Culture, Language and Communication : Nature, origin and characteristics

of language; verbal and non-verbal communication; social context of

language use.
(Unit 7 , Paper I)

This unit studies Linguistic Anthropology. Linguistic anthropology is the interdisciplinary

study of how language influences social life. Linguistic anthropology explores how
language shapes communication, forms social identity and group membership, organises
large-scale cultural beliefs and ideologies, and develops a common cultural
representation of natural and social worlds. As per Dell Hymes - ‘Linguistic Anthropology
is the study of speech and language in a socio-cultural context’

Nature, origin and characteristics of language

Language is a social phenomenon, because it has relevance only in a social setting.

Language undergoes a continuous, though unnoticed, process of growth and change.

• As per Sapir - language is a primarily human and non- instinctive method of

communicating ideas, emotions and desires by means of a system of voluntarily
produced symbols.
• As per A. H. Gardiner- Language, in its widest sense, means the sum total of such signs
of our thoughts and feelings as are capable of external perception and as could be
produced and repeated at will.

Nature of Language
A language consists of words, idioms and syntax. It is through language that we think,
feel, judge and express. Hence language is one of the most important and characteristic
forms of human behaviour. We use words and idioms as tools to perform and share
experiences.

1. Language is speech – Language is speech and is distinct from the signs, gestures and
sounds produced by animals or pets to convey a particular feeling or emotion. It is
distinct from sign language even amongst humans at any point of social and biological
evolution. It restricts itself to recognised expression and communication to or from
human beings by means of speech and hearing. This communication, therefore, has to be
from man to man, from a person to another person by means of speech, and hearing.
Speech, therefore, is language.

2. Living Language – As seen earlier, a language undergoes a continuous and unnoticed

change for its refinement and depth. It responds to the demands and requirements of
the group that it represents. As the human utterances became complex and varied, a
language to be living must move with the group, must grow with the group, and should
be alive to their needs and aspirations. In this process of change and growth, language
acquires new shape, new approach, new significance and new application.

3. Language and Society – “Language is one of the most important and characteristic
forms of human behaviour”. With the widening range and horizon of human thought and
action, language has to keep in step with its social calling. As “language is activity, a
purposeful activity”, it must help man to express himself in a variety of new and different
kinds of situations. It is the society, that in its turn, bestows meaning towards idioms by
conventionalising them to mean what they mean today to a group or a community, in a
variety of complex contexts.

4. Operation of Language – As language has relevance only in social context, it is

necessary for its operation, that a social necessity or scenario exists. There should be a
corresponding situation for the language to operate upon. It is a conventional
arrangement between the speaker and the listener.

5. Sounds and Signals – Sounds produced by human beings differ from the ‘signal-like’
sounds and actions of the animals. A lot of research is going on to establish if the animals
also have similar conventionalised arrangement in their expression. According to
Bloomfield, “In human speech, different sounds have different meanings. To study this
coordination of certain sounds with certain meanings is to study language”.

Functions of a Language:

1. Social Function – It has been said time and again that language is social. It operates in a
social setting, it acquires meaning and significance in a social interaction. It is a means of
communication between members of a community. It is “capable of handling all
references and meanings” (Sapir) of a given culture. It is a means of expression.

2. Cultural Function – As “language is a part of the culture of people and the chief means
by which the members of a society communicate”, it is wedded to culture, is inseparable
from it and, hence performs a cultural function. The content of every culture is express
able in its language.

3. Language and the Individual – As a symbolic system, language either reports to, refers
to or substitutes for, direct experience. Whatever the case may be, language cannot
“stand apart from or run parallel to direct experience, but completely interpenetrates
with it.”
 4. The Expressive Function – Language is a great force of socialisation. “language is
primarily a vocal actualisation of the tendency to see realities symbolically”.
There cannot be any meaningful social interaction without language. The language binds
the people into one large group called a nation. The national language socialises the
behaviour of the whole nation, whereas, the regional languages help integrate regional
groups. Language is the greatest and most potent force of integration.
5. Aesthetic Aspect- Language helps store culture experiences in the form of literature
and other written records for posterity. These cultural experiences form the nexus of
individual realisation. It breathes life into our poets and dramatists. Short of a language,
such fine arts were not possible. Aesthetic experiences are the treasure for the posterity
to feel proud of it as a national treasure-house.

ORIGIN OF LANGUAGES
There are two main hypothesis concerning the origin of language-

1.Divine Creation Hypothesis:

• Many societies throughout history believed that language is the gift of the gods to
humans. This belief predicates that humans were created from the start with an innate
capacity to use language.
• It is impossible to prove that the first anatomically modern humans possessed creative
language. It is also impossible to disprove the hypothesis that primitive languages might
have existed at some point in the distant past of the Homo sapiens development.

