Relationship between Language and Culture

Language is the most common and dynamic form of communication but the
condition is that the communication has to be understandable and intellectual as
well. It is the medium that carries infinitely capable of everything contained in the
field of human understanding.
Culture on the other hand may be defined as a kind of knowledge which a
person learns from other people either by direct instructions or by watching their
behavior.
So from the definition of language and culture it is easy to identify that language
and culture maintains a close relationship and they are very much dependent on
each other. In this regard, Holms claims: the relation between language and culture
is so inextricable that it is almost impossible to understand and appreciate the one
without the proper knowledge of the other. Again, Wardhaugh (2002) defines
language to be: a knowledge of rules and principles and of the ways of saying and
doing things with sounds, words, and sentences rather than just knowledge of
specific sounds, words, and sentences. While Wardhaugh does not mention culture
per se, the speech acts we perform are inevitably connected with the environment
they are performed in, and therefore he appears to define language with
consideration for context.
Thus Language relates culture and culture relates language and it is
impossible to appreciate one without the proper understanding of the other.

Inseparability of language and culture

According to some social scientists, both language and culture are very
much dependent on each other and they consider that language without language
and culture would not be possible. Without the existence of the one there is no
existence of the other and this is how they are inseparable.

Language affects Culture or Culture affects Language

As there is close relation between language and culture, they somewhat
affect each other. A society usually tries to change its language to represent its own
cultural values and ethics. So it takes us to a decision that is the language we use
certainly influences our audience. But the cognitive scientists have found some
evidence that language shapes thought processes. So, its difficult to tell to what
extent language changes our culture and ethics, or whether it is culture that affects

language. Some social changes may produce corresponding linguistic change

linguistic changes, i.e: in Russia and Russian.
shurin (19th cent) brat zheni (now), nevetska zhena brata

The role of Representation on Language and Culture

Representation plays an important role in the study of language and culture.
It

is

representation

which

connects

meaning

and

language

to

culture.

Representation denotes using language to say something about meaning, or to

represent, the world meaningfully, to the people. It is an essential part of the
process by which meaning is produced and exchanged between members of a
culture. It involves the use of language, of signs and images which stand for the
representation of things.

Circuit of Culture
Circuit of culture refers to the process by which culture gathers meaning at
five different moments including representation, identity, production, consumption
and regulation. These five factors play a very important role on circuit of culture.

Representation: Meaning comes from representations of language,

photography, painting and other media, which uses signs and symbols to represent
or re-present whatever exists in the world in terms of a meaningful concept, image
or idea. (du Gay,1990). Representation is utilized by industry to present products
to consumers.

Identity: Identity refers to the process by which meaning is made or

constructed by the individual person or cultural group when confronted with a text.
The formation of ones identity is clouded by an ambivalence that is not recognized
in

many

traditions

of

understanding

culture

but

which

is

imperative

in

understanding the dynamics of cultural studies.

Production: Production is the effort by which an entity such as an

individual, culture or industry presents itself or the products to others.

Consumption: Consumption refers to the process how the product is

used, what meaning people give to it when they use it, and what kind of social
context it is used. Often consumption happens in very different contexts.

Regulation: It justifies what forces limit or delimit the consumption of the

text and how perceptions of disapproval from others present significant forces of
regulation in the formation of a persons identity. It also influences how the products
come to exist in society.

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
In linguistics, the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis is a very important issue and
according to the hypothesis, there are certain thoughts of an individual in one
language that cannot be understood by those who live in another language. The
hypothesis states that the way people think is strongly affected by their native
languages. It is a controversial theory championed by linguist Edward Sapir and his
student Benjamin Whorf. Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis is the combination of three
hypothesis and they are linguistic relativity, linguistic determinism and
arbitrariness.

Linguistic relativity: This is the first hypothesis and it states that

differences in general language structures parallel to the non-linguistic cognitive
differences. Language differences cause differences in the mind of people who use
that language. I.e.- The number and the type of the basic colour words of a
language determine how a subject sees the rain bow.

Linguistic determinism: The second hypothesis is linguistic

determinism and it states that the structure of language affects the way individual
perceive make sense of the perceptual world. In other words, the structure of
human cognition is determined by the categories and structures that already exist
in the language.

Arbitrariness: The third hypothesis is arbitrariness and it refers to the

semantic systems of different languages vary without constraint. This hypothesis
must be tacitly assumed otherwise the claim that Linguistic Relativity makes is
rather undramatic. For example, each decomposition of the spectrum of the rain
bow a natural system of colour words is possible.

