Xhosa: Culture, Clicking, and Langauge

In our linguistic anthropology class, we have discussed a multitude of languages, and cultures. The language that I decided to so my research on was the South African language known as Xhosa. The Xhosa people have a very interesting culture, background, and language. "South Africa's second-largest language, isiXhosa (Xhosa) is spoken by 16% of all South Africans, or 8-million people" ("The Languages," 2015). A UCLA (2014) language group concluded that the Xhosa language is the most widespread language in South Africa. UCLA also noted that this is because of a massive migration that the Xhosa people were a part of. It is also because of this migration that the Xhosa developed such a unique language. The Xhosa people developed their language mostly due to long interactions with the Khoisan people who had already inhabited South Africa before the Xhosa's migration.

One of the factors that makes Xhosa unique is its vast number of "classes" or "grammatical genders." In fact, "there are numerous classes far exceeding the masculine, feminine and neuter classifications of familiar European languages " (UCLA, 2014). This may include different prefixes/suffixes for different classes including human statuses, kinship, objects, animals, plants, and concepts.

By far, the most interesting part of the Xhosa language, and the aspect of the language I did my second research paper on, is there use of clicks in place of certain consonants. Bonny Sands (1989), from the Acoustical Society of America, has done extensive research on the Xhosa clicks. She concluded that there are 15 different types of clicks. Each type of click has a primary articulation, and an accompaniment to the articulation. There are 3 primary articulations, and 5 accompaniments, making a total of 15 different clicks. Sands tells us that each of the 3 different primary articulations, which include: dental, alveolo-palatal, and alveolar lateral, are used in place of the consonants x, q, or c.

Xhosa is a very unique language comprised of numerous "grammatical genders" and the use of clicks in place of certain consonants. It is a language formed through time and interaction with a native people, and has grown to be one of the most prevalent languages in South Africa.

  

Works Cited

"The Languages of South Africa". (2015). Retrieved  from http://www.southafrica.info/about/people/language.htm#.V9mT_5grKhc 

UCLA. (2014). Xhosa. Retrieved from http://www.lmp.ucla.edu/Profile.aspx?LangID=21 

Sands, B. E. (1989). Acoustic Characteristics of Xhosa Clicks. Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/2781379/Acoustic_characteristics_of_Xhosa_clicks 

Norwegian: One language, two writing forms

               As we have discussed in class, language planning is a double-edged sword that can yield many different results depending on social, political, and linguistic contexts. The Norwegian language in use today provides an excellent example of how language policy and nationalism can do the opposite of what is intended, creating diversity from unity and ambiguity from clarity. This is most clearly reflected in the writing systems of the language, which has been a source of significant political tension in the past as well as a nexus of social change.

               Since the 1890’s, Norway has had two official written standards to reflect its single (though not officially regulated) spoken standard. These written standards, Bokmål and Nynorsk, reflect two different heritages of modern Norway: Bokmål is a compromise between Norwegian and the Danish introduced by colonists, whereas Nynorsk is an invented standard that represents a break from Danish altogether, giving precedent to the “true” Norwegian dialects spoken in rural areas (Jahr, 1989, pp. 33-34). While the original policy was to reform the two standards towards unification, this project has since been abandoned, leaving the two standards in use today (Jahr, 1989, pp. 34-35).

               Although measures have been taken to ensure that both written languages are of equal political standing, the sociolinguistic scene in Norway suggests that the two are far from equal. Because of its dominance in the commercial market, Bokmål has become “the de facto dominant language of the country in the people’s everyday experience and consciousness” (Özerk & Todal, 2013, pp. 297). Similarly, an egalitarian approach to language education means that all students become proficient in both and get to choose which to read and write (Özerk & Todal, 2013, pp. 287-288). With biliteracy the rule and Bokmål the clear favorite, should steps be taken to preserve Nynorsk?

                                                                    References

Jahr, E. H. (1989). Limits of language planning? Norwegian language planning revisited. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, (80), 33-35.

Özerk, K. and Jon Todal. (2013). Written language shift among Norwegian youth. International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education, 5(3), 287-297.

