of London

The Development of Standard English The Dialect of English spoken in London has always been gradually seen as prestigious throughout the whole country: 14th century - the Southern dialect 15th century - the East Midland dialect (The Black Death, William Caxton) 16th century - the Northern dialect (wool trade & manufacture) 16th/17th century literacy solidifies position of the prestigious London dialect, late 18th century - the rise of a nation-state ideology mounts full-scale attack on the minority languages of the British Isles

The Development of Standard English Late 18th century - the rise of a nation-state ideology mounts full-scale attack on the minority languages of the British Isles Unified British nation and people required acceptance of all of a standard British language Spelling standardized, stigmatizing certain variant forms (development of prescriptive grammars and dictionaries) The end result – Standard English we know today

Language standardization Country’s economic and political power centralized ‘Standard’ likely to be based on speech of the higher social strata, ‘the elite’ Literate forms and cultural activities

Dutch as a Standard Language Two different stories - Belgium and the Netherlands

Standard Dutch of Belgium and the Netherlands In Belgium Dutch is one of the two official languages. Originally modern Belgium and the Netherlands spoke regional dialects of Dutch. 17th century revolt against Habsburg rule produce a new standard of the independent northern provinces (The Netherlands), based on the language of Amsterdam. Amsterdam – cultural and scientific center The developments in Belgium differ.

Standard Dutch of Belgium and the Netherlands Habsburg hegemony in Belgium continued until the 19th century, when the Kingdom of Belgium emerged. French was than an prestigious language of courts from Paris to Moscow, also bulk of elite in Belgium. Farmers and laboring classes continued to speak regional Dutch dialects. Dutch received an official status in Belgium only in 1938. Belgian Dutch has never been officially recognized. Real economic power lies in the hands of French speakers (Brussels and the European Union).

Standard Languages in Norway

Standard Languages in Norway Story reflects the Romantic idea that nation’s unique identity and distinctive national language are closely intertwined. From 15th century until 1814, Norway was ruled by Denmark; official language – Danish. When Norway regained its independence in 1814, there was no Standard Norwegian. Two Standard languages emerge.

Standard Languages in Norway Bokmal, the ‘book language’, developed on the basis of speech of the urban elite, but influenced by the language of the enemy – Danish. Nynorsk, the new Norwegian A school teacher Ivar Aasen introduces new standard, based on the rural western Norwegian dialects, which have had least Danish influence.

Conclusion Language Standardization is primarily a political and economic process Significant role of ideologies of statehood and nationalism

2. Building National Identities Alina Biesenbaum

Building National Identities The concepts of nation and state: State: any region governed under a central administration with its own legal and political institutions, and separated by the administration from surrounding regions. Nation: community of people who see themselves as an ethnic and cultural unit, and contrast with other communities of people surrounding them.

Asia and Africa are multiethnic and multilingual problems of developing a standard language constructing a standard language is seen as an intrinsic part of building a modern nation-state „one nation, one people, one language“

Asia and Africa citizens are often divided by tribe, race, region, custom, religion and language therefore struggles may arise ( conflict between Bantu and Nilotic tribes in 1970s and 1980s) conflicts can lead to a collapse of the nation-state

Asia and Africa according to Geertz conflicts are a result of integrative failure important to bind people together into a state centralization of a national media, national school curricula, national governmental bureaucracy

Asia and Africa one of the major conflicts today is the struggle of communities (nations) to become states (Kurds) ex colonies: they are states struggling to be nations

Standard language and Elite Hegemony common identity of citizens = same national language official languages are necessary for the functioning of the state and its central institutions many ex-colonies have chosen English or French to be their national language

2 main reasons for this situation 1. countries are highly multilingual 2. prior to independence, the political and economic elite were educated in the colonial languages good and active control of these languages is essential to gaining access to power and prestige

Forging a Standard language - the case of Indonesian not all ex-colonies have adopted French or English Indonesia and Tanzania have raised regional languages to the status of official national languages Indonesia: multiethnic, multilingual (over 300 languages)

The Malay language Malay: language of trade, also used by the Dutch in 1928 Malay was claimed as official national language

The Malay language colloquial: aku tanam sayur di kabun I plant vegetables in garden standard: saya men-(t) anam-i kebun dengun I plant garden with sayur vegetables prefix men- indicates active voice suffix –i indicates that direct object is a location

