Chapter Seven Language, Culture, and Society

1. Language and Culture

What is culture? Broadly speaking, it means the total way of life of a people, including the patterns of belief, customs, objects, institutions, techniques, and language. In a narrow sense, it refers to local or specific practice, beliefs or customs.

1.1 The relationship between L & C Generally, the relation of L to C is that of part to whole, for L is part of C. The knowledge and beliefs that constitute a people’s culture are habitually encoded and transmitted in L.

Bronislaw Malinowski (1884-1942): Anthropological study of linguistics: study of language in a sociocultural context. Bronislaw Malinowski (1884-1942): The meaning of a word greatly depends upon its occurrence in a given context. Language functions as a link in human activity, a mode of action.

J. R. Firth (1890-1960): theory of the context of situation The relevant features of the participants, persons, personalities. The relevant objects. The effects of the verbal action. “who speaks what to whom and when and to what end”

Dell Hymes (1927- ): Ethnography of communication Speech situation. Situation, event, and act. SPEAKING: situation, participants, ends, act sequence, key, instrumentalities, norms, and genres

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis Edward Sapir (1884 - 1939) and Benjamin Lee Whorf (1897-1941) Our language helps mould our way of thinking and, consequently, different languages may probably express speakers’ unique ways of understanding the world. Linguistic determinism: L may determine our thinking patterns. Linguistic relativity: different languages offer people different ways of expressing the world around.

The Eskimos have countless words for snow. The Arabs, for camels. English: horseshoe French: fer a cheval —— iron for horse German: hufeisen —— hoof iron The Eskimos have countless words for snow. The Arabs, for camels.

Linguistic evidence of cultural differences Terms of address Greetings Thanks and compliments Privacy and taboos Color words

1.2 Culture-loaded words 烫手的山芋 vs. hot potato 雨后春笋 vs. spring like mushroom 大鱼大肉、鱼肉百姓、酒肉朋友 meat and potatoes, meat and drink to someone

kill the goose that lays the golden eggs” vs.“杀鸡取卵” Cold words vs. 冷言冷语 Constant dropping wears the stone. 滴水穿石 Diamond cut diamond. 棋逢对手 Kill a man when he is down. 落井下石

1.3 Cultural overlap and diffusion Through communication, some elements of culture A enter culture B and becomes part of culture B. Loan words in Chinese and English. 肥皂剧、卡通、布丁、苹果派、雀巢、巴士、排挡、耐克、因特网、KTV、EMAIL Typhoon, gongfu, etc.

Netspeak 网络语言 顶(支持) 555(呜呜呜) ding(顶) mm/MM(妹妹) LZ(楼主) DD/dd(弟弟) 88(拜拜) 偶(我) 马甲(ID) ID　　 斑竹(版主) 恩(嗯) 汗或寒(敬畏) 晕(非常惊异) ps/PS(photoshop的简称) 灌水(发帖子) ddd(顶顶顶) bs/BS(鄙视) 楼猪(楼主) 滴(的、地)

2007年中国主流报纸十大流行语 综合类：十七大、嫦娥一号、民生、香港回归十周年、CPI（居民消费价格指数）上涨、廉租房、奥运火炬手、基民、中日关系、全球气候变化 国际时政类：韩国人质、库尔德工人党武装、红色清真寺、和平使命、萨科齐、核设施去功能化、贝·布托、慰安妇问题、反导、达尔富尔

国内时政类：物权法、又好又快发展、中央宣讲团、入联公投、“和谐号”、国家大剧院、郑筱萸、黑砖窑、道德模范、铁路第六次大提速 社会生活类：华南虎、熊猫烧香、食品安全专项整治、群租、东方田鼠、小产权房、零就业家庭、独居老人、金猪、关停小火电 经济类：企业所得税法、节能减排、土地增值税、人民币升值、燃油附加费、财产性收入、第二套房贷、从紧货币政策、成品油价格调整、贷款基准利率

教育类：师范生免费教育、方永刚、农村义务教育、助学贷款、绿色通道、孔子学院、校园集体舞、创业教育、港校、网游防沉迷系统 文化娱乐类：《变形金刚》、《集结号》、80后、帕瓦罗蒂、藏友、新七大奇迹、《士兵突击》、社区文化、孙道临、好男儿 科技类：南海I号、动车组、绕月探测工程、Vista、阿特兰蒂斯、中华鲟、干细胞、支线飞机、京沪空中快线、海上丝绸之路博物馆

