{"id":611,"date":"2025-09-21T04:06:27","date_gmt":"2025-09-21T04:06:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.observingthemortals.com\/?page_id=611"},"modified":"2025-09-21T04:06:29","modified_gmt":"2025-09-21T04:06:29","slug":"7-0-culture-language-and-communication","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.observingthemortals.com\/index.php\/7-0-culture-language-and-communication\/","title":{"rendered":"7.0: Culture, Language, and Communication"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Nature of Language<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Language is a system<\/strong> that consists of the development, acquisition, maintenance and use of complex systems of communication, particularly the human ability to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>The scientific study of language is called <strong>linguistics<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Acc to Foremost Linguistic <strong><u>Noam Chomsky<\/u><\/strong> -The greatest tech breakthrough of Human being -Language<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>invented 2 MYA by Homo errectus (not true)&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><u>There are three theoretical positions about the nature of language<\/u><\/strong>,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong><u>The structural view<\/u><\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>It sees language as a system of <strong>structurally related elements <\/strong>for the transmission of the meaning.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>These elements are usually described as\n<ul>\n<li>phonological units (phonemes),<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>grammatical units (phrases, clauses and sentences)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>grammatical operations (adding, shifting, joining or transforming elements) and<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>lexical elements (function words and structure words).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>This is a <strong><u>pure linguistic treatment<\/u><\/strong> of language that constitutes understanding the various structural aspects of language.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The target of language learning, under the structural perspective is the <strong>mastery of elements <\/strong>of the language system.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong><u>The communicative view<\/u><\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>It says that language is <strong>vehicle for the expression of functional meaning<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>more emphasis on the <strong>semantic &amp; communicative dimension<\/strong>s of language\n<ul>\n<li>than the grammatical or structural characteristics,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>although they are included in the study.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Areas of research under this perspective include areas such as <strong>sociolinguistics, semantics and pragmatics<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The objective of language study is to <strong>learn the expressive communication function and categories of meaning<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong><u>The interactional view<\/u><\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>sees language primarily as the <strong>means for establishing and maintaining interpersonal relationships<\/strong> and <strong>for performing social transactions b\/w individuals.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Areas of research in this context include<strong>interactional analysis, conversational analysis etc.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The <strong>object<\/strong> of learning in this area of research is to <strong>understand how people initiate &amp; maintain conversations with each other.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Origin of Language<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Major Theories about origin of language fall in to major categories &#8211;&nbsp; <strong><u>Biological &amp; cultural<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><u>Cultural theories<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong><u>Divine creation hypothesis<\/u><\/strong> \u2192 i.e gift of god to human. Adam gave name to all living creature.\n<ul>\n<li>Lang &amp; human societies are inseparable.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><u>Imitation hypothesis<\/u><\/strong>.\n<ul>\n<li><strong><u>Ding Dong hypothesis<\/u><\/strong>&#8211; named objected after recognized sound associated with it. e.g-boom &#8211; for explosion, crash &#8211; word for thunder\n<ul>\n<li>Only limited part of vocabulary comprised of it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><u>The Pooh pooh hypothesis<\/u><\/strong>&#8211; first word came involuntary from exclamation of like, dislike, anger, pain or pleasure eg- ouch for pain \/ discomfort\n<ul>\n<li>They are very sort part of language<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><u>Bow-wow Hypothesis<\/u><\/strong> -vocabulary developed&nbsp; from animal noises such as maa, bark, hiss, meow etc<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><u>The Tata hypothesis (gestural Hypothesis)<\/u><\/strong>&#8211; Organs of speech were used to imitate gesture of hand. Lang developed from gestures.\n<ul>\n<li>Gestures differ&nbsp; from culture to culture<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Creol Language hypothesis-&nbsp; similarities b\/w grammars of creol lang thr-out world<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><u>Necessary hypothesis<\/u><\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><u>Warning hypothesis<\/u><\/strong> &#8211; warning signals to alert tribe members when beast is Approaching.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><u>Ye-he-ho hypothesis<\/u><\/strong> &#8211; human <strong>cooperative<\/strong> effort \u2192 includes chanting to stimulate collective efforts while moving great stones to block entrance of cave. Necessity is mother of invention.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><u>Lying hypothesis<\/u><\/strong> &#8211; voluntary communication must have invented for <strong>purpose of lying or deceiving<\/strong>, as real emotions are involuntarily expressed.