5(a) Adaptive primate radiation
10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 1.5 Characteristics of Primates > Evolutionary trend and primate taxonomy
Linguistics and Social-Cultural Anthropology — 2019 Paper I
Question · 2019 · Paper I · 10 Marks
The relationship between Linguistics and Social-Cultural Anthropology
Model Answer
VAID ICSApproach
- Demand of Question: Explain the interrelationship between language, culture and social organization.
- Structuring the Response: Show how language reflects worldview, kinship, identity and social interaction, and why it is essential to ethnography.
- Key Dimensions to Cover: Sapir-Whorf, Morgan, Dell Hymes, kinship terminology, identity, emic understanding and ethnography.
Model Answer
Introduction: Linguistics and socio-cultural anthropology are closely related because language is both a medium of communication and a carrier of culture. Social relations, values and worldviews are expressed and transmitted through linguistic forms.
Language and worldview: Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf emphasized that linguistic categories influence how people classify and interpret experience.
Language → Classification → Perception → Cultural worldview
Kinship and social structure: L.H. Morgan’s comparative study of kinship terminologies showed that linguistic categories reveal systems of descent, marriage and social classification.
Language and identity: Dialect, accent, vocabulary and speech style may indicate:
- ethnicity;
- class;
- caste;
- gender;
- regional identity.
Ethnography of communication: Dell Hymes emphasized studying not only grammar but also who speaks, to whom, when and under what cultural rules.
Ethnographic significance: Knowledge of the local language enables anthropologists to understand indigenous concepts, ritual speech, humour and emic meanings.
Conclusion: Linguistics reveals how culture is symbolically encoded, while socio-cultural anthropology explains how language functions within social relationships and institutions.
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UPSC Anthropology Optional 2019 — Paper I
28 questionsSyllabus: Paper I > 5. Religion > Anthropological approaches to the study of religion
5(d) Anthropological inputs in facial reconstruction
10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 12. Applications of Anthropology > Forensic Anthropology > Reconstruction
Syllabus: Paper I > 12. Applications of Anthropology > Applied human genetics
Syllabus: Paper I > 2.2 The Nature of Society > Social stratification
Syllabus: Paper I > 11.3 Biological and socio-ecological factors influencing fecundity and fertility
Syllabus: Paper I > 9.7 Concepts and methods of Ecological Anthropology > High altitude adaptation
1(d) Cultural Materialism
10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 6. Anthropological Theories > Cultural Materialism
1(b) Cultural Relativism
10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 2.1 The Nature of Culture > Ethnocentrism vis-a-vis Cultural Relativism
Syllabus: Paper I > 1.5 Characteristics of Primates > Skeletal changes due to erect posture
5(e) Genetico-environmental factors affecting human growth
10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 10. Human growth and development > Factors affecting growth and development
5(b) Implications of mutation in evolution
10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 1.7 The biological basis of life > Mutation
Syllabus: Paper I > 3. Economic Organization > Impact of globalization on indigenous economies
Syllabus: Paper I > 9.5 Race and racism > Racial criteria and biological basis of racial classification
Syllabus: Paper I > 7. Culture, language and communication > Language and culture
Syllabus: Paper I > 1.8(b) Cultural Evolution: broad outlines of prehistoric cultures > Megalithic
Syllabus: Paper I > 1.8(b) Cultural Evolution: broad outlines of prehistoric cultures > Mesolithic
Syllabus: Paper I > 10. Human growth and development > Methodologies for growth studies
Syllabus: Paper I > 1.6 Phylogenetic status, characteristics and distribution > Neanderthal Man
5(c) Olduvai Gorge
10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 1.6 Phylogenetic status, characteristics and distribution > East African hominid sites
Syllabus: Paper I > 8.3 Research Methods: Tools of data collection > Observation
1(c) Pastoralism in India
10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 3. Economic Organization > Modes of subsistence > Pastoralism
Syllabus: Paper I > 8.2 Research Methods > Distinction between technique, method and methodology
Syllabus: Paper I > 2.5 Kinship > Descent theory and alliance theory
1(e) Relative Dating Methods
10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 1.8(a) Chronology: relative and absolute dating methods
Syllabus: Paper I > 9.3 Concept of genetic polymorphism and selection
Syllabus: Paper I > 1.8(b) Cultural Evolution: broad outlines of prehistoric cultures > Upper Palaeolithic
6(a) Examine critically the contributions of Victor Turner and Clifford Geertz in anthropology.
20 Marks
Syllabus: Paper I > 6. Anthropological Theories > Symbolic and Interpretive Anthropology