7.8.language,culture-and-society 简明英语语言学 戴炜栋

Chapter7

Language,Culture,andSocietyI.LanguageandCulture1.Whatislanguage?Languageisasystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsusedforhumancommunication.I.LanguageandCulture2.Whatisculture?Inabroadsense,itmeansthetotalwayofapeople,includingthepatternsofbelief,customs,objects,institutions,techniques,andlanguagethatcharacterizesthelifeofthehumancommunity.Inanarrowsense,culturemayrefertolocalorspecificpractice,beliefsorcustoms,whichcanbemostlyfoundinfolkculture,enterprisecultureorfoodcultureetc.

“Cultureisabunchofgrapes.ifoneplucksawayatabunchofgrapes,isolatingeachseparategrape,theclusterdisappears.”“Culturecomesinlayers,likeanonion.Tounderstandityouhavetounpeelitlayerbylayer.”

I.LanguageandCulture3.Therelationshipbetweenlanguageandculture.“Languageisamirror,infrontofwhichcultureisreflected.”Languagedeterminesculture(linguisticdeterminism)Culturedetermineslanguage(culturedeterminism)3.Therelationshipbetweenlanguageandculture.(1)Cultureisawidersystemthatcompletelyincludeslanguageasasubsystem.Therelationoflanguagetocultureisthatofparttowhole.3.Therelationshipbetweenlanguageandculture.(2)Languagebothexpressesandembodiesculturalreality.Alanguagenotonlyexpressesfacts,ideas,oreventswhichrepresentsimilarworldknowledgebyitspeople,butalsoreflectsthepeople’sattitudes,beliefs,worldoutlooksetc.3.Therelationshipbetweenlanguageandculture.(2)Languagebothexpressesandembodiesculturalreality.Languageembodiesculturalidentity.E.g.Whenachildacquireshismothertongue,healsoacquiresalanguage-specificcultureandbecomessocializedincertainways.3.Therelationshipbetweenlanguageandculture(3)Languageplaysamajorroleinperpetuatingculture(orconsolidatingitovertime),esp.inprintform.E.g.USA,advancedcomputertechnology,Microsoft,popsongs,theHollywoodmovies;however,incompletewithouttheDeclarationofIndependenceandotherhistoricevent.3.Therelationshipbetweenlanguageandculture(4)Cultureaffectslanguage.Cultureuniversalsandbiologicaluniversalsleadtolinguisticuniversals.E.g.thesevendaysofaweek;colorwordsystem.(P230)3.Therelationshipbetweenlanguageandculture(4)Cultureaffectslanguage.Differentculturalfeatures(environmental,materialorsocial)producedifferentlinguisticfeatures.E.g.“24jie

qi”inChinese

立春、雨水、惊蛰、春分、清明、谷雨、立夏、小满、芒种、夏至、小暑、大暑、立秋、处暑、白露、秋分、寒露、霜降、立冬、小雪、大雪、冬至、小寒、大寒。3.TherelationshipbetweenlanguageandcultureConclusion:Ontheonehand,languageasanintegralpartofhumanbeing,permeateshisthinkingandwayofviewingtheworld,languagebothexpressesandembodiesculturalreality.Ontheotherhand,language,asaproductofculture,helpsperpetuatetheculture,andthechangesinlanguageusesreflecttheculturalchangesinreturn.II.AnthropologicalstudyoflinguisticsItisthe

studyoflanguageinasocio-culturalcontext.1.BronislawMalinowski(1884-1942)P160:Themeaningofawordgreatlydependsuponitsoccurrenceinagivencontext.Languagefunctionsasalinkinhumanactivity,amodeofaction.2.J.R.Firth(1890-1960):theoryofthecontextofsituationTherelevantfeaturesoftheparticipants,persons,personalities.Therelevantobjects.Theeffectsoftheverbalaction.“whospeakswhattowhomandwhenandtowhatend”3.DellHymes(1927-):Ethnographyofcommunication

