ANTH 1150 Chapter Notes - Chapter 4: Sociolinguistics, Glottochronology, Mutual Intelligibility

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Anthropology
• Course: ANTH 1150
• Professor: Victor Gulewitsch

Document Summary

Situates reader or listener in space and time=displacement; the ability to refer to objects and events removed in time and space and helped ancient humans to communicate. Basic requirement for any culture is a means of communication between individuals. Language; a system of communication using sounds or gestures put together in meaningful ways according to a set of rules. Ability to speak is based on biological factors. Symbols; sounds or gestures that stand for meanings among a group of people (the word. Signal; sound or gesture that has a natural or self-evident meaning (ex: smile is a signal of happiness) Language is a system that enables us to translate our concerns, beliefs and perceptions into symbols that others can understand. Linguistics; the moderns scienti c study of all aspects of language (2000 years ago) Linguistic anthropologists studies how people use language, both verbal and nonverbal, to develop social relationships with one another and to create, maintain and reproduce social distinctions.