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Intro do Cultural Anthro Ch 5-6
Linguistics & Gender
116
Anthropology
Undergraduate 1
10/12/2015

Additional Anthropology Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
Historical Linguistics
Definition

Attempt to piece together the history of a language's evolution.

 

It is like making kinship diagrams for language-- how languages are related.

Term
Linguistics got it's start in the ______ when ______.
Definition

Mid 1800's

 

When many indigenous languages were rapidly dying out

Term
Language can be shown to be related by:
Definition

Having a large number of words in common that were not borrowed.

 

The more cognates there are between 2 languages the closer related they are.

Term
Cognates
Definition
Shared words bewteen 2 or more languages that exist not due to borrowing
Term

Languages often borrow words from each other, but these are not too difficult to tell apart from the non-borrowed words.

 

Examples:

Definition

Nahuatt:

 

Xocholatl -- chocolate

 

Xoyotl -- coyote

Term
Ethnolinguistics
Definition
How culture is reflected in language and how it is shaped/ reinforced by language.
Term

Linguistic Relativity

 

 

Definition

Which model is it tied to?

Definition

Words and grammar of a language are directly related to culture and affect how speakers of the language pierceive and think about the world.

 

Sapir-Whorf Model.

Term
Example of Linguistic Relativity
Definition
Men speak more assertively and women more passively
Term
Sapir- Whorf Model
Definition

Language differences predetermines differences in thinking.

 

Different cultures conceptualize the world differently and thsi is reflected in their grammar and words used --> in descriptions, actions, etc.

Term
Example of Sapir-Whorf Model
Definition

The Hopi & Counting

 

They have no problem counting physical items

"Time" (via counting) is more complicated & harder for them to grasp

Term
"The picture of the Universe shifts from tongue to tongue"
Definition
Sapir-Whorf
Term
Sociolinguistics
Definition

The relationship between language & society:

 

Argument that a person's social position determines the content and form of their language

Term
Social Categories that Influence the Use & Significance of Speech:
Definition

Age: Slang --> Young person's language

Gender: Passive and active forms

Class: Can be fluid & not directly reflecting class

 

-Informal vs. Formal speak -->

Depending on context, your formal speak may mask your socioeconomic background

Term
Deaf Culture
Definition

Culturally it is one possibility of communication culture in a wide spectrum of cultural variability

 

Deaf have agency in language --> via sign language

Term
Early Language
Definition
Developed into the written word
Term
Linguistic Pluralism
Definition

Linguistic diversity of any one context.

 

The presence and practice of multiple languages in any one macro-cultural group.

Term
What are the costs & benefits of linguistic plurality?
Definition
Term
Linguistic Plurality & the U.S.
Definition

There is an English-only movement in the U.S.

Spanish speaking = illegal immigrant (assumption)

 

This is in the guise of 'tradition'

Political movement

Stems from a fear of the unknown

Term
Dialects
Definition
Way of speaking in a particular place that isnot unintelligible to those who do not speak the dialect, but is diificult to understand
Term
Regional Dialects & New Languages
Definition

Dialects are the seeds of new languages.

 

If regional dialects are isolated for long enough, they develop into separate languages.

 

Ex: Switzerland

Swiss-german, Swiss-french, Swiff-italian

Term
Lingua Franca
Definition

A language that is adopted as a common language between speakers whose native languages are different.


Where there is a lot of linguistic plurality, thus many mutually unintelligible lanugages, a Lingua Franca develops


Ex: Latin

Ex: Esperanto

Term
Esperanto
Definition

Green flag with star in top left corner.

 

Devised in 1887.

Invented Lingua Franca language for the modern age.

 

Neutral international language.

Term
Tonal Languages
Definition
Subtle tones have big meanings
Term
Gender and Sex are _____
Definition
2 different things.
Term
Sex
Definition
What yo
Term
Sex
Definition

What you're born with. 

 

West: defined by genitalia, chromosomes & hormones.

 

Male: penis, more androgen, XY chromosomes

Female: Vagina, more estrogen, XX chromosomes

Term
What happens when we have biological exceptions?
Definition

Intersex.

 

Hermaphrodite --> Individual with both sexual genitalia

or 

XXX or XXY chromosomes

Term
Gender
Definition

Learned behaviors and beliefs associated with male-ness or female-ness.

 

West: Only until very recently have we recognized more than 2 genders.

Nonwestern: 3rd genders are often recognized & fully involved in society.

Term

Gender is not ____, however ______.

 

Example

Definition

Sexual Preference-- they are often correlated.

Herterosexual, Homosexual.

 

Ex: Individuals who identify as male in every socially presecribed, or cultural way, but have a sexual preference for men as well. This does not make them female in terms of gender.

Term
Gender is to a great degree the result of ______.
Definition
Enculturation.
Term
Native American Culture & Transexuality
Definition

Two-spirited individuals: has both male and female spirits --> doubly blessed.

