Language: dividing and uniting human groups

?
  • Created by: Heather
  • Created on: 19-12-16 12:09
Why is language a great interest to anthropologists?
As language is an important area of culture- Each language is different and is learned by its speakers as they grow up,
1 of 96
However, on another level, what is language in its own right?
Its own whole subject,
2 of 96
What is the definition of linguistics?
The study of language in all its aspects. It contains a series of issues which involve the nature/culture dichotomy,
3 of 96
What two key words need to be distinguished on this topic?
Speech and language
4 of 96
What is the definition of speech?
The ability to communicate via a very large but finite number of sounds made in the throat, modified by the mouth,
5 of 96
What is the definition of language?
Any system of formalised symbols (audible, visual- e.g. signs, sounds, gestures) used or conceived as a means of communicating thought, emotion etc.
6 of 96
To do with language, what is governed by the rules of combination?
The ways in which the symbols are combined to communicate meaning, e.g. Grammar and syntax,
7 of 96
What have a number of experiments indicated about chimps?
That while they are incapable of making the wide range of sounds essential for complex speech, they have a wide variety of facial and body gestures,
8 of 96
However, what is the link between chimps and human language?
Chimps can understand and respond to human language,
9 of 96
To find out if Chimps could learn to communicate in what language, what couple did what to find out?
-English, -An American couple, Allen and Beatrix Gardner, -They taught American sign language to a young chimp to Washoe.
10 of 96
What were the results of this experiment?
It produced exciting results- Not only did Washoe learn how to sign as many as 350 English words, but she even created new words and phrases,
11 of 96
Give an example of Washoe creating a new word?
On seeing a pair of swans in a pond, washow made the signs for water and bird together- In this way she invented waterbird for swan,
12 of 96
What is interesting about this?
No one had taught Washoe to put these word together in that particular order before,
13 of 96
What did what New York Times Reporter say about Washoe and her sign language abilities?
-Rensberger, -"Suddenly, I realised I was conversing with a member of another species in my native tongue."
14 of 96
Therefore, what is the link between speech and humans?
Speech is something unique to humans,
15 of 96
Therefore, what is the link between language and humans?
Language is something which chimps and other animals e.g. gorillas are capable of, but which humans use in a way which surpasses all other species,
16 of 96
What does the evidence so far suggest about language and biology?
It suggests human's ability to communicate via language is biologically inherited
17 of 96
However, why is this not necessarily true?
As different human groups have constructed very different actual languages, suggesting that specific languages are culturally inherited,
18 of 96
What is the definition of dialect?
A regional variety of a language differing from the standard language
19 of 96
What does each different language or dialect construct?
It constructs amazingly sophisticated messages and ideas from a finite range of sounds- or in sign language; a range of actions,
20 of 96
Languages are one of the most important areas of what in what?
Symbolisation in cultural behaviour
21 of 96
For the features of all languages, what are the basic sounds for each language chosen from?
They are chosen from a very wide range of possible sounds
22 of 96
Based on sounds in languages, how can it differ between languages?
Some sounds are difficult for speakers of many other languages to reproduce
23 of 96
Give an example of this in English?
The sounds presented by the letter h,
24 of 96
Give another example from Southern Africa?
Khoisan- Communicate through clicks using their throat, tongue and varying with mouth,
25 of 96
What is the definition of phonemes?
The differences in sound which are culturally meaningful,
26 of 96
Which basic sounds have what in a language are based on what?
-Meaning, -based on a matter of how we perceive differences,
27 of 96
Give an example of this with Japanese and Chinese languages?
Both don't distinguish the sounds we represent by the letters "l" and "r"
28 of 96
Why have linguistics developed a range of technical terms?
To describe and analyse the various factors involved in speech and languages,
29 of 96
Unlike phonemic which describes culturally meaningful sounds, what is the scientific description of sounds?
Phonetic
30 of 96
What are phonemes used to build?
Individual units of meaning
31 of 96
How do linguists describe these individual units of meaning as?
Morphemes
32 of 96
What are Morphemes and who are they put together?
-They are words, -They can only be put together in certain specific ways to make meaningful utterances,
33 of 96
What happens when morphemes are put together randomly?
