ANT 392N Stross W 7-10 in EPS 1.128

Office EPS 2.204 office hours MW 12-1

Fall 2005

INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTIC ANTHROPOLOGY

http://www.utexas.edu/courses/stross/ant392n_files/ant392n.htm

This course is a graduate introduction to core concepts and methodology pertaining to the anthropological study of language, and to a sampling of books and articles that have helped develop the field. It provides an overview of some key areas of current linguistic anthropological research and a consideration of some important topics of past research. Topics covered include: Language Structure and Function; Language and World View; Ethnosemantics; Speech Socialization; Speech Play and Verbal Art; Language and Social Structure; Ethnography of Speaking; Discourse and Semiotics; Language Change and Reconstruction; Variation in Language and Speech; Nonverbal Communication (including Writing Systems, Sign Language, Body Language);

No prior training in linguistics is assumed, presupposed, or required.

REQUIREMENTS

1) Class preparation and appropriate class participation (including reading articles, chapters, and or books; and being class facilitator for 1 or more class assignment discussions, depending on the size of the class)

2) Three short papers based on projects assigned during the semester, on the syllabus (up to 5 pages each)

3) A research proposal dealing in some manner with linguistic anthropology (up to 10 pages); to be presented orally as well during final weeks of the semester if time allows. Some general suggestions for a research grant proposal can be found here.

TEXTBOOKS

N. Bonvillain Language, Culture and Communication [any edition – used copy can be gotten for reasonable price at Amazon, Half.com, or Half Price books] (required)

B. Blount (ed.) Language, Culture, and Society [2nd Edition] (required)

K. Basso Portraits of "The Whiteman (optional) [short book.

Read in library, or buy used for under $4.00]

P.P. Giglioli, Language and Social Context (optional)

R. Bauman and J. Sherzer, Explorations in the Ethnography of

Speaking (optional)

Assigned readings can be found in the PCL library, and most are on reserve.

OUTLINE OF COURSE TOPICS AND READING ASSIGNMENTS

Week 1 THE SCOPE OF LINGUISTIC ANTHROPOLOGY [8/31]

Language, ethnography of speaking, sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, semiotics, cognition,

performance, verbal art, relativity and universals, variation and change, acquisition of

communicative competence, multilingualism, language origins, language as mirror, etc.

seeing the other

Homework (due week 2): 1) read (and take notes for class discussion in week 2);

Bonvillain - Ch. 1,2 .

Blount – Ch. 3 Sapir's "Language". Bright on writing vs speech (internet site).

Homework: 1) Be prepared in class to discuss, based on the broad weekly rubrics,

to which week would you assign each of the following topics; language and power,

the language of love, language and gender issues, field methods in language data collection,

food and discourse, narrative analysis? 2) come to class prepared to

discuss what life would be like if communication were not based primarily on the

vocal auditory system, but rather on sight as with a gestural system; or on smell.

Week 2 MESSAGE FORMS AND COMMUNICATIVE SYSTEMS [9/7]]

a) speech act components b) consonants and vowels (the IPA) c) phoneme 1,

phoneme 2, phoneme definition and phonemecisation problems d) Chontal segmentation

problem (may be distributed in week 3 instead).

Film: The Human Animal – Language of the Body

Homework (due week 3)

3) read (for discussion in week #3): Blount - Boas "Introduction...",

Hymes, "the ethnography of speaking" (in Blount);

((Extra reading for those so inclined: Shaul&Furbee - Introduction, Chapter 1,

Chapter 2. Hymes - Part I. Haugen and Bloomfield – Moulton, Keenan.

Hockett "The origin of speech" (in Scientific American offprints).

Lounsbury "1OO years...". Stross, "The nature of language";

Finegan&Besnier - Ch 1&2. Farb – pp.1-8O. Trudgill, 13-33.

G. Urban, "Rhetoric of a war chief"; Sapir "Psychological Reality of the Phoneme"

(in Mandelbaum ed. Selected Writings of Edward Sapir 46-51).

Giglioli – Fishman, Hymes, Gumperz.))

Phonology online (internet site).

