Language is a dual system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication. The duality is due to the coexistence of two systems of language—the system of sounds and the system of meanings; thus, duality is a basic feature of language. Language is arbitrary because we cannot predict which features will be found in any particular language; language is symbolic because the words humans speak are associated with objects, ideas, and actions.
In any study of language or linguistics, there are several basic distinctions that should be noted. Not only do these distinctions underlie the study of language, but to some extent they also underlie the study of culture. The first distinction is between description and prescription.
Linguists describe rather than prescribe languages. In other words, linguists assume that human language cannot be evaluated or judged, and they are more interested in how language works or doesn’t work than in how language should be improved. The descriptive stance is very unnatural for a speaker of any language to adopt, as we all have definite ideas about what is “proper” within the languages we speak. People are taught to be prescriptive in speaking and writing.
The linguists’ descriptive stance is somewhat similar to the anthropological principle of cultural relativism. Throughout childhood, we received instruction on the proper way to speak our language, and any mistakes we made were quickly corrected. In much the same way, we are taught that our culture is the best culture. This attitude, or ethnocentrism, is common in every culture. The syllable centric or centrism derives from the Greek word kentrik, or centre, and because ethno means culture, the term ethnocentric can be thought of as culture centred, or not being able to go beyond one’s circle of cultural values.
Anthropologists try to overcome the bias implicit in ethnocentrism by applying the principle of cultural relativity. Anthropologists look at a culture from the perspective of its own terms and values and try not to evaluate a culture through their own system of cultural values. Cultural relativity can only be a goal, however, in the sense that no one can be absolutely free of cultural values.
Languages and cultures are best approached from a nonprescriptive stance. All human languages are equally complex and sophisticated; there is no primitive language. All humans have the ability to create and recreate complex systems of sounds and meanings using their voices and bodies.
Many groups have focused on the power of symbols found in language. Native groups, women’s groups, and animal rights groups, for example, are very concerned with the use of words and language. The symbols created through language can be biased for or against a particular gender, they can stereotype other cultures, or they can stereotype other species. The words or verbal symbols we use shapes our attitudes about ourselves and others. This course will help develop your awareness of why we shape verbal symbols, how we accomplish it, and the biases implicit in our everyday speech.
There are a few things you should note about the terminology used in this course. The commentaries in the Study Guide contain a number of examples from the Indigenous languages of Canada, which are the languages of the original inhabitants of the area now called Canada, and the people who speak these languages are usually referred to in the commentaries as Native peoples. The word Native is used to avoid the present-day distinctions of legal status, and its capitalization is used to distinguish them from native speakers. A native speaker is a person who speaks a language as his or her mother tongue. The terms Indigenous languages and Native peoples are actually regional definitions somewhat like the term European languages. The finer distinctions among the languages that originate on both sides of the Atlantic will become clear by the end of the course.