Научная статья на тему 'INSEPARABILITY OF LANGUAGE AND CULTURE'

INSEPARABILITY OF LANGUAGE AND CULTURE Текст научной статьи по специальности «Языкознание и литературоведение»

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Ключевые слова
culture / language / W. Humbolt’s view / Eskimo language / reality of the nation / cultural spirit / the hypothesis of Saphir and Whorf.

Аннотация научной статьи по языкознанию и литературоведению, автор научной работы — Amirabonu Turakulzoda Majitova

Human communication is currently one of the most critical topics on which linguists, anthropologists, psychologists, and philosophers are working. Since language is the most important means of communication among humans, the relationship between language and culture, as well as their mutual interaction, is extremely important. Since the 1990s, large sections of linguistics–including anthropological linguistics, sociolinguistics and intercultural (language) communication, translation, language acquisition and language teaching–have highlighted the relationship between language and culture. This article provides a brief overview that has led to intensified research into how cultural differences express themselves and are created via various forms of linguistic practice and discourse, how culturally different conceptual systems and world views are contained in the semantic and pragmatic system of various languages, and how language development of cultural identities and cultural models of the world.

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Текст научной работы на тему «INSEPARABILITY OF LANGUAGE AND CULTURE»

INSEPARABILITY OF LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

Amirabonu Turakulzoda Majitova

A teacher at Uzbekistan State World Languages University amiraturakulovna@gmail .com

ABSTACT

Human communication is currently one of the most critical topics on which linguists, anthropologists, psychologists, and philosophers are working. Since language is the most important means of communication among humans, the relationship between language and culture, as well as their mutual interaction, is extremely important. Since the 1990s, large sections of linguistics-including anthropological linguistics, sociolinguistics and intercultural (language) communication, translation, language acquisition and language teaching-have highlighted the relationship between language and culture. This article provides a brief overview that has led to intensified research into how cultural differences express themselves and are created via various forms of linguistic practice and discourse, how culturally different conceptual systems and world views are contained in the semantic and pragmatic system of various languages, and how language development of cultural identities and cultural models of the world.

Keywords: culture, language, W. Humbolt's view, Eskimo language, reality of the nation, cultural spirit, the hypothesis of Saphir and Whorf.

INTRODUCTION

The relevance of the problem "language and culture" was initially put forward by W. Humboldt, who claims that language expresses "the objective reality of the nation" and "cultural spirit". He outlined the following basic concepts:

1) the material and spiritual cultures are embodied in language;

2) any culture has its national character presented in language;

3) language of one specific culture is an expression of "national spirit";

4) the subject of "language and culture" is studied an individual or community.[11]

The investigation of language through its relationship with culture has become a key topic in modern linguistics. Language is a mirror of culture, as S. G. TerMinasova pointed out because it represents not only the objective world, but also

people's public consciousness, attitude, national character, way of

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life, and so on [13]. On the one hand, the study of "language and culture" has a long and illustrious

history, due to linguistics' initial interest in their interaction and correlation; on the other hand, despite a significant body of scientific efforts, many issues remain unresolved such as "culture forms language" or "language forms culture".

It is believed that a man becomes a human being only if he learns his country's language and culture from childhood. All of a nation's finer points of culture are mirrored in its language, which is distinct and unique in that it focuses differently on the world and the people who live in it, that is, language is one of the types of human activity. It comes out to be an important aspect of general culture, which is defined as the sum total of human activity in many domains of life: industrial, social, and spiritual. U. V. Bromley emphasized that language is on par with culture as a mode of thinking and, most crucially, as a medium of communication[10]. For example: individuals receive a huge amount of information through the language channel, they live in the world of concepts, which they create through their intellectual, spiritual, and social requirements, rather than the world of objects and items.

However, K. Risager points out that language serves as the means of gathering and keeping culturally important information[2]. At some points this information for the modern bearer is regarded to be implicit, hidden by secular transformations. Particularly it is significant to mention that "mystery of language" is one of the main mysteries for all humanity; in case it is revealed, most of hidden for ages or lost knowledge brings to light. In that case, our main aim turns to be a little help to observe that cultural fund that stands behind the unit of language and bring into correlation the surface structure of language with its deep implicit essence. It is worth mentioning that, E. Sapir, an anthropologist and linguist from the United States, claims that language is inextricably linked to culture, that language "germinates" from culture and represents it. As a result of the preceding claims, it follows that language is the primary means of storing, transmitting, and reflecting culture. In general, he defines language as "the systematic, conventional use of sounds, signs, or written symbols for communication and self-expression in a human society" [4].

METHODOLOGY

Scholars consider language to be a multi-dimensional phenomenon that has

emerged in human society: it is both system and anti-system,

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activity and output, substance and spirit. To convey the complexity of language, Y.S. Stepanov imagined it as a series of patterns, treating it as a personal language, a structure, a system, a type and character, a computer, a field of thought, and even "a house of spirit"[15]. Today, we can add another pattern that considers language as a cultural product, an important structural component and a condition of life, as well as a part in theconstruction of cultural codes.

