Phonemics Studying the minimal meaningful contrast in a language. Korean:/keda/ = fold /k h eda/ = dig out Hindi: /tali/ = key /kap/ = cup /t h ali/ = strip /kap h / = phlegm /p h l/ = fruit /p l/ = moment /b l/ = strength

top stop little kitten hunter Phonetics studies perceptible differences

etics System-external description and analysis Victor Turners first stage of ritual analysis (observe behavior) Biological genealogies in kinship (parents & children)

emics System-internal description and analysis Explains social or cultural elements according to indigenous definitions/categories Victor Turners third stage of ritual analysis (interpretation following internal logic of the culture) Kinship terms (how the natives classify their relatives)

Emic categories of kinship

Language as a metaphor for culture Transfer the explanatory power and elegance of phonemes and structural description in language to culture and behaviour Kenneth L. Pike, 1954, Language in Relation to a Unified Theory of the Structure of Human Behavior Cognitive anthropology, ethnoscience, ethnomethodology

Etic distinctions External frameworks or universal classificatory grids Linguistic typologies (e.g., analytic, inflecting, agglutinating, polysynthetic) Linnaean classification of plants & animals (genus, species) Disease (medical pathology) But are these just our (Western) emic categories, deployed universally?

emics Not the natives model Boass secondary rationalization, Turners exegetical models Emic models, like phonemes, are constrictions formalized by the analyst on the basis of distinctive features present in indigenous usage

Hanunoo pronouns Etic distinctions inelegant and inaccurate (1st, 2nd, 3rd person; sing., dual, plural; inclusive, exclusive) Emic categories are Minimal membership, nonminimal membership Inclusion of speaker, exclusion of speaker Inclusions of hearer, exclusion of hearer Categories not overt in native consciousness

Componential analysis Formulate the basic conceptual units behind utterances Find a native who knows how to use conventional symbols and record their use in different contexts Describe all the contexts as closely as possible, make as many discriminations as possible (etics). Ex., makuahine = mother, mothers sister, fathers sister

Emic paradigms /t/ and /d/ are in meaningful contrast, so are /p/ - /t/ - /k/ Morphological paradigm: l j ubl j u, l j ubish, l j ubit An analogy to cultural paradigms can be age grades. In Maasai culture: child, junior, warrior, junior elder, elder

shamanism Etic definitions classify behavior and ideologies across cultures Especially knowledgeable persons, religious leaders who serve their communities by using hand-held drums to call their spirit allies. Ascensual metaphysic - rising of person in soul flight to engage spirits for various purposes Ecstatic transcendence - using an altered state of consciousness to interact with spirit powers

Koryak shamanism Various technologies of power and experts Angangel - singer, healer Zintelen - wizard, magician Components of a person: wuyevi (breath), uyichit (soul), shade (wuyelwuyel) Tools of power Drum, mushrooms, dreams

Yanomamo shamanism Shaman is warrior-leader, expert in magical attack and defense, only men hekura spirits - non-human beings subject to shamanic control that can be sent on deadly missions to sicken and kill other people; also used as allies in defense against enemy hekura ebene - hallucinogenic snuff made from tropical forest plants Non-shamans have no access to any of these powers