I have a paper which the topic is to "explore the relationship between language and culture for a language and culture that you know. With reference to key words, phrases, aphorisms, or even traditional stories, how does the language reflect the culture of those who speak it, and how are the language and culture interrelated?"

I figure writing about the Mormon culture will be interesting. It's been six years since I've been to church... So far I know I can use the "terms of address" in the Mormon church , ie "sister", "brother", "president", "elder", etc. I figure it's one indicator in the language that reveals it's sexism, because there is only one way to address females- "sister"- as there is no title indicating any kind of recognition as there is for males. (or does the religion refer to relief society presidents as a "president"? I can't remember, it's been too long).

That's the only main thing I've got so far to discuss...
anyone have any ideas? Especially any language or words in the church that reveals its gender inequality?

The assignment says I can also use a traditional story... thinking about maybe including some snippets of the adam and eve story from the temple ceremony.

I'd appreciate any ideas or thoughts on the subject. it's for my anthropology class.

I'd add the tendency to refer to "god" as "heavenly father." Much more so than in any other religion...

I realized I can also use the prayer structure as a topic. Mormon prayers are very formal and follow a process (We thank thee, we are grateful, please nourish and strengthen, etc). This can illustrate the culture of conformity in the church, ie there is little room for individuality or creativity.

yeah?

Yes, very true! Heavenly father used all the time...hardly ever referred to as "God". "Heavenly Mother" exists in the culture but its taboo to discuss..

The Holy Ghost is referred to as it or him. NEVER she.

I would talk about how mormon-isms creep into speech and become part of the dogma. Blessings are replete with this. And it's become so much part of the lexicon that momos actually believe the made up phrases belong.

Have you ever heard "nourish and strengthen" anywhere in real conversation?

How about "in the household of faith" that so many insert into the anointing prayer. Or - "we unitedly hold this baby".

Blessing the "sick and afflicted" is another oldie but goldie. I was just telling the wife the other day I was worried about an afflicted person we know. Right!

And how about the words that have changed both in pronunciation as well as meaning?

"Ignert", whose root is "ignorant" but has come to be a momo hybrid of rude and crude.

Thank you, great ideas!

Another thing...the intonation used by speakers in the church, especially general conference- that monotone drawl that ends each sentence with a lower tone. You know what I mean.

Isn't that like hypnotic speech?

Conference speaker even use common rhythm in their speech. da da da da dum da da da da dum etc.

As a newlywed, I can remember asking my then 4-year-old stepdaughter what the words "Strengthen and nourish" meant when blessing the food (it had been her turn.) She looked at me and said blankly, "I dunno. It's just what you're S'POSED to say."

I remember thinking, "This is stupid. Completely stupid. The child is parroting words that mean nothing to her."

The story has a happy ending. Said child and I would eventually resign from the church on the same day, many years later.

"Returned missionary" seems to carry a male valence and signifies a worthy husband to marriageable females.

"Mommy make-over" is code for the plastic surgery common among married Mormon women of a certain income bracket whose bodies have been ravaged by multiple childbirths.

Yes! I wouldn't have that of that myself... that is a really good example, "returned missionary" doesn't just describe a person who returned from a mission, but it's almost like a presupposition , it carries a weight of significance and the cultural assumption that a returned missionary means someone who is not only at a marriageable age but who is "worthy"

thank you!

Sure--I also find it interesting that LDS official discourse uses "same sex attraction" instead of gay. It's as if they want to use a phrase that, because it is not "gay," calls attention to itself thereby marking it as odd, unusual, etc.

https://www.lds.org/topics/same-gender-attraction?lang=eng

Don't people generally just say "return missionary" and drop the "ed" ending?

If anything can be said about Mormon culture, it is that the culture is infused with the mandate for obedience to authority. This is reflected in the phrase "We are taught...."

"We are taught to be kind, chaste, moderate, etc.," as if members couldn't have figured these things out without the morg and would be plunged into debauchery without it.

