Language Notes PDF
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This document contains lecture notes on language, covering topics such as language systems, communication, kinesics, symbols, and related fields. It delves into the study of language use in various contexts and includes discussions on dialects and the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis.
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9/27/24 Language: A system of arbitrary symbols used to communicate and encode experience ○ Gestures: Movements that communicate language Call Systems: laughing, sobbing, screaming Kinesics: Study of non-verbal communication Symbols: Sta...
9/27/24 Language: A system of arbitrary symbols used to communicate and encode experience ○ Gestures: Movements that communicate language Call Systems: laughing, sobbing, screaming Kinesics: Study of non-verbal communication Symbols: Stand for something else, completely unrelated Semiotics: Study of signs, symbols, and their use Learning a Language: ○ Phonemes: sounds, or smallest units ○ Morphemes: Pattern of use, words ○ Grammar: Rules of the use of morphemes Pragmatics: Study of language in the context of its use ○ Why do we say certain words in certain situations? Linguistic Ethnography: Study language in the context of culture ○ Use observation to see real-life situations in which people use language Linguistic Lab: Language-related studies are conducted here 9/30/24 S ociolinguistics: study of language in a social context; how language relates to social interactions Focal Words: set of words and distinctions important to a group Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis: ○ Different languages produce a different way of thinking Dialect: a variety of a language spoken by a group of people with distinct phonemes and/or syntax 10/7/24 eople in different parts of the US pronounce things differently, different accents P Places can become a generator of a certain dialect of language A case can be made that NYC is the global capital of the English Language John Simon describes the English language as poor and hopeless as it keeps changing ○ Prescriptivist, wants rules to keep the language in line ○ Language change happens and there is nothing you can do about it, but these people think we should try and prevent it American English has always been inventive, but it is used around the world ○ Slang Terms can be added to the dictionary as they are discovered in magazines and the news ○ Descriptivist is content with changes to the language and watches as it evolves Listening to hip-hop can cause young white teens to change and become similar to those who they are listening to ○ They act the same way, talk the same way ○ Words come from hip-hop and make their way into the English language as people adopt them Instant messaging attacks the standards of the language, people get rid of punctuation and capitalization and use abbreviations Written English has become more informal E nglish has borrowed from other languages, but is Spanish in some ways replacing English? Standard American English converges to a pattern that is not local ○ International English with an “r-less” pronunciation came from England and ended up in the big Eastern Cities After World War II, people in those cities were careful to try and use their “r’s” ○ This is “not right” for American Philadelphia was the only original east coast city to pronounce “r’s”, so it is known as the hub for American English that then spread west American desire not to be too correct ○ It is said most correct is in Ohio and the southern midwest region Americans think about places as having bad English, like the south ○ But sometimes they like these accents better People in Pittsburgh think there is a way of speaking that is only found in Pittsburgh which is true ○ They have a unique dialect with different words People connect themselves to places and other people based on the way they speak Calls from people who ask about correct grammar Grapholect is the written rules of a language ○ Some linguists believe that though dialects can be different, we can keep communication if we write the same People have jobs for newspapers to make sure that words are not misused ○ Spoken influences the written which helps cause these problems Northern city vowel shift has caused the language to be less understandable, language is becoming a more dividing factor in the US as time goes on It is often agreed that African Americans speak bad English, but it is rooted deeply in other English around the world ○ Contemporary African American dialects grew from pigeon, a simplified English Spoke in Western Africa by traders Slave factories and trade languages are the origins of African American English Students who spoke differently in schools were perceived as unteachable ○ Some teachers did