Exam 1 Anthro

Staple crops

foods that form the backbone of the subsistence system by providing the majority of the calories a society consumes.

Vernaculars

non- standard varieties of a language, which are usually distinguished from the standard by their inclusion of stigmatized forms.

Segmentary lineage

a hierarchy of lineages that contains both close and relatively distant family members.

Negative reciprocity

an attempt to get something for nothing; exchange in which both parties try to take advantage of the other.

Enculturation

the process of learning the characteristics and expectations of a culture or group.

Pastoralism

a subsistence system in which people raise herds of domesticated livestock.

Cultural transmission

the need for some aspects of the system to be learned.

Reverse dominance

societies in which people reject attempts by any individual to exercise power.

Pidgin

a simplified language that springs up out of a situation in which people who do not share a language must spend extended amounts of time together.

Creole

a language that develops from a pidgin when the pidgin becomes so widely used that children acquire it as one of their first languages.

Matrilineal

kinship (family) systems that recognize only relatives through a line of female ancestors.

Agriculture

the cultivation of domesticated plants and animals using technologies that allow for intensive use of the land.

Qualitative

anthropological research designed to gain an in- depth, contextualized understanding of human behavior.

Structural Functionalism

focuses on the ways in which the customs or social institutions in a culture contribute to the organization of society and the maintenance of social order.

Patrilineal

kinship (family) systems that recognize only relatives through a line of male ancestors.

Noble savage

an inaccurate way of portraying indigenous groups or minority cultures as innocent, childlike, or uncorrupted by the negative characteristics of "civilization ..

Mono cropping

the reliance on a single plant species as a food source.

Pragmatics

how social context contributes to meaning in an interaction.

Social classes

the division of society into groups based on wealth and status.

Functionalism

the way that parts of a society work together to support the functioning of the whole.

Subsistence farmers

people who raise plants and animals for their own consumption, but not for sale to others.

Egalitarian

societies in which there is no great difference in status or power between individuals and there are as many valued status positions in the societies as there are persons able to fill them.

Armchair anthropology

an early and discredited method of anthropological research that did not involve direct contact with the people studied.

Deductive

reasoning from the general to the specific; the inverse of inductive reasoning.

Historical linguistics

the study of how languages change.

Matriarchal

a society in which women have authority to make decisions.

Linguistic relativity

the idea that the structures and words of a language influence how its speakers think, how they behave, and ultimately the culture itself.

Cultural relativism

the idea that we should seek to understand another persons beliefs and behaviors from the perspective of their own culture and not our own.

Semantics

how meaning is conveyed at the word and phrase level.

Oaths

the practice of calling on a deity to bear witness to the truth of what one says.

Emic

________: a description of the studied culture from the perspective of a member of the culture or insider.

Key Informants

individuals who are more knowledgeable about their culture than others and who are particularly helpful to the anthropologist.

Interchangeability

the ability of all individuals of the species to both send and receive messages; a feature of some species communication systems.

Etic

________: a description of the studied culture from the perspective of an observer or outsider.

Quantitative

anthropological research that uses statistical, mathematical, and /or numerical data to study human behavior.

Negative reinforcements

punishments for noncompliance through fines, imprisonment, and death sentences.

Generalized reciprocity

giving without expecting a specific thing in return.

Legitimacy

the perception that an individual has a valid right to leadership.

Subsistence system

the set of skills, practices, and technologies used by members of a society to acquire and distribute food.

Code switching

using two or more language varieties in a particular interaction.

Affinal

family relationships created through marriage.

Holism

taking a broad view of the historical, environmental, and cultural foundations of behavior.

Patrilineal descent

a kinship group created through the paternal line (fathers and their children)

Matrilineal descent

a kinship group created through the maternal line (mothers and their children)

Proxemics

the study of the social use of space, including the amount of space an individual tries to maintain around himself in his interactions with others.

Kinesics

the study of all forms of human body language.

Phonemes

the basic meaningless sounds of a language.

Paleoanthropologist

biological anthropologists who study ancient human relatives.

Nuclear family

a parent or parents who are in a culturally- recognized relationship, such as marriage, along with minor or dependent children.

