anthro mid

each word in the language tastes of what

the context its lived its socially charged life

What is linguistic anthropology?

the study of languages and how they contribute to the society

Linguistic Anthropology VS social anthropology

linguistic- micro, qualitative, intersectional analysis while taking contextual facts into account

social- marco, quantitative, variables in urban settings (gender, sex, race)

speaking is a ____ and language is a ____

- social act
- tool or cultural resource

what two aspects influence each-other to produce a speech act

sociocultural context and linguistic practices

how would linguistics define language

a cultural practice that is a form of action that BOTH presupposes and brings about ways of being in the world

how is the linguistic anthropologists study of language different then a different fields study of language

linguistics understand that language must be broken down and reduced to a set of formal rules

who was the first to understand that language must be decontextualized to be studied

ferdinand de saussure

what linguist had similar beliefs with saussure

noam chomsky

What was Noam Chomsky's theory?

language acquisition device
- all children are born with LAD or a universal set of grammar rules

if noam chomsky was a knittest, how would he study?

he would study only the abstract rules of knitting .
he would miss:
1) how and why people learn how to knit
2) how knitting has changed over time
3) gendered nature of knitting

what was the chomskian/ saussureans view on the breakdown of language

can be broken into 2 parts
1) parole- performance
2) langue- competence

what was the result of chomsky and saussures views

REJECTED
- it was understood that language is a lot more then just abstract grammar rules

what are the 5 main components of the language

1) phonology
2) morphology
3) syntax
4) semantics
5) pragmatics

what is phonology

the study of the sound system of a language
- smallest units of the language

what is morphology

the study of word structure
- smallest meaningful units of the language
- suffixes/prefixes/infixes
- plurals (s) and exceptions (es)

what is syntax

Sentence structure
- how to make a meaningful sentence based on culture and language ( subject - verb- object)

what is semantics

the study of meaning in language
- how to interpret and construct meaning

What is pragmatics

the appropriate use of language in different contexts
- culturally and linguistically specific ways of conversations and narratives

most linguistic focus on what aspects

phonology
morphology
syntaxt

what do linguistic anthropologists focus on

semantics and pragmatics
- all language is socially constructed and culturally meaningful

there are 4 important terms when it comes to linguistic anthropology

1) multifunctionality
2) language ideology
3) practice
4) indexicality

what is multifunctionality

language does many things at the same time

what figure focused on multifunctionality

Roman Jakobson - 6 factors of any speech event and their function

what are the 6 factors of the speech event

1) speaker
2) addresse
3) context
4) message
5) contact
6) code

what is the function of the speaker and addressee

speaker- expressive function
addresse- conative function

what is the function of the context and the message

context- referential function
message- poetic function

what is the function of the contact and code

contact- phatic function
code- metalinguistic function

what are language ideologies

cultural opinions, beliefs, theories or artistes about a particular language
- about the linguistics and social relationship with their political and moral interests

how can language ideologies be categorized

1) language as a whole
2) particular languages
3) language structure
4) language use

language as a whole example

"language is what separates humans from animals"

particular languages

"french is such a romantic language"

language structure

spanish is so hard because of the different verb forms

language use

"you cannot end a sentence with a preposition"

language ideologies are typically

specific to a a social or cultural group and they become stereotypes

language ideologies are ALWAYS

multiple and multifaceted

language ideologies can help scholars in all fields to

understand both how language and culture shape and are shaped by humans

what is the definition of language?

a system of arbitrary symbols used to encode and describe (communicate) experiences

what are gestures ?

visible movements of the body used in communicating (typically nonverbal)

what is an important attribute to gestures?

they are culturally specific- may have similar looking gestures but they mean different things

what is kinesics?

the study of body movements and gestures and how they contribute to the conversation

What are proxemics?

the study of proximity and it's cultural significance

what is semiotics?

the study of signs and symbols

what do semiotics do for scholars

provides a framework for how people interpret things

what are the 2 main components of a sign

1) signifier
2) signified

what is a signifier

a physical thing that will create communication
example: a bark, the word woof, or a dog

what is the signified

a symbol or thing that it symbolizes
example: a picture of your dog pops into your head when you hear a bark

what are the 3 types of sign relationships

1) icon
2) index
3) symbol

what is an icon

a sign that stands for something out of similarly or resemblance
example: an image of a fire or a cross

what is an index?

a sign that stands for something by pointing to it. one cannot be without the other.
example: smoke —-> (indexes) fire

what is a symbol?

