Anthropological linguistics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Anthropological linguistics - Essay Example Phonemes, Morphemes and Grammar Phoneme is considered to be the first building slab of language. These are the most fundamental unit of our speech; an individual sound. Phoneme is the common feature of all languages. English uses around forty phonemes. They can have further distinctive classifications and features like voiced or unvoiced components. Phonemes are so fundamental that they do not convey any meaning until put together. (Kendon, 2000) Morpheme is the second building slab of language. A morpheme, as defined by linguists, is the smallest meaningful unit of language, produced from an arrangement of phonemes. As far as their further classifications are concerned, morphemes are of two types, the first ones are content morphemes and the second ones are function morphemes. The basic meanings of a word are held by content morphemes while prefixes and suffixes work as function morphemes. The main characteristic of function morphemes is this that they add a little additional meanin g to the word. Grammar is considered to be the last and final building slab of language. According to grammarians, grammar is the collection of set rules of language that stipulate how phonemes, morphemes, phrases and words should be arranged and combined to communicate meaningful thoughts. Besides this, grammar also governs how to employ different classes of words and their inflections. Grammar is a combination of two ingredients; syntax and semantics. (Kendon, 2000) Syntax is the set of grammatical rules that state in what order the words and phrases should be arranged in a sentence in order to convey meaning. In human life development, by the time one is proficient to read, his or her syntactical perceptive sense is exceedingly developed. Furthermore, this makes it sound like even sentences that are composed or based on of unfit or apparently odd words make sense because they follows appropriate syntax. Syntax and syntactical rules are different and diverse in every language. (Ke ndon, 2000) For example, English speaking people place adjectives prior to nouns while many other languages place the adjective after the noun. Another important field of linguistics is semantics. Semantics are the meaning itself or study of meaning derived from morphemes, words and sentences. Semantics depend upon a variety of relevant factors such as word choice, context and whether the speaker’s intent is figurative or literal. All these are building slabs of human language and are integral part of all human languages in anthropological linguistics. Without these building slabs humans, speaking any language of the world, would not be able to converse with each other. These are the core rules and units of speech which are all significant components to help convey our opinions, thoughts, ideas, feelings and personal experiences through language. Non Verbal Communication Non-verbal communication is used so often that we actually forget that we are using it. We do not realize how much we rely on non-verbal communication; the reason for this is due to the fact that most non-verbal communication transpires on a level that is below our conscious awareness. (Kendon, 2000) While many aspects of nonverbal communication are culturally specific, some, e.g. facial expressions and gestures, appear to have near universal levels of recognition. Non-verbal messages are also viewed as more authentic because behavior cannot be restricted as effortlessly as spoken words. (Kendon, 2000) Perhaps the most

Notions of gender have significantly informed the development of Essay

Notions of gender have significantly informed the development of health policy and of health care practice. critically discuss - Essay Example This paper illustrates how notions of gender have significantly contributed to the development of health policy and the development of health care. Health policy is aimed at being a vessel for discussion and exploration of issues in the health system. In particular, it is intended to promoting communication between the health policy and legislators, system researchers, professionals and decision makers who are concerned with development and implementation of health systems and reforms in health care. These policies and reforms are being made in an ever increasing pace and policy makers are forced to look over to other countries to find solutions to their own problems. The commitment of health policy is to ensure that there is international dialogue that makes sure that policies are put into practice based on specific issues and goals as well as in the particular situations (Walsh, 2004:146). Looking back at history, there was a growing strength of women’s movement in the late 1960s and 1970s. This growth challenged the ‘medicalisation’ of bodies of women and the structure of women’s medical health needs as dissimilar from their own priorities and experiences. The women’s movement went ahead and questioned the myth that male partners or doctors had better knowledge about their bodies than the women themselves knew (David 2008). This represented the women experiences in sexual, physical, mental and reproductive health needs. Based on the social, economic and political forces that influenced heath, they analysed their experiences and searched for the connections between class, race and gender-based coercion and the way they affected the women (Graham, 2009:146). According to David (2008), there was evolution of the concepts of gender and gender analysis from feminist point of view that emphasised the cultural and social nature of most of the differences between women and men. This is

