Influence of climate on the language and culture of the British people

Contents

Introduction………………………………………………………………………..….. 3

1. General Facts about Britain's Natural Conditions……………………..………...4
2. The Influence of Geographical Conditions……………………………..……….5
3. Climatic Influence……………………………………………………….….…...6

     IV. The Influence on the Culture (Creative Thinking)………………………..…….7

     V. The Influence on Science (Logical Thinking)……………….……………….…8

        Conclusion………………………………………………………………...……….…10

Bibliography………………………………………………………………………..…11

        Introduction

        It has long been negotiated whether natural conditions have any effect on the development of national character and the language. Many researched show that the diversity in national cultures and languages is somehow linked to the diversity of landscapes and climates. Even without any specific research one can easily make a distinction between a character of a person from the southern country, such as Italy or Brazil, and a northern one (an English or Finnish person).

        In many respects British customs and traditions can be explained by the country's climate and geographical position. In the country overwhelmed by furious winds, rains and fogs, more than anywhere else, a person may feel lonely in his dwelling and removed from the neighbors.         Taking into account the geographical position and climate's characteristics, Great Britain can be considered to be a typical northern country in a zone of moderate and continental climate. The northern climate focuses people rather on conservation of energy, than on its expenditure. The need of paying more attention to caring about conservation of power sources and natural resources forms such qualities as thrift, reasonableness, scrupulousness, and pedantry.  The climate's severity prompts  the emergence of these traits of character in the northern peoples as well as restraint, pithiness and thoroughness, solidity. The  lack of emotions and rigidity of a language are characteristic for such northern people, as Norwegians, Swedes, Finns, British^[1].

         This research proves that natural conditions have an effect on the formation of the language and of typical British mentality. It presents great

interest because it may be a starting point for investigating different countries, first and foremost those where English is a native language.  

1. General Facts about Britain's Natural Conditions

        Great Britain is an island country in Western Europe. The United Kingdom includes England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Britain is located on the largest European archipelago, comprising the British Isles, the Hebrides, Orkney, Shetland, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, Anglesey and others. The biggest island – Great Britain - is separated from the mainland by the English Channel in the south and by the North Sea in the east. All borders of the United Kingdom are sea borders (with the exception of the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland)^[2].

        The climate of the British Isles is largely influenced by the proximity of the ocean and especially the Gulf Stream. The weather in the UK changes so quickly, that it gives the British endless and abundant source for small talk. Traditional English weather is rainy and humid,  in winter the temperature rarely drops below zero degrees Celsius, so the grass is green all year round^[3]. The most severe weather conditions are in the mountains of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. In the western part of the UK the climate is more humid than in the east, due to the prevailing winds from the Atlantic Ocean.

         Sometimes the British Isles are poetically called Albion (from the Latin albus - «white»), either because of the frequent fogs, or because of white chalk cliffs at their southern coasts. Since the largest island's shoreline is heavily indented, there is no such place, which would be removed farther than 120 km from the coast.

        The majority of the population is the English (80%). Ethnic minorities (15%) - the Scots, Welsh and Irish - keep their traditions and language^[4]. In Wales, for example, they speak not only English, but also Welsh. Natives from India, Pakistan, West Indies and other former British colonies, comprise about 5% of the population. All residents of the United Kingdom are called the British, they are the subjects of the Queen.

II. The Influence of Geographical Conditions

                British reticence is the result of insular psychology due to the geographical isolation of England from the Continent. The British perceived things happening on the other side of the Channel as something that was happening on the other side of culture and civilization. Even today, the Channel represents a sort of a medieval moat separating urban civilization from barbarism. This explains the traditional British hostility to foreigners.

        The nature of England, its unique landscape is the ground on which there grow roots that tie the English people to their country. England is a green country^[5]. Because of the need to expand grazing lands there are few forests lefts. There are mostly thorny shrubs that serve as boundaries of land holdings, and  small groves of trees near private homes and villages. But there is a lot of grass that stays green all year round. The cult of grass is one of the remarkable features of the English character. No matter how small a piece of privately owned land may be,  it is usually regularly mowed and cultivated until it turns into a green carpet. Working in the garden is a national hobby of the English people, and they are wonderful gardeners. The English are different from other European nations in that respect. They are deeply individualistic^[6]. Every English citizen prefers to live alone, as if he were on an island of his own. Hence their offishness, and the expression "My house is my fortress." The British still retain certain snobbery, the belief that they are a source of civilization to all other people. It has remained from the colonial times.   Though, certainly, this is not characteristic of all English people, but some sections of the population.

III. Climatic Influence. 

        A typical Englishman has a hard, harsh and strict character since he was raised more strictly than children in other countries. Nordic character does not allow the British to violently express their feelings and emotions, but it does not mean that they are not friendly. The English people love to talk, visit their friends. They are very punctual, always on time and never stay for more than two and a half hours, strictly adhering to unwritten laws.

        The cool climate increases the strength and power of the body, stimulating greater appetite and metabolism. This gives greater capacity for physical work. Almost all Englishmen temper themselves with cold water. Due to economy, rooms are heated only in cases of extreme coldness. For the same reason, they do not use hot water very often. Many of them walk in the streets in winter wearing only jackets and even shirts. However, the climate of England is not too severe, snow is rarely to be seen in London, and temperatures are often above zero. Constant humidity dulls sensitivity and predisposes to slowness and inertia of the phlegmatic temperament. But the British are phlegmatic and cool-headed, not sluggish and indifferent. They are characterized by calmness, self-control, but not indifference, passivity, lack of initiative or enterprise^[7].  

