The New Yorker’s Jane Mayer says conservative Evangelical Christians view President Obama as “the avatar of godless socialism”. Do American Christian conservatives use ‘socialist’ to… Read More »Another possible definition of “socialist”
Record fans insist that the plural of ‘vinyl’ to mean “a vinyl record” is the zero-plural ‘vinyl’. This irregular form serves as a shibboleth for… Read More »The birth of a shibboleth
Chad Nilep reflects on work with Akiyo Cantrell to analyze reports from the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011 and its aftermath. Evacuees from Fukushima… Read More »Can analysis of discrimination help overcome fear?
Lauren Collister, a Ph.D. candidate in sociolinguistics at the University of Pittsburgh, describes how digital ethnography deepened her understanding of multimodal communication within a team… Read More »Digital ethnography of linguistic multitasking in World of Warcraft
Here are some films that people on the linganth list have mentioned as good to show in class: Mickey Mouse Monopoly (good with Lippi-Green): http://www.mediaed.org/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=112 Multilingual… Read More »Films to show in class
This is the famous Jimmy Smits SNL skit that Jane Hill talks about in her discussion of Mock Spanish. https://www.onesnladay.com/2019/05/
NPR’s Morning Edition and the Sunlight Foundation suggest that congressional speech-making is becoming less sophisticated. The presentation appears to validate conventional wisdom that American politics… Read More »Sophmoric application of readability tests
The 2013 LSA Linguistic Institute is currently soliciting proposals for workshops and conferences. If you’ve been thinking about a workshop you’d like to create, this… Read More »Call for workshops at 2013 LSA Linguistic Institute
On behalf of the SLA Executive Committee, I invite you to participate in this year’s Society for Linguistic Anthropology student essay prize competition for the… Read More »SLA Undergraduate Student Essay Contest
This HUD video on housing discrimination shows a White man taking on various accents when making phone calls to ask about apts for rent. Useful… Read More »Linguistic profiling
Many of the clips in the 2001 film Mickey Mouse Monopoly: Disney, Childhood, and Corporate Power are useful for pairing with Lippi Green http://www.mediaed.org/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=112… Read More »Language and character in Disney movies
Black Comedian Steve Harvey compares white and black communication styles. He imitates a white man’s voice at 2:35-4:13. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICsHscXzXw0 (2:35-4:13) [Video no longer available due… Read More »Steve Harvey’s white voice
Several episodes of MacGuyver included Hollywood portrayals of “Injun” English. MacGuyver is not currently available to stream, but episodes including Season 4, Episode 9: “Cleo… Read More »Hollywood Injun English in MacGuyver
Examples of Mock Asian Margaret Cho gave examples of Mock Asian http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAmcPS6xoZA&feature=related (8:32-end) [Video no longer available on YouTube]. Gedde Watanabe (Long Duk Dong) on… Read More »Mock Asian in Margaret Cho and Long Duk Dong
On the “Late Show,” David Letterman aired a new segment in 2009 called the “Sonia Sotomayor Pronunciation Round-Up.” The video, found at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/02/lettermans-sonia-sotomayo_n_210264.html shows the myriad ways… Read More »Justice Sotomayor’s name
AAA video Race: Are You So Different?
This clip from the TV show Friends demonstrates a media representation of male and female interactional styles.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPGx1icFdLQ[/youtube] John Baugh discusses linguistic profiling It also discusses the creolist theory of the origins of African American English. Around 5:00, the video shows people… Read More »Linguistic profiling, history of AAVE, Gullah
This video shows an example of the endangered Smith Island dialect of English
You can use this clip from the George Lopez TV show to analyze code-switching.
My Fair Lady – Eliza Doolittle’s Cockney Accent
Here’s a send up on the ambiguities of “reasonable suspicion” and “illegality” from the Daily Show from May 2010, apropos of Arizona’s immigration law: http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-may-6-2010/suspicious-behavior-on-cinco-de-mayo… Read More »“Reasonable suspicion” and “illegality” in the Daily Show
In “Lesbian bar talk in Shinjuku, Tokyo” Hideko Abe shows how identity positions are constructed and claimed through language use. One passage, which shows how… Read More »“Ordinary” language use
In this excerpt, Cho talks about race and language: being asked to speak to viewers “in your native language,” being treated like a visiting exchange… Read More »Margaret Cho – I’m the One I Want
In this clip from I Love Lucy, Lucy is intent on teaching her future child to speak “perfect English”, and she criticizes her husband Ricky Ricardo’s… Read More »Perfect English in I Love Lucy
Jimmy Kimmel outsources Herman Cain jokes to an Indian call center. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9BzlfI6Mj8. This is a good clip to show with Deborah Cameron’s (2000) piece on call… Read More »Jimmy Kimmel outsources Herman Cain jokes to an Indian call center
In the trailer for the movie The Mexican, Brad Pitt says “el trucko” “towno” and “muy muy important.”
