Chapter 6 Words and Meaning

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Chapter 6Words and Meaning

• Language and Culture

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• Language is so fundamental to our being that it
  is hardly possible to image life without it. It
  is so tightly woven into our human experience
  that anywhere on earth where two or more people
  gather together they likely will be communicating
  in some way.
• A different language is a different view of life.

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Chapter 6 Language Culture

• Language is the primary means of interactions
  between people. Speakers use language to convey
  their thoughts, feelings, intentions, and desires
  to others. Language links interlocutors in a
  dynamic, reflexive process. We learn about people
  through what they say and how they say it we
  learn about ourselves through the ways that other
  people react to what we say and we learn about
  our relationships with others through the
  give-and-take of communicative interactions--Bonvi
  llain

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• Language is distinctly human it is a faculty
  that separates us from other species of animals.
• the gift of language is the single human trait
  that makes us unique, setting us apart from the
  rest of life. Language is like nest building or
  hive making, the universal and biologically
  specific activity of human beings. We engange in
  it communally, compulsively, and automatically.
  We cannot be human without it if we were to be
  separated from it our minds would die, as surely
  as bees lost from the hive.

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• Do Animals have language? Do they communicate?
  What kind of communication do they have, if any?
  How is it different from human language and
  communication?

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• Language is important to human activity because
  it is the means by which we reach out to make
  contact with others.
• Because of your ability to use language, you can
  reliably cause precise new combinations of ideas
  to arise in each others minds
• "In nature's talent show we are simply a species
  of primate with our own act, a knack for
  communicating information about who did what to
  whom by modulating the sounds we make when we
  exhale.

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Communicative Functions of Language

• Language functions to facilitate affective
  expression, thought, social interaction, the
  control of reality, the maintenance of history,
  and the expression of identity.
• Language also permits you to pool knowledge and
  to communicate with others who are beyond the
  reach of your voice in space and time so that you
  need not rediscover what other have already
  discovered.

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Language has 3 main functions

• From a cultural perspective, it is the primary
  means of preserving culture and is the medium of
  transmitting culture to new generations.
• It helps establish and preserve community by
  "linking individuals into communities of shared
  identity."
• At the societal level, it is important to all
  aspects of human interaction because it "often
  relates to political goals."

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Conversation

• Conversation provides you with the means of
  conducting human affairs.
• It is largely through conversation that we are
  socialized, through which institutional
  organizations such as the economy and the polity
  are managed, and through which we manage our
  ordinary social lives.
• Conversation is the basis for many of the
  fundamental functions of language.

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Expression of Affect

• Language allows you to express outwardly your
  internal affective states (feelings).
• Might be a simple statement or loud cursing
  could be voicing personal happiness or sorrow.

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Thinking

• Humans are both visual and verbal thinkers.
• Verbal thinking is very important because
  language functions as an instrument of thought
  when you speak out loud as an aid to problem
  solving or thinking.

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Control of Reality

• Prayers or blessings invoking supernatural
  beliefs use language to try and control the
  various forces that are believed to control or
  influence ones life.
• Catholic Mass uses this a lot.

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Keeping of History

• Language is the archives of history.
• Language is used to record past events and
  achievements historical records, geographical
  surveys, business accounts, scientific reports,
  legislative acts, and public-record databases.

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Socialization and Enculturation

• Socialization and enculturation involve the
  experiences in which children participate so that
  they will eventually become productive and
  responsible adults.
• Language is the primary means of instructing kids
  of culturally acceptable practices and behaviors
  for social interaction, in the appropriate
  relationships to the physical environment, and to
  the sensed but unseen supernatural.

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Expression of Identity

• Language is the mechanism through which much of
  your culturally based individual and group
  identities are constructed.
• Identities do not exist until they are enacted
  through language.

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• Cheering at a football game, reciting a national
  hymn, or shouting names or slogans at public
  meetings can both reinforce your group
  identification and reveal a great deal about you.
• The way people talk can reveal a great deal about
  their social position and/or level of education
  (Japanese High School Students).

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Language and Culture

• "Cultural premises and rules about speaking are
  intricately tied up with cultural conceptions of
  persons, agency, and social relations" (p. 168).
• "There is no doubt, however, that there is a
  correlation between the form and content of a
  language and the beliefs, values, and needs
  present in the culture of its speakers" (p. 169).