Week 3 EQUALITY, DIVERSITY, RELATIVITY IN LANGUAGE [9/14] [Jana]

a) phonemicisation problems II b) morpheme problems

c) morphophonemics inc. English plural. d) Tzeltal numbers

Film: Do You Speak American: Up North

Homework (due week 4) 1) read and prepare to discuss markedness,

2) “Sapir-Whorf” problem (to be distributed in week 3);

3) Read (for discussion in week 4): Bonvillain Ch. 3.

Blount - Whorf "The relation of habitual thought and behavior to language".

Hoijer "The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis" ; Sapir "The unconscious patterning...".

Lucy "Whorf's view…"

((Extra reading for those so inclined: Hymes - Part II, Ferguson "Language

problems of variation and repertoire". Finegan&Besnier Ch. 3&4. Farb, 289-328.

Wang "The Chinese language" (in Scientific American offprints).

Giglioli - Goffman, Searle (pp. 61-66, 136-154) ))

Week 3 Special project # 1 (due Week 6)

[repetition requests / pronominal metaphor / backchannel cues ]

Week 4 WORLD VIEW AND GRAMMATICAL CATEGORIES [9/21] [Jana]

class discussion: a) color terms - evolution b) markedness c) Sapir-Whorf hypothesis

d) pronouns (Hanunoo, TZE) e) deixis f) some grammatical categories.

g) taxonomies Film: Do You Speak American: Down South

Homework (to do for meeting of week 5): 1) Kinship problem (Burmese)

2) Bonvillain Ch. 4 .

3) Blount - Frake "The ethnographic study..."; Silverstein "Shifters..."

((Extra reading for those so inclined: Shaul&Furbee – Chapters 3 and 4.

Giglioli – Schegloff. Hymes, Part III. Sapir, Language, chs. 3-5.

Berlin and Kay 1969, Basic Color Terms. Berlin and Berlin 1975.

"Aguaruna color categories" American Ethnologist 2:61-87; Kay, Berlin

and Merrifield "Biocultural implications..." in Blount;

Witkowski and Brown "An explanation of color nomenclature universals."

AA 79:5O-57. Lucy and Shweder (1979) "Whorf and his critics:...color

memory" AA 181:581-6O7.; Witkowski and Brown "Whorf and universals

of color nomenclature" JAR 38(1982):411-42O. Greenberg, Language Universals.

G.W. Grace 1988. The Linguistic Construction of Reality.))

G.A. Miller "the magical number seven, plus or minus two".

Farb, 191-213; Carroll (ed) Whorf LTR "Science and linguistics"

(2O7-219). Leach "Anthropological aspects of language: animal

categories and verbal abuse"; F&B Ch 5, 6.

Week 5 CULTURAL FOCUS AND SEMANTIC FIELD [9/28]

class discussion: a) washing terms b) eating terms c) kinship terms

and componential analysis d) vantage theory

Film: Do You Speak American: Out West

Homework (due week 6, 7): 1) read: Blount – Chs. 5, 6, 12

Bonvillain - Ch 5.

Extra reading for those so inclined: Hymes, Part IV. Farb, 214-23O;

Brown and Levinson in Goody 56-295. Lounsbury "the structural analysis of

kinship semantics"; Tyler pp. 28-59, 78-9O, 93-l36, l93-211, 255-3lO.

Hymes "On personal pronouns: 'fourth' person and phonesthematic

aspects" in Studies in Linguistics; In Honor Of George L. Trager,

(M.E. Smith, ed, pp. 1OO-121). Stross "Speaking of speaking".

Finegan&Besnier Ch. 7,8 ; Leech, "Colour and kinship".

Casson, The semantics of kin term usage..". Shaul&Furbee – Chapters 7 and 8

Berlin "Categories of eating in Tzeltal and Navajo" IJAL 33:1-6.

