1. The Anthropology of Language: An Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology
Chapter 5
Silent Languages

2. The transmission of messages w/o spoken word
Sign languages
analyzing signs
Gestures and nonverbal communication
Speech substitutes
Body language
Smell, Taste, Touch
Proxemics & Kinesics
gender, status, culture & space
types of gestures
Gesture systems

3. Sign language IS language
‘Language performed in three-dimensional space’
Generally associated with deaf people
Often associated with Deaf people
Natural vs. Manually Coded sign languages
Syntax is complex, unique to specific language
American Sign Language (ASL; Ameslan) vs. British
Mutually unintelligible; not based on English syntax
Signs = concepts, not words (‘right’ vs. ‘right’)
Syntax = one sign can stand for several words
E.g., “I-ask-her” is one sign
vs. Signed English (SEE1 & 2) which follows English syntax

4. Analyzing Signs Primes Three kinds of primes Minimal pairs
Basic elements of signs (correspond to phonemes?)
Combine into morphemes
Three kinds of primes
Hand shape
Fist (A), Flat (B), Cupped (C)
Hand placement
Hand movement
Minimal pairs
Apple vs. candy (shape: fist hand vs. cupped hand)
Summer vs. ugly (place: forehead vs. nose level)

5. Sign language is NOT gesture
View this ASL example
Can you separate the gesture from the sign?
What elements of paralanguage play a key role in this performance?
Note the gender shift as the performer moves from his pre-performance self to the performance self
Men typically perform signs lower than women

6. Body Language Learned in cultural groups Interpreted unconsciously
Often overrides verbal language
~60% of communication?
Beware of guidebooks.

7. Smell, Taste, and Touch Smell Taste Touch And ethnicity, culture
Cigars, perfumes and status
Taste
And group membership
Spicy foods…
Touch
And gender and power
Relation to proxemics…

8. Proxemics Edward Hall, 1950s How people perceive and use space
Cowboy proxemics
Getting to theatre seats

9. Gender, Status, & Space Entering into someone’s ‘space’
Getting the ‘best’ office
Or the biggest bedroom
Having one’s own ‘space’
Dens vs. sewing rooms

10. Culture and Space Different arrangements Different uses
US grids & French circles
German doors: closed vs. open
Different uses
Where to eat in the Comoros
Depends on gender, too

11. Kinesics – meaningful movement (Birdwhistell)
Kineme with allokines
Kinemorphs – meaningful units of visual expression
Later, kinemorphs abandoned as a concept, kineme comes to mean both the minimal and the meaningful units.

12. Kinesics – another model of meaningful movement (Ekman and Friesen)
Emblems – direct verbal translation
Illustrators – depict or illustrate what is being said
Affect displays – convey emotion
Regulators – control or coordinate interaction, for example indicating that it is someone’s turn to talk
Adaptors – expressions of restlessness or unease, facilitate the release of tension

13. Gesture Systems Where verbal communication is difficult
Topics and contexts are limited
Simple alternative systems
Little or no syntax
Sawmills, baseball games, sailboat racing
Complex alternative systems
Syntax based on spoken language:
Australian women mourners
Some monastic orders
Syntax independent of any spoken language
Native American Plains sign language
Signs used in varying order

14. Typology of Gestures Eckman & Friesen, 1960s Emblems Illustrators
Translatable (waving)
Illustrators
Of what is said (steering)
Affect Displays
Convey emotion (smiling)
Regulators
Control or coordinate (pointing)
Adaptors
Facilitate release (wiggling)

15. Gesture Systems Where verbal communication is difficult
Topics and contexts are limited
Simple alternative systems
Little or no syntax
Sawmills, baseball games, sailboat racing
Complex alternative systems
Syntax based on spoken language:
Australian women mourners
Some monastic orders
Syntax independent of any spoken language
Native American Plains sign language
Signs used in varying order

16. Speech Substitutes Sound signals substitute for spoken words
Or parts of words
Useful for communicating over distances
Examples:
Drum languages
based on tones (Nigeria)
Whistle languages
based on tones (Mazateco)
based on vowels (La Gomera)
different whistled pitches = different vowels

17. Speech substitutes
Present only parts of words, listeners fill in the blanks.
Stereotyped and predictable.
How are these different from ASL?
ASL is a language, NOT a speech substitute!
How are ASL and SEE different?

18. Filling in the blanks Yoruba talking drums
Use of a “talk-box,” from the Master

19. Creating a Language Create a proxemic system
define degrees of space:
private, personal, social & public
Create two or three gestures:
friendly, obscene, teasing, aggressive, etc.
Practice! Use your greetings and proxemics rules, try out your gestures.

20. Next: Language in Action Read: Prepare to do: Textbook Chapter 6
Workbook/Reader:
Good Tracks (pp )
Prepare to do:
Writing/Discussion Exercises (W/R p )
Practice with Languages (W/R pp )
Language Creating (W/R p. 135)
Conversation partnering (W/R p. 136)