2.Natural Evolution Hypothesis:

• According to this, at some point in their evolutionary development, humans acquired a
more sophisticated brain which made language invention and learning possible.
• The simple vocalisations and gestures inherited from our primate ancestors then gave
way to a creative system of language.

There are several hypotheses as to how language might have been consciously invented
by humans, which are divided into two sets:

A. The IMITATION HYPOTHESES – believe that language began through some sort of
human mimicry of natural occurring sounds or movements. Some of them are:

1. The DING-DONG HYPOTHESIS–says that language began when humans started

naming objects, actions and phenomena after a recognizable sound associated
with it in real life. eg. boom for explosions, crash for thunder.
2. The POOH-POOH HYPOTHESIS–holds that the first words came from involuntary
exclamations of dislike, hunger, pain or pleasure, eventually leading to the
expression of more developed ideas and emotions. eg. ha-ha-ha, wa-wa-wa
 3. The BOW-BOW HYPOTHESIS–holds that vocabulary developed from the
imitations of animal noises such as Moo, hiss, meow, quack-quack etc.
4. TA-TA HYPOTHESIS–speech may have developed from gestures that began to be
imitated by the organs of speech i.e. the first words were lip icons of hand
gestures.

B. The NECESSITY HYPOTHESES – believe that language began as a response to some

acute necessity in the community. Some of them are:
1. WARNING HYPOTHESIS–Language may have evolved from warning signals such
as those used by animals. Such as look out, run, help etc to alert members of the
tribe when some beast was approaching.
2. YO-HE-HO HYPOTHESIS–Language developed on the basis of human cooperative
efforts. The earliest language was chanting to simulate collective effort like
moving great stones to block off cave entrances, repeating warlike phrases to
inflame the fighting spirit etc.
3. THE LYING HYPOTHESIS–Since all real intentions or emotions get involuntarily
expressed by gesture, look or sound, voluntary communication must have been
invented for the purpose of lying or deceiving.

Languages : A Biological Perspective

In a recent discovery, a so-called language gene (FOXP2) is identified in humans. This

gene in humans is different from other primates. It helps to make fine movements of the
mouth and larynx necessary for spoken language. Some scientists disagree with the idea of
a single language gene. According to them, language ability is the result of successive
evolutionary developments.

While mentioning human evolution, it is discussed that the evolution of hominids was
accompanied by increase in brain size. Modification of cerebral cortex is one of the
changes occurred over time. This part is related to memory and symbolic and cultural
capacities. Human brain is divided into two hemispheres, left and right. The left
hemisphere controls specialised functions related to linguistic abilities. This area
of the brain is known as Broca’s area. It is associated with the production of sound or
pronunciation and with grammatical abilities. Wernicke’s area in the left hemisphere is also
related to linguistic abilities. It is associated with the ability to understand the meaning of
words and sentences or the semantics of language. This centre of the brain is important for
listening and reading.

Human Brain
 No animal other than human has the anatomical features, suitable for speech production.
Human vocal organs form an irregular tube connecting the lungs, windpipe and larynx.
Larynx is the voice box containing the vocal cords. Another vocal organ is the Pharynx. It
is the part of the vocal tract between the back of the tongue and the larynx. It extends into
the nasal cavity.The larynx serves to hold air in the lungs and to control its release. These
vocal organs work in connection with the tongue, lips and nose to produce speech. The
nasal cavity, lips and tongue can regulate or stop the flow of air at any point. It helps us to
make vowel and consonant sounds.

In the case of vocal organs, the major difference between chimpanzees and modern humans
is the lower position of the larynx and consequent lengthening of the upper vocal tract in
humans. This change is said to have occurred through evolution. It has enabled humans to
speak languages.Of course, these biological modifications helped us to speak. But a
commonly assigned meaning to particular sound and sound patterns were also
indispensable for linguistic communication.

Characteristics of Language
• Language is learned — The learning process may be natural or structured.
• Language is a system—The complexity of the various facets of it are organically
inter-related, such as, sounds, words and structures integrated with one another and
constitute the complex and organic whole which is called language.
• Language is a system of symbols —Its effectiveness consists in its usage when the
symbols are commonly shared and known to all those who are sharing a common
experience.
• The system is arbitrary—There is no logical relation between the words and the objects
they stand for except for the Chinese and the other pictorial languages. Here again, the
characters, though pictorial, do have any resemblance with the reality that they stand
for. However, in sound languages, it is necessary that the sounds have a specific
meaning.
• Language symbols are vocal—Language is primarily speech- Oriented. Its graphical
representation comes later. In many languages there is no graphical expression at all.
They are only spoken and are considered adequate as they perform the basic function of
communication.
• Language is relevant in a social setting and has meaning as far as it expresses common
cultural experiences. Languages, therefore, differ because cultures differ.
• Language is a unique feature of humans.

