The Anthropology of Language: An Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology

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The Anthropology of Language An Introduction to
Linguistic Anthropology
Chapter 1 Linguistic Anthropology
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Krazy Kat Comic Strip - 1918
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Introducing Linguistic Anthropology

• Anthropology
• Anthropos logos (logia)

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Anthropology is Holistic

• Four Fields
• Archaeology
• Physical Anthropology
• Cultural Anthropology
• Linguistic Anthropology
• Applied Anthropology
• A fifth field or a second dimension?

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Cultural Diversity - Food
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What is a Taco?
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But some foods can seem a bit funny
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even a bit ugly.
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You might even wonder if you want to eat it?
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Anthropology is Comparative

• Ethnocentrism
• frames of reference
• Cultural Relativity
• Commonalities

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Anthropology is Fieldwork-based

• Living in another culture
• Participating in everyday activities
• Adapting to new frames of reference
• Learning inside view.

New Guinea, 2001
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Theoretical Linguistics is

• Focused
• On underlying structures and rules
• Specific
• Deducing universal rules from specific languages
• Rule from English if O follows V, then use Prep
• To see the cat in the tree
• BUT
• Huona mpaha mwiri-juu
• Intuitive
• Using your own language as a source of data.

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Boas and Fieldwork

• Language vs culture vs race
• Language as window into culture
• Language as necessary for fieldwork.

Franz Boas, 1900, posing for model of Kwakiutl
dancer
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Some Fieldwork Concerns

• Culture shock
• Illness
• Ethics
• Mitchell

Wedding preparations, Domoni, 1985