Chapter 6 - Expressive Culture: Symbols & Language
Reference:
Killmurray, Liam
2019. Expressive Culture: Symbols and Language. In INTRODUCTION TO ANTHROPOLOGY'S FOUR FIELDS: Culture,
biology, language and archaeology. United States: KENDALL HUNT.
Does Culture have a Symbolic Basis?
Leslie White
- Human culture emerged when hominids began to use symbols
- Symbols allow humans to give meaning to the world. Relate signs to objects
Iconic signs: similar to object it represents i.e no smoking sign
Indexical signs: natural relationship between the sign and object they represent to refer to the existence
of the object i.e. smoke = fire
Symbol: arbitrary, no connection between sign and its object
How does Culture Shape the Way We Communicate?
Body language, symbolic visual cues:
- Body movements (kinesics) - bowing, extending arms etc
- Body posture - standing up right, leading to one side etc
- Hand gestures - configuration of fingers
- Use of space (proxemics)
- Facial expressions
- Haptics = shaking hands, huggins etc
Sign language is different from body language. Sign language and writing systems = symbols that
represent other symbols
What is Language & How does it Differ from other Forms of Animal Communication
Language = verbal communication system, system of symbols used to communicate complex ideas
- Cluster of verbal/written/gestured signs put together to create meaningful sentences
- Human language almost completely symbolic, can communicate about past, present & future,
endless array of utterances, communicate complex ideas
Non-human animals
- Have verbal communication systems, very different from humans
- Indexical, animal sounds connected to environment stimulus (food, intruder etc)
- Communicate only about present
- “Call and response pattern” predictable communication, repetitive
What is the Structure of Language?
2 problems in trying to define a language and its structure
1. Humans can make hundreds of phones (human-made sounds), not all languages employ same
type or number of sounds
, 2. Must have a way to write down or symbolize the sounds used in all languages. Languages have
different alphabets
- Therefore linguists adopted the international phonetic alphabet (IPH) - uses distinct set of
symbols to account for every sound used in any language
- Phonemes: distinct sound in a particular language
- Morphemes: meaningful unit of language that can’t be further divided
- Syntax: rules for putting morphemes together, helps us communicate more complicated concepts
How do Languages Vary
- Features of language vary w the social, political, and economic attributes of its speakers (social
status, ethnic identity, gender)
- Regional and ethnic dialects
- Language changes when we interact w ppl in different social settings
How do Languages Change Over Time?
- Comparative method: comparing elements of different languages to determine how they’re
related
What’s the Relationship Between Language, Culture and Human Cognition?
- Language = reflection/expression of culture, language can shape culture
- Focal vocabularies: extended list of terms in a language that are used to denote a specific
item/behaviour deemed important i that society
- Way to observe how beliefs/values impact language
- Dialect: variety of a language associated w geographical regions within a nation
- direct/indirect influences from other cultures
- Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis: claimed human thought shaped by language
- No word for it, can’t think it. Languages determines how one can think
Lecture 5 - Expressive Symbols (Linguistic Anthro)
Reference:
Kilmurray, Liam. “Expressive Symbols.” Introduction to Anthropology, 24 February 2021, Carleton University, Ottawa. Lecture .
Lesley White: (famous anthropologist from reading) emergence of symbols leads to development of
language
- Iconic signs - Gestures (hand)
- Symbols - Proxemics (use of space to communicate)
- Kinesics - body movements - Facial expressions
- Posture - Haptics - hugs, high fives etc
Culture and Language
- Language reflects and shapes culture
- Focal vocabularies: ex. Maasai words words for cattle, Inuit words for snow, Irish words for rain.
Focal sets focused on by a particular group
Terms
, - Linguistic divergence: the development of different languages from a single ancestral language.
How, when, why, where languages diverge
- Glottochronology:
- In linguistics, a method of dating divergence in branches of language families
- Certain stem words (mother, father, fire, water, brother, sister, air, numbers, place names etc) are
more resistant to change thus a formula can be applied:
- t= time of separation
c= percentage of shared core vocabulary
- Lexicostatistics (date divergence of particular languages)
- Displacement:
- The ability to refer to objects and events removed in time and space (i.e I will be there tomorrow)
The emergence of writing systems
- Emergence of writing associated w emergence of the state
- Pictographic system (oldest version of communication, 1st writing systems, pictures)
Sumerian writing
- Pictographic, ca. 4000 BC (began writing system in)
- Cuneiform, ca. 3000 Bc (wooden sticks into wet clay - tablets)
- Cuneiform applied symbols as well as pictures, starting the process towards true writing
Logographic
- Mix of pictographic and ideographic representation (mix of picture and cartucious images that
stand for ideas)
The emergence of writing systems
- Ideographic proto-writing: whole words or significant parts of words are represented by
symbols figures
Logo-syllabic script
- Sumerians added a syllabic adjunct to their script, reflecting the phonology and syntax of their
spoken language (turning point in emergence of true writing, turn into alphabet, letters that stand
for sounds / phrases)
Hieroglyphs
- Emerge in about 3,200 BC
- A formal writing system used by the ancient egyptians that contained a combination of
logographic and syllabic-alphabetic elements (improvement on sumerian clay tablet system)
Egyptian hieroglyphs
- A formal writing system used in ancient egypt from 4th millennium BC
- Hieroglyphs combined logographic, syllabic and alphabetic elements with a total of some 1000
distinct characters
Linguistic Anthropology
Reference:
Killmurray, Liam
2019. Expressive Culture: Symbols and Language. In INTRODUCTION TO ANTHROPOLOGY'S FOUR FIELDS: Culture,
biology, language and archaeology. United States: KENDALL HUNT.