Bridewealth

payments made to the brides family by the grooms family before marriage.

Cultural relativism

the idea that we should seek to understand another persons beliefs and behaviors from the perspective of their own culture and not our own

Deductive

reasoning from the general to the specific; the inverse of inductive reasoning

Enculturation

the process of learning the characteristics and expectations of a culture or group

Hominin

Humans (Homo sapiens) and their close relatives and immediate ancestors

Inductive

a type of reasoning that uses specific information to draw general conclusions

Paleoanthropologist

biological anthropologists who study ancient human relatives

Participant-observation

a type of observation in which the anthropologist observes while participating in the same activities in which her informants are engaged

Armchair anthropology

an early and discredited method of anthropological research that did not involve direct contact with the people studied

Cultural determinism

the idea that behavioral differences are a result of cultural, not racial or genetic causes

Cultural evolutionism

societies evolved through stages from simple to advanced

Cultural relativism

the idea that we should seek to understand another persons beliefs and behaviors from the perspective of their own culture and not our own

Culture

a set of beliefs, practices, and symbols that are learned and shared

Functionalism

the way that parts of a society work together to support the functioning of the whole

Going native

becoming fully integrated into a cultural group through acts such as taking a leadership position, assuming key roles in society, entering into marriage, or other behaviors that incorporate an anthropologist into the society he or she is studying

Holism

taking a broad view of the historical, environmental, and cultural foundations of behavior

Kinship

blood ties, common ancestry, and social relationships that form families within human groups

Participant observation

anthropologist observes while participating in the same activities in which her informants are engaged

Structural-Functionalism

focuses on the ways in which the customs or social institutions in a culture contribute to the organization of society and the maintenance of social order

The Other

is a term that has been used to describe people whose customs, beliefs, or behaviors are "different" from ones own

Cultural relativism

the idea that we should seek to understand another persons beliefs and behaviors from the perspective of their own culture and not our own

Diaspora

the scattering of a group of people who have left their original homeland and now live in various locations

Emic

a description of the studied culture from the perspective of a member of the culture or insider

Etic

a description of the studied culture from the perspective of an observer or outsider

Indigenous

people who have continually lived in a particular location for a long period of time

Key Informants

individuals who are more knowledgeable about their culture than others and who are particularly helpful to the anthropologist

Land tenure

how property rights to land are allocated within societies, including how permissions are granted to access, use, control, and transfer land

Noble savage

an inaccurate way of portraying indigenous groups or minority cultures as innocent, childlike, or uncorrupted by the negative characteristics of "civilization."

Qualitative

anthropological research designed to gain an in-depth, contextualized understanding of human behavior

Code-switching

using two or more language varieties in a particular interaction

Creole

a language that develops from a pidgin when the pidgin becomes so widely used that children acquire it as one of their first languages

Critical age range hypothesis

research suggesting that a child will gradually lose the ability to acquire language naturally and without effort if he or she is not exposed to other people speaking a language until past the age of puberty

Cultural transmission

the need for some aspects of the system to be learned

Dialect

a variety of speech

Gesture-call system

a system of non-verbal communication using varying combinations of sound, body language, scent, facial expression, and touch, typical of great apes and other primates, as well as humans

Historical linguistics

the study of how languages change

Interchangeability

the ability of all individuals of the species to both send and receive messages; a feature of some species communication systems

Kinesics

the study of all forms of human body language

Language

an idealized form of speech, usually referred to as the standard variety

Language universals

characteristics shared by all linguists

Lexicon

the vocabulary of a language

Linguistic relativity

the idea that the structures and words of a language influence how its speakers think, how they behave, and ultimately the culture itself

Morphemes

the basic meaningful units in a language

Morphology

the study of the morphemes of language

Phonemes

the basic meaningless sounds of a language

Phonology

the study of the sounds of language

Pidgin

a simplified language that springs up out of a situation in which people who do not share a language must spend extended amounts of time together

Pragmatics

how social context contributes to meaning in an interaction

Proxemics

the study of the social use of space, including the amount of space an individual tries to maintain around himself in his interactions with others

Semantics

how meaning is conveyed at the word and phrase level

Standard

the variant of any language that has been given special prestige in the community