构建和谐社会专题：社区卫生服务、预防腐败局、生态文明、轨道交通、和谐文化建设、最低生活保障制度、服务型政府、劳动合同法、农民专业合作社、带薪休假 民生专题：经济适用房、法定节假日调整、手机单向收费、农民低保、民生净福利指标、惠农政策、居民基本医疗保险、个税起征点、交强险费率浮动、农民合作医疗 金融专题：加息、QDII基金、股指期货、认沽权证、理财产品、跨行通存通兑、新股民、港股直通车、第三方存管、次级抵押贷款

奥运专题：上海特奥会、好运北京、倒计时一周年、无车日、奥运门票、祥云、奥运测试赛、奥运火炬、微笑圈、金镶玉

2006年中国主流报纸十大流行语 综合类：和谐社会、社会主义新农村、青藏铁路、自主创新、社会主义荣辱观（八荣八耻）、中非合作论坛、长征精神、消费税、非物质文化遗产、倒扁 文化类：文博会、文化创意产业、孔子、原生态、百家讲坛、于丹、潜规则、易中天、草根文化、恶搞

2005年中国主流报纸十大流行语 综合类：保持共产党员先进性教育、“十一五”规划、神舟六号(神六)、节约型社会、和平发展、一篮子货币、油价上涨、同一个世界同一个梦想、连宋大陆行、取消农业税。

2004年中国主流报纸十大流行语 综合类：执政能力、雅典奥运、刘翔、审计风暴、零关税、科学发展观、失地农民补助、反分裂国家法、中法文化年、海啸。

2. Language and Society Language is not always used to exchange information as is generally assumed, but rather it is sometimes used to fulfill an important social function – to maintain social relationship between people.

Users of the same language in a sense all speak differently Users of the same language in a sense all speak differently. What each of them chooses to use is in part determined by one’s social background. When we speak we cannot avoid giving our listeners clues about our origin and our background. The social environment can also be reflected in language, and can often have an effect on the structure and the vocabulary. For example, a society's kinship system is generally reflected in its kinship vocabulary.

The social environment can also be reflected in language, and can often have an effect on the structure and the vocabulary. For example, a society's kinship system is generally reflected in its kinship vocabulary.

2.1 Sociolinguistics The sub-field of linguistics that studies the relation between L and society, between the uses of L and the the social structures in which the users of L live. Micro-studies Macro-studies

Micro-studies: To look at society from the point of view of an individual member within it, or a worm’s-eye view of L in use. Macro-studies: To look at society as a whole and consider how L functions in it and how it reflects the social differentiations, a bird’s eye view of the language used in society.

Variationist perspective: People who claim to be users of the same language do not speak the language in the same manner. Varieties related to the user are normally known as dialects and varieties related to use as registers.

It needs washed It needs washing Regional dialects are linguistic varieties used by people living in different regions. Regional dialect boundaries often coincide with geographical barriers such as mountains, rivers, or swamps. English Scottish It needs washed It needs washing

Social-class dialect, or sociolect, refers to the linguistic variety characteristic of a particular social class. Social dialect has to do with separation brought about by different social conditions.

Upper class: America, cake, helping, ice, lavatory, looking glass, pudding, relatives, rich, Royalties, scent, scurf, sick, sofa, spectacles, writing paper Lower class: the States, pastry, portion, ice-cream, toilet, mirror, dessert, relations, wealthy, Royals, perfume, dandruff, ill, settee, notepaper, glasses

Speaker A Speaker B I did it yesterday. I done it yesterday. He hasn’t got it. He ain’t got it. It was she that said it. It was her what said it. When we look at the language used by two speakers A and B, we can estimate roughly their relative social status.

In Britain, accent = marker of status RP: a non-localized form of pronunciation, refers to the particular way of pronouncing standard English, an indicator of a public school education and thus a high social status on the part of the speaker. EE: Estuary English, commonly used by educated people in the region around London. Less rigid than RP but more standard than Cockney. Cockney: lower class dialect of East London, considered non-standard by educated people.

Language and Gender Compared with men, women tend to use such adverbs: horridly, abominably, immensely, excessively, amazingly, so, most, etc. The overuse of these words imply that the users are sentimental, shallow and not objective enough.

An example from Pride and Prejudice: Oh! My dear Mr. Bennet, we have had a most excellent ball. …Jane was so admired. Every body said how well she looked. Mr. Bingley thought her quite beautiful, …I was so vexed to see him stand up with her. … I am quite delighted with him. He is so excessively handsome!

Wife: You always leave your papers about dear! Husband: Really? Didn’t I put them in place yesterday? In a sense, the overuse of the words of absoluteness or extremity may cause changes in the meaning of a word at least in the eye of a man.

