The University of Hong Kong CCHU9042 Human Language: Nature or Nurture? Final Report Is Language Influenced by Culture? Culture and language have long been believed to be intimately interrelated. Defined by anthropologist Tylor (1871, p.1), culture is "that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society." People learn culture through language. Language, one of the most distinctive characteristics of human, is unique to human with its productive and creative nature (Hockett, 1960). This essay aims to discuss how language is influenced by culture. CL7 and Gossophilia …show more content…
Although I agree with the point that religion shapes people’s language, these examples may not be logical enough. Suggested by Crystal (1965), the word “good” has completely different meanings for Christian and non-Christian. “Good” is associated with “penance”, “suffering” and “charity” for Christian but “happiness” and “satisfaction” for non-Christian. Their different contextual meaning of “good” could be explained by Christians’ belief to pay for their sins through penance and contribute to God through “charity” to fulfill goodness. This piece of evidence may reveal the influence of religion, which is a part of culture, on language. Glossophilia justified social strata’s influence on language through honorific speech in Japanese, linguistic imperialism and social classes, with concrete examples, like English’s influence on Irish language. Their logical argument and evidence, which are coherent with the evidence about Japanese’s politeness marker and honorific speech raised by group CL7, have convinced me. I agree with their point that social strata, as a part of culture, influence how people use language. Both groups emphasize honorific speech of Japanese, which is suitable for this view. It is also supported by Tsujimura (1992) that Japanese uses honorific
The article ‘My Two Lives’ which that highlights the concept of ‘Language and Society’ published by the Newsweek, inspires this task. Language is both a system of communication between individuals and a social phenomenon. The area of language and society, sociolinguistics, is intended to show how such factors as class, gender, race, and more govern our use of language. In short, language constitutes humans and their identities. All people either utilize varieties of a language or use two or more languages to respond to a whole range of affective and interpersonal demands; language by depiction must be defined as multilingualism.
Language plays a significant role in defining who we are. It is a method of communication in a structured and conventional way. “Language reinforces feelings of social superiority or inferiority; it creates insiders and outsiders” (p. 242) states Robert MacNeil (2012) in his article “English Belongs to Everybody”.
Language is the potent tool by which a community constructs and defines its sociopolitical agenda; it is the lens through which a people’s history and culture is viewed; a devise that is used both as a controlling as well as a rewarding tool. Largely, it aligns the beliefs of its subjects even as it defines their worldview. While many studies have been done to understand obsequiousness,
In this day and age it is important that one understands the different myths in society. Myth 17 and Myth 20 from the book Language Myths edited by Laurie and Peter Trudgill address many myths that the average layman may have concerning language. I will address the main ideas and my overall insight about Myth 17 and Myth 20.
Language and emotion are very important to human development as it creates identity and perception of the self. In addition, language and emotion are important to socialization and a person’s perception of the world. These messages are taught differently throughout the world and are influenced by the family, community and culture therefore children adapt as a result of their learned experiences (Miller and Mangelsdorf 2005). This paper focuses on research conducted by Kusserow (1999), Fung (1999) and Orellana (2001). The researchers’ methodologies differ greatly but each touches on the approach of socializing children into each culture and subculture’s teachings on acquiring various forms of language and emotion.
The paper “Language Ideology”, co- written by Kathryn Woolard and Bambi Schiefflin published in the year 1994 by 'Annual Reviews’ is a review on the link between language ideology and cultures.
What do you think drives the opposition to gay marriage? Is it because it's uncommon in a society that seems to let only male and female get married, or is it that people just don't like it or uncomfortable with the idea of gay people marrying? A growing number of same-sex marriage led our society to be Less productive than usual, by not having the standard rate of giving birth. The number of women is higher than the number of men in many countries and that is what made other countries begin questioning among individuals. We should ban same-sex marriage because it’s uncivilized, and it also decreases our productivity by not having the standard number of birth, that is why the U.S. government is letting immigrant come to the United States so
Language is one out of many significant factors that both archaic and contemporary civilizations are built on. In Richard Rodriguez’s essay “Aria” he focuses on the multiple aspects regarding his experience as a bilingual child. He states in one paragraph that “[i]t is not possible for a child — any child — ever to use his family’s language in school. Not to understand this is to misunderstand the public uses of schooling and to trivialize the nature of intimate life — a family’s ‘language.’” This excerpt is only one example of the way Rodriguez creates his claim through various rhetorical devices.
Have you ever had the feeling that speaking another language changes how you think? Could speaking a new language take you to a different perceptual world? Or is language just a set of labels for universal thoughts or ideas? (Shaules, 2015) Many brilliant thinkers have spent their entire lives working on these kinds of topics for over a century. When it comes to linguistic relativity, “The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis”, first proposed by ‘Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf seventy years ago, states that the language we speak does shape the way we see the world and has an important role, it remains the dominant hypothesis in the field of language and thoughts. (Sapir, 1921)
Language is part of who a person is. Also like in spanish, by the way we speak we can tell where everyone is from. A big part of culture is language that's why it is used to distinguish.
Language is a system of communication which consists of a set of sounds and written symbols which are used by the people of a particular country or region for talking or writing. It is considered as an art because when used it able to help a person develop or create a certain picture in the mind. Language being an artifact of culture means that it is an interesting thing that is created by the people. It is an aspect of their way of life of the people. It also helps in development of the people as writers and intellects. As a culture it is a people’s way of life and therefore the impact it has to human beings cannot be under looked.
This article discusses the way in which the language used in our society can have negative association. Our language largely influences how we think and act and in turn how we preserve global justice. The author also includes good points about how terminology used in one society does not reflect similarly among all other societies and this can be harmful. He provides a few solutions to the issue that could potentially be a positive direction for social justice among certain circumstances.
The topic of this essay is all about language, but does language even matter? We all have a different perspective of how we write, everyone has a different style of writing in general, so WHY DOES language matter? You can’t put a grade on writing. Simple as it is, writing has a lot of meaning, even if you think it’s trash, it has a huge meaning behind it. Some people’s meanings can be as dumb as “My teacher made me write this”, or maybe others have a passion for writing.
Why Does Language Matter? Imagine trying to express yourself without words, without being able to tell anyone what it is you’re feeling. Language is the way in which people communicate with each other, but it is also so much more. People can make snap judgements on the way others speak or present themselves.
Most questions of whether and how language shapes thought start with the simple observation that languages differ from one another. And a lot! Just look at the way people talk, they might say. Certainly, speakers of different languages must attend to strikingly different aspects of the world just so they can use their language properly.