Week 5 Special Homework project # 2 (ETHNOGRAPHY)

(due Week 8 [graffiti]

Week 6 ROLE, SOCIALIZATION AND EXPRESSIVE SPEECH [10/5] [Eiko]

class discussion: a) ground rules for functioning communication

systems b) Grice's Maxims c) Goffmanology & presentation of self

c) indirection e) persuasion ( viral marketing – (Rumours , Chain letters with warnings,

"Leaked" information ,

Homework: Bonvillain Chs. 7, 8, 9 ; Blount Chs. 21, 23

Film: American Tongues

Week 7 ROLE, SOCIALIZATION AND EXPRESSIVE SPEECH II 10/12] [Eiko]

a) gender differentiated speech b) politeness 1 2

c) baby talk d) language acquisition studies

e) Urban myths , Secondhand versions of official reports )

Homework (due week 8): read: Bonvillain – Ch. 10

Blount – 16 (Turner "Words, utterance..." ); 24 (Briggs and Bauman "Genre...")

K. Basso Portraits of "The Whiteman

((Extra reading for those so inclined: Abrahams "A performance centered approach

to gossip". Goffman Presentation of Self….

E. Sapir "Male and female forms of speech in Yana" (SWES, 2O6-212).

G. Urban "Ceremonial dialogues in South America." AA 88:371-385.

S. Feld and B. Schieffelin "Hard words: a functional basis for Kaluli discourse".

Giglioli – 4, 5, 7, 8, 9. Hymes, Part V. Farb, 41-63.

M.F. Brown "The role of words in Aguaruna hunting magic" American Ethnologist

11:545-558. R. Brown A First Language. R. Brown "Development of the first language

in the human species" (in Haugen and Bloomfield). Haas, "Mens and

womens speech in Koasati". S. Feld Sound and Sentiment; F&B Ch. 15. ))

Week 8 SPEECH PLAY AND VERBAL [10/19] [Petr]

class discussion: a) graffiti/latrinalia b) riddles c) proverbs (Chamula, other);

a) speech games (e.g. pig latin); b) cosmology and history in myth and legend.

c) humor in language d) gossip e) proverbs, refranes & dichos ;

f) propaganda 1 (albert&shalom, ahmed)

g.) lies and disinformation h) word play

Homework read (due weeks 9,10): 1) Bonvillain 6, 11

2) Internet – J. Hill's article on Mock Spanish [Hill slides]

3) Internet - W. Labov's article on "Academic Ignorance"

Extra reading for those so inclined: Farb, 83-156; .Gossen "To speak with a

heated heart". Kirschenblatt-Gimblett Speech Play.

Cowan "Mazateco whistle speech". Shaul&Furbee - 9, 10 .

Basso "Wise words of the Western Apache"; J. Sherzer "Talking backwards in Cuna..."

SWJA 197O:343-453. J. Sherzer "Strategies in text and context." JAF 92:145-163.

Stross "The language of Zuyua". Dundes "Here I sit". Hymes, Part VI.

Irvine "Formality and informality in communicative events" AA 81:773-79O.

J. MacDowell Children's Riddling; F&B 10. W. Mieder, The Politics of Proverbs.

Week 8 Special Homework project # 3 [occupational jargon / names ]

(due Week 1O)

Week 9 SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND SPEECH COMMUNITY [10/26] [Mubbashir]

Class discussion: a) names b) multilingualism c) social dialects, aave/bev

d) social structure, variation and change. e) an international language, esperanto

Homework: 1) Blount - 15 (Ervin-Tripp "Sociolinguistics." );

14 (Gumperz "Linguistic and Social interaction in two communities" );

17 (Hill "The grammar of Consciousness…")

Week 10 SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND SPEECH COMMUNITY II 11/2] [ Mubbashir]

a) networks b pronouns of power & solidarity c) language in media

Homework (due week 11):

2) read: Bonvillain Ch. 12, 13

3) Blount - 19 (Hunn's "Ethnoecology…" )

4) Internet - M. Duke's article Writing Mazateco,

5) Internet - Ch. 1 of Teaching Indigenous Languages

((Extra reading for those so inclined: Giglioli 10, 11, 12, 13, (Part 4).

Sorenson "Multilingualism in the Northwest Amazon" AA 69(1967):67O-82.

Albert "Culture patterning of speech behavior in Burundi"

(in Gumperz and Hymes, Directions In Sociolinguistics).

Sherzer Kuna Ways Of Speaking. ; Hymes, Part VII.