not communicate with these students ○ Lawsuit because language shouldn’t stop them from being educated Some think everything stems from street English, which then becomes mainstream 10/9/24 Call centers had a neutral “American accent” ○ People are trained, started as something that was supposed to be anti-capitalist ○ But, people are intensely trained in a “global” accent that represents a class in India Specific sounds to sound American Hiring neutral accents ○ People who speak similarly to us have good communication skills Accents are not just sound ○ Accents are linked to social identities No accent therefore is neutral ○ Mother tongue influence: ○ People from different places have trouble telling the difference between the accents of people in other places Trainers have to be able to hear the “right kind” of difference ○ Non-neutral features/sound swaps The neutral accent is a kind of Indian-English, not Americanized Used to pretend they weren’t Indian in these call centers, but around 2002 it was found out that Indians were being trained to sound American ○ Customers would get frustrated with the truth ○ Call centers wanted to switch to something that was not American Hard for people who do not have exposure to the Indian community to identify different types of Indian-English accents Distinct accents in Texas that people in New York would likely hear as the same 10/14/24 P rimates: Quadrupeds are “normal” Mammals rise up 65 million years ago starting with primates ○ Most of these animals had 4 feet, walking on two feet was totally weird Primates were adapted to live in trees ○ They also adapted to changing environments ○ They have very dexterous hands to climb and brachiate the trees (only mammals to have this) Primates havesexual dimorphism: ○ Distinct differences in size or appearance between the sexes of an animal ○ Male gorillas have extra strong muscles for their jaw ○ Teeth are different Just over 7 million years ago there was the first fossil evidence that broke off and distinguished itself from other primates ○ These mammals became bipedal ○ 4,000 extant mammals:ONEtrue biped Four legs were the normal because you would be faster and have better balance Balance and center of gravity ○ Some quadrupeds can walk upright sometimes But this isn’t natural ○ Major anatomical changes to walking on two feet Spine: C v.s. S-shaped ○ Ancestors acquired an S-shaped sign to help us walk upright and free up our hands Skull: Foramen Magnum ○ A hole in the bottom of your head instead of the back of your head which forces you upright instead of on all fours A bowl-shaped pelvis holds up organs rather than a ribcage ○ Flat and broad pelvis ○ Birth ramifications: narrow canal Femur angle: from hip to knee ○ Broad pelvis, but foot must be directly under Sagittal keel: bone mohawk Feet are very different as well to support bipedalism Humans get wimpy with more precise hands as they do not need to reach to the ground Bipedalism: Why? ○ More energy efficient ○ Visual surveillance Food Predators ○ Mating factors? Male chimps and gorillas stand to show dominance ○ Carrying tools, food, babies ○ Most likely multi-factorial Spair-Whorf Hypothesis: ○ Languages influence how we think ○ Language either determines or influences one's thought People who speak different languages see the world differently, based on the language they use to describe it ○ Having more words helps you better understand the world ○ Feels like someone who uses more vocabulary is smarter and thinks in a more complex way Of about6,900languages in the world, English isthe most spoken with Mandarin in second Language tree shows languages related to one another in language families What makes a language unique? ○ Dialect continua- changes as you move It’s hard to find exactly where the division of language exists If you travel ten miles a day, the people at the beginning and end of your day would understand you, but not the people at the beginning and end of your total trip ○ Mutual intelligibility: If a speaker of one language can understand another and vice versa, it is not a unique language Language hotspots are places where there are a lot of different languages spoken in the same place ○ In Europe, there are 230 languages for 764 million people (0.0000003 languages per person) ○ 2,000 in Asia where there are 4.5 billion people (0.000004) ○ 832 in Papua New Guinea with only 3.9 million people ○ Of 165 Indigenous languages in North America, only about 8 are spoken by 10,000 or more people Endangered languages: one that is spoken by few peopleand is not being learned by the next generation, can become extinct in the near future T hese endangered languages will become extinct in our lifetimes (technically when the last speaker dies) ○ The language is no longer spoken or known by anyone ○ According to Sapir-Whorf, that culture