"testimony"
"sustain"
"correlate"
"worthiness"

All words designed to disempower those at the bottom of the pyramid.

God only understands 16th century King James English. If you don't use "thee", "thou" and "thine" while praying, the almighty won't understand you. Oh ya, if you want him to bless the prophet Monson, it may be a good idea to throw in the word "even".

"miracle"
"tender mercies"
"hastening the work"

Sacred not secret

Sister and brother are common among the Baptist.

Returned missionary' is exclusive to tscc. (from my experience)
A testimony is as well.

Folding arms when praying.
Worthiness.
Receiving blessings (only by following the rules and 10%)

Most churches I grew up in and have visited, Heavenly father is not used. God, Jesus, Christ, Lord are common.

Word of wisdom
Covenant
Celestial kingdom
Exaltation
Pre-Existence

Do you go to High School in Nephi? They are rebelling in Nephi? Things are spinning out of control...

Refusing to call resigning one's membership a resignation. They always refer to it as name removal, because that makes it a passive act. You request name removal. Resignation is active rather than passive. You resign.

The women never get referred to by their calling status the way the men do.

The RS president is not called President Smith, the men are always referred to by their calling status.

Who has FHE other than mormons? Most people just spend time with their families. They don't have to depend on their church to gie them a label and a night off from church jobs.

Choose the right (ctr)
modesty

"She/He was born in the covenant."
"Oh is he a member?"
"Did he receive his Patriarch Blessing?"
"What tribe is your family from?"
"Do you attend your Bishop interview? "
"Are you a full tithe payer?"
"Is she a stay at home mom?"
"She is at the age of accountability."
"He was lying for the Lord."
"May I have a priesthood blessing."
"You have your free agency."
"You cannot play with her, her mother drinks coffee."
"I know there are more spirit children in heaven waiting to come to our family."
"I felt that I must have known her in the preexistence."
General Conference
Apostles
The Prophet
General Authorities
The Brethren
Authority
"I know......"
Baptism for the dead
Washings and anointing
Battle in heaven
Becoming gods
Curse of Cain
Taking the Sacrament
Kolob
Called to serve
Correlation
Council of the Twelve
Council in heaven
First and Second counselors
D&C
Triple Combination
Women's conference
Correct order of prayer
Power of discernment
Elder So and So
Reformed Egyptian
The Pearl of Great Price
"She took out her endowments"
"I read the Ensign"
The sacred grove
"There was a falling away."
"He was fulfilling his calling."
Foreordination
Garments
Temple sealing
Power of the priesthood
The last days
Food storage
Family Home Evening
Laying on of Hands
"She is doing temple work"
Hosanna shout
Visiting teaching
Home teaching
Stake
Ward
Revelation

And on and on and on the linguistics of Mormon culture go. Only those in the know would know what these things mean. Use your topical guide, mormon dictionary, missionary companion, and old ensigns or workbooks for more.....good luck to you on your paper.

"Sweet spirit" and/or "stay sweet"

On the surface it sounds nice, but it isn't nice at all. It's a condescending put down that often serves to remind young women of their place within the culture.

Oh, and mothers who have sons out on missions do not call their own children by their own names, but refer to them as "Elder Lastname"

This seems to show that the position the person serves is more important than the individual serving the position. And formal address elevates the missionary's status.

I do not know if parents call their missionary daughters "Sister Lastname" or if they commonly use their first names. That would be very interesting to find out! And I don't know if fathers call their missionary children by their first names or if they generally use the formal title instead.

"Modest is hottest." I never heard that outside of a Mormon context.

Which encapsulates the TSCC's idea of being the only truly true church in the universe. Which if it were REALLY true, you wouldn't have to hear constantly repeated like a mantra at every testimony meeting. It's simply the constant repetition of it that makes it "true".

Cake or Death mentioned "sweet spirit". When I served a mission the 19 yr. old elders would refer to us sister missionaries as (snicker, snicker) "sweet spirits" It used to really make me mad because what they were actually doing was referring to the fact that they thought that the only women serving a mission were the ones that were ugly and couldn't find a husband. I guess they thought that we were stupid too, and didn't really understand their complicated code words. I'm not sure if it is done now that the missionary age is lowered for women, but in my day it was an insult that I was supposed to smile and ignore.