Does Gender Affect Thought?

The German language is a gendered language. Unlike the romantic languages, such as French and Spanish, German has three genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter. Linguistic gender is different than cultural gender. A table is die tisch which means it is feminine. This does not mean the table is a female table, the word is simply in the feminine gender.

            In class, the subject of how the language one speaks affects their thoughts and perceptions was touched on. This has been extensively studied specifically with the German language because of the three genders. The foremost question on the subject is whether gender affects thought. Proponents, people who believe gender does affect thought, believe a gender-neutral case should be created. Opponents believe gender does not affect thought and therefore a gender-neutral case does not need to be created.

            One study compared German and Dutch. Dutch has only two genders compared to German’s three. Speakers in this study were asked to classify nouns as masculine, feminine, or neither. Response times were then analyzed. This study found masculine nouns in German were more likely to be classified as gender-specific (Backer and Cuypere, 2011, p. 253). Backer and Cuypere (2011) concluded gender did affect thought and there should be a gender-neutral case because females were being underrepresented in the German language.

            A study done by Bender et al. (2011) focused only on German. This study asked subjects whether a group of letters formed a word. If it did, they were asked what gender the word belonged to. Bender et al. (2011) concluded grammar did not affect thought and therefore a gender-neutral case was not needed.

            Each study approached the subject of gender within German differently. While Backer and Cuypere (2011) used a method of comparison, Bender et al. (2011) only used the German language.

References 

Backer, M. D., & Cuypere, L. D. (2011). The interpretation of masculine personal nouns in German and Dutch: a comparative experimental study. Language Sciences. 34(3), 253-268. doi:10.1016/j.langsci.2011.10.001

Bender, A., Beller, S., & Klauer, K. C. (2011). Grammatical gender in German: a case for linguistic relativity?, The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 64(9), 1821-1835, doi: 10.1080/17470218.2011.582128

Gabriel, U., Gygax, P.M., & Sato, S. (2016). Altering male-dominant representations: a study on nominalized adjectives and participles in first and second language German. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 35(6), 667-685. doi: 10.1177/0261927X15625442

Attitudes towards Chinese Mandarin dialect use

With over 1 billion speakers, the Chinese language is a growing linguistic force. Some argue that the term ‘Chinese language’ shouldn’t exist, because it is an umbrella term that represents hundreds of different Chinese dialects (which flourished in different regions traditionally). Attempts at standardizing the Chinese language have been made for over “3,000 years” (Zhou, 2012, p. 2), and were finalized in the mid-20^th Century when the national standard became Mandarin. The recent national standardization of the Chinese language has simplified both the spoken and written languages in an effort to promote mutual intelligibility within the nation and with the rest of the world.

There have been many sociolinguistic changes (Sociolinguistic change is basically the idea that the way someone speaks can affect social aspects of their life, like social class or gender differences) brought about by the recent standardization of Mandarin a cross the Peoples Republic of China. A primary example of this sociolinguistic change is reflected in the attitudes towards dialect use. Regional dialects that have influenced the national standard in Taiwan, Guangzhou, and Xining (Dede, 2006; Kalmar, 1987; Kubler, 1985; Li, 1985; Wei, 2013) are viewed as unprofessional in China, and in some cases can be viewed as being indicative of an individual’s inadequacy to integrate into society (Wei, 2013). Put simply, if you speak the Mandarin standard the way it was intended to be spoken, the more desirable/professional you can become in Chinese society (Zhang, 2005). Though there is a national sociolinguistic pressure to speak Mandarin in the People’s Republic of China, many cultural groups have chosen instead to mold Mandarin into a lingual form that preserves their cultural heritage.

Bibliography:

Dede, Keith. (2006). Standard Chinese and the Xining dialect: the rise of an interdialectal standard. Journal of Asian Pacific communication, 16(2), 319-334.

Gu, S. (2012). A cultural history of the Chinese language. Jefferson, MO: McFarland & Company.

