Language and Culture

• Ability to create and use language is

the most distinctive feature of humans
• Humans learn their culture through
language
• Culture is transmitted through
language
• The anthropological study of languages reveals the cultural
factors that shape language use.
• In every language:
• there are many ways to communicate our experiences
• there is no absolute standard favoring one way over another.
• So, what is the evolutionary advantage of language?
Language
• The system of arbitrary
vocal symbols used to
encode one’s experience of
the world and of others.

Linguistics
• The scientific study of
language.
• Chomsky also referred to universal grammar as
abstract rules that underlie the structure of phrases
and sentences in all languages
• Generally associated with the origins of human
thought
Linguistic Competence-A term coined by linguist Noam
Chomsky to refer to the mastery of adult grammar.

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• A term coined by
anthropological
linguist Dell Hymes to
refer to the mastery of
adult roles for socially
and culturally
appropriate speech.

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 In regards to language, these
four are important
1. Duality of patterning (Staircase, shoreline)
2. Displacement (not happening at moment)
3. Semantics (study of meaning)
4. Syntax (govern words and phrases; order)
Pragmatics
• The study of language in the context of its use.

Discourse
• A stretch of speech longer than a sentence united by a
common theme.

Ethnopragmatics
• The study of language use that relies on ethnography to
illuminate the ways in which speech is both constituted by
and constitutive of social interaction.
Language Ideology
• A marker of struggles between social groups with different
interests, revealed in what people say and how they say it.
• Does this ideology vary by gender?
– Men: more likely to use obscenity as well as lack the
“ing” at the end of a present-tense word (US/Europe)
– Women: more likely to avoid direct-action conflict
through language
Dialect, as some studies show, will vary within one
society-based on economic and social status
HOWEVER, keep in mind, the dialect of those in
power with wealth have molded the standard for
that society
No one dialect is better than another, when
referring to conversation

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Until the late 19th century, many US leaders did not
discourage the use of other languages
This changed dramatically with WW2
Presently, some of these “E-O” advocates are pushing for
their tax dollars to not be spent on instructional
material, including:
Voter Registration
Health Care pamphlets
Motor Vehicle Forms
Can you see future problems with such possible
implementations?
Language Number of Speakers in 2000

Spanish 28,100,000

Asian and Pacific Islander 4,900,000

Chinese 4,900,000

French 2,000,000

German 1,600,000

Italian 1,380,000

Native American 364,000

• African American Vernacular
English (AAVE)
• This has patterned rules of
phonology, syntax, and semantics
• The omission of the verb “to be”:
“she’s smart” would be converted to
“she smart”
• The origins of such have a
conversion of West African origins
to present-day Southern US dialect
One dialect becomes standard, most others become
stigmatized and marginalized
Think about your perceptions about the different
dialects throughout the U.S.
What do others think of us?

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• Such research has been critical of so-called “intelligence tests”
on non-Western subjects
• These tests are not holistic and do not encapsulate an
individual’s entire experience
• Today, it is unclear exactly what the results of intelligence tests
represent.
• Humans must learn to pattern and adapt behavior and ways of
thinking and feeling to the standards considered appropriate in
their respective cultures.
• Two early linguistic anthropologists Benjamin Whorf and
Edward Sapir
• The language people speak influences the way people think
• For example, the Inuit have 3-4 separate words for “ice”. Each
word describes the feature of the ice
• Why would this be important to the Inuit?
• Can you think of any other words within any culture?
 Considerable variation in the number of
languages in the world
• 95% of the world’s people speak fewer
that 100 of the approximate 6,000 different
languages
• Linguists concerned about the last 5% of
the world’s languages which are in danger
of disappearing

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According to the author, loanwords are words taken
from another language
Examples:
 Greek: agnostic, chlorine, telephone
 African Languages (Bantu): Gorilla, jazz, tote, yam
 Native North American: Bayou, pecan, moose
 Sanskrit: Yoga, karma

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• Used to establish and define social relationships
and language all of us use in group situation
• “small talk”, negotiations, encouragement,
expression of friendship are examples
• Because those who are effective in building
social skills are likely to succeed, children need
to develop need to develop awareness of the
ability to use language to establish relationships,
work cooperatively, enjoy companionship

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 Used to express individuality and
personality
• Strong feelings and opinions are a
part of personal language
• Often neglected in classrooms and
thought inappropriate.
• Yet through personal language that
students relate their own lives to
the subject matter being taught
establish their own esteem and
confidence

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 Used to create a world of one’s
own, to express fantasy
through dramatic play, drama,
poetry or stories
• Unless it is fostered, it will
rapidly disappear in later years.
Its importance cannot be
underestimated
• How difficult some teachers
find it to get students to write
with imagination

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 The act of transmitting
information that influences
the behavior of another
person
• While communication
among animals is critical to
their survival, it is limited
compared to human language

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 Animal systems of verbal communication are referred to as
call system
• Call system—a form of communication
among non-human primates composed of
a limited number of sounds that are limited
to specific stimuli in the environment
• Chimp-”Squeal Squeal”–”danger here”
• “Closed System”

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 Primate Communication
system is complex
• Non-Human Primate have a
Closed Call System
• Sounds are unique in form and
message
• Sounds are mutually exclusive
• Can’t signal “Tomorrow I’ll
climb that tree”

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 Chimps and Gorillas have
latent capacity for language
• Do not have physical vocal
equipment to produce speech
as humans know it
• Taught Sign Language
• Initiates “Speech”
• Teaches daughter “Sign
Language”
http://www.cwu.edu/~
cwuchci/index.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=wRM7vTrIIis
Is capable of recreating and complex thought
patterns and experiences in words
• Without human language, human culture would
not exist
• Plays a crucial role in the maintenance of human social
relationships
• Because language is a creative and open
system it is extremely flexible and can
communicate new ideas and abstract concepts

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What words have disappeared from our society in the
last 60 years?
Which ones have appeared?
What are some of the causes for the loss or
development?

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