Chapter 5

Language and
Communication
Conrad Phillips Kottak-Cultural Anthropology
Group 8
Dina Kamila (2306228642)
Pinkan Rafa Shakila (2306160634)
Jonathan Otniel (2306273601)
 What Will You Learn?
Define language and distinguish between sign and symbols

- Specify the tree brances of linguistic anthropology

- Observe cross-cultural differences in nonverbal means of communication

- Trace the emergence of language, speech, and writing

- Understand the relationship between language and culture

Question
What
01 makes language different from other forms of
communication?

How
02 do anthropologists and linguists study language in
general and specific languages in particular?

How
03 does language change over short and long time
periods?
 What is language
Language is a system of communication using
sounds, gestures, or marks that are put together in
meaningful ways that are intelligible to all who
share that language. Through language, people can
transmit their culture from one generation to the
next. This makes language the most important
symbol in any culture. A signal in an instinctive
sound or gesture that carries a natural or self evident
meaning. Often signals can be used with languages
but they are innate, not learned (choughing, sighs,
screaming, etc)
Non Verbal Communication
We use gestures, such as a jab of the hand, for emphasis. We use verbal
and nonverbal ways of communicating our moods: enthusiasm,
sadness, joy, regret. We vary our intonation and the pitch or loudness
of our voices. We communicate through strategic pauses, and even by
being silent. An effective communication strategy may be to alter pitch,
voice level, and grammatical forms, such as declaratives (“I am . . .”),
imperatives (“Go forth . . .”), and questions (“Are you . .?”). Culture
teaches us that certain manners and styles should accompany certain
kinds of speech. Our demeanor, verbal and nonverbal, when our
favorite team is winning would be out of place at a funeral.
 Speech Sounds
We find the phonemes in a given language by
comparing minimal pairs, words that resemble each
other in all but one sound. The words have totally
different meanings, but they differ in just one sound.
The contrasting sounds are therefore phonemes in
that language.
How do anthropologist study language un general and
specific language in particular?

Anthropologists and linguists employ various

methods to study language, including
fieldwork, data collection, phonetics, syntax,
semantics, and sociolinguistics. They
investigate how languages work, their
cultural context, and the social factors
influencing their use.
 Linguistic Research and The Nature of
Language

No matter which language, all are a means of transmitting

information and sharing with others both collective and
individual experiences. Linguistics is the systematic study
of all aspects of language.
Descriptive Linguistics
This branch of linguistics involves unravelling a language by recording,
describing, and analysing all of its features. These linguists focus on :

- Phonology (The study of speech sounds, considers which sounds are present and significant in a given
language.)

- Morphology (Studies how sounds combine to form morphemes—words and their meaningful parts. Thus, the
word cats would be analyzed as containing two morphemes: cat, the name for a kind of animal, and -s, a
morpheme indicating plurality.)

- Syntax (Refers to the arrangement and order of words in phrases and sentences. Syntactic questions include
whether nouns usually come before or after verbs, and whether adjectives normally precede or follow the
nouns they modify)

- Grammar (The whole system and structure of a language or of languages in general, usually taken as
consisting of syntax and morphology (including inflections) and sometimes also phonology and semantics)
 The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
also known as the "Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis" or "Whorfian
Hypothesis," is a concept in the fields of linguistics and linguistic
anthropology that was first developed by two linguists, Edward Sapir and
Benjamin Lee Whorf. This hypothesis states that the language we use
influences or shapes the way we think, perceive the world, and even our
behavior.
- Linguistic Relativity (Differences in language can lead to differences in how
we think and experience reality. There are two forms of linguistic relativity)

- Strong Relativity (This argues that language completely determines how we

think and makes it impossible to understand reality outside of that language.)

- Weak Relativity (This is a more moderate view, suggesting that language

influences our thinking and perception, but human thought and concepts are also
influenced by other factors such as personal experience and culture)

- Linguistic Determinism (According to linguistic determinism, the language

we use directly determines and limits our thinking, so we can only understand
the reality that can be expressed by that language)
 Focal Vocabulary

refers to a specialized set of words or terms within a language that are used to
describe and discuss particular aspects of a culture's environment, experiences, or
activities. These terms are often highly specific, detailed, and culturally significant,
and they provide insight into how a society views and interacts with the world
around them. Focal vocabulary reflects the unique priorities, values, and
knowledge of a particular culture.
 key points about focal vocabulary:
Specialization Cultural Significant Context Specific
The terms in focal vocabulary often typically used to describe aspects of the
Consists of words or expressions that
reveal cultural values, practices, and environment, social organization, rituals, or
may not have direct equivalents in
priorities activities that hold particular importance
other languages or cultures
within the community.

Economic and Social Transmission of

Linguistic Relativity
Roles Knowledge focal vocabulary can shape how individuals
can also reflect the economic and plays a role in preserving and within a culture think about and engage
social roles of individuals within the transmitting cultural knowledge from with specific aspects of their environment
community. one generation to the next and social life.
Sociolinguistic

the study of the relationship between language and society, examines how
social categories ( such as age, gender, ethnicity, religion, occupation, and
class) influence the use and significants of distinctive style of speech.
Gendered speechis disticts male and female syntac exhibited in various
languages around the world.
Linguistic Diversity
Refers to the variety of languages spoken in a particular region or by
a group of people. It encompasses the differences in language
structures, vocabulary, and pronunciation among languages.
Linguistic diversity is a fundamental aspect of human culture and
society, and it can be understood in several ways :
- Number of Languages
- Language Families
- Dialects
- Endangered Languages
- Cultural and Geographic Variation
- Multilingualism
 Gender Speech Contrast
Refer to differences in language use, particularly in terms of
vocabulary, grammar, and communication styles, that are associated
with gender or the social construction of gender roles within a
society. These contrasts often reflect how language can be used to
express and reinforce cultural norms and expectations related to
gender.

Examples of gender speech contrasts:

Vocabulary, Grammatical Gender, Speech Patterns, Pragmatic

Differences, Co nversational Roles
Language and Status Position
Refers to how the use of language can be tied to an individual's or a
group's social status or position within a society. This relationship is an
important area of study within linguistic anthropology, which examines
how language and culture intersect.
Key point :

- Language as a Marker of Social Status

- Language Variation and Social Hierarchies

- Language and Power, etc

Stratification
we use and evaluate speech in the
context of extralinguistic forces—
social, political, and economic
1 . How does language change over short and long time periods?
Language families are groups of languages descended from a single ancestral language. Each
language family shows the linguistic divergence of a language to the next over several thousand years.
Better described as the development of different languages from a single ancestral language.

Processes of Linguistic Divergence, one way in which languages change is through borrowing from
one language to another.Over the past decade the internet has widened the meaning of a host of already
existing words from hacking and surfing to spam and etc.

Language Loss and Revival, one of the most forces of languages change is the domination of one
society over another. The world’s linguistic diversity has been cut in half (measured by number of
distinct languages) in the past 500 years, and half of the remaining languages are predicted to disappear
during this century. Colonial languages (e.g., English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Dutch, Russian)
have expanded at the expense of indigenous ones.
 Thank You
Reference:
Conrad Phillips Kottak, Cultural Anthropology_Appreciating Ciultural Diversity, Chapter 5