英语系毕业论文(语言与文化的关系).doc

The relationship between language and culture Introduction Language is the important means of communication, and it is the carrier of culture and a part of culture, any language was born with formation of its culture, develops with the development of culture, and in most cases, perishes with death of its culture. 1. Language, as a concrete system of signs, has its own significance in the culture communication It has long been recognized that language is an essential and important part of a given culture and that the importance of culture upon a given language is something indispensable. 1.1 Language is a system The important of language to the study intercultural communication is clearly captured in the American poet Ralph Waldo Emerson’s simple sentence “Language is the archives of history.” His declaration takes on added significance when we realize that one of the major characteristics identifying us as human is our ability to use language –to make sounds and marks serve as substitutes for things and feelings. Over millions of years, we have evolved the anatomy necessary to produce and receive sounds have taken on meaning by representing things, feelings, and ideas. This combination of evolution and culture has led to the development of a four-part process that enables us share our internal states with other human beings. In short, we can receive, store, manipulate, and generate symbols to represent our personalized realities. 1.2 The importance of language Language is extremely important to human interaction because it is how we reach out to make contract with our surroundings. If we were to survey a normal day, we would soon see that we use words for a wide variety of purposes we may use language when we first awake: “Good morning!” We use words as a way to write with the outside world. Or we may use words to share an unpleasant experience and to get support from other: “Let me tell you about the horrible dream I had last night.” This example also demonstrat