Dr. Harriet J. Ottenheimer
Chapter 1
Linguistic Anthropology

Anthropology is Holistic
•
Four Fields:
–
Archaeology
–
Physical Anthropology
–
Cultural Anthropology
–
Linguistic Anthropology
•
Applied Anthropology
–
A fifth field or a second dimension?.

Introducing Linguistic
Anthropology
•
Linguistic Anthropology
–
Contexts & situations
–
Cause of different world views

Anthropology is Comparative
•
Cultural relativity
•
Ethnocentrism
– frames of reference
•
Commonalities.

Anthropology is Fieldwork-based
•
In the field ethnography
•
Participant Observation
•
New frames of reference
• Learning ‘inside’ view
.
Chiapas, Mexico- 2003

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

Introduction
•
Uses and meaning transmitted are situational, social, and cultural
–
Situational
–
Social
–
Cultural
•
Speaking is an action through which meaning is contextually created.
–
Ethnography of communication
–
Cultural model- is a construction of reality.

Methodologies
•
Ethnolinguistics
–
Anthro. Ethnographic methods
–
Extract rules of communcation
•
Sociolinguistics
–
Discover patterns of linguistic variation
–
Linguistics differences result from gender, age, class, region, race, ethnicity and occupation
– Instead of “rules” are statements of probability
• individual and societal patterning are based on behavior exhibited over time and in diverse situations.
–
Context complex

In Search of the First Language
•
Tower of Babel
•
Did a mother tongue ever exist?
•
Sr. William Jones discovered
•
What is the Proto Indo European?Date?
•
Why are Salish speakers concerned about language survival?
•
What are the consequences of language loss?
•
Why is the Basque a language isolate?
•
How have scientist tried to study language (Cavalli-
Sforza)