and way of understanding the world are gone Biodiversity and language diversity hotpots are similar and in most of the same locations ○ Losing biodiversity coincides with losing languages Languages are disappearing at alarming rates ○ UNESCO estimates that by 2100 half the languages will be gone We lose the worldview, culture, and knowledge encoded in that language Trail of Tears relates to language as Indigenous peoples were taught English ○ Kids are forced to go to assimilation boarding schools where they are forced to only speak English Cultural Genocide: ○ Intentionally trying to kill off a culture, stripping them of that worldview ○ Sanctified by the US government until the 1980s 10/16/24 B iological Anthropology: we are the products of millionsof years of evolution, and biological anthropologists are trying to figure out how we came to be by studying that evolution in the past and present Fields of Biological Anthropology ○ Paleoanthropology: Study of really old humans bones Study of the fossil record of humankind, hominins Most direct evidence of human ancestry Study the environment in which the bones lived Most evidence of ancient hominin ancestors in Africa Evdience of hominins however are found all around old world ○ Osteology: Study of the human skeleton Looking at physiology, how culture affects the human body How diet effects the look of your bones Kathy Reichs- famous forensic osteologist (anthropologist) Works with police department/FBI to identify human remains ○ Paleopathology and bioarchaeology: Study of old diseased bones Identifies old bones ○ Primatology: Study of primates and our closest living relatives Anatomy and genetics of living and past primates to learn about our own species Evolution: The process by which different kinds ofliving organisms developed ○ Theories of Evolution Jean-Baptiste Lamark (1744-1829) Inheritance of Aquired Characteristics ○ Animals were really well adapted to their environment ○ They were because they had to, when changes happen in the environment the animals will change ○ Believed species would inherit characteristics over the course of one generation and pass them on to their children ○ If a giraffe needs to eat because the trees grew, the giraffe would also grow and pass on that height to offspring Of course this is not possible, individuals do not evolve Charles Darwin (1809-1882) The ship’s naturalist Fitness: Described in terms of individual reproductivesuccess compared to other individuals in their species; equal to a contribution to the gene pool by an individual, genotype, or phenotype ○ Fitness is not about being the fastest or strongest, it’s just about adapting to the environment and reproductive success Natural selection: Mutations create variation andunfavored mutations do not reproduce while favored do ○ The mutated animals reproduce passing on the mutation Inheritance: passed down genes Adaptations: Inherited structures, functions, or behaviorsthat help an organism survive and reproduce Tenets of Natural Selection: ○ Phenotypic variation exists among individuals and it is heritable ○ Those individuals with heritable traits better suited to their environment will survive and have greater reproductive success 10/21/24 Nadtrahala bone sites all throughout Europe as they buried dead. ○ Most of the bone sites are fragmentary pieces. Neanderthals in the Middle East ○ One amputated showing early health methods. Evidence of burials Neanderthals are human-like in brain size and features Neanderthals originated several thousand years ago in Europe, the earliest in Spain Bigger brows and humans have more bony chin/more chin present Neanderthals didn’t survive when bone breakage in their legs since they presumably couldn’t keep up with the group ○ Didn’t heal or get medical attention. More wide and stocky compared to humans Neanderthal brains are slightly larger than humans in terms of size ○ Have a longer low cranium Behaviorally very similar to humans, they lived in small groups. N eanderthal anatomy adapted to cold, high levels of physical activity, genetic drift small populations (founder effect). Neanderthals relied on middle Paleolithic stone tool technology ○ Used a lot of different materials for tools Up to 90% of the Neanderthal diet consisted of meat Had a type o blood type ○ Recent studies show that have a b and o Neanderthals may have gone extinct due to a lack of genetic diversity, a low population that was geographically restricted, and genetically phased out. ○ Partners may have come from different groups 10/23/24 B ioarchaeology:Analysis of human remains in orderto learn about past populations Paleoanthropology: Analysis of old hominin remainsin order to learn more about past populations ○ Both use similar methods to try to figure out who people were and how they lived Hard Tissue: Your bones, studied by a human