LANGUAGE AND CULTURAL MEANING

1. 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)

2. 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 expresstheir way of being in the world through a particular use of their languages?

3. 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)

4. 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.

5. 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 models-Proverbs, stories, etc. -- conveying a way of being in the world --guiding human thought and action -- provides moral lessons

6. “The early bird catches the worm.”

7. Concrete and symbolic meanings • “The horse is running for me” concrete object (horse) • “Don’t cry over spilt milk” symbolic meaning, metaphorical

8. Why do we study language? • To identify cultural models • Understand the relationship between language and environment • Language and society

9. 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

10. 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

11. Sand flat, semicircular valley or hollow, spot for level ground in mountains surrounded by ridges.

12. Benjamin Whorf • Grammatical structures of language influence thought and behaviour • Grammatical structure and conceptualization of time, number, duration

13. 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”

14. Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis • Language influences people’s perception of the world • “Weak version” • “Strong version”

15. 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

16. Language expresses • Cultural focus: cultural priorities • Transformativeness • Not static; changes over time

17. 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.”