Farb, 157-187. Trudgill, chs. 2,3,4,7. Hymes, "Speech and language...";

Salmond "Rituals of encounter". T. Gregor "exposure and seclusion..." Ethnology.

T. Gregor Mehinacu; F&B 12, 13 . ))

Week 11 PROCESSES AND PROBLEMS OF CHANGE [11/9] [Leslie]

class discussion: a) comparative method b) reconstruction problems

c) teaching indigenous languages

Homework (due week 12): 1) internal reconstruction problem

2) read: Blount - 10 (Berlin's "Speculations…")

3) Bonvillain Ch. 12;

((Extra reading for those so inclined: Hockett "F". Labov "On the mechanism of linguistic

change". Kay "Language evolution and speech style" (in Sanches and Blount).

Kay "Synchronic variability and diachronic change in basic color terms".

Dozier "Two examples of linguistic acculturation". Sherzer "A problem in Cuna

phonology". Hymes, Part VIII. Farb, 331-367. Giglioli – 14, 15 (part. 5).

Thieme "The Indo-European language" (in Scientific American reprints).

C. Brown "Growth and development of folk botanical life-forms in the

Mayan language family". Stross "Reconstructed humor in a Tzeltal ritual formula".

Finegan&Besnier Ch. 14; Thieme "The comparative method for reconstruction in linguistics"

(in Hymes' reader); ))

Week 10 Special Homework project # 4 (GRANT APPLICATION) (due Week 14)

Week 12 LANGUAGE IN SPACE AND TIME [11/16]

class discussion a) internal reconstruction b) glottochronology

c) linguistic diffusion d) language shift, revitalization, more shift

Homework (due Week 13) - read: Bonvillain pp. 35-46.

Schmandt-Besserat "The earliest precursor of writing" (in Scientific American reprints);

Internet site - Rabbit in the Moon website, Orthography

Oliver Sacks "The president's speech".

Extra reading for those so inclined: Hymes, part IX. Watkins (in Haugen and

Bloomfield). Greenberg, chs. 3, 6. Finegan&Besnier Ch. 9.

E. Sapir "Time perspective in aboriginal American culture" SWES pp. 389-462.

Gossen "Temporal and spatial equivalents in Chamula ritual symbolism".

E. Sapir "Internal evidence suggestive of the northern origin of the Navaho"

SWES, pp. 213-224. M. Swadesh, The Origin And Diversification of Language.

M. Swadesh "What is glottochronology", "linguistics as an instrument of

prehistory", "Diffusional cumulation and archaic residue as historical explanations".

Week 13 NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION [11/23]

class discussion: a) writing systems b) gesture and posture

c) developments in semiotics. d) pointing, gesture, spaces, and mental maps

e) clothing

Homework (due week 14) prepare to give your research project report orally to the class

(class time allotted to the oral report will be determined on the number of reports and the time

available).

((Extra reading for those so inclined: E.T. Hall, The Silent Language,

E.T. Hall, The Hidden Dimension; &/or Mark L. Knapp, Nonverbal Human Communication.

&/or Desmond Morris, Manwatching; I. Gelb A Study of Writing. Giglioli – 4 Basso.

C. Cherry, On Human Communication. Benthall and Polhemus (eds.), The Body as a

Medium of Expression; F&B Ch. 11. Dundes "Seeing is believing". Farb, 231-247.

Phillips in Cazden, John, and Hymes (Functions of Speech in the Classroom).

Marcus "Zapotec writing" (in Scientific American reprints);))

Week 14 RESEARCH PROJECT REPORTS [11/30]

WEEK 15 RESEARCH PROJECT REPORTS [12/7]

Linguistic Anthropology Links

Journal of Linguistic Anthropology (official linguistic anthropology organ of AAA)

http://www.wordorigins.org/wordors.htm word origins

Zompist includes numbers in 4000 languages

Research Proposal Links

FILMS

Useful supplementary Texts and Readers:

A. Duranti 1997. Linguistic Anthropology. ISBN 0 521 44993 6

D. Shaul and L. Furbee, 1998. Language and Culture.

ISBN 0-88133-970-9

E. Finegan and N. Besnier 1989. Language: Its Structure and Use.