Language Acquisition

There are different views regarding the acquisition of language. One of the widely
accepted proposition was put forth by an American linguist Noam Chomsky. Noam
 Chomsky examines how people acquire grammar. Most people actually cannot state the
rules of language. But they use these rules to form understandable sentences. According to
Chomsky, all children acquire these complex rules readily. They do not feel any difficulty
in producing meaningful statements even though they did not learn the grammar rules.

Thus, Chomsky proposes that humans are born with a brain pre-wired that enables
language acquisition. Chomsky calls this pre-wiring as Universal Grammar. The universal
grammar serves like a model. The universal grammar of human mind helps the child to
acquire any language and to produce sentences never heard before. Anthropologists had
earlier assumed that languages could vary in different areas. Chomsky also opines that
there is a critical period for the acquisition of language. It is the period for the acquisition
of language between birth and the starting of puberty. During this time language
acquisition must happen. If children are not acquainted with language, during this period,
they may never be able to acquire it. Or they may be able to learn language only in its
rudimentary form.

Types of Communication

Verbal Communication:
Verbal communication is the sharing of information between two individuals using
words. It is the use of auditory language to exchange information with other people. It
includes sounds, words, or speaking. The tone, volume, and pitch of one’s voice can all
contribute to effective verbal communication.
Types of Verbal Communication:
1. Formal versus Informal: We use spoken communication informally while we use
written communication formally.
2. Synchronous versus Asynchronous: Synchronous communication is
communication that takes place in real time, such as a conversation with a friend.
In contrast, asynchronous communication is communication that is not immediate
and occurs over longer periods of time, such as letters, email, or even text
messages.
3. Recorded versus Unrecorded: Written communication is generally archived and
recorded for later retrieval while spoken communication is generally not.

Non verbal communication

Non-verbal communication is communication between people through non-verbal or
visual cues. This includes gestures, facial expressions, body movement, timing, touch,
and anything else that communicates without speaking. This includes body language
(kinesics), distance between people (proxemics), voice quality (paralanguage), and touch
(haptics).
Types of non verbal communication:

1. Facial expressions-The human face is extremely expressive, able to convey

countless emotions without saying a word. Facial expressions are universal. The
facial expressions for happiness, sadness, anger, surprise, fear, and disgust are
the same across cultures.
2. Body movement and posture-This type of nonverbal communication includes your
posture, bearing, stance, and the subtle movements you make.
3. Gestures: They are woven into the fabric of our daily lives. Like wave, point,
beckon, or use of hands. The meaning of some gestures can be very different
across cultures. While the OK sign made with the hand, for example, conveys a
positive message in English-speaking countries, it’s considered offensive in
countries such as Germany, Russia, and Brazil.
4. Eye contact-Since the visual sense is dominant for most people, eye contact is an
especially important type of nonverbal communication. It communicates interest,
affection, hostility, or attraction. Eye contact is also important in maintaining the
flow of conversation and for gauging the other person’s interest and response.
5. Touch-We communicate a great deal through touch. For example- weak
handshake, a warm bear hug, a patronising pat on the head, or a controlling grip
on the arm.
6. Space: Physical space is used to communicate many different nonverbal
messages, including signals of intimacy and affection, aggression or dominance.
Need for physical space differs depending on the culture, the situation, and the
closeness of the relationship.
7. Proximity: Closeness to the audience sends a nonverbal message. A very small
distance may mean threatening communication. On the other hand, too much
space is an awkward nonverbal communication that might confuse the listener.
 8. Appearance- Clothing, hair, and jewellery are also a part of nonverbal
communication. The quality and condition of clothing, hair, and jewellery —all of
these things speak nonverbally.

Loss Of Language : Loss of Culture and Knowledge

There are more than 5000 languages distributed throughout the world. But a large number
of these languages have disappeared over time. Perhaps the most powerful force for
linguistic change is the domination of one society over another. Five hundred years of
European colonisation was one such instance. In many cases, foreign political control has
resulted in linguistic erosion or a complete disappearance of a language.