Genetically Modified and Organic Foods: Pros and Cons

Genetically Modified and Organic Foods: Pros and Cons Introduction Without modern food production methods, the world food shortage would be in even more of a crisis today. The controversial issue regarding organic and modern mass production methods such as genetic modification, chemical additives and irradiation is a big issue in the global food industry. The global food shortage crisis is gaining momentum as the world is exposed to environmental disasters and the devastating effects of global warming. A solution may come from the growing Genetically Modified (GM) food industry or are the long term effects of GM food too much of a risk. They are increasingly penetrating the market and are replacing the natural, organic foods. Technology has taken over our lives and lifestyles and GM foods are evidence of a desperate attempt to keep up with the crippling population growth worldwide and the lack of equal food dispersion thereof. The controversy of the issue is weighted by the reality of the global food shortage crisis. What are Organic Foods? Over the years the term has changed to accommodate the new species of crops and varieties of animals. The original definition would be food that has not been altered in any by the use of technology or man-made activities. The foods have been grown in naturally fertilised soil, meaning that there is an absence of chemicals such as pesticides or herbicides. The crops then grow naturally by photosynthesis and they are then harvested, processed (cleaning, etc.) packaged and distributed. There are very limited amount of chemical additives such as preservatives, colourants, flavourants despite popular beliefs but they are not exposed to irradiation or radurisation. In terms of livestock and animal produce, the animals are nurtured for in a natural environment such as one that resembles their natural habitat. They are free to roam around and salvage food such as free range chickens are allowed to roam and peck for food. The animal feed is not pumped with synthetic growth hormones or antibio tics or genetically modified organisms. Organic foods are supposed to be the biological, natural and traditional crops or animals that have been around since the dawn of time. Customary farming styles have changed but the organic principles have stayed the same. Fresh organic food This classifies food that has not been processed and is sold at produce store such as Everfresh, Fruit Veg City or small stales. The produce is bought from independent, small scale sellers that are usually the farmers of the produce. This usually categorises fresh fruit and vegetables but it can be used to classify fresh meat. However in todays technological society, fresh produce is not always organic. Loose fruit and vegetables are also in produce stores so the best way to identify organic produce is by reading labels. Another indication of organic produce is knowing what seasons the fruits or vegetables usually grow and are harvested. Price is also an additional indication. Organic produce is usually more expensive. Processed organic food These foods are found in grocery stores such as Spar or Woolworths. These foods have a high percentage of organic foods and do contain a limited amount of non artificial flavours or additives. The foods are preserved using natural preservatives such as high amounts of salt or sugar. They are also under strict restraints regarding their processing. They may also tend to be more expensive and have a shorter shelf life than non-organic processed products. Pros and cons of organic production The organic food industry has boomed by 70% worldwide and in some countries a higher percentage of people have tapped into the organic food industry due to health concerns and the alleged health benefits of organic food. The pros and cons are the issues that consumers are weighing every time they go shopping or order a meal or consume something. The organic food industry capitalise on the fact that their food is a lot healthier than GM foods or non-organic foods but that is not always the case. Pros of organic food production Organic food is generally good for the environment and our health but this varies according to the farm style, produce and scale of the farm. There are several reasons for this. Organic farms do not use synthetic fertilisers, pesticides, insecticides, herbicides or chemicals when farming. This means that the crops can develop their own natural photochemicals via photosynthesis and protect themselves from insects and weeds. This means that they are naturally fortified with antioxidants, minerals and macro and micro vitamins. They have to fight off their natural predators and this environmental stress ensures that we will consume crops with more vitamins and antioxidants without the health risk of chemical residues. The use of manure and compost is economical and completely natural. The lack or minuscule use of artificial chemicals means that there is a much lower risk of contracting illnesses introduced by the unnatural chemicals. For example pesticides are known to have detrimental effects on our health ranging from minor discomforts like headaches to breast cancer. The chemicals are also damaging to developing foetuses (as the pesticides cross the placenta and their immune system is undeveloped) and pregnant women (as their organs and body systems are already under stress). They can also cause Parkinsons disease. Antibiotics are not used in animal farming feeds meaning that their meat or produce do not contain the antibiotics but they use their natural immune systems to fight diseases. The antibiotics can cause long term health complications. The antibiotics used are very similar to ones used for human use thus means that the body will receive an over dose will cause harmful bacteria in our body to evolve and mute into a new drug resistant species. Growth hormones are not used in animal feeds or pumped into their bodies. This means that they will develop naturally and mature when they are biologically supposed to. The health effects of these can only be truly seen in the long term but some are evident today. Girls and boys are maturing before their time and there are more random hormonal, birth and growth defects than before. Additives and preservatives such as Monosodium Glutamate (MSG), hydrogenised fats, colourants and artificial sweeteners are not present in organic foods. They have been proven to be detrimental to human health. The lack of synthetic pesticides means that organic farming in not harmful to indigenous wildlife. It encourages vast range of biodiversity and a balanced ecosystem. Crop rotation promotes soil nutrition and a diversity of crops to grow. The nutrient demand varies according to the plant and this means that the soil has time to replenish itself or by the use of nitrifying plants or cover crops such as legumes and beans or clovers. They also introduce new, beneficial insects to the ecosystem to kill off pests. Crop rotation also promotes a stronger top soil therefore reducing soil erosion ad harmful chemicals from being washed into rivers and streams hence contaminating valuable drinking water and lower levels of heavy metals from polluting, clean drinking water. Animals are in a free range environment meaning that they will develop muscles and strong bones and immune systems and their natural diet will enable them to live healthy, normal lifestyles. Organic farms produce less waste and are more energy efficient and use less energy. Organic farms do not need highly skilled workers or very expensive equipment. Cons of organic food production Despite the numerous benefits there are some concerning problems with organic foods but they too vary according to the farm produce and the size of the farm. The shelf life of organic foods is much shorter than GM or mass produced products because the lack of additives and preservatives decreases their shelf life (especially fruit and vegetables). Organic foods are a lot more expensive than commercial or mass produced foods in some cases 50%-100% more expensive. The organic industry marketing is largely based on the health benefits of organic food so some products may claim to be organic but do not meet the standards and cheat people out of their money. The limited amounts of chemicals will still have detrimental effects in the long term. There is said to be no proven results that there is a substantial difference between nutritional benefits with organic foods and fortified commercial foods such as commercially grown cereals or juices. The natural manure used may contain harmful bacteria such as the E. coli bacterium which is fatal to human health if not treated. The farms also give off of gases (e.g. methane) that are harmful to the environment. Organic foods are not produced on a very big scale such as mass scale production so their yield is much lower and would not be able to keep up with high demand for food. Hence the expense. Organic foods may not look as appealing or appetising as commercially grown products or GM foods. Crop rotation is not subject to organic farming and it is not as energy efficient as it claims. No-till farming is a commercial farming technique and uses the least energy. (The process however uses herbicides to clear the land eliminating the need to till or manage the land.) The farming styles may be too outdated and need improvement to adapt to the changing environment. Organic farming may not ensure food security to a mass population or sustain food fashions or trends. It is heavily dependant on seasonal change and weather so supplies are inconstant. Organic farming is tedious and hard work and requires space. What chemicals are used to aid the production and supply foods? Additives and preservatives are used largely in mass production products. They are added to food products to enhance taste, colour, and texture or to preserve the food in order for it to have an increased shelf life. This makes the food more aesthetically appealing and or even taste better than usual. They are substances that are purposely added to food during the handling, processing or manufacturing stages of food. This is a selling gimmick but some additives are beneficial but they also have negative health effects. Examples of additives are Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is one of the most common additives in savoury foods and tartazine (E102) is a yellow colouring also used in a variety of products. They are known to cause or aggravate allergies or even respiratory problems like asthma. Functions that the chemicals perform MSG enhances the flavour and taste of savoury foods. It is a white crystalline substance that dissolves well into a variety of foods. It causes allergic reactions like swelling lips and vomiting. Tartazine (E102) is used to colour food yellow, like in margarine. It has been linked with asthma and hyperactivity in children. Additives generally: Are effective against combating a variety of microorganisms Are not toxic to humans and animals (if taken in the right dosage) Are Water soluble (dissolve well in water) Add nutrient value Are not damaged by temperature changes or bacteria Do not affect the natural components of food. (Flavour, aroma, etc.) Are economical What is genetic modification? Genetic modification is the process of technologically changing the genetic information of an organism to achieve a desired result. The biotechnology used or genetic engineering to create genetically modified crops or Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) entails extracting desirable genes from one organism and fusing them with another to create a new, improved breed or species of plant. The GM crops are then cultivated and introduced into the market. The traits make them more desirable and penetrate the market easily. They are therefore cheaper, last longer and have an enhanced nutritional value. In