Anthropology 225

Fall 2016
Week 1 and 2 Notes

Week 1 Readings
Ahearn, Laura M. (2011) Ch. 1 The Socially Charged Life of Language Pp.
3- 30. In Living Language: An Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology.
United Kingdom. Wiley-Blackwell.

Mooney, Annabelle (2011) CH. 1, What is language? In Language, Society

and Power: An Introduction. Third Edition. Annabelle Mooney, Jean
Stilwell Peccei, Sizanne LaBelle, Berit Ingay Henriksen, Eva Epler,
Anthea Irwin, Pia Pichler, Sian Preece, and Satori Soden. Pp. 1-23.
London: Routledge.

Ahearn Ch. 1

Every social action is mediated by language whether spoken, written, verbal,

or nonverbal. Think about the examples Ahearn discusses:

Examples

Getting Stoned in San Francisco The students talk about the different terms they
have for smoking marijuana.
Losing a Language in Papua, New Guinea The loss of the Taiap language did not
seem to compare to how other languages have become extinct; the explanation was
put on the youths refusal to speak the language.
The Pounded Rice Ritual in Nepal The bride not responding until her new groom
addresses her in a particular tone, volume, and word choice as part of a cultural
ritual.
All of these examples describe situations in which neither a linguistic analysis along
nor a sociocultural analysis alone would be able to explain the significance of the
events. We need tools to help us understand larger social and cultural issues and
about language itself.

Five Basic Components

Phonology

Morphology

Syntax

Semantics

Pragmatics

Linguists focus primarily on phonology, morphology, syntax. In contrast,

most linguistic anthropologists, study semantics and pragmatics as
integrated with phonology, morphology, and syntax.

Linguistic anthropologists believe that in order to acquire a comprehensive

understanding of language, it must be studied in real-life contexts.

Linguistic anthropologists view language as a form of social action.

Key Terms in Linguistic Anthropology

Multifunctionality refers to the different kind of work that language does.

*Language Ideologies the attitudes, opinions, beliefs, or theories that we all have
about language.

Examples:
People in the U.S. should speak English only.
Aint isnt a word and people who use it are ignorant.
People with U.S. southern accents dont sound as intelligent as people with British accents.
Also see Kroskritys four features that characterize language ideologies

Practice linguistic and social structures at the same time constrain and give rise to
human actions, which in turn, create, recreate, or reconfigure those same structures.
This kind of human action which is embedded within social and linguistic structures,
which both reflects and shapes such structures is know as practice or agency.

Indexicality Ways in which language can index social relations, identities, or values,
pointing to such important aspects of the sociocultural world and even creating,
reinforcing, or challenging those very relations, identities, or values.

Mooney What is Language

Mooney argues that language is a rule-governed system. As language changes,

new rules are described. language can have different functions. lt can be used
to refer to things, to demonstrate status and power and to amuse. A single
utterance can do more than one thing.

Theoretical linguistics vs. sociolinguistics. The theoretical linguist Noam

Chomsky made an important distinction between competence and
performance. To have competence in a language means to have knowledge of
the grammar. Grammar is all rules that need to be followed in order to
produce well-formed utterances. A competent speaker needs to know which
word order to use (syntax), which form a word should take (morphology),
what those words mean (semantics) and how to produce those words verbally
(phonetics and phonology). All these rules make up the grammar of the
language. Examining the rules, what linguists refer to as the grammar, of
natural languages allows linguists to say something about language generally,
and also about the way humans acquire language - that is, what might be
innate and what has to be learned.

Competence explains well-formed sentences, and also how we can generate

new meanings. The rules that speakers know (though not always consciously)
allow new, acceptable and, most importantly, meaningful utterances. The
rules allow speakers to generate new utterances, but they exist at an abstract
level. On the other hand, performance refers to the way individual speakers
actually use language. Performance does not always faithfully reflect the rules
described by competence.

It is possible, however, for a well-formed utterance to be inappropriate because

of rules of social relationships, taboo or other cultural convention. The speaker
may have grammatical competence, but lack communicative
competence. Knowing how to greet someone or what constitutes appropriate
small talk are examples of this competence. Communicative competence allows
speakers to avoid inappropriate utterances.

Language Diversity

There are differences in the way in which people pronounce words, which
varies systematically and very often on the basis of geography. Such
differences can be dealt with in terms of accent. There are other differences
between speakers of English in relation to the words they use for particular
things (vocabulary) and even the order in which words are placed (syntax);
we can talk about this in terms of dialect.

Language varies among people for reasons other than where they're from.
Variables such as class, ethnicity, gender and age that may influence the way
in which language is used differently.

(See Dialect Map Quiz)

Mooney on Ideology

An ideology is simply a way of describing a set of beliefs and behaviours that are thought
of as natural - everyone has an ideology. There are things we take for granted, values
that we hold and ideas that we believe in that seem perfectly natural. lt is this common
sense, this natural and normal way of thinking and acting which we can talk about in
terms of the dominant ideology, or hegemonic ideology. ldeology is a way of talking
about a whole set of these ways of thinking and acting.

The way that language is used in relation to addressees can be thought of in terms of the
way it positions that audience, the way they are addressed. Language has a number of
different functions, one of these being the cognative function - that is, oriented towards
the addressee. This can have implications in terms of relations of power. Louis
Althusser theorizes this as the audience being 'hailed' in a particular way. This means
that language is used to address people and thus position them in some way. We can
take a police officer as an example. When an officer speaks to a person, that person is
positioned in relation to the officer as an individual and also positioned in a relationship
of power. Althusser calls this positioning interpellation. Thinking of an actual speech
event, however, is merely an illustrative example of what Althusser is talking about. We
can also be positioned by (or hailed by) an ideology.

Week 2 Readings
Ahearn, Laura M. (2011) Ch. 2 The Research Process in Linguistic
Anthropology. Pp. 31-49. In Living Language: An Introduction to
Linguistic Anthropology. United Kingdom. Wiley-Blackwell.

Ahearn, Laura M. Ch. 7 Literacy Practices. Pp.140 159. In Living

Language: An Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology. United Kingdom.
Wiley-Blackwell.

Ahearn - Ch. 2 The Research Process in

Linguistic Anthropology

Types of data collection and methodology that linguistic anthropologists use:

Participant observation
Interviews (structures, semi-structured, informal)
Surveys/questionnaires
Naturally occurring conversations
Experimental methods
Matched guise tests
Written texts

Ahearn Ch. 7 Literacy Practices

Even when people are alone while reading and writing, they are engaged in
social activities because reading and writing are enacted and interpreted in
culturally and socially specific ways. These activities are also bound up with
social differences and inequalities.

Literacy events vs. literacy practices

Literacy event (Heath) occasions in which written language is integral to the nature
of participants interactions and their interpretive processes and strategies.
Literacy practices are not specific, observable occurrences, but rather general normal
regarding how written texts tend to be produced, interpreted, or discussed.

Situated Literacy Research

What is situated literacy research and what are some examples?

Preschool literacy practices in the southeastern United States

Love-letter writing in Nepal

Electronic communication such as instant messaging, text messaging, etc.