Anthro - lanague

What makes human language unique?

• Symbolic system

• Can create unlimited messages

• Different from animal communication

What is openness?

• Ability to create new messages

• Language is flexible and creative

What is displacement?

• Talk about past, present, future

• Not limited to the moment

What is arbitrariness?

• No natural link between word and meaning

• Words are agreed upon

What is duality of patterning?

Small sounds (phonemes) → combine → meaningful units (morphemes)

What is semanticity?

Words have meaning tied to real-world context

What is prevarication?

• Ability to lie or say false things

• Language can be meaningless or untrue

How are language and culture related?

• Language reflects culture

• Shapes how people understand the world

How does language change?

• Through social groups

• Influenced by media, communities

• Constantly evolving

What is a community of speech practice?

• Group that uses language in a shared way

• Based on common activities

👉 (Better than “speech community”)

What is linguistic determinism?

• Language determines how you think

• NOT accepted / disproven

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What is the weak Sapir-Whorf hypothesis?

• Language influences thinking

• Does NOT fully determine it

What is pragmatics?

• Meaning depends on context

• Language in real use

What is ethnopragmatics?

What is ethnopragmatics?

Why is context important in language?

• Determines meaning

• Same words can mean different things

What is language ideology?

• Beliefs about language

• Some ways of speaking seen as “better”

What is linguistic ethnocentrism?

• Judging other ways of speaking as inferior

• Based on bias

What is standard language ideology?

• Belief that one “correct” way of speaking exists

• Usually based on dominant group

What is heteroglossia?

• Multiple ways of speaking in a society

• Different styles, dialects

What is linguistic inequality?

• Some ways of speaking are valued more

• Leads to discrimination