animals it enhances their productivity and quality of feed and produce (hormones, etc). Genetic modification is a complex practice laws need to be implemented such as the South African GMO Act (1997) that controls and monitors activity regarding GMOs. It is administrated by the National Department of Agriculture consisting of committee members from government bodies. GM was introduced to reach the high and strenuous demands for food because of the rapidly exploding global population. The food shortage crisis has however worsened over the years and people are turning more towards GM products as a faster and cheaper solution as opposed to conventional or organic products. There are concerns about health effects and are GM foods just as detrimental if not worse than commercial mass produced products. Is it the baddie that its reputation suggests? Despite the widespread support for GM foods there is a large community that strongly feels that they will cause more problems than solutions and that they are just prolonging the list of causes of human death. Arguments in favour of GM products: It is an advancement of traditional breeding to keep up with the increasing food demands. GM crops use fewer chemicals than commercially grown or mass produced crops making them just as health as organic foods. They have a high yield and their yield is constant. There is no sound evidence that GM production has an undesirable effect on the environment. Developing countries need the crops to feed their populations and are adopting the technology or receiving it as aid from first world or developed countries. It is quick, cheaper and less maintenance than wide scale farming or organic farming as it needs less space and fewer costs (chemicals, manure etc.) Arguments against GM products: There is a scarcity of scientific testing results of the short term or long term effects of GM products. There is not enough technology and funding in the world to sustain everybody in the long term. The GM foods may contain versatile toxins unknown to man at the present time. GM crops will lead to a lack of biodiversity and a decrease the indigenous crops or animals having a negative environmental effect. They could increase susceptibility to allergens. The alterations of genes could also alter genes in our own bodies and pass them on to further generations. There are major ethical issues regarding GM foods. It is unclear as to whether or not GM foods are as bad as they are said to be but they seem to be the only working solution so far to combat the food social shortage global crisis. The need for GM foods is clear but the risk of eating genetically altered food is too high. The luxury of eating new fruits like grapples is inviting but the price of future generations health is alarming. GM foods are becoming a hazard posing as a luxury but if their constraints are limited they could serve a beneficial purpose such as alleviating the food shortage crisis. Genetic modification could be a food fashion or fad but judging by its popularity it is here to stay. What is radurisation? Radurisaton, also known as irradiation is the treatment of food using very short light or radio waves. This improves the foods shelf life, safety and its suitability. Electromagnetic radiation is the umbrella term for the different types of waves used scientifically. The Gamma rays are the shortest waves in the electromagnetic spectrum and they are used to irradiate the food. The rays infiltrate deep into the food and kill bacteria or insects as their biological cells are sensitive to the radiation. The waves can also retard potatoes from sprouting. The waves are generated by a specially treated metal called Cobalt 60 that is encased between double layers of metal rods; because of the dangers of gamma rays the radurisation takes place under strictly controlled conditions. Different dosages are used according to the desired effect, if food is to be pasteurised than the dosage is less than equipment that needs to be sterilised. It is very popular and it is authorized by a number of international organisations such as the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) and the American Medical Association. It is locally supported by The Department of Health. According to Act 54 of 1972 (in South Africa) all irradiated foodstuffs must be labelled properly showing the Radura symbol and only if approved by the Minister of Health or the Director General. The maximum dosage is 10 kiloGrey, exceeding this will be violating international regulations. The Radura Symbol What foods are irradiated? There are a variety of foods that are irradiated especially raw or highly sensitive foods that can be contaminated easily. They are divided into different classes starting from 1-11; the higher the class the more complex the application (the table attached illustrates this). A few of the common food stuffs are: Wheat Maize Spices and herbs Fruits (e.g. strawberries) Vegetables (e.g. cauliflower) Meat (raw or frozen) Poultry Fresh garlic Honey Tubers, bulbs and roots (e.g. potatoes) What are the pros and cons of irradiation? Pros of irradiation: It eliminates or reduces the amount of disease causing organisms in the food and other harmful bacteria. (e.g. salmonella, E. coli, listeria, etc.) It replaces the use of potentially harmful chemicals used to fumigate insects from crops. Irradiation meets international and national quarantine standards. It extends the shelf life of food especially raw fruit and vegetables, meat and poultry. It is a safe and effective method for treating food. The food does not become radioactive. Cons of irradiation: There is a minor reduction in vitamin content during irradiation. It cannot improve spoilt foods Foods with a high percentage of fat change colour when they are irradiated. It does not improve or enhance the taste or appearance of the food. It can cause unpleasant flavours in certain foods. Skilled workers can only work with the equipment The equipment is expensive and needs regular maintenance Analysis of results Who was interviewed? I tried to choose a spectrum of candidates raining in age hence affecting their lifestyle choices. I surveyed: Parents Scholars Friends Members of the Ballito community Children The results that I acquired are more or less what I had expected. There was an equal balance between the questions as to whether or not people agreed with the statement but I was surprised to see that 5out of the 15 people did not think that there was a global food shortage crisis. A lot of people did not have a vegetable garden which I had thought was a fad and more and more people felt safer when they ate their own produce. 10 out of the 15 people knew what genetic modification was and the same results were obtained when 10 out of the 15 people choose the correct definition for organic food. There is a trend regarding people being more aware of organic food and how influential food labels are and the effect on the environment. 10 out of 15 people were willing to spend more money on organic foods which is more evidence that organic food is becoming a big part of peoples lifestyle choices. 0 out of the 15 people did not know what the Radura symbol indicated so it shows that there is a lack of consumer knowledge. Ultimately the general result regarding the controversial issue of GM foods relieving the food shortage crisis was that people strongly supported this theory with 10 people choosing yes, 4 people choosing no and one person choosing not applicable. The following tables and graphs diagrammatically represent a few of the results from the survey: What are organic foods? What is Genetic modification? Number of people who choose the correct definition:Â  10 Number of people who choose the correct definition: 0 Number of people who choose the wrong definition:Â  5 Total:15 Do GM foods influence your food choice? Do organic foods influence your food choice? Number of people who choose: Yes 7 Number of people who choose: No 6 Number of people who choose: Not applicable 2 Total:Â  15 Are you willing to spend more money on organic foods? Number of people who choose: Yes 10 Number of people who choose: No 5 Number of people who choose: Not applicable 0 Total:Â  15 Do you have a vegetable garden? Number of people who choose: Yes 6 Number of people who choose: No 9 Number of people who choose: Not applicable 0 Total: 15 Do you think GM foods could alleviate the food shortage crisis? Number of people who choose: Yes Number of people who choose: No Number of people who choose: Not applicable Do you believe that there is a global food shortage crisis? Number of people who choose: Yes Number of people who choose: No Number of people who choose: Not applicable Personal opinion The information is reliable and valid as people answered the survey individually and they were anonymous and so they felt more flexible and honest with their answers. The results were bias in that all the candidates where from a similar financial background and had access to more consumer information. The survey results did match with the literature results that I obtained. They were the same in terms of the lack of consumer knowledge and the growing trend of people moving towards organic foods for supposed health reasons. A lot of people thought that the organic farms had a good environmental impact but they were wrong so the information given to the public is not always fact making it misleading. Suggestions on how to improve the investigation The investigation was extensive and needed a lot of detail. I would survey more people and a wider spectrum ranging from a bigger lifestyle differences and income background in order for the results to be more accurate. The length and content of my survey/ questionnaire would be more specified so as to have a fair and set standard of what results should be required from the public. I would use a better organisational method of my information by mapping it out before is started my investigation in order to clearly know what I have to do. My time management would also need improvement in order to have more time to thoroughly go through my work and not be rushed for time. I would research more information in order to have more arguments regarding the investigation. Conclusion There is evidence of a global food shortage crisis and it is clear that people have chosen to show a blind eye to the situation or actively combat it. The two major concerns as to whether or not they will alleviate the global food shortage crisis are clear; Organic or Commercial mass produced food. There are counter arguments that there is enough food supplied from the earth but misdistribution and greed have caused food to become scarce. The environment is also more versatile than it used to be due to global warming so extreme disasters and weather patterns are changing landscapes and available or potential farming land is becoming a scarcity. The growing population is also exceeding the environmental capacity to cater for it as there in not enough space to farm as it is cultivated for farming and there is a higher demand for food than there is a supply. The recent recession is also another reason threatening food security and increasing oil prices threaten the transport of foods. Without the technological advances that man has created to bring about mass produced foods is a solution but a temporary one as repercussions are not yet evident but they will curb the success of mass produced foods. Organic foods do not seem half as damaging but they too cannot sustain the booming population. The question remains as to whether or not to choose organic or GM food but for majority of the worlds population that is not an option so they have to rely on GM foods. The world would be in even more of a crisis if modern mass food productions but they need to refine their methods and strive to be as close to organic quality as possible, GM is not the answer, more needs to be done.