The Malay language the colloquial varieties employ word order to signal grammatical functions and are morphologically unelaborated Standard Indonesian makes use of derivational morphology

Modernization in Language Standardization standard Indonesian is under pressure to „modernize“ lack of words for concepts and practices connected with the modern world of technology, bureaucracy, economy

Modernization in Language Standardization In coining new words for modern concepts, language planners look 1.for sources in Indonesian languages, 2. Sanskrit, 3. Indic languages, 4. European languages (English)

Modernization in Language Standardization antropologi – anthropology kwalitet - quality rasionalisasi – rationalization politik - politics demokrasi - democracy In the field of politics, economies, technology the words are borrowed from the English language

3. Language and Social Position: Social Inequality Jessica Zeltner

Contents: Language and Social Position Social Inequality: Class, Power, and Prestige Social Roles Other Types of Social Structure Conclusion

Social Inequality: Class, Power, and Prestige Sociolinguistics: “deals with the inter-relationships between language and society. It has strong connections […] to sociology, through the crucial role that language plays in the organization of social groups and institutions.” (Yule 1996: 239)

Social Inequality: Class, Power, and Prestige Social Stratification: “the arrangement of any social group or society into a hierarchy of positions that are unequal with regard to power, property, social evaluation […]” (Tumin 1967: 12) Power: The ability to realize one’s wants and interests even against resistance (according to Max Weber 1972)

Social Inequality: Class, Power, and Prestige defined by occupation and educational level people behave in ways appropriate to their class position Class System: positions people so that access to “scarce goods” is either given or denied

Social Inequality: Class, Power, and Prestige Conflicts of interests: higher vs. lower class Social Classes: “aggregates of people who have similar overall positions in the economic system” (Foley 1997: 308) indicators: occupation, educational level

Social Inequality: Class, Power, and Prestige Status: “the hierarchical ranking of individuals along a dimension of social prestige, which leads to differentials in power and access to scarce goods” (according to Weber)

Social Inequality: Class, Power, and Prestige Criteria of Status: inferior / superior Status entitlements are not fixed determined by occupation and educational background deference / avoidance hierarchy

Social Roles Criteria of Roles: particular attitudes and practices Influenced by class position and education different contexts - different behavior

Social Roles Criteria of Roles: actors take on roles different roles – differing status entitlements asymmetrical power

Social Roles Criteria of Roles: expectations asymmetry of power - strictness of roles specific code of behavior: “styles of language” highly pervasive roles

Social Roles Society: “network of fields of conventionalized interactive relationships of differential power, reward, and prestige” (Foley 1997: 311)

Other Types of Societies Caste Society: indicator: birth no alteration multidimensional hierarchical

Other Types of Societies Age Set Society: biological features hierarchy structured by age: age grades political power: the eldest younger must defer to older alteration by aging

Conclusion Societies are structured in various ways Most common way in Western Societies: class system Social roles are linked to concept of class and status Languages have various ways to indicate social class, status and roles

4. Social Deixis Maike Ebert

Contents: Social Deixis T/V Phenomenon Example Japanese Example Javanese Conclusion

T/V Phenomenon described by Brown and Gilman best known type of social deixis refers to the phenomenon that in almost every European language but also elsewhere second-person singular pronouns are used

T/V Phenomenon T from Latin tu, V from Latin vos T form  informal V form  formal Two dimensions how to use the forms: Power Solidarity

T/V Phenomenon Dimension of Power: One has power over another to degree to which one can control or influence the behaviour of another Asymmetrical V form Inferior uses V form, Superior T form Expl. Teacher – Pupil Employer – Employee

T/V Phenomenon Dimension of Solidarity: No asymmetry of power Related to social roles Two types: 1. equal and solidary  T form 2. equal and not solidary  V form

Japanese Special class of words or grammatical morphemes, whose sole function is to indicate social deixis among the interlocutors or the referent of some participant in the utterance. These grammatical units are called honorifics

Japanese Boku kare ni au yo I he meet DAT I’ll meet him T form

Japanese Watakushi kare ni aimas u I he meet DAT I’ll meet him V form I changes in V form (boku  watakushi) Mas is added (au  aimas)

