The relationship between culture and language

This paper discusses the inseparability of culture and language, presents three new metaphors relating to culture and language, and explores cultural content in specific language items through a survey of word associations. The survey was designed for native Chinese speakers (NCS) in Chinese, as well as for native English speakers (NES) in English (see Appendix). The words and expressions associated by NCS convey Chinese culture, and those associated by NES convey English culture. The intimate relationship between language and culture is strikingly illustrated by the survey, which confirms the view that language and culture cannot exist without each other.