Introduction to Cultural Anthropology Week 4 1 ANTHROPOLOGY 101 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL AND CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY NOTES FROM LECTURE 4 LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION Language is a symbolic system and a communication system Just like animals have communication systems each animal species develops communication channels to interact with those of their own species humans also have developed language as a system of communication This system is very open and creative extremely flexible and allows for the communication of new ideas and abstract concepts What are symbols Symbols are images words or behaviors that express ideas too complex to be stated directly Language and human culture probably evolved together The more elaborate the culture of human ancestors grew the more complex the system of communication between people had to become Conversely increases in the sophistication of communication led to increases in the complexity of culture Estimates of when language emerged vary tremendously Some anthropologists argue that language emerged with the appearance of modern human beings some 50 000 to 150 000 years ago Salzmann 1993 Clark 1989 Others insist that it occurred much earlier around 2 000 000 years ago Properties of language As such the human language can be distinguished from other systems in three ways 1 Conventionality The association between a meaningful sequence of sounds and what it stands for in human language 2 Productivity Humans can combine sounds to create an almost infinite number of sentences 3 Displacement The ability of language to convey information about something not in the immediate environment Is there a universal grammar According to Noam Chomsky there is a universal grammar that forms the foundation of all human language A universal grammar can be equated with computer languages there are many kinds of computer languages but they all have some fundamental similarities Language for Chomsky is an innate property of the mind and children learn language by applying this unconscious universal grammar to the sounds they hear Chomksy s reasons are the following Introduction to Cultural Anthropology Week 4 2 Children learn languages without formal instruction Children learn languages in a short period of time Children learn languages regardless of how well they perform other mental tasks Children learn languages by deduction rather than by imitation or memorization The answer is that there are certainly biological basis for language that all humans share but there are many different cultural scenarios through which language is learned Therefore there might be a universal way to approach language but not a universal grammar Language acquisition is influenced by language not controlled by it Language and the Cultural Construction of Reality Do words reflect reality or do they create it The Sapir Whorf Hypothesis This hypothesis is based on the work of Edward Sapir and Benjamin Whorf and it is the idea that language profoundly shapes and determines the ideas and world view of its speakers This hypothesis asks two questions Are concepts of time space and matter in part conditioned by the structure of particular languages rather than given in substantially the same form by experience to all people Are these correspondences between linguistic patterns and cultural and behavioral norms This hypothesis has two versions Strong version language determines thought Weak version language influences thought but does not give speakers entirely different worldviews SOCIOLINGUISTICS The study of a language in its social context
View Full Document
Unlocking...