anthropology week 9
expanded on Sapir's work
Benjamin Lee Whorf
urged cultural anthropologists to pay close attention to language during field research; urged that a language inclines its speakers to think about the world in certain ways because of its specific grammatical categories
Edward Sapir
"Why Isn't the Sky Blue": Which society was the earliest to have a term for the color blue in the written literature? a. Greeks b. Egyptians c. Chinese d. Persians
Egyptians
hypothesized that English, German, Latin, Greek, Slavic and Sanskrit all came from a common ancestor
Grimm's Law
described how "talking like a lady" involved the expectation that a woman's speech patterns should include things such as tag questions (... isn't it?) intensifiers (very) hedge (I'm pretty sure) or hesitation and the repetition of expression
Lakoff's study of gendered speech
argued that the social effects of speaking this way can marginalize women
Larkoff
this anthropologist worked with koko
Patterson
three levels of descriptive linguistics
Phonology, morphology and syntax
A hypothesis that assumes a close relationship between language and culture; it claims that language defines people's experiences
Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
"Why Isn't the Sky Blue": What conclusion did Prime Minister William Gladstone make about how the Greeks saw color? a. They were colorblind b. They simply had different terms to describe what everyone sees c. Their terms were limited to the colors they could manufacture d. Their terms and perception were the same as ours; Homer had simply been mistranslated into English
They were colorblind
i. had studied the language of the Hopi Indians and found that his knowledge of the grammars of European languages was little help in understanding Hopi grammar
Whorf
Which of the following is a feature of language? a. It is used to communicate b. It is symbolic c. It consists of sounds organized into words according to some sort of grammar d. All of the above
all of the above
patterned sounds or utterances that express meaning usually related to animals
call systems
People speaking different languages don't see color differently, they just
classify it differently
The communication systems of nonhuman species consist of a finite (limited) number of signals for finite specific meanings. Such systems are said to be: a. open b. arbitrary c. symbolic d. closed
closed
words in two languages that show the same systematic sound shifts as other words
cognate words
a language of mixed origin that has developed from a complex blending of two parent languages that exists as a mother tongue for some part of the population
creole language
the systematic analysis and description of a language's sound system and grammar
descriptive linguistics
regional accents (Brooklyn vs. Alabama)
dialects
is the ability to communicate about things and ideas not immediate in space and time
displacement
units of sounds and units of meaning that those units of sound are combined to create
duality
these symbols help us sort out complex feelings and relationships
elaborating symbols
The study of the meanings of words, especially as they relate to folk taxonomies. Ex: Color Categories
ethnoscience
Countries find it relatively easy to decide what language its citizens will speak. a. True b. False
false
these anthropologists worked with washoe
gardeners
The branch of linguistics that attempts to classify and construct a family tree of languages and to reconstruct extinct languages is known as a. structural linguistics b. sociolinguistics c. descriptive linguistics d. historical linguistics
historical linguistics
these linguistics focus on how and where the languages people speak today emerged.
historical linguistics
non-genetic model of change languages change by being
in contact with other languages
implies how people should act. (the American dream/ rags to riches)
key scenario
a system of communication consisting of sounds, words and grammar
language
referring to the dying out of many minority languages. Some linguists argue that nearly half the world's 5,000 or 6,000 languages are in jeopardy of dying out within a century. Cultural disruptions created by rapid social changes such as colonization and globalization have undermined the use of native languages.
language death
Links language use with identity, morality, and aesthetics
language ideology
widespread assumptions that people make about the relative sophistication and status of particular dialects and languages
language ideology
the formal structure of language
langue
Animals can't speak because they do not have a
larynx
the idea that people speaking different languages perceive or interpret the world differently because of differences in their languages
linguistic relativity
If you studied speech patterns such as those analyzed in Robin Lakoff's study of gendered speech, you might find that "talking like a lady" a. contributes to gender equality in the workplace b. marginalizes women's voices in work contexts c. demonstrates that women and men are equal d. builds certainty and trust
marginalizes women's voices in work contexts
unit of meaning in a language, made up of phonemes
morpheme
the structure of words and word formation in a language
morphology
1. When anthropologists study the way people use language in real settings rather than as a set of grammatical rules, they are focusing on a. Parole b. Langue c. Phonetics d. Morphology
parole
the actual speech used in any community
parole
pertaining to displacement, humans have the ability to communicate about
past, present and future
the comparative study of ancient texts and documents
philology
a unit of sound we make
phoneme
Linguists refer to mixed languages with a simplified grammar that people rarely learn as a mother tongue as a. a pidgin language b. a creole language c. a national language sd. lang
pidgin language
a mixed language with simplified grammar, typically borrowing its vocab from one language but its grammar from another
pidgin language
a hypothetical common ancestral language of two or more living languages
proto-language
Chimps and apes have the cognitive ability to associate ____ with _____ and then to combine them in original ways
signs with concepts
Through ______, _________ and _________, language thus reinforces cultural values that are already present in the community
signs, symbols and metaphors
the study of how sociocultural context and norms shape language use and the effects of language use on society.
sociolinguistics
sounds that are formed by closing off and reopening the oral cavity so that it stops the flow of air through the mouth, such as consonants p,b,t,d,k and g
stops
these symbols sum up a variety of meanings and experiences and link them to a single sign (i.e. American flag)
summarizing symbols
_____ are elaborations on signs
symbols
pattern of word order used to form sentences and longer utterances in a language
syntax
ex of morphology
tenses, pronouns
Most people are unaware of the structure of a language until someone speaking it makes a mistake a. True b. False
true