Abstract
The relationship between language and culture has long been an interesting object of study in the field of sociolinguistics.On one hand, culture is said to be shaped by language.On the other hand, language is stated to be constructed by culture.According to Sapir (1921), as a capability that man acquires by being a member of society, one might say that language is actually a part of culture.By this definition, hence, the nature of relationship between culture and other elements of language is self-explanatory; the elements-just like the overall language-are supposedly also interrelated to culture.Considering Sapir-Wholf's Hypothesis of linguistic relativity-this paper aims to explore the nature of relationship between culture and an element of language, namely, swear words.The analysis of data obtained through questionnaire and observation discovers different reactions to swear words of various languages from people of different cultural backgrounds.The findings eventually lead to the conclusion that culture is mainly responsible for the construction of profanities in different languages.In light of the findings, the Sapir-Wholf's Hypothesis is re-evaluated.