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong><u>Memetic Evolution of Language<\/u><\/strong> :\n<ul>\n<li>According to <strong><u>memetic theorist <\/u><u>Susan Blackmore<\/u><\/strong>, <strong>language developed as a result of memetic evolution<\/strong>. Using <strong>memetic reasoning<\/strong> it can be seen that language itself is <strong>created by memes and for memes, <\/strong>language is a principle medium used for spreading memes from one person to another.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><u>Biological<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong><u>Natural Evolution Hypothesis<\/u><\/strong> &#8211; in evolutionary development, human acquired more sophisticated brain which made lang invention &#038; learning possible.\n<ul>\n<li>As soon as \uc637 developed the <strong>biological &amp; neurological capacity<\/strong> for creative lang, the cultural dev. Of some specific system of forms with meaning would have been inevitable next step<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>e.g <strong>Noam Chomsky<\/strong> \u2018s <strong>innate lang acquisition device theory<\/strong>.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><u>Bio linguistic theory of Noam chomsky<\/u><\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Humans have innate structure which enables them to acquire language.\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Language Acquisition Device theory.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><u>Broca&#8217;s &amp; wemicke&#8217;s area<\/u><\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>both in left hemisphere of brain.\n<ul>\n<li><strong><u>Brocca<\/u><\/strong> \u2192 associated with <strong>production of Sound<\/strong> and <strong>grammatical<\/strong> abilities.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><u>Wemicke<\/u><\/strong> \u2192&nbsp; associated with <strong>semantics<\/strong> i.e. understanding <strong>meanings<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><u>Fox P2 gene<\/u><\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Recently discovered which govers <strong>human biological linguistics capabilities<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>thus proves that during <strong>course of evolution<\/strong> \u2192 biological capacity evolved to create language.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Characteristics of Language<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Many westem Philosophers like <strong>Plato &amp; Rene Descartes <\/strong>Identified <strong>speech &amp; lang<\/strong> as <strong>major distinction<\/strong> b\/w <strong>human and animal<\/strong>. Modem studies, however suggest that <strong>lang gap<\/strong> separating human &amp; animal <strong>is not so wide<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thus to differentiate human lang&nbsp; from animal communication, linguistic anthropologist offered following <strong>distinctive features<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong><u>Productivity<\/u><\/strong> &#8211; ability to create new messages by Combining already existing signs<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><u>Arbitrariness<\/u><\/strong>&#8211; diff. interpretations in diff Context &amp; Society<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><u>Dynamic<\/u><\/strong> changing constantly in words &amp; meaning<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><u>symbolic<\/u><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><u>Dialect<\/u><\/strong> &#8211; subject to regional variation<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><u>Sociolect<\/u><\/strong> &#8211; social variation wrt to social class, occupational class etc<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><u>Idolect<\/u><\/strong> &#8211; individual variation, variation in voice, clarity, pitch, speech, rhythm etc<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><u>Systemic<\/u><\/strong> &#8211; Phenological unity\n<ul>\n<li>phonological units (phonemes),<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>grammatical units (phrases, clauses and sentences)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>grammatical operations (adding, shifting, joining or transforming elements) and<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>lexical elements (function words and structure words).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><u>Vocal &amp; Auditory Channel<\/u><\/strong> &#8211; spoken lang is product in the vocal tract &amp; transmitted as sounds whereas sign lang is produced with hands &amp; transmitted by light.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Verbal &amp; Non Verbal Communication<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Communication is transfer of meaning from One mind to other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Verbal Communication<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>verbal communication is communication&nbsp; based on language<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Human language<\/strong> is code of symbols c\/l words which are understood in cultural Contex.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><u>Verbal Communication includes<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong><u>Phenology<\/u><\/strong> &#8211; study of phenomes i.e. basic <strong>sound<\/strong> structure of lang\n<ul>\n<li>deals with <strong>human vocalization<\/strong> of sounds.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><u>Morphology<\/u><\/strong> &#8211; study of morphemes i.e basic unit of <strong>meaning<\/strong> within lang\n<ul>\n<li>deals with how sound combines to form words<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><u>Syntax<\/u><\/strong> &#8211; focuses on form of Iang, it&#8217;s <strong>rules and patters<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>involves rules of <strong>grammar<\/strong> \u2192 how gigns relate to other signs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><u>Types of Vocal Communication<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong><u>Vocal<\/u><\/strong> \u2192&nbsp; spoken language<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><u>Non vocal<\/u> \u2192<\/strong> written communication or other signs like <strong>Braille<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><u>Acc to L.H. Morgan<\/u><\/strong> \u2192&nbsp; Man developed writing in <strong>neolithic<\/strong> then they included in verbal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><u>Role of language in verbal communication<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong><u>Descriptive function<\/u><\/strong> &#8211; describing things of knowledge.