Introduction
Culture and language are interconnected since the former describes people’s lifestyles, including language, customs, and the articulation of distinctiveness of people. It may refer to a common interest held by a group, such as the culture of reading, the popular culture, a common language, or a heritage held by an indigenous group. It is apparent that language and culture reveal the diversity of people. Consequently, a lot of lifestyle changes and linguistic adjustments have occurred, modifying the languages to make them accommodative; thus, easing communication with other people. This is because the movement of people has eased; thus, people no longer subsist within their tribal groupings. For instance, my lifestyle and styles of expression do not fit the customary definition of being English. This is because language expressions, food preferences, technology, media, and fashion have borrowed from wide ranging cultures. Therefore, each culture is an amalgamation of different cultures, which makes it rich.
We acquire our culture through a learning process. Language is enormously entrenched in culture as a medium for sharing information. The exposure to English speaking community at my early stages in life gave me a basic experience of the dialect. This cemented my identity with the culture-defining of my identity and principles. My original language intimately connects me with my culture by influencing my interactions, preferences, and thinking process. The experience of learning molds my viewpoint of life that I portray in my interactions. Through reflective observation, I internalized the basic concepts of the language that helps me to conceptualize our culture. Consequently, we classify ourselves as parts of that culture because our experience influences our practices.
The role of the media’s influence on language and culture
Media is a communication channel through which people learn about events happening elsewhere. It is an influential conduit to people’s interactions. Media comprises constitutes of several facets: the written, audio, and audio-visual channels like magazines, journals, and radio. Media communicates an ideal way of living as accepted by the general society. It is the only source of information on new trends approached by many people. Languages do not evolve in a vacuum but through people that are the core medium through which language evolves. The experiences learned via the media influence our communication styles and lifestyles. Language is the cornerstone of culture by which the media boasts as a vital force in today’s lifestyles. There is virtually no information about each life topic. I am bombarded with information from nearly all media channels. Besides informing my choices, it also affects my mood, attitude, style, and values, the core concepts towards defining my culture.
When we interact with the media, we conceive our own meanings from what we see or read since the audiences never exercise a passive position. People choose what to watch depending on their preferences hence implying that the media has a negligible effect. There are numerous channels offering a broad array of programs to suit different preferences.
The current rate of information saturation by the media has changed our lifestyles by making it a necessity rather than an option. Different communication channels become addictive and consume a lot of time that we would use to maintain relationships. This includes social sites such as Facebook, chatting programs, and Twitter that gather progressive information. These affect our thinking, our writing skills, and person-to-person interaction. This may lead to loneliness, laziness, and aggression because people are fixed on technology hence forgetting the basic concepts of a family. Consequently, most of the choices I make as a youth appear universal because of the harmonization of thinking and acting as imparted by the media globally. Everything I watch on TV adds something to my brain that is subject to active experimentation.
The media are important channels for facilitating the understanding of culture and language. Language is both a medium and an elaborate part of the culture. Through reflective observation, I observe what I see or hear in my environment and make sense of it. I abstractly conceptualize the information and make my own filter judgment with which I draw my own preferences. Some trends take time to internalize and consequently mature up to active experimentation. This influences my choice of clothes, food, sexual preferences, and political association. Often these changes may conflict with my cultural beliefs. This information introduces new behavior and practices that may conflict with my original culture. Positively this results in culture upgrading and development that is essential to civilization. As such, cultural development plays a beneficial role in our society.
When people fall into conflict due to changes in the cultural trends, with time, they borrow the trend, and it becomes part of their culture. For instance, my family’s religious culture is fiercely opposed to piercings. For a long time, such culture was associated with Satanism or gang sets. However, more people are piercing as a trend expression without any identity inspiration. This is becoming widely accepted, with families relaxing their rules with time. The media have been condemned for promoting culture erosion. Moreover, many girls in my neighborhood are already dieting because they fail to strike the media’s ideal definition of beautiful. Most of such persons reach the edges of losing weight hence exposing their health to dangers. The trend has also been witnessed in cultures that previously preferred fat women to skinny women. Media shows are not as family-oriented as before. There are shows to suit each group with an instantaneous click. The prevalent availability of information has influenced culture. The time we used to spend as a family is no longer available since each family member is engaged to an external third party on their phones, computers, radio, or TV.