Kalmar, Ivan, Yong, Zhong, Hong, Xiao. (1987). Language attitudes in Guangzhou, China. Language in Society, 16(4), 499-508. Retrieved from JSTOR.

Kubler, Cornelius C. (1985). The influence of southern Min on the Mandarin of Taiwan. Anthropological Linguistics, 27(2), 156-176. Retrieved from JSTOR.

Li, David Chen-ching. (1985). Problems and trends of standardization of Mandarin Chinese in Taiwan. Anthropological Linguistics, 27(2), 122-140. Retrieved from JSTOR.

Wei, Jennifer M. (2013). Perspectives on marked language choices and uses in Taiwan. Taiwan journal of linguistics, 11(2), 067-082.

Zhang, Qing. (2005). A Chinese yuppie in Beijing: phonological variation and the construction of a new professional identity. Language in Society, 34(3), 431-466.

Zhou, Minglang. (2012). The contact between Putonghua (modern standard Chinese) and minority languages in China. International journal of the sociology of Language, 215, 1-16.

Vietnamese Kinship Terms

Vietnamese is the language that is most closely associated with the country of Vietnam. Chinese has been a major influence on Vietnamese for centuries (Cima, 2016). “Vietnamese cultural contact with the Chinese goes back more than two thousand years” (Alves, 2006).  The concept of kinship is important in Vietnamese culture. The origins of kinship begin in the philosophy of Confucius. He placed the importance of the group ahead of individualism. This has permeated all aspects of Vietnamese society especially how they address others. “In line with classic Confucian sources, an individual can only lead a sensible existence by duly fulfilling the requirements associated with being involved in a range of social relations” (Szyman´ska-Matusiewicz, 2012, p. 97).  Due to the proliferation of this communal belief system, kinship terms are used in place of pronouns to emphasize a person’s place in the hierarchy of society and their relationship to the speaker. There is “no reciprocally used kin terms akin to English ‘brother-brother’, ‘cousin-cousin’, or ‘sister-sister’; rather, all terms specify the relative social status of speaker and hearer” (Sidnell & Shohet, 2013, p. 619).  This concept is best demonstrated in a passage from Luong (2012):

Sam (a friend of the researcher speaking to the researcher and then to a 16-17-year-daughter of Sam's elder sister): (1) Day la Hang, chau toi; Day la anh Hy, ban cau. "This is Hang, my niece; This is elder brother Hy, a friend of maternal junior uncle's [mine] (p. 292).

Instead of referring to the researcher as a friend, he is referred to as an older brother to show proper respect in regards to relationship and hierarchy.  The teachings of Confucius instilled a sense of community in the Vietnamese people… (Lantolf, 2000, p. 121).  This is manifested linguistically in the use of kinship terms in place of pronouns within the Vietnamese language (Ngo, 2007).

References:

Alves, M. (2006). Linguistic Research on the Origins of the Vietnamese Language: An Overview. Journal of Vietnamese Studies, 1(1-2), 104-130. http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/vs.2006.1.1-2.104

Cima, R. (2016). Vietnam - ETHNIC GROUPS. Countrystudies.us. Retrieved 24 September 2016, from http://countrystudies.us/vietnam/35.htm

Lantolf, J. (2000). Sociocultural theory and second language learning (1st ed.). Oxford [England]: Oxford University Press.

Luong, H. (1984). "Brother" and "Uncle": An Analysis of Rules, Structural Contradictions, and Meaning in Vietnamese Kinship. American Anthropologist, 86(2), 290-315. http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/aa.1984.86.2.02a00050

Ngo, T. (2006). Translation of Vietnamese Terms of Address and Reference. Translation Journal, 10(4). Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20070309161642/http://accurapid.com/journal/38viet.htm

Sidnell, J. & Shohet, M. (2013). The problem of peers in Vietnamese interaction. Journal Of The Royal Anthropological Institute, 19(3), 618-638. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-9655.12053

Different Meanings in Language


Recently in my Intro to Linguistic Anthropology class we discussed how words from different languages often have different meanings when translated to a new language. When doing this we attempt to summarize the complexity of certain words and attempt to give it an English meaning that makes sense universally. However, in attempt to do so this translation often fails and in turn generates a separate meanings that represents the given word or words as closely as we can translate it to. A good example of this would be when English speakers translate color. For most languages colors are fused together to simplify the meanings and is often found that one word could represent a variety of colors.

