Language, Culture and Identity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Language, Culture and Identity - Essay Example The accent of speech varies from language to language, thus becoming a customized feature of the language. Culture an individual belongs to reflects in the language to such an extent that it can be judged from his/her pronunciation and tone of speech. For example, Sikhs speak Punjabi. The accent in which Punjabi is spoken is a special feature of this language. Accordingly, when Sikhs tend to speak English, their accent remains Punjabi. Likewise, when English people speak Urdu, they speak it with an English accent. Arabs cannot pronounce the alphabets â€Å"D† and â€Å"T† without touching the tip of their tongue with the inner side of the front teeth. This essentially changes the sound of these alphabets from the way they are spoken by English people. When a person utters D and T this way, his/her ancestry can be traced to Arabs without a doubt. Likewise, â€Å"Chicanos and other Spanish speakers also shift ll toy and z to s† (Anzaldua). This tells that language is a very prominent feature of an individual’s culture and represents an individual’s identity.People develop their behavior according to the ethical standards that vary from culture to culture. Actions which are considered requirements of ethics in some cultures may be understood as misbehavior in other cultures. For example, in the West, it is normal and more importantly ethical for a man and woman to shake their hands to greet each other whereas the same may be quite unacceptable to a Muslim woman. Therefore, when a woman does not shake hand with a man in any society, it essentially depicts the origin of her behavior in the Islamic culture. Islam forbids women and men to shake hands with one another unless the two are father-daughter, mother-son or brother-sister etc. Therefore, language does not always have to be verbal in order to define an individual, body language also speaks volumes about his/her cultural identity.