 

Often teachers and spiritual leaders.

 

There are over 150 Native American groups in the U.S. alone that recognize two-spirits.

Term

Two-spirited individuals are codified into a world view as part of _________.

 

Definition

Creation myths.

 

They are a third gender, not an exception to the two genders.

Term
Oman (in Persian Gulf)
Definition

Certain gender roles may change throughout one's life.

 

Xanith: third gender: male who becomes like a female in dress, daily activities etc., has sexual relations with males for several years & then returns back to the normative male role & marries a woman and has kids as a male.

Term
Normative Behavior
Definition

The standard, culturally accepted limits that are at the core of our behavior.

 

Core Values-- evolve & change

 

 

Term
Behaving outside the "core" is considered ________.
Definition
Eccentric or dangerous --> depending on how far outside of it you are.
Term
Code Switching
Definition
Normative codes are being switched around.
Term

Naming & Identity

 

This gets at _______

Definition

Who we are and our gender --> starts before birth.

 

West: Many parents choose to find out the sex of baby months before birth --> identities are created.

Term
Having a child really brings out the _______
Definition

expected Normative Behavior

 

--everybody wants to buy you pink or blue supplies

Term

Politics of Naming 

 

4 Factors

Definition

1- Pick from a pool from existing names

2- Tradition --> following a long line of such names

(named after dead relative, which leads to inherent memory of the deceased person)

3-External Influences

(Movies, Pop Culture, Kate Middleton)

4- Religious Attatchment

(Christian names at the time of baptism --> Welcome the child into the Christian Church)

Term
Delayed Personhood
Definition

Not considered human until named.

 

In non-Western cultures-- waiting for some amount of time before naming baby (giving it personhood)-- usually days or  months.

Term
In the practice of Delayed Personhood, babies are born in a state of __________.
Definition

Liminality (transitional stage between being person and not being a person).

 

Babies are something "other".

Term
Examples of Delayed Personhood
Definition

Wari: babies considered similar to un-ripened fruit --> they are still being made

 

Nankani: hold off naming until sure baby is not an unwanted spirit or "bush child"

 

Aymara of Bolivia: wait to name until baby shows human characteristics (speaking). They wait 2 years.

Term
The vast majority of the world's population still deals with ______.
Definition

High infant mortality.

 

This was the norm in Western culture as well, up until the mid 20th century.

 

1/5 of pregnancies end unsuccessfully

1/2 of world's children don't make it to age 5

Term

What are you doing, by not naming a child?

 

In terms of the high infant mortality rate.

 

Definition
You are not recognizing its personhood, and therefore are avoiding creating a strong emotional attatchment to it- In a way, you are mitigating horrendous heartache.
Term
Attatchment Theory
Definition

Proposed in the 1950's 

Purely cultural construction of the West

 

In order to have mentally and physically healthy children, the bond between mother and child must be strengthened between 6-18 months of age

If lacking --> psychopath! -- used to explain personality disorders

 

Term
How do we socialize our children?
Definition

Dependence Training

 

 

Independence Training

Term
Dependence Training
Definition

Behaviors between parents and children encourage the child's dependence on the parent --> stronger attatchment. 

 

Used by societies that are more conservative & traditional with a heavy emphasis on communal identity

 

Ex: Japanese culture : Amae

Term
Amae
Definition

Japanese Society

 

Indulgent or pleasurable dependency

Mother-child dependency suggests that the mother-child relationshp.bond is then projected onto Japanese social bonding at large

 

Teacher-student & Supervisor-subordinate

Term
Independence Training
Definition

U.S. & Europe are much more independent oriented

 

US --> tied to history 

Europe --> especially with Germans

 

Amae is seen as overindulgent and spoiling the child, making a brat out of the child

Term

Which is more typical throughout the world:

 

Accepting or Rejcting Amae

Definition

Accepting

 

Communal living has a broader base in the world.

Term

Which is more typical throughout the world:

 

Accepting or Rejcting Amae

Definition

Accepting

 

Communal living has a broader base in the world.

Term
What is Marriage?
Definition

1951:

"Marriage is a union between a man and a woman such that children born to the woman are recognized as legitimate offspring of both parents."

 

Not pertinent in 21st century.

Does not reflect what a marriage is cross-culturally.

Term
Contrasting Example of 1951 Marriage Definition
Definition

Nuer-- East Africa

 

The type of marriage where women marry not for sex & offspring, but for their labor. They add labor to the women's household. They can have sex, but any children become the children of the compound/household.

Term
7 Reasons to Marry
Definition

1- Sustain a population

2- Financial Benefits (Economics)

3- Social Obligations

4- Social Replication

5- Religion (Polygamy: way of sanctioning baby-making)

6- Labor

7- Love

Term

Rules of Marriage:

 

Enforce Normative Behavior

Definition

Moral Rules -- especially when normative behavior is centered on religious practices

 

-no sex outside/before marriage

-adultery is bad, illegal, etc.

