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Anthropology 120
A. A. Yengoyan
Fall Quarter, 2009
Language and Culture
Office: 226 Young Hall
The works listed as required reading may be purchased at the local bookstore.
None of these assigned books have been placed on the reserve in the library. The
examination procedure will be discussed in class; however, it will consist of a mid-term
examination and a final examination which everyone must take.
Please Note the Following:
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Gowoon Noh is the Teaching Assistant for this course.
The first day of lecture is Thursday, September 24.
Lectures are on Tuesday and Thursday from 4:40 to 6:00pm in 192 Young.
Discussion section is on Wednesday from 4:10 to 5:00pm in 1344 Storer.
Office hours will be announced in class.
The last day of class is Thursday, December 3.
Examination Dates:
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The mid-term examination will be on Tuesday, November 3rd, during the regular
class session.
The final examination is on Monday, December 7th, 10:30am – 12:30pm.
Required Reading (all are in paperback):
Basso, Keith
Portraits of "The Whiteman", Cambridge University Press,
1979.
Duranti, Alessandro (ed.), Linguistic Anthropology: A Reader, Oxford: Blackwell
Publishing, 2001.
Hickerson, Nancy P.
Linguistic Anthropology, second edition,
Thomson/Wadsworth, 2000.
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Lecture Outline and Readings:
I.
Introduction: The Problem and the Context
Read:
Hickerson, pages 1- 2
Duranti, pages 1-38
II.
The Nature of Language
Read:
Hickerson, chapters 1, 2, 3
Duranti, chapters 1, 2, 3, 11
III.
The Concept of Culture
Read:
Mostly lectures
Duranti, chapters 16, 17, 18
IV.
Language Universals, linguistic relativity, and cultural relativity
Read:
Hickerson, chapter 5
Duranti, chapter 15
V.
Language, cultural symbols and meaning
Read:
Hickerson, chapter 6
Basso, foreword and pages 1-94
Duranti, chapters 7, 9
VI.
Text, Metaphor, and Writing Systems
Read:
Mostly lectures
VII.
Language and History
Read:
Hickerson, chapter 4
VIII.
Language, Death, and the Issue of Endangerment
Read:
Mostly lectures
IX.
Summary