語言學(xué)電子教案

1、語言學(xué)2 . the relationship between language and culture- Language is a part of culture.- Language is the primary means for cultural transmission.- Some linguistic differences are due to cultural differences.- Various cultures will have different responses to the same word.ExampleA Fly in a BeerIf in th

2、e dinning hall, a fly was seen in a glass of beer An Englishman, “May I have another, please?”A Frenchman, pour the beer out.A Spanish man, put the money on the table and leave without a word.A Japanese, summon the manager and criticize, “Do you do all your business like this?” An Arab, give the bee

3、r to the waiter and say, “Ill buy you a drink.”An American, “Please serve the fly and beer separately. If the customer likes the fly, he could put it into his beer himself.”The case above shows that social interactions may vary greatly owing to different cultural backgrounds.Comment：In this case, pe

4、oples different reactions reveal not only their individual personality but also the orientation of their nations mainstream culture, e.g. the Englishs seriousness, the Frenchs arrogance, the Spanishs generosity, the Japaneses critical approach, the Arabs sarcasm and the Americans humor.3. Sapir-Whor

5、f Hypothesis (SWH)薩丕爾沃爾夫假說(認(rèn)為語言結(jié)構(gòu)決定人類思維方式及行動(dòng)方法的假說)亦作 Whorfian hypothesis Our language helps mould our way of thinking and , consequently, different languages may probably express our unique ways of understanding the world.4. Linguistic evidence of cultural differences1. Greetings and terms of addres

6、s2. Thanks and compliments3. Colour words4. Privacy and taboos 5. Rounding off numbers 6. Words and cultural-specific connotations7. Cultural-related idioms and proverbsExampleLiHongzhangs EmbarrassmentLi Hongzhang, one of the top officials in the Qing Dynasty, was invited to visit the United States

7、. He was warmly welcomed. One day, Li was hosting a banquet for the American officials in a popular restaurant. As the banquet started, according to the Chinese custom, Li stood up and said, “I am very happy to have all of you here today. Though these dishes are coarse and not delicious and good eno

8、ugh to show my respect for you, I hope you will enjoy them”(今天承蒙各位光臨，不勝榮幸。我們略備粗饌，聊表寸心，今天承蒙各位光臨，不勝榮幸。我們略備粗饌，聊表寸心，沒有什么可口的東西，不成敬意，請(qǐng)大家多多包涵沒有什么可口的東西，不成敬意，請(qǐng)大家多多包涵)The next day, the English version of his words was shown in the local newspaper. To his shock, the restaurant owner flew into rage. He thought

9、it was an insult to his restaurant and insisted that Li should show him the evidence of which dish was not well-made and which dish was not delicious. Otherwise, Li intentionally damaged the reputation of the restaurant, and he should apologize. All the fuss made Li rather embarrassed.Comment:What L

10、i said is just some formulaic polite expression common in type; almost all Chinese people know this and could hear that nearly everywhere. As far as the literary meaning is concerned, Lis words are inappropriate, but they do convey the meaning of respect. Here, the language form is different from it

11、s content, a phenomenon only found in the Eastern culture. However, this case happened in America, and the audience was American.America is a country with highly valued individualism and they express themselves rather directly. They could hardly understand the Easterners over-modesty, for they tend to comprehend what they hear literally, and a clash was inevitable. If Lis words were changed into: “The cuisine of your country is really great. Its my great honor to have a chance to entertain you with them(貴國的菜肴真是好極了，今天能有機(jī)會(huì)借花獻(xiàn)佛，不勝榮貴國的菜肴真是好極了，