        Modern English derives from the Old English (Anglo-Saxon), which in its turn came from the tribal dialects of Angles, Saxons, Jutes. Based on one of its dialects in the ninth-eleventh centuries a literary language was formed. It was also in a way  influenced by the natural conditions. The need to save energy in the Nordic climate produced strictness and rigidity of the language: most everything in its grammar and syntax is orderly and reasonable.  

IV. The Influence on the Culture (Creative Thinking)

        English national character is largely shaped by the English countryside, which actually gave the country it's name (the "great Britain”). The peculiarity of the English nature is that it is extremely diverse, especially considering the small size of the country^[8]. The landscape changes drastically: plains give way to mountains, mountains break off into the ocean, and the whole area is riddled by rivers, which, despite their small size, are perfect for navigation.

        Perhaps, this discontinuity and diversity of landscape is the basis on which artistic imagination is best developed. The beauty and isolation of Albion is wonderfully expressed in the works of a great English  playwrite William Shakespeare. World's culture was enriched by masterpieces of great English writers and poets such as Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, Alfred Tennyson, George Gordon Byron, and many others. Scottish (Sir Walter Scott, Robert Burns) and Irish writers (George Bernard Shaw and Oscar Wilde) made ​their invaluable contribution to literature in the English language.

        Traditional English literature was opposed or better to say, complemented  by nonsense genre. A classic example of this is a fairy tale for children and adults, "Alice in Wonderland," created by Charles  Dodgson, better known under the name Lewis Carroll. As a teacher of mathematics and logic at Oxford University, he managed to see the familiar world “from the inside-out and upside down."   His nonsense mixed with logic puzzles and puns is a part of a special English talent, their ability to see the world as paradoxical. Another representative of nonsense poetry was a poet and artist Edward Lear. He introduced into the English literature a limericks genre - short humorous poems, often accompanied by pictures. Heroes of limericks are eccentrics, that in some way reflect the national character of the English people.

        The dominating national temperamental type demonstrates itself, particularly, in musical and dancing culture. For phlegmatic and melancholic northerners slow rhythms and a sluggishness, slowness of movements are more characteristic.

V. The Influence on Science (Logical Thinking)

        The need to survive in severe conditions stimulated the dominating development of logical thinking. The rational use of natural resources: raw materials, solar, water and air energy demanded the development of respective technologies and their further improvement. Moreover, the difficulty of transport connection, landscape's peculiarities and location on a island forced the British people to develop closed-cycle technologies. Therefore they specialized in production of high-tech products. The need for technologies, in turn, demands the fundamental and applied scientific development, mainly in the field of Natural studies^[9]. Carrying out the corresponding social order, scientists of Northen and Western Europe (including Britain) developed such sciences as mathematics, physics, chemistry, and those related to them – astronomy, biology, mechanics.         

                The industrial revolution started in the UK earlier than in other European countries. It began in the second half of the eighteenth century with the mechanization of the traditional textile industry (spinning mechanical invention by James Hargreaves in 1765), and then covered the metallurgy and other industries. The invention of the steam-engine by the British engineer James Watt in 1784 was of particular importance. The unit of power – watts – was named after him. This industrial revolution transformed Britain from an agricultural country into a leading industrial state^[10]. By the late nineteenth century Britain's preeminent position in international economic life had given it a reputation of the "workshop of the world" and "world bankers."

Conclusion

        The research shows that geographical and climatic conditions of Great Britain have a clear effect on the development of people's character, language, cultural peculiarities.

        Therefore, it is clear, that the nature of Great Britain helps us to understand the British character. There is nothing deliberately flashy, grand in it. The nature of Britain is not prone to extremes, just like the British themselves. The moderate climate in Britain affected the British temperament. They honor the sense of justice and moderation in relation to others. Pragmatism and ability to avoid sharp talk in negotiations are in the blood of the British people. They are distinguished by the ability to listen patiently to the interlocutor, not objecting to what he is saying, but often this means the manifestation of their important characteristic – self-control – rather than consent.

        The Nordic climate has influenced the development of logical thinking, pursuit of reasonableness and maximum preservation of energy. “An island psychology” makes the British very much individualistic and rather reticent.

        On the other hand, this individualism is reflected in their great imagination, which is seen in many masterpieces produced by the creative British people.

Bibliography

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2. Гаврилишин Б. Указатели в будущее: Доклад Римскому клубу. Киев: Основы, 1993 г.

3. Овчинников В. Калейдоскоп историй. Корни дуба.Изд-во Дрофа, 2005 г. С. 257.

4. Сухарев В., Сухарев М. Психология народов и наций. Сталкер, 1997 г.

5. Швейцер А. Культура и этика. М: Прогресс, 1973.

6. Ясперс К. Смысл и назначение истории. М.: Политиздат, 2004 г. С. 237.

7. www.native-english.ru

8. www.ru.science.wikia.com

9. www.student.zoom.ru

10. www.tourism-London.ru