The space and place of humans and humanity in language: Arabic and Indonesian compared
Language, aside from representing the culture of a people, also constructs humankind and humanity. Arabic conceptualizes humanity differently than the world's other languages, such as Indonesian. In Arabic, humans are positioned as subordinate, as dependent on God, whereas in Indonesian t...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
2020
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| Online Access: | http://journalarticle.ukm.my/16354/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/16354/1/IJIT-Vol-18-Dec-2020_8_73-84.pdf |
| Summary: | Language, aside from representing the culture of a people, also constructs
humankind and humanity. Arabic conceptualizes humanity differently than the
world's other languages, such as Indonesian. In Arabic, humans are positioned as
subordinate, as dependent on God, whereas in Indonesian they are characterized as
autonomous. This article seeks to analyse how language positions humans within
their relationships with God, other humans, and nature. Arabic and Indonesian both
incorporate implicit concepts of human being, godliness, and humanity, and thus
these languages have broad space for defining humanity's relationship with God.
This article concludes that Arabic positions humans as creatures whose values and
attitudes are dependent on God, while Indonesian positions humans as autonomous
and free creatures. The link between Arabic and religion and between Indonesian
and culture has informed how these languages conceptualize and position
humanity. This study recommends a comprehensive comparative investigation of
how various languages position and understand humans and humanity. |
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