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Linguistic Anthropology

Linguistic Anthropology. Some Early Ideas…. When men, Bṛhaspati, giving names to objects, sent out Vāk's first and earliest utterances, All that was excellent and spotless, treasured within them, was disclosed through their affection. Rig Veda Book 10, Hymn 71:1

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Linguistic Anthropology

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  1. Linguistic Anthropology Some Early Ideas…

  2. When men, Bṛhaspati, giving names to objects, sent out Vāk's first and earliest utterances,All that was excellent and spotless, treasured within them, was disclosed through their affection. Rig Veda Book 10, Hymn 71:1 translated by Ralph T.H. Griffith SaraswatiRaja Ravi Varma (1848-1946)

  3. The Creation of ManMichelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… John 1:1

  4. A divine gift? An instinctual ability? (with a nod to Dr. Frank Lynn Meshberger)

  5. intra-cranial electrophysiology found that the brain's computation of vocabulary, grammar and articulation took place very quickly: roughly 200, 320 and 450 milliseconds, respectively with thanks to Dr. Frank Lynn Meshberger More: http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2009/10/15/tech-brain-language.html

  6. The magic of words • Language as a part of ritual • Requirement for precision • Standardization of language usage “Burning Ghat” – Varanasi (1995)

  7. PĀNiNi . • The Aṣṭādhyāyī(“Eight Chapters”) • Lists 3,959 sutras (rules) for the correct use of Sanskrit • Most complete and yet shortest grammar of any language • “Classical Sanskrit”

  8. Plato Cratylus • Are words arbitrary? If so, they can be replaced by other words • Or are they divine in origin? If so, they must be intriniscally related to the things they signify Natural vs. Conventional views Plato (c. 428-427 B.C.E. – 348-347 B.C.E.)

  9. Aristotle • language is a symbolic system that represents • the world of experience as contained within our minds • the world is external to humans • humans are all capable of perceiving the same things within it • the form of a language is a corollary of its function Aristotle (384 B.C.E. - 322 B.C.E.) Keith Allan, “Aristotle's Footprints in the Linguist's Garden”; Language Sciences, 26(4), 2004:317-342

  10. The Power of received wisdom Never underestimate

  11. Genesis 11:1-8 (King James Version) 1 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. 2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. 3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar. 4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. 5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. 6 And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. 7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. 8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.

  12. Implications of the babel story • Humans had once spoken only one language • The language spoken by the people of the Old Testament • BUT • was this the language through which God spoke to Adam? • or the language Adam invented as he named the animals (Genesis 2:19)?

  13. Genesis 2:19 (-20) 19 And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. 20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.

  14. Early historical linguistics (Europe) • Hebrew (or some earlier version of it) was the proto-language of humankind • A “perfect” proto-language The Tel Zayit Inscription (10th century B.C.E.)

  15. William Jones • Originally convinced of the priority of biblical accounts of history • Travelled to India as a judge • Exposed to wide variety of South Asian texts and languages • Came to recognize that Sanskrit preceded Latin and Greek Sir William Jones (1746-1794)

  16. William Jones The Sanscrit language, whatever be its antiquity, is of a wonderful structure; more perfect than the Greek, more copious than the Latin, and more exquisitely refined than either, yet bearing to both of them a stronger affinity, both in the roots of verbs and the forms of grammar, than could possibly have been produced by accident… Sir William Jones (1746-1794) The Third Anniversary Discourse, On the Hindus (2 February, 1786)

  17. the dawn of the modern era oflanguage studies • Jones’ work is part of a broader movement that will introduce “Oriental” thought into the west • marks the beginning of modern diachronic linguistics (the study of how languages change over time) • His studies of Sanskrit will affect a whole series of future linguistics, one of whom we will meet shortly…

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