Learning objectives :,1. Understand how language and culture closely linked 2. Perceive the vital role of verbal codes in intercultural communication as well as the important relationships among language, thought, culture, and behavior,Listen to the lead-in case Meanings of Words .,1. What are connotational meanings? 2. Whats the connotation of the word “moon” in Chinese? 3. Whats the connotation of the word “moon” in English? 4. What is the relationship between language and culture?,Language and culture Culture and Communication Style,Verbal intercultural communication Relationship between language and culture Culture and Word Meaning Culture and the Way of Saying Things,Language and culture,Verbal intercultural communication happens when people from different cultural backgrounds communicate with each other by using language.,Mastering all those rules of language，such as phonology（语音体系）, morphology（词态学）, syntax（句法学） and semantics（语义学）, is still not enough for effective communication, for language and culture cannot be separated.They are intertwined, shaping each other.,Culture and Word Meaning,Word differences are obvious in various languages. The relation between word and its meaning is arbitrary. For example, we live in a house in English, we also live in a casa in Spanish and we still live in a ban in Thai. 2. Corresponding Chinese words cannot always explain the English words. Words with different associated meanings Words without counterpart in another language Confusing translation Proverbs,a. Words with different associated meanings,Language reflects the environment we live in, history, custom, values and so on, which are diverse in different cultures. So words that refer to the same object may have different associated（联想的） meanings. The culturally-loaded words and expressions are good examples showing the cultural influence on the meanings of words.,English Phoenix(凤凰),Chinese Phoenix(凤凰),Chinese Dragon(龙),Chinese Dragon(龙),Chinese Bat(蝙蝠),Chinese Bat(蝙蝠),b. Words without counterpart in another language,Language reflects culture, and cultural diversity leads to the lack of vocabulary equivalence, concept equivalence and experience equivalence. Therefore, there are a lot of words that we fail to find the counterparts in another language. For example, the English word “hippies”, “motel”, we cannot find exact counterpart in Chinese.,American Hippies in the 1960s,American Motel,c. Confusing translation,Cultural distinctions lead to different connotations, so some expressions are really confusing when translated. For example: “unit”“单位” “equalitarian” “平均主义/平等主义”, “materialism” “物质主义/唯物主义”.,d. Proverbs,Proverbs are fruits of wisdom. Proverbs reflect religion, morality, values, and life experience. Chinese culture has been greatly influenced by Confucian philosophy emphasizing the social relationships. In contrast, there are more proverbs describing the preference of independence, freedom and self-fulfillment in western culture.,Confucius,Self-fulfillment,Freedom,Independence,Culture and the Way of Saying Things,Forms of address Greetings and farewells Compliments and responses to compliments Taboos and euphemism,People, from different cultural backgrounds, speak different languages in different ways.,Forms of address,The forms of address in every language reflect social status of the speaker, of the addressee, or of the relation between them. Traditional Chinese culture is based on the family-based social structure. Under such cultural background, kinship terms have extended and generalized usage. Social status and hierarchy weigh greatly in Chinese culture. In that case, people use such way “surname+profession or title” as formal address, while the westerners seldom use these addresses.,Greetings and farewells,Chinese culture is relation-oriented. Maintaining or promoting relation calls for something interpersonal, so it is quite acceptable in China to greet each other by asking private questions, while English people have a very strong sense of privacy. “Good-bye” or “Bye-Bye” is acceptable both in English and Chinese, and it is a very formal way. English people also say “See you”, “See you later”, “Good night”, and “Have a nice day”. Those expressions convey less personal concerns than Chinese routines such as “Walk slowly”, “Stay longer”.,Compliments and responses to compliments,Compliments and praises are of great social functions. Concerning compliments and compliment responses, the pragmatic rules are various in different cultures. In American culture, the topic of compliments can be varied. Their response to compliments is positive. Chinese people are shy to compliment others and also shy to accept compliments.,Taboos and euphemism,Taboo (禁忌) refers to some words or actions that are avoided by a particular group of people, or in certain culture for religious or social reasons. Euphemism（委婉语）means the act of substituting a mild, indirect, or vague term for one consider