Language & Culture

LANGUAGE AND THOUGHT Every thoughtful person agrees that there is some kind of important link between language and culture. Language provides us with many of the categories we use for expression of our thought, so it is natural to assume that our thinking is influenced by the language we use. The theory that language somehow determines the quality of our thought is known as the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis, so named after two American anthropological linguists who studied Native American languages in the first part of this century. Sapir and Whorf found  important differences between Standard European languages and the Native American languages they studied, and this discovery led them to propose that people are inclined to think in fundamentally different ways about basic categories like time and space, depending on the language they use.

LANGUAGE AND CREATIVITY As intriguing as the Sapir-Whorf  hypothesis may seem in its strong form, most linguists today believe that language does not determine how we think. They point out that when we need new ways of thinking, we can adapt our language to those purposes. For example, when Whorf wished to explain the expression of time in the languages he studied, he was able to translate, though perhaps with some difficulty, into English, and thereby give his readers a good understanding of another way of thinking. One of the most remarkable sources of language change today is the evolution of technology, giving us a whole new vocabulary that would not have been needed ten years ago: "laptop," "CD-ROM," cell phone," etc. Languages belong to groups and communities of people with expressive needs. When these needs change, the language also changes.  No language can be considered inherently more complicated that another language: Every language has the potential to adapt to its uses.

Invent-a-word: In this exercise, you will test your own linguistic creativity and see that languages can change to meet new needs:
The local zoo has developed a revolutionary new breeding program that allows it to design new animals to attract more visitors. The most recent addition is a small, fluffy, playful mammal with blue fur and a long shiny snout, called a __________.
You are an inventor of childcare products and have just come up with your best invention ever. It is a harmless powder that, when sprinkled on vegetables, makes them taste like chocolate chip cookies. You are now trying to market the product under the trade name ______________ .
The first expedition to Jupiter has just returned to Earth with samples from the planet's atmosphere and surface. Among these samples, scientists have discovered a new chemical element which they have named _____________.

LANGUAGE AND SOCIETY Even if it does not force us to think in certain ways, language shapes our thinking because it is connected to our lives and life histories. We talk and think in particular ways in part because of individual preferences and in part because we belong to particular groups and communities. Our membership in groups is sometimes voluntary (gardening enthusiasts, fraternity members, golfers, etc), and sometimes involuntary (generation, gender, etc.), but our individual language use can be seen as emerging from a history of participation in the practices of different groups. In order to understand how this works, we need to consider the problem from several angles:
1. We can begin by looking at language itself: Language Form
2. We need to understand something about how people become members of groups: Socialization
3. We need to look at how the social order is revealed in language use: Politeness
4. We need to consider that groups share points of view about the world and about history: Ideology and worldview