Wk 9.3 Culture and Language Style

Within the previous readings, there was information about language and culture, particularly the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis, where language reflects our culture and our thoughts, behaviors and values (in other words, our culture) are affected by language. As Trenholm states, “if we think and remember linguistically, then it stands to reason that the nature of our language affects the nature of our thoughts” (75).

In line with this idea, the general concept of culture and language style is relevant and interesting. The different ways that we speak across cultures each emphasizes what is valued; if a particular thought or idea is important within a culture/community, then this idea will be linked to and easily represented by a word, especially if the culture attaches a particular connotation to that word. This is why learning different languages may be frustrating and hard since there may be certain words that are not easily translated from one language to another since meanings and connotations may not be easily translated. There are also specific words that exist in one language but not in another, such as the basic Spanish language where there are two words for fish, one specifically for eating and the other one for the general idea of fish. There is also the example from Trenholm with the Japanese word, amae, where it contains connotations and meanings that are more that its English “translation” of dependence; as stated within the text, “…it is a highly assumed, reciprocal relationship that blurs the distinction between…work and the interpersonal realm” (355).

There is also the fact that culture influences semantic content (words grammar, written and oral language) and pragmatic rules (the way we organize and present our words within different contexts, language styles, speech forms, what and how we speak, the meanings of different speech forms). Culture also affects the meaning of nonverbal language as well, as seen within past readings. Language contains a representation of their respective cultures, where it expresses their beliefs and shows the “filters” that these individual communities are looking and perceiving through.