LANGUAG

E AND
CULTURE
Language
 Language can be defined as the system
of communication comprising codes
and symbols which are used by
humans to store, retrieve, organize
structure and communicate knowledge
and experience.
 Language is the primary instrument in

the expression, transmission, and

adaptation of culture.
Culture
It is a set of beliefs,
values, norms, customs,
traditions,
rituals(practices), and a
way of life that
differentiates one group
There are different cultures


in the world. For example:

 American Culture
 Pakistani Culture
 Indian Culture
 Chinese Culture etc.
 Language has three main functions:

1. From a cultural perspective, it is the primary

means of preserving culture and is the medium of
transmitting culture to new generations.
2. It helps establish and preserve community by
“linking individuals into communities of shared
identity.”
3. At the societal level, it is Important to all
aspects of human interaction because it “often
relates to political goals”.
Relationship between Language and
Culture:

 Language and culture are related and

dependent on each other.
 Language is formed by culture, while

culture is influenced and impacted by

language.
 Without language, culture cannot be
completely acquired nor can it be
effectively expressed and transmitted.
 Without culture, language cannot exist.
 Culture effect languages in different ways

 The relationship between language and culture is as old as

mankind.
 Physical environment
 Social environment
 Kinship relations
 Media culture
 Change of vocabulary
 Change in pronunciation
 Same words having different meaning in different
cultures
Effect of culture on language

 As every culture is different so need different

languages to speak.
 Physical environment - reflected in language,

normally in the lexicon i.e Eskimo (people

lives in northern Canada and Green land).
There are so many words used to refer snow.
( many of which describes the varying stages
of the melting process)
 Fifty words for snow.
Example
There are numerous words to
describe ‘snow’ used in the
languages of peoples living in cold
countries. For example freshly-
fallen, icy, packing snow etc.
Social culture effect language


As in Arabic culture. Camel is the
well known animal and the people
use different 40 words to refer camel.
 It is undoubtedly true that the

Hawaiians have 65 words alone for

the fishing nets. 108 for sweat
potato, 42 for sugarcane.
 The differing of cultural attitudes towards
time are well articulated by their
vocabularies.
 There are some special words which

belongs to few languages or a single

language.
 For example: it is in Punjabi that they

have the word "PARSO"

 Meaning either the day after tomorrow or

the day before yesterday.

Change in Vocabulary
1: What it means in the U.S.:
The floor at ground level.
 What it means in the U.K.:

The floor above the ground level floor.

 Potentially confusing sentence:

“That super-important meeting is

taking place on the first floor — don’t be
late!”
2: What it means in the U.S.:
A storage container.
 What it means in the U.K.:

A trash can.
 Potentially confusing sentence:

“I put all my grandmother’s valuables in

a bin.”
3: In British the word used anti clock wise
while in U.S it is called counter clock
wise.
 Kinship relations
 One of the clearest examples of lexicalized
categories are words use to refer to people
who are the members of the same family or
kinship term.
 All languages have kinship term (e.g. brother,

mother, grandmother), but they don’t all put

family members in the same category.
 In some languages the equivalent of the word

father is used not only for male parents but

also for male parent brother.
 In English we use the word uncle for this other type
of individual. We have lexicalized the distinction
between the two concepts. Yet we use this same
world for the female parent brother. That
distinction is not lexicalized in English but is in
other language it would see that distinction in age
among uncles is important in Mopan Mayan
culture.
 Other distinction among relatives can also be

lexicalized in the world language. For example, in

Norwegian the distinction between male parent
mother (farmor) and female parent mother
(mormor) is lexicalized, but in English word
Changes in society may
causes so me
corresponding linguistic
changes.
Such as road side signals

indifferent cultures.
 Media culture effect language

 As now a days kids watch cartoon

in Hindi and they use words from
their language. Shakti as taqat
 Indian dramas has also influenced

our language. For example an Urdu

word “phir” is pronounce in Hindi
as fir.
Language and Thought
Thought processes and perceptions of
reality differ from one culture to
another.
• Individualistic Thinking and
Collectivistic thinking
How people think and speak is
• Our culture forces us to call a
stranger “uncle”, out of respect,
ultimately determined largely by their
rather than his first/last name.

culture. We call this Linguistic Relativity.

Linguistic Relativity

Benjamin Lee Whorf – Language and

thought are so intertwined that one’s
language determines the categories of
thought open to him or her.
 “simply stated, the Sapir Whorf hypothesis
says, that the content of a language is
directly related to the content of a culture
and the structure of a language is directly
related to the structure of a culture.
 Language and culture are inseparable

Language and culture cannot be

separated. Language is vital to
understanding our unique cultural
perspectives. Language is a tool that is
used to explore and experience our
cultures and the perspectives that are
embedded in our cultures.
- Buffy Sainte-marie
Language is heavily influenced by culture

As cultures come up with new ideas,

they develop language components to
Old age homes/ social taboos/ satti
express those concept/
ideas. The
watta-satta reverse is also
marriages/
concept of vani/ basant festival
true, the limits of a language can define
what is expressible in a culture (that is ,
the limits of a language can prevent certain
concepts from being part of a culture).
Language is necessary for the expression of culture

As a means of communicating values,

beliefs and customs, it has an important
social function and fosters feelings of
group identity and solidarity. It is the
means by which culture and its
traditions and shared values may be
conveyed and preserved.
 Language

Identity Culture
Relationship between Language, Culture and
Identity

Culture and language shape one’s

identity and personality. There is
much importance of culture
Urdu-Hindi Controversy
and
language toSeparation
one’sof East
individual
and West Pakistan identity.

Language is a powerful instrument of

identity and belonging.
 Conclusions
 Languages, cultures and thoughts intricate to each other
in different ways.
 Effect of environment and society on language use is
obvious in several areas (lexicon, kinship relations) but
there is also evidence for the structure of language to
determine the world view of the speaker.
 Each social group differs from other in the way they are
constrained in their language use by culture but no
social group uses language quite uninhibitedly.
 Language use is sensitive to social changes, in that
changes society and culture will appear in language use.
Conclusion

Languag Culture
e