Farming

A subsistence strategy. Medium to large scale food production using human power, animal power, and/or mechanization. Involves permanent plots of land and irrigation. It dominates in many parts of the world. Gives society a more secure food supply, allowing populations to increase, freeing people to pursue other interests such as technology, literacy, and other specializations and crafts. Dependence on agriculture can lead to mass starvation and disappearance of entire civilizations when water supplies diminish, climate changes, or political instability takes hold.

Floating garden

A kind of horticulture practiced by the Aztecs. Raised fields in water; a form of irrigation agriculture that could produce corn, flowers, beans, chilies, squash, amaranth, and tomatoes. Small islands were created or added to by dredging soil from lake beds. Willow trees were planted along the edges, to provide shade and to anchor the soil. On average the fields were the size of an ice hockey rink.

Style shifting

The process of changing language or dialect, depending on where we are and to whom we are speaking.

1884 - 1939

Born in Prussia, and emigrated to New York when he was a child. Graduated from Columbia University in 1904, and studied graduate school under Franz Boaz. Researched the languages of Native American peoples, and studied historical linguistics in Ottawa. Taught at Yale University where he met Benjamin Lee Whorf, and helped develop the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. Wrote texts including Language: An Introduction to the Study of Speech, The Status of Linguistics as a Science, and Language and the Environment.

Hunting and gathering

A subsistence strategy. The practice of deriving a living directly from nature, obtaining food without engaging in food production techniques. Humans practiced foraging for millions of years. Today, foraging societies live only in the harshest and most remote places on the planet. Often they are displaced by other subsistence strategies or blocked by government borders. Exist in relatively small scattered groups, requiring large amounts of land to gain adequate resources. Enjoy a relatively high quality of life, with emphasis on family and entertainment.

Unbound morpheme

A morpheme that can occur unattached. Most consist of more than one phoneme. Includes "dog" and "cat" in English.

"Tongue-time"

A statistical method of dating divergences in branches in language families in linguistics. The heart of historical linguistics. Developed by Swadesh and Lees in the early 1950s. Based on the assumption that core vocabulary changes at a constant rate.

Vocabulary

All the morphemes in a language and their meanings.

Industrial agriculture

Large-scale agriculture dependent on complex technology and biotechnology rather than human power to increase production Has resulted in larger farms with more machinery and less human labour, as well as intensive use of fertilizers and pesticides to maximize yields. It is expensive and consumes a lot of energy. Produces pollution and runoff. Plant hybrids and genetically modified organisms may be used.

Innu

A First Nations culture from eastern Quebec and Labrador. Congregated and dispersed depending on season. They lived in hunting camps of several families in the winter, and gathered in groups of up to 300 on lake shores in teh summer to fish. Women provided much less food than men did.

New Stone Age

"New stone"

In the Middle East, this period is dated between 8300 and 4500 BC. Signalled the introduction of domesticated plants and animals, ceramics, and polished stone tools, all related to a change in the subsistence strategy from foraging to horticulture and agriculture. It is unlikely that people planned to become food producers at this time; food production arose as an unintended byproduct of existing food management practices. Climate change may have caused more reliance on domestic crops and animals; it helped even out seasonal fluctuations in wild resources.

Nootka

A First Nations group of the Northwest Coast of North America. Practice potlatches, but did not put themselves into hardship for them.

Subsistence round

Food-producing strategy. There are five: foraging, pastoralism, horticulture, intensive agriculture, and mechanized agriculture.

Saulteaux

A culture that developed from Ojibwa culture when they acquired horses in the 18th century and migrated west into Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Adopted a nomadic lifestyle as bison hunters. They accepted Plains rituals such as the Sun Dance into their culture, but maintained aspects of woodlands heritage including mape sugar tapping, fishing, and Midewiwin curing rituals. They introduced floral designs to Plains groups.

Conspicuous generosity

"Gift"

A special celebration in which the people of a community or several communities come together to enjoy an elaborate feast, ceremonial dancing, singing, gift giving, speeches, and announcements. Serves as an opportunity for chiefs to enhance their status with public displays of generosity, and showcases wealth. Gift giving validates guests' statuses, and reciprocity of another potlatch is expected. Occurs in some nonindustrial societies.

Primitive money

Money used as a dowry for a marriage, to pay for a slave, a sympathy payment when a leader dies, or another specific purpose. Generally used in kin-based societies.

Slash-and-burn horticulture

Slash and burn agriculture

An extensive form of horticulture in which the natural vegetation is cut, the slash is subsequently burned, and crops are planted in the ashes. The ashes fertilize the soil allowing for several years of production. After one to three years, the plot is abandoned and natural vegetation is allowed to grow back. If done on a small scale, it can be an ecologically sustainable method of raising food. There must be a low population density and adequate amounts of land. Reduces the risk of forest fires, since old wood is burned in controlled conditions.

Maring

A culture in New Guinea who support themselves with horticulture. They raise pigs, eaten only under conditions of illness, injury, warfare, or celebration. At these times, a pig is ritually sacrified and eaten. In precolonial times, they had cycles of fighting with neighboring groups, punctuated with festivals where many pigs were slaughtered and the pork was shared among all groups to reconcile conflict. Pig festivals occurred every five to ten years, and the reduction in pig populatoin allowed the local agroecosystem to recover from the intensive cultivation required to support the pigs.

"Oh oh" expressions

Sound productions that are similar to sounds of the language, but do not appear in sentences in a way that they can be properly called words. They are conventional, learned, and variable from culture to culture. English vocal segregates include "shh", "uh-uh", "uh-huh", and "oh".