Question 1

The study of language from an anthropological point of view is called

Accepted Answer

Anthropological linguistics is the study of language from an anthropological perspective, focusing on how language influences and is influenced by social and cultural factors.

Question 2

What is the name for studying the way that language serves as a way to distinguish the way that people actually speak from the idealized ways that they are supposed to speak in a culture?

Accepted Answer

A

Question 3

An anthropologist who looks at speech acts as performances by recording narrative speech acts in the form of verses and stanzas rather than as prose paragraphs to capture the performative elements of speech is conducting

Accepted Answer

Ethnopoetics is the study of narrative speech acts as performances, often recording them in verse form to capture their performative and poetic elements.

Question 4

de Saussure's concept of parole is the

Accepted Answer

Parole is the way people actually speak a language, as opposed to langue, which is the formal rules of language.

Question 5

_____________ refers to the structure of speech sounds.

Accepted Answer

Phonology is the branch of linguistics that deals with the systematic organization of sounds in languages, specifically the structure of speech sounds.

Question 6

How words fit together to make meaningful units is called

Accepted Answer

The answer of How words fit together to make meaningful...

Question 7

A stoplight is a visual example of which of the following?

Accepted Answer

The answer of A stoplight is a visual example of...

Question 8

According to anthropologist Sherry Ortner's analysis, the American flag is an example of

Accepted Answer

The American flag is considered a summarizing symbol as it represents and condenses the core values, beliefs, and identity of the United States into a single emblem.

Question 9

The study of how people classify things in the world is called

Accepted Answer

Ethnoscience is the study of how people classify and organize things in the world, focusing on cultural and cognitive aspects.

Question 10

Today most anthropologists accept a ________ version of the linguistic relativity argument: the language habits of a community create tendencies to think about the world in certain ways and not others.

Accepted Answer

Most anthropologists today accept a weak (nondeterministic) version of linguistic relativity, which suggests that language influences thought but does not strictly determine it.

Question 11

A language of mixed origin that developed from a complex blending of two parent languages is called

Accepted Answer

A creole is a stable, natural language that has developed from a mixture of different languages. It typically arises from the blending of two or more parent languages.

Question 12

Like cultural anthropologists, linguistic anthropologists work with informants or research subjects through fieldwork.

Accepted Answer

Linguistic anthropologists, like cultural anthropologists, conduct fieldwork and engage with informants to study language use in cultural contexts.

Question 13

Early anthropologists such as Franz Boas saw little use for language as a mechanism for understanding culture.

Accepted Answer

Franz Boas, a pioneering anthropologist, emphasized the importance of language in understanding culture, as he believed that language was a key component of cultural identity and a means to access the worldview of different societies.

Question 14

Languages change very slowly, taking generations or even centuries.

Accepted Answer

Languages change gradually over time, but not as slowly as generations or centuries. Changes can occur within a few decades or even years.

Question 15

Nineteenth-century European colonial powers often introduced their own language as the official language in places like sub-Saharan Africa because they viewed indigenous languages as socially inferior.

Accepted Answer

European colonial powers often imposed their languages to assert control and facilitate administration, often dismissing local languages as inferior or inadequate for modern governance and education.

Question 16

The US government's prohibition of Native American children speaking their indigenous languages in Indian schools has contributed most profoundly to

Accepted Answer

The prohibition of Native American children from speaking their indigenous languages in schools led to the decline and eventual extinction of many native languages, a phenomenon known as language death.

Question 17

If you wanted to study how athletes and non-athletes used language differently on your campus, how would you go about finding this out?

Accepted Answer

The answer of If you wanted to study how athletes...

Question 18

According to linguistic anthropologists, why don't our pets actually understand a rudimentary form of English?

Accepted Answer

The answer of According to linguistic anthropologists, why don't our...

Question 19

How can language mark our social position and status? In your answer apply the theory of language ideology.

Accepted Answer

The answer of How can language mark our social position...

Question 20

How is communication between animals (call system communication) different from human language?

Accepted Answer

The answer of How is communication between animals (call system...

Quiz 4: Linguistic Anthropology: Relating Language and Culture