Speechcommunity:agroupofpeoplewhosharenotonlythesamerulesofspeaking,butatleastonelinguisticvarietyaswell.Situation,event,andact:speechactsarepartofspeecheventswhichare,inturn,partofspeechsituations.SPEAKINGSsettingandscenePparticipantsEends:expectedoutcomes;participants’personalgoalsAactsequence:actualformandcontentofwhatissaidKkey:tone,manner,spirit(serious,light-hearted,joke)Iinstrumentalities:choiceofchannel(written-spoken;English-Chinese)Nnormsofinteractionandinterpretation(inchurchservice)Ggenre(lectures,poems)(Setting,TopicandParticipantarethreemainfactorsincommunication.)4.Sapir-WhorfHypothesisEdwardSapirandhisstudentBenjaminWhorfarecreditedwithdevelopingthemostrelevantexplanationoutliningtherelationshipbetweenthoughtandlanguage,theSapir-WhorfHypothesis.EdwardSapir(1884-1939)1884 BorninGermany,Lauenberg1909 PhDfromColumbiaUniversity,1925-31 UniversityofChicago1931-39 YaleUniversityEdwardSapirstudiedlinguisticanthropologyatColumbiaUniversitywherehewasheavilyinfluencedbytheteachingsoftheanthropologistFranzBoaz.HedevelopedanactiveinterestinnativeAmericanlanguages,especiallythosespokenbytheYanaandPaiutetribes.HetaughtatUniversityofChicagoin1925beforemovingontoYaleUniversityin1931.BenjaminLeeWhorf[1897-1941]1913Bachelor’sdegreeinchemicalengineeringfromMIT1931StudiedlinguisticsatYaleUniversity–studiedHopiunderthesupervisionofEdwardSapir.BenjaminLeeWhorfstudiedatYaleUniversityunderEdwardSapirandbecameinterestedinSapir'sideas.Hewasinfluencedbytheworkof18th-centuryGermanphilosophersJohnGottfriedvonHerderandWilhelmvonHumbolt,whotheorized,basedontheirstudyofEuropeanlanguages,thatlanguagehadabearingonhowpeopleviewedtheworld.WhorfworkedmainlyonlanguagessuchasHopi（霍皮语－美国亚利桑那州北部一印第安部落）,Hebrew（希伯来语）,andsomeindigenous（土著）languagesofMexico.Whorfreasonedthatthewaypeopleviewtheworldisdeterminedwhollyorpartlybythestructureoftheirnativelanguage.ThishascometobeknownastheSapir-Whorfhypothesis.S-WHypothesis:Ourlanguagehelpsmouldourwayofthinkingand,consequently,differentlanguagesmayprobablyexpressspeakers’uniquewaysofunderstandingtheworld.

Linguisticdeterminism:Lmaydetermineourthinkingpatterns.(originalhypothesis)Linguisticrelativity:Similaritybetweenlanguageisrelative,thegreatertheirstructuraldifferentiationis,themorediversetheirconceptualisationoftheworldwillbe.(modifiedhypothesis)SupportingEvidenceEvidence1HopiP164“timelesslanguage”English-speakersspeakoftimeinspatialmetaphors("alongtime““between9and10A.M.”,beforenoon,inthemorning)Englishspeakersthinkoftimeascountableunits("4daysago")Englishdividestimeintopast,present,future,Hopidoesnot.Englishusesamonetarymetaphor("timeismoney")Hopispeakofeventsascontinuouslyunfolding（展开）,ratherthanhappeninginxnumberofdaysHopihasnowordfor“fast”“Heveryruns”ButexhaustiveresearchsinceWhorfhaveshownthattheHopidorecognizepast,presentandfuture,dounderstandtemporalunits(days,weeks,months,etc.),andareaboutasobsessedwithtimeasweare.Evidence2EskimossnowAmericansuseonlyahandfuloftermstodescribesnow,includingtheactualwordsnow,sleet,freezingrain,andafewothers.Eskimos,ontheotherhand,havemanywordstodescribesnow(Hayesetal.96).Snowthatisfalling,snowontheground,snowinblocks,andsnowthatmakeswavypatternseachareexplainedthroughtheuseofseparatewords(Hayesetal.96).(reversalinfluence)Evidence3ZuniandDani:thecolorwordMonolingualspeakersofZuni,anativeAmericanlanguage,usedthecolorterm“ihupz’inna”tonameboth“yellow”and“orange”.Zuni-Englishbilingualsoftenused“olenchi”(aloanwordforEngish“orange”)oritsderivatives“olenchianne”,fortheorangecolor,reserving“ihupz’inna”for“yellow”.LennebergandRoberts(1956)foundthatall4monolingualZunispeakersarecognitionmemorytestforyellowandorange;the8ZuniEnglishbilingualsrememberedthetwocolorsbetterbutnotaswellasthenativeEnglishspeakers.Dani:modlaand

mili

forwhitewarmnessandblackcoldness(othertypesofcolorwordsfromnames,plants,animalsandsoon)

