LANGUAGE, CULTURE, AND THOUGHT
Human Development 219/319, Psychology 219/319, Anthropology 276/376
Autumn 2003
John A. Lucy
Class Meetings: TuTh 1:30-3:00,
Harper 103 Phone: 702-3517
Office Hours: Th 3:00-4:20, Judd 450 (call 702-3971 for appt.)
E-mail: jlucy@uchicago.edu
Prerequisites: Graduate standing or advanced undergraduate (third or fourth year).
Course Description: This is a survey course exploring the role of natural language in shaping human thought. The topic will be taken up at three levels: semiotic-evolutionary (the role of natural language in enabling distinctively human forms of thinking--the rise of true concepts and self-consciousness), structural-comparative (the role of specific language codes in shaping habitual thought--the "linguistic relativity" of experience), and functional-discursive (the role of specialized discursive practices and linguistic ideologies in cultivating specialized forms of thought--the pragmatics, politics, and aesthetics of reason and expression). Readings will be drawn from many disciplines but will emphasize developmental, cultural, and critical approaches. Class time will be divided between lecture and discussion.
Requirements: Extensive assigned reading. Three short written assignments based on the course readings, one for each segment of the course. Each assignment will represent one quarter of the final grade. Students will also be expected to turn in each week a one-paragraph critical/reflective question or commentary on one of the week's readings. The weekly commentaries will constitute the remaining quarter of the grade. Students taking the course Pass/Fail are required to do the weekly assignments and one of the papers.
Schedule of Topics and Readings:
Week Date Topic
INTRODUCTION
01 09/30 Three Levels in the Relation of Language, Thought, and
Culture
For those missing the first day of class,
read Lucy in G&L (37-69)
REC: Quine (ch 1-2, 1-79), Aarslef (vii-lxv)
SEMIOTIC-EVOLUTIONARY LEVEL
10/02 Semiotic Theory: Towards A Typology
of Signs
Sapir, Language (3-23)
20
Hockett, Logical considerations ... (124-162
[or orig vers. 392-430])
38
Peirce, Division of signs (134-155)
21 79
02 10/07 Phylogenesis of Speech and Practical Intelligence
I
Geertz, The impact of ... (33-54)
21
Eccles, Evolution of the Brain (71-96)
25
Humphrey, The social function of intellect
(303-317)
14 69
Deacon, Symbolic species (TBA)
REC: Bradshaw (615-37), Tobias (741-757),
Bickerton (ch 6-7, 130-197)
10/09 Phylogenesis of Speech and Practical
Intelligence II
Wallman, Aping Language (3-28, 49-59, 74-76,
79-106, 128-143)
79
Tomasello & Call, Primate Cognition ch
12-13 (367-429)
62 141
REC: Agha, Tomasello (TBA)
03 10/14 Ontogenesis of Language and Conceptual Thought I
. Piaget, Language and thought ... (88-99)
11
Vygotsky, Thought and Language ch 1, 4-5 (1-11,
68-145)
88
de Villiers and de Villiers (335-384)
50 149
REC: Sacks, Seeing Voices
10/16 Ontogenesis of Language and Conceptual
Thought II
Vygotsky, Thought and Language ch 6-7 (146-256)
110 110
STRUCTURAL-COMPARATIVE LEVEL
04 10/21 Semantic Theory: Towards A Typology of Grammatical Categories
Sapir, Language ch 4-5 (57-119)
62
Jakobson, Shifters ... (only 130-136)
7
Lucy, LD&T intro & ch 1-2A (1-37)
37 106
REC: Whorf (87-101) 14
10/23 Structure-Centered Approaches: Temporal
Marking [Guest Lec.]
