ANTY 101 1st Edition Exam #1 Study Guide1. What is the definition of language?A system of communication using sounds or gesture that are put together in a meaningful way, according to rules 2. What does it mean that language systems are symbolic, and composed of arbitrary signs or sounds?The signs and sounds aren't truly meaningful of the symbol its implying. For example, there isn’t anything essentially treelike about a tree, but when we hear that word we all picture the same thing. Language is learned and varies by culture 3. Know the differences between all of the universal components of human language: phonemes, morphemes, morphology, and syntax. Phonemes: smallest unit of sound that can alter meaning Morphemes: smallest unit of sound that carries culturally relevant meaning. Example Tierra del Fuego.Morphology: verb tenses and pluralitySyntax: rules for phrases and sentences within a language 4. Why was the example of a new language emerging in Nicaragua among deaf children an important window into understanding language as both biological and social?This showed that the window to learn language is up to age 10. It also taught us that to earn language one must have social interactions. 5. What language capacities do great apes have? What cognitive capacities do they lack?Nonhuman primates’ vocal cords cannot close fully and they have less control of tongue and lower jaw They’re able to learn sign language and communicate with humans. Apes have demonstrated the ability to deceive, to communicate cab out their feelings, and teach signs to their offspring6. What was unique about the bonobo Kanzi?Kanzi picked up language by listening to it, the same way human children learn language. Believed to understand more human language than any other nonhuman animal in the world. 7. What did Saussure mean when he said that language appears to have developed not for practical reasons – no so humans could bring things to their hand or mouth – but to bring things into their minds?Without language we can't think productively. He says language wasn't created for survival but rather for a wayto analyze and decode our thoughts. 8. Why are Edward Sapir and Noam Chomsky seen as having very different views of language? What defineseach approach as nearly opposite from the other? Which one is based in biology?Noam Chomsky believes that language is rooted in our biology and that the faculty for language is encoded in the human brain at birth. Sapir believes language is cognitive and varies culture to culture. Recursion is a cognitive trait— Absent from Pirahã because of cultural constraints not because they less evolved than us as humans as demonstrated by Dan Everett 9. What unique aspects of Piraha language directly challenge Chomsky’s notion of universal grammar?They don’t use any abstractions such as numbers or color terms. Pirahã people have a live in the present ethos and can only talk about things they experienced directly or someone they know has experienced. This leaves no room for being untruthful.10. What does it mean when Deutscher says that language does not constrain our thinking, but it does ‘oblige’ us to think in certain ways about things? Know some examples of how language and cognition are linked? (i.e., conceptions of time, space and orientation, gender classification of nouns, etc – know some specific examples).Our view of the world can change depending on what our language requires us to think about when speaking. Some languages require gender classification such as in the bridge and key example. Some require talking about when things happen with future, present, or past tense. Some may require you to disclose the gender ofwhom you are speaking about. All of these requirements could change someone’s perspective of the world. 11. What is sociolinguistics? What is the difference between the referential meaning and the relational meaning? Social context of the spoken languages— how people use language in conversation. Referential meaning is the literal leaning of a word or phrase. Relational meaning is how the communication is affected by the relationship of the speakers. 12. What is a metamessage? What are conversational rituals?Metamessage: unspoken message gleaned form how something is saidConversation Rituals: greetings, axes on status and connection, turn taking during speech, he said she said, listening, eye contact, body position 13. According to Deborah Tannen, how do Japanese corporate executive use direct/indirect speech differently than Americans?Americans give commands more often that using indirect speech to imply what we want someone to do. Japanese people often embed what they want someone to do within their sentence instead of being straight forward with a command.14. The term ‘race’ did not used to mean biologically distinct groups…About how long ago was the concept of ‘race’ as biologically distinct categories invented?1735 Linneaus was the first to officially classify humans into categories. Thomas Jefferson and the United States reinforced the idea of races with slavery. 15. What does it mean to say that ‘race’ is a folk category invented by Europeans, starting with Linneaus’ descriptions in 1735?Linneaus— first to formally classify humans: Homo sapiens americanus, asiaticus, africanus, eurpeaus Race is a folk category because it was created but has no biological underpinning. It wasn’t a product of scientific research and discovery 16. According to your book, why is ‘white’ considered an ‘unmarked’ racial category?“white” is just a linguistic term that means standard american. When the Irish came to the US they weren’t even considered white despite their light skin tone. 17. What is problematic about the terms ‘caucasian’ and ‘hispanic’ with regard to racial classification?These terms convert a false sense of scientific precision and authority 18. Why did race become an important focus in science in 1800s America? What were they trying to prove/justify by finding innate biological differences between human populations?Scientist were trying to prove that other races were biologically inferior to the “white” race so they “found” biological evidence to support existence of inferior and superior races. Race predicts biology, athletic ability, mental capacity, productive19. Why is Franz Boas one of my heroes? What did his 1912 study of Jewish and