Do Changes in Culture Produce Changes in Language? - Essay Sample

While language and culture are closely related, a change in culture does not inherently mean a change in language. However, language is known to affect our culture and even our thoughts substantially. According to Edward Sapir and Benjamin Whorf, language is a predetermining factor of what people see in the world around them. This, in its deepest essence, means that we, as people from various cultural backgrounds, are only able to see the real world in the categories of our language. Thus in this regard, the only conclusion is that language significantly affects thought.

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The differences in the languages that people speak cannot be said to be as a result of the diverse perceptions of the world by different cultures. However, because language is a major factor in shaping our perception of reality and hence the world around us, it can be concluded that the different languages spoken by different people, is the actual reason why they perceive reality, or rather the world around them differently.

The color terms that are recognized in a particular language are incredibly variable across diverse cultures. This is because, our culture, which is uniquely identified by language, acts as the guide that makes us see the color spectrum with regard to the various categories that we call colors and which, are usually arbitrarily established. Therefore, this can be said to mean that colors are not naturally or objectively determined parts of reality. Instead, the color terms that we claim to know are as a result of what is arbitrarily established by our own cultures. For this reason, it is concluded that color is an arbitrary cultural convention.

How do we divide color?

Despite differences in color terminologies or divisions from one language to another, as normal humans, we are known to share different sense perceptions of color. This is because we all have the same eye physiology. Various people from different cultural backgrounds can come up with their own subtle ways of dividing the visible lights spectrum and hence coming up with different colors. Nevertheless the relation between various color divisions, culture and language are substantially attributed to the changes in complexity of the society (Ottenheimer, p.31). This is in the sense that, as a society increases in complexity due to economic or technological advancement, it is always expected that the number of color terms identified by that society will increase. This means that this advanced society will have the spectrum of the visible light divided into more categories than those of the societies with less advancement complexity.

Why There Might Be Differences in Color Terms

The differences in color terms can be said to be caused by a difference in the environmental surrounding. This is to say that, a change in complexity of the world, society or environment, typically causes the immediate culture and language to respond through creating new terminologies to define it, hence the differences in the color terms.

Does Language Influence Thought or Vice Versa?

I believe that it is our language that affects our thoughts and not the other way round. This is because, for one to have a thought about a particular thing, they must have a name of that thing in mind, which is only possible through language. Thus, in a nutshell, it is through our language, that we can perceive reality or thought.

Works Cited

Ottenheimer, Harriet J. The Anthropology of Language: An Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology. 2nd ed., Cengage Learning, 2008, pp. 30-32.