2ND INTERNAL BY GOPI TEJASWI 20IAMP10 (VISUALLY CHALLENGED)

GOPI TEJASWI 20IAMP10 (VISUALLY CHALLENGED) LANGUAGE AND CULTURE-A BOSOM CONNECTION Language and culture are entwined with each other. Though they are unique entities, it is to be remembered that language is used by the people who are an integral part of a society which has its own culture. Similarly, cultural patterns and behaviours are created, recreated, modified and transmitted from generation to generation in a society by people through language. To understand the relationship between language and culture, having some insight into these two concepts is of utmost importance. Besides, the way anthropology views these two concepts is also of paramount importance. Sir Edward Burnett Tylor, in his writing in 1871, defined culture as “That complex whole which include knowledge, beliefs, art, law, morals, customs and any other capabilities and any other habits acquired by man as a member of a society.” In simple terms, culture is, according to Haviland, the combination of beliefs, values and ideals which are learned and shared by a man from his society. It is the way in which people view and experience different things through the prism of their acquired behaviour, shared values and ideals. It is also the way in which people think and act based on such experience. Culture has been elevated to the central concept of anthropology. The main reason for this is that humans are different from other great apes culturally. Though some form of cultural patterns can be seen in great apes like Chimpanzee and to a little extent in lesser apes like monkeys, advanced cultural evolution such as the ability to make highly sophisticated tools, adapting to any environment through suitable cuisine, and ability to communicate past, future along with present with others, among other things, was seen only in human beings. Hence, as anthropology is the study of humans, culture has been made its central concept. Similarly, Language is the system in which combination of both sounds and gestures are put together according to rules, creates the meaning which can be understood by the speakers of that particular language. Though language is extensively used by humans to transmit ideas and information, it is not the sole means of communication. There are various means of communication such as art, music, kinesics, body language, different forms of writing to mention a few. Anthropology considers all these forms but largely rely upon language and other kinds of gestures and body language to establish the relationship between language and culture. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LANGUAGE AND CULTURE: Culture and language influence each other. In other words, culture and language have an inverse relationship i.e., aspects of culture influence the way people use language and vice versa. Hence, understanding one without the other, particularly in anthropology, becomes mere speculation. As a result, a special field of enquiry within linguistic anthropology, known as “Ethnolinguistics” emerged. It enquires about those components or structures of language which are influenced, and will influence the culture and society at large. Language used by a particular society is influenced by other aspects of culture and vice versa. Various cultural patterns greatly influence the lexical part of the language. It means that if we look at the vocabulary of the language, we can be better acquainted with people’s daily routine such as their cuisine, dress patterns, religious practices etc. It means, languages usually have the lexical content which is important both culturally and environmentally for that particular society. For example, in a society where cattle rearing is predominant, we can find 1

GOPI TEJASWI 20IAMP10 (VISUALLY CHALLENGED) most of the vocabulary and most of the idiomatic expressions in that language related to cattle rearing. But, if that particular society interacts with another society which is highly dependent on fishing, cross-cultural interaction takes place and new words are included in both the languages. This kind of intermingling of vocabulary in language can be exemplified in the most advanced or complex societies of today’s world where huge amount of acculturation takes place as a result of globalization and technological development. Besides, people living in the same society and same culture also sometimes use the same language differently. This is due to the influence of other cultures on them and their personal experiences with cross-cultural interactions. Social variables within the society such as a person’s class, ethnicity and also, to some extent, gender effect the way people speak. Higher class of a particular society have a different register than that of a lower class. We can, to some extent, differentiate between the socio- economic status of a person by their use of lexical content and their dialect. Economic resources and social networks play a key role in this regard. People born in lower classes have contacts only with other people who are more or less in the same position as them. Hence, they don’t have chance to develop a higher class register and vice versa. Similarly, if people of lower class have considerable economic resources which drive them higher in the class ladder (upward social mobility), they try to use the lexical content which is predominant for that particular class partly due to the possession of various variety and luxurious things, and also due to the people around them who uses a high register. Similarly, cultural perceptions of people of gender are well reflected in the way both men and women of that culture use language. As far as our culture (in most parts of Telangana state) is concerned, there is a prescribed register for both men and women. Women are often expected to be polite and use language which is humble and very soft in nature but no such expectations on men. It is well reflected in the differences in intonation of voices, facial expressions and other gestures. Women who often speak loudly with a laughter are perceived negatively by the society. Besides, sanctions imposed on woman such as gossip on matters relating to alcoholic drinks, open-minded interactions with outsiders etc, can also influence their lexical content. The sanctions stated earlier are not so extreme of deserving punishment on violation, but, due to the negative perception of such women by the society prevent women from doing such things. Though these are vanishing gradually, due to acculturation and with increasing women literacy, such cultural perceptions on gender still continue to influence the use of language by people based on their gender. So, if we observe closely how both men and women use language along with gestures, we can grasp the perception on gender in that particular culture. The use of language is highly contextual. The way we speak with professor is entirely different from that of a friend. Similarly, our use of language differs from a stranger to that of an acquaintance and so on. All these examples suggest that use of language depends on the context in which we use and that context is cultural. The way people interact differs from society to society and culture to culture. Also, as pointed out earlier, there are subcultural differences in the way people use the language. Hence, it is very important to acquaint oneself with societal and cultural aspects while exploring or learning a new language. This exploration of the use of language in social context is the concern of “sociolinguistics”. Sociolinguists explore the way people use language in different contexts and try to establish the connection between language and culture. All these illustrations suggest that language is influenced by other aspects of culture. 2

GOPI TEJASWI 20IAMP10 (VISUALLY CHALLENGED) Language influences culture in many ways. Many anthropologists have tried to establish this. One important theory in this direction is of “Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis” or the “Theory of Linguistic Relativity”. According to this theory, language is unique in itself. In other words, language is not merely the means for people to communicate, it is the way in which people perceive reality. But not many anthropologists agree on this relationship. They are sceptical about whether language is solely responsible for coercive thought. But they still doubt that some of the features of language can influence thought. For example, when children of a very young age are brought up with certain language, it is most likely that they internalize the concepts present in that language. It means, if a child was brought up with a language that has lexical content which reflects excessive gender differences, they internalize such differences much higher than that of other children who are brought up with the language which has little or no gender bias. Studies of this sort appear to prove the theory of linguistic relativity but, scholars say that they are inadequate. Another viewpoint in this regard is that language doesn’t determine reality it rather reflects it. This viewpoint argues that language only mirrors the reality and has nothing to do with its interpretation or perception which are done by the aspects of culture. Whatever the case be, the main hurdle in proving this inverse relationship between language and culture is not being able to separate language from other cultural aspects. As pointed out earlier, there is a belief that some features of language such as metaphoric expressions have something to do with the influencing thought and perception of reality. Approaches are still being developed in this regard for proving the hypothesis of influence of language on culture. CONCLUSION: Language and culture have intimate connection. Though intricate, understanding this connection have contributed immensely to the anthropological understanding of man and his society. This has proved language to be something more than a mere speech or expression and culture to be something more than what is called old or outdated. REFERENCES: 1. Karol R. Ember, Anthropology.2015(14th edition), Pearson Education, Inc 2. William A. Haviland, Anthropology.2003(10th edition), Thomson Wadsworth, Inc 3. Robert H. Lavenda, Anthropology What Does It Mean To Be Human.2018(4th edition), Oxford University Press 4. LANGUAGE, SOCIETY AND CULTURE 5. THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL STATUS ON LANGUAGE SHIFT: A CASE STUDY 3