Language and Culture Interconnectedness

Numerous criticism directed at the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis called forth the viewing of the hypothesis through the prism of language and culture interconnection and check to what extent the linguistic determinism is an applicable and useful tool in foreign language studies. For this reason, the present paper carries out a discussion to construct a somewhat modified version of the linguistic determinism idea by adding to the language–culture unit a third element such as expressiveness. To make the proposed here version of linguistic determinism comprehensible, it has been decided to describe and explain the notions of language, culture, and expressiveness to make them clear and digestible for the purpose of the present discussion. In the course of the discussion, strengthened by quotations from the literature, the main stress is put on the language-culture interconnectedness viewed as the key element determining successful language studies, especially in the foreign languages domain. Finally, the attention is directed at the role of creativity and expressiveness as factors responsible for the level of the language user’s competence, which, in turn, is viewed as creative communicative competence.

How Language Influences Conceptualization

Do speakers of different languages think alike because of the universality of the experience of being human or do we all think differently because of differences in our languages? The answer to these questions has changed throughout the history of linguistic thought, ranging from observing languages merely as tools for expressing our thoughts to strongly believing that languages shape and even constrain our thoughts. This paper presents an overview of two most important theories that deal with these questions: the “rise and fall” of linguistic determinism (Whorfianism), and the development of its more cautious version – linguistic relativism (Neo-Whorfianism) – advocated today primarily within the framework of cognitive views of language, as well as their criticisms, most commonly within the framework of generative views of language.

DISNEY’S SEXIST LANGUAGE: FEMINIST STYLISTIC APPROACH IN BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (2017)

Through the feminist stylistic on Walt Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (2017) Live-Action remake, the paper argues that Walt Disney is not as inclusive and progressive as rumoured, but sexist. The study aims to uncover the characteristics of sexism in the context of linguistic derived from a gender-specific term. This study is qualitative research. The objects and data of this analysis are determined by purposive sampling. The object of this study is the text that appeared in the film Beauty and the Beast (2017) on a live-action remake. The data for this study are lexical items (single word, chain of words, and part of a word) that relate to gender-specific. The data analysed using the linguistic determinism theory of Sara Mill's feminist stylistic framework. This study reveals the presence of sexism at the word level. The findings are Walt Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (2017) Live-action remake shows the use of generic-noun and generic-pronouns appear in a sexist way, diminutive naming of gay and female characters, and negative terms used to portray female characters.

Speaking of Babel: The Risks and Rewards of Writing about Polyglot Societies

Common as it is to map languages as colored patches of a global quilt, this article proposes an understanding of language, dialect, and multilingualism beyond territoriality. The author references different regions where multilingualism and registers of discourse are indices not so much of mastery, but of pragmatics. With examples drawn from his own works The Shadow Lines and The Hungry Tide, the author ultimately questions the linguistic determinism of national literary paradigms.

Proverbial Rhetoric in Sustenance of Gender Stereotypes: An Ethnological Account of Proverbs from Pakistani Languages

Language is the most effective tool of communication across cultures. Proverbs are one such component of stylistic poetic and rhetoric devices which serves to communicate the worldview of an ethnic group. The paper is an analysis of ways in which gender differences are perceived, symbolized, portrayed, expressed and promoted rhetorically through the use of proverbs amongst various ethnic groups in Pakistan such as Pashto, Saraiki, Urdu and Sindhi consistent with the Whorfian hypothesis of linguistic determinism and relativism. The study employs qualitative data using the descriptive methodology. Discourse analysis of the secondary data and participant observations cast as primary methodological approaches has been gauged to decipher the meanings and intent of the proverbs. The study findings suggest that meanings of proverbs and messages are context-bound and reflect power dynamics rooted in conventional gender roles which serve to construct and deconstruct the notion of 'womanhood' in the ethnicities mentioned above.

