Introduction to the

Relationship of Language,
Society, and Culture
• Language, a system of conventional spoken,
manual (signed), or written symbols by
means of which human beings, as members
of a social group and participants in its
culture, express themselves. The functions
of language include communication, the
expression of identity, play, imaginative
expression, and emotional release
• Language is the expression of ideas by means of
speech-sounds combined into words. Words are
combined into sentences, this combination answering to
that of ideas into thoughts.”

-Henry Sweet, an English phonetician and language

scholar
“A language is a system of arbitrary
vocal symbols by means of which a
social group cooperate”

-American linguists Bernard Bloch

and George L. Trager
A number of considerations (marked in italics below) enter
into a proper understanding of language as a subject:

• Every physiologically and mentally

typical person acquires in childhood the
ability to make use, as both sender and
receiver, of a system of communication
that comprises a circumscribed set of
symbols (e.g., sounds, gestures, or
written or typed characters)
• Different systems of
communication constitute
different languages; the degree
of difference needed to establish
a different language cannot be
stated exactly.
• Typically, people acquire a
single language initially—their
first language, or native tongue,
the language used by those with
whom, or by whom, they are
brought up from infancy.
• Language, as described
above, is species-specific
to human beings.
• In most accounts, the primary
purpose of language is to
facilitate communication, in the
sense of transmission of
information from one person to
another.
• Language interacts with every aspect of human life in society,
and it can be understood only if it is considered in relation to
society.
• The science of language is known as linguistics. It includes
what are generally distinguished as descriptive linguistics and
historical linguistics.
• Linguistics is now a highly technical subject; it embraces, both
descriptively and historically, such major divisions as phonetics,
grammar (including syntax and morphology), semantics, and
pragmatics, dealing in detail with these various aspects of
language.
Historical Attitudes toward Language
• Naming—applying a word to pick out and refer to a fellow
human
• being, an animal, an object, or a class of such beings or
objects—is only one part of the use of language, but it is an
essential and prominent part.
• In many cultures people have seen in the ability to name a
means to control or to possess; this explains the reluctance, in
some communities
• Perhaps not surprisingly, several independent traditions ascribe a
divine or at least a supernatural origin to language or to the
language of a particular community. The biblical account,
representing ancient Jewish beliefs, of Adam’s naming the
creatures of the earth under God’s guidance is one such example:
• So out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field
and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see
what he would call them; and whatever the man called every
living creature, that was its name. (Genesis 2:19)
• The later biblical tradition of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1–
9) exemplifies three aspects of early thought about language:
• (1) divine interest in and control over its use and development,
• (2) a recognition of the power it gives to humans in relation to
their environment, and
• (3) an explanation of linguistic diversity, of the fact that people
in adjacent communities speak different and mutually
unintelligible languages, together with a survey of the various
speech communities of the world known at the time to the
Hebrew people.
Why Should We Study Language?
Language in Daily Life
Homologous relationship of culture and
language
• The expression, language is culture
and culture is language is regularly
referenced when language and
culture are examined.
Language and culture grew together
and affected each other as they
advanced.
Culture and Society Defined

