Whorf on Translatability of Languages



Whorf on Translatability of Languages

Introduction

Language is largely governed by the social life and culture of any place. Language, being used as a means of communication binds up with culture and social fabric in complex ways. In most societies, language is the major means of communication, and also the major medium used for transmission of ideas. Based on these observations, a famous linguistic Whorf claims that a language could generally be translated into some other, but some cultural elements in the language would residue (Whorf, 1956). This essay analyzes the Whorf's argument, by describing the relationship between language and culture.

Discussion

There exists a strong relation between culture, social life and the language of people. The languages reflect the cultural aspect, as they contain the word which people utter as a result of their common experience. People use words to express ideas, facts or events because they refer to the stock of knowledge which they want to share with others; they often use language to share their cultural experiences (Sagi and Kaufmann, 2009). In addition, words also reflect to the ideas of others which people accept. Members of any community create experiences through languages, in addition to expressing their experiences. The languages get meanings through the medium which the people opt to use for communication. The way in which the people speak or write the words, creates meanings understandable by the people of the same community.

People use their language to express their social identity. Language actually is a system of signs due to which it gets cultural value. Most cultures of the world are investigated on the basis of language and communication styles of the people of particular community; usually researchers rely on surveys and interviews in order to collect data about their cultural research (Sagi and ...