Sapir, SWES (150-166)
17
Sapir, Conceptual categories in primitive
languages (128)
18
Whorf, LT&R (134-159, 207-219, 233-245)
49
Lucy, LD&T ch 2B, 4A (38-68, 88-101)
43 110
REC: Lucy (LD&T) ch 3-4, 6A (69-126, 188-207),
Boroditsky (TBA)
05 10/28 Domain-Centered Approaches: Color Categorization
Lucy, LD&T ch 5 (127-187)
50
Berlin & Kay, Basic Color Terms (1-17)
17
Lucy, The linguistics of 'color' (320-346)
26
Davidoff, Davies, & Roberson, Colour categories
… (203-204)
1 94
REC: Kay & McDaniel (610-646), Levinson,
Yélî Dnye…(1-53), Kay ms (1-14)
10/30 Behavior-Centered Approaches: Counterfactual
Reasoning
Lucy, LD&T ch 6B, 7 (208-276)
68 68
06 11/04 Contemporary Structure-Centered Approaches I: Number Marking
Lucy, GC&C intro, ch 1, 2, 3A (1-136)
136 136
11/06 Contemporary Structure-Centered Approaches
II: Number Marking
Lucy, GC&C ch 3B, 4 (136-161)
25
Lucy & Gaskins, Grammatical categories
and ... (257-283)
26
Imai, Universal ontological knowledge… (139-160)
21 72
REC: Lucy & Gaskins, Interaction
of language…(465-492)
07 11/11 Contemporary Domain-Centered Approaches: Spatial Categorization
Bowerman, The origins of children's ... (145-176)
31
Levinson, Language and cognition ... (98-131)
33
Pederson et al., Semantic typology ... (557-589)
32
Bickel, Grammar and social practice … (161-191)
30 126
REC: Pederson, Geographic and manipulable
space (294-311)
FUNCTIONAL-DISCURSIVE LEVEL
11/13 Pragmatic Theory: Towards A Typology
of Discursive Usage
Jakobson, Concluding statement (only 350-358)
8
Hymes, Foundations in Sociolinguistics (3-27)
24
Silverstein, Shifters ... (11-55)
44
Bakhtin, The problem of speech genres (60-102)
42 118
REC: Sapir (7-32), Buhler (147-164), Silverstein
(132-44), Austin (1-24)
Lucy (LD&T) ch 4B,C (102-126) 24
08 11/18 Referential Function I: Standardization and Education
Havranek, The functional differentiation ...(3-16)
13
Silverstein, Monoglot “standard” (284-306)
22
Vygotsky, Thought and Language ch 6-7 (146-256)
--
Scribner & Cole, Cognitive consequences
... (553-559)
6
Bourdieu, The economics of linguistic exchanges
(645-668)
23
Labov, Academic ignorance and black intelligence
(63-81)
18
Hymes, Speech and language (19-56)
37 119
11/20 Referential Function II: Literacy
and Science
Goody & Watt, The consequences of literacy
(27-68)
41
Street, Literacy in Theory and Practice (TBA)
20
Markus, The cultural organization ... (1-24)
24
Cohen, Sex and death in the rational world
... (687-718)
31 116
REC: Benveniste (55-64), Whorf (207-219)
--
09 11/25 Expressive Function I: Self and Consciousness
Benveniste, On subjectivity in language (223-230)
7
Brown & Gilman, The pronouns of power
and solidarity (253-276)
23
Rosaldo, I have nothing to hide (193-223)
30
Voloshinov, Toward a history of forms of utterance
(only 109-140)
31 91
REC: Banfield (339-364) 25
11/27 No Class (Thanksgiving)
10 12/02 Expressive Function II: Emotion and Literature
Miller & Sperry, The socialization of
anger and aggression (1-31)
31
Sapir, Language (221-231)
10
Friedrich, The Language Parallax (16-53)
37
Slobin, Verbalized events (107-138)
31 109
READINGS
Course readings will be drawn from the following materials, which will be on reserve in Regenstein Library.
Agha, A. (199?) 'Concept' and 'communication' in evolutionary
terms. Semiotica.
Bakhtin, M. (1987). The problem of speech genres.
In C. Emerson and M. Holquist (eds.) Speech Genres and Other Late Essays
(Vern McGee, trans.), 60-102. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.
Benveniste, E. On subjectivity in language. In E. Benveniste,
Problems in General Linguistics (M. Meek, trans.), 223-230. Coral
Gables, FL: University of Miami Press.
Berlin, B. and Kay, P. (1969). Basic Color Terms: Their
University and Evolution. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Bickel, B. (2000). Grammar and social practice. On the
role of ‘Culture’ in linguistic relativity. In S. Niermeier
and R. Dirven (eds.), Evidence for linguistic relativity, 161-191.
Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Bourdieu, P. (1982). The economics of linguistic exchanges.
Social Science Information 16: 45-668.
Bowerman, M. (1996). The origins of children's spatial
semantic categories: cognitive versus linguistic determinants. In
J.J. Gumperz and S.C. Levinson, Rethinking Linguistic Relativity, 145-176.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Bradshaw, J.L. (1987). The evolution of human lateral asymmetries:
new evidence and second thoughts. Journal of Human Evolution 17,
615-637.
Brown, R. and Gilman, A. (1960). The pronouns of power and solidarity.
In T. Sebeok (ed.), Style in Language, 253-276. Cambridge, MA: The
MIT Press.
Cohn, C. Sex and death in the rational world of defense intellectuals.
Signs 12: 687-718.
Davidoff, J., Davies, I., & Roberson, D. (1999). Colour categories
in a stone-age tribe. Nature 398:203-204.
Deacon, T. (199?). The symbolic species: co-evolution of
language and brain
de Villiers, J. and de Villiers, P. (2003) Language for thought:
coming to understand false beliefs. In D. Gentner & S. Goldin-Meadow
(eds.), Language in Mind (335-384). Cambridge, MA: MIT.
Eccles, J.C. (1989). Evolution of the Brain: Creation of the
Self. London: Routledge.
Friedrich, P. (1986). The Language Parallax: Linguistic
Relativism and Poetic Indeterminacy. Austin, TX: University of Texas
Press.
Geertz, C. (1973). The impact of the concept of culture
on the concept of man. In The Interpretation of Cultures, 33-54.
New York: Basic Books.
Goody, J. and Watt, I. (1968). The consequences of literacy.
In J. Goody (ed.), Literacy in Traditional Societies, 27-68. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Havranek, B. (1932/1964). The functional differentiation
of the standard language. In P. Garvin (ed. and tr.), A Prague School
Reader on Esthetics, literary structure, and style, 3-16. Washington,
DC: Georgetown University Press.
Hockett, C.F. (1959/1975). Logical considerations in the study
of animal communication. In The View from Language: Selected Essays
1948-1974, 124-162. Athens, GA: The University of Georgia Press.
Reprinted from Animal "languages" and human language, in W.E. Lanyon and
W.N. Tavolga (eds.), Animal Sounds and Communication, 392-430. Washington:
American Institute of Biological Sciences.
Humphrey, N.K. (1976). The social function of intellect.
In P.P.G. Bateson and R.A. Hinde, Growing Points in Ethology, 303-317.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hymes, D. (1974). Foundations in Sociolinguistics.
Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Hymes, D.H. (1980). Speech and language: On the origins and foundations
f inequality among speakers. In D.H. Hymes, Language and Education:
Essays in Educational Ethnolinguistics, 19-61. Washington, DC: Center
for Applied Linguistics.
Imai, M. (2000). Universal ontological knowledge and a
bias toward language-specific categories in the construal of individuation.
In S. Niermeier and R. Dirven (eds.), Evidence for linguistic relativity,
139-160. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Jakobson, R. (1957/1971). Shifters, verbal categories,
and the Russian verb. In Selected Writings, Vol. 2: Word and Language,
130-147. The Hague: Mouton.
Jakobson, R. (1960). Concluding statement: Linguistics
and Poetics. In T.A. Sebeok (ed.), Style in Language, 350-58 [only].
Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Labov, W. (1975). Academic ignorance and black intelligence.
In M. Maehr and W. Stallings (eds.), Culture, Child, and School: Sociocultural
Influences on Learning, 63-81. Monterrey, CA: Brooks/Cole.
Levinson, S.C. (1997). Language and cognition: the cognitive
consequences of spatial description in Guugu Yimithirr. Journal of
Linguistic Anthropology 7(1):98-131.
Levinson, S.C. (2000) Yélî Dnye and the theory
of basic color terms. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology 10:1-53.
