I Vocabulary

1. language – язык

2. capacity – способность

3. to enable – 1) давать возможность, право, 2) облегчать

4. to access – иметь (получить) доступ

5. transmission – трансмиссия, переход, передача

6. mastery – мастерство

7. to convey – передавать, выражать (идею)

8. ancestor(s) – наследник(и)

9. to evolve into – эволюционировать, развиваться в…

10. to acquire – усваивать

11. acquisition – освоение

12. to achieve – достигать

13. achievment – достижение

14. tangible – заметный, реальный

15. to assert – 1) утверждать, заявлять, 2) доказывать, отстаивать, защищать

16. vehicle – транспортное средство

17. cognitive – когнитивный, пригодный для адекватного понимания

18. cognition – 1) познавательная способность, 2) знание, познания

19. to imply – применять

20. innate – врожденный, природный

21. feral – дикий, неприрученный

22. toddler – ребенок, начинающий ходить

II Comprehension check

1. What are people in a society culturally united through?

2. What does a person’s integration into a culture demand?

3. What is language used for?

4. What is language?

5. Why is the origin of language a heavily dedated topic?

6. Why is the acqusition of a language by a child called the most difficult intellectual achievment in life?

7. What does the argument for mental grammar state?

8. What clues point to the fact that children have a genetic head start on language acquisition?

9. What do the famous examples of feral children suggest?

10. What does the possibility of a biologically innate universal grammer allow?

III Translate the sentences from Russion into English

1. Язык рассматривается как построенная определенным образом знаковая система.

2. Знаки различают языковые и неязыковые.

3. В свою очередь языки бывают естественные и искусственные.

4. Для осуществления коммуникации человек вырабатывает различные языки.

5. Язык рассматривается как смыслы и значения, содержащиеся в языке, которые порождены социальным опытом и многообразными отношениями человека к миру.

6. Язык является ретранслятором культуры.

7. Очевидно, что культура распространяется и жестом, и мимикой, но язык является наиболее важным ретранслятором культуры.

Text 2

Cultural influences on language

All of this basic background on language should ultimately demonstrate its uniquiness to human existence, and the universality of language acquisition, development, and usage. It should also be evident that human’s use of language has countless implications. Let us turn our attention to the importance of the relationship between language and culture. If in fact, culture affects the structure and content of a language, linguistic diversity could be explained in terms of cultural diversity.We find many examples of this in various cultures. Eskimos have many different words describing snow and ice while cultures in arid regions have numerous words describing sand. The number of colour terms a culture has correlates with its degree of technological specialisation. The same can be said for general terms for plants and animals when comparing the vocabulary of simpler societies with more complex ones. The reason for the increase in vocabulary items with the increase in social complexity is because as a society increases in population density, so does the number of specialized work tasks. If we were to only consider the core or nonspecialist vocabulary, all languages would have a core vocabulary of about the same size. The idea that the vocabulary of a language reflects the everyday distinctions important in the society makes sense. Most urban dwellers in our society may only be able to name between 40 and 80 plant species whereas the typical members of hunting and gathering societies could name 400 to 800 species. Another example of how culture influences language is with usage of the verb “to have.” Societies lacking this verb also lack the concept of private property. The addition of this concept may also bring the addition of “have”to the society’s language. (Ember and Ember 1996,)

Linguistic influences on culture:The Sapir-Whorf hypotheses

The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis proposes that the differences in language reflect differences in mental processes. Antropologists Edward Sapir and Benjamin Whorf illustrated this with an example that compared the Hopi language with English. In English there are categories in word formation that convey discreteness in time: past, present, future, and things occurring at a specific time on a liner scale. The Hopis do not have the same concept of time, seeing it more as a cycling ongoing process that cannot be segmented. The Hopi language does not have the construction of tenses that the English language has (Ember 1996,). This view of language’s influence on a culture states that the way in which a language is constructed becomes a cultural straitjacket. Proponents of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis are linguistic determinists: Language determines the way you think. Most linguists prefer a less extreme version of the hypothesis and adhere to linguistic relativism, which argues that each language corresponds to a different worldview. Language does not necessarily coerce thought but may encourage patterns of thought or the habitual way we view the world. Language interects with culture in more obvious ways.The way a language reflects the structure of society is evident in verbal taboos that may prohibit saying certain words – as is the case with certain New World Native groups that have a taboo against saying the name of a deceased person. Profanity is not a taboo in English because there are appropriate contexts for its use. Sometimes we really do want to curse someone. Language also helps maintain social structure. The social rules behind politeness show deferences in status. Even if there were no other clues, however, most people in England could recognise major differences in social class by different dialects.

The ability we have to recognise voice with just a minimal input shows that each person possesses his or her own idiolect, charecteristics of language at the individual level. A specific number of people (a subcultural or ethnic group) share common language characteristics of a language and comprise a dialect. In each culture you use different styles of language, depending on to whom you are speaking. On a formal occasions you are using the language’s standard style. If your social network (all the people with whom you normally interact) use a restricted code of speech (a familiar and casual style) then it will be harder for you to switch to a more elaborated code. To sum up, idiolects and dialects comprise a language. While style varies at an individual and group level, the standard is representative of the entire language.