Language and Culture

Language

a form of social action

Culture

the organised system of symbols, ideas, explanations, beliefs, and material production that humans create and manipulate in the course of their daily lives

Mother tongue

a language that is familiar with you when you are born due to exposure from the mother’s voice in the gestation period, the language your parents speak

First language

the first language you learn in your life (usually through socialisation)

Accent

a distinctive or characteristic inflection, tone, or choice of words

Dialect

a variation of a language that has its own grammar and vocabulary (but is written the same)

Language attitudes

an individual’s evaluative reactions or opinions toward languages and the speakers of those languages

5 components of language

Phonology, morphology, semantics, syntax, pragmatics

Phonology

the scientific study of thep sound systems of languages and how speech sounds are organized to convey meaning

Morphology

the study of how words are formed and structured from smaller meaningful units

Semantics

the scientific study of meaning in language

Syntax

the set of rules that governs how words, phrases, or code symbols are arranged to form clear sentences or valid instructions

Pragmatics

the branch of linguistics that studies how context influences the interpretation of meaning in real-life communication

Language relativism

Language influences thought

Language determinism

Language determines thought

Universalist

Language doesn’t affect thought at all