Language and Culture

Culture SOCI 1306 Language and Culture Language impacts our behaviour and our sense of reality, even though it is a dynamic process. Linguists Edward Sapir and Benjamin Whorf developed this theory in the 1920s, and it was later dubbed linguistic relativity or the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. It is predicated on the notion that individuals perceive the world through the lens of their language, and hence, comprehend it by the cultural connotations ingrained in that language. According to the theory, language influences behaviour and thinking processes (Swoyer, 2003). Words, for instance, have connotations beyond their definitions that may affect how people think and behave. Many American high-rises lack a thirteenth story because thirteen is said to bring bad luck. However, because the number four sounds like the Japanese word for "death," it is unlucky in that country. Numerous sociologists think that language may affect perception in a profound and long-lasting way. Lera Boroditsky and her associates experimented in English in 2002 with native speakers of German and Spanish. These languages give nouns a gender, unlike English. Der Mond, the term for moon, is masculine in German, whereas die Sonne, the word for sun, is feminine. In both German and Spanish, the researchers selected a group of words with opposing genders and asked participants to characterise them with adjectives. When defining a term that was formally male in German but feminine in Spanish, they discovered that German speakers employed more masculine adjectives than Spanish speakers. For instance, the Spanish word for key is feminine, yet the German word is masculine. Whereas Spanish speakers used the words golden, intricate, small, gorgeous, shiny, and tiny, German people defined keys as hard, weighty, jagged, metal, serrated, and helpful. The group came to the conclusion that even when someone moves to a language lacking grammatical genders, their gender notions from their original tongue remain relevant to how they perceive the world (Boroditsky, Schmidt, and Phillips, 2002). Additionally, some sociologists think that linguistic structure might affect behaviour on an individual and collective level. For instance, research indicates that even if workplace laws in the two countries are equal, Finland has a noticeably greater prevalence of workplace accidents than Sweden (Salminen & Johansson, 2000). John A. Lucy attributed the disparity to variations in the linguistic frameworks of these two languages. The timing of movement in three dimensions is given more weight in Swedish. As a result, Lucy said, the physical layout of the Swedish plants facilitates the efficient operation of the production process. Frequent disruptions cause workers in Finland to haste, which increases the risk of accidents (Lucy, 1997). According to how the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is understood, people who speak a language cannot have an experience if a term for it does not exist. Research has demonstrated, for example, that people do not identify competing positive and negative thoughts about a subject as "ambivalence" unless they are familiar with the term. But the theory shouldn't imply that people don't experience contradictory emotions; rather, it should suggest that people perceive their emotions differently. People communicate not just via spoken language but also through nonverbal means. Similar to language, nonverbal communication is symbolic and is acquired via cultural background. Certain motions are almost ubiquitous, whereas others are not. In America, a smile usually means congratulations, but in many cultures, it's considered impolite to smile at someone you don't know well. In Russia and Australia, a "thumbs up" is considered an insulting curse (Passero, 2002). The significance of other gestures varies based on the individual and the circumstance. Depending on how and for whom it is performed, a hand wave can signify many different things. It might signify "hi," "goodbye," "no thanks," or "I'm royalty." Winks can say a lot of things, such "I'm attracted to you," "We have a secret," or "I'm just kidding." One may "read" someone's emotional state from a distance by observing their facial expressions and body language. But a lot of civilizations communicate through physically, which non-members of such cultures could take as a disagreement. Therefore, you can mistakenly think that two people are fighting when, in reality, they are just having a normal chat.