There is a tangle of words we say in English which cluster around the meaning of culture. That is, words said to mark out and describe not the bodily things that are, nor what is known or believed, but rather that ‘way of doing things’ that we all unspokenly understand and hold which we name as culture. Such words are norm, civilization, tradition, custom, moral, ceremony, and maybe many others. We have the word law, and maybe rule, which are well–known, but apart from those we soon get into lesser–known or seldom said words. I want to tease out the different things that these words are said to mean, and maybe come up with some words of our own.
Moral means those rules which set out right and wrong, but which have only social might behind them, not the might of law. Thus the word law cannot be said in its place. Rule could maybe cover some of it—if we are happy to keep this word—but I still think that it has too much of being written and known openly, whereas morals aren’t always so. Other words that we say with roughly the same meaning is principle, and sometimes ethic, which are both FLaG words, but gives us a little more insight.
The best words I can think of that we have now are ought, seemly, and fitting. Ought is mostly said as a deedword, not as a name or adjective, so while “nobody ought steal” is good, something like “it is an ought that we should always tell the truth” or “it is unought to lie” sound bad. Seemly may be much better, as it gives both a feeling of ‘what is right’ but also with the thought that it is a belief and not a law. So to say, “swearing is unseemly” or, “it is seemly to always tell the truth”, aren’t too bad. But the word lacks strength, and you can’t say that “murder is both unlawful and unseemly” as unseemly here is too weak. Fitting (and befitting) is much the same as seemly, in that it is easier to say, but lack force.
It may simply be that moral is covered within the word right or rightness. The word brings up worries however, as the word rights does not mean ‘morals’ but rather ‘basic entitlement’, although these too are upheld by moral rules. To say somebody has “the right to life” is to say that we morally believe they should live. But I still think this would be muddlesome.
Norms and custom are those thing which most folk do, but which may or may not have a lawful or moral backing. So it is normal or customary for a woman to have long hair in Western society (or was, as this norm is still widely followed but there is little or no worry about breaking it) or for folk to shake hands upon meeting. They differ from morals are they are not rules to live by, but lived practices themselves. Also, those who do not uphold them may draw some mislike but little strong hate or scolding; they simply fail to ‘fit in’. There is the word folkways said with this meaning, which might be worth thinking about. Also words like seemly or fitting would be better here, as they show what is most often done or believed should be done, but don’t have too much strength. However, norm is also used to mean ‘typical’ or ‘usual’, which they don’t truly cover. Maybe wonted could be right for that?
Tradition is that which is done or held over from years gone by, which may have little meaning today but that which attaches to its oldness. They are not strictly held throughout all of society, nor are they the only way of doing things. Many traditions may live said–by–side, and many live together with later ways: traditional clothing and modern clothing, or traditional building and modern building, can be picked or chosen hingeing on the need or wish. I would like to say folkways with this meaning, and were it not already taken to mean custom I think I would. Certainly for the word traditional as an adjective, I don’t see any better word than folk: folk medicine, folk clothing, folk art, and so on. The thought behind it is that these are thing held by ‘people’, gainstanding that made by individuals or through lore. Maybe there is a compound like folkways which could be made for this?
Ceremony is a deed or undertaking which is part of tradition, but a specific instance of it. Another word is rite or ritual. I cannot think of any good word for this in English now, so I think we must make up a new one. I like the thought that ceremonies are there to mark an event, such as a birth, wedding, death, or some such. In this way we put down marks through which we mete our lives or the time in which we are living. We undertake a ritual to turn something from the everyday into something special, to set it aside and make it more meaningful, to make it into something the everyday doesn’t touch. I want to put forward upraise and upraising, with the thought that they ‘lift’ a happening onto a higher meaning. The word isn’t new, but is seldom said nowadays. I think a sentence like, “a bar mitzvah is an upraising held to mark a boy becoming a man”, might work.
Culture is hard to define. In some ways it is all of those things—beliefs, traditions, goods, deeds—which anybody does, upholds or undertakes in their life. So a pot or a song can be culture, no matter how everyday they are. But the word is often taken as a togetherness, with all such things seen as a whole, as in ‘Indian culture’. (Some uses of the word may also mean only the best or highest example of a thing, but we will leave that aside for now.) What word could go in its stead? I’m not too sure, but I think a compound made from –ware or –stock might work. Like a computer has software and hardware, maybe a society has…?
Civilization is a word with a contested meaning. Some would say it only to mean a kind of culture which is ‘better’ or more ‘sophisticated’ than others. But we should not use this meaning, as it hinges on somebody’s deeming rather than actual knowledge or understanding. We should in stead use the meaning of civilization as a society which is big, where folk have different crafts or livelihoods, have differing deals of might, and may be reliant on others which they do not know (such as a town craftsman eating the food grown by a farmer miles away). One word said to bear these meanings is complexity: that is, civilizations are those societies which are complex. This way of looking at the meaning gainstands the word to those societies, such as hunter–gatherers, where a few folk live and do everything together.
The most simple oversetting would be manifolded or manifoldness, which grab the meaning of complexity. But they wouldn’t sound right in a sentence. I once thought that something like settledom, meaning ‘the state of being settled’, would be a good word. Now I’m not so sure as it doesn’t have all the meanings we need, but I’m willing to keep it at hand in case I need it. Maybe we could build a better word on grow or bind, to show that such a society has grown together or become bound up together?
Roots English 