What is culture? The desire to write this article in order to answer the question under consideration arose for two reasons: The first is that it is considered to be part and parcel of this section of the newspaper where subjects related to arts and cultures are dealt with.
The second is because of an encounter with a person who speaks a particular language with an accent peculiar to a certain area so much so that the situation belies the fact that the person originated from the place where the language is not spoken at least by the vast majority of the people, where, he said, he was born. Why try to write about this subject when there are so many topics of interest? The answer may be found in the conclusion of the article.
To begin with the last idea, babies do not start to speak a language until they are at least two years old. However, there seems to be constant communication between mother-and-child. The communication seems to be implicit rather than explicit. There is no doubt that some babies are slow to speak a language compared with others. What makes the difference is difficult to guess. Assuming that language is a component of culture, how are words, sentences, and phrases embedded in the minds of children from early childhood?
Under such circumstances, why are some individuals polite and others rude as far as their usage of appropriate expressions are concerned? In this regard, accents differ from person to person to the extent that they are considered as irrelevant when it comes to effective communication. They exist all the same and suggest a person’s background whether true or false.
Impersonation can illustrate the misleading character of accents. In other words, it is wrong to prejudge the background of persons on the basis of their accents. On the other hand, people who speak with influences of a particular accent may speak the language clearly and logically so that they are unexcelled in so far as clarification of thoughts is concerned. It is very difficult to make any generalization about accents.
A parallel conclusion can be drawn from the practice of writing. An interesting example can be provided by citing instances in literature. One person may translate a book better than another. The person who translated the book better is more likely to have understood the language contextually and the circumstances in which it is employed in the spoken or written forms.
Assuming that language is a component of culture, how is it embedded in the minds of children from early childhood? It may be said that it can then grow and develop to adulthood.
Under such conditions, why are some individuals shaped by their expressions to form varied impressions on other. In this regard, accents being part of language or culture, they differ from person to person. On the other hand, people who speak with influences of a particularly slanted accent speak the language clearly and logically so that they are highly competent in so far as clarifications of thoughts are concerned as already indicated. It is difficult to make any generalization about accents.
A parallel conclusion can be drawn from the practice of writing in journalism as well.
Journalistic writing, for example, news written by different persons may be said to convey the same message. But, the writers may differ in their approach to their subject. On the surface, this may appear to have nothing to do with culture. However, there are acceptable rules and traditions for writing both journalistic and historical works. As a general rule, historical writing should be objective and present as much as possible different points of view. Furthermore, is art part of culture or separate from it? If it is part of culture, why do we say art and culture when culture could embrace both?
Lastly, what has culture to do with agriculture?
The fusion between agriculture and culture shows that, in a country like Ethiopia, where the predominant means of livelihood is agriculture, one area may not necessarily be different from another and the level of the economy may be the sole determining factor that the county is more united than is generally regarded. The novelist H. G. Wells, who wrote History of the World, explains that what united the people of U. S. A. most was the cultural identity that existed from the east to the west coast of the country. If agriculture is used as a test, the same thing can be said of Ethiopia.
Copyright © By B. T. Zewolde, January 2020
The Ethiopian Herald Sunday Edition 9 February 2020
BY BERHANU TIBEBU ZEWOLDE
