anth 304 linguistics

phonetics

The smallest sound unit that changes meaning

► • A mental sound category in a language

► • Not just a physical sound

► • Phonemes are mental categories

► • They structure what we hear

► • They shape how we judge speech

changes meaning

Different languages have different phoneme

systems

► • English distinguishes /r/ and /l/

► • Japanese treats them differently

why they matter Key to understanding accents

► • Central to language learning

► • Important in linguistic anthropology

accent perception, language ideology, and cross-cultural misunderstanding

phoneme

morpheme

lexeme

Edward Sapir

Benjamin Lee Whorf

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, developed by

linguists Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf,

suggests that language structure influences

how people think and perceive reality.

linguistic relativism

linguistic determinism

Language completely

determines how people think

● Thought is impossible without

language

● People can only understand

concepts in language

language acquisition

Ferdinand de Saussure

speech community

performance

Self-reflexivity

Signified and Signifier

register

Code switching

Langue vs. Parole

language emphasizes structure and rule, parole highlights individual expression and variability

Arbitrariness of Signs

communicative/speech event

speech act

langue

Language (symbol system) transmits culture

• Communicates the abstract - culture is abstract

There is not such thing as a private language:

•“in order to have language you must have community of speakers…a language never exist even for a moment except as a social fact” (p. 77)

Language is always inherited from the past:

While the sign is fixed in an arbitrarily fashion, it wascfixed at some point.

–What keeps it fixed?:

•Usage (parole)

•Tradition/culture: If you can’t explain why

“tree” became “tree” then you can’t argue it’s a

bad term and shouldn’t be or should be

something else the arbitrary foundation keeps the sign fixed.

structure v. agency

sign

signification

the mental concept of a tree

In different language the signal is different for the same concept (signification).

signal

the phonetic and written representaion of “tree”

The signal for tree could just as easily be “arbor,” or “cat” or “blahbugabuga”

Once the language has selected a signal, it cannot be freely replaced by any other

grammar

syntax

unconscious social behavior

The social behaviors that are ingrained into our head culturally that impact the way that we act.

behaviors that are not based on biological need, but are culturally pre-determined

People can be an expert at how they use their language without

being able to explain how language works.

○ Naturalization of Language:

■ Language appears to be part of the natural order not

human made. It appears to be outside of culture

Hidden Rules:

● Automatic Speaking:

● Learning Without Knowing:

● Different for Each Language:

Face-work

Framing

Universal Grammar Noam Chomsky

Linguistic relativity is

simply surface: Humans

share a common common

grammar driven by a common

faculty of language acquisition

Critical Age Hypothesis

Alternating sounds

caregiver speak

Sociolinguistics

Ethnography of Communication

Del Hymes

S-P-E-A-K-I-N-G model

llocutionary act

Footing

Indexicality

How language points to

identity, power, and social meaning

Parts of Language that

points to social meaning

• Beyond literal definition

• How we say what we say

often is more important

than what we say.

where it COMEs FROM?

Repeated use Social expectations Historical power

WHY INDEXICALITY MATTERS

Links language to identity, Explains inequality, Reveals hidden norms

promises

contextualization

Contex

Speaking In Tongues Film