It gives a meaningless utterance e.g. "desire excuse possible health under sleep"
34 of 96
What is syntax?
The correct rules for oining morphemes into meaningful utternces e.g. grammar, structure or order of the elements in a language statement,
35 of 96
Therefore, why is each language distinctive?
As each language has its own rules for defining phonemes, morphemes and syntax,
36 of 96
However, why are there problems with dialect?
There are some problems with the ways in which dialects face into one another,
37 of 96
Give an example of where dialect is fading?
In areas between France and Germany like Alsace Lorraine in Eastern France
38 of 96
For language acquisition, how are children taught?
Children don't need to be formally taught language- they learn language from hearing other users
39 of 96
By the age of 5, what grasp do children have?
A very sophisticated understanding of the complex rules of phonemes, morphemes and syntax,
40 of 96
Describe the speed children learn languages as compared to others?
The speed at which children learn a language varies very little between languages, whether complex or simple,
41 of 96
However, what are there differences in?
THere are considerable differences in the speed of learning within a language group,
42 of 96
For example, who is considered statistically to be slower at language acquisition than who?
Boys are meant to be slower than girls,
43 of 96
What age is believed to be a time when the human brain is particularly receptive to language?
5-7
44 of 96
What happens after this period?
After, this special ability declines, being lost a puberty,
45 of 96
However, what have new and more recent studies found about the age?
They have found from brain scans that the human brain has a critical window for language development between the ages of 2-4,
46 of 96
Therefore, there seems to be a strong component to the acquisition of language?
Biological component
47 of 96
Scientists have identified a so called "language-gene" called what?
The FOXP2 gene
48 of 96
What is the result of a mistake in the DNA of this gene?
A rare disorder in humans marked by severe language and grammar difficulties
49 of 96
When do geneticists believe this gene arose?
Around 200,000 years ago- Close to the beginnings of the Neanderthals,
50 of 96
What evidence has been found to suggest Neanderthals had language?
The discovery of a Neanderthal hyoid bone- A small bone in the throat crucial for speech,
51 of 96
What is the name of the philosopher, social thinker and linguist, perhaps the best known theoretical linguist?
Noam Chomsky
52 of 96
What question did Chomsky pose?
How can children learn enough about their native language to possess a sophisticated grammatical knowledge by the age of 5-6 years?
53 of 96
What was Chomsky's answer?
Children can learn a language because their genetic heritage gives them the ability to learn languages, based on a common set of principles,
54 of 96
What did he call this common set of principles?
A Universal grammar
55 of 96
What is universal grammar and what does it allow?
The inherited genetic endowment which allows people everywhere to learn and speak human language
56 of 96
While Chomsky is well respected, what is the problem?
Not everyone agrees,
57 of 96
Who disagrees with Chomsky and argues language is not an instinct?
Philip Lieberman
58 of 96
Instead, what does Lieberman argue about language distributed across what structures?
Language is rather a learned skill based on a "functional language system" distributed across numerous cortical and subcortical structures
59 of 96
Although, what does Lieberman recognise about human language like Chomsky?
That human language is by far the most sophisticated form of animal communication,
60 of 96
However, what doesn't he believed as Chomsky does about this communication?
That is is a qualitatively different form,
61 of 96
What does Lieberman see no need to posit based on evolution?
He sees no need to posit a quantum leap in evolution or a specific area of the brain that would have been the seat of this innovation,
62 of 96
On the contrary, Lieberman argues language can be described as a what system composed of several separate what?
A neurological system composed of several separate functional abilities,
63 of 96
What language undermines Chomsky's theory and why?
Sign language as it is independently learned,
64 of 96
Studies of the independent development of sign language suggest what about the rules of language?
They suggest sign language has been invented using many of the basic rules common to all languages,
65 of 96
In what country over the last 30 years have deaf children invented their own sign language without what?
-Nicaragua, -Without adult intervention and without hearing any language,
66 of 96
What group of the what Desert in Israel has a very high incidence of deafness?
-The Al-Sayyid beduin group of the Negev Desert,
67 of 96
What have they developed in what conditions?
They have independently developed their own sign language, following the basic rules of syntax,
68 of 96