For example the language of Acehne’s color for Blue and Green is the word Prana. Then when you look at the English language we have a separate word for each color that exists so therefore Prana is separated as blue and green and is not the same thing. As some languages fuse these colors together the English language usually does not. There is no word for both Blue and Green in the English language but rather it has a single word for each.

Colors is also not the only case where this happens masculine, feminant, and neutral words exist in some languages while it doesn’t exist in others. For the English language. English has words for each of these tenses such as he, she, they, etc. Overall languages all have interesting words that describe various amounts of different things. Whether one word means multiple objects or colors or where each word represents one single thing all languages have there own variation of given words.

Work Cited

Ager, S. (1998). Colour words in many languages. Retrieved November 5, 2016, from Omniglot: http://www.omniglot.com/language/colours/multilingual.htm

Lanuage, Identity, and Ideology

Social class and identity

                In about a week my linguistic anthropology class will be talking about Language identity and ideology. Language ideology is the study of how different influences like gender and social class change linguistic data. The most intriguing example to me would be social class and how languages all over the world have changed in their own ways to show maybe how educated someone is or where they may live in the area where that language is present. A perfect example of where a language has changed due to social class from the book is when John Gumperz was studying a small village named Khalapur of just a couple thousand people. This culture had developed into 31 different social classes and the language had differed between most social classes (Salzmann, Stanlaw, Adachi, 2015). Social class isn’t the only thing that influences language like this either. There is gender, race and where you grew up are all factors on how you talk pertaining to the original language. These examples are responsible for some dialects and how people may treat other people. These influence change how we see each other and maybe even how we judge people if they talk different then us.

References

Salzmann, Z., Stanlaw, J., and Adachi, N (2015). Chapter 14: Language, Identety and Ideology II: Variations in Class. In Language, Culture, and Society: An Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology (pg.390). Westview Press. 

Concepts, Words, Categories

November 4, 2016

Concepts, Words, Categories

A few weeks ago in my Linguistic Anthropology discussed Culture as Cognition and Culture as Categorization.  One of the most interesting parts of this chapter was the section about concepts, words, and categories. In this section the authors discuss how the semiotic triangle plays a huge role in the way we use language (Salzmann, Stanlaw, Adachi, 2015). The semiotic triangle is made of thought, symbol, and the referent. An example pulled from the book Language, Culture, and Society a physical referent brings up thoughts of trees, which brings up thoughts about trees, then giving rise to the spoken symbol. (Salzmann, Stanlaw, Adachi, 2015). The semiotic triangle can be altered in many different ways to help us make different connections between objects in the world, words that represent them, and the thoughts that the specific words conjure up. To add to that, concepts and words create categories.  A concept is a nonlinguistic thought representation of a category. Then a word is a verbal manifestation within a specific category.  Concepts are what help us make connections between our past experiences and our present experiences. Categories are what help us understand that no two objects in the world are entirely the same. Along with that categories act as a bridge that help us decide the differences between two things and what is and isn’t important. Without categories our memories would be useless. Moreover society would have to basically relearn different experiences each time it happens. 

References

Salzmann, Z., Stanlaw, J., & Adachi, N (2015). Chapter 11: Culture as Cognition, Culture as Categorization. In Language, Culture, and Society: An Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology (6th ed., pp. 289-290). Boulder, CO: Westview Press. 

Language Death and the Necessity of Choice.