Englishhasthreewordsfor"insect","aeroplane",and"aviator".ButHopihasonlyonewordforallthree:"masajtaka"becausethesethingsdonotmatterthatmuchtothem.OpposingevidenceBrentBerlinandPaulKay’sstudyP165Comment1.Merelyahypothesis.Notwidelyaccepted.TheSapir-Whorfhypothesisremainsacontroversytothisday.(1)ItisnothelpedbythefactthatneitherSapirnorWhorfmadeanyexplicitstatementastowhethertheysubscribedto（同意，赞成）astrongorweakversionofthehypothesis.(2)ThedebateandpublishedworkinthisareaarelargelyinterpretiveoftheoriginalideasputforwardbySapirandWhorf.(3)Itiscertainthatlanguagehasacertaineffectonhumanthought.Buttowhatextentlinguisticstructureinfluenceshumanperception?Doeshumanthoughtalsoinfluencelanguage?2.Extendinglinguisticstoextra-linguisticconsiderations.Thehypothesisfurtheredpeople’sknowledgeoftherelationshipbetweenlanguageandthought,languageandculture,bydrawingattentiontotheinfluenceofcultureonlanguageandtheinfluenceoflanguageonthought.Ithasgreatinfluenceonsuchfieldsasanthropology,sociology,linguisticsandlanguageteaching.3.Encouragingvalidation.Thecontroversy,though,hashadapositiveimpact.Itcausedalotofpeopletothinkcriticallyaboutlanguage-relatedclaims,andhowtheycouldbetestedand/ordefended.III.WhatisinterculturalcommunicationAsaphenomenoninterculturalcommunicationreferstocommunicationbetweenpeopleofdifferentculturalbackgrounds.InternationalcommunicationAmericanPresidentJapanesePrimeMinisterInterracialcommunicationWhiteAmerican

Afro-AmericanInterethniccommunicationATibetanAHanInterregionalcommunicationAnorthernerAsouthernerCommunicationbetweenanytwopeoplemayberegardedasinterculturalcommunicationABIV.Linguisticevidenceofculturaldifferences1.Atlexicallevel2.Atpragmaticlevel3.Atdiscoursallevel4.AtstylisticlevelLinguisticevidenceofculturaldifferences1.AtlexicallevelColorwords:green(envyorjealousy)greenwithenvy,greeneyes,greenhorn，绿Numbers:4,6,8,9,11.Animalwords:Owl—owlish(wise)猫头鹰—badluckCricket—asmerryasacricket螅蟀（秋虫）—signifyingthecomingofautumn,afeelingofsadness烫手的山芋vs.hotpotato雨后春笋vs.springlikemushroomLinguisticevidenceofculturaldifferences2.Atpragmaticlevel

(1)Greeting:Hello/hi/Goodmorning/goodafternoon/goodday/Howdoyoudo?/Howareyou?你好/你早/吃了吗/上哪去/someothersituationalcomments(2)Addresses:Mr./Mrs/Miss/Ms/Sir/Madam同志/小姐/先生/师傅王会计/李司机/张秘书/赵出纳/王老师/贾处长李奶奶、张叔叔、王阿姨、冯爷爷（3）Thanksandcompliments:acceptornot“I’mgladtohearit.I’mgladtobeofhelp.Notatall.It’snothing.Thanks.No.Linguisticevidenceofculturaldifferences3.AtdiscoursallevelTheChineseseemtohaveapreferencefortheinductivebecauseoftheirreluctancetoimpose.WesternerstendtothinkweChineseliketocommunicateinanindirectway.(Thedeductivepattern:fromthegeneraltothespecific.Theinductivepattern:fromthespecifictothegeneral)Linguisticevidenceofculturaldifferences4.AtstylisticlevelThepreferenceforfour-wordphrasesinChineseThepreferenceforallusionsandquotationsinChineseThetendencytousealotofepithets“Themostobvioustrendofstyleinthiscenturyhasbeentowardstheinformalandthecolloquial.Atalllevelsfromthe'highbrow'noveltotheadvertisement,writinghasmovednearertocasualspeech.Fewwriterstodayaimatdignityorelegance.Wedistrustthosewhogetuponstiltstoexpresstheirthoughts.”(fromPlainEnglish)47Howtoteachcultureinlanguageteachingclassroom1.Togetthestudentsfamiliarwithculturaldifferences.2.Tohelpthestudentstranscendtheirowncultureandseethingsasthemembersofthetargetculturewill.3.Toemphasizetheinseparabilityofunderstandinglanguageandunderstandingculturethroughvariousclassroompractices.IV.LanguageandsocietyOnedoesnotneedtobeveryobservanttofindthatcertainlinguisticphenomenacannotbeaccountedforunlesstheyareplacedinthegeneralcontextofsociety.Inotherwords,socialfactorscannotbeexcludedfromourdescriptionoflanguageandlanguageuse.

1.Therelatednessbetweenlanguageandsociety1.1Whilelanguageisprincipallyusedtocommunicatemeaning,itisalsousedtoestablishandmaintainsocialrelationships.Thissocialfunctionoflanguageisembodiedintheuseofsuchutterancesas"Goodmorning!","Hi!","How'syourfamily?","Nicedaytoday,isn'tit?".

