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

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

Mid 1800's

When many indigenous languages were rapidly dying out

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.

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

Examples:

Nahuatt:

Xocholatl -- chocolate

Xoyotl -- coyote

Linguistic Relativity

Definition

Which model is it tied to?

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.

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.

The Hopi & Counting

They have no problem counting physical items

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

The relationship between language & society:

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

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

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

Deaf have agency in language --> via sign language

Linguistic diversity of any one context.

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

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

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

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

Green flag with star in top left corner.

Devised in 1887.

Invented Lingua Franca language for the modern age.

Neutral international language.

What you're born with. 

West: defined by genitalia, chromosomes & hormones.

Male: penis, more androgen, XY chromosomes

Female: Vagina, more estrogen, XX chromosomes

Intersex.

Hermaphrodite --> Individual with both sexual genitalia

or 

XXX or XXY chromosomes

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.

Gender is not ____, however ______.

Example

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.

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.

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

Creation myths.

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

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.

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

Core Values-- evolve & change

Naming & Identity

This gets at _______

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.

expected Normative Behavior

--everybody wants to buy you pink or blue supplies

Politics of Naming 

4 Factors

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)

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.

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

Babies are something "other".

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.

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

What are you doing, by not naming a child?

In terms of the high infant mortality rate.

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

Dependence Training

& 

Independence Training

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

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

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

Which is more typical throughout the world:

Accepting or Rejcting Amae

Accepting

Communal living has a broader base in the world.

Which is more typical throughout the world:

Accepting or Rejcting Amae

Accepting

Communal living has a broader base in the world.

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.

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.

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

Rules of Marriage:

Enforce Normative Behavior

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

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"

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

Fixed Term Marriage 

or

Temporary Marriage

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

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?

Bypassing normative rules/ getting around restrictions

By making the receiver of the treatment the "other"

It is all about perception 

1- Bride Wealth/ Bride Price

2- Bride Service

3- Dowry

4- Bride Exchange

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

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

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

Common amoung food collectors

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)

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

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.

a) child of your father's brother 

(patrilineal parrallel cousin)

b) child of your mother's sister

(matrilineal parrallel cousin)

a) mother's brother's child 

(matrilineal cross cousins)

b) father's sister's chld

(patrilineal cross cousins)

Nuclear Family

Extended Family

Nuclear Family

Typical of the U.S.

One or two parents and their dependent offspring

Western world

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)

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)

Descending from a common ancestor or lineage founder

60% of the world's culturs use it

1- Unilineal 

2- Patrilineal

3-Matrilineal

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

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

Used in US and Europe

Trace our descent through both male and female lineage

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)

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

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

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

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

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

1- lineages

2- phatries

3-clans

4- moieties

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)

Beyond family- Beyond lineage

Beyond domestic units-households

1-Primary Social Groups

2-Secondary Social Groups

People with personal interactions

(friends, coworkers, co-students, teachers)

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

(Sports Fans)

Society

To fill a need

Ex: fraternal organization, hobby groups, book clubs

Part of the natural working of society

Ex: Age Sets

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

Ex: First communion, confirmation

Starts at 40 and lasts for 10 years

Celebrate their 50th birthday together

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

Another type of Social Group:

Age Grade

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.

In Age Grades

The 4 Life "statuses"

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

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

betray you

2- work friends and accquaintances

Extra Societal Groups-- Secret Societies

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 

RV clubs

Motorcycle clubs

Compartamentalize society

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

Ex: Social C

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)

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