Download Chapter 5 Language and Culture: Words and Meanings

Topic 4 Language and
Culture: Words and
Meanings
By Weiwei Li
The importance of language
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Henry Ward: Thought is the blossom;
language the opening bud; action the fruit
behind it.
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1 The link between language and culture
2 Language translation
3 language diversity among co-cultures
Language and culture
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1 Word differences are obvious in various
languages
House, vasa, ban, 房子
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2 Phonology also varies culturally
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English: 21 consonant sounds, 5 vowels
Vietnamese: 34 segmental phonemes
The Filipino language: 16 consonants and 10
vowels
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3 Grammatical structures are unique to each
language as well.
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English: singular, plural nouns
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Korean: the distinction between singular and
plural is made by the context of the sentence
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English: verb tenses express different tenses
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Chinese: the same verb reflect all tense
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It is important to know the symbols of
language and the rules of using those
symbols
Culture and meaning
Culture and the use of
language
Each of us learns and uses language as we do
because of our cultural background.
Spanish –Mexican culture
Mexicans cherish the art of conversation and
delight in verbal play
I am pleased to meet you.
I am enchanted to meet you.
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The structure of the future tense tells a great
deal about the Mexican notion of the future.
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(acknowledge the future’s uncertainty by
inferring probability)
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I will go the the store
Ire, al la tienda –I may go to the store
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The dominance of males in the Mexican
culture is revealed through gendered nouns
and pronouns
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A group of men : ellos (masculine ending)
A group of women: ellas (feminine ending)
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Express formality through separate verb
conjugations for formal and informal speech.
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you
Formal speech: usted
Familiar speech: tu
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The Mexican values of indirectness and facesaving are evident in their use of language.
(respecting the individual and preserving
dignity, direct arguments are considered rude
.
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In actuality, the Mexican will retain his or her
own opinion unless he or she knows the
person well or has enough time to explain his
or her opinion without causing the other
person to lose face
African
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Make rich use of proverb as a means of
teaching and perpetuating culture as well as
a powerful rhetorical device.
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many proverbs reveal respects for the old.
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“The month of the elder is more powerful
than a charm.”—underscores the power
contained in the words of an elder.
Pacific Rim Culture
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Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai
--use language cautiously
--indirect language that facilitates facesaving is important for these cultures.
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--expect their communication partners to be
able to read between the lines or decode
messages from a holistic, context-based
perspective
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-- language use reflect a great deal of
formality and hierachy in interpersonal
communication.
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Japanese culture encourages minimum
verbal communication
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The Japanese language is highly contextual
and often ambiguous with verbs coming at
the end of sentences, preventing one from
understanding what is being said until the
whole sentence has been uttered.
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Indirectness and face-saving are exemplified
in the use of language.
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Slience also plays an important part of
communication by intending to save
embarrassment
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The Chinese tend to be situation oriented and
to view events in relation to the totality.
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Middle values are articulated and a reciprocal
relationship between the two extremes is
emphasized
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The indirect use of language is evident in
ways other than the use of yes and no.
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An American host: “Oh, I’m so glad you liked
it. I cooked it especially for you.”
A Chinese host: ??
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English
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Used differently in various English-speaking
cultures.
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UK: interspersed with euphemisms that
enable the speaker to avoid expressing
strong feelings
USA: more direct
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USA: NO DOGS ALLOWED
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UK: WE REGRET THAT IN THE INTEREST
OF HYGIENE, DOGS ARE NOT ALLOWED
ON THE PREMISES.
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USA: “ VIDEO CONTROLLED.”
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UK: “NOTICE: IN THE INTEREST OF OUR
REGULAR CUSTOMERS, THESE
PREMISES ARE NOW EQUIPPED WITH
CENTRAL SECURITY CLOSED-CIRCUIT
TELEVISION.”
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USA: PLEASE KEEP HANDS OFF DOOR.
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UK: OBSTRUNCTING THE DOOR CAUSES
DELAY AND CAN BE DANGEROUS
FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND
TRASLATION
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OUR GLOBALLY ORIENTED WORLD
NECESSITATES ACCURATE
TRANSLATORS
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DIRECT TRANSLATIONS IN MANY CASES
ARE DIFFICULT
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1 WORDS HAVE MORE THAN ONE
MEANING
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2 MANY WORDS ARE CULTURE-BOUND
AND HAVE NO DIRECT EQUIVALENTS
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Idiomatic and slang equivalence
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Grammatical –syntactical equivalence
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Experiential-cultural equivalence
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Conceptual equivalence
Working with a translator
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The effective use of an interpreter requires
the establishment of a three-way rapport:
between the speaker and the interpreter;
between the speaker and the audience; and
between the interpreter and the audience.
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Compatiblity—neither domineering nor timid
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Ethnic compatibility---closed faith, religion
and culture group
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Knowledge of dialect---speak the same
dialect as the peole for whom he or she will
be translating.
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Specialized knowledge of your field and its
terminology
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3 CULTURE ORIENTATIONS CAN RENDER
A DIRECT TRANSLATION NONSENSICAL
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4 A CULTURE MAY NOT HAVE THE
BACKGROUND AND UNDERSTANDING TO
TRANSLATE EXPERIENCES SPECIFIC TO
OTHER CULTURES.
Summary
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The important of language
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language is important to human activity
because it is how we reach out to make
contact with others
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language permits us to remember the past,
deal with the present, and anticipate and plan
for the future.
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Language and culture
It is impossible to separate our use of
language from our culture.
language is a set of symbols and the rules
for combing those symbols that are used and
understood by a large community of people.
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sysmbols and sounds for those symbols vary
from culture to culture, the rules for using
those symbols and sounds also vary.
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language serves as a guide to how a culture
perceive reality
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Culture and meaning
1 The meaning we have for words are
determined by the culture in which we have
been rasied
2 Word usage and meaning are learned, and
all cultures and co-cultures have special
experiences that frame usage and meaning
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Culture and the use of language
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each of us learns and uses language as we
do because of our cultural background.
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Foreign languages and translation
as the world evolves into a global villiage, the
importance of international communication
and language translation takes on added
signigicance.
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People tend to assume that text in one
language can be accurately translated into
another
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Translation is often problematic because
there are difficulties in linguistic equivalence
such as vocabulary, idionmatic, grammaticalsyntactical, experiential-cultural, and
conceptual equivalence.
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Interpreters must be skilled in understanding
not only a language’s vocabulary, but also
emotive aspects, thought processes, and
communication techniques.