While people don't entirely accept Chomsky's universal grammar ideas, what do these examples suggest?
They suggest that humans may be somehow biologically programmed with a common set of principles which covers symbols, organisation and meaning,
69 of 96
To summarise, what are two features of individual languages?
1) They are clearly learned, 2) They choose a finite number of sounds from a huge potential range of what is biologically possible,
70 of 96
For language and identity, what generally has their own specific languages and how does this link to identity?
Different cultures e.g. French people speak French, individual villages may have their own language, -It contributes to out identity- For ourselves and for others,
71 of 96
How can speakers of what we consider the same language identify different sub groups?
Through the different variants (dialects, accents) spoken
72 of 96
What base can these sub-groups be from?
-Geographically based, class based, or both,
73 of 96
Therefore, language is often linked to what?
Identity- E.g. nationality,
74 of 96
For example in the Irish Republic until quite recently, what did working in the civil service require?
To pass an exam in Irish,
75 of 96
However, what is the problem with this based on language?
Irish is spoken as the home language by only 1% of the nation, and only 10% claim any ability in the language,
76 of 96
Who are the Plaid Cymru and what is their main aim for Wales?
-Welsh Nationalist party, -Revival of the Welsh tongue,
77 of 96
What language do the Cornish Nationalist party support and what do they want to do?
-Cornish language, -It was previously extinct but is being revived by Cornish nationalists
78 of 96
A minister in the Scottish parliament has a responsibility for what based on languages?
A responsibility for Scotland's languages (Gaelic and Scots English) as part of a learning and science portfolio,
79 of 96
Give an example case study on this idea of language and identity?
Fieldwork in Greek speaking area of Calabria, Southern Italy,
80 of 96
A cluster of how many communities here maintain some knowledge and use of what language?
-Nine, -Greek dialect- "greco",
81 of 96
What have some people in the Calabrain group done to emphasise their Greek identity?
They have learned standard Greek in Greece,
82 of 96
Therefore, what is their identity? But what element does it have to it?
-Greek origin Italians, -it has a class/status element to it,
83 of 96
What is one reason why they identify themselves as 'Greek in origin?
Italians from the North and centre increasingly identify that the further South of Italy people live, the more uncivilised they are- So they seek to redefine themselves as 'Not southern Italians',
84 of 96
How do the Greek Government view them?
They don't acknowledge that a minority language exist, or any
85 of 96
Give an example of how speakers of these languages have been regularly discriminated against?
In 2001, A Greek who spoke a minority language was jailed for 15 months for distributing a leaflet which listed all the less-used languages of Europe,
86 of 96
A strong nationalist rhetoric in Greece states what about 'proper' Greeks?
They descend from the builders of the temples and other great works of Classical Greece,
87 of 96
Therefore, this ideology automatically excludes who?
All those Greek citizens whose languages emphasise they have a different ancestry,
88 of 96
Give an example of a minority speaker in Greece emphasising their heritage?
Fabvier's Castle fortification is celebrated by Methanites as the beginning of the creation of Greece's army in the Greek War of Independence,
89 of 96
What is one aspect of language missing from studies?
Long-term language change, evolution and divergence,
90 of 96
What language group has work been done on?
Indo-European language groups, Semitic languages etc.
91 of 96
Therefore, what does evidence suggest about language and biology?
The ability to communicate via symbols is biologically inherited,
92 of 96
Language is something we share with what?
Animals such as chimps,
93 of 96
Evidence suggests the human brain has a what window active from what ages?
A special language learning 'window' prominent in the ages of 5 to 7,
94 of 96
What is the FOXP2 gene?
A language gene which a lack of causes severe communication problem,
95 of 96
What does deaf children creating their own sign language show?
That humans have an urge to communicate,
96 of 96

Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

However, on another level, what is language in its own right?

Back

Its own whole subject,

Card 3

Front

What is the definition of linguistics?

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

What two key words need to be distinguished on this topic?

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

What is the definition of speech?

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
View more cards

Comments

No comments have yet been made

Similar Anthropology resources:

See all Anthropology resources »See all Language resources »