Week 6-Linguistics Flashcards
Anthropological definition of Language
A system of arbitrary symbols people use to encode their experiences of the world and of others.
It is biocultural (vocal chords/human brain and cultural processes)
Six key characteristics of human language
Openness Displacement Arbitrariness Duality of Patterning Semanticity Prevarication
Openness
Being able to talk about the same experiences from different perspectives.
Using different words to represent the same thing
Displacement
The ability to talk about something that is not present in our current environment
Allows us to make up things/create fiction and talk about things we can’t see like out feelings and emotions
Arbitrariness
There is no universal link between sound and meaning
The same sound can mean something different in one language that is does in another
Duality of patterning
Sound and meaning
Sounds are patterned and have a specific role in a language
Ex:the sound at the end of “song” only appears at the end of words in English
Semanticity
We use language to express meaning
Prevarication
The ability to lie/deceive and “correctly” use grammar to create nonsense.
You can put a grammatically correct sentence together that makes no sense.
Language relativity principle
Hypothesis that there are ways in which language shapes the way we see the world
Developed by Edward Sapir and Benjamin Whorf
Pidgin
A combination of two or more languages that helps people of different languages communicate.
Develops in a single generation
Creole
A pidgin that has become established over multiple generations
Symbol
Something that stands for something else
Shortcut to meaning
Summarizing symbol
One simple design has a bunch of complicated concepts connected to it
Ex:Stop sign
-we understand it’s a rule set by society to keep us safe while driving
Gullah
A creole language spoken by African Americans descended from slaves.
Sounds almost like english
Pragmatics
The study of language in the context of its use
-how things are being expressed, where they are being expressed, and who they are being expressed by
You go out and immerse yourself in a culture to study pragmatics
