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Key terms and concepts from week 1 to week 8.
phonology
the study of sound in language
phoneme
the smallest contrastive sound units in a language
contrastive
changes the meaning
allophones
phonetically distinctive variants of a phoneme, the meaning does not change
voiced sounds
the vocal chords vibrate
unvoiced sounds
no vibration in the vocal chords
morphology
the study of the internal structure of words
morpheme
unit of meaning (root words, suffixes (end of word, ex. -ing) and prefixes (beginning of word, ex. re, un), plural markers, etc.)
syntax
the study of the structure of sentences in a language or the structure of sentences
semantics
the study of meaning in language
pragmatics
the study of language use
tone/tonal languages
languages in which pitch can be contrastive (pitch changes meaning), ex. Mandarin, Vietnamese
orthography
the conventional spelling system of a language
multifunctionality
language is more than just description, there are 6 functions
referential/denotative function
how language can be used to describe or convey information about the world, ex. the cup is broken
expressive function
oriented towards the speaker’s emotions, expressing with tone (possibly face and body)
conative function
concerned with influencing the behavior of the addressee, imperative, command, persuasive
poetic function
emphasizes the juxtaposition of sounds, not their grammatical sequence, which words have the greatest effect when put together
ex. slogans, poetry, sound and feel of words
phatic function
serves to establish, prolong, or discontinue communication
ex. greetings, goodbyes, small talk
metalinguistic/reflexive function
language about language, reflecting on language use
language ideology
“the attitudes, opinions, beliefs, or theories we have about language” (Ahearn 23)
how people conceptualize what language is or what it can do
ex. SAE is seen as better and more proper than AAVE
indexicality
relationship between sign and object is one of connection or contiguity: “points to”
ex. smoke is an index of fire, a rainbow is an index of rain
multimodal/multimodality
idea that linguistic interactions operate “on multiple levels and have multiple functions” (Ahearn 33)
Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
“the language one speaks determines how one perceives the world…[and] the distinctions encoded in each language are all different from one another”
is also referred to as linguistic relativity
linguistic relativity
language influences thought
is also referred to as Sapir-Whord Hypothesis
semiotics
the study of signs
examining relations between: sign, object, interpretant
icon
a sign that resembles what it represents
ex. thumbs up emoji resembles a thumbs up, with words onomatopoeia resemble what they represent
index
a sign that points towards something other than itself
ex. smoke is an index of fire
see indexicality
symbol
a sign with an arbitrary connection to what it represents
ex. tree connects to a real tree, but if you did not hav the knowledge tree would not mean anything
acronyms for language varieties
AAE: African American English
AAVE: African American Vernacular English
BEV: Black English Vernacular
BE: Black English
SAE: Standard American English
prestige variety
“prestige” is the level of regard normally accorded to a specific language variety relative to other languages or dialects in a specific community
vocal fry
a vocal effect produced by very slow vibrations of the vocal chord and characterized by a creaking sound and low pitch
frequently associated with women even though men use it too
register
a variety of language used for a particular purpose or in a particular communicative situation
ex. mothering language
metaphor
a figure of speech in which one thing is described as if it were another, creating an implicit comparison without using “like” or “as”
a conceptual mapping between two different domains
a comparison across modalities
metaphors we live by
metaphors are explored as cognitive and cultural tools that shape thought, communication, and social life, our ordinary conceptual system is metaphorical in nature
ex. theories are buildings:
what is the foundation for your theory?
the theory needs more support.
we need to buttress the theory with solid arguments.
dialect vs. language
there is NO technical difference between the two, the difference is political
people in power can choose to standardize a language and claim it is more prestige than others
ex. SAE vs. AAVE
language
a specific set of rules for generating speech, a language is a ‘standard’ dialect
dialect
a variant of a language
= “language variety” or “non-standard variety”
toponym
place names
Basso - how are place names used?
place names are used a a way to conform to Western Apache culture and expectations
place names as language ideology
place names are an anchor to tell stories of event that happened in the place
when speaking with place names, Western Apache people are able to travel to those places and receive wisdom from their ancestors, the place names create an image of what the place looked like when they were named
protactile/protactile movement
a touch-based language used by DeafBlind people, there are three key principles: direct access, autonomy, and contact space
direct access
prioritizing tactile communication over visual or auditory methods
autonomy
empowering DeafBlind individuals to control their own communication
contact space
using hands, arms, and body movements to convey meaning
propositional semiosis
knowledge that is independent of context, it approaches the limits of language
non-propositional semiosis
the process of meaning making that goes beyond simple facts about the world
code-switching
switching between varieties (languages) NOT register
ex. switching between SAE and AAVE
methods in linguistic anthropology
these methods are also present in cultural anthropology
there are six methods
participant observations
requires that researchers spend months or years residing in a particular community - learning the language, traditions, and interacting with members of the community
they take field notes
interviews
there are three formats, not the best way to gather information
structured: set of questions with specific wording and all participants are asked in the same order
semi-structured: list of topics, but no order or wording
open-ended: informal conversations that touch on research topic
survey and questionnaires
often used to collect demographic data such as age, education level, language spoken, income, and more
naturally occurring conversations
recorded conversations between individuals from the community the research focuses on, consent is necessary
experiments
conducting experiments to answer question
ex. matched guise test (used to find the true feelings of people towards a language, dialect, or accent
analysis of written text
historical documents copied from archives, personal letters, newspaper articles, emails, or official documents
language and thought: language in general
research focuses on broadest level how having any language at all might influence thinking
language and thought: linguistic structures
research considers how some specific structures within a particular language might influence thinking or behavior (ex. grammatical structure)
language and thought: language use
research looks at the ways that particular habits of speaking can influence thought and interpretation
language use rather than language structure
sociolinguistics
mostly quantitative, statistical
interviews as primary data
linguistic anthropology
ethnographic, qualitative
language as a social action
Boas & students: Non Indo-European languages
non Indo-European languages are complex, advanced and developed similarly to Indo-European languages
