Culture is the total sum of all the traditions, customs, beliefs, and ways of life of a given group og human beings. In this sense, every group has a culture, however savage, undeveloped, or uncivilized it may seem to us.
To the professional anthropologist, there is no intrinsic superiority of one culture over another, just as to the professional linguist there is no intrinsic hierarchy among languages.
People once thought of the languages of backward groups as savage, undeveloped forms of speech, consisting largely of grunts and groans. While it is possible that language in general began as a series of grunts and groans, it is a fact established by the study of “backward” languages that no spoken tongue answers that description today. Most languages of uncivilized groups are, by our most severe standards, extremely complex, delicate, and ingenious pieces of machinery for the transfer of ideas. They fall behind our Western languages not in their sound patterns or grammatical structures, which usually fully adequate for all language needs, but only in their vocabularies, which reflects the objects and activities known to their speakers. Even in this department, however, two things are to be noted: 1. All languages seem to possess the machinery for vocabulary expansion, either by putting together words already in existence or by borrowing them from other languages and adapting them to their own system. 2. The objects and activities requiring names and distinctions in “backward” languages, while different from ours, are often surprisingly numerous and complicated. An accidental language distinguishes merely between two degrees of remoteness (“this” and “that”); some languages of the American Indians distinguish between what is close to the speaker, or to the person addressed, or removed from both, or out of sight, or in the past, or in the future. This study of language, in turn, casts a new light upon the claim of the anthropologists that all culture are to be viewed independently, and without ideas of rank or hierarchy.
1.the language of uncivilized groups as compared to Western languages are limited in ___. A.sound patterns B.vocabularies C.grammatical structures D.both A and B
2.The author says that professional linguists recognize that ___. A.Western languages are superior to Eastern languages B.All languages came from grunts and groans C.The hierarchy of languages is difficult to understand D.There is no hierarchy of languages
3.The article states that grunt-and-groan forms of speech are found ___. A.nowhere today B.among the Australian aborigines C.among Eastern cultures D.among people speaking “backward” languages
4.According to the author, languages, whether civilized or not, have ___. A.the potential for expanding vocabulary B.their own sound patterns C.an ability to transfer ideas D.grammatical structures
5.Which of the following is implied but not articulated in the passage? A.The study of languages has discredited anthropological studies. B.The study of language anthropologists in their view that there is no hierarchy among cultures. C.The study of language is the same as the study of anthropologists. D.The study of languages casts a new light upon the claim of anthropologists.
anthropologists in their view that there is no hierarchy among cultures.