A while back in our Linguistic Anthropology class, we covered the topic of Language death, which interested me greatly, so I looked deeper into the topic, which often winds up being tangled together with language preservation, for obvious reasons. Some of the points brought up in class and in that week’s discussion involved whether or not languages were worth saving, and one thing that was briefly mentioned, and which interested me more than anything else, was when a people group decides to stop using the language of their own volition, a point that Tom Colls of BBC Today echoes: “The value of language as a cultural artefact is difficult to dispute, but is it actually realistic to ask small communities to retain their culture?”(Colls, 2009)

This is a stark contrast to the languages lost over time due to things such as colonialists forcing native people to stop speaking their own language, or languages that just seem to adapt and be lost through the passage of time. In the case where the culture and people that that language belonged to were the ones who wanted to let the language go, it’s generally a language that, to the people, no longer serves a purpose, as it isn’t used outside of the group itself. This brings up something of a conflict of interests to some, as linguists may want to preserve a language, but not wish to go against a people group’s wishes. As mentioned by Claude Hagege in Colls’s article, “"We can do nothing when the abandonment of a language corresponds to the will of a population,"” and as such there are some languages that we’ll likely lose not necessarily for lack of resources or death of the last speaker, but through the peoples’ own choice.

In a case such as this, linguists truly don’t have a right, at least morally, to insist that the people keep the language alive; it is their language and their choice, and thus the decision to no longer use that language should be respected. However tragic a loss of a culture and language is, I feel it’s up to the people of that culture who use that language to choose what happens to it. If they no longer wish to use the language, then they shouldn’t be forced to continue using it, even if that means losing yet another language to the sands of time.

Sources:

Colls, Tom. (2009, October 19). The death of language?. BBC News Today. Retrieved From: http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8311000/8311069.stm

Language Classification

When I first enrolled in Linguistic Anthropology one of the topics I was most fascinated by was how languages are classified. I had never taken the time to consider how different forms of verbal communication have been narrowed down into specific categories used to for the academic study of language. There are more than six thousand languages spoken around the world, not counting the many dialects that steam from these recognized languages, with so many types of verbal communication these languages have been divided into specific categories (Adachi, Salzmann, & Stanlaw, 2015). These categories are broken down into specific language families; a language family is a group of languages that stem from the same historical language, such as Latin (Adachi, Salzmann, & Stanlaw, 2015). These language families are then broken down into more specific subdivisions, which are referred to as branches, these branches may also be broken down into smaller categories (Adachi, Salzmann, & Stanlaw, 2015). The breakdown of languages are usually done based on  the origin of the particular language and the rooted as seen with language family classifications; however, languages can also be broken down based on its written form and technical elements. This type of breakdown is less common and in some cases contradicts the classifications in the language families model (Adachi, Salzmann, & Stanlaw, 2015). I have taken French, Spanish, and Latin roots classes in the past and now that I have learned more about how these languages originated and are classified it makes sense that there are common similarities that carry through. The concept of language classification is one that I find perplexing and I hope to continue to learn more about the different language families.


Reference:


Salzmann, Z., Stanlaw, J., & Adachi, N. (2015). Language, Culture, and Society: An Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

Kinesics: Body Language

In mid-September in my linguistic anthropology class, we discussed kinesics and the vital role it plays in accurately communicating emotion paired with speech. “The basic underline kinesics is that no body movement or facial expression is likely to lack meaning” (Adachi, Salzmann, & Stanlaw, 2015).  The nature of body language and facial expressions differs from culture to culture and person to person. Kinesics throughout language, are peoples subconscious responses to personal thoughts throughout interactions with others. Body language, just like verbal language, differs between dialects. Languages with multiple dialects incorporate their own use of unique kinesics. Facial expressions, eye contact, body posture, and hand gestures are all basic key factors in kinesics that accompany speech throughout language to deepen understanding. Eye contact between people varies culturally, as well as individually due to experiences, age, self- confidence and intentions (Adachi, Salzmann & Stanlaw, 2015). Continued, hand gestures have a range of meaning, but in most cases are meant to illustrate, and emphasize what is being discussed. The authors go on to describe the importance of body posture and this subconscious factor that can directly portray feelings of despair, anger, contentment, pride and so on. Body movement. “Dr. Albert Mehrabian, in his famous body language studies at UCLA, found that: 7 percent of the emotional meaning of a message is composed of the actual words we use; 38 percent is communicated through the tone of voice and inflection; and 55% comes through our body language.” (Plessis, A & Plessis, H, 2008). Kinesics is highly under rated in communication regardless of its imperative role in all face to face interactions globally.