osteologist Soft tissue: other types of human remains Figure out the context of the remains tells us about mortuary practices and treatment of remains Biological Species ○ Infertileness of the offspring of animals would cause them to be different species The two species can still mate but offspring cannot Phenetic Species ○ The looks and characteristics of the different animals would create different species Holotype: Type specimen, or first specimen in a newspecies Paratype: All other specimens in that species Evolution: The process by which different kinds ofliving organisms developed Hominins: Refers to extinct and living members ofthe human lineage ○ Bigger brains, use of tools, developed speech and culture over time Sahelanthropus tchadensis: First hominin species Australopithecus Afarensis: more defined sexual dimorphism,smaller brains than modern humans, first bipedal The genus Homos: Latin for man, 2.3 mya Homo Habilis: used stone tools Homo erectus:migrated from Africa, controlled fire,created Acheulan Hand axes for hunting in groups, brains grew with protein Homo Sapiens: 300kya in Africa Neandertals: 250kya-40kya in Europe, interbred withsapiens, both with bigger brains Mortuary Analysis: looking at past burial techniques,grave goods, and rituals associated with death The first signs of human burial are homo naledi in South Africa 336,000-225,000 years old 10/25/24 Microorganisms: bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoa Pathogen: organism that may cause pathology Prokaryote vs Eukaryote: ○ Eukaryote has a nucleus and other organelles in their cells while bacteria has its stuff lose Microbe is a microorganism that may or may not be pathogenic (causing disease) B acteria growing outside someones body can generate toxins, becoming a pathogen without an infection Prions are also pathogens (when a protein’s structure changes) Germ theory: Specific microscopic organisms are the cause of specific diseases ○ Louis Pasteur Before Germ theory: ○ Miasma Theory: bad air causes diseases ○ Humoral Theory: a mix of 4 humors: black bile, yellow pile, blood, and phlegm ○ Spontaneous Generation Theory: organisms can arise from nonliving Micro(organisms) are the product of decomposition, not its cause A rotted bread produces the maggots and flies Plague ○ A communicable disease of historical significance that shaped us by influencing biology, history, and culture Coevolution: ○ Forces of evolution are mutation, gene flow, natural selection, and genetic drift Mutation and gene flow increase genetic variation Evolutionary forces cause genetic changes ○ Coevolution is when two things evolve together based on the changes of one another ○ In response to infections, we build up tolerance/resist pathogens ○ Pathogens respond back to the immune system and also change Host-Pathogen arms race ○ The pathogen evolves to the immune system ○ The host has an evolution of the immune response ○ Human populations coevolve with pathogens Paleogenomics: Ancient DNA ○ Provides insight in the actual genetics of pathogens and humans in the past Infectious diseases are agents of natural selection Cultural adapatation to avoid disease: ○ People build elevated houses (hill culture) to avoid low flying mosquitos (malaria) ○ Delta culture is non-elevated houses Local groups brought to almost extinction from pathogens brought to them from the “old world” ○ This caused temperature change for the whole world Epidemiological Transitions ○ Shift from foraging to food production Increase in infectious diseases ○ Decline in infectious disease and rise of chronic disease ○ Globalization of re-emerging infectious disease Novel infections Increasingly drug-resistance 10/28/24 Primatology ○ Primates are going extinct and share with us a recent ancestry We can look at them to see evolution patterns/trends Jane Goodall ○ Popularized primatology ○ Went on vacation at 24 where she was offered at job at the history museum of kenya ○ Was first to discover that chimps use tools Also discovered they eat meat Got her into Cambridge for PhD without bachelors ○ Shifted to conservation and founded the Jane Goodall Institute in 1977 ○ Helped us understand our closest relatives ○ Started the relationship between primateology and anthropology Primate taxonomy ○ Taxonomy is how we are related to another species (like hominins) ○ A primate is an order of mammals Lemurs, monkeys, and apes Diversity of non-human primates ○ 400 species ○ Lemurs are Strepsirhini (large septum between nose, nostrils point upward, tuned nose or wet nose) Rely on smell and nocturnal Vertical clingers and leapers Stereoscopic vision (can judge distance, makes for good hunting) Madagascar, no gene flow back to Africa ○ Everything else is Haplorhini (simple nose or dry nose, nostrils point down) Difference between good and bad sense of smell Monkey vs Ape