"The Mormon Use of Belief Shaping Techniques" by Bob McCue:
http://bobmccue.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/rs.the-mormon-use-of-belief-shaping-technique.pdf

I am sure you could tie what McCue is talking about here to the specific language that is used to shape the beliefs.

Use of the word “Even” by GA’s and wannabe GA’s
“And I speak of the great Lord and Savior, even Jesus Christ……..”

Sounds like an exceedingly awesome and totally neat project, but I'm having a stupor of thought right now. Maybe because I had a NCMO with an RM last night after the fireside.

There's a chapter on Mormon vocabulary in the book 'Mormons, an Open Book, What you Really Want to Know'. I loaned my copy out and haven't gotten it back, and I don't remember how detailed the chapter was, but it might be helpful...

A most significant linguistic distinction in Mormonism is the presence of religious language which is "milk" (the common meaning of words shared with other Christians) as a deception and the "meat" which means the true definition of those words as understood by the more-worthy, BIC, temple-endowed, Mormon-royal, secondly anointed.

Here's an example, as it was explained to me by a missionary who claimed he could teach me meat instead of milk.

Heavenly Father is not a personage at all, it is a calling, like the President of a Planet.

Jesus is not a person, but a calling, The Savior of a Planet.

Adam is a calling, the first of the human/spirit hybrid beings who inhabit the planet of a new Heavenly Father, after he has created it.

Eve is a calling, Satan, etc.

Those who have ears to hear will understand this is explained in the temple ceremony when Satan says "as it was done on other planets."

To demonstrate that actual living modern Mormons believe this, I offer my own experience. After giving birth to four boys, I married a Mormon. We split up after I had an additional five girls. He told me he thought I was a proven male-producer (science where are you?) however, he needed a Jesus for his planet and clearly I was done.

There are many more examples of Christian terms which sound the same, like the godhead of Father, Son and Holy Ghost, but mean something completely different in Mormonism.



Kathleen Waters

'Served' a mission. 'Served' in the such-and-such mission.

Never 'went on' a mission, always 'served'.

Drives me nuts to read it even on RfM. Whom did you serve?

Also, I grew up hearing "to fill a mission" which sounded like a dirty diaper to me, but hey...

There's a rich amount of mormon-isms that you can tap into, and they don't all have to reflect the negativistic side of the culture. I would recommend being aware of your own bias so that your paper doesn't just come off as lampooning a culture you don't particularly like.

One thing that I became increasingly aware of growing up was that my mormon lingo was often not on par with what other lay-people understood in the same terminology. For me there was "the sacrament" rather than the sacraments. I never would have imagined that baptism, marriage etc. are also sacraments. (Communion, what's that?)

On the other hand, all the insistence on using King James style English for everything gave me a competitive edge over my gentile classmates when it came to reading Shakespeare.

"Gentile" is another example of LDS redefinition of standard meanings. "Gentile" is usually taken to mean "non-Jew"; LDS, understanding itself as the "true Israel" or whatever slid the terminology around.

you could even include sub groups of mormonism like us exmos
TBM
TSCC
The Cult
Lying for the lord
etc.

I don't know if this has been mentioned but Mormons use the word "Sacrament" in kind of a weird way.

Sacrament is usually a religious ceremony or act of the Christian Church that is regarded as an outward and visible sign.
In the Roman Catholic and many Orthodox Churches a sacrament includes the rites of baptism, confirmation, the Eucharist, penance, anointing of the sick, ordination, and marriage.
Among Protestants it includes baptism and the Eucharist.

Mormons don't even use the word Eucharist at all. They just call taking bread and water "The Sacrament."

In response to your question "whom did you serve?" Noone. However, the correct word to use in regards to a mission is "served". As in time. You know-like a jail sentence, which is what it felt like most of the time.