Lucy, J.A. (1992). Grammatical Categories and Cognition.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Lucy, J.A. (1992). Language Diversity and Thought.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Lucy, J.A. (1996). The scope of linguistic relativity:
an empirical analysis and review of empirical research. In J.J. Gumperz
and S.C. Levinson, Rethinking Linguistic Relativity, 37-69. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Lucy, J.A. (1997). The linguistics of 'color.' In
L. Hardin and L. Maffi (eds.), Color Categories in Thought and Language,
320-346. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Lucy, J.A. and Gaskins, S. (2001). Grammatical categories
and the development of classification preferences: a comparative approach.
In S.C. Levinson and M. Bowerman (eds.), Language Acquisition and Conceptual
Development, 257-283. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Lucy, J.A. and Gaskins, S. (2003). Interaction of language
type and referent type in the development of nonverbal classification preferences.
In In D. Gentner & S. Goldin-Meadow (eds.), Language in Mind, 465-492.
Cambridge, MA: MIT
Markus, G. (nd). The cultural organization of tradition
in contemporary natural sciences. Manuscript.
Miller, P. and Sperry, L. (1987). The socialization of
anger and aggression. Merrill Palmer Quarterly 33: 1-31.
Pederson, E. (1993). Geographic and manipulable space in two
Tamil linguistic systems. In A.U. Frank and I. Campari (eds.), Spatial
Information Theory, 294-311. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.
Pederson, E., Danziger, E., Levinson, S.C., Kita, S., Senft, G., and
Wilkins, D. (1998). Semantic typology and spatial conceptualization.
Language 74:557-589.
Peirce, C.S. (1932). Division of signs. In Collected Papers of
C.S. Peirce, Vol. 2. (C. Hartshorne and P. Weiss, eds.), 134-155.
Cambridge, MA: Belknap/Harvard University Press.
Piaget, J. (1967). Language and thought from the genetic
point of view. In Six Psychological Studies (D. Elkind, A Tenzer, trans.),
88-99. New York: Random House.
Quine, W. (1964). Word and Object. Cambridge, MA:
The MIT Press.
Rosaldo, M. (1973). I have nothing to hide: the language
of Ilongot oratory. Language in Society 2: 193-223.
Sacks, O. (1989). Seeing Voices. Berkeley: University of
California Press..
Sapir, E. (1921/1949). Language: An Introduction to the
Study of Speech. New York: Harvest: Harcourt Brace Javanovich.
Sapir, E. (1949). Selected Writings of Edward Sapir in
Language, Culture, and Personality (D.G. Mandelbaum, ed.). Berkeley:
University of California Press.
Sapir, E. Conceptual categories in primitive languages.
In D.H. Hymes (ed.), Language in Culture and Society: A Reader in Linguistics
and Anthropology, 128. New York: Harper and Row.
Scribner, S. and Cole, M. (1973). Cognitive consequences
of formal and informal education. Science 182: 553-339.
Silverstein, M. (1996). Monoglot “standard” in America:
Standardization and metaphors of linguistic hegemony. In D. Brenneis
and R. Macaulay (eds.) The matrix of language, 284-306. Westview
Press.
Silverstein, M. (1976). Shifters, linguistic categories,
and cultural description. In K. Basso and H. Selby (eds.), Meaning
in Anthropology, 11-55. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico
Press.
Slobin, D. (2000). Verbalized events: A dynamic approach to linguistic
relativity and determinism. In S. Niermeier and R. Dirven (eds.), Evidence
for linguistic relativity, 107-138. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Street, B. (1984). Literacy in Theory and Practice. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Tomasello, M. and Call, J. (1997). Primate Cognition.
New York: Oxford University Press.
Voloshinov, V.N. (1929/1973). Toward a history of forms
of utterance in language constructions. In V.N. Voloshinov, Marxism
and the Philosophy of Language (L. Matejka and I.R. Titunik, trans.), 109-159.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Vygostsky, L.S. (1934/1987). Thought and Language (A. Kozulin,
ed. and trans.). Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Wallman, J. (1992). Aping Language. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Whorf, B.L. (1956). Language, Thought, and Reality: Selected
Writings of Benjamin Lee Whorf (J.B. Carroll, ed.). Cambridge, MA:
The MIT Press.