XIII Международная студенческая научная конференция Студенческий научный форум - 2021

The problem of finding a connection between language and culture has always been at the center of discussions among scientists in various fields: linguists, sociologists, linguoculturologists, philosophers, etc. The vast majority of linguists have come to the conclusion that language, being a social phenomenon, should be considered both from a linguistic point of view, and from an extra-linguistic or cultural point of view, since it itself is a part of culture. The language reflects the uniqueness of the people and their cultural richness. Since each culture has its own language system, through which its speakers are able to communicate with each other, the importance of language in the culture of any nation is difficult to overestimate.

It would be appropriate to emphasize that the interaction of language and culture should be considered very carefully, bearing in mind that these are different semiotic systems, but they are closely interrelated: in communication processes, in the formation of language abilities of a person, in the formation of a generic, social person.[4]

The first attempt to solve the problem of interaction and interrelation of language and culture was made by V. von Humboldt in his work "On the difference in the structure of human languages and its influence on the spiritual development of mankind"(1830-1835)[2], whose concept is based on the following provisions:

- material and spiritual cultures are involved in language;

- any culture is national, its character is expressed through a language because of a special vision of the world;

- the internal form of language is an expression of the "national spirit", its culture;

- language plays the role of a wire between a person and the world around one.

V. von Humboldt's idea was that "both language and culture are forms of consciousness that reflect a person's worldview and are a national form of embodiment of the material and spiritual culture of the people". Subsequently, the thesis of V. von Humboldt was developed and studied by such researchers as I. A. Baudouin de Courtenay, A. A. Potebnya, R. O. Jacobson and others.

One of the problems that hinder research on the relationship between language and culture is the inaccuracy in the interpretation of culture, and this is not surprising.[1] The concept of "culture" is multi-faceted, as a result of which different definitions of culture appear as different variations of its meaning depending on the aspects of its consideration. At the moment, there are more than 500 different definitions of culture. In a broad sense, culture is understood as "the totality of manifestations of the life, achievements and creativity of a people or group of people".

According to E. M. Vereshchagin and V. G. Kostomarov, there are several features of culture that are appropriate for all existing definitions. These features are: sociality of culture, its accumulating function and influence on the formation of personality.

Any culture is a unity of spiritual and material aspects. The material aspect of culture represented in language specific lexical units, spiritual - resistant associations, shared vision of the world that has been developed by one or the other linguistic community in the course of its cultural-historical development.[3]

Nevertheless, language and culture have significant differences, namely, in language as a phenomenon, the focus on the mass addressee prevails, while in culture, elitism is valued. Obviously, culture is a sign system, but unlike language, it is not able to organize itself. Finally, language and culture have different sign systems.

A significant contribution to the study of the relationship between language and culture was made by research in the middle of the twentieth century, which led to the conclusion that the relationship between language and culture is extremely complex and multidimensional. Nowadays, we can talk about three main approaches to the study of the problem of the relationship between language and culture.

The most well-known approach in world of linguistics is represented by the Sepir-Whorf hypothesis of linguistic relativity. The main idea of this hypothesis is the close connection of language with culture and its influence on all spheres of human life. Language is a prerequisite for the development of the entire culture as a whole. The real world in which a person exists is unconsciously based on the language norms of a particular society. [4] According to the idea, people perceive the world in the refraction of their native language, and each language forms a unique linguistic picture of the world, different from other languages. The disadvantage of this point of view is the lack of completeness and complexity of the relationship between these two phenomena.

Such philosophers as S. A. Atanovsky, G. A. Brutyan, E. I. Kukushkin, and E. S. Markaryan worked on the development of the second approach. The key point of this method is the attitude to language as a reflection of culture. In this approximation, the relationship between language and culture is characterized as unidirectional. Again, there are some inaccuracies in this hypothesis, since the role of language in this case is reduced to a formal reflection of the facts of culture, language is presented only as its tool, devoid of any independence.

The most successful approach is considered to be the third, the key concept of which is based on the dependence of language and culture on each other. In other words, they are in constant interaction, while remaining independent sign systems. "Language is an integral part of culture, the main tool for its assimilation, it is the reality of our spirit. Language expresses specific features of the national mentality" [5]. On the other hand, "culture is included in the language, since it is all modeled in the text" [5]. This point of view is held by most modern linguists, and it is a key one in linguoculturological theory. Thus, according to the cultural approach, language is a specific means of storing and transmitting information, as well as managing human behavior. Through language, a specifically human form of social experience transmission, cultural norms and traditions is carried out.

When interacting with a foreign culture, one should take into account its traditional ideas and attitudes in order to avoid a cultural barrier in the communication process. It is important to have a systematic knowledge of the traditions and realities of society, and this is possible only when learning the national language. Simultaneously with the process of learning a foreign language, a person is immersed into a new culture and receives historical information that has been systematically accumulated over many centuries.

There is no doubt that there is a direct connection between language and culture, and the link is indissoluble. Language appears both as a repository of cultural values of the nation, and as a tool for the assimilation of these values. A community can be called ethnic if it is united by a common language for all its speakers, which serves as a guarantee of the translation of the national cultural values. Language "cannot be unrelated to culture, since one of the goals of society is to create culture" [7]. Language and culture appear as factors of mutual development and existence. Culture is unthinkable without language, the most important means of communication between people.

Language is a fact of cultural existence for several reasons. First, it is defined as an integral part of the culture that we inherit from our ancestors. Second, language is the main tool for learning other cultures. Finally, language is the most significant of all forms of cultural order.

Taking into account all mentioned above, we can conclude that language is an integral part of culture and its tool, it is the reality of our spirit, the face of culture; it expresses the features of the national mentality. "Language is a mechanism that opened up the area of consciousness for a person" (N. I. Zhinkin).[6]

List or references:

https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/vzaimosvyaz-yazyka-i-kultury

В. Гумбольдт. О различии строения человеческих языков и его влиянии на духовное развитие человеческого рода. - В кн.: 1960.

Вежбицкая А. Язык. Культура. Познание. М., 1996

Гумбольдт В. фон. Избранные труды по языкознанию / пер. с нем. под ред., с предисл. Г. В. Рамишвили. М.: Прогресс, 1984

Маслова В.А. Современные направления в лингвистике. М.: Академия, 2008

Речь как проводник информации / Н. И. Жинкин; [Предисл. Р. Г. Котова, А. И. Новикова]. - М.: Наука, 1982

Язык и культура: Учеб. пособие по спецкурсу / З. К. Тарланов. - Петрозаводск: ПГУ, 1984.

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