LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

1
LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

• Part II

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TAXONOMIES

• Language has its own classes of units (vowels
  and consonants nouns and verbs statements and
  questions)
• used to classify and categorize various aspects
  of the world
• People do not always classify things the way
  scientists do
• folk taxonomies scientific classifications

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• folk etymology- way of classifying a certain part
  of reality so that it makes some kind of sense to
  those who have to deal with it.
• Typically, taxonomies of the flora and fauna

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• Frakes study of folk taxonomy account of the
  terms that the Subanun (southern Philippines) use
  to describe disease
• considerable amount of disease among the Subanun,
  discussed at length (d. of the skin).
• a variety of categories when discussing a
  particular set of symptoms
• nuka can refer to skin disease in general but
  also to eruption.
• further distinguished as a beldut sore rather
  than a me?abag inflammation, or buni
  ringworm, and then the particular beldut can be
  further distinguished as a telemaw distal ulcer
  or even a telemaw glai shallow distal ulcer
• a hierarchy of terms with a term like nuka at the
  top and telemaw glai at the bottom.

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COLOR TERMINOLOGY

• Also used to explore relationship between
  different languages and cultures. The color
  spectrum- physical continuum that doesn't show
  any breaks. Still, humans divide it into bits and
  assign names to the component parts green, blue,
  yellow, red.
• Are color terms arbitrary, or is there a general
  pattern? If there is a pattern, what are its
  characteristics?

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• All languages make use of basic color terms. A
  basic color term must be a single word (blue or
  yellow) and not some combination of words (light
  blue or pale yellow). It mustn't be a
  sub-division of some higher-order term (crimson
  (dark red) scarlet (bright red)- higher-order
  term is red). A basic color must also have a
  general use- it mustn't be applied to a narrow
  range of objects (blond- only for color of hair
  and wood).

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BERLIN KAYs findings

• L. with 2 color terms- equivalent in English
  black and white. 3rd is red. The 4th and the 5th-
  yellow and green. The 6th and the 7th are blue
  and brown. And then gray, pink, orange and
  purple
• relationship between the extent of color
  terminology in a l. and the level of technical
  complexity of that society not technologically
  advanced communities- fewest color terms, e.g.
  the JALÉ of New Guinea words corresponding only
  to black (dark) and white (light).
  Technologically advanced societies have terms
  corresponding to all eleven mentioned above.
  Societies in intermediate stages have
  intermediate numbers, e.g. the TIV of Nigeria (3
  terms), the GARO of Assam and the HANUNÓO of the
  Philippines have 4, while the BURMESE have 7

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Symbolism of colors

• BLACK- seen in its cold and negative aspect
  black comedy, black economy, black eye, black
  look, black magic, black sheep (of the family),
  black mood, the pot calls the kettle black
  (rugala se sova sjenici).
• WHITE- associated with purity, innocence,
  chastity, recognition, cowardice, defeat white
  Christmas, white elephant (expensive, but not
  useful), white lie, white hair (old person, also
  euphemistic), white handed (honest man), white
  horses (waves white at the top), white magic
  (used to do good), white wedding (traditional
  Christian marriage in a church at which the woman
  wears a white dress).
• RED- symbolically related to fire, blood, love,
  spirit, beauty, strength, health, energy, joy,
  sex, success, anger, courage, and patriotism
  red-letter day (special, important), red tape,
  red-blooded (energetic, sex-loving), red-hot
  (successful), red-light district, in the red,
  paint the town red, see red.

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PROTOTYPE THEORY

• Rosch concepts are best viewed as prototypes a
  bird is not best defined by reference to a set
  of features that refer to such matters as wings,
  warm-bloodedness, and egg-laying characteristics,
  but rather by reference to typical instances, so
  that a prototypical bird is something more like
  a robin than it is like a penguin, ostrich, or
  even eagle. This is the theory of prototypes.

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• People classify objects according to what they
  regard as being typical instances (a chair is a
  typical item of furniture, an ashtray is not
  apples and plums are typical fruit, coconuts and
  olives are not)
• Hudson prototype theory has much to offer
  sociolinguistics

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TABOO AND EUPHEMISM

• Language- used to express things, but avoid
  saying certain things as well.
• Certain things are not said, because people
  refuse to talk about those things?taboo
• if those things are talked about, they are talked
  about in very roundabout ways?euphemism

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TABOO

• refers to things that are simply not talked
  about- one way in which a society expresses its
  disapproval of certain kinds of behavior believed
  to be harmful to its members, either for
  supernatural reasons, or because such behavior is
  thought to violate a moral code
• Tabooed subjects sex, death, excretion, bodily
  functions, religious matters and politics
• In some cultures they even include names of
  animals

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• when someone breaks the rules, it might cause
  problems, although maybe not as much today as in
  the past (Shaw's use of bloody in Pygmalion, or
  damn in "Gone With the Wind" Taboos- violated to
  claim free speech, draw attention to yourself,
• Freud breaking a taboo (a sex one) is a form of
  verbal seduction-"talking dirty".
• The penalty for breaking a linguistic taboo can
  be severe- blasphemy and obscenity are still
  crimes in many jurisdictions (but hardly likely
  to cost you your life)
• violation of certain non-linguistic taboos (e.g.
  incest ones) might have severe consequences in
  certain places in the world.

