Dr. John A. Lucy will present the 54th Journal of Anthropological Research (JAR) Distinguished Lecture: The Influence of Language Structure and Function on Thought: A Comparison of Yucatec Maya and American English.
Within anthropology, three types of influence of language on thought have been important in the discipline: the semiotic, the impact of having a symbolic language at all (e.g., in studies of human ontogeny and phylogeny); the structural, the impact of using particular lexical and grammatical structures (e.g., in studies of cognitive and cultural variability); and the functional, the impact of developing specialized uses of language such as literacy, standardization, ritual (e.g., in studies of education and language revitalization). These three issues are often treated as distinct and taken up by separate groups of scholars. This talk will make the case for the intrinsic interconnectedness of these three areas via a review of how they intertwine in my own research. An initial set of studies comparing Yucatec Maya and American English speakers shows how the specific number marking structures of the two languages influence speakers’ patterns of thought. A second set of studies identifies middle childhood as the period when these structural influences emerge in both language groups and draws out the implications for cognitive development, first language development, second language acquisition, and human evolution. A third, more recent line of research explores efforts to cultivate the key structural features of language emerging in middle childhood in the service of social institutional practices such as literacy, education, standardization, etc., and poses questions about the impact of these efforts on individual thought, cultural reproduction, social inequality, language preservation, and the scientific enterprise itself.
This event is wheelchair accessible. If you don’t have a UNM permit, please park in a metered space along Redondo Rd. or Las Lomas to avoid a fine. The Journal of Anthropological Research has been published quarterly by the University of New Mexico since 1945. To subscribe: journals.uchicago.edu/JAR
