LING 100 Lecture 11: Week 11-12
10 Mar 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Ethnolinguistics was derived from the greek word ethnos meaning. Ethnolinguistics seeks to understand: a) whether grammatical categories and structures affect speakers" world views, influence, direct, and reflect people"s thoughts; b) the direct and indirect meanings of words. Issues raised include the extent to which the words available in a language influence people"s perceptions of their world, and the ways that words encode and transmit cultural, emotional, and symbolic meanings and values. The two most influential figures in the development of ethnolinguistics were edward sapir (1884-1939) and benjamin whorf (1897-1941). Linguistic lag can account for the fact that words may reflect previous rather than current cultural interests (e. g. , sun set, sun raise, etc. ). In time, as linguistic change catches up with cultural change, such words are likely to shift in meaning or to disappear. The influence of language on thinking can be seen both through vocabulary and through more complex grammatical relations (examples from hopi and other languages).
