7.4英语文学学习.pptVIP

Language, Culture Society Language is a System of Symbols symbols are objects, events, speech sounds, written forms, gestures, which humans attach meaning Symbols operate in changing fields of social relationships symbols are multivocal -- enables a wide range of groups individuals to relate to the same symbol in a variety of ways Language in its Social Cultural Settings Does language influence the perception of reality and cultural behavior? Does language reflect reality in a culture? Or, is it both? LINGUISTIC RELATIVISM and DETERMINISM Edward Sapir/Benjamin Lee Whorf – the “Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis” language culture intrinsically linked language is a guide to social reality... it powerfully conditions all our thinking about social problems and processes. Language and Thought Sapir-Whorf hypothesis Language predisposes people to see the world in a certain way guiding behavior Language reflects reality Rich vocabulary reflects a cultural focus GRAMMAR AND CONSCIOUSNESS linguistic conditioning of behavior – “linguistic determinism” language is not simply a way of voicing ideas, but the very thing which shapes those ideas Lexicon and Focal Vocabulary lexicon – a vocabulary; a dictionary of terms focal vocabulary -- specialized set of terms distinctions that are particularly important to a certain group tell us something about world view, historical events, ideas, influences, perceptions important to a particular group Inuit terms for snow; skiers terms for snow Ethnolinguistics/Ethnoscience/Ethnosemantics “the new ethnography” (1960s) emics and etics maps of a lexicon and its focal vocabularies method of studying parts (domains) of a culture primarily on the basis of how they are lexically encoded by native speakers SOCIOLINGUISTICS AND ETHNOGRAPHY OF COMMUNICATION Trace connections among linguistic and social variables speech – the way people use a language Linguistic features as markers of class divisions in society Languages in contact Sociolin