Thoughts towards Languages and Cultures
Languages were invented and developed long ago ( of course they’re still gaining new things now). When humans found it was necessary to interact with others, seeking help from different individuals, they started to make noise and then symbols. Therefore, the main purpose of language can be nothing else but is allowing people to communicate with each other. Or in other words, by using language, one can express himself, including but more than showing others his desires and opinions. I guess the reason for gestures are sometimes called “the body language” is that those motions have similar functions compared to the vocal ones. Languages are more like agreements among a group of people. With specific words, connections are built from one to another, reducing the possibility of misunderstanding.
Because languages have been well developed for thousands of years, nowadays, they can be things more than just exchanging thoughts. Expressing an exactly same meaning would have different or even opposite results if the methods are different. The simplest example may be using the “magic words” such as “please” and “thanks”, one is more likely to succeed relatively to the situation without the polite words. Basically for nowadays’ society, we choose words on purpose most of the time, showing attitude implicitly and avoiding awkwardness. Then language is closer to a form of art rather than just a tool.
I personally regard arts as part of culture. Different cultures lead to different ways of expressing. Though languages can be translated, the potential meaning underneath the words can never be the same. We can easily observe that people from different geographical regions seldom share same opinions towards same things. Cultures builds people by languages. Ancient Roman people learned a lot from Ancient Greek people, not only the culture, but the language. They got y from Greek alphabet, showing some degree of respect and admiration to Greek culture. It’s hard for me to say how culture specifically influences language, but instinctively, I don’t think these two things can be separated.
I’ve headed that there’s a language called Esperanto. My friend from Sweden discussed it with me. It seems that it’s a language without a culture to support it, so it’s just a tool for common communications. My friend refused to accept it as a language and said it’s too pale to be so.