Does Culture have a Symbolic Basis?
Leslie White
- Human culture emerged when hominids began to use symbols
- Symbols allow humans to give meaning to the world. Relate signs to objects
Iconic signs: similar to object it represents i.e no smoking sign
Indexical signs: natural relationship between the sign and object they represent to refer to the existence
of the object i.e. smoke = fire
Symbol: arbitrary, no connection between sign and its object
How does Culture Shape the Way We Communicate?
Body language, symbolic visual cues:
- Body movements (kinesics) - bowing, extending arms etc
- Body posture - standing up right, leading to one side etc
- Hand gestures - configuration of fingers
- Use of space (proxemics)
- Facial expressions
- Haptics = shaking hands, huggins etc
Sign language is different from body language. Sign language and writing systems = symbols that
represent other symbols
What is Language & How does it Differ from other Forms of Animal Communication
Language = verbal communication system, system of symbols used to communicate complex ideas
- Cluster of verbal/written/gestured signs put together to create meaningful sentences
- Human language almost completely symbolic, can communicate about past, present & future,
endless array of utterances, communicate complex ideas
Non-human animals
- Have verbal communication systems, very different from humans
- Indexical, animal sounds connected to environment stimulus (food, intruder etc)
- Communicate only about present
- “Call and response pattern” predictable communication, repetitive
What is the Structure of Language?
2 problems in trying to define a language and its structure
1. Humans can make hundreds of phones (human-made sounds), not all languages employ same
type or number of sounds
, 2. Must have a way to write down or symbolize the sounds used in all languages. Languages have
different alphabets
- Therefore linguists adopted the international phonetic alphabet (IPH) - uses distinct set of
symbols to account for every sound used in any language
- Phonemes: distinct sound in a particular language
- Morphemes: meaningful unit of language that can’t be further divided
- Syntax: rules for putting morphemes together, helps us communicate more complicated concepts
How do Languages Vary
- Features of language vary w the social, political, and economic attributes of its speakers (social
status, ethnic identity, gender)
- Regional and ethnic dialects
- Language changes when we interact w ppl in different social settings
How do Languages Change Over Time?
- Comparative method: comparing elements of different languages to determine how they’re
related
What’s the Relationship Between Language, Culture and Human Cognition?
- Language = reflection/expression of culture, language can shape culture
- Focal vocabularies: extended list of terms in a language that are used to denote a specific
item/behaviour deemed important i that society
- Way to observe how beliefs/values impact language
- Dialect: variety of a language associated w geographical regions within a nation
- direct/indirect influences from other cultures
- Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis: claimed human thought shaped by language
- No word for it, can’t think it. Languages determines how one can think
Lecture 5 - Expressive Symbols (Linguistic Anthro)
Reference:
Kilmurray, Liam. “Expressive Symbols.” Introduction to Anthropology, 24 February 2021, Carleton University, Ottawa. Lecture .
Lesley White: (famous anthropologist from reading) emergence of symbols leads to development of
language
- Iconic signs - Gestures (hand)
- Symbols - Proxemics (use of space to communicate)
- Kinesics - body movements - Facial expressions
- Posture - Haptics - hugs, high fives etc
Culture and Language
- Language reflects and shapes culture
- Focal vocabularies: ex. Maasai words words for cattle, Inuit words for snow, Irish words for rain.
Focal sets focused on by a particular group
Terms
, - Linguistic divergence: the development of different languages from a single ancestral language.
How, when, why, where languages diverge
- Glottochronology:
- In linguistics, a method of dating divergence in branches of language families
- Certain stem words (mother, father, fire, water, brother, sister, air, numbers, place names etc) are
more resistant to change thus a formula can be applied:
- t= time of separation
c= percentage of shared core vocabulary
- Lexicostatistics (date divergence of particular languages)
- Displacement:
- The ability to refer to objects and events removed in time and space (i.e I will be there tomorrow)
The emergence of writing systems
- Emergence of writing associated w emergence of the state
- Pictographic system (oldest version of communication, 1st writing systems, pictures)
Sumerian writing
- Pictographic, ca. 4000 BC (began writing system in)
- Cuneiform, ca. 3000 Bc (wooden sticks into wet clay - tablets)
- Cuneiform applied symbols as well as pictures, starting the process towards true writing
Logographic
- Mix of pictographic and ideographic representation (mix of picture and cartucious images that
stand for ideas)
The emergence of writing systems
- Ideographic proto-writing: whole words or significant parts of words are represented by
symbols figures
Logo-syllabic script
- Sumerians added a syllabic adjunct to their script, reflecting the phonology and syntax of their
spoken language (turning point in emergence of true writing, turn into alphabet, letters that stand
for sounds / phrases)
Hieroglyphs
- Emerge in about 3,200 BC
- A formal writing system used by the ancient egyptians that contained a combination of
logographic and syllabic-alphabetic elements (improvement on sumerian clay tablet system)
Egyptian hieroglyphs
- A formal writing system used in ancient egypt from 4th millennium BC
- Hieroglyphs combined logographic, syllabic and alphabetic elements with a total of some 1000
distinct characters
Linguistic Anthropology