Cultural Diversity in The Tempest Essays -- Tempest essays

Cultural Diversity in The Tempest      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   If we look at Shakespeare's atypically short play The Tempest, the character of Caliban represents a "noble savage" who is enslaved, exploited, and endowed with low-self esteem due to the ethnocentric views of those who encounter him.   In much the same way as the British originally exploited the Hindus or Americans exploited Native Americans, Caliban is considered the "property" of those who encounter him, solely because he is not of the same heritage, customs, and manners of his oppressors.      The ostracism and exploitation of Caliban because he is perceived as a brutish animal compared to "civilized" folks is in keeping with the theme and intent of the play-to show that reality is more a manifestation of mentality and conscious perception than concrete black and white, definable phenomena.   As one scholar of Elizabethan imagery suggests, "The poet who imitates not the visible world but the intelligible as manifested in the visible will not consider that the use of artifice to emphasize form makes imagery less 'true to nature'" (Scanlan   1).   In The Tempest   we see a great deal of artifice to understand what is manifested in the visible, however, with Caliban we see that all the artifice in the world does not help him be accepted by those who inhabit the island once his own.   Prospero has enslaved the son that Sycorax "did litter" on the island, and his lovely daughter Miranda says of his slave, "'Tis a villain, sir,/I do not love to look on" (Shakespeare   5).    Of course, Prospero says he enslaved Caliban because he tried to coupled with his daughter, however, Caliban, sounding like someone who has had their land and culture stolen from them, replies to this, "O ho,... ...nce and diversity are often perceived as evil, wrong or somehow inferior in relation to the dominant culture or social norms.   These issues are very timely as we face the increasing globalization of the world and increasing pressures to accept and integrate with diverse cultures.    Works Cited Baker Siepmann, K.   (ed.)   Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia.   New York, Harper & Row, Publishers, New York, 1987. Moore, P.   "The Tempest and the Bermuda Shipwreck of 1609."   Shakespeare Oxford Newsletter.   Summer, 1996, 1-2. Scanlan, R.   "Shakespeare's New World Fantasia."   http://fas-www.harvard.edu/~art/center.html   April 21, 1999, 1-3. Scanlan, R.   "The Veil of Poetry."   http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~art/poetry.html   April 21, 1999, 1-2. Shakespeare, W.   William Shakespeare:   The Complete Works.   New York, Gramercy Books, 1975. Cultural Diversity in The Tempest Essays -- Tempest essays Cultural Diversity in The Tempest      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   If we look at Shakespeare's atypically short play The Tempest, the character of Caliban represents a "noble savage" who is enslaved, exploited, and endowed with low-self esteem due to the ethnocentric views of those who encounter him.   In much the same way as the British originally exploited the Hindus or Americans exploited Native Americans, Caliban is considered the "property" of those who encounter him, solely because he is not of the same heritage, customs, and manners of his oppressors.      The ostracism and exploitation of Caliban because he is perceived as a brutish animal compared to "civilized" folks is in keeping with the theme and intent of the play-to show that reality is more a manifestation of mentality and conscious perception than concrete black and white, definable phenomena.   As one scholar of Elizabethan imagery suggests, "The poet who imitates not the visible world but the intelligible as manifested in the visible will not consider that the use of artifice to emphasize form makes imagery less 'true to nature'" (Scanlan   1).   In The Tempest   we see a great deal of artifice to understand what is manifested in the visible, however, with Caliban we see that all the artifice in the world does not help him be accepted by those who inhabit the island once his own.   Prospero has enslaved the son that Sycorax "did litter" on the island, and his lovely daughter Miranda says of his slave, "'Tis a villain, sir,/I do not love to look on" (Shakespeare   5).    Of course, Prospero says he enslaved Caliban because he tried to coupled with his daughter, however, Caliban, sounding like someone who has had their land and culture stolen from them, replies to this, "O ho,... ...nce and diversity are often perceived as evil, wrong or somehow inferior in relation to the dominant culture or social norms.   These issues are very timely as we face the increasing globalization of the world and increasing pressures to accept and integrate with diverse cultures.    Works Cited Baker Siepmann, K.   (ed.)   Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia.   New York, Harper & Row, Publishers, New York, 1987. Moore, P.   "The Tempest and the Bermuda Shipwreck of 1609."   Shakespeare Oxford Newsletter.   Summer, 1996, 1-2. Scanlan, R.   "Shakespeare's New World Fantasia."   http://fas-www.harvard.edu/~art/center.html   April 21, 1999, 1-3. Scanlan, R.   "The Veil of Poetry."   http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~art/poetry.html   April 21, 1999, 1-2. Shakespeare, W.   William Shakespeare:   The Complete Works.   New York, Gramercy Books, 1975.

