Anthropology Midterm Part 2

Question 1

language definition

Answer 1

“Human language is a system of vocal-auditory communication, interacting with the
experiences of its users, employing conventional signs composed of arbitrary
patterned sound units and assembled according to set rules.

Question 2

is language innate?

Answer 2

part of our innate abilities that evolved within our species

Question 3

what is the the language instinct?

Answer 3

By the time children are two they have largely mastered a very
complex grammatical structure that is a part of the particular language that is spoken in their culture.

Question 4

Language is something that is both innate and _______.

Answer 4

learned

Question 5

the essence of language is a way of

Answer 5

thinking and acting.

Question 6

language requires two or more individuals

Answer 6

at least one speaker and one receiver.

Question 7

the vocal-auditory channel

Answer 7

all languages use the same channel for sending and receiving; the sound organs of speaking and hearing.

Question 8

How does the vocal-auditory channel work?

Answer 8

the vocal-auditory channel uses sound waves or the vibrations in the atmosphere, which are both
transmitted and received by individuals. These vibrations are set in motion by the activity of the speech
organs. And all languages organize these vibrations in essentially the same way; as small units of sound
created by the mouth and larynx that can be combined and recombined in distinctive ways.

Question 9

why is the vocal-auditory channel important to our evolution?

Answer 9

because relying on sound as opposed to sight or smell or touch
means that we can communicate about things that are not in our immediate presence, and we can
communicate efficiently while doing other things.

Question 10

Communication between humans does take place through other
channels as well, such as

Answer 10

the tactile channel (touch), the visual channel (sight), and the olfactory channel (smell)

Question 11

Transitoriness (DF)

Answer 11

Also called rapid fading, transitoriness refers to the temporary quality of
language. Language sounds exist for only a brief period of time, after which they are no longer
perceived. Sound waves quickly disappear once the speaker stops speaking. This is also true of visual
signs or gestures. In contrast, writing, which is a reflection but not language itself, is more permanent

Question 12

Feedback (DF)

Answer 12

This means that speakers of a language can hear their own speech and thus can
control and modify what they saying as they are saying it. Moreover, we can see and interpret how
others are receiving the messages we are sending and alter accordingly.

Question 13

interchangability (DF)

Answer 13

This refers to the idea that humans can both send and receive messages.
Humans are not limited by only being a hearer or a speaker, we can do both. Moreover, anything that
one can hear, one can also say.

Question 14

duality of patterning (DF)

Answer 14

if sounds are the building blocks of language, or the code of language, those blocks need to be built
into larger structures of meanings such as words, sentences, stories, etc. Through language, dozens of
distinctive sounds are organized into scores of syllables, which become the basis of thousands of words,
and millions of possible sentence

Question 15

example of duality of patterning

Answer 15

Words like
can,
tan,
ban, and
fan, for example, each use two similar symbols (the two ending sounds)
and one distinct symbol (the beginning sound). It is the unique combination that makes these words
meaningful.

Question 16

multiple reinvestment

Answer 16

instead of having unique
symbols for each and every thing or idea we want to express, we have a few symbols which we can
combine and recombine in ways that convey a infinite range of meanings.

Question 17

discreteness (DF)

Answer 17

his means that languages are
made up of small, discrete, and repeatable units that can be combined together in rule-governed ways.
It is the grammar of a language that determines how these combinations are made

Question 18

discreteness example

Answer 18

As an example, in English we use the sound of “s” at the end of a noun to make it a plural. It is this
small bit of language, the “s”, which can be used on most nouns and can only be put at the end of a
word.

Question 19

inaccessibility

Answer 19

While we all utilize the grammatical structure of the language we speak, we learn it without specifically
learning or memorizing the rules of the language – it is subconscious. You might study grammar later in
life, but by that time you are already fluent in the use of those rules. And this fluency starts early – by
about the age of 4

Question 20

inaccessibility example

Answer 20

To continue with the example above, you learned to add “s” to the end of nouns to make them plural
when you were a child simply by hearing the language being used by others. No one had to explicitly
state this rule to you, and you don’t think about the rule when you use it

Question 21

openness or proximity (DF)

Answer 21

the small components of language can be combined in an infinite
number of ways. This means that each speaker of a language is also an innovator, constantly
coining new phrases, sentences, and often even new words

Question 22

prevarication (DF)

Answer 22

what a person says can be
false and can be done with the express desire to trick or deceive others.

Question 23

language is reinforced by both ____ and ____ gestures

Answer 23

audible & visible

Question 24

paralanguage

Answer 24

Paralanguage includes sounds such sneers, laughs, etc.

Question 25

kinesics

Answer 25

kinesics, or body language, includes
movements such posture, hand gestures, facial expressions, etc.
Even when nothing appears to be going on at all, something is being communicated – there is, in fact,
even a language of silence.

Question 26

arbitrariness (DF).

Answer 26

Language is arbitrary because it is made up by sounds that have no meaning in and of themselves. It is
a code that humans have applied meaning to.

Question 27

arbitrariness example

Answer 27

For example, take the words skin and skim or scare and snare.
The words in each of these pairs mean very different things and yet are distinguished by only one
arbitrary sound. We say it is arbitrary because the sound itself does not hold any meaning.

Question 28

how did language come into existence?

Answer 28

It is, however, also non-arbitrary in the sense that the meaning has become codified into different
languages. Without this, humans could never communicate because they would not understand one
another. Humans have to agree upon and accept a particular symbolic system in order for
communication to occur, and this is how languages, in fact, come into existence.

Question 29

how can words be an abstraction.

Answer 29

All of these words are arbitrary in they have no connection to the thing they represent.

Question 30

semanticity (DF)

Answer 30

language is made up of meaningful
elements that are commonly understood by users of the language

Question 31

displacement (DF)

Answer 31

This ability to think abstractly means that language allows us to communicate about things from a
different time and place.

Question 32

why is language not complexity arbitrary?

Answer 32

within many languages there
seems to be a connection between certain sounds and their meaning.

Question 33

example of how language not complexity arbitrary?

Answer 33

As an example, there seems to be a connection between the sounds of the vowels produced with the
tongue high in the mouth and to the front and the meaning of “smallness” – for example,
tiny and
wee.
While those with the tongue low suggest “largeness” – for example,
huge and
enormous.
Think about this as you look at the difference between
chip and
chop;
slip and
slab;
nib and
knob.

Question 34

two main grammatical structures that guide all
of these languages

Answer 34

word order and inflection

Question 35

why does word order and inflection guide all inflection?

Answer 35

Partly this is because all languages have evolved from
very few base languages. Just as all living things share the same genetic code, pointing to the fact of
their shared evolutionary heritage, many languages share the same linguistic code, pointing out their
shared evolutionary heritage

Question 36

reflexiveness (DF)

Answer 36

this refers to the fact
that we use language to talk about language itself. meta language

Question 37

metalanguage

Answer 37

the use of language to describe language.

Question 38

how does reflectiveness and metalanguage take on form?

Answer 38

• We can comment on a particular language item (language meaning and vocabulary)
• We can comment on a particular use of language (how people speak)
• We can comment on a particular language (how languages vary)
• And we can comment on language itself (discussing what language is, for example)