Influence of science and technology on language and culture
As a concept, science can be defined simply as man’s exploration for solutions to the complexities of the world around him. Language weighs heavily on the way that science is both comprehended and disseminated to its recipients. It is, therefore, not written in stone that science influences language, but the reverse is also true. Interestingly, language somewhat defines the pace of scientific development in society. This implication would be using very broad strokes to pass it on as fact. Throughout time, language has played a key function in determining how science is taught and comprehended. Science and technology have influenced cultural interactions and development.
Scientific innovations promote lifestyle changes as people adjust to the new advancements. These may promote the erosion of culture and the development of a novel culture altogether. Science may also lead to scarcities of the basic tool that defined a culture. For instance, the development of modified foods has altered the seed selection ceremonies held in agrarian communities. Today they can get the seeds from shops reducing their levels of interaction where they transferred the skill to coming generations. Through science and technology, new words are devised to define new products. Additionally, life changes, and it becomes more sedentary because communication has eased as well as the availability of products. The extensive distances that people would transect to access resources have remarkably reduced with advanced products replacing the old ones that we previously relied on. Science and technology are worldwide. It affects all persons and majorly comes with one trade name, thus creating a single culture to those influenced. Consequently, it leads to forgetting the concepts rendered useless by science, thus neglecting a culture that was useful. Words and names are also forgotten and replaced with new ones. Through language, collective knowledge is passed in generations through a holistic process that helps in the adaptation and enrichment of culture. New inventions are transmitted through experiential learning.
Experience learning enhances our social originality and personal knowledge. It is the key starting point for learning. The schooling system facilitates the interaction of different people from assorted nationalities. It involves learning from real experiences in our environment. Due to different needs and language variations, the original class system incorporates technological advancement to enhance the learning experience.
Science and technology enhance the interactions between a person and his surroundings. We have experienced technological advancement in every part of our lifestyle. Learning capability is not fixed on one’s traits but moderately definite patterns that can be based on a person’s experiences or background. Through reflective observation, one examines and comprehends different factors of the environment at a personal level. This follows with abstract conceptualization and internalization of the lessons learned. When these facts are compacted, the person endeavors to practical experimentation and puts into practice the lessons learned.
Additionally, in my culture, we did not have names for IPods, the internet, and mobile phones until they were devised. Technological innovations have devised many devices with no indigenous names. Different languages have accepted these names without trying to find original cultural names describing the same meaning.
Language is dynamic, and experiences external inputs periodically. With globalization, people are adapting to the modern world and accepting their new trends. Modern technology reduces the relationship aspect in communication creating another culture for those who accept change. For instance, in our schooling program, video conferencing and emails are vital communication channels that stress the informational element of the message rather than the relationship.
Influence of slang on culture
People exposed to the same environmental situations often come up with an informal form of expression that identifies members only. The language need not follow the rules of a certain language. It evolves due to language changes, identity issues, and the cultural lifestyle. Language can be used to communicate and to create relationships. This is a significant input in the preservation and escalation of culture. Slang is a form of identity language adopted by people with similar experiences in life. This is mainly an informal language borrowed from a bigger language or invented by the people who share it.
There is a conceptual assumption related to culture and language whereby people presume you are certain culture because of your socialization process. Their intricate connection is seen when people understand language as a core determinant of culture. Slang influences one’s culture because it is a vital stake to draw specific conclusions about the speakers. A Language may develop from our understanding of complex social constructs of class, race, age, civilization, and interactions as we experience them daily. Moreover, thoughts and expressions are influenced by inevitable unconscious patterns borrowed from culture. The slang language consequently helps to define and exercise social identity, beliefs, practices, and ideologies that are common in a group. Through language, I am able to define my natural and social world as informed by my culture. Language variations are a mark of culture. They help to delineate the identity of a people. Consequently, among my friends, we have a form of slang that gives us identity expression. It involves the informal and substandard application of words and phrase that distinguishes us from people not sharing our challenges in our profession, our beliefs, and location. In this form of slang, only persons familiar with the specific experiences can appreciate the language. It is borrowed from many disciplines and cultures with new names for specific things.
In America, for instance, ebony English is a form of slang and a fundamental identity part of black Americans. The white majority and the few erudite blacks speak Standard English while the uneducated express themselves with ebony. This language comprises of broken English that does follow any standard rules of English. Communicating in slang can make people predict your education levels, place of origin, religious beliefs, and social class.
