An Analysis on the Relationship between Culture an

AnAnalysisontheRelationshipbetweenCultureandLanguage1.IntroductionInrecentyears,withthedevelopmentoftransportationandcommunication,theworldisshrinkingtobea“globalvillage”.Opportunitieswhichpeoplefromdifferentculturesmaytaketocontactwitheachotherarequicklygrowing.Whentheycommunicate,languagebecomesessentialandtheneedforfurtherunderstandingofculturaldifferenceshasarisen.Therefore,therelationshipbetweencultureandlanguagehasbecomeahottopic.Thereareatpresentmanylinguisticsandculturalexpertsdoingtheirresearchingonit.Inordertomakeagooddiscussionaboutthecloserelationshipofthesetwo,Iwillfirstmakeitclearwhatiscultureandwhatislanguagerespectively,andfurthermakeasoundanalysisontheirrelationship.2.Culture2.1DefinitionofcultureManyphilosophers,sociologists,anthropologistsandlinguiststriedfromdifferentfieldstomakeadefinitionforcultureasperfectaspossible.Geertzdefinescultureasahistoricallytransmittedsemioticnetworkconstructedbyhumanwhichallowsthemtodevelop,communicateandperpetuatetheirknowledge,beliefsandattitudesabouttheworld.(Geertz,1973:89)PioneeringanthropologistEdwardTylorin1920putforwardaclassicdefinitionofculturewhichdefinesthatcultureisacompoundwhichincludesknowledge,belief,geography,art,law,morals,customsandanyothercapabilitiesandhabitsacquiredbymanasamemberofsociety.(ChangZhonglin,2003:21)Kramschoffersthreedefinitionsinherbooklanguageandcultureinthefollowing:1.Membershipinadiscoursecommunitythatsharesacommonsocialspaceandhistory,andacommonsystemofstandardsforperceiving,believing,evaluatingandacting.2.Thediscoursecommunityitself.3.Thesystemofstandardsitself.(Kramsch,1998:127)Cultureismoreorlesssynonymouswithcivilization.Itrestsultimatelyupontheclassicalconceptionofwhatconstitutesexcellenceinart,literature,mannersandsocialinstitutions.Culturereferstothetotalpatternofbeliefs,customs,andtechniquesthatcharacterizethelifeofaparticularsociety.Inaworditisthetotalwayoflifeofasociety.(张莱湘，2005：221)Theword“culture”inChineseconsistsoftwocharacterswen（文）andhua（化）.Theformermeant:“texture”inoldChinese.Lateritsmeaningwasenlargedtomeanextensivelythecodesandsymbols,culturalrelicsandbooks,aswellasnotionsofcourtesyandmorality.Thelattermeant“turntochanges”.Whentheywerefirstcollocatedtogethertomeanknowledge,theirmeaningswerenotasinclusiveasatthepresenttimeincontemporaryChinese.Inthe19thcentury,thecollocatedChineseword“wenhua”adoptedmoreconnotativemeaningsfromthewesterncountries.Itextendsfromitsnarrowerdefinition,whichincludesallthethingsachievedbyhumancivilizations.(ChangZhonglin,2003:22)2.2ImportanceofcultureFromtheabovedefinitionsofculture,itiseasytoconcludetheimportanceofculture.Culturedistinguishesusfromanimal.Everynationhasitsowndistinctiveculture.Humanbeings,carryingculturalfeatures,passoverfromgenerationtogeneration.Ononehand,culturemayhavepeopleidentified.Peoplefromthesamecultureusuallysharesomeculturalfeaturesincommon.Thatistosaytheycancooperateandbeunitedeasily,especiallywhentheyareattackedbypeoplefromothercultures.Ontheotherhand,peoplefromdifferentculturesusuallycanalsoenjoyapeacefullivingthroughculturalcommunicationwhichalwaysmakesthehumancivilizationmoreprosperousandourglobemoreprogressive.3.Language3.1DefinitionoflanguageJustlikeculture,languagealsohasseveraldefinitionsdependingonthedifferentapproachestothestudyoflanguage.ForSaussure,languageisasystemorastructureofsignscombinedtogethertoproducemeaningandthemeaningisdeterminedbytheirrelationships.(胡壮麟，2001：24)In1935,influencedbyBehavioristPsychology,Bloomfieldpresentedlanguageintermsofstimulusandreaction,meaningthatlanguageenablesonepersontomakeareactionwhenanotherpersonhasthestimulus.Chomskyconsideredlanguageasetofsentences,eachfiniteinlengthandconstructedoutofafinitesetofelements,focusingonthepurelystructuralpropertiesoflanguage.Languageisapurelyhumanandnon-instinctivemethodofcommunicatingideas,emotions,anddesiresbymeansofasystemofvoluntarilyproducedsymbols.Thesesymbolsareauditoryandareproducedbytheorgansofspeech.(杨达复，2002：6)Sociologistsarguethatlanguageissocialbehaviorandlanguagehasasocialfunction,bothasameansofcommunicationandalsoawayofidentifyingsocialgroups.Thoughthedefinitionsforlanguagearenotunique,itistheconsensusofmostlinguiststhatlanguageisdefinedasasystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsdesignedforthepurposeofhumancommunication.3.2ImportanceoflanguageLanguageistheproductofthedevelopmentofsocietyandtakesanimportantroleinsociety.Peoplecan’tcommunicatewithoutlanguage.Itisnotonlytheprimevehicleofhumancommunicationbutalsoacrucialunifyingandregulatingforcethatformspeopleidentity,bindsthemtotheircultureandenableseveryhumansocietytofunction.Languagecanhelppeopleexpresstheirunderstandingoftheworld.4.RelationshipbetweencultureandlanguageLanguageandculturearecloselyrelated,theycan’tbeseparated.Theyaffecteachother.Languageisanimportantpartofculture.Somesocialscientistsconsideritasthekeystoneofculture.Theyclaimthatculturewouldbeimpossiblewithoutlanguage.Meanwhile,languageisinfluencedandshapedbyculture.Anditreflectsculture.4.1CultureaffectslanguageFromthedefinitionofculture,weknowtha