Women have their own vocabulary for emphasizing certain effects: Female: so good, such fun, exquisite, lovely, divine, precious, adorable, darling, fantastic. Neutral: great, terrific, cool, neat

Aside from specific lexical items, there are differences between the speech of women and that of men in the use of particles that grammarians often describe as “meaningless”. Male: Shit, damn, darn it, the hell Female: Oh dear, dear me, goodness me, my goodness

Women use more tag questions. Women use more statement questions with a rising intonation at the end. Women’s linguistic behavior is less direct and more polite. Idiolect is a personal dialect of an individual speaker that combines elements regarding regional, social, gender, and age variations.

Standard dialect: 普通话的定义： Socially prestigious dialect. By the government, mass media, schools. Any member can possibly use. Based on a selected variety. Not acquired naturally, superimposed. 普通话的定义： 以北京语音为标准音, 以北方话为基础方言, 以典范的现代白话文著作为语法规范的现代汉民族共同语。

Halliday: Register L varies as its function varies; it differs in different situations. The type of L which is selected as appropriate to the type of situation is a register.

Mode of discourse: the means of communication, how Field of discourse: what is going on, purpose and subject-matter of communication, why, what Technical vs. non-technical Tenor of discourse: the role of relationship in the situation, who, to whom The level of formality Mode of discourse: the means of communication, how A lecture on biology

Martin Joos: Degree of formality Frozen Formal Consultative Casual Intimate Formal <------------------------------> Informal

Visitors would make their way at once to the upper floor by way of the staircase. (frozen) Visitors should go up the stairs at once. (formal) Would you mind going upstairs please? (consultative) Time you all went upstairs now. (casual) Up you go, Chaps! (intimate)

2.2 Sociolinguistic study of society To know more about a given society by examining the linguistic behavior of its members. Diglossia Bilingualism & Multilingualism Code-switching

Monolingual: Speakers of a single language control different varieties of that language. Bilingual: People develop some ability in a second language. How to describe?

to identify each of the languages. the way each language was acquired. “X is a native speaker of Cantonese and learned English in school.” mastery of skills: reading, writing, speaking. function or domain: for each of the domains, a bilingual tends to prefer a certain language.

Bilingualism —— the two languages are in contact. Monolingual speech communities are rare; monolingual countries are even rarer. Bilingualism —— the two languages are in contact. This contact may lead to interference. Pidgin, Creole, diglossia

Pidgin: not a native language of anyone. learned informally in contact. used esp. as trade language. involves the mixture of two or more Ls. Eg. Nigerian Pidgin English; Vietnamese Pidgin French; New Guinea Pidgin German, etc.

上海话中的洋泾浜英语 “蹩脚”（BILGE，船底污水，引申为肮脏的、下三滥的、劣质的） “大兴”（DASHY，浮华的，华而不实的，引申为假的、冒牌的、劣质的） “肮三”（ON SALE，二手货贱卖，引申为垃圾货、形容人的品质低劣） “瘪三”（BEG SIR，乞丐先生，用来形容叫花子、难民、逃荒者等各式穷人，后引申为最广泛的骂人用语之一。 “赤佬”是英语“CHEAT”（欺骗）和中文“佬”的混生词语，一个鲁迅时代最流行的洋泾浜俚语（隐语）。

From pidgin to creoles As a result of intermarriage, the pidgin is spoken at home and learned by children as a mother tongue. Pidgin is not just a contact language with limited social functions, but can deal with more. Eg. Haitian Creole, Hawaiian Creole English

Diglossia: Two distinct varieties of the same language are used, side by side, for two different sets of functions. Switzerland: High German as the standard (public, official) Swiss German as the vernacular (informal, daily)

Code-Switching: Bilinguals often switch between their two languages in the middle of a conversation. Metaphorical switching: the purpose of communication Situational switching: role-relationship Mixed code: words from new languages are used in old languages, e.g. New Zealand English

“Hi，你好呀！This morning，我们对你的case进行了discuss，我们发现，这对我们没什么benefit。所以我们不得不遗憾地告诉你：与这件事相关的所有Project都将被cancel掉。” “事实证明，Download已经不吃香了，Portal也正在逐渐没落。ISP与ICP都没有什么很Power的招数了。MyGod，我们的前途究竟在哪里？Pageview、Impression，我们真正缺乏的是如何让访问者Onceagain的内容与形式。”

“我是beast……那你呢……” “我比你少一个A, ……所以我是best。” 辛楣吃晚饭回来, ……问鸿渐道:“你在英国到过牛津、剑桥没有? 他们的tutorial system 是怎么一回事?” 这种同情比笑骂还难受, 鸿渐咬牙来个中西合璧的咒骂: “To Hell 滚你妈的蛋!”

歌曲：快乐崇拜 什么年代吹着什么样的风 我拿我的麦克风 唱出old school show yall ready to roll 70的年代 复古我最high disco fever 从来不肯say goodbye