Today, in every field, every research requires a general view of culture. It is used in archaeology, linguistics, history, psychology, sociology and etc. It is even said that man is an animal with culture. That is to say, the factor which differentiates the human being's behavior from the behavior of animals is culture. In general, culture is defined as the sum of inherited and innate ideas, attitudes, beliefs, values, and knowledge that comprise or shape the shared foundations of social action, as defined by sociologists. Similarly, culture includes the complete spectrum of practices and ideas of a particular group of people with common and mutual customs, which are transmitted, distributed, and highlighted by members of the group in anthropological and ethnological terms.

In order to comprehend how language and culture are intertwined, it is necessary to first explain what culture is. One of the most essential concepts in social-humanitarian cognition is culture. In scientific literature, the first definition of culture is attributed to E. Taylor, who defines culture as a complex containing information, beliefs, art, laws, ethics, customs, and other abilities and habits acquired by a human person as a member of society[5]. As a result, we can think of culture as a set of "game rules" for collective existence, a collection of social experience modes stored in a community's social memory, and which are established by people for socially significant practical and intellectual activities. Culture norms are learned rather than inherited genetically, therefore mastering national culture involves substantial intellectual and volitional effort.

Culture does not exist outside of human action and social community activity, because human activity created a new living environment over the natural environment the fourth form of reality-culture. Culture is the world of senses that a person inserts into the product of his or her action, as well as the activity itself. In spiritual culture-in art, religion, and science-creating a new sense becomes a sense of action in and of itself. So, culture is a multi-faceted, complicated phenomenon with communicative, functional, symbolic, and value aspects.

Thereby, there are about two or three hundred and even more cultural concepts. According to Edward Sapir, culture is a system of behavior and modes thatdepend on unconsciousness [4].

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G. Rocher, an anthropologist, believes that, in a civilization, culture is a collection of ideas and sentiments that the majority of people embrace [3]. Culture is undeniably learned and communicated within social groups, and it is transmitted in nongenetic ways. According to W. H. Goodenough, culture is a systematic grouping of people who share a common way of life [1]. As a result, culture is the only difference between humans and animals, and culture is only for men.

According to K. Risager, language and culture is synonyms with distinguishing between linguistically formed culture and non-linguistically formed culture [2]. The former calls for the presence of verbal-language text, spoken and written-she was referring to the broad linguistic concept of the text that is used in critical discourse analysis and systematic functional linguistics, such as, "language linguistically formed culture" and "culture-non linguistically formed culture".

Every new language shapes its view of the world not only through an independent revision of its ideas and feelings but also through the lens of its language forebears' experiences, which are fixed in language concepts and preserved in myths and archetypes. After gaining this knowledge, all we have to do now is put it to practice, make minor adjustments, and try to improve. Culture also includes methods and rules, social mores, conventions, and rituals, communication quirks, and ways of observing, comprehending and changing the world. For example, a maple leaf is a part of nature, but the same leaf in a herbarium is considered culture; a stone on the side of the road is not culture, but the same stone placed on an ancestor's grave is considered culture. As a result, culture encompasses all of the modes and activities unique to a particular nation in the world, as well as the relationships between people - habits, beliefs, and rituals and methods of observing, comprehending, and transforming the world.

The language expresses the cultural reality of social groups, that is words reflect their authors' attitudes and beliefs, their points of view, that are also those of others. For example, member of community social groups does not only express experience but they also create an experience through language. They give meaning to it through the medium they choose to communicate with one another, such as speaking on the telephone or face-to-face, writing a letter or sending an e-mail, reading a newspaper, and so on. The way in which people speak, write or visualize medium itself creates meanings that are understandable to the group they belong to, for example: through a speaker's tone of voice, accent, conversation style, gestures, and facial expressions. Through all its verbal and non-verbal

aspects, language embodies cultural reality.

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RESULTS

There are many ways in which the phenomena of language and culture are intimately related. E. Sapir and B. L. Whorf are very famous linguists among W. Humbolt's followers who put forward the idea of the relativity between language and culture[14]. The core of the idea of this conception is that language modules people's perception of reality, therefore people who speak different languages see the world in different ways, that is, words determine thought, and believed that language and its structure were entirely dependent on the cultural context in which they existed. In this vein, anthropologist Ray Verne conducted a survey in the 1950s, giving different color samples to American Indian tribes and asking them to give the names of the colors [6]. He concluded that the spectrum we see as "green", and "yellow" was an entirely arbitrary division, and each culture divided the spectrum separately. According to his hypothesis, the divisions seen between colors are a consequence of the language we learn and do not correspond to divisions in the natural world. Of course, there are ways in which culture really does determine language, as Humbolt's followers E. Sapir and B. L. Whorf pointed out that in the Eskimo language, there are about 23 words to describe snow, that is indicating that they are more sensitive in perceiving the reality of snow: and this statement aroused our interest and we have found and made a Table 1 by using Eskimo English and English-Uzbek dictionaies [8, 9]. And the research showed that in Eskimo, English, and Uzbek languages the perception of "snow" can be different for each nation and culture. That is, in Uzbek and English languages, the notion of "snow" can be used in free-word combinations, however in Eskimo snow-related concepts are expressed by separate lexemes.