The Argument from Language

Although other living beings can communicate with one another using sounds and gestures, the range of the messages that humans can convey is far greater. But if language is a capacity that all normal humans possess, the variety of different natural languages poses severe problems for translation and mutual intelligibility. However, to argue that the obstacles to communication across languages and even within them are insurmountable is to underestimate where it is still possible to reach some provisional understanding. How far do different natural languages constrain what can be expressed or understood within them? Taking Chinese as one example, this chapter argues against linguistic determinism and stresses the possibilities of mutual intelligibility even while recognizing its limits

Preservation of Indigenous Knowledge through Indigenous Languages in Zimbabwe

The chapter seeks to demonstrate the need to preserve indigenous knowledge through the preservation of indigenous languages in Zimbabwe. This is premised on linguistic determinism which states that language precedes thought and determines one's worldview. Therefore, by preserving indigenous languages, which in Zimbabwe have continued to be marginalized, the country would be preserving its intangible heritage and maintaining the diversity of its knowledge base. Activities undertaken to preserve indigenous languages are assessed and suggestions put forward on how library and information science professionals could also take part in preserving the knowledge resources. The chapter is based on a literature review.

On the Relationship Between Thinking and World Language Modeling: Based on Old Armenian Language Materials

The analysis of the issues concerning the relationship between thinking and world language modeling showcases that linguistic modelings are at the forefront of the Old Armenian language and regulate the linguistic determinism and linguistic outlook of the society. Examinations of the Old Armenian sentence models and samples reveal that various qualitative manifestations of thinking existed in the 5th century, which are conditioned by the grammatical structure of Old Armenian, and the foreign-language influences. These were displayed both in translated literature and independent bibliographic works. Linguistic determinism as a synchronous maxim can also bear the stamp of foreign-language influences while deeply preserving the peculiarities of national mentality.

Kantian Philosophy and ‘Linguistic Kantianism’

The expression “linguistic Kantianism” is widely used to refer to ideas about thought and cognition being determined by language — a conception characteristic of 20th century analytic philosophy. In this article, I conduct a comparative analysis of Kant’s philosophy and views falling under the umbrella expression “linguistic Kantianism.” First, I show that “linguistic Kantianism” usually presupposes a relativistic conception that is alien to Kant’s philosophy (although Kant’s philosophy itself may be perceived as relativistic from a certain point of view). Second, I analyse Kant’s treatment of linguistic determinism and the place of his ideas in the 18th century intellectual milieu and provide an overview of relevant contemporary literature. Third, I show that authentic Kantianism and “linguistic Kantianism” belong to two different types of transcendentalism, to which I respectively refer as the “transcendentalism of the subject” and the “transcendentalism of the medium.” The transcendentalism of the subject assigns a central role to the faculties of the cognising subject (according to Kant, cognition is not the conforming of a subject’s intuitions and understanding to objects, but rather the application of a subject’s cognitive faculties to them). The transcendentalism of the medium assigns the role of an “active” element neither to the external world nor to the faculties of the cognising subject, but to something in between — language, in the case of “linguistic Kantianism.” I conclude that the expression “linguistic Kantianism” can be misleading when it comes to the origins of this theory. It would be more appropriate to refer to this theory by the expression “linguistic transcendentalism,” thus avoiding an incorrect reference to Kant.

Pokok-Pokok Bahasan Kebahasaan dalam Kajian Antropologi Bahasa

Linguistic anthropology or ethnolinguistics is a branch of anthropology with language in use or speech as it’s object of study. In another way it is the study of a language as a cultural resource and speaking as a cultural practice. This science with such a definition can be traced back to the Sapir and Whorf hypothesis, concerning with theory of linguistic relativity and theory of linguistic determinism. It is a matter of conceptual world based on perception or more specific a representation of reality (real world). Linguistic anthropology with such a focus of study no need to be done only in primitive society but in modern society as well and in internal language since there are many sub-societies in a language society. The method in this study is what is called thick description that must be carried out using grounded research. The issues and topics that are at the core of this research such as the politics of representation, the legitimation of power, the cultural basis of racism and ethnic conflict, the relationship between ritual performance and the forms of social control, speech in ceremonies, ritual, meeting, and so on.