The linguistic relativity principle as a basis for the analysis of language changes in modern American language
The article is devoted to the consideration of the concept linguistic world picture in terms of the linguistic relativity principle. The author points out the increasing interest towards the description of this phenomenon due to anthropocentric research traditions, which emphasize the role of a human being in the organization and transfer of information about visual environment. The paper focuses on the idea that the mode of thought of a person (or a group of people) is closely connected with certain national features of that community whose representatives they are, and it is reflected in their language. The author takes the linguistic situation in the South of the USA as an example. The Spanish language is an important interlink in Mexican-American community. Unlike other immigrant groups, the majority of second- and third-generation Spanish-speaking Mexicans have not given up their native language. In the course of time the Spanish language on the Mexican-American border has undergone some changes and was coined to Spanglish, a name which is gaining more and more popularity in TV programs, literature and everyday life. The Internet is the source of the so-called Cyber-Spanglish. Taking into consideration causal relationships between language and culture, we observe their interdependence and mutual influence. The information about a foreign culture enriches the world picture of the interethnic communities. As a result, the language is both a uniting and differentiating medium in the interethnic interaction. The binary opposition uniting - differentiating is reflected in the opposition one's own - foreign from the point of view of the mythological understanding of culture. English-Spanish situation is characterized by an integrating character and can be reflected in a dichotomy one's own - foreign, when one's own world picture expands and becomes more complex while acquiring new knowledge; as a result, it undergoes some changes. Gradually foreign penetrates into one's own and dissolves in it, enriching the world picture of the one participating in intercultural communication. Such alliance of two languages creates new perspectives both for the social adaptation in a community and for the satisfaction of bilingualism needs. The author underlines the necessity of studying ethnic language peculiarities of the world picture, which can help to preserve and register ethnocultural phenomena occurring in a language
Keywords
code-switching, cross-cultural communication, linguistic situation, linguistic world picture, linguistic relativity principle, межкультурная коммуникация, переключение кодов, языковая ситуация, языковая картина мира, теория языковой относительностиAuthors
Name | Organization | |
Abrosimova L.S. | abrossimova@mail.com |
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