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• Language and culture have the power to maintain
  national or cultural identity.
• Many countries have taken steps to prevent
  linguistic soiling.
• Costa Rica, Turkey, Iran, France

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• Languages DO acquire words from other languages
  naturally.
• Many languages have acquired Native American
  words for objects avocado, chocolate, coyote,
  sequoia, caribou, chipmunk, Chinook, and tomato.

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Verbal Processes

• It is impossible to separate language from
  culture.
• Language is a set of characters or elements and
  rules for their use in relation to one another.
• These characters or elements are language symbols
  that are culturally diverse they differ from
  one culture to another.

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• Not only are the words and sounds for those
  symbols different, but so are the rules for using
  them.
• Phonology the number and tonal qualities of
  speech sounds is also culturally diverse.

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Phonology of various Languages

• English 38 sounds (21 consonants, 5 vowels)
• Filipino 26 sounds (16 consonants, 10 vowels)
• Mandarin - ????

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Grammar of Various Languages

• English singular and plural nouns and pronouns.
• Korean distinction between singular and plural
  is made by the context of the sentence.

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• English Verb tenses express past, present, and
  future.
• Vietnamese Same verb does all 3 specific time
  is inferred from the context.

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Syntax of Various Languages

• English S V (The teacher died.)
• Filipino V S (Died the teacher.)
• Japanese V at end (Watashi wa Tokyo ni
  ikimashita I Tokyo went to.)
• English Possessive uses
• Spanish casa de Rosa Maria (needs de)

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English and German

• English verbs come after subject
• I should go to the party.
• German Modal verbs come first and force other
  verbs to the end of the sentence.
• Ich soll zur Partei gehen. (I should to the Party
  go.)

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Word and Pronunciation Diversity

• Language does more than just reflect culture it
  is the way in which the individual is introduced
  to the order of the physical and social
  environment.
• Language seems to have a major impact on the way
  in which the individual perceives and
  conceptualizes the world.

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American vs. British English

• Yes, it is a pity that Ians in queer street.
• Too much hire purchase was the problem, wasnt
  it?
• Yes, and too many purchases of bespoke clothes
  and other things.
• And now his personal and business current
  accounts are badly overdrawn?
• Precisely. Hes been forced to retain a
  solicitor, and his position as a commercial
  traveler is in jeopardy.
• Ian has gotten into debt over his inability to
  pay, and he has had to hire a lawyer to try to
  get him out of his adverse circumstances.

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Translation errors

• In a Japanese hotel You are invited to take
  advantage of the chambermaid.
• Outside a Paris dress shop Dresses for street
  walking.
• In a Rome Laundromat Ladies, leave your clothes
  here and spend the afternoon having a good time.

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Pronunciation diversity

• Why are Australians always happy when their
  mothers die?
• They always say Mothers die with a smile on
  their face.

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Language, Culture, and Meaning

• It is common to ask What does that word mean?
• In fact, most meanings are not inherent in words
  they are internal (held inside our heads) Words
  bring those meanings to awareness as required.

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• Words can have many different meanings depending
  on your background and culture.
• The word cool can mean something related to
  weather for one person and something trendy,
  nice, and with it for another person.

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• Every person draws on his/her unique background
  to decide the meaning of words.
• People can only use similar meanings of words if
  they have had similar experiences.
• A cancer patient, a relative of a cancer patient,
  and a doctor all have different meanings for
  cancer.

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• Words can have many different meanings.
• The 500 most common words in English have about
  14,000 meanings.
• Cat animal, jazz musician, type of tractor,
  type of fish, kind of sailboat, or a kind of
  whip.
• In America, words can change because of simple
  borders or even rivers.
• Which words are different between Taiwanese
  Mandarin and Chinese Mandarin? How about Chinese
  English and American English?

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• There are more ideas, feelings, and things to
  represent than there are words to represent them,
  so we must use our personal background and
  experiences to get meaning from the words we
  encounter.

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Culture and meaning

• If culture is included as a variable in the
  process of deciding meaning, then the problem
  becomes bigger.
• Culture teaches us both the symbol (dog) and what
  the symbol represents (a furry, four-legged,
  domesticated animal).

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• Intracultural communication tends to be very
  easy, because you have the same background and
  experiences.
• Intercultural communication often becomes
  difficult as speakers attempt to establish common
  meanings for words.

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• It becomes even more complicated when you throw
  in words (in different languages) for abstract
  ideas.
• What does freedom mean? Love? Wealth? Nature?
  Leadership? Democracy? Security? Not only do
  cultures have different words, but also varying
  ideas about what these things are.

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Word differences

• The Sami have many words for snow and reindeer,
  because they are so important to Sami culture.
  They have no words for computer, printer, or hard
  drive.

