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Language and Culture: Overview of the course

Language and Culture: Overview of the course. Prof. Gerald F. Murray Dept. of Anthropology University of Florida. Outline of the lecture. What is anthropology? What is culture? What is language? What will we cover in the course? Background of the instructor Requirements.

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Language and Culture: Overview of the course

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  1. Language and Culture:Overview of the course Prof. Gerald F. Murray Dept. of Anthropology University of Florida

  2. Outline of the lecture • What is anthropology? • What is culture? • What is language? • What will we cover in the course? • Background of the instructor • Requirements

  3. Anthropology: The “four field” approach • Biological anthropology • Archeology • Cultural anthropology • Linguistic anthropology

  4. Many disciplines study language • Language and Literature departments • Linguistics • Sociolinguistics • Psycholinguistics • Neurolinguistics • Philosophy No discipline has a monopoly on language. Each discipline has a focus.

  5. Topics discussed in anthropological linguistics • Biological basis of language • Evolutionary origins: transition from calls to speech. • Language and thought. • Monogenesis or polygenesis. • Causes of language change. • Development of language “families”. • Dialects and their relation to “official” languages. • Schools and language “oppression”. • Language loyalties. • The death of languages.

  6. Applied topics in linguistics • Combatting prejudices and negative stereotypes. • Preservation of endangered languages. • Guidelines for first language acquisition • Enrichment of language environment • Guidelines in bilingual or multilingual households • Facilitation of second language learning. • Improved language strategies in mother tongue. • Mental control • Suppressing the involuntary flow of words – inner and outer. • Developing strategies for inner silence.

  7. Background of the instructor • Cultural anthropologist. • Countries where he has worked. • Topics that he has researched. • Linguist • Applied anthropologist

  8. The Caribbean

  9. Hispaniola: Haiti and Dominican Republic

  10. South America: Peru

  11. Africa

  12. Israel / Palestine

  13. Languages studied • In addition to English, can speak Spanish, Haitian Creole, French, German, Italian, Hebrew • I have studied four ancient languages: Latin, Greek, Biblical Hebrew, Aramaic. • I have also studied, at different times, Arabic, Russian, Portuguese, Papiamentu, Malagasy

  14. Attempts to learn Mandarin • Difficulty with characters • Difficulty with tones • Difficulty with comprehension of spoken speech.” • Difficulty with local dialects and pronunciations. • “Your room is 1016.” • “Three weeks.” • Tongue twister: 4 is 4, 14 is 14, 40 is 40

  15. The instructor’s U. of Florida website • web.clas.ufl.edu/users/murray/ • Links to the course. • Course requirements

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