Yellow Journalism: Are You Guilty?

Yellow journalism is defined as a type of writing that presents little or no legitimate well-researched information and instead uses eye-catching headlines or catch-phrases to make articles appear more enticing to potential readers.  Today, "yellow journalism" is used to describe unscrupulous styles of writing that convey news or information in an unprofessional or unethical fashion including the use of unsubstantiated sources, exaggeration or fabrication of facts, opinion disguised as fact, self-promotion, and overt sensationalism. Techniques include:
> scary or misleading headlines
> over-use of pictures or imaginary drawings
> use of faked interviews
> pseudo-science disguised as scientific fact
> unqualified “expert” supportive arguments
> "underdog against the system” baiting
Read more . . .

The Hidden Meanings Behind Our Favorite Children's Nursery Rhymes

Lizzie Borden took an axe,
And gave her mother forty whacks.
And when she saw what she had done,
She gave her father forty-one.

While many know that this popular children’s jump-rope rhyme refers to the infamous hatchet murders that took place in Fall River, Massachusetts on August 4, 1892, allegedly at the hands of New England spinster Lizzie Borden (who many assume killed her father and stepmother), few know the dark and hidden meanings behind many other nursery rhymes that were popular through the ages.  Here is a look at a few of the most popular–and notorious.  Read more . . .

Sodom and Gomorrah: History or Allegory?

According to one of the earliest stories of the Bible, two cities, Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their inhabitants were destroyed some 5,000 years ago for not living up to the ethical standards of God.  But, did these ancient cities actually exist?  And if so, were they actually destroyed by fire and brimstone or is this purely a cautionary, anagogical tale as many stories of the Bible are thought to have been?  These are the questions believers and scholars alike have asked for centuries.  Read more . . .

The Rosetta Stone: the Key to Egyptian Hieroglyphs

The Rosetta Stone, an irregularly shaped slab of black basalt measuring 3’ 9” by 2’ 4 1/2", was found in the town of Rosetta on the left bank of the Nile, in August of 1799, by a Frenchman named Pierre-Francois Bouchard during the execution of repairs to the fort at St. Julian.  Subsequently passed into British ownership in 1801 during the surrender of Egypt by the French, it is currently housed in the British Museum.  Written in two languages and three scripts (Greek, hieroglyphics, and demotic), the inscription records the commemoration of the accession of the Pharaoh Ptolemy V Epiphanes to the throne of Egypt in the year 197–196 BCE, in the 9th year of his reign.  The son of Ptolemy IV Philopator and Arsinoe III of Egypt, Ptolemy V Epiphanes was the fifth ruler of the Ptolemaic dynasty, becoming ruler at the age of five when his father died and his mother Sosibius was murdered.  Read more . . .

Brad Pitt and the Pikey Culture: a Look at the Shelta Language

If you're a Brad Pitt fan and have seen the new cult classic, Snatch, then you're already familiar with the Pikey language.  The term “pikey” is a pejorative, slang term used mainly in the UK to refer to Irish Travellers, Gypsies, and people of low social class.  The Irish of the "pikey" culture, however, refer to themselves as “Pavees,” and call their language (which is neither Irish nor English) Shelta.  Brought to the US during the late 19th century, the derivative “piker” is used even today in Appalachian America to refer to someone who is stingy.  Found in old English, "pikey" has long been associated with itinerant life and constant travel, with pikey directly derived from "pike," which during the 16th century meant to "go away from, to go on" and related to the words turnpike (toll-road) and pike-man (toll-collector).  Read more . . .

The Gullah Language

Gullah is a language spoken by the African American population living on the sea islands and coastal region of the US states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and northeast Florida, and those commonly known as the Gullah people. The Gullah language is what linguists call an English-based creole language, which develop in the context of trade, colonialism, and slavery when people of diverse backgrounds are forced together and must devise a common means of communication.  In the case of Gullah, the vocabulary is largely English in origin, but the African languages have altered the pronunciation of almost all the English words.  Linguists today view Gullah and other creoles as complete and independent languages with their own systematic grammatical structures.  Read more . . .

The Rules of Grammar: What Purpose Do They Really Serve?

Every day in classrooms across America, children and adults alike are instructed in the fine art of grammar, the speaking, usage, and writing of the English language in its "proper" form.  "Between him and me is what you really meant to say," you can hear an instructor of Standardized American English (SAE) saying, " . . . not "he and I."  But, what makes one word choice "correct" while another is not?   In a word, PRESCRIPTION.  And whether you label it "tradition," "standards," or just "the way of educated people," it boils down to one group of people establishing the "proper" way to communicate for another.  And from the anthropological perspective, it’s just another means of establishing societal dominance and class distinctions, and most often results in accomplishing little more than erasing cultural identity.  Read more . . .

Linguistics and the Study of History

From the anthropological perspective, linguistics cannot be separated from history.  In fact, language cannot be understood to any true resolve without considering the history surrounding it.  As linguist and father of the “linguistic relativity” concept, Benjamin Whorf (1897–1941), said a century ago, “studying language and studying culture is the same thing.”  Yes, linguistics, in the broad sense of the term, does mean the physical components relating to “sound production,” i. e., place of articulation, manner of articulation, phonetics, and morphology, but none of that has real relevance without cultural context.  And since every culture is dynamic and ever changing, the past (both written and oral tradition) must be factored in.  Read more . . .