Chapter 4 Communication

Chapter Outline Inner-City Ebonics The Origins and Characteristics of Human Language The Structure of Language Language and Culture

Chapter Outline Nonverbal Communication Language Change Bringing it Back Home: English Only

Ebonics African-American English Vernacular (AAEV), also called Ebonics, has deep roots in the African-American community. William Labov demonstrated that AAEV was just a different way of speaking, and from a linguistic point of view, neither better nor worse than any other.

Animal Vocalizations Animal vocalizations are referred to as calls and animal call systems may have up to sixty sounds. Even large call systems are restricted to a fixed number of signals generally uttered in response to specific events.

History of Human Language Our most distant ancestors probably used call systems similar to modern day primates. Language may have emerged from about 200,000 years ago, with the earliest Homo sapiens. Another view holds that human language emerged about 50,000 years ago, in connection with more sophisticated tool making and symbolic expression.

Language Instinct Humans have what Steven Pinker calls a “language instinct.” Among animals, the instinct for communication means that dogs do not learn to wag their tails when they are content and growl when they are angry: they do these things as an expression of their underlying genetic code. The human “instinct” is to learn the language of the group into which the individual is socialized.

Universal Grammar A basic set of principles, conditions, and rules that form the foundation of all languages Children learn language by applying this unconscious universal grammar to the sounds they hear.

Language and Symbols Human language is a system of symbols. Words are symbols that stand for things, actions, and ideas because speakers of a language agree that they do. Symbols enable humans to transmit and store information, a capacity which makes our cultures possible.

Language and Symbols The relationship between sounds and their meaning is symbolic. Non-human animals have a direct connection between a sound and its meaning; 60 sounds equal 60 meanings. Most human languages have thirty to forty sounds that can produce an endless variety of words and meanings.

Characteristics of Human Language Conventionality The idea that words are conventionally connected to the things for which they stand Productivity The idea that humans can combine words and sounds into new meaningful utterances Displacement The human capacity to describe things not happening in the present

The Structure of Language The study of the structure and content of languages is called descriptive or structural linguistics. These linguists assume that language can be separated from other aspects of culture and studied outside of the social context in which speaking takes place.

The Structure of Language The structure of any language consists of four subsystems. phonology morphology syntax semantics

Phonology The sound system of a language A phone is a sound made by humans and used in any language. The International Phonetic Alphabet is a system of writing designed to represent all the sounds used in the different languages of the world.

Phonology A phoneme is the smallest significant unit of sound in a language. The form of English spoken by most of the American middle class is standard spoken American English. Allophones are two or more different phones that can be used to make the same phoneme in a specific language.

Morphology A system for creating words from sounds A word is the smallest part of a sentence that can be said alone and still retain its meaning. A morpheme is the smallest unit of a language that has a meaning.

Morphology A bound morpheme is a unit of meaning that must be associated with another morpheme to make sense. Examples: -er, -s A free morpheme is a unit of meaning that may stand alone as a word. Examples: a, teach

Isolating Language A language with relatively few morphemes per word and fairly simple rules for combining them Examples: English, Chinese

Agglutinating Language A language that allows a great number of morphemes per word and has highly regular rules for commingling them Example: Inukititut (an Arctic Canadian language)

Syntax The part of grammar that has to do with the arrangement of words to form phrases and sentences

Semantics: The Lexicon Semantics is the subsystem of a language that relates form to meaning. A lexicon is the total stock of words in a language.

Lexicon of Beer in Germany Germans in Munich have a vocabulary of more than 70 words to describe the strength, color, fizziness, clarity, and age of beer because beer is so central to their culture.

Sociolinguistics Subdiscipline of anthropology that focuses on speech performance Sociolinguists attempt to identify, describe, and understand the cultural patterning of different speech events within a community. They are interested in how speech varies depending on a person’s position in a social structure or relationship.

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis Perceptions and understandings of time, space, and matter are conditioned by the structure of a language

Nonverbal Communication Almost two-thirds of communication comes from nonverbal cues. Messages are sent by clothing, jewelry, tattoos, piercings, and body modifications.

Nonverbal Communication Haptics is the study and analysis of touch. Chronemics is the study of how cultures understand time and use it to communicate. Proxemics is the study of how different cultures use space. Kinesics is the study of body movement, facial expressions, and gaze.

Communication Styles What forms of nonverbal communication are being used? What can you tell about this conversation, even though you don’t know what the men are saying?

Languages and Dialects Grammatical constructions used by the socially dominant group are considered a language, and deviations from them are often called dialects. Pidgin – A language of contact and trade composed of features of the original languages of two or more societies Creole – A first language that is composed of elements of two or more different languages

Comparative Linguistics Documenting relationships between languages and grouping them into language families Core vocabulary – A list of 100 or 200 terms that designate things, actions, and activities, likely to be named in all languages. Examples: I, you, man, woman Glottochronology – Statistical technique that linguists developed to estimate the date of separation of related languages

Bringing it Back Home: English Only As of 2007, thirty states have enacted legislation to make English their official language.  Both the U.S. House and Senate have voted to make English the national language or require the federal government to conduct its official business in English. What would happen if our government had to provide services in all 322 languages spoken in the U.S.?

Bringing it Back Home: English Only Many anthropologists say that when people talk about language they are really talking about race. Some claim that promoters of English Only assume that difficulties in communication are caused by people speaking many languages, ignoring the simple fact that sharing the same language does not create effective communication.

Bringing it Back Home: English Only You decide: Do you speak a language other than English as a first language?  If so, do you want your children and grandchildren to speak that language?  If English is your first language, did your parents or grandparents speak a different first language? 

Bringing it Back Home: English Only You decide: In the United States, how closely is language linked to American identity and to ethnic identity? The United States has never had an official national language.  Are there good reasons why this should change?

Quick Quiz

1. A message conveyed that affects the behavior of another organism is an instance of language. a signal. thought. communication. electrical conduction.

Answer: d A message conveyed that affects the behavior of another organism is an instance of communication.

2. The ability to put together combinations or series of words from a limited set of recognized sound units is one of the characteristics of human language, referred to as productivity. a closed system. limited to repetition of learned phrases. conventionality. displacement.

Answer: a The ability to put together combinations or series of words from a limited set of recognized sound units is one of the characteristics of human language, referred to as productivity.

3. Several hundred sounds, known as ________, found within human languages are included in the International Phonetic Alphabet IPA. phonetics phones phonemes words phonology

Answer: b Several hundred sounds, known as phones, found within human languages are included in the International Phonetic Alphabet IPA.

4. Which of the following does not reflect the ideas about language and thought put forward by Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf? Time and space are experienced differently by people who have different languages. A lack of gender classes for nouns in a language corresponds with the equality of men and women in the society. The structure of our language shapes our perceptions of the world.

Answer: b The following does not reflect the ideas about language and thought put forward by Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf: A lack of gender classes for nouns in a language corresponds with the equality of men and women in the society.