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Chinese Language and Culture

There are two ways of looking at the Chinese language-culture relationship: Chinese language influences Chinese culture, or Chinese language is an expression of Chinese culture. Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf hypothesized that the structure of language has a significant influence on perception and categorization. The latter would imply that the worldview of Chinese people depends on the structure and characteristics of the language they speak and the Chinese translations they are exposed to.


Users of markedly different grammars are led by their grammars toward different types of observations and different evaluations of similar acts of observation. According to this viewpoint, the Chinese language is not only an instrument for describing events, it also shapes events. Observers using other languages, including other Asian languages like Japanese, will posit different facts under the same circumstances, or they will arrange similar facts in different ways. The other viewpoint is that Chinese language reflects Chinese culture. The approach is to realize that only the ability to speak is universal for humankind. Which language a person speaks is part of the culture in which she or he grows up, whether it is Chinese or another language such as Brazilian Portuguese. The Chinese language reflects all manifestations of Chinese culture, the expressions and the Chinese values.


Chinese language illustrates Chinese culture. Expressions of Chinese culture are particularly recognizable in the use of Chinese metaphors. In English we can look at examples of expressions like "he is a team player," "he drives me up the wall," a "ballpark estimate," all derived from American baseball in the American language, whereas British English has a number of expressions relating to cricket. The elements used in Chinese metaphors will vary from the metaphores in other places. In Egypt, for example, the sun is perceived as cruel, so a girl will not be described as "my sunshine," but may be compared with moonlight. "Moonlighting" in English means having a second job in the evening. It is the cultural environment that explains why some languages have more words for one thing than for others.

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