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• Haas certain l. taboos arise from bilingual
  situations the Creeks of Oklahoma- as they use
  more English, they avoid Creek words resembling
  English taboo words fakki (soil), apiswa (meat),
  apissi (fat).
• Similarly Thai students learning English avoid
  using words like fag (sheath) in the presence of
  Anglophones also avoid using yet and key- sound
  like the Thai words jed (to have intercourse) and
  khîi (excrement). Even personal names might cause
  embarrassment in a different l. environment the
  Vietnamese name Phuc in an anglophone group

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EUPHEMISMS

• Euphemism (Gr. euwell, phemespeak)- a
  metaphorical or metonymic use of an expression in
  place of another expression that is offensive.
• Eupheme- originally a word or a phrase used in
  place of a religious word or phrase that should
  not be spoken aloud (unspeakable names for a
  deity, such as Nemesis or Yahweh). By using
  euphemisms, the speaker was believed to please
  gods and stay in their good fortune.
• e.g. medvjed- the term avoids the association
  with a beast by describing it as a "honey eater.

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• used to deliberately cloud an issue or to
  misdirect attention
• used to "dress up" certain areas of life and
  neutralize the unpleasantness (sex, bodily
  functions, dying, unemployment, criminality and
  many others)
• allow us to give labels to unpleasant tasks and
  jobs in an attempt to make them sound almost
  attractive
• number of areas in which we can find e. is
  increasing all the time (being fat, getting
  old-especially in the States).

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• Nadel the Nupe of West Africa- the most prudish
  people in the world (sharp distinctions between
  expressions that are suitable for polite
  conversation and that are not)
• constantly resort to circumlocutions and
  euphemisms to avoid direct mention of sex, body
  parts or bodily functions. They have developed
  indirect ways of referring to tabooed matters
  (rich system of metaphors).
• the Nupe have developed indirect ways of
  referring to tabooed matters, ways they can
  employ on these occasions when it is possible to
  free themselves from normal constraints, e.g. in
  certain kinds of story-telling or on specific
  festive occasions.

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Classification of euphemisms

• terms of foreign origin (copulation, perspire,
  urinate)
• abbreviations (SOB-son of a bitch, BS-bullshit,
  TS-tough shit)
• abstractions (it, the situation)
• indirections (sleep together, privates, go to the
  bathroom)
• mispronunciations (goldarnit-God damn it,
  freakin'-fucking)
• plays on abbreviations (barbecue sauce-BS, sugar
  honey ice tea-SHIT, Maryland Farmer-MF)

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Euphemisms for death

• The English l. has many e. related to death,
  dying, burial and the people and places which
  deal with death. This is connected with the
  magical belief that to speak the word 'death'
  meant inviting death.
• Some colloquial euphemisms
• pass away, pass on, meet the maker, go to sleep,
  go to the other side, go to rest, go to the final
  reward, go West, croak, kick the bucket, bite the
  dust of pets put away, put to sleep gangsters'
  jargon deep six (six feet under), rub out,
  erase, waste, make sb. sleep with the fish

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Euphemisms in political correctness

• intellectually challenged, slow- stupid
• differently-abled- handicapped
• needy, under-privileged, disadvantaged- poor
  people
• underdeveloped, developing, emergent, Third
  World- poor countries

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Euphemism unawarereness

• darn-damn
• heck-hell
• life insurance-death insurance
• dentures-false teeth
• ethnic cleansing-genocide
• collateral damage-killing of innocents
• perspire-sweat
• bathroom-toilet
• social disease-venereal disease

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ALPHABET EUPHEMISMS

• A1- amphetamine ingested illegally
• AC/DC- behaving both heterosexually and
  homosexually
• B- bloody, as in B fool bitch, as in silly B
• BO- body odor
• C- cancer, as in the big C cocaine crack
• D- damn, damned, damnable big D is death
• DCM- notice of dismissal from employment (Don't
  come Monday)
• G- gee, jeez, Jesus G-man- federal agent working
  for the U.S.Government
• H- hell (what the H?) heroine
• M- marijuana
• N- nigger, (the N-word)
• O- not oxygen, but opium
• P- piss, p off

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Euphemisms vs. Doublespeak

• What distinguishes doublespeak from other
  euphemisms is its deliberate usage by
  governmental and military institutions.
  Commentators such as Noam Chomsky and George
  Orwell have written a lot about the dangers of
  allowing such euphemisms to shape public
  perceptions and national policy.
• Examples of doublespeakcasualties for deaths
  taking friendly fire for being attacked by your
  own troops "the Final Solution" for Nazi's plan
  to murder the world's Jews.

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• the Croats laugh and scorn euphemisms more than
  the Americans do- there are fewer ethnic and
  social group in Croatia and it isn't absolutely
  necessary to be politically correct.
• some of the new euphemisms (particularly those
  invented in the USA) are silly and unnecessary
  vertically challenged- short person carnal
  knowledge- sexual intercourse service the
  target- kill the enemy immortally challenged-
  dead.

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• Euphemisms can influence memory as well as
  perception
• after seeing a film of a multiple-car accident,
  50 subjects were asked How fast were the cars
  going when they hit?, and 50 were asked How fast
  were the cars going when they smashed? The hit
  subjects averaged 8 miles/h, and the smash
  subjects 11 miles/h. Both groups were also asked
  Did you see any broken glass? (There was none in
  the film.) Of the hit subjects, 7 said yes, and
  of the smash subjects 16.