Wrapup and Review

1
Wrap-up and Review
2
Reminders

• Office hours this week T/Th 11-12
• W 12-3
• You can email me brief questions
• Exam 3 is this Thursday IN CLASS
• Same format as previous two exams
• Anthro office will be closed this afternoon
  (after 12) but you can pick up assignment 4
  after class until noon.

3
Powerpoint slides

• Slides are up (including todays)
• Copies available in 509 Williams for 10 cents a
  page
• Review sheets up front, or online

4
Course wrap-up
5
Last textbook chapters

• The last Agar chapter and the last chapter of
  Ottenheimer both emphasize the utility of
  linguistic anthro perspectives in todays world
• Agar encourages us to notice mistakes caused by
  misaligned frames in our interactions with other
  people, to be aware of those mistakes, and to
  repair them
• Ottenheimer talks about contemporary linguistic
  anthropology, and how important linguistic issues
  are to many social and political situations
  anthropologists work on and the communities they
  work with.

6
What was this class about?

• How is language distinctly human?
• How diverse are human languages?
• How do humans use language for
• different purposes?
• How are language and culture related?
• What does language do for us socially?
• How does culture shape language form,
• function and use?

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The Point of the Class

• Language is a really really important part of
  being human and of most (all?) things that human
  beings do.

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Language and Culture are inseparable

• Even (or especially) when we are not aware of it,
  or believe it doesnt matter, language
  contributes to social interaction, social life,
  and even social structure.
• language and worldview (including grammar and
  metaphors)
• language and identity
• language differences and social differences
• linguistic interaction and social relations
• language policy, identity, and political power

9
Remember Language is never neutral

• language ideologies influence all aspects of
  language choice and language use
• language development and revitalization projects,
  as well as language shift and language death, are
  all social processes that are related to the
  evaluation of languages, their use, and their
  speakers.

10
Review
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Politeness

• positive politeness oriented towards a persons
  desire to be well-thought of.
• Youre such a good cook, perhaps you should
  make the dinner.
• negative politeness oriented towards a persons
  desire not to be imposed on.
• I know youre busy, but could you please make
  the dinner?

12
Frames

• Frames are sets of cultural and pragmatics
  rules that apply to particular kinds of
  interactions.
• e.g. Ordering frame in a restaurant
• Introduction frame when meeting someone
  for the first time

13
Mock language

• mini-register within a language that represents
  another language
• Can consist of particular words, intonations,
  accents, or elements of grammar/morphology (e.g.
  mock Russian often ends words in -sky)

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obligatory gender distinctions

• Gender distinctions that the language REQUIRES
  you to mark
• I called my cousin but he/she wasnt home.
• Ja zvonila bratu, a ego ne bylo doma.
• I called my cousin (brother), but he wasnt
  home.

15
non-obligatory cultural distinctions

• I took the car to the mechanic.
• What did he say?
• SHE said it would be fixed by 5 today.

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Exam structure

• Multiple choice
• Fillins
• Definitions (see starred items)
• Essays 4 or 5 short essays focusing on the
  readings check out possibilities on review
  sheet.