Language, Culture, and Society

• a system of vocal symbols that are used for human communication and are arbitrary

  Language
• as a system of symbols, including words and rules of grammar, which enable individuals to communicate with one another

  Language
• a shared set of perspectives, values, beliefs, customs, and practices that are typical of a particular community or civilization

  Culture
• is shaped by the experiences of individuals and vice-versa

  Culture
• a group of people who live their lives in ways that are distinctive from other groups in an aggregated and structured manner

  Society
• a sizable gathering of individuals who live together with structure and collaborate to make decisions and distribute labor, highlighting the importance of organization and teamwork

  Society
• Dialect - A specific variety of a language that is unique to a particular region or social group.

  Sociolinguistics - The investigation of the interrelation between language and society.

  Code-switching - The act of transitioning between two or more languages or dialects while speaking
• Language Acquisition - The process of acquiring a language, whether as a first or second language.

  Bilingualism - The capacity to speak and comprehend two languages.

  Anthropology - The scientific inquiry of human cultures and societies
• Cultural Relativism -The belief that cultural practices should be evaluated within the context of the culture in which they occur, rather than applying the standards of one's own culture.

  Cultural Appropriation - The act of taking or utilizing aspects of one culture by individuals from another culture without proper recognition or respect.

  Artifacts - Objects created by a particular culture, often possessing

  symbolic significance
• Ideology - The fundamental principles and morals that support political or social systems.

  Ethnocentrism - The inclination to evaluate other cultures based on the norms and values of one's own culture.

  Xenocentrism - Preference for the cultural practices of other cultures rather than one’s own.
• Social stratification - The system of levels of authority and status among people in a society.

  Social Mobility - The capacity to move between different levels of social hierarchy in a society.

  Social Cohesion - The extent to which individuals in a society experience a sense of connectedness with others
• • linguistic relativity
  • Language shapes thought and perception

  Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
• •A method of recording and analyzing oral poetry and narratives

  to preserve their formal and functional elements.

  •Emphasizes the cultural and performative aspects of oral traditions

  Ethnopoetics
• Oral Gesture Theory by Paget


  •Proposes that speech originated from gestures and body movements.

  •Early human communication involved gestures that gradually evolved into vocal expressions
• Language is transmitted through sound (speaking and hearing)

  Vocal-Auditory Channel
• Language sounds are broadcast in all directions, but listeners can perceive the direction from which the sounds are coming

  Broadcast Transmission and Directional Reception
• Language sounds are temporary and disappear quickly after being produced.

  Transitoriness
• Individuals can both send and receive messages

  Interchangeability
• Speakers can hear and monitor their own speech, allowing them to control and modify it as they speak

  Total Feedback
• The primary function of language is communication, rather than serving another biological function

  Specialization
• Specific signals have specific meanings

  Semanticity
• There is no inherent connection between the linguistic signs (words) and their meanings

  Arbitrariness
• Language is composed of distinct units that can be combined in various ways to create meaning

  Discreteness
• Frozen Register


  Language that never changes
• Formal Register


  Standard English
• Consultative Register


  Less formal standard English
• Casual Register


  Language among friends
• Intimate Register


  Language among lovers and family
• • Pioneer in linguistic anthropology
  • Known for work on language-culture relationship
  • Argued language shapes perception of the world
  • Different languages create different worldview

  Edward Sapir
• • Student of Sapir
  • Continued work on languageculture relationship
  • Known for Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
  • Suggested language structure affects speaker's perception of the world

  Benjamin Lee Whorf
• • Anthropologist
  • Significant contributions to symbolic anthropology
  • Argued culture is a system of symbols used to interpret and understand the world
  • Emphasized studying meanings attached to actions and behaviors

  Cliffor Geertz
• • French sociologist
  • Developed theory of cultural capital
  • Cultural capital refers to knowledge, skills, and practices used to navigate social context
  • Argued cultural capital is unequally distributed in society and can reproduce social inequality

  Pierre Bourdieu
• • Sociologist
  • Focused on how people present themselves in social situations
  • Coined the term "impression management"
  • Described strategies people use to create a particular impression to others
  • Emphasized importance of nonverbal communication and structured social interactions

  Erving Goffman