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Language, Identity and the

Survival of Culture

Jennifer Cole, Ph.D.University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Language reflects

culture:a timely example

In the English-speaking

community, time is a commodity.

You can…

invest time save time

lose time waste time

manage time gain time

keep time give time

make time win time…

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Language reflects culture:

a timely example

In Sindhi, time is not possessed.

Time passes, time happens, and

time can be faced…

ajju na subhaarne ‘sooner or later’

derii thii vaii ‘it got late’

lit.‘lateness happened’

vaktu guzirii vayo ‘time passed by’

What’s the

link between

language

and

culture?

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Language ~ Culture

IF…

Perception & thought are separate from language,

Language reflects culture,

Culture can be translated across languages,

THEN

� Culture is independent of language

Culture can survive language loss

Language ~ Culture

BUT, IF…

Language constrains perception & thought,

Language defines the cultural concepts,

Culture is lost in translation,

THEN

� Culture and language are intertwined

Culture may not survive language loss

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Language ~ Thought

The philosophers weigh in…

Actions are constrained by the conventions of

society, but thoughts are free.

A person may pursue any line of reasoning, belief

or understanding, limited only by time, interest

and individual mental capacity.

… or so we would like to believe

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The patterns of the language we speak largely

determine the patterns of our thoughts, and

ultimately our culture.

-- Benjamin Lee Whorf (1956)

“Linguistic Determinism”

Is it true?

• Where does this idea come from?

• Is there evidence for it or against it?

• What are the consequences?

Language determines thought & culture

<< Part I >>

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• Language shift

• Culture Loss

• Reversing the trend

<< Part II >>

What is your linguistic identity as a YSA?

What is your linguistic obligation?

What are your choices?

YSA

2003

Vancouver

<< Part III >>

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• Where does this idea come from?

• Is there evidence for it or against it?

• What are the consequences?

Language determines thought & culture

Language is the garment of thought

Spoken words are the symbols of mental

experience, which are the same for all.

-- Aristotle (384-322 bce)

Thought is primary, and independent of

language.

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Language is the instrument of thought

Are not thought and speech the same, with

this exception that what is called thought is

the unuttered conversation of the soul?

-- Plato (429-327 bce)

Language and thought are identical.

Without language, thought is a vague,

uncharted nebula. There are no pre-existing

ideas and nothing is distinct before the

appearance of language.

-- Ferdinand de Saussure (1915)

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The limits of my language mean the limits of

my world.

-- Ludwig Wittgenstein (1921)

The widespread view today:

All cognitive activity is linguistic.

Language may distort thinking

Every language expresses the character of the

people that speak it.

-- E. Bonnot de Condillac (1746)

Words are the moulds in which we see our

thoughts.

-- J. Gottfried Herder (c. 1800)

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The ‘real world’ is to a large extent

unconsciously built up on the language habits

of the group. The worlds in which different

societies live are distinct worlds, not merely the

same world with different labels attached.

-- Edward Sapir (1929)

Language may distort thinking

The differences between languages corresponds to

differences in world perspectives.

Perception and thought emerge naturally from a

language, but are ultimately constrained by the

structures of the language.

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Languages differ in the thoughts they

afford us.

Language may distort thinking

Language is the instrument of thought

From Thought to Culture

Culture is the collective, shared ‘thought’ of

the community.

--- the set of shared beliefs, traditions and

practices that provide a means for

organizing your experience of the world.

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Languages differ in the thoughts they

afford us.

Languages differ in the culture they

afford us.

What’s the hard evidence?

Modest evidence from psychology experiments:

• color names -- color recognition

• facial expression names -- recognition

• noun gender -- gender identity development

• number names – number learning

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What’s the evidence?

Modest evidence from psychology experiments:

• color names -- color recognition

• facial expression names -- recognition

• noun gender -- gender identity development

• number names – number learning

What are the consequences?

If language determines the way you

perceive the world, then the shift from use

of one language to another entails at least

the possibility of a shift in world view.

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What are the consequences?

Over an entire community, loss of

language entails the loss of that part of

culture that is verbally expressed.

• Language shift

• Culture Loss

• Reversing the trend

<< Part II >>

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Language shift

When a community shifts from using

their native language to using another

language, usually the language of a

dominant or economically powerful

community.

Urdu

Hindi

English

Sindhi

Language shift

When a community shifts from using

their native language to using another

language, usually the language of a

dominant or economically powerful

community.

Urdu

Hindi

English

SindhiUrdu

Hindi

English

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Is language shift unavoidable?