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><u>Expressive function<\/u><\/strong> &#8211; express satisfaction, excitement, sorrow, pain, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><u>Social function<\/u><\/strong> &#8211; expressing wishes, thanks, goodbye, etc.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>However, <strong>Noam chomsky <\/strong>talks about his <strong>universal grammar<\/strong>\u2019 which suggest that grammar is <strong>not<\/strong> always required to carry out communication. This show there exist certain <strong>innate structure<\/strong> in human mind that lets us to communicate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Non-Verbal Communication<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Introduction &#8211; As we all know from our experiences that spoken words do not communicate all that we know about a social situation. Our communication is not limited to spoken language.&nbsp; \u2192 importance<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><u>Definition<\/u> : <u>Non-verbal communication<\/u><\/strong> is usually understood as the process of communication thr sending and receiving <strong>wordless messages<\/strong>. It can <strong><u>occur through any sensory channel<\/u><\/strong> &#8211; sight, sound, smell, taste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><u>Types of non-verbal communication<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol>\n<li>Clothing &amp; bodily characteristics &#8211; physique, hair, height, skin color, weight, odor, genders<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Physical environment such as proximity or distance while communicating.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Movement &amp; body positions &#8211; kinesics, posture, gesture, heptic, eye gaze<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Paralanguage -voice set, voice qualities, vocalization<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Signs, symbols such as writings, algebric equations etc.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><u>Role of Nonverbal Communications<\/u><\/strong> &#8211; Acc to <strong>Edward G. Wertheim<\/strong> in his \u201c<strong>The imp of effective communication<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Repetition:<\/strong>&nbsp;It repeats &amp; often strengthens the message you\u2019re making verbally.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Contradiction:<\/strong>&nbsp;It can contradict the message you\u2019re trying to convey, thus indicating to your listener that you may not be telling the truth.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Substitution:<\/strong>\u00a0It can substitute for a verbal message.\n<ul>\n<li>For ex, your facial expression often conveys a far more vivid message than words ever can.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Complementing:<\/strong>\u00a0It may add to or complement your verbal message.\n<ul>\n<li>As a boss, if you pat an employee on the back in addition to giving praise, it can increase the impact of your message.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Accenting:<\/strong>\u00a0It may accent or underline a verbal message.\n<ul>\n<li>Pounding the table, for ex, can underline the importance of your message.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><u>Examples<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Silence<\/strong> is an example of non-verbal communication which reflects <strong>both<\/strong><strong>companionship and unfriendliness<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><u>Universal non verbal communication<\/u><\/strong> : Some non verbal communications appear to be universal through out world such as facial expression for happiness, fear, anger etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><u>Cultural variability in non verbal communication<\/u><\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Many gestures are culturally variable such as in some societies an up and down nod of head means &#8216;yes&#8217;, in others it means &#8216;no&#8217;.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Such variations may cause misunderstandings.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><u>Kinesics<\/u><\/strong>&#8211; It is study of communication by non-verbal means:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><u>Conclusion<\/u><\/strong> : To conclude we can say that non-verbal communication is equally important mean of communication which has&nbsp; wide cultural significance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Social Context of Language<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Language, Acc to <strong><u>Notes &amp; Quarries<\/u><\/strong>, is <strong>system of symbols<\/strong> with standard meaning thr which <strong>members of society<\/strong> Communicate with one another. Acc to finding of <strong>Primatologist<\/strong><strong>James Goodall<\/strong>, lang in human exist in <strong>cultural context<\/strong> &amp; is transmitted culturally that it is <strong>learned<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>language can only by developed in social setting &amp; human society could be maintained only among the people speaking &amp; understanding the common lang.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><u>Sociolinguistics<\/u><\/strong> &#8211; Study of effects of any &amp; all aspects of society including cultural norms, expectations &amp; context on the way language is used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Acc to ethnicity, gender, level of edu, age etc lang differs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><u>Dialect<\/u> &#8211; <\/strong>place to place variation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><u>Sociolect<\/u> &#8211; <\/strong>Variation among social classes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><u>Language in social context<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Discussion of lang in social context is focused on lang acquisition, Iang learning &amp; it&#8217;s Significance in community.