Japanese Referent honorifics: -Deference is accorded by the speaker to the referent of a nominal participant in her utterance Neutral, non-deferential form, used to a solidary or inferior addressee Sakai drew a map for Suzuki

Japanese 2. Both are equal to the speaker Mr Sakai drew a map for Mr Suzuki 3. Speaker is considerably lower in status than Sakai, special subject honorific forms must be used to indicate the relative high status entitlement Mr Sakai came to draw a map for Mr Suzuki 4. Significant status differential between Sakai and Suzuki  Mr Sakai did the drawing of a map for Mr Suzuki

Javanese Most complex systems of honorifics, humbling, expressions and polite speech form indicating deference to the addressee Two speech levels which exemplify lexical items for most items of basic vocabulary Ngoko  T form Krama  V form

Javanese Ngoko: apa kowé njupuk sega semono Krama: menapa panjenengan mendhet sekul semanten  Will you take that much rice?

Javanese Madya: Middle language Small vocabulary Disliked by nobility Used by speakers that can’t speak krama Krama-speakers mainly use it as an outgroup code

Javanese Napa sempéyan mendhet sekul semonten njupuk sega Will you take that much rice? Mixed form of both languages

Conclusion T/V Phenomenon: Use of second-person singular pronouns Common in almost every European language Dependent on dimension of solidarity and power Honorifics: Special class of words or grammatical morphemes, whose sole function is to indicate social deixis among the interlocutors or the referent of some participant in the utterance  Japanese

Conclusion Different language are used to show different speech level  Javanese

5. Social Markers Lukas Rott

Contents 1. Sociolinguistic Variables 2. Code Switching 3. Social Markers and Ethnicity

Sociolinguistic Variables Definition: - indexical linguistic feature present in most, if not all, languages

Sociolinguistic Variables A linguistic feature that shows statistically significant variation along the lines of social variables (class, age, sex…) - Most commonly involves phonological variation, but can involve any linguistic feature.

Example Labov investigated differences in the phonetic realization of the phoneme /r/ in postvocalic position among speakers of New York City English: - two different realizations: a) retroflection of the vowel = /r/ -ed variety b) phoneme “r” is absent = /r/ -less variety After World War II the first realization became the standard pronunciation

Example Labov’s research in three different New York City department stores revealed that higher-class speakers tend to pronounce the postvocalic /r/ lower- and working-class New Yorkers often leave out the /r/ in postvocalic position

Code Switching Code Switching is the shifting from one language or variety of language to another in the course of verbal interaction.

Example Almost all adults in Yimas village (Papua New Guinea) are bilingual. They speak: a) Tok Pisin: The major lingua franca of Papua New Guinea → is used for political affairs, means modernity, lacks intimacy, can show superiority b) Yimas vernacular: carries social connotations of traditional cultural patterns, intimate relations and local conditions → shows solidarity, belonging

Diglossia Diglossia is a language situation in which there is, in addition to the primary dialect of the language, a very divergent and extremely codified variety, which is learned in formal education and is only used for written and formal spoken purposes. It is basically the result of an early codification of a language.

Example In Cairo there are two different varieties of the Arabic language: - Classical Arabic of the Koran → prestigious variety, predominantly a written language - Colloquial Arabic → predominantly an oral language, comprises several mutually unintelligible languages

Social Markers and Ethnicity There is a strong relation between ethnicity/race and language in many societies. Code switching is very popular among the different ethnic groups in hybrid countries → use of a shared local ethnic language is a claim to solidarity

Example Vernacular Black English is very different from Standard American English: - pronunciation is different in many cases (postvocalic /r/) - grammatical differences ( 3rd pers. sg. present) - different speech genres and styles of speaking

Conclusion Languages have social markers: forms that differ according to the social category one belongs to.   Good examples of social markers are sociolinguistic variables, which is e.g. the difference in pronunciation of postvocalic /r/ among New Yorkers of different social classes. Other social markers are code switching and disglossia in which languages or varieties of languages are shifted to index categories of status or solidarity People of different ethnicities and races tend to talk differently because they want to label social identity.