Language and Kinship

One interesting way in which people use language in daily life is to refer to
various kinds of kin. It is not surprising, therefore, that there is a considerable
literature on kinship and terminology, describing how people in various parts of the
world refer to relatives by blood and marriage. Kinship systems are a universal
feature of language because kinship is very important in social organization. But
there may be some certain difficulties as well as some cultures can distinguish some
relations while other cultures not. For example, in English both fathers father (FaFa)
and mothers father (MoFa) are called grandfather but that term includes another
term, father.
Finally, in the light of the discussion mentioned above it is fair enough to
say that language and culture are interrelated and their relation is so close for which
ones existence is unimaginable without the existence of the other one.

Relationship between Language and Gender

Language is the medium of abstract human thought that allows factual objects
transformed into abstract symbols. It is evident that language contains, reflects,
records and transmits varied types of social differences. Hence, there are certainly
reflexes of gender discrimination in language, since most societies are found to
differentiate between men and women in various marked ways.
Sex refers to biological features such as XX chromosomes for females and XY
chromosomes for males. Some studies claim that the assumptions associated with
characteristics for male as masculinity, or likewise characteristics for females as
femininity, are inaccurate. Such a biological view on sexual character leads to
reification (making real/concrete) of male and female inequality in our society. This
interpretation results in numerous sociobiological claims relative to neurological
factors about the relationship of male and female speech behavior.
On the contrary, gender refers to cultural and social attributes that have been
acquired via the socialization process of individuals to choose characteristics that
they are masculine or feminine.
The sex and gender definitions and explanations put forth the following key
approaches on the relationship between language and gender finding gender
identity:

The biological approach

The biological approach is the initial focus in the field of language that
accounts for the distinction between men and women in speech behavior on lexical,
phonological, and morphological forms. For example, typical male voice
characteristics are different from those of typical female voice characteristics;
women usually have a fundamental voice-frequency nearly twice as high as those of
men.

The cultural approach

This approach plays a vital role in the section of gender identity. In many
studies, such as those of Tannens (1990) and Maltz and Borkers (1982), two
cultural approaches were examined. They argued that males and females belong to
their own sub-culture and thus use language to maintain identity within their
respective groups. But the males enjoy more than females showing skills, size, and
ability and try to express their dominance even when others speak. These cultural
differences in the male and female groups lead to variance in the ways in which
they converse and convey ideas.

The power and dominance approach

This approach claims that women in a patriarchal system have a low social
status and position; therefore, the employment of standard language use aims to
raise

their

self-esteem.

This

approach

allows

for

the

interpretations

of

communication problems between men and women because of the unequal

hierarchical statuses and gender roles held in society. Womens speech was
considered unimportant and their use of linguistic forms was associated with their
low positions in society. Conversely, mens speech, for example, became an implicit
tool of patriarchal power through conscious and less conscious gender-role training
where they learned to dominate a conversation through interruptions, talk time, etc.
Thus, the early deficit approach was changed to a dominance approach.

The social constructionist approach

The social constructionist approach has been a particularly influential model in
studies on language and gender. These studies explored not only social constructs,
the relationship between gender and other aspects of identity, but also the
magnitude of context in determining how individuals use language.

Cultural influences on language acquisition

Culture influences language acquisition from the very beginning stage
through the entire development process. Culture influences all aspects of language
through the use of language. The ways in which language is learned varies between
these cultures. For example, in certain cultures prelinguistic children are spoken
about rather than spoken to. Children also may grow up learning only to speak
when an adult addresses them directly and never to jump-in on an adult
conversation or speak up in a public setting. And for this reason, many children
have difficulties in the classroom when asked to orally give their opinion or
demonstrate dialogue with other students.
Again studies of language and gender often make use of three models or
paradigms - that of deficit, dominance and difference:

The deficit model

Robin Lakoff the founder of the model suggested that womens language lacked
authority and describes male language as stronger, more prestigious and more
desirable than female language. It inflected an inferior social status making them
appear indecisive and needy. The differences are socially constructed rather than
biological constructs.

Dominance theory
Dale Spender was the founder of the theory in which it is seen that men
dominate and control both interaction with women and the language system itself.
Women use language in a way which reflects their subordinate position in society,
and men in a way which reflects their power.

Difference Theory
Deborah Tannen was the founder of the theory. The theory seeks to explain
the ways in which men and women talk in relation to their sub-cultures and ways in
which their talk is shaped by attitudes towards a type of talk. Difference may be to
do with

the

topics of

conversation.

Traditionally and

stereotypically male

conversations have been about work and sports whereas women have spoken about
family and the home.

To conclude, gender bias is reflected in language both structurally and

informal communication.