1. Chapter 2 Language and Culture
The Anthropology of Language: An Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology
Chapter 2 Language and Culture

2. Culture
In 1952, a couple of fairly famous anthropologists, Alfred Kroeber (father of Ursula K. Le Guin) and Clyde Kluckhohn, published a book containing 164 definitions of culture taken from the published work of anthropologists. Fifty-seven years later, we are still not all agreed on the topic.
One widely used definition (thanks to Max Weber and Clifford Geertz): Culture is a web of meaning which human beings weave and in which we are suspended.

3. The emic vs. etic distinction
Two equally valid perspectives from which to view human behavior, activities, values, etc.
Emic—subjectively relevant, internally verifiable
Etic—objectively identifiable, externally observable

4. Etic and Emic – an example
Etic data—things that are observable
110° F water into mug, water swirled in mug, water poured into the sink, drink poured into mug
Emic data—the meaning of the action for the actor
He warms his coffee mug so that the coffee tastes better Or
She tries to kill all the germs and bacteria that have accumulated in the coffee mug since its last washing
I use an example from my own experience. In an office, a man and a woman both rinse their mug out with super-heated water prior to filling it with a beverage. The man, it turns out, thinks this improves the flavor of the beverage. The woman is doing it to kill any microorganisms which may have taken up residence in the cup.

5. Ethnosemantics 1950s and 60s Frake, Goodenough, Conklin
Alternate names:
Ethnoscience, Cognitive Anthropology
Vocabulary indicates
“native” categories
Culturally important distinctions
Psychological reality or formal account?

6. Cultural emphases – What IS subjectively relevant?
Cultural emphases reflect activities, meet needs
Some universal patterns appear to exist, however
Color terms – Stages 1-7 (Ottenheimer p. 31)
Color terms and focal points (Berlin & Kay)
Codability—how easy is it to name a color chip
Availability—how easy is it to find a given chip in a group of other chips

7. The Hanunóo case You cannot ask, in Hanunóo, “What color is X?”
Hanunóo are able to distinguish colors (human biological ability), but color is subsumed within an overall category of appearance.
Ethnosemantic research was required to understand how Hanunóo speakers communicate the idea of color.

8. Getting at the Emic – Doing ethnosemantic research
Creating a taxonomy
Asking questions about relationships:
Is X a kind of Y?
What other kinds of Y are there?
Are there other kinds of X?
Taxonomy about relationships
Componential analysis
Discovering key differences
Here, you can use any topic but it is generally easy to generate a detailed taxonomy about selecting a class. Since you are generally teaching this near the beginning of the term, the experience is fresh in the minds of students.

9. Sapir-Whorf or Whorfian hypothesis: two versions
Strong Whorf—language determines thought, you think within the structure of your language
Agar—language as prison
Weaker Whorf—language provides habitual patterns of seeing, thinking and talking
Agar—Language as a familiar room; you know where everything is in it
Both forms of linguistic determinism

10. Which comes first? A chicken and egg problem.
Nature of cultural emphasis
Feature analysis
Prototype theory
Color categories and the search for universals
Human shared sensory apparatus
Impact of language
Agreement about differences between languages
But, do the differences in language reflect cultural differences, or create cultural differences?

11. Linguistic Determinism
Origins
“Human beings are very much at the mercy of the particular language which has become the medium of expression for their society.” (Sapir 1929)
“we cannot talk at all except by subscribing to the organization and classification of data” (Whorf 1940)

12. Examples of Linguistic Determinism: SAE
time = matter
units of time = objects
passage of time = endless line of identical objects

13. Examples of Linguistic Determinism: Hopi
time = a process
units of time = cycles
passage of time = endless repetition of same cycle

14. Testing linguistic determinism
Tests generally comparative
Variable clearly identified
Testing availability and codability

15. Experiments in Linguistic Determinism
Yucatec
Grammar stresses material
Connects words for wood, tree, table
Individuals group cardboard items together
English
Grammar stresses shape
Different words for wood, tree, table
Individuals group boxes together

16. Further Evidence for Linguistic Determinism
Relative space vs. absolute space
Guugu-Yimidhirr
NORTH-SOUTH-EAST-WEST (absolute)
Tzeltal
UPHILL-DOWNHILL (relative)

17. Experiencing Linguistic Determinism
Temporary transfer of control
English—lend/borrow
Shinzwani—kopa
Telling time
English—it is half past nine
Czech—it is half of ten
Relative vs. absolute space
English—deictic system
Guugu-Yimidhirr—absolute system

18. Experience and imagination
Metaphor—a figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable in order to suggest a resemblance
Metonymy—a figure of speech that consists of the use of the name of one object or concept for that of another to which it is related, or of which it is a part
Frame—a system of expectations which influences experience

19. Metaphors in SAE – a set of examples
Anger as Body heat
I have a hot temper.
Body as container of emotions
I am just about up to here!
He was filled with grief.
Body as container for emotions plus Anger as heat =
Heating fluid in a container
He was boiling mad.
She was fuming.
I was steamed.
Dealt with by cooling or containing
A good workout always helps her cool her temper.
I keep my anger bottled up.
Potential for explosion, in which things go up
I blew my top.
She hit the ceiling.
He went right through the roof.

20. Metonyms in SAE – some examples
Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.
Yesterday, the White House announced…
Wall Street reacted badly to the news from Europe.
My knee is killing me.
If you like it then you should-a put a ring on it.

21. Frames – structures of expectation we use to make sense of the world
Frames make use of, and make sense of, metaphors and metonyms
Frames trump facts (Lakoff); they make it difficult to absorb things that don’t fit
Examples:
The restaurant
The classroom
Practices, not things
Shifting frames—the Cousin Joe example
Shifting frames—the club meeting

22. The significance of frames
“gay marriage” or “same-sex marriage”
“looting” or “finding”
“the rich” or “job creators”
“quiz” or “assessment”
“date” or “hook-up”

23. Coping with differences
Using the one you are in is easier than trying to translate concepts
Translation, if it requires completely identical meanings, is frequently not possible
The system you are in will shape your perceptions, however
Human beings construct the systems of meaning which shape our perceptions
You are ALWAYS in a system of meaning, but you are not trapped in any particular system of meaning

24. Summary Language is a window into culture (Boas)
Language is a cultural map (Conklin, Frake…)
Language is a guide to social reality (Sapir/Whorf)
Linguistic relativity: grammar influences thought
A well-accepted idea
Linguistic determinism: grammar determines world view
Still controversial
Language is a framing device (Lakoff)
Helps us to organize and frame our experience of the world
And to express our experience of the world