Anthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human characteristics to non-human entities, such as animals, objects, or natural phenomena. In the context of language and linguistics, anthropomorphism can be seen in the use of human-like traits to describe non-human elements, which can influence the way people perceive and interact with these entities. This concept is relevant in understanding the role of language in shaping human cognition and behavior.
4 Key excerpts on "Anthropomorphism"
eBook - ePubAnimals in Person
Cultural Perspectives on Human-Animal Intimacies
- John Knight, John Knight(Authors)
- 2020(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...First, it is based on assumptions made by the analyst about non-human animals, for which there is often little evidence in the actions and verbal statements of the people whose understanding is supposedly being described. Second, it assumes that ‘humanness’ is the primary point of reference for understanding non-human things; a more reasonable assumption, I suggest, is that the ‘self’ or ‘ego’ (in the general rather than the Freudian sense) is the primary point of reference for understanding both human and non-human things. Third, it implies that people understand things by attributing characteristics to them. I shall suggest, as others have done (notably Ingold 1992), that we understand things by perceiving characteristics in them. This third point locates the argument within the wider debate in anthropology about the relationship between cultural construction and direct perception; I shall return to this point towards the end of the chapter. My main tasks are to explain why I consider ‘Anthropomorphism’ to be a misleading label in the ways outlined above, and to develop an alternative model. I begin by showing how Anthropomorphism is used as an analytical concept, in order to clarify the object of my critique. ‘Anthropomorphism’ as an Analytical Concept Social scientists writing about human–animal relations tend to apply the label ‘Anthropomorphism’ in three main ways. First, they use it to describe the way some animals are represented in myths, fables, stories, cartoons, television commercials, and so on. Thus the characters in Beatrix Potter’s stories, in Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows, and in George Orwell’s Animal Farm are anthropomorphic, as are Snoopy, Tom and Jerry, Mickey Mouse, Sooty and Sweep (see Forrest et al., this volume). Such characters variably think human-like thoughts, wear clothes and use spoken language. I am not concerned here with these instances, since they are not attempts to understand or represent ‘real’ animals...
eBook - ePub- Mark Q. Sutton(Author)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...The reasoning is that if a society has writing (in whatever form) they must have had a system too complex to function just based on peopling remembering things. Thus, writing is one of the criteria for the classification of a society as a state (see Chapter 7). Chapter summary Anthropological linguistics is the systematic study of all aspects of human language. Many of some 7,000 languages still spoken are in immediate danger of extinction. Following cognitive linguistics, the loss of a language also means the loss of a unique way of thinking and of human understanding. Anthropological linguistics can be divided into three major categories: descriptive, historical, and social. Descriptive linguistics strives to understand the formal rules of a language. Grammar is the structure of a language, including the arrangement of clauses, phrases, and words in sentences and paragraphs. Morphology is the rules of word formation in a language, phonemes are distinct units of sound, while morphemes are the smallest units of sound that carry a meaning. Syntax is the set of rules regarding the assembly of phrases and sentences. Phonology is the study of the production, transmission, and reception of speech sounds. Languages are then classified in relation to other languages. Historical linguistics traces the origins, divergences, and movements of languages across space and time. Related languages and their geographic locations can be traced back to an earlier common language and the movements of languages (and people) can be traced back in time. This can inform us about when and where people came from, how they changed over time, and what their past society was like. Sociolinguistics examines the language variations used by different social groups, such as those based on age, sex, gender, ethnicity, religion, or class. It is common for professions and some other groups to use specific terms and phrases not commonly used in everyday speech...
eBook - ePub- John C. Eccles(Author)
- 2005(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...Chapter four Linguistic communication in hominid evolution Before discussing the key role of language in hominid evolution, it is essential to consider philosophically the nature and structure of language, both of human language and of the communications practised by the higher mammals. The pongids provide our best model for such communications as they would have existed in our hominoid ancestors. 4.1 The levels of language The most comprehensive scope of all that can be subsumed in the category of language is that formulated by Buhler (1934) and further developed by Popper (1972, Chapter 6; and Popper and Eccles, 1977, Chapter P3). It is important that animal languages are considered along with human languages. Usually in a language there is a sender, a means of communication, and a receiver. It is a special kind of semiotic system. Figure 4.1 The four levels of human language, with the associated values as formulated by Popper. Levels 3 and 4 are exclusively human. In the Buhler-Popper classification (Figure 4.1) there are two lower forms of language (1 and 2) that animal and human languages have in common and two higher forms that may be uniquely human, though this is contested, as we shall see later. Meanwhile it can be agreed that the two lower forms of languages are: The expressive or symptomatic function: the animal is expressing its inner states of emotion or feeling, as also is done by human beings with calls, cries, laughter, etc. The releasing or signalling function: the ‘sender’ by some communication of its symptomatic expression attempts to bring about some reaction in the ‘receiver’. For example, the alarm call of a bird signals danger to the flock. Ethological studies have revealed an enormous variety of these signals, particularly in the social animals such as the primates...
eBook - ePub- T. W. Simon, R. J. Scholes, T. W. Simon, R. J. Scholes(Authors)
- 2019(Publication Date)
- Psychology Press(Publisher)
...These questions have been dealt with primarily by philosophers and linguists, although recent work in developmental psychology (see Clark, 1977, pp. 1-72) is relevant also in that it studies how the child learns to use language for communication (as opposed to how the child learns to use “noun phrases” and like syntactic structures). Only a few programs exist that address these issues, and these do so only in a minimal fashion (see Mann, Moore, & Levin, 1977; 1976; see also Power, 1976). Our theory of the social (communicative) use of language must be more fully articulated before it can be incorporated in any artificial intelligence. CONCLUSION It is not surprising that language studies are commonly seen as having implications for human nature: Chomsky is only one among many to have believed “linguistic” matters to have a wider philosophical relevance. For language enters intimately into our thinking and experience, and deeply informs our social actions and personal character. Studies of language based in very different areas converge in suggesting the enormous complexity of the cognitive processes underlying the production and understanding of natural language. Any theoretical account of language must reflect the structure and function of these processes to some degree, as well as giving due weight to the extent to which our terrestrial environment and material embodiment are represented in the semantics of human languages. Accordingly, these studies imply that our image of human nature must acknowledge the rich interpretative power of the human mind, that no simplisitc notion of mankind which ignores this subtle complexity could be adequate to human reality...
