What is the Relationship Between Language and Culture?

1
What is the Relationship Between Language and
Culture?

• By The Spanish Group

2
Legal Systems Drastically Differ
When translating one language to another, many
considerations must be taken into account. One of
the most important considerations is how culture
relates to a language and how it influences it.
Without understanding the local or regional
culture of a language, a translation may not be
accurate or appropriate. With that said, here are
just some of the main ways in how language and
culture relate to each other.

• So why is language important to culture? Well,
  culture plays an important role in how language
  differs, not only in different countries but also
  in different legal systems. Laws in different
  countries are shaped over time by different
  socio-cultural influences. This means that legal
  documents often contain wording that must be
  translated carefully so that these cultural
  nuances arent lost in the translation process.
• Its also important for cultural politics to be
  respected when translating languages. When many
  people think of local customs, they think of a
  certain method or accepted way of doing things
  within society. But customs can also play a major
  role in legal scenarios.

3
Polite in One Culture, Rude in Another

• In some languages, formality in the way things
  are worded is incredibly important, while in
  others, a more informal approach may be more
  appropriate. While legal documents are almost
  always of the formal type, sometimes a bit more
  formality may be needed based on the local
  culture.
• For example, in many Asian cultures, its
  customary to use honorific prefixes and suffixes
  when referring to people. These titles are used
  before a persons name as a way of identifying
  their age, gender, or other characteristics.
  However, the use of these honorifics in Western
  culture would normally be considered
  inappropriate.
• So, because of cultural differences, a translator
  needs to understand how to translate these
  cultural differences correctly. Because legal
  documents must normally be translated precisely
  without any loss of details, honorifics (and
  other culture-based terms) must be translated to
  their most appropriate equivalents.

4
Some Languages Are More Complex

• Another example of the relationship between
  language and culture is the way sentences or
  phrases are structured. Some languages, such as
  English, involve complex sentences where more
  than one subject may be discussed in a single
  sentence.
• The use of parentheses in English as a way of
  referring to different subjects within a sentence
  is a perfect example of this. When translating
  these types of sentences into another simpler
  language, it may be difficult and can be
  confusing if its not worded correctly.
• Also, some languages use more passive voice,
  while others use active voice. Using active voice
  in a society that values passive voice may come
  off as aggressive or rude. Even some languages
  within the same language group may differ in this
  way. A language group definition is a group of
  languages that are very similar to each other
  because of their history, grammar, and
  vocabulary.
• However, the tone in which things are said, based
  on sentence structure, or syntax, can differ
  between languages that share the same language
  group. This is a type of language culture, where
  similar languages may have nuances or small
  differences that reflect the culture. So, when
  translating languages between two cultures,
  sentence structure is very important as it can
  change the entire tone of what is being said

5
Multi-Lingual Documents

• In some cases, there may be more than one
  language within a document that needs to be
  translated. An example of this would be legal
  documents, where sometimes there will be
  different languages used based on different laws.
  
• India is one country where legal documents may
  contain both English and Hindi because federal
  and state laws may use both of these languages.
  Because these languages, and laws, may have
  cultural influences, they must be translated
  accurately and with those contexts in mind.
• This is the same for any formal contract where
  two parties are coming together to enter into a
  legal agreement. Because both parties may come
  from different cultural backgrounds, a
  multi-lingual contract is also multicultural
  because the languages used will often be rooted
  in certain aspects of their respective cultures.
• Because both parties must read and understand the
  document, it must be translated by someone who is
  not only efficient at translating between the two
  languages, but who also understands both cultures
  and how that affects the wording of such a
  document.

6
When Sensitive Wording is Needed

• There are also scenarios where language, culture,
  and politics are intertwined. The value of
  political correctness in some societies is a
  perfect example of this. Certain wording that
  describes a person or group in one culture may be
  considered politically incorrect in another.
• Something completely innocent in one culture may
  translate into something that's more
  inappropriate or outdated in another. For
  example, when referring to a person who is
  physically incapacitated, words such as
  crippled or handicapped may serve as direct
  translations from another language to English.
  However, in most Western societies, these words
  are considered to be politically incorrect.
  Disabled is widely regarded as the more
  appropriate choice of wording in this scenario.
• While cultures are constantly changing, so are
  the sensitivity levels of people towards certain
  wording within these cultures. So, when
  translating one language into another,
  particularly in legal proceedings, the legal
  translation must be not only accurate but it myst
  also consider how appropriate it is within each
  culture.

7
Accurate Translation Services

• When looking for a translation service, its
  important that your translator understands the
  connection between language and culture. The
  Spanish Group offers certified translation
  services that are accurate, timely, and
  efficient. Feel free to visit our site, where we
  offer language legal translation services in over
  90 languages for all your legal documents or
  academic needs.
• Source Url - https//thespanishgroup.org/blog/wha
  t-is-the-relationship-between-language-and-culture
  /

8
Thank You

• Contact Info
• 1 800-460-1536
• www.thespanishgroup.org
• info_at_thespanishgroup.org
• We will be Glad if you visit us!

www.thespanishgroup.org