ETHNOLINGUISTICS (ADVANCED COURSE)

Academic year
2019/2020 Syllabus of previous years
Official course title
ETNOLINGUISTICA SP.
Course code
FM0074 (AF:308498 AR:169611)
Modality
On campus classes
ECTS credits
6
Degree level
Master's Degree Programme (DM270)
Educational sector code
L-LIN/01
Period
4th Term
Where
VENEZIA
The course is part of the related or additional studies of the master’s degree program in Cultural Anthropology, Ethnology, Anthropological Linguistics and is compulsory for all curricula. It aims to provide the knowledge required for reflecting and operating on language and languages from an anthropological point of view, with particular attention to the topic of lexical taxonomies, which constitute one of the linguistic ways of classifying reality.
By the end of the course, students are expected to be able to rigorously frame the question of the relationship between languages and cultures in light of the anthropologically salient linguistic phenomenology. Specifically, students are expected to acquire a general knowledge of the history, theories, methods, and fields of application of Ethnolinguistics and a thorough knowledge of the linguistic, cognitive and cultural aspects which underlie the lexical taxonomies. Students are also expected to acquire the ability to expose issues and problems relevant to Ethnolinguistics using appropriate terminology.
The course requires basic knowledge of general linguistics. These notions will be recalled during the classes for those who have not previously attended a basic linguistic course. Non-attending students who do not possess these notions are required to read G. Berruto, Corso elementare di linguistica generale, Torino, 1997 (chapters 1-5). The course also requires the ability to understand English written texts and a good knowledge of the Italian language for foreign students.
The first part of the course will cover the following general contents: the history of Ethnolinguistics; the relationship between language and culture; the social dimension of language; the communicative dimension of language; culturally significant functions and uses of language. The second part of the course will focus on lexical taxonomies (terms of kinship, botanical and zoological terms, colour terms, etc.) and on the interaction of the linguistic, cognitive, and cultural aspects which underlie these taxonomies, in the light of examples from languages genetically and geographically diversified.
Compulsory bibliography

G. R. Cardona, Introduzione all’etnolinguistica, Novara, 2006.
G. R. Cardona, Introduzione alla sociolinguistica, Novara, 2009 (except chapter 2).

Further readings

As to further readings, attending students are only required to read the excerpts commented on during the classes. Non-attending students are required to read two texts selected from the list (I), two texts selected from the list (II), and the texts Berlin and Kay 1969, McNeill 1972, Regier and Kay 2009, and Roberson and Hanley 2010 from the list (III). Texts which cannot be consulted online will be made available on the Moodle platform.

(I) The relationship between language and culture
F. Boas, Handbook of American Indian Languages, I, Washington, 1911, pp. 5-83.
F. Boas, Language, in General Anthropology, Boston, 1938, pp. 124-145.
E. Sapir, The Status of Linguistics as a Science, in «Language» 5, 1929, pp. 207-214.
B. Malinowski, Coral Gardens and their Magic, London, 1935, pp. 3-74.
B. L. Whorf, The relation of habitual thought and behavior to language, in Language, Culture, and Personality, Menasha, 1941, pp. 75-93.
C. Lévi-Strauss, L’analyse structurale en linguistique et anthropologie, in «Word» 1, 1945, pp. 1-21.
C. Lévi-Strauss, Language and the Analysis of Social Laws, in «American Anthropologist» 53, 1951, pp. 155-163.
C. Lévi-Strauss, Linguistics and Anthropology, in Results of the Conference of Anthropologists and Linguists, Baltimore,1953, pp. 1-10.
K. L. Pike, Language in Relation to a Unified Theory of the Structure of Human Behaviour, The Hague-London, 1967, pp. 1-7.
D. Hymes, Foundations in Sociolinguistics, Philadelphia, 1974, pp. 1-65.
A. Duranti, Linguistic Anthropology, Cambridge, 1997, pp. 51-83.

(II) Lexical taxonomies
M. Mauss, Discussion, in «Journal de Psychologie» 20, 1923, pp. 944-947.
E. Haugen, The Semantic of Icelandic Orientation, in «Word» 13, 1957, pp. 447-459.
J. B. Carroll, J. B. Casagrande, The Function of Language Classification in Behavior, in Readings in Social Psychology, New York, 1958, pp. 18-31.
C. Lévi-Strauss, La pensée sauvage, Paris, 1962, pp. 178-211.
M. Mathiot, Noun Classes and Folk Taxonomy in Papago, in «American Anthropologist» 64, 1962, pp. 340-350.
M. B. Black, Eliciting Folk Taxonomy in Ojibwa, in Cognitive Anthropology, New York, 1969, pp. 165-189.
B. Berlin, Speculations on the Growth of Ethnobotanical Nomenclature, in «Language in Society» 1, 1972, pp. 51-86.
E. Rosch, Principles of Categorization, in Cognition and Categorization, Hillsdale, 1978, pp. 27-48.
G. Lakoff, Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things, Chicago, 1987, pp. 91-114.
W. A. Foley, Anthropological Linguistics, Oxford, 1997, pp. 106-130.
C. Bazzanella, Linguistica cognitiva, Bari-Roma, 2014, pp. 41-60.

(III) Colour terms
B. Berlin, P. Kay, Basic Color Terms, Berkeley-Los Angeles, 1969, pp. 1-45.
N. B. McNeill, Color and colour terminology, in «Journal of Linguistics» 8, I, 1972, pp. 21-33.
M. Grossmann, Colori e lessico, Tübingen, 1988, pp. 1-37.
R. E. MacLaury, Basic color terms: twenty-five years after, in The language of color in the Mediterranean, Stockholm, 1999, pp. 1-37.
R. Fresu, Neologismi a colori. Per una semantica dei cromonimi nella lingua italiana, in «LId’O. Lingua italiana d’oggi» 3, 2006, pp. 153-179.
T. Regier, P. Kay, Language, thought, and color: Whorf was half right, in «Trends in Cognitive Sciences» 10, 2009, pp. 439-446.
D. Roberson, J. R. Hanley, Relatively speaking: An account of the relationship between language and culture in the color domain, in Words and the mind, New York-Oxford, 2010, pp. 183-198.
Learning will be assessed through an interview on the topics of the course and compulsory texts for attending students, on the topics of compulsory texts and selected further readings for non-attending students. In particular, mastery of the topics, ability in presentation, and terminological adequacy will be taken into account for evaluation.
Classroom-taught classes with the help of presentations for reading and commenting on excerpts selected from the further readings list.
Italian
oral
Definitive programme.
Last update of the programme: 21/03/2020