Anthropology of Language An Introduction to

Linguistic Anthropology 3rd Edition Harriet

Joseph Ottenheimer 111182875X 9781111828752
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The Anthropology of Language 3rd edition

Instructor's Manual
Chapter 7 – Writing and Literacy

Chapter Summary
This chapter discusses writing as the graphic representation of language, as a way of
recording language using visible marks. It reminds students that although everyone can
speak (or sign), not everyone can write. Writing is something that has to be consciously
learned and is therefore considered secondary to spoken or signed (gestured) language.
The chapter introduces the distinction between phonetic and semantic writing,
pointing out that while English relies more on phonetic writing and Chinese relies more
on semantic writing, both languages use both kinds of writing systems to some degree. It
then moves on to explain different “kinds” of writing, beginning with such partial systems
as pictographic and rebus writing, showing how rebus writing allows more complete
writing systems to develop. The presentation continues with complete writing systems
including logographic, syllabic, logosyllabic, and alphabetic writing. The fit between
syllabic systems and CV languages is shown, and the uses of phonetic and semantic
determinatives is demonstrated for logosyllabic systems.
The chapter then introduces techniques for analyzing and understanding writing
systems. Examples are given and exercises are introduced. Students get experience with
recognizing and analyzing graphemes here as well as in the workbook/reader and are
introduced to the complexities and challenges of creating a writing system for an
unwritten language. Ideologies of language and literacy with regard to gender, class,

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ethnicity, and nationalism are just a few of the important issues that are considered here
and students can be referred to the article in the workbook/reader for one example of
the challenges involved. Different writing systems, and even different spelling systems,
can convey different things to different people.
Finally, the important questions of what it means to "have writing" and "be
literate" are introduced. Issues of power and control are explored with regard to writing
and literacy in different cultures and in different historical periods. Colonialism and
standardization and their impacts on scriptal change is explored and questions of
entextualization and ideology are introduced, with a discussion of the implications of
representing dialects as different from standards. Recent ethnographies of reading and
writing provide important contemporary examples. Throughout students are reminded
of the connections between reading, writing, and power.

Lecture Notes
Writing and the origins of writing seem to be especially fascinating to students, especially those
with interests in history and/or archaeology. There is quite a bit of popular material available on
the subject but most of it is outdated and repeats a number of unfortunate stereotypes. Thus
students will almost assuredly be familiar with the idea that Chinese is all "picture" writing or that
Mayan glyphs are no more than date markers, or that the earliest alphabet was Greek, or that
there is a unilinear progression from Egyptian hieroglyphs to alphabetic writing. This chapter
attempts to disabuse students of these mistaken notions, as well as to make them aware of the
colonial and ethnocentric thinking that may have led to those faulty conclusions. It also attempts
to broaden the discussion to include questions of representation in writing (how do we write
dialects?) and of defining literacy and what it means to be literate. This edition adds significant
new information on cross-cultural research into literacy, as well as into the relationship between
literacy and power. The ethnography of reading is introduced here as well, and this will be
especially interesting to students who are planning to pursue careers in primary or secondary
education.
I find that it is especially gratifying for students to discover that they can apply their
developing skills with pattern-recognition and substitution frame analysis to decode unfamiliar
graphic systems. The Shinzwani examples in the textbook should be helpful in getting them
started. The Japanese exercise in the workbook/reader provides an accessible next step.
If you are lucky enough to find any current newspaper articles in which individuals are
"quoted" and the spelling represents dialect or casual speech, you should bring those in to class
and ask the students to talk about how the spellings serve to create images (as well as
stereotypes) of the speakers. If more than one speaker is represented in an article notice whether
all are represented in the same way. If not, then who is represented how? How might students
explain the differences?
These days there are plenty of newspaper, magazine, and web articles and blogs
bemoaning the “fact” that nobody “reads” any more. These articles can also be great jumping-off
points for a discussion of contemporary reading and writing, including blogs, social networking,
manga, graphic novels, and whatever else students are able to introduce into the discussion. You
can also discuss the new spellings and abbreviations that students are using for texting and
blogging.

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 Reading Notes
Harriet Ottenheimer: Spelling Shinzwani: Dictionary Construction and Orthographic
Choice in the Comoro Islands.
It is remarkable how much can ride on what seems like a simple choice of writing system. This
article explores the question of identity, politics, and writing, and provides a glimpse into how
linguistic anthropologists can become involved in the development of writing systems. It also
provides a good jumping off point for discussing writing and representation in general. Finally, it
is interesting in that it uses a mixture of both Pike and IPA symbols and students could be
encouraged to discuss why they think that was done.

Exercise Notes
The writing/discussion exercises for this chapter are designed to challenge students to
explore the question of writing and representation more deeply. At one level students are asked
to compare their reaction to the reading with their classmates. At a deeper level, students are
challenged to compare transcriptions of tape-recorded speech with standard spellings, and to
comment on the differences. This is a nice opportunity for students to use the phonetic
transcription skills that they learned in Chapter 3. If you have not done Chapter 3 yet, then it is a
good opportunity to introduce the need for standardized transcription.