Culture and vocabulary development
Culture has a straightforward influence on language; hence its mainly determines the vocabularies of a language. Consequently, language is mainly coherent with cultural interactions. Association introduces speakers of a certain language into the ideologies of neighboring or those of culturally strong languages. Such interaction may be pleasant or hostile and may lead to the development of novel ideas or erosion of some aspects of languages. Indeed, identifying an entirely isolated dialect is not possible since language is dynamic and determined by the environment. Considering that we develop language from our encounters, our experience will always determine the richness of our languages. Through my life experience, I have witnessed the central role of the culture in developing our languages.
The concept behind the association of culture and our languages emerges is apparent considering the fact that we are born without a language but learns the language of the society. As such, at our young ages, we learn to use numerous terms, joining them into sentences and develop communications with others using them. Apparently, such communication ought to be limited to the little words that we learn. My experience has taught me that language ages or develops as we grow. This means that any element of the language that we present is somewhat attributable to earlier events or exposures.
Consequently, high exposures translate to richer languages; hence increased encounters build our vocabularies. A growing child is practically under a language construction process, and every new encounter acts as an additive. Importantly, differences in vocabulary development associates with a child’s attributes such as gender and the growth environment. Experience has taught me that at early ages, females and firstborn children comparatively learn vocabularies at a faster rate. The position of the environment is realizable by the fact that parents who develop attractive associations in the family have kids whose vocabularies develop faster. Indeed, this position is justified by the fact that the meaning I presently attach to the values of my language has a secondary source. Interestingly, we describe scenarios as per the learned ideologies, asserting the position of culture in our languages.
We can understand the position of culture in limiting language’s vocabulary by considering the nature of language development. Initially, any element of the language starts with the introduction of a concept. This virtually entails experiencing the idea proposed by the language or an encounter with the new concept. Through such encounters, we develop some meaning towards the proposed idea. Apparently, the meaning developed ought to be coherent with the one suggested by the encounter. Consequently, we develop a generalization out of the meaning generated from such encounters. The generalized idea realized in such a course determines our responsive actions. Notably, the concept describing such actions becomes our language and practicing such actions constitutes our culture.
As such, any vocabulary that we adopt must have a source. The prevailing culture hence limits vocabularies of our language since any definition must be in culture’s context. Such association develops a scenario were the language upholds the principles advocated by the culture. Since vocabulary development is limited to the culture’s directions, levels of culture interactions will always state levels of vocabularies. Evidently, when I was young, my communication was principally limited to my parents language; however, with interactions my language has improved considerably since am constantly lured into borrowing new concepts from such cultures. Considering the observation that we develop languages from cultural or social background, it is apparent that the culture influence determines the vocabularies in our languages.
Changes in language and idiomatic expressions
Virtually, natural languages are dynamic and language change affects the language use and meaning. Language change occurs under various contexts, and such changes are attributable to specific interests and concerns. Occasionally, there is the development of novel meaning from existing words, which may be advancement or corrosion. Advancement of meaning entails extending word’s meaning to develop a more inclusive meaning while corrosion leads to loss of the original value. Rational changes are characterized with organized transitions that present intimate relation between the original and the new word. For instance, in my early ages, there existed the term “network” that initially described inconsequential interconnected groupings of things. With the emergence of computers and technology, the word realized new meaning. Developers of these technologies engaged the term “network” to describe the unified cluster of computer stations. However, one can hardly recognize the platform of some language changes since they lack any correlations. This is mostly the case with the slang language, which may emerge from closely related cultures but spread becoming conventional later.
A notable factor is the controversy emerging with the changes in language meaning. The developed word may refer to the context that is completely different for the original one hence inviting considerable confusions in the society. Sometimes meaning in such words is concealed thus one can hardly comprehend the sense attached to them. Through my life experience, I have witnessed such changes in the language. For instance, when I was young, the term ‘graft’ referred to an action of steady flirting; however, with the time the term has changed to take the meaning of handwork. Somewhat the two meanings are related but have a concealed sense. Interestingly, changes in word’s meaning occur over a course of time and in a pace that may be insignificance hence occasionally, the society may be unaware of such changes. Indeed, changes do not occur between generations, but we mainly recognize them during such period.
