Anthro Chapters 4-6

Guest textbook vocab

language

a system of communication organized by rules that uses symbols such as words, sounds, and gestures to convey information

descriptive linguists

study of the sounds, symbols, and gestures of a language, and their combination into forms that communicate meaning

kinesics

the study of the relationship between body movements and communication

paralanguage

extensive set of noises (such as laughs, cries, sighs, and yells) and tones of voice that convey significant information about the speaker

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

the idea that different languages create different ways of thnking

focal vocabulary

the words and terminology that develop with particular sophistication to describe the unique cultural realities experienced by a group of people

prestige language

a particular language variation or way of speaking that is associated with wealth, success, education, and power

code switching

switching back and forth between one linguistic variant and another depending on the cultural context

language continuum

the idea that variation in languages appears gradually over. distance so that groups of people who live near one another speak in ways that is mutually intelligible

race

a flawed system of classification with no biological basis, that uses certain physical characteristics to divide the human population into supposedly discrete groups

racism

individuals’ thoughts and actions and institutional patterns and policies that create or reproduce unequal access to power, privilege, resources, and opportunities based on imagined differences among groups

nativism

the favoring of certain long-term inhabitants, namely whites, over new immigrants

racialization

the process of categorizing, differentiating, and attributing a particular racial character to a person or group of people

institutional racism (aka structural racism)

patterns by which racial inequality is structured through key cultural institutions, policies, and systems

racial ideology

set of popular ideas about race that allows discriminatory behaviors of individuals and institutions to seem reasonable, rational, and normal

intersectionality

analytic framework for assessing how factors such as race, gender, and class interact to shape individual life chances and societal patterns of stratification