Sexual Discrimination in the Workplace

Canada is composed of people from all walks of life and from every race, color,creed and ethnic background imaginable. Despite our varied lifestyles and beliefs, we areall equal and are entitled to the same treatment before the law and in the workplace. Although we have this diversity, discrimination is something that unfortunately, mostpeople have to deal with it at some point in their lives. Provincial human rights codes tryto prevent this unpleasantness, by prohibiting any type of discrimination in service,accommodations and employment. Zero tolerance grounds are based on Discrimination by: race, gender, ancestry, place of origin, color, citizenship, creed, sexual orientation,age, family status and handicap. Discrimination can also include harassment based on both race, and ethnic origin, as well as sexual harassment. Despite these codes, discrimination is not guaranteed to never occur. In fact,everyday people lose their jobs or promotions because of discrimination, and women areharassed at work or people with disabilities are denied opportunities. Harassment, whether by a supervisor or co-worker, creates a barriere to equality by demeaning its victims, interfering with their ability to work effectively and, in some instances, even forcing them to resign. Eventhough there is plenty of publicity surrounding this issue, studies consistently show that women continue to face harassment in the workplace. No organization can afford to lose the talent of its female staff because of outdated attitudes, the imposition of higher standards for women, or a failure to give women the opportunity to acquire relevant experience in key areas of the organization. There is a need for employers to take a hard look at lingering stereotypes and misconceptions and to ensure that high-potential women benefit equally with men from career-enhancing. Although it is not often spoken of, there are occasionally occurrences of sexual discrimination against men. Imagine a day-care center where 12 women and one male work. You are a first time mother and for the first time you are leaving your two year old child in the care of someone else for an entire day. Many women would be likely to ask for their child to remain in the care of strictly some females, due to their loving caring nature and maternal instincts. If you think about this it is obvious how males could getdiscriminated against by women, it is just not reported as often because most men do not want all that attention, and feel it would be better to just forget about it. Employers have a responsibility to: I) provide a working environment that is free from harassment and discrimination; and, ii) deal effectively, quickly and fairly with any situations involving claims of harassment or discrimination that come to their attention. Employers could be held liable by a court or tribunal if they or their managers do not act to put an end to discrimination or harassment in their workplaces. There are several questions that are not allowed to be asked of an employee not only surrounding gender. For example questions about or relating to physical characteristics such as color of eyes, hair, height, weight, or requests for photographs. Questions about speaking English or French fluently, unless to do so is a reasonable and bonafide requirement for the position are also strictly prohibited. Questions about or relating to religious affiliation, religious institutions attended, religious holidays, customs observed,willingness to work on a specific day which may conflict with requirements of a particular faith (e. . Saturday or Sunday Sabbath days)are also against the law. The human rights laws however do come in handy as a way for victims to fight back. How a human rights complaint is handled varies from country to country. In Ontario an individual who believes he or she has been the victim of some form of discrimination asserts his or her rights by filing a complaint with the human rights commission. The complaint is then investigated by an officer of the commission who will try to reach a settlement with the parties involved. If the officers attempts to arrive at a settlement fail and it is concluded that the complaint has merit, a recommendation will be made to the Minister of Labor to appoint a board of inquiry. The board will then conduct a formal hearing, where both parties have the opportunity to present their cases. In Ontario, the board of inquiry has the authority to direct the offending party to do anything necessary to comply with the code, such as ordering restitution for monetary loss and awarding up to $10 000 for mental anguish. When a formal complaint to the human rights commission is made, it can get very expensive an time consuming for the company. As a general rule, the commission publishes settlements and awards that are viewed as having a public education value, thus damaging the company†s reputation. Aside from both the cost and the damage to the company†s reputation employers should recognize that promoting an equal opportunity work place can also help motivate employees and improve a company†s performance. Apart from the adverse publicity, human rights laws have penalties such as a monetary awards, public apologies, reinstatement of employees or orders of financial compensation for lost time, expenses incurred, and damages to professional or personal reputation and fires. Human rights officials can also order companies to make a job offer to a complainant, begin an affirmative action program in the company or sen staff to the discrimination awareness seminars. If a company has a government contract , the board may even seek cancellation of that contract. To avoid the above consequences there are five steps that can be followed to ensure equal opportunity in any workplace. The first step is to make a clear corporate commitment to human rights. Senior executives should declare their commitment and be accountable at each tier of the management structure. There should be a written policy on discrimination distributed to every member of the company. The second step is to examine recruiting procedures. Employers should look for anything that may offend the aw, such as unusual language or physical requirements, unless it can be proven essential to the job. Application forms should be reviewed and interviews should avoid any conduct or comments that could be perceived as discriminatory. The third step is to monitor the workplace. Management has an obligation to intervene if there is any evidence of harassment or discriminatory behavior. Consider providing a hotline whereby employees can report to. Harvey†s, which is operated by CARA limited, has a fairly complex yet easy to follow policy, that other companies could follow. It is five page typed policy that was last updated in May of 1995. It defines sexual harassment as â€Å"deliberate and unsolicited and can be offensive sexual comments, gestures or physical contact that are unwanted or offensive either on a first time basis or as a continuous series of incidents. It may also involve favours, promises of favours, advantages in return for giving in to sexual advances or, the threat of revenge for refusing them. It states that flirtation, or a workplace romance between two consenting persons is not harassment. (Cara Operations limited, 1) Teammates who feel that they are being sexually harassed should immediately SAY NO!!!!! The employee is responsible of immediately making sure that the offender is out of line and that the behaviour is totally inappropriate. 2) The employee is encouraged to approach his or her supervisor and/or a member of the Human Resource Team for guidance. 3) The employee is encouraged to immediately file a complaint with the Human Resource Department. There are also five steps that management guarantees they will take when a complaint of harassment is filed. First they will ensure than an examination of the complaint will take place immediately. Next they will advise the alleged person that a complaint has been lodged. Then an interview with all persons involved will take place. Interviews will be taken with any witnesses followed by a clearly, accurately filled out document. On the final page of the policy, there is a section entitled â€Å"corrective action†. It basically states that is an offender is found guilty he/she will be terminated. It also states that if it is found that someone has intentionally wrongfully accused someone then he/she will be terminated as well. Other methods of corrective action that are stated are suspension, or loss of responsibilities. As you have seen sexual discrimination and harassment are two acts that go hand and hand, and unfortunately they are both issues that are delt with much too often. If all workplaces joined together and made similar policies that are strictly enforced, perhaps our world would be a little more equal, and discrimination would be unheard of.

