LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 20:8 August 2020
ISSN 1930-2940

Editors:
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         T. Deivasigamani, Ph.D.
         Pammi Pavan Kumar, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.

Managing Editor & Publisher: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.

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The Intrinsic Relationship between
Language and Culture in Mizoram, India

Ms. Lalremruati, M.A. Linguistics

Abstract

This paper presents a detailed analysis of the linkage or relationship between language and culture in the light of the Mizo language of the Mizo community in Mizoram, India. The main purpose of this paper is to explain in detail the intrinsic relation between culture and language and to show that they are indeed related to each other citing instances from the Mizo language as proof. The relation between the two terms has been a subject of debate among linguists, some agree to the relation and some doubt the intensity of the presumed relation. This paper stands in favour of the theory that language and culture are closely related. Using different examples and instances drawn from Mizo, an attempt has been made in this paper to prove that culture does indeed influence language. Different terms and idioms have been analyzed, which show that certain terms lose their essence when they are translated. The paper has drawn a conclusion that the complications faced in translation are due to the fact that certain terms are too heavily influenced by culture that they cannot be isolated without the cultural connotations they possess.

Keywords: Mizoram, Mizo, language, culture, relation, intrinsic, translation

1. Introduction

To apprehend the relation between language and culture, one has to conceive the meanings of language and that of culture. Many definitions have been made or put forward for language, one of them being “Language is a purely human and non-instinctive method of communicating ideas, emotions and desires by means of a system of voluntarily produced symbols” (Sapir, 1921). Culture, on the other hand, refers to the behaviours, beliefs and characteristics of a social or ethnic group. These two phenomena are presumed to be intimately related and have been a subject of debate and have been a subject to a large number of anthropological and sociological studies and research. Language has been presumed to be determined by culture to some extent, though the extent to which this is true has now become a topic of debate among anthropologists.

Earlier, language was believed to be entirely dependent on the cultural context in which they existed. This was a follow-up of the theory that words determine thought. This was a logical extension of the Standard Social Science Model, which views the human mind as an indefinite malleable structure which is capable of absorbing any sort of culture without any constraints from genetic or neurological factors (Tooby & Cosmides, 1992). Hence, culture has been often described as a socially acquired knowledge. Culture further influences language to some extent, as is shown from one of the design features of language known as cultural transmission. Cultural transmission is mainly the process by which a language is passed on from one generation to the next. This theory stands in agreement to the belief that culture determines language. According to Wardhaugh, there are several possible relationships between language and society. One of which is that social structure may either influence or determine linguistic structure and/or behavior (Wardhaugh, 1986, 2010).

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Ms. Lalremruati, M.A. Linguistics
College of Horticulture, Central Agricultural University
Thenzawl
Mizoram 796186, India
deechhangte@gmail.com
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