President Obama sings in a nod to Al Green during a speech: https://www.wsj.com/video/obama-sings-al-green-lets-stay-together/6203E851-BBD2-43AB-B543-0B3053C32DAD
In this interview for ESPN Deportes, Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski attempts to speak some Spanish and ends the interview by saying, “Yo soy fiesta”… Read More »Rob Gronkowski “Yo soy fiesta”
In “Terminator 2,” John Connor gives the T-800 a lesson in Mock Spanish: “no problemo,” “hasta la vista,” “dickwad.” Here the Terminator uses the Mock… Read More »Mock Spanish in Terminator 2
On the subject of constructing Latin American immigrants as inherently “illegal,” there was a great clip from a 2010 Colbert Report show http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/361456/october-07-2010/indecision-2010—revenge-of-the-fallen—fearstock-com [Video no… Read More »2010 Colbert Report on creating fear through images
This December 2011 Media Matters article reports on controversy over use of the word “illegals” by former New York Times executive editor Bill Keller. The… Read More »NY Times Drops “Illegals,” As Fox Continues To Cling To Slur
This article reports on the Associated Press controversy regarding term “illegal immigrant” in news reporting. AP deputy standards editor David Minthorn is quoted as saying, “Alternatives like undocumented worker,… Read More »The Associated Press Updates Its Stylebook, Still Clings to I-Word
This anti-illegal alien site contains rants about illegal aliens and compares them to thieves, invaders, etc: http://www.illegalaliens.us/ Some of the more interesting links on the site… Read More »Anti-illegal alien website
In the fist 50 seconds of this video, Glenn Beck argues that illegal aliens are just like illegal drugs. If you would like to read… Read More »Glenn Beck on illegal immigration
Elections for AAA, Society for Linguistic Anthropology, and other sections are open from 15 April until 31 May, 2012. Log in at www.aaanet.org with your… Read More »AAA elections open through 31 May
The candidates for AAA and SLA positions, as listed in Anthropology News
“You have lots of ‘splaining to do”… Senator Tom Corburn (R-Oklahoma) interrupted Supreme Court candidate Sonia Sotomayor’s explanation about gun laws with this phrase, which echoes… Read More »Sotomayor “You have lots of splainin to do”
From Taco- to Chimichanga-Gate * “Insensitive Remarks Know No Party” by Kathleen McKinley,Houston Chronicle (February 18, 2012) http://blog.chron.com/texassparkle/2012/02/insensitive-remarks-knows-no-party/ * “The chimichanga wars” By Dana Milbank,Washington… Read More »Politicians’ remarks about Hispanic voters and chimichangas
This episode of Glee is all about negotiating the Spanish language in an English-dominant US high school. There are some great examples of indexicality and lines… Read More »Glee “The Spanish Teacher” episode
In this clip from the 2012 Golden Globes, the TV series Modern Family is presented with an award, and the legitimacy of Spanish and intelligibility… Read More »Spanish at the Golden Globes
Newt Gingrich argues against bilingual education because English is “the language of prosperity, not the language of living in a ghetto.” Here is his “apology”… Read More »Gingrich and the language of prosperity
There was an attack against Romney linking his ability to speak French to all kinds of negative character traits. This video provides more context. Pair… Read More »Attack against Romney for speaking French
Here are a few materials that work for introductory lectures. “Life In A Day” is a historic film capturing for future generations what it was… Read More »Introductory materials for linguistic anthro
The Star Trek clip “Darmok” available on YouTube complements teaching Basso’s ethnography “Wisdom Sits in Places.”
This report aired on Public Radio International in December 2011 discusses the decision to recognize the word “Gypsy” as pejorative and replace it with “Roma”… Read More »Renaming Gypsies in Romania
Recent news events highlight relationships between fact and story telling. Ethan Zuckerman’s recent ruminations on activism and journalism provide a summary and synthesis of one… Read More »Truth and narrative
“My Mom’s Name is Jean?”: Discussion of deixis- Suriya’s Aircel Ads (first two only): silly lead-in to deixis-
“Why do I need subtitles”: Politics of translation- This comic sketch comments on how people judge linguistic comprehensibility based on the appearance of the person speaking.
