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OUTLINE
1. Language and culture - Linguistic determinism- Linguistic relativity
2. Typological classification of words
3. Semasiological and onomosiological approaches to the contrastive study of lexical units
Does Our Language Determine Our Culture?
William von Humboldt
Sapir and Whorf :
Language controls a person’s thinking processes in some way.
English Italian Rumanian Estonian Japanese Ukrainian
hand mano minǎ käsi te ruka
arm braccio brat, käsi(vars) ude
foot piede picior jalg ashi noga
leg gamba
finger dito deget sõrm yubi palec’
toe varvas
Different nations seem not only to see but also to hear the world differently
U. тук-тукE. rat-a-ratJap. don-don
U. ква-кваE. croak- croakJap. kero-keroFrench coa-coa
The concept that language limits perception has become known as
the “Whorfian Hypothesis”
or as
“linguistic determinism”.
The ideas of linguistic determinism in the XX c.
In 1980
George Lakoff and Mark Johnson
published
Metaphors We Live By
Our conceptual system plays a central role in defining our everyday realities:
how we get around in the world and how we relate to other people.
Language controls thought .
Metaphors determine the way English speakers see the world
TimeI spent time on that project. I invested time on that project. I saved time on that project
“Time is a valuable Commodity”
The concept of argument in English
ArgumentI shot down their arguments. I blew them out of the water with my
points. I overcame each of their points. I won. I beat them (down)
Argument is War
Howard Rheingold’s 1988 book
They have a Word for it The words of a language constrain how
people perceive the world.ho’oponopono means
“practice in which two people who have a disagreement are put in a room/hut until they agree”
change the English speaking thought
processes.
Other views
1986 Eugene A. Nida:
For the most part, language follows society rather than determining it.
Hypothesis of
“linguistic relativity” :
“Language reflects the culture of its speakers rather than determining it. Language is an important index of cultural values, but does not necessarily constrain a speaker from seeing the world in another way.”
1997 A. Wierzbicka:
Every language has certain key words that reflect the core values of a given culture.
Key terms
shy
American versus Finnish
being socially handicapped versus
being reserved, observant, respectful of others’ privacy
Are there any universal features in the lexical systems?
Are there concepts that have word nominations in all languages of the
world?
Conceptual primitives
Anna Wierzbicka:
Conceptual primitives belong to the universal "alphabet of human thoughts"
Universal semantic primitives
Substantives: I, YOU, SOMEONE (PERSON), SOMETHING (THING), PEOPLE, BODY
Determiners: THIS, THE SAME, OTHER Quantifiers: ONE, TWO, SOME, ALL, MANY(MUCH) Attributes: GOOD, BAD, BIG, SMALL Mental predicates: THINK, KNOW, WANT, FEEL, SEE,
HEAR Existence and possession: THERE IS, HAVE Life and death: LIVE(ALIVE), DIE Time: WHEN(TIME), NOW, AFTER, BEFORE, A LONG
TIME, A SHORT Space: WHERE(PLACE), HERE, UNDER, ABOVE,
TOUCH (CONTACT) Etc.
Typological classification of words
Universal layer water, sky, ocean, day; brow, nose, live, eat, sleep; speak,
mother, brother Specific-national (realia) layer
терем, цимбали, гетьман, козак, писанка, вишиванка, рушник
public school, Chapel, Boxing Day, Black Friday beefeater
International layer genuine internationalisms computer, blue tooth loan internationalisms article - стаття
Universal layer. Different connotations.
Denotative (nominative) meaning white – the colour of milk, salt or snow (COD) black- the dark color of coal or night (Oxford)
Connotative meaning
white lie, white dove
black soul, black market, blackmail
Cf. in Chinese white man, white glance black man
International layer. Cultural Differences in International Words
False cognates
‘actual’
come from Latin ‘actualis’
1. real actual costs
2. (rare) important
‘актуальний’
English-Ukrainian False cognates
data? replica ? billet? accurate? intelligence? aspirant? сlay? fabric? complexion? conservatory?
дата? репліка? білет? акуратний? інтелігентність? аспірант? клей? фабрика? комплекція? консерваторія?
Semi-False cognates
director
1. директор
2. режисер
3. диригент
4. духівник Mercury
1. Планета Меркурій
2. р
директор
1. директор
Меркурій
1.Планета Меркурій
Motivation of words
Motivation is relationship between form
and meaning of the word.
friend friend-ship
Words may be non-motivated and motivated
E - 1/14 U - 1/6
phonetic morphological semantichiss wisdom face (of the stone)
1,4% 88% 10%
0,8% 91% 7,4%
Semantic structure of wordsin E and Ucoatпіджак, пальто, хутро, оперення, шар,оболонка, обшивка, покривати шаром
пливти‘float’ ‘swim’ ‘sail’
Comparison of language units from the onomasiological side
Types of nomination are the same in the contrasted languages: Simple words Derivative words Compound words Phrases Clauses Sentences
Comparing language units from the onomasiological side in E and U
Onomasiological structure may coincide:
rewrite - переписати cal-breaker - вугледробарка to make a decision - прийняти рішення
or may not coincide:ski - кататися на лижахfall in love - закохатисяmerry-go-round - карусель
Differences in Word Collocations
heavy traffic heavy-handed heavy-headed to make friends to make captain
(to achieve the rank)
інтенсивний рух неспритний
тупоголовыйподружитисястати капітаном
(дослужитися до капітана)
Analyse the onomasiological structure
food processor - кухонний комбайн brown cap - підберезовик user-friendly - легкий (зручний) в
роботіenergy-efficient - економічнийmisuse -sibling -mistrial -