AN101 Chapter Notes - Chapter 4: Ethnocentrism, Homophony, Pragmatics
Document Summary
Language: system of arbitrary vocal symbols we use to encode our experiences of the world. Language allows people to communicate with one another but creates barriers (linguistic diversity) Language shared by group of speakers, encoded in symbols, patterned, and transmitted through teaching and learning thus making communication possible. All people use language to encode their experiences, to structure their understanding of the world and of themselves, an to engage with one another language is best tool anthropologists have to access informants" perceptions and interpretations. Learning another society"s language helps us learn about another culture. Learning another language provides unsuspected insights into nature of our own language and culture, and makes it impossible to take language of any kind for granted. Difficulties associated with establishing the boundaries between one language and another, or with distinguishing between dialects and languages, become particularly obvious in studies of pidgins and creoles.