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Thus, it is study of interrelation between:&nbsp; <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/public.www.evernote.com\/resources\/s696\/4c870b50-ff23-397a-086e-4e0a54fcdea0\"><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><u>Human being &amp; language<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Man, being <strong>social animal<\/strong>, is always in <strong>Cooperation<\/strong> with other members of society.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Thus he requires <strong>medium<\/strong> of Communication &amp; <strong>interaction<\/strong> which is provided by language.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Thus, <strong>language<\/strong> is not just means of Communication, but also mean of <strong>creating and maintaining relationship<\/strong> among speakers of Iang (speech Community)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong><u>Sapir -Whorf Hypothesis<\/u><\/strong> Aka <strong><u>Linguistic Relativism<\/u><\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Claims that structure of lang affects it\u2019s speakers<strong>worldview or cognition,<\/strong> thus people <strong>perception <\/strong>are relative to their spoken language.\n<ul>\n<li>Thus certain thoughts of individual in one lang can\u2019t Be understood by those live in another lang.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Criticised by Noam Chomsky <\/strong>&#8211; In his theory of <strong>\u201cBiolinguistics\u201d&nbsp; <\/strong>all human share same underlying structure, irrespective of socio-cultural differences.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><u>Saville &#8211; Troike(2012)<\/u><\/strong> in his theory of <strong>Second Lang Learning <\/strong>\u2192 emphasised on <strong>mental &amp; Cognitive<\/strong> aspects of member of speech community in <strong>Social context<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Thus emphasised interrelation b\/w speech, sex, age &amp; other mental aspects of speakers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Jane Goodall<\/strong> &#8211; Primate behavioural specialist says : Language is specially a characteristic of human being. Chimpanzee can have ways of commutation, but can\u2019t <strong>transmit<\/strong> it to next generation.\n<ul>\n<li>Thus lang in human exists in <strong>Cultural context<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><u>Language &amp; Society<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong><u>Ronald Wardhaugh (1986)<\/u><\/strong>summarised relationship b\/w Lang &#038; society as\n<ul>\n<li><strong><u>Social Structure<\/u> &#8211; <\/strong>May either influence or determine linguistic structure &amp; behaviour<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><u>Linguistic Structure<\/u><\/strong> &#8211; May either influence or determine social structure &amp; behaviour<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><u>Dialectical Relation<\/u><\/strong> &#8211; influence each other<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Thus acc to him, <strong><u>speech behaviour<\/u><\/strong> &amp; <strong><u>social behaviour<\/u><\/strong> are in <strong>constant interaction <\/strong>with one another.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><u>Lang &amp; Physical Environment<\/u><\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Physical i.e <strong>visible<\/strong> env in a society is reflected in it\u2019s lang, generally in structure of it\u2019s lexicon<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><u>Lang &amp; Social Environment<\/u><\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Social Env have effect on Lang &amp; is reflected in it\u2019s vocabulary<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ex &#8211; Kinship System &amp; Kin proximity is reflected in <strong>kinship terminology<\/strong> e.g Maasi = Maa + Jaasi<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><u>Malinowski\u2019s<\/u><u> Theory of Pragmasemantics &amp; Ethnolinguistics<\/u> : <\/strong>focuses that <strong>meaning<\/strong> of word lies in <strong>situational context<\/strong>. Ex &#8211; In his study of <strong>Trobrianders<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>He observed that islanders believed in <strong>Power of Words<\/strong> in their magic formula. <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/public.www.evernote.com\/resources\/s696\/6865e2e9-8790-bdcc-c7c5-9898fb736ce7\"><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Thus, based on geographical area, the community may have variety of <strong>dialects <\/strong>known as <strong>geographical original dialects. <\/strong>Consequently, members of same speech community may use diff. Dialects k\/n as <strong><u>Social Dialects<\/u><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Relationship between Language And Culture<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The structure &amp; content of language are influenced by culture<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Introduction: Both the phenomena are unique to human being &amp; are many ways in which both are intimately related. Have therefore been subject of great deal of anthropological, sociological and memetic study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><u>Language as determined by culture<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Following the theory that words determined thoughts, early anthropologists believed that language and its structure were <strong>entirely dependent<\/strong> on cultural context. This was a <strong><u>logical extension<\/u><\/strong> of what is termed as &#8220;<strong><u>Standard Social Science Model<\/u><\/strong>&#8216; which views human mind as indefinite malleable structure capable of absorbing any sort of culture without constraints from genetic or neurological factors.