1.Therelatednessbetweenlanguageandsociety1.2Usersofthesamelanguageinasenseallspeakdifferently.Thekindoflanguageeachofthemchoosestouseisinpartdeterminedbyhissocialbackground.Andlanguage,initsturn,revealsinformationaboutitsspeaker.Whenwespeak,wecannotavoidgivingcluestoourlistenersaboutourselves.

1.Therelatednessbetweenlanguageandsociety1.3Tosomeextent,language,especiallythestructureofitslexicon,reflectsboththephysicalandthesocialenvironmentsofasociety.ForexamplewhilethereisonlyonewordinEnglishfor"snow",thereareseveralinEskimo.ThisisareflectionoftheneedfortheEskimostomakedistinctionsbetweenvariouskindsofsnowintheirsnowylivingenvironment.

Asociety'skinshipsystemisgenerallyreflectedinitskinshipvocabulary.1.TherelatednessbetweenlanguageandsocietyAsasocialphenomenonlanguageiscloselyrelatedtothestructureofthesocietyinwhichitisused,andtheevaluationofalinguisticformisentirelysocial.Toalinguist,alllanguageformsandaccentsareequallygoodasfarastheycallfulfillthecommunicativefunctionstheyareexpectedtofulfill.2.SociolinguisticsWhatissociolinguistics?asaword(1952H.Currie);asadiscipline(1964)Definitions:

Sociolinguistics

isthestudyoftherelationshipsbetweenlanguageuseandsocialstructure.Itinvestigatesthecorrelationbetweenlinguistic(i.e.,phonological,lexical,andgrammatical)variablesandsocial(i.e.,gender,age,status,andethnicity)variables.Sociologyoflanguage/macro-sociolinguisticsisthestudyofsociety

inrelationtolanguage.E.g.multilingualism,languagepolicies…Sociolinguistics/micro-sociolinguisticsisthestudyoflanguageinrelationtosociety.E.g.ideolect,addressterms…3.Importantterms

3.1Forgenerallinguistics,aspeechcommunityisdefinedasagroupofpeoplewhoformacommunityandsharethesamelanguageoraparticularvarietyofalanguage.However,sociolinguistswoulddefinespeechcommunityasagroupofpeoplewhodoinfacthavetheopportunitytointeractwitheachotherandwhosharenotjustatsinglelanguagewithitsrelatedvarietiesbutalsoattitudestowardlinguisticnorms.

Aspeechcommunityandsocialgroups3.2Withinaspeechcommunitythereexistvarioussocialgroups.Socialgroupsaredefinedinanumberofwaysbesidesthegeographicalbackgroundofthespeakers.Asocialgroupmaydistinguishitselffromtherestofthecommunitybysocialclass,

theeducationalbackground,theoccupation,thegender,theage,ortheethnicaffiliationofitsmembers.

3.3Speechvariety,orlanguagevariety,referstoanydistinguishableformofspeechusedbyaspeakeroragroupofspeakers.VarietyLanguageDialectCodeLanguageisacollectionofdialectsorvarietieswhichsharecentralfeatures(AnyonewhospeaksanEnglishdialectspeaktheEnglishlanguage.)Varietycanbeusedfordifferentlanguages,butmostfrequentlyusedfordifferentformsofonelanguage(theoftenreferredtoasdialects)Dialectisavarietyofalanguagewhichisdifferentinsomewords,grammarand/orinpronunciationfromotherformsofthesamelanguage.Dialectsarecharacteristicofsocialgroups.Therearegeographic,social,ethnic,genderandagedialects.Codeisatermusedinsteadoflanguage,speechvariety,ordialect.Itissometimesconsideredtobeamoreneutraltermthantheothers.3.4pidgin,creole,bilingualism,multilingualism,diglossia,codeswitchingApidginisaspeciallanguagevarietythatmixesorblendslanguagesanditisusedbypeoplewhospeakdifferentlanguagesforrestrictedpurposessuchastrading.PidginsarosefromablendingofseverallanguagessuchasChinesedialectsandEnglish,AfricandialectsandFrench,AfricandialectsandPortuguese.Pidginsusuallyhavelowprestigewithrespecttootherlanguages.(FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia)上海话中的洋泾浜英语“蹩脚”（BILGE，船底污水，引申为肮脏的、下三滥的、劣质的）“大兴”（DASHY，浮华的，华而不实的，引申为假的、冒牌的、劣质的）“肮三”（ONSALE，二手货贱卖，引申为垃圾货、形容人的品质低劣）“瘪三”（BEGSIR，乞丐先生，用来形容叫花子、难民、逃荒者等各式穷人，后引申为最广泛的骂人用语之一。“赤佬”是英语“CHEAT”（欺骗）和中文“佬”的混生词语，一个鲁迅时代最流行的洋泾浜俚语（隐语）。Whenapidginhasbecometheprimarylanguageofaspeechcommunity,andisacquiredbythechildrenofthatspeechcommunityas