6. Non-verbal communication Katharina Kraatz

Main non-verbal signals Bodily contact: like: hitting, pushing, stroking involves a variety of areas of the body extend depends on culture Proximity: how close people sit or stand reflects relation between people

Main non-verbal signals Orientation: angle at which people sit or stand to each other varies with the nature of the situation: side-by-side position (cooperative situations/close friends) head-on position (confronting/bargaining) Appearance: 1. clothes, hair, skin  under voluntary control 2. physique and bodily condition  only partly under control purpose of manipulating appearance is self-presentation conveys information about personality and mood

Main non-verbal signals Posture: way of lying, standing, sitting are culturally defined conventions about posture have to be adopted in certain situations (e.g. church) it can be a signal for status (upright posture), varies with emotional state (tense- relax) is less well controlled than facial expression

Main non-verbal signals Head- nods: connection with speech usually a reinforcer (e.g. permission to speak) Facial expression: cultural universal and independent of learning (e.g. smiling) some aspects are hard to control (e.g. expansion of the pupils) used in close combination with speech

Main non-verbal signals Gestures: movements of the hands more expressive than movements of head or body close connection with speech (e.g. illustrates) can even replace speech: gesture languages Looking: people look about twice as much while listening as while speaking looking sends a signal of interest amount of looking seems to be a signal for intimacy used to obtain information: feed-back while talking, extra information while listening

Non- verbal aspects of speech paralinguistic signals: emotions expressed by tone of voice; group membership expressed by accent, personality characteristics expressed by voice quality, speech errors, etc.; not closely linked with language

Functions of non-verbal communication to communicate attitudes and emotions, to manage the immediate social situation  cultural variations in the signals used and situational rules governing their use to support and complement verbal communication  coordinated with speech in a complex way developed to replace verbal language

Sources of variations in non-verbal communication there are different rules of behaviour in different situations leads to different patterns of non-verbal communication different forms of groups: family: intimacy, dependence, aggressions, affections  more bodily contact; less formality and politeness work-groups: bodily contact helping; gesture language  where noise or distance prevents speech; facial expressions work performance friendship- groups: more self-presentation and attention to appearance; behaviour is more polite

7. Expressive movements between cultures Nadine Bieniek

Similarities Smiling Crying Laughing

Similarities Greeting: smiling nodding raising eyebrows for 1/6th second (if friendly) signals readiness for contact

Similarities Eyebrowflash:  greeting  flirting  approving  thanking  emphasizing a statement  seeking information

Similarities Coyness / embarassment / flirting: hiding the face/mouth behind one hand  especially young children and flirting girls

Differences Yes – No: Central European: „yes“  nodding the head „no“  shaking the head

Differences Ceylonese: factual question („Do you drink coffee?“) „yes“  nodding the head agreement to do something („Will you join me for a cup of coffee?“) „yes“  swaying the head in slow sideway movements „no“  shaking the head

Differences Greece: „yes“  nodding the head „no“  jerking the head back, thus lifting the face

Differences Darwin: suggested that shaking the head originated from food-refusal when a baby is satiated it refuses the breast by turning its head away even deaf- and blind-born children refuse food in the same pattern

8. Human Rituals Anna Zagermann

Human Rituals Definition: situation in which an individual actor puts on a performance performance consists of symbolic actions showing mutual statuses in relation to other persons/parties

Human Rituals cultural traditions characteristics of a certain group take place within a cultural context not an innate process if you want to be part of a society you have to learn the rituals

Why Rituals? rituals in human‘s and animal‘s life strategy to survive individual wants that the society of which it is part continues to define its own group

Examples Prayer: Hinduism

Examples Salutations

Problem of Rituals problem of interpretation context of action Private Arena Public Arena each code used in a ritual is unique

Conclusion many kinds of non-verbal signals are culturally dependent non-verbal communication is used to communicate attitudes, to complement speech and to replace speech non-verbal communication differs with the groups you communicate in and the rules which govern communication

References Foley, William 1997: Anthropological Linguistics. An Introduction. Oxford:Blackwell Tumin, Melvin M. 1967: Social Stratification. The Forms and Functions of Inequality. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, Inc. Weber, Max 1972: Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft – Grundrisse der verstehenden Soziologie: Tübingen Yule, George 1996: The Study of Language. Cambridge: CUP Hinde, R.A. 1972: Non-Verbal Communication.Cambridge University Press.Cambridge http://www.harekrsna.com/practice/sadhana/morning/mangala-arati/mangala-arati.htm http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gru%C3%9F

Thank you for your attention!