Least squares

The backbone of analytical methods consists of various mathematical and procedural concepts to represent relations between points in the object, their corresponding images and operational procedures to solve specific problems. Analytical photogrammetric procedures may be considered along three operational stages, each invol ving specific instruments (Fig. 6. 1), viz. , those used for acquisition of image data (mensural), those used for data-processing and analyses (computational) and those used for display or presentation of the results.In view of the above, we would study the historical developments firstly with regard to the concepts and next with regard to the instruments and their potentials for the future. A mathematical model, in expressing the relevant concept, provides insight into the underlying chain of events. There is no mystery about the way in which this insight is achieved. The mathematical models have no scientific value unless they have been validated adequately thro ugh experience and research. Scientific validation is an openended process. As a mathematical model is successfully tested and used, it becomes established.Otherwise it stands to be changed, modified or simply dropped. We have witnessed this through the historical development of analytical photogrammetry. Furthermore, photogrammetry being an applied science, it is the content and not the form of the mathematical statement (language) that matters most. Thus we have noticed that mathematical and operational concepts have been adapted to circumstances without really changing the basic contents. The following sections would highlight the conceptual developments without going into personal . details.Hauck (1883) established the relationship between projective geometry and photogrammetry_ This should be considered to be the most fundamental geometric concept and the basis of most classic analytical photogrammetric developments. Ernst Abbe, the cofounder of the German Zeiss Works in 1871 s tarted intense studies and tests for optical elements on the basis of rigorous mathematical analyses. F. Stolze discovered the principle of the floating mark in 1892 while Carl Pulfrich also of the Zeiss group developed a practicable method of measuring and deriving spatial dimensions from stereo-pholographic images with floating marks.He presented in 1901 the ZeissPulfrich Stereocomparator by supplementing Eduard von Orel's (1877-1941) first prototype Stereoautograph at the 73 rd Conference of Natural Scientists and Physicians held at Hamburg. Separately, a ssimilar stereocomparator was invented in 1901 by Henry G. Fourcade (1865-1948) of South Africa. He presented this at the Philosophical Society of Cape Town. Sebastian Finsterwalder (1862-1951) in a series of publications during 1899 to 1937 established a very sthrong foundation for analytical photogrammetry.In these he brought about the geometric relations which govern resection and intersection as well as relative and absolute orientations. He predicted the future possibility of nadir point triangulation 311 and the applicatian af phatagrammetry to. astrageadetic measurements. He also. farmulated the basic laws af errar prapagatian in lang strip triangulatians. He was prabably the first persan to. use vectar terminalagy in phatagrammetry literature (Finsterwalder 1899, 1932). Eduard Dalezal 1862-1955) af Vienna, Austria pravided great internatianal driving spirit as he became the faunding President af the Internatianal Saciety far Phatagrammetry in 1909. He also. created the Internatianal Archives af phatagrammetry. viz. , the usefulness af auxiliary data and instruments in order to. avoid propagation of systematic errors in strip triangulation and the practical advantage of using wide-angle cameras. Heinrich Wild (1877-1951) presented in 1926 at the Second International Congress at Berlin his modified plotter prototype known as Police Autograph.

