Deck 10: Doing Linguistic Anthropology

Question 1

Describe one way of "doing linguistic anthropology," which helps out in situations where people misunderstand one another. What sorts of difference can cause misunderstandings?

Answer 1

Answers may vary.

Question 2

The fact that most women who work in theater today refer to themselves as "actors"

A)is a sign of too much political correctness.
B)just sounds silly, as if they were claiming to be men.
C)is a successful effort to remove one case of gender bias in English.
D)cannot have any impact on the way these women are perceived.

Answer 2

is a successful effort to remove one case of gender bias in English.

Question 3

Members of the Apache Tribe of Oklahoma

A)have engaged in concerted work to revitalize their language, Ná'isha̜.
B)ceased speaking their language, Ná'isha̜ in the nineteenth century.
C)have no interest in maintaining their language, Ná'isha̜.
D)are almost all fluent or semi-fluent in their language, Ná'isha̜.

Answer 3

have engaged in concerted work to revitalize their language, Ná'isha̜.

Question 4

There are a wide range of everyday applications for linguistic anthropology.

Question 5

When there are no more speakers of a particular language, that language is said to be

A)marginalized.
B)revitalized.
C)endangered.
D)extinct.

Question 6

The sentence "Anyone in Oklahoma can ask for an abortion if he wants one"

A)illustrates the fact that "anyone" in English is a marked form.
B)shows that we can eliminate gender bias in language by using "he" to refer to both men and women.
C)was a popular bumper sticker during the 2008 presidential campaign period.
D)demonstrates the fact that "he" cannot be a gender neutral term.

Question 7

Linguistic indication of nonneutral forms of words is called

A)marking.
B)painting.
C)noting.
D)switching.

Question 8

Linguistic anthropologists see language as a practice, something that human beings do rather than only a thing or an entity.

Question 9

Linguistic anthropology is interested primarily in the social and cultural contexts in which language is used and for the most part leaves study of the structure of language to structural linguists.

Question 10

In the earliest days of linguistic anthropology, the focus of the field was primarily on

A)collecting and cataloguing languages
B)questions of identity and power
C)analysis of speech events
D)the role of language in human evolution

Question 11

Give an example of hidden bias in language, drawing on examples given in the course reading. Describe the bias inherent in the example you give.

Question 12

Research into "African" scam letters reveals that most authors of such letters live in Nigeria.

Question 13

Describe the inherent sexist bias in language used to discuss the 2008 Democratic primary and the 2016 presidential election.

Question 14

Globish, a potential lingua franca of the twenty-first century, is

A)a Mock English, which indexes stereotypes of Anglophones.
B)a simplified, idiom-free form of English.
C)a form of language ideally suited to poetry and music lyrics.
D)taught in many international business schools today.

Question 15

The English word "actress" is an unmarked form.

Question 16

The term ___________ is an unmarked form in English.

A)actress
B)nurse
C)waitress
D)bachelor

Question 17

The term for efforts to maintain languages that are currently endangered is

A)language renaissance.
B)language resuscitation.
C)language aid.
D)language revitalization.

Question 18

Ottenheimer used the tools of linguistic anthropology to reveal that Internet scammers were using

A)an emerging variety of English called "Globish."
B)a "Mock African" language variety.
C)prescriptive grammar to adhere to standard English.
D)revitalized indigenous languages to communicate with one another.