Download Cultural Anthro

Communication: and the importance
of Linguistic Anthropology
The varieties of Human Communication
• Humans can communicate in many forms–
– Speech (spoken or signed)
– Body language (gestures, greetings, hairstyles and
clothing)
– Written or un-seen speech ( text messages, e-mail,
telephone calls, written letters, social media and etc.)
Communication
– The process of sending and receiving meaningful
messages. This encompasses both spoken and
gestural language.
***Language
- A form of communication that is based on a
systematic set of learned symbols and signs shared
among a group and passed on from generation to
generation.
Productivity
– A feature of human language whereby people are
able to communicate a potentially infinite number of
messages efficiently.
***Displacement
- A feature of human language whereby people are
able to talk about events in the past and future.
- Displaced features: are the past and the future, and
can include reference to people and events that may
never exist at all (fantasy or fiction).
***Call System
- A form of oral communication among non-human
primates with a set repertoire of meaningful sounds
generated in response to environmental factors
- Typically called, vocalizations
Formal Properties of Verbal Language
Human language can be analyzed in terms of its formal
properties which are as follows- sounds, vocabulary, and
syntax (grammar)
Phoneme
- A sound that makes a difference for meaning in a
spoken language. This typically called the study of
phonetics.
When learning a new language an individual may need
to learn sounds from their own language and apply it in
a different way to convey the proper meaning in a
different language.
Ethno-semantics
• The study of the meaning of words, phrases, and sentences in
particular cultural contexts.
• Asserts that languages classify the world in unpredictable ways,
categorizing even things such as color and disease differently.
Shows how people view the world and their place in it.
• Focal vocabularies are clusters of words that refer to important
features of a particular culture.
• Sign Language
– A form of communication that uses mainly hand movements
to convey messages.
– Globally there are many forms of sign language (ASL, RSL, JSL
and many varieties of indigenous Australian languages).
– Gestures are movements usually with the hands that convey a
specific meaning(s)
Sign Language (continued)
• Many indigenous groups utilizes sign language and gestures
during times when talking is forbidden or not necessary.
( hunting, warfare, and during rituals).
• Some gestures may be universally meaningful but most are
culturally specific. Some cultures or subcultures have a more
highly developed gesture system than others. Depending on the
age, gender and situation of an individual types of gestures used
may vary.
• Greetings are also important very important gestures within a
culture. (depending on the formality/informality of the greeting
and the cultural context)
Critical Media Anthropology
• An approach within the cross-cultural study of
media that examines how power interests shape
people’s access to media and influence the
contents of its messages.
• Digital Divide
– Social inequality in access to new and emerging
information technology, notably access to up to date
computers, the internet and training related to their
use.
Language, Diversity and Inequality
***Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
– A perspective in linguistic anthropology which states that
language determines thought.
– A form of linguistic determinism the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
asserts that a language constitutes a, “thought world,” and people
speak different languages inhabit different thought worlds.
***Socio-linguistics
A perspective in linguistic anthropology which says that
culture, society, and a person’s social position determine
language.
– A form of cultural constructionism socio-linguistics
asserts that an individual’s culture and social context
shape their language and its meanings.
Discourse
• Culturally patterned verbal language including varieties of speech,
participation and meaning. (A single language can have a variety
of dialects/accents based primarily on region or country of the
individual speaker).
Critical discourse analysis
An approach within linguistic anthropology that examines how
power and social inequality are reflected and reproduced in
communication.
Tag question
• A question placed at the end of a sentence seeking affirmation.
• Most languages contain gender differences in word choice,
grammar, intonation, content and style.
• Early studies of language and gender among Euro-Americans
showed a divergence in female vs. male conversations.
• Female
– Politeness
– Rising intonation at end of sentences
– Tag questions
Male
-- less polite
--maintains a flat/assertive tone
--does not use tag questions