ANTHR101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 22: Newspeak, Paralanguage, Personal Pronoun
2 Nov 2018
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Document Summary
From lectures 22 and 23, placed together to make it more cohesive. Language: a system of communication using sounds put together in meaningful ways according to certain rules: also includes gestures and body language. Uniqueness of human language: multimedia potential, all human languages use various media to communicate, spoken, signed (gestures), touch, written (includes symbols like arrows), smell (certain smells convey welcome, status etc. ) Languages differ in the sounds they use: phonology, average 30-50 unique sounds. Looks at similarities and differences in vocabulary, morphology, and syntax. Language reflexivity: e. g. people in the arctic might have a unique word for each type of snow, while other languages only. Languages can also give us information about the culture of a people have one word, or no words: having specific words to describe important things allow for easier communication, e. g. In some languages when asked for their name, people will give their parents names first, then their own.
