Language and Culture Notes

Pre-Chapter Reflection

  • Solo, Small, Large Group discussion.
  • Questions:
    • How many languages do you speak?
    • Are there any languages you want to learn? If so, why?
    • How does language affect how you see the world?
    • What are some other ways to communicate besides verbally?

What is Language?

  • Means of communication:
    • Voice
    • Gestures
    • Written Words
  • Symbolic
  • Influenced by:
    • Culture
    • Biology
    • Social
    • Political

Signs and Symbols

  • Signs: Something that stands for something else.
    • Index Signs: Emotional expressions that carry meaning directly to the response.
      • Examples: Sounds of shock, anger, pain, cringing, reactions to an event.
    • Symbol: Does not have a natural connection to the meaning.
      • Examples: Peace symbols, words, emojis.
  • Humans expand communication.
    • We use symbols freely.
    • We deceive.
    • We continue to become creative with our language.
    • Example: iPhone (internet Phone)

Origins of Language

  • Began likely as gestures.
  • Walking upright improved communication.
    • Free hands = more gestures.
  • Requires trust and common understanding.
    • Need to understand the symbols and trust they are not lies.
  • Around 50KYA our biology changed.
    • Tongue descended, smaller mouth, larynx dropped, elongated neck.
  • Humans are the only ones with developed enough brains for complex language.
  • As a trade-off, we have a greater chance of choking, especially on food.

Recording a Language

  • Phonetics: The study of sounds in human speech.
  • Phonemics: The smallest unit of sound that confers meaning.
    • Example: Ox à Box
  • Morpheme: The smallest part of a word that conveys meaning.
    • Example: Textbooks = Text + Book + S
  • Syntax: How units of sound are put together to create sentences.
    • Grammar rules
  • Semantics: How words and phrases are put together in a meaningful way.
  • Pragmatics: Context of a language.
    • Contextual Dependence: The context of a word or phrase matters.
      • Example: I Love You

Non-Verbal Communication

  • Paralanguage:
    • Express Meaning through sounds beyond words.
    • Pitch, tone, etc. (Voice Qualities)
    • Vocalization: "Uh-oh" or "Ahh"
    • Can express socio-economic class, jobs might have vocal requirements
  • Silent Language
    • Gestures, body movements, facial expressions
    • Sign Language
    • Space
      • Comfort zones: how close someone is to someone can expression relationships
    • Movements
      • Kinesics: Cultural use of body language. Thumbs up, Smiles, etc.
    • Touch

Ethnolinguistics

  • Study of Language and Culture
  • Culture provides language context, enough to interact with others
  • Sapir-Whorf/Linguistic Relativity Principle
    • Your language locks you into how you view the world.
    • Most anthropologists now do not believe this in its entirety
    • Language influences your worldview, but is not the only factor

Gendered Speech

  • Gendered Speech: Different Speech patterns based on cultural expectations of the sexes
  • Men tend to use more direct, informational, or status-based speech
  • Women tend to use more emotional or empathy-based speech
  • It has been more acceptable for women to swear
  • This is older research in linguistic trends; do you think it is still applicable today?

Code Switching

  • The ability to change word types between groups of people
  • How do you talk to your parents, your friends, your employer, to me?
  • Language registries: the level of formality used based on context
  • Can you think of examples in your life?

Digital Language

  • The speech we use in person is different than online
  • Shorter language, abbreviations, emojis
  • Doesn’t have as big of an effect on verbal language as some claim
  • This is an example of code switching

Language Change and Loss

  • Less than 7,000 languages exist today (roughly 6,700).
  • Roughly 3,000 are in danger of going extinct.
  • Pidgin Language: When two cultures of different languages interact and one becomes dominant, a language develops as a combination.
  • Creole Language: A pidgin language that passes down through the generations.
  • Reasons Languages go extinct
    • Colonization/Forced out
    • Evolution into another language

Language Revitalization

  • Some language cultures have held tight to their language, and some even reject foreign (mostly English) loanwords.
  • Other native languages are making a comeback.
    • North American First Nation groups
    • Welsh
    • Irish/Scottish
    • Māori
    • More!