Language and Culture

Language and Culture

• Language acts as a reflection, code, part, or tool of national culture.
• Social changes and personal behaviors are reflected through language.
• Language is both dynamic and an integral aspect of a people.
• Language solves problems related to communication or cognition.
• The real world is built upon social context, culture, and beliefs.
• Language is a means of reality comprehension, presentation, and estimation in people's mentality.
• Any language serves as a code, a link between a person’s inner and outer world.
• Language world picture is partly universal and partly specific.

Linguistics and Thought

• "Human → language → culture" and "Human → language → way of thinking" suggest culture goes alongside linguistic factors.
• People see the world differently due to language and culture.
• The hypothesis "Language you speak affects the ideas you can have" embodies linguistic relativity.
• Thoughts are rooted in language, influenced by figures like Whorf.
• Inability to experience a concept may stem from its absence in our language.
• Our reasoning and superstitions are determined by language, which shapes reality perception.
• If a concept does not exist in our language, then we can not experience the concept.
• Whorf stated, "The difference between languages is not only in the sounds and signs but also in the outlook."

Linguoculturology

• V. von Humboldt founded the theory of anthropological linguistics.
• Linguoculturology examines language within national identity and mental expression.
• Linguoculturology studies the relationship between language and culture.
• Linguoculturology studies and reflects language to reveal national mental states.
• V.A. Maslova claims that idioms play an important role in the identification of linguistic and cultural features.
• Humboldt concluded about language systems: "The difference between languages is in the worldview."
• Linguoculturology features an essential feature of language and culture study.
• Linguoculturology can be divided into three main fields.

Anthropology

• Anthropology studies cultural and social behavior.
• Cultural anthropology focuses on studying traditions, customs, languages and relationships among humans.

Language Components and Concepts

• Concepts shape linguistic world images.
• A concept represents a set of beliefs as a cultural unit.
• "Conceptus" from Latin means idea, perception, understanding, and thought.
• A concept marks a language world image while reflecting an ethnic mindset.
• Lotman, Maslova, Sapir, and Humboldt are key figures in defining concepts.
• "Concept” is regarded as a basic cultural cell in the mental world.
• Key components of language communication are verbal, non-verbal, written, or digital.

Phraseology

• Phraseological units can be dynamic, fluid, fixed, and flexible in speech.
• Phraseological units are the units, described as fixed idioms by lexicographers.
• Phraseological units are commonly linked to emotions found in speech.
• Phraseological units are associated with national cultural standards, stereotypes, and myths.
• Phraseological units incorporate cultural information considered with languages.
• Lotman considered phraseology to be complex
• Kunin considered "The phraseological unit is a fixed combination of words which fully or partially change their meanings".
• A phraseological complex is a semantic-conceptual formation.
• Exploring phraseological units helps understand a certain ethnic group's national spirit.
• Anthropocentric phraseology preserves the nation's national spirit.
• English phraseological units improve students’ linguocultural competence.
• The traditional view of phraseological meaning altered due to globalization.
• Maslova states idioms identify cultural features in language.
• Phraseological units reflect the worldview characteristic of a linguocultural community.
• Idioms express a language's uniqueness and the mentality of its people.
• Research into phraseological pragmatics marked a challenging study in the 1990s.
• Idiomatic, functional, and contextual aspects are focused on within the approach applied to phraseological units.
• Semantic transformation is involved in idioms, proverbs, and metaphors.
• Proverbs provide insight when communicating across cultures.
• The study of phraseology in different languages helps to understand cultural differences, and similarities.
• Idioms are difficult for language learners because their meanings are not literal.

Idioms and Proverbs

• Idioms and proverbs contain beliefs and values of people's consciousness.
• They also reflect the cultural history and values of their speakers.
• Proverbs are short, widely known, and contain moral lessons.
• Proverbs offer wisdom or advice, differentiating them from idioms.
• Idioms and proverbs carry the linguocultural code of the nation.
• Metaphors effectively link known ideas to new concepts.
• Slang expressions express the national character of Britain.
• The Russian language has the colors of light and dark blue unlike "blue" in English.
• "A proverb is a short, generally known sentence of the folk which contains a moral lesson".
• Proverbs often contain "a moral lesson".

Meanings & Interpretations of Common Phrases and Sayings

• "Жүрегі дір (зу) ете қалды" in English translates to "Heart trembled".
• The Kazakh/Russian equivalent for "from the bottom of one’s heart" is от души / шын жүректен.
• “Privacy” is a special term in the English culture/language.
• "Time is money" in British culture conveys the trait to appreciate time.
• "Break a leg" means to wish good luck.
• "Hit the sack" means to go to bed.
• "Bite the bullet" means to endure a difficult situation bravely.
• "Costs an arm and a leg" indicates something is very expensive.
• "The ball is in your court" means that it is one's turn to take action.
• "Under the weather" translates to feeling sick.
• "Burn the midnight oil" means to work late at night.
• Lack of literal translation is why are idioms hard to translate.
• "Rome wasn’t built in a day" as language that encourages patience.
• "Start a conversation in a social setting" is the meaning to "break the ice" in conversation.
• "A pat on the back" means encouragement.