inguistic anthropology is the study of the history, evolution, and internal structure of human languages. By studying sounds, vocabulary, and the structure of languages, linguistic anthropologists explore links between groups in the recent or distant past, the relationship of people to their environments, and connections between language and behavior. At the founding of the Department, such work was deemed particularly critical in California (and of higher priority than archaeology) given the pressure on native peoples to abandon their traditional languages and life. It was also critical to the effort of classifying cultures and suggesting historical relationships. Much of this information was meticulously recorded phonetically in notebooks.
Recording devices such as the portable graphophone were also important tools facilitating such work. The words, stories, and songs were recorded on wax cylinders in the field. Back at the University, transcriptions and translations could be prepared and different sounds, words, and grammars compared to identify similarities and differences. As the Department grew, linguistic research broadened to encompass other geographic areas and consider more general issues of human communication.
Alfred Louis Kroeber
Sheet Music of Mohave Song
1910s
Kroeber recorded a wealth of music and lyrics in the field and with native informants visiting the Department. Here is a transcription of a Mohave song recorded by Kroeber.
BANC MSS C-B 925 Ctn 10:39
Samuel Alfred Barrett
Notebook of Vocabularies
Ca. 1906
Basic words for objects, geography, and kinship were often recorded, facilitating distinctions between different linguistic groups. In this notebook, Barrett provides short vocabulary lists from various Yokuts, Washoe, and Paiute informants.
CU-23.1 #9
Thomas Talbot Waterman
Notebook
Translation of the Yana Story of Wood Duck
Ca. 1914
Narrative texts provided more detail on language structure and communication than limited vocabularies. Such narratives were difficult to document, however, without the use of recording devices. Ishi provided several Yana myths in this way, and Waterman later translated them.