is the presence of a tail Tarsiers are the most carnivorous non-human primates New world primates have prehensile or grasping tails, live in trees Old world primates have butt pads Hominoids Brain : body size largest Social complexity Large body size Closest living relatives Knuckle walkers, but can stand upright Chimps have large canines that humans don’t have (ours regressed over time) Bonobo are a different species and they don’t fight like chimps Human Evolution in a nutshell: ○ 7 million years ago walked upright ○ 2.2 million years ago used stone tools → Homo habilis ○ 300,000 years ago became species ○ 68,000 years ago left africa 10/30/24 Andes have been inhabited for approximately 10,000 years. ○ Andean Native populations have adapted to high-altitude hypoxia through development and heredity Hypoxia is reduced oxygen pressure ○ Reduced air pressure ○ Less oxygen Hypoxia can cause weakness, nausea, headaches, Cyanosis (blueing), Polycythemia (increase in red blood cells carrying O2), and Cheyne-Stokes irregular breathing (trouble sleeping) in newcomers ○ In Andean residents, they respond better with bigger chests that let the lung’s size and capacity expand as well as right heart enlargement and not hyperventilating T hese adaptations have involved physiology, anatomy, O2 pathways, food production, and culture Hypoxia, cold, Native nutrition, cultural behavior, and historical processes have interacted in complex ways Current studies have shown genes that facilitate O2 transport and improve uterine blood flow in Andean Natives Tibetan Natives show more effective adaptations to hypoxia, perhaps due to longer historical residence 11/1/24 A ncient DNA and Forensics Origins of domestication from alpacas and dogs and the peopling of the New World Ancient DNA is any DNA derived from sources that were already dead ○ DNA starts degrading into small pieces right after death Cold temperatures can help preserve DNA Acidic locations are bad for DNA Ancient DNA has some unique problems ○ Modern DNA contamination can happen ○ These modern contaminants are in better shape than ancient DNA ○ Negative controls run at all steps ○ Very suspicious if you can amplify >500 bp fragments from ancient DNA ○ DNA results should make sense Contamination prevention: ○ Iradite solutions ○ Bleach exterior surfaces ○ Small amount of samples at a time Models of Extraction ○ Decalcify bones and teeth with EDTA ○ Bind DNA ○ Digest proteins and separate from DNA ○ Purify DNA into storage buffer PCR can be difficult for ancient specimes ○ Inhibitions by co-extracted chemicals or molecules ○ Very low copy number ○ Damaged DNA Verification ○ Get same results from two different extracts ○ Should have small pieces ○ Make sure that their was breaking down (a lot of uracils near the cytokines) Forensic DNA ○ DNA can be recovered from the environment and left on anything that can be touched ○ Non-human DNA from pet hair Predicting facial features and skin color and eye color using genome ○ Predict age With ancient DNA we can figure out relatedness and see if a modern person is related to the remains ○ We can look at evolution Themes in ancient DNA ○ Continuity vs replacement of different segments ○ Neanderthal research 11/4/24 Biocultural perspective on corn We are on the land of the Onondogan People Put all of there weapons in a pit and grew a pine tree of peace above the weapons ○ Keepers of the great law of peace Two Row Wampum Belt ○ Living Treaty to honor and respect the land they live on Uniting the Susquehanna Diaspora Planting the Three Sisters Garden For indigenous peoples the biggest statement is planting a seed on the land of your ancestors One Dish One Spoon Wampum Belt: what belongs to one belongs to all Three Sisters Method of planting: ○ Corn is the structure for the beans ○ Squash has large leaves that keep the soil cool Corn or Maize ○ We can change and modify the nature of plants like cooking or processing No need for adaptations to eat because we do this ○ Raw -> modified foods (cooked) ○ Biological evolution of cuisine Maize: Alkali Processing Releases biochemically bound niacin Pellagra is a vitamin B deficiency disease from eating too much corn Caused the plague of corn When alkali processing stopped people started dying from pellagra Females are more susceptible to pellagra by biological differences ○ Also, the male of the household would ge the non-corn food first People fed diets of unprocessed corn (non-hominy) would die Nixtamalization reduces the risk of pellagra 11/6/24 Homo habilis made stone tools ○ 2.2 million years ago Different species means they produce infertile offspring (Biological) The hole at the bottom determines if biped or quadruped ○ Biped has a hole directly under the skull/in the middle Race refers to a social category, rather than a biological category ○ Social construct
