Bridging the Gap Between Language and Culture

When it comes culture, language can be cited as one of the main contributors.

https://tinyurl.com/5yd57u88

Going back to the motherland is always a fun experience, one that I’m glad I have the privilege of understanding through knowing my mother tongue. How does a language help one understand a culture better?

It’s important to understand what culture and language are. The traits and recurring behaviors of a population determine its culture. Culture is defined primarily in terms of language, arts, and customs. Our culture teaches us how to think, interact with people, and take in our environment. Humans utilize language, which is a system of "speech, manual, or written symbols," to communicate. We can play, converse, and interpret thanks to it. Language enables us to express ourselves and identify with others.

Culture and language share human ideas, realities, and behaviors within a social community. There is hence a connection between culture and language. Language and culture are intertwined in every aspect of human life, including national mythology and ordinary speech. The non-lexical element of any language is known as paralanguage. It's a wide term that includes elements like voice tone or sound and body language. There will be variations in the paralanguage depending on where you were raised. The actions, facial emotions, and intonations of others around us are picked up on by us. Conflict-related body language in one nation may be interpreted as supporting in another. Because of this, paralanguage during a conversation might lead to misunderstandings between ethnic groups. Paralanguage includes things like pitch, intonation, speaking tempo, facial gestures, and hesitating sounds. It significantly affects the words you employ. For example, in Mandarin Chinese one character’s sound can mean multiple words but varying the tone slightly can be the difference between “to leave” and “umbrella”.

All aspects of social life are influenced by language. And a crucial component of learning a language is understanding the local culture. Language also enables the emergence and development of cultural values. Renowned linguist Ken Hale examines the connection between culture and language. When a language fails, he says. Since culture has a significant impact on language, a portion of culture is also lost.

Language use is a requirement for the development of culture. Isn't the need for communication a basic human need? Humans have engaged in numerous forms of communication and interaction from the beginning of time. Language, therefore, came first. A culture's language serves as both its foundation and its soul. Additionally, a variety of languages are still used worldwide. Out of more than 7000 languages, just 200 are still used in both spoken and written form.

Language and culture both change significantly over time. A 10-year-old Argentinean and a 70-year-old cannot be expected to share the same culture or language. To embrace a language one must embrace the culture first.