L A N G U AG E

CHAPTER 5

WHAT IS LANGUAGE?

• Language • Spoken or written primary form of communication • Writing – 6,000 years old • Transmitted through learning

• What does it do for us? • Conjure up elaborate images • Discuss the past and the future • Share experiences with others

LINGUISTIC ANTHROPOLOGY

• Linguistic Anthropology • Comparison• Variation • Change • Discoveries about history • Linguistic differences – varied worldviews and patterns • Role of language in colonization and expansion • Sociolinguists • Dialects and style to reflect social differences

ANIMAL COMMUNICATION

• Only humans speak• Animals (monkeys and apes) • Call systems – limited number of sounds (calls) that are

produced when particular environmental stimuli are encountered • Food and danger? One call • Cant combine calls

SIGN LANGUAGE

• Apes have used sign language • Washoe (1966) – surrounded by humans who only spoke

sign language • “you, me, go out, hurry”

• Lucy (1967) • Swearing, joking, telling lies • Killed by poachers after being released

• Cultural Transmission • Communication system through learning is a

fundamental attribute of language • Washoe and Lucy tried to teach other chimps • Gorillas could also be used BUT were more dangerous • Koko learned 700 different signs

• Productivity • Using the rules of language to produce entirely new

expressions that are comprehensible for other native speakers

• Displacement • Humans can talk about things that are not present

ORIGIN OF LANGUAGE

• Developed over hundreds of years • Call systems were transformed • Speak of things we have never experienced • Anticipate responses before we encounter stimuli

NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION

• Facial expressions, body language • Women and girls – look at each other directly • Males – more likely to look straight ahead

especially when the other person is a male (male seated beside them) • In groups – women with women – relaxed • Women with men – stricter stance • Men – relaxed

• Kinesics – study of communication through body movements, stances, gestures, and facial expressions

• Linguistics • What is said • How it is said • Features that convey meaning • Gestures • Pitch

THE STRUCTURE OF LANGUAGE

• Descriptive linguistics • Phonology – speech sounds • Morphology – the forms in which sounds combine (cats –

cat-s) • Lexicon – dictionary containing all the morphemes and

their meanings • Syntax – arrangement and order of words

• Speech Sounds • Foreigners • Phoneme – a sound contrast that’s makes a difference;

differentiates meaning

• Region Free Dialect – dialect of TV network newscasters

Phonetics – study of speech sounds in general what people say in various languages Phonemics – significant sound contrasts EX: aspirate vs. spin - the “puff” of air

LANGUAGE, THOUGHT AND CULTURE

• All languages have a common structural basis • Universal grammar • Different societies needed to learn how to communicate • Creole language • English, China, Papua New Guinea, West Africa

• The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis • Different cultures have different words (or lack of words)

to describe • Differences between males and females • US – different levels of attention • Portuguese – no future events • Hopi – no difference

• - no past, present, future

• Focal Vocabulary – specialized set of terms and distinctions that are important to certain groups • EX: Hockey • Puck – biscuit • Goal/net – pipes • Penalty box – sin bin • Hockey stick – twig • Helmet – bucket

• Meaning • Ethnosemantics – classification systems of various

languages

SOCIOLINGUISTICS

• Sociolinguistics • Relationship between social and linguistic variation, or

language in its social context • How do different speakers use a given language? • How do linguistic features correlate with social

stratification, including class, ethnic and gender differences,?

• How is language used to express, reinforce, or resist power?

• Linguistic Diversity • Style Shifts – vary our speech in different contexts • Home vs. work

• Diglossia – switch dialects • EX: Belgium (German and Flemish)

• Geography, culture, socioeconomic differences • Dialects coexist in the US

• Social rankings based on speech patterns • Dese, dem, dere• Ain’t • Uneducated speech

“I DON’T WANT NONE” Upper Middle Class

Lower Middle Class

Upper Working Class

Lower Working Class

Men 6.3% 32.4 40.0 90.1Women 0 1.4 35.6 58.9

• Gender Speech Contrasts • Women pronounce words different from men • Japan – higher voice • Women tend to be more careful about uneducated speech • Men use working-class speech (more manly) • Men use forceful words (cursing!) • Descriptions are based on importance to the person

• Stratification • Extralinguistic forces – social, political, and economic• EX: New York (1972) • Pronunciation of “R” in NYC Department Stores • Saks 5th Avenue (High End) 62% (68 people) • Macy’s (Middle) 51% (125 people) • S. Klein’s (Lower) 20% (71 people)

• Habits determine access to employment • Wealth, prestige, power • Presidents • Symbolic domination

HISTORICAL LINGUISTICS

• Historical linguistics • Long-term change in language

• Daughter languages • Languages that descend from the same parent language • French and Spanish – Latin

• Protolanguage • The original language