LANGUAGE AND CULTURE: AN INTEGRATIVE PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

Culture and language influence one another. Culture governs language structure and usage. Conversely, language embodies culture and traditions. This chapter attempts to show how culture influences language primarily in two aspects, lexicon and language use. It presents varieties of cultures in use of self- and other-referents, use of pronouns, styles and topics of communication. Comparison of American English and Japanese reveals how language embodies the culture and values of individuals and groups, including society’s order and sense of kinship. The chapter also discusses how language and culture influence systems of counting and grammars of omission and their effects on thinking and social relations. Some of the many empirical studies cited in the chapter describe differences in patterns of intimacy, personalization, synchronization, self-disclosure, and differences in how people apologize, compliment and criticize one another. Language is much more than a means of communication, because through language, people of a given culture order their social relationships and structure their thinking. Awareness and understanding of the relationship between language and culture improves intercultural communication and enables people to understand how different cultures organize and structure how people perceive and relate to themselves and others.