The extinction of each language results in the irrecoverable loss of unique cultural,
historical, and ecological knowledge. Each language is a unique expression of the human
experience of the world. Thus, the knowledge of any single language may be the key to
answering fundamental questions of the future. Every time a language dies, we have less
evidence for understanding patterns in the structure and function of human
language, human prehistory, and the maintenance of the world’s diverse ecosystems.
Above all, speakers of these languages may experience the loss of their language as a loss
of their original ethnic and cultural identity (Bernard 1992, Hale 1998).

It is estimated that over the last 500 years, about 3500 languages have become
extinct. In Western Europe, hundreds of languages disappeared due to the expansion of
agricultural empires. Rulers of these empires imposed their language on conquered people.
In the course of the expansion of the Roman Empire many tribal languages disappeared.
They were replaced by Latin. When Columbus discovered America, there existed more
than 2000 languages among different Native American people. But most of these local
languages disappeared due to the Spanish and British invasion of this area. Different
factors like warfare, epidemics or forced assimilation may have been the cause for it.
Anthropologists predict that the number of languages spoken today will be reduced to half
by the year 2100.
Children born in ethnic minority groups are no longer using their ancestral language
at schools or workplaces. In complex societies, there is the tendency to learn and practice
a single commonly shared language. Flourishing of information technology, popularisation
of internet and short messages in cell phones promote global spread of one common
language, English. It helps people from different ethnic backgrounds to communicate. But
there is the risk of the disappearance of other languages too. Today, internet content exists
only in a limited number of languages.

The Internet really is a powerful tool for maintaining and enhancing disappearing
languages.UNESCO has started some positive steps to ensure linguistic and cultural
diversity. Promotion of multilingualism on the internet is one among them. It helped to
bridge the digital divide.

Linguistic anthropologists advocate bilingualism. Along with using the common language,
natives are to be encouraged to use their own language.We all share the responsibility of
ensuring that no language disappears and that all languages are maintained and perpetuated
for the future generations.
Characteristics of non-verbal communication:
Non-verbal communication is any information that is communicated without using
words. The important characteristics of non-verbal communication are as follows:
1. No use of words: Non-verbal communication is a communication without words
or language, unlike oral or written communication. It uses gestures, facial
expressions, eye contact, physical proximity, touching, etc. for communicating
with others.
2. Culturally determined: Non-verbal communication is learned in childhood, passed
on to you by your parents and others with whom you associate. Through this
process of growing up in a particular society, you adopt the taints and
mannerisms of your cultural group.
3. Different meaning: Non-verbal symbols can have many meanings. Cross-culture
aspects give various meanings to the same expression in respect of non-verbal
communication.
4. Vague and imprecise: Non-verbal communication is quite vague and imprecise.
Since in this communication, there is no use of words or language which
expresses clear meaning to the receiver.
5. May conflict with verbal message: Non-verbal communication is so deeply rooted,
so unconscious, that you can express a verbal message and then directly
contradict it with a nonverbal message.
6. Largely unconscious: Non-verbal communication is unconscious in the sense that
it is usually not planned nor rehearsed. It comes almost instantaneously.
7. Shows feelings and attitudes: Facial expressions, gestures, body movements, the
way you use your eyes – all communicate your feelings and emotions to others.
8. Informality: Nonverbal communication does not follow any rules, formality or
structure like other communication. In most cases people unconsciously and
habitually engage in non-verbal communication by moving the various parts of
the body.
 Pidgin and Creole Languages

Some languages developed where European colonial powers established commercial

enterprises that relied on imported labour, generally slaves. The labourers in one place
often came from many different societies and, in the beginning, would speak with their
masters and with each other in some kind of simplified way, using linguistic features of
one or more of the languages. Often, most of the vocabulary is drawn from the masters’
language.These pidgin languages become a new way of communicating. Pidgins are
simplified languages and lack many of the building blocks found in the languages of
whole societies, building blocks such as prepositions (to, on, and so forth) and auxiliary
verbs (designating future and other tenses). If a pidgin language is used merely as
system of communicating in a limited setting, it may not develop into a fully developed
language. However, children may begin to use pidgin as their first language. The pidgin
language may expand and become more complex grammatically.Many pidgin languages
developed into and were replaced by so-called creole languages, which incorporate much
of the vocabulary of another language (often the masters’ language) but also have a
grammar that differs from it and from the grammars of the labourers’ native languages.