• Culture consists of the beliefs, behaviors, objects, and other

characteristics common to the members of a particular group or
society.
• Through culture, people and groups define themselves, conform
to society's shared values, and contribute to society.
• Thus, culture includes many societal aspects:
• language, customs, values, norms, mores, rules, tools,
technologies, products, organizations, and institutions.
• Common institutions are the family, education, religion, work,
and health
• Popularly speaking, being cultured means
being well‐educated, knowledgeable of the
arts, stylish, and well‐mannered. High
culture—generally pursued by the upper
class—refers to classical music, theater,
fine arts, and other sophisticated pursuits.
• Cultural Capital
• Low culture, or popular culture—
• generally pursued by the working and
middle classes—refers to sports, movies,
television sitcoms and soaps, and rock
music. Remember that sociologists define
culture differently than they do cultured, high
culture, low culture, and popular culture
• Sociologists define society as the people who interact in
such a way as to share a common culture.
• The cultural bond may be ethnic or racial, based on
gender, or due to shared beliefs, values, and activities.
• The term society can also have a geographic meaning
and refer to people who share a common culture in a
particular location. For example, people living in arctic
climates developed different cultures from those living in
desert cultures.
SEVEN CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURE
• Culture is Shared
• Culture is not something that an individual alone can possess.
Culture in sociological sense is shared. For example, customs,
traditions, beliefs, ideas, values, morale etc. are all shared by
people of a group or society.
• Culture is Learned
• Culture is not biologically passed from older generations to the
newer ones. It is learned through experience. The future
generations learn to follow the same ideals. Culture propagates
through generations, which adopt their old customs and
traditions as a part of their culture.
• Culture Changes
• All cultures change in time although their rate of change varies. It's
often seen that the politically or economically stronger countries
influence cultures in other parts of the world, and lead to social
changes worldwide. An example of this is the influence of American
and European cultures on other countries.
• Culture is Symbolic
• People have culture primarily because they can communicate with
and understand symbols. Symbols allow people to develop complex
thoughts and to exchange those thoughts with others. Language and
other forms of symbolic communication enable people to create,
explain, and record new ideas and information
• Culture is Transmissive
• Culture is transmissive as it is transmitted from one generation to
another. Language is the main vehicle of culture. Language in
different form makes it possible for the present generation to
understand the achievement of earlier generations. Transmission of
culture may take place by imitation as well as by instruction.
• Culture is Continuous and Cumulative
• Culture exists as a continuous process. In its historical growth it
tends to become cumulative. Sociologist Linton called culture ‘the
social heritage’ of man. It becomes difficult for us to imagine what
society would be like without culture.
• Culture is Integrated
Influencing The Way People Think
• The principle of linguistic relativity tells us that language directly
influences the way people view the world.
• Anthropologist-linguist Edward Sapir of the United States said that
the language habits of specific groups of people built the real
world.
• He further added that no two languages are similar in such a way
that they would represent one society.
• The world for each society is different. In analysis, this means that
speaking a language means that the person is assuming a
culture. Knowing another culture, based on this principle, is
knowing its particular language.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gbbDQm25UM&list=PPSV
 Transmission of culture and language
• Language is learned, which means it can be culturally transmitted.
• Pre-school children take on their first language from their exposure
to random words they encounter in and out of their homes.
• When they reach school age, they are taught either their first
language or another language.
• If it is the first language, the children are taught writing and
reading, the ways to construct sentences and how to use formal
grammar.
• However, the initial knowledge of the child about the essential
structure and vocabulary of the first language was learned before
the child went to school.
• Conversely, culture is transmitted in a large part, by
language, through teaching.
• Language is the reason why humans have histories that
animals do not have. In the study of animal behavior through
the course of history, alterations to their behavior were the
result of
• the intervention of humans through domestication and other
types of interference
 Inter-cultural interactions

• What is likely to happen if there is interaction between two cultures?

In today’s scenario, intercultural interactions are very common.
• Communication is necessary for any person who wants to
understand and get along with people whose background and
beliefs are greatly dissimilar from their own.
• Cultural identity can be marked by language, although language can
be used to refer to other processes and developments. A specific
language refers to a particular cultural group.
• Values, basic assumptions, behavioral conventions, beliefs and
attitudes shared by an ethnic group make up what we call culture.
• Assimilation and social differentiation, and language
Through time, variations appeared within a language.
Transmission of a language is self perpetuating
unless there is deliberate interference.
• However, it became important for humans to improve
their social hierarchies and social status to advance
personally
• For this part, I want you to observe or be engaged in a
discourse (written or oral) where you can spot
misunderstanding/misinterpretation between/among the people
in the discourse. Analyze the reason/s of
misunderstanding/misinterpretation and expound your
• claim. Identify whether the reason/s fall/s under LANGUAGE,
CULTURE, or SOCIETY.
• Use the given space below and/or the space at the back of the
paper if necessary