LANGUAGE AND CULTURAL
MEANING
Cultural behaviour is not essentially different
from other forms of learned behaviour; it is a
consequence of the dynamic of social living
over many generations, while individual
members of the social system are replaced
(Foley, 1997: 12)
Questions
• How do members of different cultures express
their worldviews?
• How do members of different cultures express
events, experiences, and intentions through
language?
• How do speakers express their way of being in
the world through a particular use of their
languages?
By the way a speaker frames intentions
and activities through language
• Usage of contrasting words (Blue/white,
good/bad)
• Grammatical forms (Example: the
structuring of sentences)
The framing of intentions and
activities
• English: I must go there. I make the horse
run.
• Navajo: It is only good that I shall go. The
horse is running for me.
What does the example illustrate?
• Different attitudes about people’s rights and
obligations
• Language expresses and reflects worldviews
• Cultural models: shared cultural attitudes (through
language, gender relations, labor relations, etc.)
• Language: key for transmitting cultural modelsProverbs, stories, etc.
-- conveying a way of being in the world
--guiding human thought and action
-- provides moral lessons
“The early bird catches the
worm.”
Concrete and symbolic meanings
• “The horse is running for me”
concrete object (horse)
• “Don’t cry over spilt milk”
symbolic meaning, metaphorical
Why do we study language?
• To identify cultural models
• Understand the relationship between
language and environment
• Language and society
The Foundations of Linguistic
Anthropology
• Edward Sapir (1884—1939) and his student
Benjamin Whorf (1897—1941)
• Linguistic research among Native Americans
groups (i.e. Paiute)--Sapir: lexicon or
vocabulary, Whorf: Grammatical structures
Edward Sapir
• Physical environment and social
environment through the use of language
• Elements of vocabulary influence speakers
perceptions
• The Paiute utilize unique words for valuable
geographical locations
Sand flat, semicircular valley or
hollow, spot for level ground in
mountains surrounded by ridges.
Benjamin Whorf
• Grammatical structures of language
influence thought and behaviour
• Grammatical structure and
conceptualization of time, number, duration
Whorf studies among the Hopi
• Time, number and duration fundamental for
Hopi culture
• Hopi: Emphasis: continuity, cyclicity and
intensity:
• English: Emphasis on boundedness and
objectification
• Hopi: Morning, “While morning-phase is
occurring”
Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
• Language influences people’s perception of
the world
• “Weak version”
• “Strong version”
Lexical and Cultural Categories
• Taxonomic systems: The classification system
that orders things in a logical hierarchical way, a
system that orders by indicating natural
relationships
• Semantic domains: a summative of words (words
put together). All sharing a core meaning, related
to a specific topic
Example: Kinship terms, body-parts words, or
colours
Language expresses
• Cultural focus: cultural priorities
• Transformativeness
• Not static; changes over time
Summary
• Members of different cultures express
different worldviews through a particular
use of their languages (language frames)
• Cultural models are expressed and reflected
primarily through language--proverbs“The
early bird catches the worm.”