Practice with Languages

L7.1 Japanese
Some students will already know how to read and write Japanese using katakana. If so, the first
parts of the exercise will be fairly easy for them. It is the last question, which asks them to develop
a phonetic explanation for how diacritics modify the way symbols are used, which they will find
challenging. If you are grading this exercise for credit then the last question of the exercise should
be given the most credit, and should mark the border between an A and a B on the exercise. The
answers are as follows:
a. The diacritic marks the symbol for voicing of the C. /ka/ becomes /ga/, for example.
b. The marked symbols are: /za/, /ʤi/, /ze/, and /do/.
c. No, it does not make sense to mark these with the voicing diacritic. They are all voiced
already. Students might also note that the symbols represent nasals and that nasals are generally
voiced (unless marked otherwise).
d. The marked symbols are /bi/, /bu/, /be/, and /bo/.
e. Line 5 is the correct answer. The symbol set for /h ~ f/ is used to construct both voiced
and voiceless bilabial stops. Although some students will argue for using line 6, because these are
voiced bilabial nasals, the logic of the system argues clearly for line 5; rather than changing a nasal
into a stop it appears that it is more efficient to change a fricative into two different kinds of stop
(voiced and voiceless). Use of the devoicing symbol would probably only change a voiced bilabial
nasal into a voiceless bilabial nasal, according to the logic of the system.

Web Exercises
The companion web site will be the place to find the most up-to-date links for each chapter. If
you have access to the internet from your teaching classroom then it is a good idea to follow one
or more of the links during lecture and to discuss the points that you find most compelling. If you
have online access in the classroom it is good to take the students to some of the sites in class
and show them some of what is possible. There are many web sites devoted to writing systems.

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Students can explore Inuit writing, Chinese writing, Cherokee writing, and much more on the web.
Do caution the students to be careful about sites which repeat outdated but popular stereotypes
about writing systems.

Guided Projects
Language Creating
If your students are creating languages, you can suggest that they consider creating a writing
system for their language. I find that students often think of this quite early in the semester and
need — at least in the early stages of the game — to be reminded that a writing system is different
from a phonological transcription system. I insist that they use phonetic and phonemic
representations for their languages throughout the semester (in part so that I can read their work
and check for consistency, but also so that they become familiar with at least some symbols and
how they are used). This is the point at which I allow them to use whatever fanciful writing
systems they care to invent. I insist that if they do invent a writing system then they have to
include a "key" indicating the phonetic representation of each symbol. The zompist web site is
helpful in discussing and suggesting writing systems and students can be reminded to look there
for further ideas.

Conversation Partnering
It is possible to ask students to compare and contrast their own writing systems with those of
their conversation partners. They could, for example reflect on how phonemic each system is, and
how faithful it is to actual sounds. They could note the degree to which each system uses semantic
signs. Are there similarities in the concepts assigned to semantic signs? What is the word for the
@ symbol in each language? They could also note the degree to which each system uses
alphabetic, syllabic, logosyllabic, or other approaches to writing. As with all other conversation
partnering exercises, remind the students that they are not supposed to use their conversation
partners' names in anything that they write.

Further Reading
For students who are interested in reading further, here is a selection of books and articles chosen
for their readability, as well as for their timeliness and relevance.

About Writing
Coulmas, Florian. 2003. Writing systems: An introduction to their linguistic analysis. Cambridge,
UK: Cambridge University Press. This is a general text on how to analyze writing systems.

Daniels, Peter T., and William Bright, eds. 1996. The world's writing systems. New York: Oxford
University Press. This is a comprehensive survey of writing systems.

DeFrancis, John. 1989. Visible speech: The diverse oneness of writing systems. Honolulu: University
of Hawaii Press. This book contains a clear explanation of how writing systems work, with special
attention to the phonetic aspects of Chinese writing.

About Decipherment
Coe, Michael D. 1992. Breaking the Maya code. New York: Thames and Hudson. This is an
entertaining and informative history of the controversy surrounding decoding Mayan glyphs and
of the political as well as the academic struggles. It reads like a well-written mystery story, with

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clear explanations of how writing systems work.

About Reading, Writing, Power, and Identity

Bender, Margaret. 2002. Signs of Cherokee culture: Sequoyah's syllabary in Eastern Cherokee life.
Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. This is a fascinating and thoughtful study of how
Sequoyah's syllabary functions as a symbol of ethnicity and identity among the Eastern Band of
Cherokee.

Boyarin, Jonathan, ed. 1992. The ethnography of reading. Berkeley: University of California Press.
This book contains fascinating articles about literacy, orality, and the social and cultural aspects
of reading.

Goody, Jack. 2000. The power of the written tradition. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution
Press. This book explores the ways that writing may have transformed cultures.

Heath, Shirley Brice. 1982. What no bedtime story means: Narrative skills at home and at school.
Language in Society 11(2): 49–76.

———. 1983. Ways with words: Language, life, and work in communities and classrooms. New
York: Cambridge University Press.

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