Language as an Element of Culture

An Anthropological Perspective

Abstract

With the creation of human, language has emerged in order to communicate and meet their needs, although it has enhanced gradually in different stages until it reaches this level we have had now, so it can be said that language is one of the characteristics that distinguishes human beings from other creatures, this is mean that language is one of the basic human needs for social life and daily work.

In the anthropology filed, language occupies a wide space, since it is the study of human as an intelligent and cultured creature. Moreover, language is one of the basic cultural elements and at the same time the transmitter and disseminator of culture. It is also a means of communication and a builder of relationships, which is important in the field, since the social structure of societies is made based on relationships.

Language is of fundamental importance in human life. Although the characteristic of linguistics is that it studies language and analyses it at a deep linguistic level, it also becomes the field of anthropological research as a cultural element.  Hence, the subject of the research is how anthropology views the cultural element of language.  How does it fit into anthropology in relation to culture and as a cultural genre?  The aim of this study is to theoretically show the relationship between anthropology and language in general, to point out the structure and function of language as an important cultural element, and to show the situation of Kurdish language in relation to cultural identity.

Language and culture are in a dialectical relationship. Language is part of culture and at the same time the transmitter and protector of culture, since culture is the complex in whole that is received by individuals as member of society, language becomes important, since language is the main means of acceptance. The importance of language in identifying culture. It has been said that the language of a nation or society is the key to identifying their culture, it is also strongly linked to cultural and national identity and is considered a fundamental basis of identity. As a result, language has changed more under the influence of external factors, which has had a relative impact on all other cultural elements and social life