1-2: LANGUAGE reflects CULTURE
Language is more than a means of communication – it is a living expression of culture. It carries the beliefs, values, and social structures of the people who use it. The way we speak reveals how we view the world, how we relate to others, and what we consider important. Language reflects patterns of thought, traditions, and cultural identity, shaping not just how we communicate, but how we understand and experience reality. To study a language is to uncover the cultural framework behind it – an invitation to see, feel, and think in new ways.
The link between language and culture can be addressed from various (sub)disciplines and perspectives. From the ethnolinguistic position, it is impossible to effectively study a language without understanding the cultural environment in which it functions and, conversely, understanding a culture is impossible without recognizing the “linguistic customs” of a given community. From the axiological point of view, language is the basic key to reading and interpreting the values around which individual cultures revolve and a symbolic guide to culture. From the viewpoint of pragmatics, the knowledge of what utterances are grammatical is quite insufficient without the awareness of when particular words, phrases, and sentences can be used. And from the functional perspective, language enables communication, social interaction, as well as familiarisation with, participation in, and co-construction of a given culture.