SOCIAL CONTEXT OF LANGUAGE

The structure and content of language to a great extent are influenced by culture. We
can say that linguistic diversity is the result of cultural diversity. According to Overton
Brent Berlin, a famous American Anthropologist, the increase in the number of words
indicates the cultural complexity. Language reflects cultural situations. The socialisation
process of a child is also influenced by language. The status of people, their living
conditions, their environment and the way of subsistence can be understood through
languages. The study of the relationship between language and culture, and how they
mutually influence each other is examined under the sub-discipline Ethno-linguistics. It
examines how a language reflects the traditional natural environment. Ethno-linguists, in
their interaction with the group under study, learn to understand the prevailing social
cultural situation. Relationship between Culture and language can be well understood
through the examination of the following areas:

1. Language Influences Human Thought: It is important to note that language, to

some extent, shapes the way people view and think about the world. Culture is
directly related to human thought. Some Linguists even say that language actually
determines thought. It also shapes behaviour and culture. The concept related to
this outlook is termed as Linguistic Determinism. This is associated with the
research of anthropologists, Edward Sapir (American Linguist and student of
Franz Boas) and his student and American linguist Benjamin Whorf. Based on
their research, they proposed the Sapir - Whorf hypothesis, in which they
 proposed how language determines human thought. For example if a language
has no word to denote ‘snow‘ as used in English, then a person brought up in that
culture cannot think of snow as it is implied in English. Thus, Linguistic
determinism proposes that language, to some extent, determines the way we
think about the world around us. As the thought pattern changes, the cultural
situation of that society also changes accordingly.

2. Language indicates Social Roles and Statuses: In your local language, there may
be different words to denote ‘death’ of a person. The use of these terms may vary
according to caste, gender, age and social status. Likewise persons in different
religious sects use different terms. It is important to remember that languages are
spoken by members of different societies. All societies have their own unique
cultures. So Individuals in different societies use language based on social
categories such as gender, age, class, caste, and ethnicity. Socio-linguistics
studies the relationship between language and society. It examines how social
categories influence the use of speech. Thus, it is concerned with the
ethnography of speaking. It examines cultural and sub-cultural patterns of speech
variation in different social contexts.

Another area of interest of Socio Linguistics is the honorific forms of language.

These are used to express differences in social levels among speakers. It is
common in societies that maintain social inequality and hierarchy. In India, people
are generally greeted by using a prefix ‘Shri’ with the name of the person.
Sometimes the greeting can be in the form of using a suffix like the use of ‘Ji’ as
we use Gandhiji, Indiraji, etc. Generally the judges in courts are honourably
addressed as ‘Your honour’. But if the judges have a higher title, the position will
be respectably addressed by using the term ‘Your Lordship’. A king/queen or
emperor/empress is addressed as His/Her Majesty. But the ruler below the rank of
a king/queen is addressed as His/Her Highness. All the above illustrations clearly
show the relationship between social role and linguistic usage.

3. Culture Influences Basic Vocabulary of Language: All languages have many

different ways to express colour variations. Most often, certain basic words are
used to denote this. In English, words representing some basic colours are white,
black, red, green, blue, yellow, brown, pink, purple and grey. They are the basic
colour words. A basic colour word consists of a single morph. It may not denote
the variant of a particular colour. These terms are generally the first named terms
when people are asked for names of colours. Moreover many individual speakers
of the language have to agree on the central meaning of the word. The number of
basic words for colours varies from society to society (language to language).
Berlin and Kay (Basic colour terms 1969) suggest that the number of basic colour
 words increases with cultural complexity. More complex societies may require a
large number of basic colour words because they have more decorated objects
that can be effectively distinguished by colour. All languages have a core
vocabulary. It is influenced by culture and environment. For example Eskimos can
distinguish different types of snows and winds. So among them there are
different terms to denote these ‘snows’ and ‘winds’. Hence, we can infer that the
basic vocabulary is influenced by culture and environment. The more complex a
society is, the larger the total vocabulary of its language.

4. Language helps to share Cultural Symbols: One of the features of culture is its
nature of shared practice. To ensure this sharing in society, we require the
medium of language. We learn the beliefs and practices of our culture through
language.

5. Language is a medium of Acculturation and Enculturation: Language helps us to

learn various aspects of our culture. We learn to behave and involve in social
interaction by sharing the common rules and norms of our culture. Language
unites people together and helps to formulate common sense in a given society.
We require the medium language to assimilate the traits of other cultures.

6. Language is a vehicle of Culture: As pointed out earlier, language, in short, fulfils

the function of a carrier of culture. It is through the medium of language that
parents and elders transmit their way of life to their children and individuals of the
next generation. It carries culture from one generation to another and from one
culture to another. Thus the processes of cultural evolution, diffusion etc. are
facilitated by language.

Previous Year Questions From Unit 7:

1. Explain how variations in language usage is related to social inequality (2020)
2. Write a note on Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis (2020)
3. Critically examine that structure and content of language is influenced by culture
(2018)