Table №1

№ Eskimo English Uzbek

1 kannik snowflake qor parchasi

2 kanik frost snow muzlagan qor

3 pilik ice crystal in air havodagi muz kristali

4 apun snow qor

5 nutag'ak fresh snow, powder snow qor uchquni

6 anui packed snow qor uyimi

7 aniuvak snowbank qor uyimi

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8 natig'vik snowdrift qor ko'chkisi

9 kimaugruk snowdrift blocking a trail in lee of a building poyez izni to'sib qo'ygan qor to'plami

10 mavsa snowdrift overhang (ready to fall) osilib turgan qor to'plami

11 kaiyuglak rippled surface of snow qorning yuza qismi

12 pukak sugar snow (near ground) yer yaqinidagi qor

13 misulik sleet qorli yomgir

14 auksalak melting snow eriyotgan qor

15 aukilukkak soft snow mayin qor

16 milik very soft snow juda mayin qor

17 mitailak soft snow on ice covering an open spot ochiq joyni qoplagan muz ustida mayin qor

18 sillik hard crusty snow qattiq qor

19 kiksrukak glazed snow in thaw time eriyotgan qor

20 mauya breakthrough snow condition shiddatli qor holati

21 katiksunik light snow deep for walking yurish uchun qalin qor

22 apuyyak snow patch qor parchasi

23 sisuuk snow slide qor qatlami

Thereof, it is proved by not only anthropologists but also linguists that snow is an important factor in Eskimo language. Moreover, in classic Arabic, there supposedly are 6000 words to describe camels. Sahara natives have 200 words to describe dates and 20 different ways to describe the dunes, in Zulu, there are 39 words to express the green color. Therefore, according to some scholars, the perception of "snow" in Eskimo language world picture and English language world picture are quite different.

CONCLUSION

Accordingly, as the scholars assert, language acquisition opens new perspectives in the world vision. Metaphors frequently characterize the relationship between language and culture, emphasizing the crucial function of

language in defining culture. It means that culture can limit what

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we can effectively think about in native language at times. Some languages, for example, only have three color names that are equivalent to black, white, and red; a native speaker of this language would struggle to articulate the concept of "purple" well.

Thus, language is not only a channel of culture for many individuals, but it is also a part of the culture. Even if those present are comfortable in their new language, it is normal for immigrants to a new nation to maintain their old practices and speak their original language among other immigrants. This happens because immigrants are passionate about preserving their own heritage, which includes not only customs and traditions but also language. Linguistic variations are frequently perceived as a characteristic of another culture, and they frequently cause conflict between surrounding peoples or even within the same nation.

REFERENCES

1. Goodenough, W.H. (1996). Culture. In Levinson 8 Ember (Eds.) Encyclopedia of cultural anthropology vol. 1. New York: Henry Holt and co. 1996. P

2. Risager.K. Language and Culture: Global Flows and Local Complexity. In great Britain by the Cromwell Press Ltd, 2006. 6p

3. Rocher, G. (1972). A General Introduction to Sociology: A theoretical perspective. Translated from French by Peta Sheriff. New York: St. Martin's Press. 1972. P142

4. Sapir E. Selected writing in Language, Culture and Personality. By David G. Mandelbaum (Editor). -London: University of California Press, 2012. -217p

5. Tylor E. B Primitive culture. Cambridge University Press, 1871. p375

6. Verne R. Section of antropology, human color perception and behavioral response. 1953.-101p

7. Whorf B. Language thought, and Reality; Selected writings. -New York, Hardpress publishing, 2013. -216p

8. Webster D. Zibell W. Inupiat Eskimo dictionary. 1970.-107p

9. Irisqulov A, Bo'tayev Sh. English-Uzbek uzbek-English dictionary. Toshkent : O'qituvchi, 2013. 878p

10. Бромлей Ю.В. Этнос и этнография.- М.,1975.

11. Гумбольдт, В. фон. О различии строения человеческих языков и его влияния на духовное развитие человечества / В. фон Гумбольдт // Избранные труды по языкознанию. -М. : Прогресс, 1984. p.370-377

12. Маслова В. А. Введение в лингвокультурологию.- М., 1997.-22p.

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13. Тер-Минасова С.Г. Язык и межкультурная коммуникация. М.: Слово, 2000. 17 стр.

14. Сепир, Э. Избранные труды по языкознанию и культурологии Текст. / Э. Сепир. М. :Прогресс : Универс, 1993.р.223

15. Степанов Ю.С. В трехмерном пространстве языка. Семиотические проблемы лингвистики, философии, искусства. 1985.-336р.

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