Free Essays on Emotional Abuse

I. Attention Getter: When you think of battering, you might immediately think of black eyes and bloody noses, and in part you’re right. But a violent relationship usually begins with use of emotional abuse. Even if emotional battering is used without physical violence even entering it, it’s still abuse. II. Psychological orientation: Emotional abuse is occurring in 1/3 of relationships in today’s society. I know many people, including myself that have been a suspect of emotional abuse. III. Logical orientation: First I will discuss what emotional abuse is, secondly the signs and effects, and third the prevention. Transition: First I will discuss what emotional abuse is. Body I. Main point #1: Emotional abuse is any kind of abuse that is emotional rather than physical in nature. It can include anything from verbal abuse and constant criticism to more subtle tactics, such as repeated disapproval or even the refusal to ever be pleased. (Definition) A. Sub point #1: Abuse does not have to be physical. 1. Sub-sub point #1: Emotional abuse is as damaging as physical abuse, though is often harder to recognize, and therefore to recover from. (Definition) 2. Sub-sub point #2: Emotional abuse causes long term self esteem issues and profound emotional repercussions for the partners of abusers. (Definition) 3. Sub- sub point #3: Abuse typically alternates with declaration of love and statements that they will change, providing a â€Å"hook† to keep the partner in the relationship. Sub Point # 2: Abusive relationships are progressive. 1. Sub-sub point #1: Abusive relationships get worse over time. (Definition) 2. Sub- sub point #2: Emotional and verbal abuse frequently shifts to more overt threats or physical abuse, particularly in times of stress. 3. Sub-sub point #3: Abusers are generally very needy and controlling; the abuse escalates when they feel they may lose their partner, or when... Free Essays on Emotional Abuse Free Essays on Emotional Abuse I. Attention Getter: When you think of battering, you might immediately think of black eyes and bloody noses, and in part you’re right. But a violent relationship usually begins with use of emotional abuse. Even if emotional battering is used without physical violence even entering it, it’s still abuse. II. Psychological orientation: Emotional abuse is occurring in 1/3 of relationships in today’s society. I know many people, including myself that have been a suspect of emotional abuse. III. Logical orientation: First I will discuss what emotional abuse is, secondly the signs and effects, and third the prevention. Transition: First I will discuss what emotional abuse is. Body I. Main point #1: Emotional abuse is any kind of abuse that is emotional rather than physical in nature. It can include anything from verbal abuse and constant criticism to more subtle tactics, such as repeated disapproval or even the refusal to ever be pleased. (Definition) A. Sub point #1: Abuse does not have to be physical. 1. Sub-sub point #1: Emotional abuse is as damaging as physical abuse, though is often harder to recognize, and therefore to recover from. (Definition) 2. Sub-sub point #2: Emotional abuse causes long term self esteem issues and profound emotional repercussions for the partners of abusers. (Definition) 3. Sub- sub point #3: Abuse typically alternates with declaration of love and statements that they will change, providing a â€Å"hook† to keep the partner in the relationship. Sub Point # 2: Abusive relationships are progressive. 1. Sub-sub point #1: Abusive relationships get worse over time. (Definition) 2. Sub- sub point #2: Emotional and verbal abuse frequently shifts to more overt threats or physical abuse, particularly in times of stress. 3. Sub-sub point #3: Abusers are generally very needy and controlling; the abuse escalates when they feel they may lose their partner, or when...

Free Essays on By Writing The Coquette

How Hannah Foster uses the Coquette to Identify Injustices Towards Women in Society in Support of a Woman’s Social Revolution In writing, The Coquette, Hannah Foster encouraged women to join together in a revolution against society. Foster believed that, with the gender-biased value-system inherent in early American culture, no woman could freely pursue the life that she desired. Her book made people, particularly women, aware of this oppression that they had faced for so many years. It illuminates the social and moral handcuffs that bound women, in hopes of creating awareness regarding the way that they were treated. Eliza Wharton is labeled a coquette because of the social and moral characteristics which she is known for: independence, coyness, flirtatiousness, etc., and were features heavily frowned upon by society. She indulged in the pleasures, which an unmarried woman could enjoy, and was known for her social graces. Early in the book, however, she is confronted with a dilemma when she becomes involved with two men of opposite lifestyles and values. Under normal circumstances, with her coquettish personality, she would have preferred to not marry either of them, however, the society which surrounds her, forces her to go against her will and pursue what would be an unhappy marriage. This, obviously, is not what Eliza wanted or needed to do with her life, although her peers suggested otherwise. It is then, that Eliza begins to compromise her free will for the pressures which society places on her, and Hannah Foster explores and criticizes the treatment of women, pointing out many thin gs which are wrong with the society that they lived in. The independence, which Eliza possessed early in the book, was a great source of strength for her. This, unfortunately, this was not a favorable trait in women at the time, and it is because of this that she does not receive the support of others nor does she know h... Free Essays on By Writing The Coquette Free Essays on By Writing The Coquette How Hannah Foster uses the Coquette to Identify Injustices Towards Women in Society in Support of a Woman’s Social Revolution In writing, The Coquette, Hannah Foster encouraged women to join together in a revolution against society. Foster believed that, with the gender-biased value-system inherent in early American culture, no woman could freely pursue the life that she desired. Her book made people, particularly women, aware of this oppression that they had faced for so many years. It illuminates the social and moral handcuffs that bound women, in hopes of creating awareness regarding the way that they were treated. Eliza Wharton is labeled a coquette because of the social and moral characteristics which she is known for: independence, coyness, flirtatiousness, etc., and were features heavily frowned upon by society. She indulged in the pleasures, which an unmarried woman could enjoy, and was known for her social graces. Early in the book, however, she is confronted with a dilemma when she becomes involved with two men of opposite lifestyles and values. Under normal circumstances, with her coquettish personality, she would have preferred to not marry either of them, however, the society which surrounds her, forces her to go against her will and pursue what would be an unhappy marriage. This, obviously, is not what Eliza wanted or needed to do with her life, although her peers suggested otherwise. It is then, that Eliza begins to compromise her free will for the pressures which society places on her, and Hannah Foster explores and criticizes the treatment of women, pointing out many thin gs which are wrong with the society that they lived in. The independence, which Eliza possessed early in the book, was a great source of strength for her. This, unfortunately, this was not a favorable trait in women at the time, and it is because of this that she does not receive the support of others nor does she know h...

