Week 1 Cont’d

Writing

Course web address:http://anthropology.uwo.ca/faculty/creider/027

Teaching Assistant:Sheena McKay

smckay3@uwo.caOffice Hours: Thu 3:30-5:30

To Think About From Previous Lecture

Language as tool for representation• Simplification of reality• Typical focus on actors/undergoers, processes• Fictional worlds

Language as tool for communication• Preservation of cultural knowledge• Cooperation• Planning

Overview

Spoken & written lg -- Part I (historical) Technical terms History

• Ancient Sumer• Ancient Egypt

Cuneiform writing Linear B Alphabetic writing

Overview, cont’d

Syllabic writing: Inuktitut Spoken and written lg -- Part II

• orality & literacy• consequences of alphabetic writing

Spelling

Spoken & Written Lg I

Primacy of spoken language Evolution

• c. 40,000 y.b.p. spoken only• c. 5,000 y.b.p. written lg first appear

1-way relation: written represents spoken Exception: spelling pronunciations

Technical terms

petroglyph• petros ‘stone’• glyphê ‘carving’

pictogram• iconic relationship to referent• can be part whole (bed for accomodation)

ideogram• sun > warmth, heat, light, daytime

Technical terms cont’d

logographic writing• logos ‘word’• graphê ‘writing’

cuneiform writing• L. cuneus ‘wedge’

syllabic writing phonographic writing

• phonê ‘sound’

Technical terms cont’d

rebus• target syllable or word same as source• using a symbol for its phonetic value

hieroglyphic writing• hieros ‘sacred’

diacritic• ñ, ü, ç, ê

digraph• æ, sh, ch, ng

Technical terms cont’d

phonemic principle morphophonemic writing grapheme allograph

THE PHONEMIC PRINCIPLE(1 sound = 1 symbol)

Violation 1: SAME PRONUNCIATION BUT DIFFERENT SPELLINGS (DIFFERENT MEANINGS): cite-sight-site, marry-Mary-merry, pair-pare-pear, there-their-they're

Violation 2: SAME SPELLINGS BUT

DIFFERENT PRONUNCIATIONS (SAME WORD FAMILIES): nation-national, serene-serenity, sign-signature, go-gone, cone-conic, human-humane-humanity

A MORPHOPHONEMIC SPELLING SYSTEM

A morphophonemic spelling system will spell different words differently although they are pronounced the same: their, there, they’re

A morphophonemic spelling will spell words in the same family the same even though they are pronounced differently: go, gone

A morphophonemic spelling will spell a particular suffix the same regardless of how it is pronounced: cats, dogs, horses

‘Graphology’

Grapheme: abstract unit Allograph: positional variant <σ>

• <ς> word-finally• <σ> elsewhere

Evolution of writing

Cuneiform writing Linear B Alphabetic writing

• hieroglyphic writing• Egyptian Semitic (2000 BC)• Sinaitic Semitic (1800 BC)• Phoenician• Greek (800 BC)

John 1:1 4th c. AD

ΕΝΑΡΧΗΗΝΟΛΟΓΟC ΚΑΙΟΛΟΓΟCΗΝ ΠΡΟCΤΟΝΘΕΟΝΚΑΙ ΘΕΟCΗΝΟΛΟΓΟCΟΥ ΤΟCΗΝΕΝΑΡΧΗ ΠΡΟCΤΟΝΘΕΟΝ

Word Divisions

ΕΝ ΑΡΧΗ ΗΝ Ο ΛΟΓΟC ΚΑΙ Ο ΛΟΓΟC ΗΝ ΠΡΟC ΤΟΝ ΘΕΟΝ ΚΑΙ ΘΕΟC ΗΝ Ο ΛΟΓΟC ΟΥΤΟC ΗΝ ΕΝ ΑΡΧΗ ΠΡΟC ΤΟΝ ΘΕΟΝ

Punctuation, accents

Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος. οὗτος ἦν ἐν ἀρχῇ πρὸς τὸν θεόν.

Translation (literal)

In (the) beginning was the Word and the Word was with *(the) God. and God was the Word. This (one) was in (the) beginning with *(the) God.

Spoken & Written Lg, Part II Orality

• History: self-revising, telescoping• Knowledge public because spoken

− Poetry

Literacy: pre-alphabetic• Elitist (Sumerian, Akkadian, Hittite, Egyptian, Chinese)

Alphabetic• Democratic, egalitarian (end of Greek tyrants)• Logical, scientific, questioning of myths• Fragmentism

− If written don’t have to read (must listen when spoken)− Specialization of knowledge (everyone doesn’t know everything)− Prose (novel –portrays interior life)

• Individulaism: self/society, alienation possible

English Spelling

OUR ENGLISH ALPHABET HAS ONLY 26 LETTERS TO REPRESENT 45 DIFFERENT SOUNDS

AND SOME OF OUR LETTERS (LIKE C, Q, H, AND X) AREN’T VERY USEFUL

ENGLISH HAS 5 VOWEL LETTERS TO REPRESENT 13 VOWEL SOUNDS

AND WE USE THEM ALL UP FOR OUR SHORT VOWELS, AS IN: pat, pet, pit, pot, and put

SO WE DON’T HAVE ANY LETTERS LEFT FOR OUR LONG VOWELS, AND THE RESULT IS CHAOS

HOW WE SPELL OUR LONG VOWELS

A: He ate the freight. It was his fate. How

E: The silly amoeba stole the key to the machine. or Did he believe that Caesar could see the people?

I: I write eye-rhyme, like “She cited the sight of the site.”

O: Our chauffeur, although he stubbed his toe, yeomanly towed four more boards through the open door of the depot.

U: blue, blew, gnu, Hugh, new, Pooh, Sioux, through, two

GHOTI

What does “ghoti” spell?

It spells “fish”

the <gh> of “enough” the <o> of “women” the <ti> of “nation”

British Canadian American

centre centre center

colour colour color

labelled labelled labeled

judgement judgement judgment

cheque cheque check

catalogue catalogue catalog

programme programme program

organise organize organize

analyse analyze analyze

plough plow plow

tyre tire tire

enrolment enrolment enrollment