^ These 2 sanction a type of behavior

Term
Consanguineal Kin
Definition
Blood Relatives
Term
Affinal (Conjugal) Kin
Definition
Related through marriage
Term
Endogamy
Definition
Marriage within/inside a certain group
Term
Exogamy
Definition
Marriage outside a certain group
Term
Monogamy
Definition
One spouse
Term
Polygamy
Definition
More than one spouse
Term
Polygyny
Definition
Male has more than one spouse
Term
Polyandry
Definition
Female has more than one spouse
Term
Benefits of Multiple Spouses
Definition

1- Increased social status (ex: wealth)

2- Each spouse comes with a new set of "affines" (aka relatives) which:

Help with trade, political alliances, & support

Larger labor force

Better chance of children receiving some form of inheritance --> there are now more "parents"

Term
Fictive Marriage
Definition

Marriage just to bypass a cultural rule

Such as "no sex before marriage"

 

There can also be economic reasons

-to aid in the immigration of someone

Term

Fixed Term Marriage 

or

Temporary Marriage

Definition

A marriage with a predetermined end

Can be used to legitimize sexual unions-- with minimal economic ubligations

 

Ex: Iran-- soldiers are allowed temporary marriages while at way. After war, marriage is dissolved and the men have no obligations to them anymore-- even if they have kids

Term

Isis members kill men but rape women, because Islam says "no sex before marriage", unless you are not Muslim (or it is with a non-Muslim). 

 

What is this an example of?

Definition

Bypassing normative rules/ getting around restrictions

 

By making the receiver of the treatment the "other"

 

It is all about perception 

Term
4 Economic Aspects of Marriage
Definition

1- Bride Wealth/ Bride Price

2- Bride Service

3- Dowry

4- Bride Exchange

Term
Bride Wealth/ Bride Price
Definition

Goods transferred from groom's family to bride's family

 

Compensation to bride's family for losing the productive/ reproductive services of that woman

Term
Bride Service
Definition

Service performed by the groom for the family of the bride for compensation

 

Common amoung food collectors

Term
Dowry
Definition

Payment from the bride's family to the groom's family to compensate for the acceptance of the responsibility of supporting her

 

Most common in pastoral/ agricultural societies ( like Bride Price)

Term
Bride Exchange (Woman Exchange)
Definition

No gifts are exchanged by the families involved, but each family gives a bride to the other; each family loses a daughter but gains a daughter-in-law

 

Equal Transaction

Term
Hypergamy
Definition

Lower status wife "marries up" as a result of her large dowry. Her higher status that comes with the marriage is passed onto her children.

 

Status is inherited.

Term
Parrallel Cousin
Definition

a) child of your father's brother 

(patrilineal parrallel cousin)

 

b) child of your mother's sister

(matrilineal parrallel cousin)

Term
Cross Cousins
Definition

a) mother's brother's child 

(matrilineal cross cousins)

 

b) father's sister's chld

(patrilineal cross cousins)

Term
2 Types of Family Types
Definition

Nuclear Family

 

Extended Family

Term

Nuclear Family

 

Definition

Typical of the U.S.

 

One or two parents and their dependent offspring

Western world

Term
Extended Family
Definition

Vertical Extension: 

Grandparents, Parents, Children

 

Horizontal Extension:

2 or more closely related families live together

Grandparents and Daughter 1 (and her husband and kids) and Daughter 2 (and her husband)

Term
Family types are directly related to the __________.
Definition
Types of residence patterns held in society
Term
3 Types of Residence
Definition

1- Matrilocal Residence

-married couple lives in wife's mother's household (tradition)

2- Patrilocal Residence

-married couple lives in husband's father's household

(tradition)

3-Neolocal Residence 

-married couple lives in a new residence (economic)

Term
Lineage
Definition
Traced through marriage patterns
Term
Unilineal Descent Group
Definition

Descending from a common ancestor or lineage founder

 

60% of the world's culturs use it

Term
Patrilineal Descent Group
Definition
Following descent through male line
Term
Matrilineal Descent Group
Definition
Follow descent through female line
Term
3 Types of Descent Groups
Definition

1- Unilineal 

2- Patrilineal

3-Matrilineal

Term
Matrilineal Descent
Definition

15% of all cultures

 

Systems perpetuates the importance of women and thus is typically found in cultures where women's work is very important

Ex: Horticulture-based societies

where woman are the producers, reproducers, marketers, adn decision makers

Term
Patrilineal Descent
Definition

44% of all cultures use this

 

Typical of plow agriculture societies where male roles are elevated over female roles, even when females play a major role in taking care of animals, food processing, weeding, harrowing etc. 