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• One word for snow means where reindeer have been
  digging and eating in one place and left, so its
  no use to go there.

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American vs. British English Words

• British English boot, bonnet, lift, and biscuit
• American English Car trunk, car hood, elevator,
  and cookie.
• The British billion is the American million.

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Language and Thought

• Just as verbal behavior differs from one culture
  to another, thought processes and perceptions of
  reality also differ.
• How people think and speak is ultimately
  determined largely by their culture. We call this
  Linguistic Relativity.

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Linguistic Relativity

• Benjamin Lee Whorf Language and thought are so
  intertwined that ones language determines the
  categories of thought open to him or her.
• We cut up and organize the spread and flow of
  events as we do largely because, through our
  mother tongue, we are parties to an agreement to
  do so, not because nature itself is segmented in
  exactly that way for all to see.

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Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

• Language is not simply a means of reporting
  experience rather, it is also a way of defining
  experience.
• Linguistic relativity is the degree to which
  language influences human thought and meanings.
  It proposes that in human though language
  intervenes between the symbols and the ideas to
  which the symbols refer.

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Hindi

• In Hindi, there are no single words for aunt or
  uncle. Rather, there are different words for
  Fathers older brother, fathers younger brother,
  wifes older brother, etc.
• Similar to Mandarin
• http//www.expatintaiwan.net/family-names/

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Navajo

• In Navajo, it is important to express both the
  nature and direction of movement.
• English One dresses.
• Navajo One moves into clothing.
• English One is young.
• Navajo One moves about newly.

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English vs. Navajo

• English I must go there.
• Navajo It is only good that I shall go there.
• English I make the horse run.
• Navajo The horse is running for me.

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English vs. Navajo

• English and Navajo express different concepts
  presupposing peoples (and other animate beings)
  rights to individual autonomy.
• English and Navajo vocabulary differs for having
  to do things or being compelled to do things.

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English vs. Navajo

• English has many words that express coercion
  cause, force, make, compel, order, must, have to,
  ought to.
• Navajo has no such words. They say it is only
  good that I shall go there.
• Whereas English readily expresses the idea that
  a person has a right to impose her or his will on
  another animate being, Navajo again does not
  express direct compulsion.

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• There is the closest of relationships between
  language and thought Language may not determine
  the way we think, but it does influence the way
  we perceive and remember, and it affects the ease
  with which we perform mental tasks."

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Contextualization

• Contextualization refers to how you create sense
  from fragmentary images of your environment by
  combining them to develop a larger mental image.
• Group the words seagull, sky, dog
• Group the words pen, notebook, magazine

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Culture and Rules of Interaction

• Human languages frequently seem to be the only
  communication system that combines apparently
  meaningless elements (words) to create meaningful
  structures (sentences and ideas).
• Nothing more clearly distinguishes one culture
  from another than its language.

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The broken vending machine sign

• United Kingdom Please Understand this Machine
  does not taken 10p Coins.
• America NO 10p COINS!
• Japan Would express regret at the inability to
  accept 10p coins and offer apologies to the
  consumer.

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• The rules seem arbitrary and nonsensical to
  nonnative speakers, but the rules make perfect
  sense and seem more logical to native speakers.
• Four characteristics (1) directness and
  indirectness, (2) Maintenance of social customs
  and relationships, (3) expression of affect, and
  (4) value of talk.

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Rules of Interaction

• Directness
• American (directness) vs. Chinese (indirectness)
• Maintaining social relationships
• Japanese, social status, gender difference
• Expressions of affect
• Word choice
• Value of conversation.
• Throughout Africa, the spoken word rather than
  the written word is generally the foremost means
  of communication.

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Directness and Indirectness

• Most Americans use direct language. They are not
  reserved or shy. We try to avoid ambiguity and
  vagueness and get to the point.
• Asians prefer indirection language they try to
  preserve dignity, feelings, and face.

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American vs. Chinese insults

• Americans prefer a direct assault they want an
  immediate effect.
• Chinese prefer indirect insults they want a
  corrosive effect. The most powerful insult would
  mean that the person would not be able to fall
  asleep later because he/she is still thinking
  about the words.

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Maintaining Social Relationships

• Some languages have formal and informal pronouns
  or verb structures (Spanish, German, etc).
• The structure of the Japanese language emphasizes
  a focus on human relationships.
• Western languages tend to focus on objects and
  their logical relationships.