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><u>The colour relativity hypothesis<\/u><\/strong> :\n<ul>\n<li>\u24b6 <strong><u>Verne Ray<\/u><\/strong> conducted study in 1950s giving colour samples to different American Indian tribes and asking them the names of the colour. According to the hypothesis, the <strong>divisions seen b\/w the colours are consequence of language<\/strong> we learned and don not correspond to divisions in the natural world.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>However the colour relativity hypothesis has now been <strong>completely revamped<\/strong> by more careful thoughts and systematic studies which show that there are remarkable similarities b\/w ways in which different cultures divide the colour spectrum.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Our culture does sometimes <strong>restrict what we can think about <\/strong>efficiently in our own language.\n<ul>\n<li>For ex, only 3 colour terms equivalent to black, white and red. A native speaker of this language could have a difficult time with expressing the concept of purple.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><u>Culture and language united by Meme<\/u><\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Meme<\/strong>: It is an idea, behaviour or style that spreads from person to person culture.\n<ul>\n<li>acts as <strong>unit for carrying<\/strong> cultural ideas, symbols, practices etc. which can be transmitted from one mind to another through writings, speech, gestures, rituals within a or other imitable phenomena.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>According to <strong><u>memetic theorist Susan Blackmore<\/u><\/strong>, <strong>language developed as a result of memetic evolution<\/strong>. Using <strong>memetic reasoning<\/strong> it can be seen that language itself is <strong>created by memes and for memes, <\/strong>language is a principle medium used for spreading memes from one person to another.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><u>Language as a part of culture<\/u><\/strong> :<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>For many people, language is not just the medium of culture but also a part of culture.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It is quite common for an immigrant to a new country to retain their own culture and their first language amid fellow immigrants even if all present are comfortable in their new language.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><u>Conclusion<\/u><\/strong> : Language is part and parcel of culture and both are part of the same coin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Emic &amp; Etic Theme in Anthropology<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Because of cross cultural nature of so much of anthropological research, anthropologists have been confronted with the <strong>problem of translating the cultural world of their subjects into the idiom of western knowledge<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The problem of translation occurs at both ends of one&#8217;s research<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Learning about the people one is investigating<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>And then communicating what one has learned about these people to one&#8217;s professional colleagues.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Struggling with these difficulties has sensitized anthropologists to the problem of keeping perspectives and world views separate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong><u>Emic<\/u><\/strong>: The perspective of the people being investigated is called Emic approach\/ emic.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><u>Etic<\/u><\/strong>: Whereas the perspective of the western social science in general and anthropology in particular is called as etic approach\/ etic.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Keeping these perspectives separate is very difficult as it is quite easy to see what one expects to see, to interpret in terms of one&#8217;s preconceptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The researchers must be very careful how they go about trying to comprehend the worlds of their subjects- be these foreign groups, prehistoric populations or living primates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is crucial that they do not confuse their own perspectives and assumptions with those of their subjects i.e. they should keep emic and etic separate at all stages of research and analysis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Memetics<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Is <strong>study of information &amp; culture<\/strong> based on analogy with <strong>Darwinian Evolution<\/strong>. Proponents describe it as approach to evolutionary models of cultural information transfer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Meme<\/strong>: self replicating unit culture.\n<ul>\n<li>It is an idea, behaviour or style that spreads from person to person culture.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>acts as unit for carrying cultural ideas, symbols, practices etc. which can be transmitted from one mind to another through writings, speech, gestures, rituals within a or other imitable phenomena.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>the term <strong>meme<\/strong> was coined by <strong>Richard Dawkins in 1976<\/strong> book <strong>The selfish Gene<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>According to <strong><u>memetic theorist Susan Blackmore<\/u><\/strong>, <strong>language developed as a result of memetic evolution<\/strong>. Using <strong>memetic reasoning<\/strong> it can be seen that language itself is <strong>created by memes and for memes, <\/strong>language is a principle medium used for spreading memes from one person to another.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nature of Language Language is a system that consists of the development, acquisition, maintenance and&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>7.0: Culture, Language, and Communication - Observing The Mortals<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.observingthemortals.com\/index.php\/7-0-culture-language-and-communication\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"7.0: Culture, Language, and Communication - 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