TRADITION, CUSTOM & CULTURE

TRADITION, CUSTOM & CULTURE

TRADITION

The English word ‘Tradition’ originates from the French word tradicion, and from the Latin words tradere and tradition, all of which refer to the process or action of handing over, passing across, delivering or giving.  This is why tradition has been defined as a belief, principle or way of acting which people in a particular society or group have continued to follow for a long time, and which have been passed from generation to generation.

         Expatiating further on the matter, an online English Dictionary defines Tradition as “A part of culture that is passed from person to person or generation to generation, possibly differing in detail from family to family, such as the way to celebrate holidays”.  The same dictionary also gives tradition other meanings as “A commonly held system”, and “The act of delivering into the hands of another”.

          So, in totality, we can see that traditions are ideas, principles or beliefs; they are created by individuals or families or communities; and they are passed from one generation to another generation.

Examples of Use of the Word ‘Tradition’:

(i)                “What is your favourite holiday tradition”?, Paula asked her twin brother, Paul.

(ii)             Ojo has turned his back on the old tradition.

(iii)           “That tradition has fallen by the wayside”, Umuto told her grand-daughter, Oghenekevwe.

(iv)           Good traditions should be preserved, while bad ones should be discarded.

CUSTOM

          Custom is derived from the Anglo-French words consuetudin and consuetudo, and the Latin word consuescere, all of which mean: a method which one is accustomed to; a habitual practice; the usual way of acting in given circumstances.

          Because of their closeness in meaning, many persons, including etymologists, use the words tradition and custom interchangeably.   Following this direction, Simple English Wikipedia defines custom thus: “Custom (also called a tradition) is a law or right or usual way, which is not written and is in practice since a long time. It is anything which lots of people do, and ...”

Custom-Allied Words:

          Owing to the fact that the word custom has the meaning of ‘the usual way of acting in given circumstances’ it has been used derivatively to name some institutions and officials like:

(i)                 Customs (Or Customs Department) which is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs, import duties, export duties etc;

(ii)             Custom House which is an official building in a port, where custom duties are collected and shipping is cleared for entry and exit; and

(iii)           Custom Officers/Men which refer to government officials who work in Customs or Customs Department.

We also have the allied word custom-made in the business world.  This means producing or fashioning a product or service according to the specific needs or requirements of a customer or client.

Examples of Use of the Word ‘Custom’:

(i)                Marriage customs differ from tribe to tribe and from kingdom to kingdom.

(ii)             All evil customs must be abolished from culture.

(iii)           Some customs are dying out nowadays in every part of the world.

(iv)       The clothes of Nigerian actors and actresses are usually custom-made.

CULTURE

          Culture, as a word, originates from French culture and Latin culturer,  and they mean ‘growing’ or ‘cultivation’ as to grow something from the soil.

Culture has been taken to mean “the way of life, especially the general customs and beliefs of a particular group of people at a particular time”. 

In broader terms, culture also includes knowledge, art, morals, law, customs, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by people as members of a society.   In this wise, culture has been defined contemporarily as: A social domain that emphasizes the practices, discourses and material expressions, which, over time, express the continuities and discontinuities of social meaning of a life held in common.”

We can see from the above that culture has a very broad concept covering almost every aspect of human lives.  With the explosion of knowledge in this 21^st Century, the word is now used in many endeavours.  Thus, we hear of expressions like: consumer culture, drugs culture, corporate culture, pop culture, youth culture, ICT culture, sample culture, virus culture etc.

Examples of the Use of the Word ‘Culture’:

(i)                The Urhobo culture differs from the Hausa culture in many ways.

(ii)             The British culture was imbibed by many Nigerians during colonisation. 

(iii)           Culture is dynamic and responds to new trends.

FURTHER EXPLANATIONS ON TRADITION, CUSTOM AND CULTURE:

As can be seen, culture applies to almost all aspects of the lives of a tribe or a nation.  And within each culture, are various traditions and customs.  For example, within the Urhobo culture, we have various traditions and customs on marriage, burial, festivals, installations etc.   For example, while the custom of the Ughelli people demands a bride-price of N120.00 (One Hundred and Twenty Naira), that of Eghwu (Ewu-Urhobo) people demands N80.00 (Eighty Naira).  And while the Abraka (Avwraka) people customarily ‘buy fish’ to the bride’s family before the bride-price ceremony, the Ughelli people customarily hold ‘introduction ceremony’ at which both families introduce their members to each other, before the bride-price ceremony.

At the international level, Africa has the culture of bride-price (where the groom’s family give money and other items to the bride’s family) but India has the culture of dowry (where the bride’s family give money and other items to the groom’s family).  But in contrast, the Europeans and most Americans have the culture of simply registering their marriages in the marriage registry, and not paying any money to either of the two families.

Let us now conclude this discussion with a summary of the differences between tradition (which includes custom, as the two are almost the same) and culture.

SUMMARY OF DIFFERENCES BETWEEN TRADITION AND CULTURE

TRADITION	CULTURE
Traditions are the ideas and beliefs that are passed down from one generation to another generation.	Culture is the collective term to identify the ideas, customs, social behaviour etc, of  a people, ethnic group or society.
Traditions are part of a culture.	Culture is a wide area or horizon encompassing many concepts.
Some traditions are unique to some families, kindred or communities.	A particular culture is usually observed among an ethnic group or large group of people.
Tradition can be created by an individual, a family or community.	Culture is created by a group of people, a clan or an ethnic group over a long period of time.