A cultureme is any portion of

cultural behavior Cultural behavior is behavior exhibited by humans (and, some would argue, by other species as well, though to a much lesser degree) that is extrasomatic or extragenetic—in other words, learned. Learned behavior There is a species of ant that ...

apprehended in signs of symbolic value that can be broken down into smaller units or amalgamated into larger ones. A cultureme is a "cultural information-bearing unit", the contents of which are recognizable by a group of people. Culturemes are the bridge between linguistic units and culture. Their usage can be seen in cultural expressions, phraseologisms,

jokes A joke is a display of humour in which words are used within a specific and well-defined narrative structure to make people laugh and is usually not meant to be interpreted literally. It usually takes the form of a story, often with dialogue, ...

, slogans,

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...

, etc.Luque Nadal, L. (2009): "Los culturemas: ¿unidades lingüísticas, ideológicas o culturales?" en Language Design 11, págs. 93-120
All of which are subcultures in a culture system. Culturemes of this nature have historical relevance that when translated or explained result in a miscommunication and misunderstanding. The notion of cultureme is being increasingly used in

translation studies Translation studies is an academic interdiscipline dealing with the systematic study of the theory, description and application of translation, interpreting, and localization. As an interdiscipline, translation studies borrows much from the vari ...

and other disciplines. It is a recently used concept that is yet to be defined and distinguished from others, such as phraseme, idiom, symbol, cultural word, etc.

Phases of a Cultureme

Fernando Poyatos breaks down the features of a cultureme into four phases. These phases analysis the broadest of culturemes to the most particular aspects of culturemes.

Phase One: Basic Culturemes

Basic culturemes are the broadest of culturemes. They characterize the initial semblance of a culture. Basic culturemes are separated into two cultural "realms," urban and rural, and two domains: exterior and interior. Basic culturemes begin with urban and rural realms because of their dichotomy in cultural identity and displays of social interactions. Within either cultures, there are exteriors (what is observed from the outside) and interiors (what is observed from the inside of buildings or establishments that are not seen from an outdoors perspective). The main divisions of culturemes are: urban-exterior, urban-interior, rural-exterior, and rural-interior. The significance of basic culturemes is to give a general sense of surroundings. For instance,

"in ''North America'' (United States and Canada): the larger size of many automobiles, the summery sound and smell of lawn mowing, the smell of city bus exhausts, the basic separation of the 'downtown' business and residential areas in the small town or village, the sirens of their police cars, the smell of hamburger and French fries of many eating establishments, the unique drugstore smell, the 'Licensed' signs in many second-rate restaurants (indicating a cultural attitude towards drinking"

Phase Two: Primary Culturemes

Primary culturemes exist in the phase when acculturation occurs, in which one's culture is becoming more complex. The basic four culturemes are subcategorized into environmental (cultural settings) and behavioral (behaviors of people and their interactions). These culturemes are a result of recognizing cultural patterns and "experiencing it through mere observation or systemic learning."

Phase Three: Secondary Culturemes

Culturemes are further broken down into settings, in which a specific culture is exemplified. These includes cultures in the school, the park, the bar, etc. These are secondary culturemes. Phase three is the point where the cultures identified in phase two begin to interact; interrelationships are seen among different cultural systems and values.

Phase Four: Tertiary Culturemes

Phase four delves deeper into human senses, analyzing to the fullest extent possible. The completion of phase four allows one to identify the cultureme's cultural system and subculture. Knowing the cultural system and subculture are important as it helps to navigate through other identifiable systems within the culture.