a sign that stands for something just because it does. must be culturally learned.
example: the triangle sign that symbolizes a fire

to properly learn a language, one must learn language ____

in its context because there is cultural knowledge in the language itself.
example: intonations, slang, appropriate time to use it

what are the 4 steps to learning a language

1) phonemes
2) morphemes
3) grammar
4) pragmatics

what is sociolinguistics

the study of language with its context and culture

what are focal words

words specific to a social or cultural group.
example: cult groups, religious groups, politics, sports

what is a dialect?

variations of a language spoken by people with different syntax or phonemes.
example: an accent

what dialects fare better: regional or local?

regional dialects fare better
- local dialects have been forgotten (only fare in isolation)

how is language preserved

through written pieces

what is the problem with language preservation nowadays

written language is being ruined due to text messages- using way more slang and less proper grammar

where the the most normal dialect located

the western midland

what are written rules called

grapholect

what is the northern city vowel shift

when one short vowel is changed , it changes all the other vowels in the word

what is linguistic profiling

Profiling based on auditory cues. Linguistic patterns (phonetics, grammar, vocab) vary by ethnic group. People judge intelligence based on linguistic patterns and treat people differently.

What is a pidgin?

Simplified speech used among people who speak different languages.
- africans and slavery

what is gender

socially constructed labels that may or may not be associated to one's biological sex

what are the sexes

male, female, intersex

what are the genders

man, woman, 3rd gender

what are the performances

masculine, feminine, non-binary

historical and present day gender disparities

-womens right to vote only 1920s
- METOO and Dobbs
- Mr and mrs smith (angelina 10mil, pitt 20mil)

how does language acquisition affect gender

baby talk- early language of children is woman's speech
-programs gender differences with different ways of speaking, complimenting, toys, colors

rapport talk

The typical conversational style of women, which seeks to establish connection with others.
- intimate and person - to form relationships

report talk

The typical monologic style of men, which seeks to command attention, convey information, and win arguments. - hierarchal- factual

uptalk

rising intonation at end of speech
- frowned upon in men
- increases likability of women

vocal frying

- intonations that are gendered
- women use it to signal empowerment

why is vocal fry a problem

gender generations- women in Hollywood all have similar morals- all use vocal fry
GENDER BASED DISCRIMINATION

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

the idea that different languages create different ways of thinking

what does the Sapir and Whorf hypotheses say about the importance of preserving language

if language influences how we think, it gives us our own perspective of the world (WORLD/ GLOBAL VIEW) based on your language

examples of how our own language changes our world view

1) Inuit language has 12 words for snow
2) a tv show transcribed to another language - humorous parts aren't understood as humorous

how many languages are there on the earth

7151

are these languages all different?

no, most of them very similar
- very similar in their historical routes but they are dispersed along agriculture

what makes a language unique

mutual intelligibility

what is mutual intelligibility

if two languages can understand each other, they are mutually intelligible

what if the languages cannot understand each other ?

they are unique
example: arabic languages

dialect continuum

a series of language varieties spoken over a geographical area in which neighboring areas share mutual intelligibility but as distance increases, mutual intelligibility decreases

language hotspots

extreme linguistic diversity:
Those places on Earth that are home to the most unique, misunderstood, or endangered languages.

how many languages in Europe compared to its population

230 languages - 764 million

how many languages in Asia compared to its population

2000 languages -4.5 billion

how many languages in papau new guinee compared to its population

832 languages - 3.9 million

how many indigenous languages were spoken in north america? how many are spoken now?

165
- now only 8

what is an endangered language?

a language that is no longer taught to children by their parents and is not used for everyday conversation- likely to become extinct

language and climate change

70% of language hot spots are located in biodiversity hotspots

language loss and climate change ?

when climate change occurs, traditional activities and action diminish and the survival of indigenous languages are threatened

when we lose language, we also loss ___

the world view and culturally knowledge embedded in that language

examples of language specific knowledge

-"we used to gather together a long time ago"
-specific flower (mirabilis multi flora) cures mouth sores

example of losing language given in class

the Chickasaw language
- Joshua Heighnsons son was born and josh didn't have anything from his heritage or past to teach his new child.
- only 100 people spoke the language fluently all over the age of 65
- traditional knowledge of the language was lost
- revitalization programs like apps and apprenticeships were made to change that

The 5 important characteristics of language

1) language is an amoral tool
2) there are serval layers to the study of language
3) language functions as an identity
4) language is heavily linked with culture
5) language is creative and adaptive

why is archeology compared to a jigsaw puzzle?

1) it will never be finished
2) most of the pieces are missing
3) you cannot cheat by looking at the picture
4) many pieces are lost forever

what is the end goal of archeology?

to produce stories about the past and understand how the past effected people and how people affected the past

what did archbishop james usher do for archeology

he attempted to calculate the the age of the earth from biblical and genealogical stories
- calculated it to have started on Saturday October 22 4004 BC.

when did earth actually form

4.6 billion years ago