Exam 14: Language and Communication

Research on the communication skills of nonhuman primates reveals their inability to refer to objects that are not immediately present in their environment, such as food and danger. The ability to describe things and events that are not present is called

A key feature of language that helps explain anthropologists' continued interest in studying it is that it

What term refers to languages that have descended from the same ancestral language?

A sociolinguist studies

All languages and dialects are equally effective as systems of communication.

Bourdieu argues that languages with the highest symbolic capital are those that are better systems of communication.

Which of the following was studied by Sapir and Whorf?

In all languages, the same honorifics have the same meaning, regardless of context.

In this chapter, an alternative to the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis suggests that cultural changes lead to changes in language.

What is the study of the sounds used in speech?

How has technology influenced the way you communicate? Considering what you already know about anthropological theory and methods, what kinds of questions might an anthropologist pose about the role of technology in human culture, and particularly language? How might he or she go about answering those questions?

Linguistic productivity refers to the fixed linguistic structures that prevent the creation of new expressions.

Compare and contrast the evolution of language and biological evolution. What role may mutations play in the origins of human language, if any?

Recent research on the origins of language suggests that a key mutation might have something to do with it. Comparing chimp and human genomes, it appears that

Which of the following statements about chimpanzee call systems is NOT true?

Historical linguists use linguistic similarities and differences in the world today to study long-term changes in language.

Kinesics is the study of communication through body movements, stances, gestures, and facial expressions.

What term refers to the arrangement and order of words into sentences?

The origins of BEV are found mostly in West Africa, not in the dialects of the southern part of the United States.

One aspect of linguistic history is language loss. When a language disappears,