Translation

Translating a cultureme can be challenging, as connotations are sometimes very strong. For instance: the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

word ''alcázar'' means "the castle", "palace" or "fortress", but, as it is of

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

origin, it recalls eight centuries of history ( Al Andalus), which cannot be easily translated into English, so the translator must adopt a crucial decision: either choose the English word "fortress" and lose all the historical and cultural connotations, or use the

loan word A loanword (also loan word or loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language. This is in contrast to cognates, which are words in two or more languages that are similar because the ...

alcazar. A language may have various cultures and various languages may share the same culture. Cultures may differ in conceptualization that may in turn affect how thoughts are conveyed in their languages. The asymmetry of language complicates the matter of providing a linguistically and culturally sound equivalent of a cultureme in another language. The complex relationship of language and culture is significant in giving culturemes their intended value. Dictionaries further complicate cross-cultural gaps of meaning because without the collaborative effort of all cultures, it is impossible to define the significance of words that may be culturemes in the dictionary. Though, slowly, interactive and multimedia dictionaries have become extensive in information that lessen the bridge across languages and cultures. Culturemes are translated in several ways:

Literal translation: Language of the cultureme is rendered in another language in attempts to convey the same core meaning.
Functional equivalence: Translating meaning without the inclusion of its cultural association.
Near-synonymy: A translation has a similar meaning to the cultureme without being identical.
Under-specification: A space-saving technique that give a short and manageable definition.
Distortion: A translation that does not preserve the same meaning as the cultureme.
Explanation: A translator uses this technique in their efforts to get the audience to fully understand the meaning. This can involve lengthy and overly detailed descriptions.
Category change: In the instance that the cultureme is obsolete or no longer relevant, a modern-day equivalent is provided.
Glossary: A given text provides a definition at the end
Over-specification: More information is given than required.
No translation: Some culturemes are kept in their original language. This applies mainly to
Roman script The Latin script, also known as Roman script, is an alphabetic writing system based on the letters of the classical Latin alphabet, derived from a form of the Greek alphabet which was in use in the ancient Greek city of Cumae, in southern Ital ...
languages, though other languages may have their culturemes romanized.
Omission: The translator may omit what they judge to be peripheral in what is meant to be said.

Culture: Norms, Ideas, and Materials

In translating, the inability to convey cultural meaning strips a cultureme of its "cultureme" title and it simply becomes an ambiguous word. Culture is classified into three categories: Norms, Ideas, and Materials. * Norms refer to the habits and traditions of a societal group. A culture with a foundation of politeness that uses

honorific An honorific is a title that conveys esteem, courtesy, or respect for position or rank when used in addressing or referring to a person. Sometimes, the term "honorific" is used in a more specific sense to refer to an honorary academic title. It ...

terms of address, such as in the

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

language, has very intricate forms of pronouns that have nonequivalence in other languages, e.g. English. Different cultures and languages have different interpretations of politeness that affects how successful a cultureme is translated. Traditional holidays are norms in a culture. The Vietnamese New Year ''

Tết Tết (), short for Tết Nguyên Đán ( Chữ Hán: 節元旦), Spring Festival, Lunar New Year, or Vietnamese Lunar New Year is one of the most important celebrations in Vietnamese culture. The colloquial term "Tết" is a shortened form of ...

'' is a cultureme of the Vietnamese language and culture. ''Tết'' signifies the start of the new year on the

Lunar calendar A lunar calendar is a calendar based on the monthly cycles of the Moon's phases ( synodic months, lunations), in contrast to solar calendars, whose annual cycles are based only directly on the solar year. The most commonly used calendar, t ...

. It is a day of being home with family and cheerful celebration. A literal translation of ''Tết'' to English would be "New Year." But, anyone who had no knowledge of the cultureme would think the traditions and practices of "New Year's" all the same. * Ideas refer to "scientific truths, religious beliefs, myths, legends, works of literature, superstitions, aphorisms, proverbs, and folklore." These culturemes are deep rooted in shared, personal history that outsiders of a culture are unfamiliar with knowing. Culturemes pertaining to cultural ideas do not need explained in the present, their meanings and significance are cemented in the people's knowledge. * Materials refer to physical culture. Food, for instance, is an important example of tangible culture; it can illustrate dietary culture/lifestyle. Certain dishes are staples of the culture and can be a product of the local surroundings. The existence of a food or dish may have historical relevance to a culture. Translation in recipes that involve food cultureme can result in the wrong ingredients being introduced.

References

{{Culture Linguistic morphology Cultural studies Translation studies Folklore Lexicology Rhetoric