As noted, Culture has a considerable effect on language indicating that since our culture is ever dynamic, the same happens to our language. Development of slang language presents an excellent evidence of such changes. Emergence of slang language is mainly attributable to class identity or social interest. As such, in my youth, I have experience; I have experienced the language changes emerging from development of the slang language. The notion of linking slang with the social classes attracts an individual into adopting the language to appear classy. Indeed, youths can hardly resist enrolling to the slang language due to generation’s sentiments toward the language. Consequently, I have learnt that language and expression changes have a straightforward correlation with the cultural changes. For instance, I have witnessed the effect of pop culture on my language. My society has associated the pop-culture with celibacy. As such, I have had the feeling of embracing such changes to appear stylish. This assets the concept behind the language and expression changes since other persons would probably have such a notion. Therefore, assorted tolerance realized from such minimal changes would result to an overall language change. Indeed, word change occurs when a group of individuals develops a meaning, which is slightly different from the original one. Such group starts using the novel meaning and later it becomes popular and spreads to other cultures.
The impact of advertising on language
Advertising uses language to develop its values or to popularize a certain culture. The fact that language and culture are dynamic and affected by the environment indicates that advertising affects our language. Advertising affects our values by reflecting us to specific ideas of interest. As noted, we develop language from encounters or ideologies emerging from our immediate surrounding. As such, concepts advocated by any development secures a position in our minds and we virtually institute abstractions out of such ideas. Consequently, chances exist that we ought to embrace ideas promoted by advertisements and indeed, we mainly incorporate them in our practices. Interestingly, we can only establish abstracts out of experiences, asserting the correlation existing in advertising and our languages. This indicates that we tend to appreciate the language of the advertising. The idea advocated by such advertisements may deviate from the reality encompassing the idea; however, tactical approaches utilized by advertising lures us into adopting their sentiments.
Indeed, I have realized that advertising has potential of normalizing values or ideologies in the society. Normalizing ideas restructure our minds hence making us accept novel concepts. Evidently, I have experienced advertising styles the notion towards the use of cosmetics in my society. Initially, my society could hardly appreciate the idea of the use of moisturizers among men. This appeared weird and such products were women reserves. In fact, in my young age, I could not imagine of the concept of using such products. The cultural values from my society reprimanded against such concepts and my mind had embraced the same. However, encounter with advertisements concepts has made me adopt a different attitude towards the idea. I have experienced successful advertisement promoting the use of lotions among men.
Interestingly, such companies could structure lotions tailored for men and coin them new brands. In the real sense, an idea of ‘lotions for men’ was just in words but such lotions were virtually the same as other lotions. Indeed, most persons in my society could understand the concept behind such advertisements but hardly resisted falling for the schemes. Surprisingly, I have changed my attitude with time and presently have no problem with men using such products. In fact, I currently consider such ideas as normal and somewhat stylish. This is all attributable to the position of advertising in promoting our tolerances. Advertising familiarizes the idea making use appreciate and adopt it. As such, I have visualized the effect of advertising on our culture and language. Indeed, such scenario explains our learning and language development model. It surprises to realize that with experience, we endure novel ideologies that seem weird in earlier encounters.
Importantly, I have noticed that advertising shapes our language enhancing inclusiveness and inter-cultural tolerances. Apparently, each language present a unique identity characterized with specific beliefs and practices. As such, members of different languages observe dissimilar codes, which they pursue strictly. Advertising emerges with the idea of marketing an element or a concept to enhance its appreciation. Indeed, advertisement is principally an advocacy that institutes the necessity of embracing a certain ideology. Markedly, my culture states the clothing code, the type of food to consume and other cultural essentials. Consequently, in my young age, I could only accord such stipulations. With interactions and promotion influences witnessed in my lifetime, this is not the situation any more. Advertising influences has attracted me into ascribing my counterpart’s cultures and practices. As such, my menu presently integrates assorted food preparations and my clothing styles have diverse taste. Indeed, I take pleasure associating with identities from sets that are different from my culture. Notably, I attribute this transformation to my experience with advertisement. In fact, whenever I encounter with advertisements, I examine the message presented by them and am frequently tempted into trying the idea presented by such information. This explains the position of advertising in enriching our languages and promoting associations due to increased inter-cultural tolerances.
Conclusion
Language and culture are beneficial in our social lives based on their diverse applicability. Indeed, concepts of culture and language shape our social endeavor by determining our habits and practices. Importantly, culture is closely related with language since it defines our language. Culture will always hold a fundamental position in our social welfare considering that our learning procedure entails formulation of abstracts that guide our actions. As such, understanding one’s culture is essential if we have to establish clear knowledge about any language. Language has the potential of developing cultures stating since the two are not separable. An important factor to account for is the dynamism presented by cultures and languages. As such, the language and culture have crucial roles to play in our society. We need to understand the beneficial elements of the culture and language and utilize them in promoting our social welfare.