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Japanese formality

• ????????
• ? at the beginning of a word means something like
  I'm expressing respect while speaking this
  word.
• hayai ?? can become hayoo (??). This
  transformation expresses further respect for the
  phrase being spoken.

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• "O ha yo o" (???) means early with double
  respect
• "gozaru" (???) means something like "is" with a
  side-message of and by the way, I recognize that
  you are superior to me.
• some verbs ending in ru (?) can be transformed
  to end in "imasu" (???) to convey respect.
• "gozaru" (???) can become "gozaimasu"
  (?????), meaning is with a side-message of and
  by the way, I recognize that you are superior,
  and am conveying respect.

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• So "good morning", in Japanese is "Ohayoo
  Gozaimasu" (????????), meaning "it is early" with
  3 side orders of respect and a dose of humility.
• The very structure of Japanese dictates that you
  emphasize these relationships very different
  from Western languages!

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Thai

• The Thai language also has separate vocabularies
  and structures for addressing people of different
  classes.
• There are at least 47 pronouns, including 17
  forms for I and 19 forms of you.
• There are at least 4 distinct Thai languages The
  Royal, the ecclesiastic, the Common, and slang.

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Gender and Language

• Some languages have different forms for men and
  women.
• In Japanese, women use the joseino or onnakotoba
  style when they wish to emphasize their
  femininity. At other times, they use a sexually
  neutral style.

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• Mexican culture has a lot of male authority, so
  there are different forms in Spanish.
• A group of men would be ellos a group of women
  would be ellas. If a group has many men and
  women, it is still ellos, emphasizing that there
  are men in the group.
• If there were a bunch of girls (niñas) and 1 boy
  (niño), the group would still be called niños.

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Expressions of Affect

• In Korean, love is not expressed as openly, as
  warmly, or as freely as in the United States.
• British English uses many euphemisms which allows
  the speakers to disagree without being rude.

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• One might say, I may be wrong here, but
• There are differences between British and
  American English
• U.S. No dogs allowed.
• England We regret that in the interest of
  hygiene, dogs are not allowed on the premises.
• U.S. Please keep hands off door.
• England Obstructing the door causes delay and
  can be dangerous.

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Anger

• When Americans get angry, they tend to raise
  their voice in order to show their anger.
• In Navajo, you use enclitics (special grammatical
  structures) to show anger.

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Value of Conversation

• Many cultures derive a great deal of pleasure
  from conversation.
• In Africa (and other tribal cultures), oral
  communication is more important than writing

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• Arabs believe that Arabic is Gods language and
  treat it with great admiration and respect they
  love it dearly.
• Greeks have a long tradition of rhetoric and
  great use of language.
• Mexicans enjoy wordplay and verbal jokes/puns.

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Language Diversity in the U.S.

• The inability to speak the language of the
  community in which one lives is the first step
  towards misunderstanding, for prejudice thrives
  on lack of communication.
• Many in America wish to make English the
  Official Language of the U.S.

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• All cultures and co-cultures have special
  experiences that frame usage and meaning.
• Many African Americans speak a particular
  language style called African-American vernacular
  English. (p. 185)

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Women and Communication

• Womens communication patterns and practices
  differ in form and substance from those of men.
• Women communicate in order to foster connections,
  support, closeness, and understanding.
• Men communicate to exert control, preserve
  independence, and enhance status.

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Diverse message systems

• When interacting with people from other cultures,
  you should attempt to learn some phrases of their
  language.
• It is important to understand cultural variations
  in the use of language.

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• Idioms are groups of words which, when used
  together, have a different meaning from the
  meaning the words have individually.
• When speaking with someone for whom English is a
  second language, try to seek clarity and avoid
  the use of idioms, ambiguous words, culturally
  based expressions, or cultural insensitivity.

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Discussion

• What can men and women in the U.S. or in Taiwan
  do to communicate better with one another?
• What cultural factors determine the manner in
  which affect is displayed orally? Is this more
  likely in the U.S. or in Taiwan?
• Are there any problems with language diversity in
  Taiwan?

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Spanglish Homework

• How do the characters in the film communicate?
  What problems are there (pay attention to topics
  in Chapter 6).
• Think back to Chapter 4 Identities. How does
  Flors cultural identity affect her daughter?
  What kind of cultural identity does her daughter
  have?

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Spanglish Homework (2)

• In Chapter 5, we talked about beliefs, values,
  and dominant U.S. Cultural patterns. What are the
  beliefs, values, and dominant cultural patterns
  for the Claskys? How about for Flor and
  Christina? Whats different between the families?