 

US & European cultures are patrilineal in name only

Term
Bilateral Descent System
Definition

Used in US and Europe

 

Trace our descent through both male and female lineage

Term
Avonculate Relationship
Definition

Between a boy and his mother's brother

 

Typically occurs in matrilocal situations

Typically has to do with initiation rites, upbringing and marrriage

 

Two who are born into the name, not married in (and keep the name, unlike the women)

Term
Lineage Exogamy
Definition
Marrying outside your lineage
Term
Lineage Fissioning
Definition

Large lineage breaks apart into smaller groups with new, yet different lineage ancestors

 

Ex: Hatfields & McCoys

extremely distantly related

blood fueds

secret marriages/ mixing of lineages

Term
Clan
Definition

Share common descent, but the common ancestor is so far in the past that there is no direct connection

 

Ancestry is mysterious

 

Genetics of clan/clan origin --> is steeped in myth

Term
How is clan identity kept together & reinforced?
Definition

Clans become associated with daily items-- "symbols" 

such as plants or animals

 

Ex: Beaver 

 

The symbol of the clan is also the clan's totem

Term
Totemism
Definition

Relationship between a group of people & some aspect of the natural world

 

Rituals and beliefs associated with the relationship that strengthen, reinforce & reproduce the relationship

Term
Phatry
Definition
A descent group that shares at least 2 clans-- which shares a common ancestor
Term
Moiety
Definition

Division of society into 2 groups

Creates a system of duality

 

For example: dividing people's groups by whether their totem is a land or sea animal-- dividing the clans themselves, rather than their ancestry

Term
Ideas of Social Groupings
Definition

1- lineages

2- phatries

3-clans

4- moieties

Term
Fictive Kin
Definition

Created to meet a social need

 

People included in your family that are not blood or through marriage

 

Ex: God parents (become your fictive parents at baptism)  or adoption or a fictive uncle (parent's friend)

Term
2 Non-Descent Social Groups
Definition

Beyond family- Beyond lineage

Beyond domestic units-households

 

1-Primary Social Groups

2-Secondary Social Groups

Term
Primary Social Groups
Definition

People with personal interactions

(friends, coworkers, co-students, teachers)

Term
Secondary Social Groups
Definition

People who identify with each other on some common ground, but who may never meet or interact with one another

 

(Sports Fans)

Term
Group Membership
Definition
Requires rights and responsibilities & if these aren't maintained, you can lose your membership
Term
Social Groups are created by ____ to _____.
Definition

Society

 

To fill a need

 

Ex: fraternal organization, hobby groups, book clubs

Term
Social Groups that are embedded in society are _____.
Definition

Part of the natural working of society

 

Ex: Age Sets

Term
Age Set
Definition

A group of people of similar age who go through a series of rituals together at the same time

 

Ex: First communion, confirmation

 

 

Term
Leuven Age Set
Definition

Starts at 40 and lasts for 10 years

 

Celebrate their 50th birthday together

Term
Why have an Age Set or other artificial social groups?
Definition

In Mobile Populations-- less opportunities to develop long lasting social grouping, because you're always on the move

 

In Sedentary Populations-- Decrease social tension in situations of high density, promote cooperation, sharing of knowledge and peace keeping, especially when they cross-cut social and ethnic divisions

Term

Another type of Social Group:

 

Age Grade

Definition

A division of time into well-defined categories that all individuals of a similar age pass through. Each time category creates a new status for the participant.

A rite of passage based on age --> marking important junctures in life.

Term

In Age Grades

 

The 4 Life "statuses"

Definition

Last 15 years each

 

1-15: warrior

16-30: elder warrior

31-45: judicial elder

46-60: ritual elder

 

Status in society changes through time

Term
Age grade and Age set are embedded in _______
Definition
Society
Term
2 Levels of Friendship Added to Society Groups
Definition

1- close friends who are confidants, those who will not

betray you


2- work friends and accquaintances


Term

Extra Societal Groups-- Secret Societies

 

Definition

Leader:

Ritualized initiation for new members

Symbolic marker of membership

Tattoos, special clothing, membership card, rings

 

Women's and men's club --> intended purpose

Cause: Community 

Term
Aged Groups
Definition

RV clubs

Motorcycle clubs

 

Term
Social Stratification
Definition

Compartamentalize society

Social divisions that are recognized by everyone in society and supported or actively maintained by majority of society

 

Ex: Social C

Term
Social Stratification
Definition

Compartamentalize society

Social divisions that are recognized by everyone in society and supported or actively maintained by majority of society

 

Ex: Social Classes (Usually based on economics, but also on ethnicity and gender)

Term
Achieved Status
Definition

Status gained throughout your lifetime

 

Ameritocracy where your rank and elevation in society is based on your merits and achievements

-bands and tribes

 

Gains respect, but no real power

-good hunters or excellent strory tellers

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