References


Plessis, A. d., C.A.(S.A.), & Plessis, H. d. (2008). A DIFFERENT LANGUAGE CALLED KINESICS. Accountancy SA, , 23. Retrieved from http://libproxy.uwyo.edu/login/?url=http://search.proquest.com.libproxy.uwyo.edu/docview/215224693?accountid=14793

Salzmann, Z., Stanlaw, J., & Adachi, N. (2015). Chapter 5: Communicating Naturally. In Language, Culture, and Society: An Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology (6th ed., pp. 111-113). Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

Development of Languages

Linguistic Anthropology has many different areas that attract attention, but the area that holds the most interesting aspect for me is the development and evolution of language. This field holds a unique grasp on how languages fluctuate throughout their lifespans. Language Death, when the last of a language's speakers dies is a monumental moment in language history. Studies have noted that a language dies every one to two weeks (Adachi, 170), but is that necessarily a horrible thing to happen? Throughout the world's history, there have been tens of thousands of languages and some of them are still spoken today. But does every language need to survive to help preserve culture? Or can we accept as a society that languages are going to die, and others will eventually arise in their place?


Another intriguing part of linguistics in relation to the evolution of language is how they can be traced back to a select few parent sources. Proto-Indo-European is a perfect example of this. Originally solely found in Europe, the language group grew to include areas in Asia and then eventually worldwide (Adachi, 164). This proves that all languages can be drawn to a common origin, which assists in linking them back together. By finding a related pathway we can discover much that was unknown about the development of languages and the influences they have taken from the source. By linking languages to one another we can more accurately pinpoint the major growth of linguistics in cultures, and thus gives us an insight into human history.


Soruces: Salzmann, Z., Stanlaw, J., & Adachi, N. (2015). Language, Culture, and Society: An Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

Arbitrariness and Sound Symbolism

A concept that we discussed as a design feature of language is arbitrariness. This is defined as the lack of an intrinsic relationship between the sounds of a word and the meaning of that word (Salzmann, et al., 2015). For example, with the English word “dog,” there is no inherent meaning in its sounds that would suggest it refers to this animal. However, some evidence exists that a degree of sound symbolism—“an association between sound and meaning”—may be present across languages (Salzmann, et al., 2015, pg. 300).

The “Bouba-Kiki effect” is a commonly cited example of this: the names “Bouba” (pronounced “bobo”) and “Kiki” are associated with rounded and angular shapes respectively (Bremner, A.J., et al., 2012, pg. 166). However, A.J. Bremner, et al., note that the association between sounds and letter shapes is “common to languages using the Latin alphabet” (2012, pg. 166). This could be due to the spread of English, as many cultures have been affected by the Latin alphabet.

Bremner, et al., tested this idea with a group of participants from the Himba in rural Namibia—a remote culture with extremely minimal contact with Westerners and their “artifacts” (2012, pg. 167). They also lack a written language, circumventing effects from letter shapes. Thirty-four Himba were tested, with an age ranging between 16 and 39 years. The results were surprising: despite their isolation and lack of written language, 28 of the 34 participants associated “Bouba” with the rounded shape and “Kiki” with the angular shape (Bremner, A.J., et al., 2012, pg. 168). This suggests that some inherent (albeit very abstract) meaning could exist across cultures in a handful of “basic” sounds. More research into whether humans have assigning meaning to other sounds would be fascinating and could provide clues to the development of language.

References

Bremner, A.J., Caparos, S., Davidoff, J., de Fockert, J., Linnell, K.J, & Spence, C. (2012). Bouba and kiki in Namibia? Cognition, 126(2013), 165-172.

Salzmann, Z., Stanlaw J., & Adachi, N. (2015). Language, culture, and society (6th ed.). Boulder, CO: Westview Press.