LANGUAGELANGUAGE

LANGUAGEA system of symbolic communication using sounds and/or gestures that are able to be understood by all members within a society that share the language.Can you think of examples?

LANGUAGE

Symbol vs. SignalSymbol: Shared understandings

about the meaning of certain words, attributes, or objects.

Signal: An instinctive sound or gesture that has a natural or self-evident meaning.Like choking on food or sneezing

HUMANS vs. PRIMATESKoko the Gorilla:

KokoChimpanzees, Orangutans and Gorillas can

communicate through sign language at the level of a ~2-3 year old human child.

Human culture is ultimately dependent on an elaborate system of communication far more complex than that of any other species.

LINGUISTICSThe Study of Language --one of the 4 major sub-fields of Anthropology

Descriptive LinguisticsPhonology: “Sound-study” The study of language soundsSounds in some languages that are absent/difficult to pronounce in others?

LINGUISTICSThe Study of Language --one of the 4 major sub-fields of Anthropology

Descriptive LinguisticsMorphology: “Form-study” The study of the patterns or rules of word formation in a language: Verb tenses, pluralization and compound words

LINGUISTICSThe Study of Language --one of the 4 major sub-fields of Anthropology

Descriptive LinguisticsSyntax: The patterns or rules by which words are arranged into phrases and sentences

LINGUISTICSThe Study of Language --one of the 4 major sub-fields of Anthropology

Descriptive LinguisticsGrammar: The entire formal structure of a language, including morphology and syntaxGrammar rules of different languages? Definite article differences?

HISTORICAL LINGUISTICS The origins/changing nature of language

Deciphering “dead” languagesDifferences between earlier and later forms of the same language

How older languages developed into modern ones

Interrelationships among older languages

LANGUAGE FAMILYA group of languages descended from a single ancestral language

Indo-European Language Family:

Map University of Texas Linguistics Research Center

Nilo-Saharan Language Family: Map Ethnologue report

EthnologueAn online research and reference

guide to over 6,900 known languages

glottochronologyThe Linguistic divergence of languages

may be traced by a method known as glottochronology which compares the core vocabularies of languages (pronouns, lower numerals, and names for body parts and natural objects). Assumption: These basic vocabulary words change more slowly than other words and at a more or less constant rate of 14 to 19 percent per 1,000 years.

PROCESSES OF LINGUISTIC DIVERGENCE

Selective BorrowingEx: Foreign words in the English language? English

words in other languages? Professional SpecializationEx: Anthropology/Psychology terms! Medical, Legal

terms Sub-culture lingoDoes the “gamer” culture have specific lingo? How

about those who frequent Starbucks?

LANGUAGE LOSS AND REVIVAL Language loss usually the result of a

dominant society assimilating subordinate societies.

Ex: English colonialism (500 years). In U.S. wiped out about half of all Native American languages.

Over the last ~500 years, 3,500 of the world’s 10,000 or so languages have become extinct because of forced assimilation, epidemics and warfare.

Patricia Ryan TED Talk: “Don’t Insist on English!” (Films on Demand)

LANGUAGE LOSS AND REVIVAL

UNESCO (The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) is focused on preserving and reviving traditional languages

LANGUAGE LOSS AND REVIVALInitiative B@bel: Promotes

multilingualism on the Internet, this initiative aims to bridge the digital divide (over 80% of all internet users speak just 10 languages) to make access to Internet content and services more equitable for users worldwide. Initiative B@bel (Home Page)

LANGUAGE LOSS AND REVIVALReviving and Preserving language Koro language, Northeast

India: http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/news/culture-places-news/enduring-voices-koro-vin.html

LANGUAGE IN ITS SOCIAL AND CULTURAL SETTINGS Sociolinguistics: Relationship between

language and society. How social categories (age, gender, ethnicity, religion, occupation and class) influence the use and significance of distinctive styles of speech.Gendered Speech: Distinct male and

female speech patterns Ex: Gendered speech in U.S. culture? Do

men and women speak in different ways?

LANGUAGE IN ITS SOCIAL AND CULTURAL SETTINGS Dialects: Varying forms of a language that

reflect particular regions, occupations, or social classes and that are similar enough to be mutually intelligible.Ex: Formal (standard) vs. Informal speechA few American Dialects:

Sampler Appalachian Louisiana Swamp

LANGUAGE IN ITS SOCIAL AND CULTURAL SETTINGS CONT.

Ethnolinguistics: The study of the relationships between language and culture, and how they mutually influence and inform each otherLinguistic Relativity: The idea that

distinctions encoded in one language are unique to that language…

LANGUAGE IN ITS SOCIAL AND CULTURAL SETTINGS CONT.

Ex: Color spectrum and arbitrary names/divisions

Ex: Things most important to a culture are accorded more names and conceptsThe Ayamara Indians in the Bolivian Highlands

have 200 words for “Potato”The Nuer pastoralists of Africa have over 400

names for cattle.Ex: How many words do we have for “car”? (i.e.

different parts or types of “car”?) What about words for “money”?

LANGUAGE IN ITS SOCIAL AND CULTURAL SETTINGS CONT.

What do elements of our language say about us… We “conquer” space, “fight” the “battle”

of the bulge, carry out a “war” against drugs, make a “killing” of the stock market, “shoot down” an argument, “torpedo” a plan, “spearhead” a movement, “decapitate” a foreign government, or “bomb” on an exam.

LANGUAGE IN ITS SOCIAL AND CULTURAL SETTINGS CONT.

“The structure of the language one habitually uses influences

the manner in which one understands his environment.

The picture of the universe shifts from tongue to tongue.” -

B.J. Whorf

GESTURE-CALL SYSTEM Body signs account for over 60% of our total

communicationIt provides the “key” to speech, providing

listeners with the appropriate frame for interpreting what a speaker is saying. Ideas about personal space? Business space? Paralanguage: voice effects that convey

meaning Giggling/groaning/sighing/pitch/tempo of

words Clip from Pretty Woman

GESTURE-CALL SYSTEMTonal languages: In some

languages, intoning a word slightly differently will change the word entirely. Ex? (70% of the world’s language are Tonal)Ex: Zhutwasi, or “San Bushmen”

click language: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c246fZ-7z1w&feature=related

GESTURE-CALL SYSTEM What about texting, email, Facebook,

etc… without body signs and other cues, how do we get across the right meaning?(According to a recent study, the

intended tone of email messages is perceived correctly only 56% of the time)