Language In Society Midterm

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linguistic anthropology

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The study linking the analysis of linguistic/semiotic forms to sociocultural phenomenon.
Studies language as a social tool, and speaking as a cultural practice. Language is a cultural resource; a means of identification.

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linguistic anthropologists study..

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study all aspects of how language influences humans. A linguist can never be more of an expert at a language than its native speakers ( although outside studies may observe language traits native speakers do not recognize )

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Tewa speakers alternation of identity

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They alternate identities by switching between Tewa, Hopi, and English. They will use one language for certain situations (code-switching). This is the result of a multi-cultural society's functioning.

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text

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larger than a sentence (but not all that large)

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register

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a recognized form of speaking used in a certain situation by those entrenched in such situations

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dialect

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a geographical variance of a language (everyone who uses language speaks a dialect)

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society

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an empirical group bound by limits of interdependence and degree of cultural identification (i.e. sense of shared cultural identity)

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individuals and society and culture

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One belongs to a society but possesses culture

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culture and society

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culture "glues" members of a society together

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Culture

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the set of practices, perspectives, tools, rules, sensibilities, etc that enable a society to function and its members to interact

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ethnomethodology

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a theory asserting everyday interactions with everyday actors who demonstrate their understandings of the events they participate while doing so

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markedness

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A marked form is a non-basic or less natural form (unmarked is basic, default). Things can be marked phonetically, phonologically, morphologically, syntactically, or semantically

ex: lion (unmarked), lioness (marked)

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Pierce's def of a sign

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"a sign is something (representamen, sign vehicle, sign itself) which stands to somebody for something (object) in some respect or capacity (ground)"

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referential meaning

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the aboutness of something

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Design Feature #1 - Mode of Communication

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the means by which communicative messages are transmitted and received
-voice, gesture

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Design Feature #2 - Semanticity

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all signals in a communication system have a meaning or a function
-shared meaning between communicator and receiver

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Design Feature #3 - Pragmatic Function

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serving some useful purpose
-gaining knowledge, phatics, survival, etc

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Design Feature #4 - Interchangeability

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the ability of individuals to both transmit and receive messages
-produce (by speaking/signing) and comprehend (by listening/watching)

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Design Feature #5 - Cultural Transmission

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aspects of language we acquire only through communicative interaction with other users of the system
-language is socially acquired, not genetically

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Design Feature #6 - Arbitrariness

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an arbitrary connection to form and meaning; arbitrary connections make phonemes and morphemes into meaningful symbols
-exceptions: iconic words like onomatopoeia; sound symbolism - certain phonemes universally semantic

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Design Feature #7 - Discreteness

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independence of words and sounds; capable of productivity; recombination to form different meanings
-duality of patterning: we can generate a large number of meaningful elements from few meaningless units
-combine words into phrases, sentences, ...

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Design Feature #8 - Displacement

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the ability of a language to communicate about things, actions, ideas, etc that are not present in space or time while speakers are communicating

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Design Feature #9 - Productivity

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based on discreteness; it is language's capacity for novel messages to be built up out of discrete units; infinite number of possible utterances
-because the discrete units of language can be put together in regular, systematic, and rule governed ways

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pragmatic

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appropriateness to context; effectiveness in context
-indexes rely on context shared between speakers

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Gregory Bateson - Framing

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a metaphor for metacommunication; a frame tells you how to interpret what's inside it
-speech is multi-layered signals: words wrapped in intonation (prosody is metacommunication) sentences signaling, but also framed by genre expectations

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phonetics

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the study of minimal units that make up language

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segments

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discrete units of the speech stream made from consonants and vowels

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suprasegmentals

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apply to entire strings of consonants and vowels; "ride on top of segments"; properties such as stress, tone, and intonation

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consonants

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made with at least some stopping of air flow; vowels are made with free air flow, are louder and so can form the nucleus of a syllable (the suprasegmental information of a syllable)

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monothongs

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simple vowels

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diphthongs

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complex vowels, a sequence of two different configurations; considered one vowel sound (can be one nucleus)

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articulation

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the motion/positioning of some part of the vocal tract with respect to some other vocal tract surface in the production of a speech sound.

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voicing

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when the vocal chords are nearly closed this is voiced, and the vocal folds vibrate; when they are open and don't vibrate this is voiceless

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place of articulation

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where in the vocal tract a constriction is made