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Unit 13

The Culture Content of Vocabulary

One of the earliest word sets that a student will learn is colors. Later on the intermediate student learns that in English "yellow" signifies cowardice and "green" signifies "inexperience" and "jealousy". It is important to note that word connotations may not translate from country to country. Let's consider a few examples of the cultural content of vocabulary.

The attitudes toward dogs vary from country to country. In some countries they are wild and dangerous; in other countries they are farmed and eaten. In many Western countries they are much-loved members of family. They are given names, and are referred to as "she" or "he", not "it". If students are reading a story about dogs, the significance of dogs in that culture should be understood.

People of different nationalities respond to the phrase "hot day" differently. By and large, people from cold climates appreciate "a hot day", providing the temperature does not exceed 30 C. People from hot climates respond negatively, saying that "a hot day" means "hotter than usual" with temperature rising into the 40 C.

Once in Britain "sandwiches" were considered an inadequate lunch. The quality was low and the freshness was questionable. But today supermarkets in Britain offer a wide range of sandwiches to their customers. So the status of a "sandwich lunch" has changed greatly in the past two decades.

Understanding a vocabulary item involves three levels of understanding. First, a student must understand what the word "denotes", e.g. a table has a flat, not a sloping top, three or four legs, and so on. Second, a student must understand the connotations of a word or phase: "Come in and have a drink" is an expression of hospitality, not a guess that the guest must be thirsty. Finally, the student must understand the cultural links.

To illustrate these three levels of understanding, let's take the word "tea". The word can denote different things: green tea in China, black tea in Turkey, in India a boiled tea-drink made from tea, sugar, milk and possibly cardamom (a spice). In Britain, it can also denote an evening meal, which is taken at around 6 pm.

And what about the place of tea in British culture? First, there is "tea and sympathy". When someone says, "Come in and have a cup of tea," the implicit offer is "Come in and we can talk about whatever is bothering you." "Come to tea" may be an invitation to drink tea and eat biscuits and cakes at around 4:30 pm, or an invitation to join in the evening meal at around 6 pm. A tea break in British culture is a traditional break in the morning or afternoon when work may stop for a period of ten minutes.

Thus it is difficult, if not impossible, to separate language from culture. Students need to look beyond the surface of the words and be aware of their cultural content.