Language and Linguistic Anthropology Flashcards

Flashcards about Language and Linguistic Anthropology

What are two key characteristics of language?

Language is inherently social and a cultural resource.

What are the central questions in the study of language?

How meanings are made and how language functions within culture.

What was the primary goal of historical linguistics?

To discover the proto-language by comparing vocabulary from different languages.

What did Ferdinand de Saussure believe matters most to speakers of a language?

The system and structure of language as it is spoken now.

What perspective did Saussure emphasize in studying language?

Synchronic (now) instead of diachronic (through time).

According to Saussure, what is 'langue'?

The cleaned-up set of rules that makes speech grammatical and understandable.

How do words derive their meaning, according to Saussure?

Words are symbolic and derive meaning from their relation to other words and their position in a sentence.

What is indexicality in linguistic anthropology?

A concept that helps pinpoint the ways in which language and social relations intersect.

Where language and social relations meet

According to Charles Peirce, what are the three parts of a sign?

The sign, the object it refers to, and the interpretant.

What is an icon in semiotics?

A sign that refers to its object by means of similarity.

What is an index in semiotics?

A sign that 'points to' something because of its connection to the object and the perceiver.

What is a symbol in semiotics?

A sign that refers to its object by virtue of a convention or habit.

What are the five design features of language?

Arbitrariness, transmission, productivity, displacement, and reflexivity.

What does arbitrariness mean in the context of Hockett's design features?

The connection between words and their meaning is arbitrary rather than inherent.

How is arbitrariness demonstrated through dancing bees?

Communicating location, distance, and amount of food through different dances.

What does transmission mean in the context of Hockett's design features?

Learning at least some aspect of a communication system from other users.

What does productivity mean in the context of Hockett's design features?

Speakers can create an infinite number of novel sentences.

What does displacement mean in the context of Hockett's design features?

Talking about things that aren’t present, including past, future, imagined, or abstract concepts.

What does reflexivity mean in the context of Hockett's design features?

Language can be used to talk about language (metalanguage).

How do animals communicate?

They communicate through scent, posture, colour, facial expressions.

How did washoe show the capacity for language?

Washoe was taught ASL and learned over 130 signs, demonstrating productivity.

What were the findings from Project Nim?

Nim rarely initiated signing, mostly imitated his teachers, and did not understand syntax.

Explain in detail (summary of) Saussure’s Theory and Beliefs

The sign

• The signifier

  • The sound, spoken, image, and written.

• The signified (Tree)

Lange instead of parole

Synchronic instead of Diachronic

• Synchronic: How is it spoken now

• Diachronic: How has it been spoken through time.

Alternative theory

• Charles Peirce

Explain the theory and reforms of Charles Peirce

The sign

• Triadic Relationship

  • The sign (the signifier)

  • The Object (signified)

  • The Interpreter

Semiotic View

• Index (A sign, Foot print, that points to a cat walking in the area.

• Icon: The picture or likeness of the cat

• Symbol: A sign, Yield,with no connecting meaning to slowing down