Module 3 - Language and Culture

Grimm's Laz

theory that many languages rooted from a single ancestor language that became distorted in different ways as speakers separated from each other geographically

what are the two basic views of deafness and deaf language (signing) in the U.S?

1) pathological view- deaf people are believed to have something wrong which must be corrected; viewed to have have learning and even psychological problems due to hearing loss and communication difficulties, and be culturally deprived; 2) cultural view- defines deaf community as a group of people who share a common means of communication that provides a basis for group cohesion and identity, a community whose primary means of relating to the world is visual and who share a language that is visually received and gesturally produced

what are the three types of symbols?

1) summarizing symbols 2) elaborating symbols 3) key scenarios

The key scenario differs from other kinds of symbols because it

implies how people should act.

call system

patterned sounds or utterances that express meaning

phonology

structure of speech sounds; organized by marking systematic contrasts between pairs or groups of sounds

ethnoscience

study of how people classify things in the world

sociolinguistics

study of how sociocultural context and norms shape language use and the effects of language us on society

summarizing symbols

sum up variety of meanings and experiences and link them to a single sign (ex.- American flag)

descriptive linguistics

the systematic analysis and description of a language's sound system and grammar; study of "langue"

what would the fourth color in a language be, assuming its existence?

blue/green

pidgin language

mixed language with a simplified grammar, typically borrowing its vocab from one language but its grammar from another; rarely used as mother tongue, but to conduct business and trade; notable in Asia and the Pacific

why are call systems not considered languages? (4 reasons)

1) animal call systems are limited in what they can communicate 2) they are stimuli-dependent 3) calls are never combined to create a cal with a separate meaning 4) they tend to be nearly the same in a species regardless of location

T/F? Language can be used to exclude or marginalize some people.

True

proto-language

a hypothetical common ancestral language of two or more living languages

philology

comparative study of ancient texts and documents

dialects

deviations from the determined "proper" language; involve differences in vocab, grammar, pronunciation, accents, etc.

morphology

how words are formed into meaningful units; involve tenses, word order, pronouns, which genders are marked, etc.

linguistic relativity

idea that people speaking different languages perceive/interpret the world differently because of differences in their languages

On the island of Java in Indonesia, nearly every sentence marks a person's _______ between speaker and listener.

position/social position/social status/status

who, in hierarchical societies, determines what is "proper" in language?

the socially dominant group

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

thought that people who speak different languages perceive and experience the world differently

what is language shaped by?

what we perceive, conceptualize, and value

language ideology

widespread assumptions that people make about the relative sophistication and status of particular dialects and languages; links language use with identity, morality, and aesthetics

cognate words

words in two or more languages derived from an ancestral language; used to identify languages with common ancestry

signs

words/objects that stand for something else, usually a kind of shorthand; simplest way to convey meaning

language

communication, consisting of sounds, words and grammar, that is spoken, signed, or written; how we share values, beliefs, and knowledge; systematic

elaborating symbols

explain and clarify complex relationships through symbol(s); opposite of summarizing symbols

syntax

how words are strung together to form sentences and more complex utterances such as paragraphs

key scenario

implies how people should act (ex.- Horatio Alger myth about poor boy rowing up and working hard to become wealthy)

what issues do linguistic anthropologists illuminate when they study language?

issues such as enculturation, ideology, and identity

explain how language relates to social power and inequality

language can be used to exclude/marginalize some people in workplaces/social programs

Brent Berlin and Paul Kay found that if a language had only three color terms, they would always be black (dark), white (light), and ______.

red

stops

sounds that are formed by closing off and reopening the oral cavity so that it stops the flow of air through the mouth.stops

what are the three types of structures in language?

1) phonology 2) morphology 3) syntax

T/F? Languages change very slowly, taking generations or even centuries.

False

what form of nonverbal communication is common across all cultures?

basic human emotions and their accompanying facial expressions

creole languages

languages of mixed origin that developed from a complex blending of two parent languages (ex. language spoken in Haiti combines several African languages with Spanish, Taino, English, French); most notable in Americas