Language, Culture, and the Individual

How does language shape our experience of the world? What does pronunciation reveal about cultural identity? What can we learn about language from the way small children speak? How do communicative strategies vary across languages? Why do languages change over time? Through the lens of linguistics, we will explore the structure and usage of language in daily life. We will discuss speech and text samples from conversations, novels, advertisements, anime, children’s shows, and more. Languages discussed will include English and Japanese, but no background in any foreign language is necessary, as translations and transliterations will be provided. 3 hrs. sem.