Language shift promotes economic

development.

Must economic development have

such a high price tag?

People voluntarily shift to the

dominant language.

Language shift never occurs by

choice, but by loss of choice.

Language and identity

To choose a language is an act of

identity.

Languages are the pedigrees of

nations

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Language and identity

The notion of “1 Language - 1 State”

is based on the European model,

imposed during 19th c. colonialism, and

is not a natural state for most of the

world.

“We have room for but one language.”

--President Theodore Roosevelt, 1918

Language shift, Language loss

Signs of endangerment:

Fewer speakers,

Fewer domains of language use,

Structural simplifications,

Language not learned by children as

a mother tongue.

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Endangerment check for Sindhi

� Fewer speakers,

� Fewer domains of language use,

� Structural simplifications,

� Language not learned by children

as a mother tongue.

for Sindhi in the diaspora

Language shift, Culture loss

Globalization brings about:

• the monoculture of the mind

• cultural “blind spots”

• loss of cultural knowledge that

guides traditional environmental

stewardship

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“There are 9 different words in Maya

for the color “blue”, but just 3 in the

Spanish translation, leaving 6

butterflies that can be seen only by

the Mayans, proving:

When a language dies, six butterflies

disappear from the consciousness of

the earth.”

1. Failure of older generation

2. Failure of younger generation

3. Failure of government, schools

4. Heritage language is unnecessary

5. Heritage language is overshadowed

6. Heritage language is difficult to learn

What are the root causes of

language shift?

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If the problem is the “other guys”, can

our efforts possibly make a

difference?

Language shift is the long-term,

collective consequence of

consistent patterns of individual

language choice.

What are the root causes of

language shift?

Each individual can contribute to

language maintenance.

• Proficient speakers

• Semi-speakers

• Passive bilinguals

Reversing the trend

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The social connection

Only the speakers of a language

can keep it alive.

A social function for language is

necessary for its survival.

Language revitalization: Hebrew

• resurrected from extinction

• connected to a world religion

• supported by a nationalist ideology

• supported by widespread emigration,

where newcomers had to break from

their first language.

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Language revitalization: Irish

• the number of speakers declined 60%

in 40 years; from 1.5 million in 1861 to

600,000 in 1901.

• preservation efforts supported by state

• taught in schools as a second language

• gaining no ground as a mother tongue

Language revitalization: Hawaiian

• shrunk to a few hundred speakers over

100 years

• grass-roots campaign in 1980s created

Hawaiian language immersion

programs for preschoolers and their

parents

• very successful, now have Hawaiian

K-12 education, and Hawaiian as a

foreign language at the university.

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What are the linguistic challenges

facing young Sindhis?

What are your linguistic

obligations?

Do you have choices to make?

Fact: Minority languages can find a

niche within dominant cultures.

Fact: Successful language

preservation efforts rely on the use

of the heritage language in the

home setting.

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Fact: Bilingualism is the norm for

most of the world, and a model for

language preservation efforts.

The citizen of the “global village” is

not restricted to a single language

or a single identity.

There is room for both the local

and the global language.

The choice lies with each

individual within the community.

Preserve cultural knowledge

through linguistic and other means.

Maintain access to Sindhi through

oral, written, and sung traditions.

Promote efforts to revitalize Sindhi

in your family and in the Sindhi

community.

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Share the treasure with your

non-Sindhi friends and family!

Sindhi is major language, with a

long and rich history.

Sindhi folklore and traditions are

rich and meaningful in today’s

world.

May your boats cross!

… happy landings

bberaaii paari!

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May it be always spring!

… a new beginning

sadaa bahaari!

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Selected ReferencesFishman, J. (1999). Handbook of Language and Ethnic Identity. Oxford: Oxford

University press.

McIntosh, I.S. (2001). Plan A and plan B partnerships for cultural survival. Cultural

Survival, 25.2.

Nettle, D. & Romaine, S. (2000). Vanishing Voices. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Schlesinger, I.M. (1991). The wax and wane of Whorfian views. In R.L. Cooper and B.

Spolsky (eds.), The Influence of Language on Culture and Thought, pp. 7-44, Berlin:

Mouton de Gruyter.

Smith, J. (2001). For reasons out of our hands: A community identifies the causes of

language shift. Cultural Survival, 25.2.

Web ResourcesTerralingua: www.terralingua.org

Summer Institute of Lingustics: www.sil.org

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization: www.unesco.org/culture

Cultural Survival: www.culturalsurvival.org/publications