Synonyms for language, identity, and culture

Language

Language here refers to what is said, how it is said as well textual forms and features and the language techniques used in them.  Other ways to express this idea are to use the words: texts, poems, narratives, stories, films, multimodal texts etc. 

Colloquial language: anything not employed in formal writing or conversation

Jargon: a  body of words and phrases that apply to a specific activity or profession. Sometimes it is used excessively to conceal the truth or exclude outsiders.

Lingo: the speech of a particular community or group

Slang: a vocabulary of terms (at least initially) employed in a specific subculture. They may be invented words, or those whose meanings are adapted to mean new things.

Vernacular: a native language or dialect spoken by the ordinary people of a country or region

Identity

Identity refers to who we are in terms of our characteristics, qualities, beliefs and values. Identity exists on an individual and collective level. For example, we each have a personal identity but we may also share in an identity with others e.g. as Australians, as a school, as fans of a type of music.

Any form of identity is complex, for individuals are defined in relation to other people – both individually and collectively – and the various groups to which they owe allegiance, in a constantly shifting pattern.

The beliefs and values that we hold and form identity can also be called ideologies. 

Culture

Culture is a collective identity and may be broadly defined as the sum total of ways of living built up by a group of human beings, which is transmitted from one generation to another. Every community, cultural group or ethnic group has its own values, beliefs and ways of living. 

Culture is a defining feature of a person’s identity, contributing to how they see themselves and the groups with which they identify.

Vocabulary list to learn

Affirm

Confirm something as valid.

Colloquial language

Anything not employed in formal writing or conversation.

Community

A group of people with a common background or with shared interests within society.

Conformity

The act of matching attitudes, beliefs, and behaviours to group norms, politics or being like-minded.

Country        

The term used by Aboriginal peoples to describe the lands, waterways and seas to which they are connected. The term contains complex ideas about law, place, custom, language, spiritual belief, cultural practice, material sustenance, family and identity.

Cultural Background

The ethnic, religious, racial, gender, linguistic or other socioeconomic factors and values that shape an individual’s upbringing.

Culture

Shared beliefs and values of a group . An umbrella term which encompasses the social behaviour, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws and customs.

Dialect        

Language peculiar to a specific region or social group.

Dispossession

The act of depriving somebody of what they own, especially land or money.

Ethnicity        

An individual’s identification with, or sense of belonging to, an ethnic group. This is based on perceived common origins that people share, such as a specific ancestry and culture, that mark  them as different from others

Existence

State of being. Presence, reality, prevalence, subsistence, actuality, corporality, life,

Family        

All the descendants of a common ancestor.

Heritage        

Features belonging to the culture of a particular society, such as traditions, languages, or buildings, which come from the past.

Identification        

The action or process of identifying someone or something or the fact of being identified:

Identity

Who we are in terms of our characteristics, qualities, beliefs and values. Identity exists on an individual and collective level.

Ideology

A system of ideas and ideals, collective beliefs and values.

Jargon

A body of words and phrases that apply to a specific activity or profession. Sometimes it is used excessively to conceal the truth or exclude outsiders.

Kin / Kinship

Established relationships between individuals and groups in the basis of socially recognised biological relationships or martial links.

Lifestyle        

The way in which a person or group lives.

Liminal       

Standing on the boundary between two things. 

Lingo

The speech of a particular community or group.

Self-concept

Composed of the various identities, attitude, beliefs and values that an individual hold about himself or herself and by which the individual defines himself or herself as a specific objective identity: the self

Slang

A vocabulary of terms (at least initially) employed in a specific subculture. They may be invented words, or those whose meanings are adapted to mean new things.

Social privilege

The social advantages, benefits, or degrees of prestige and respect that an individual has by virtue of belonging to certain social identity groups.

Speech        

The way language is spoken

Stereotypes

An oversimplified standardised image of a person or group.

Stoicism

Admirable patience and endurance shown in the face of adversity.

Tongue        

The language spoken

Vernacular

 A native language or dialect spoken by the ordinary people of a country or region.

Way of life        

The typical pattern of behaviour of a person or group:

General Poetic Devices