The goals of this course are to:

• Improve our ability to read, write, and think
• Invite us into the world of linguistic anthropology
• Be able to gain knowledge abbout how lanugage and culture operate in our daily experiences

Three basic components:

theory

demonstration

practice

(conscious and intentional or not) behavior includes and physical gesture, social action, or explicit thought. They can be linguistic and non-linguistic

ex/ waving hello

description of the way in which a particular behavior is performed. the "how"

form - mowing the lawn

a statement about the meaning of a (particular behavior in the context in which it was performed [FORM]). The "what" - meaning of a form

ex/ mowed lawn = beauty, status symbol

first - type of communication. generally human behavior

second - includes regular forms and functions and the ideologies which inform them (those regularities) = aka regularities of a group and their ideologies

a value used to evaluate claims about regularities (which states that it is true if it occurs more often than not across a representative set of instances)/between forms and functions

STATISTICS

characteristic of a representation of same object which provides us with knowledge

to be able to 

• predict
• explain or
• change perspective

all those linguistic representations that state or explain the link between behavioral forms and functions. (they are the regular claims shared by a group) - the "why"

ex/ its polite to say good morning to someone you know

(one of the 2 basic types of ideological processes [socialization mechanisms]. It constitutes human behavior) Attempts to erase the fact and influence of culture through the ideological claim that a particular form and functions are linked outside and prior to culture

ex/ boys will be boys

(the other basic ideological process [naturalization]) An ideology which attempts to justify the link between form and function appealing to an argument which makes the relationship necessary and unavoidable. It can be traced back to important official 'voices'.

ex/ buckle your seatbelt b/c it is the law

Institution = law

regular patterns of behavior maintain themselves over time and space b/c of a continuous web of positive rewards attached to behaviors that are valued in society (mechanism of socialization)

ex/ if you are polite you will be rewarded with friends

(regular patterns of behavior maintain themselves over time and space) Continuous web of negative punishments attached to behaviors that are negatively valued in society (socialization mechanism)

ex/ not brushing your teeth = bad behavior

no friends b/c of bad breath = neg punishment

One of the three general functions that we attribute to language. Function/meaning of the (form) sign is somehow about the context in which it is used (referential function is the basic form of this)

ex/ good morning --> indexes morning time

go to hell --> indexes that you know the person/are upset with them

one of the 3 general functions attributed to language. When some aspect of a linguistic form characterizes an object w/o the context. *DICTIONARY WORDS*

ex/ this table is ugly

Table and ugly are semantic

same linguistic forms typically carry distinct and thus overlapping functions

ex/ good morning

Good and morning are semantic

Morning is referential

Morning is indexical

Every language has the ability to define forms in terms of elo in a definitional sense

ex/ an apple is a fruit

when linguistic forms are used in a context in which they aren't appropriate or cohrent with the co-occuring aspects of the situation

ex/ yelling go to hell at a random person in the street