Breastfeeding A Natural Act That Women

Since the start of 2016, increasingly more stories and news articles have appeared about women liberating themselves and their families. These women are choosing to breast feed in public, regardless of society’s ideas on its appropriateness. Why is a woman feeding her child seen as an inappropriate act in society? Woman are sexualized. A person sees a breast and it is immediately sexualized. Breasts are not sexual organs though, they are on the human body with the intent that they will be used to†¦ Breastfeeding is recognized as the best source of natural nutrition for most infants. It provides all the energy and nutrients that the infant needs for the first months of life. It continues to provide up to half or more of a child’s nutritional needs during the second half of the first year. Breastfeeding offers numerous health benefits to both the mother and infant. The infant continues to reap the many benefits of being breastfed well into adulthood. Breastfeeding lowers rates of developing†¦ one of the most prevalent problems in America. Violence against women can be in the form of physical, sexual, verbal, stalking, financial and other ways in which men use their power, given by the society, to harm women. In the past, this problem was called domestic violence but has recently been changed to violence against women because the term domestic violence does not demonstrate that all cases of domestic abuse are men injuring women. Male domination and patriarchy have been under challenge by†¦ masturbation would serve as a countermeasure against teenage pregnancy and the transmission of sex-related diseases, but when politics enters the discussion, everything rational gets tossed out the window (Canino, J. T., 2003). The act of masturbation is a natural act, familiar to all males and females. But for some silly and profound reason, society as a whole believes that masturbation is a topic that should not be discussed in our schools, within our families or even in public (Canino, J. T.,†¦ equality is harmful to women. â€Å"Feminism Has Harmed Women by Eliminating Natural Gender Roles†, by Nicole M. Kooistra states that â€Å"Women have bought into a feminist mystique that has left them more alone and conflicted in their pursuit of fulfillment than ever before.† This mentality that women cannot fulfil themselves unless they get married, have children, cook, and clean is a disastrous mindset. Women no longer feel obligated to pursue the ‘1950’s housewife’ character. However, women are still criticized†¦ Breastfeeding is a natural way of providing food to infants. It is an important part of motherhood, and it is the first major decision that is made when it comes to feeding a child. Breastfeeding is an issue of gender because when a women is seen breastfeeding, in public or not, she is usually shamed and accused of indecent exposure. This is because our society has been shaped to see breast only as sexual objects as well as an insufficient amount of educating on breastfeeding being done. We could†¦ Breast are Best Breastfeeding serves as a connection or bond between a mother and child. Mothers experience feelings of joy as they nurse their newborn. This is the case because of the far that hormones are released that cause a peaceful like sensation. (â€Å"Benefits†). Psychological benefits arise from breastfeeding as well. Children who are breastfed tend to cry less and have a better band with their mother versus children who were not breastfed (Sloan). Nursing children is affordable and beneficial†¦ Knowledge, attitudes and practices of breastfeeding among rural and urban women. CHAPTER - I INTRODUCTION Breast milk is the effective way of ensuring child health, Breast feeding is widely accepted as a optimal feeding for the infants due to health benefits it offers to the child. Lack of breast feeding contributes to one millions of death each year globally.1A study conducted in U.S.A revealed that breast feeding can cut cost of government and saves 3.6 billion $ and also saves the lives†¦ Breastfeeding is the most natural way to feed your child. Not only is breastfeeding the most natural way to feed your child, it also saves money because the new parents don’t need to purchase nipples and bottles to bottle feed their child. Also, they get a better bond with the baby by breastfeeding, by getting that skin to skin touch often throughout the day. Breastfeeding a child can help them with their intelligence when they get older and because they were breastfed, they at a reduced risk of†¦ Sex should be a natural and free act. The reality seems to be that even sex may be out of our control. Often sex and sexual situations are forceful, with extreme pressure to conform to the archetype. One can not blame Jayanthi or Solomon, or say that they have the freedom to say no. Jayanthi was in a dangerous situation, where saying no could dig her into a deeper hole, while undermining the identity she has. For Solomon, a similar pressure to prove his masculinity and sexuality but him in a position†¦

Plato, St.Thomas, Descartes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Plato, St.Thomas, Descartes - Essay Example The aim of this paper is to critically differentiate between the concepts of human person by Plato, St. Thomas and Rene Descartes. Plato believed that human person is basically a soul because it’s the most strongest of all and remains immortal. This clearly creates the relationship of mind and body to be of significance of hindrance. The human person is only able to reach to its core excellence within a group setting. According to Plato, body is the reason why the soul of a person will be distracted. Herein, it should be noted that the highest power that can be gained by the human person is none other than knowledge. Ultimately, Plato gave his viewpoint determining that the highest peak of knowledge i.e. power which can be gained by a human person is apprehension of the ideas. However, as noted above, soul is constantly distracted by the body in meeting the highest peak of knowledge. It should be noted that Plato has merely considered body to be the cage in which the soul gets locked. Plato has justified the comment of soul to gain eternal knowledge. At the point where one finds out that soul is the sole player of the power then knowledge is gained likewise. However, the fact remains that souls are merely imprisoned by the body that makes soul to undertake learning in a customized manner. Soul imprisoned within the body tends to create possibilities of learning other things as well. It is evident from the following quotation as well, â€Å"The lovers of learning know that when philosophy gets hold of their soul, it is imprisoned in and clinging to the body, and that it is forced to examine other things through it as through a cage and not by itself, and that it wallows in every kind of ignorance1†. The question arises that at what point can the soul be free from the body where the answer is clear, at death. Body becomes dead but soul remains for which it can fulfill the tasks that it need to do during the life course. In order to fully practice th e power, it is much significant for the soul to get freedom from being caged in the body. The most famous saying of Plato inhibited that those who practice philosophy and self-learning are basically yearning and practicing to become dead. This is in context of the previous statement where soul is to get powerful at the time of death because it is free from body. It will not be incorrect to state that Plato was basically a dualist. His viewpoints about human person, power inhibiting and knowledge etc. are quiet extreme for its own kind. Considering the appetites that are among the parts of soul, Plato marked that appetite is a power that sorts the need and desires of a human person differently. This makes evident that soul is basically searching its way to fulfill appetites. For some, it can be the intellect while for others it is the shelter that keeps them under an entitlement. This also interweaves the ideal of scientific knowledge i.e. in order to meet the appetite; a person may fulfill the chronology of societal bounding based upon science2. Another dimension to look at human person and everything in its concerned pattern is the view of St. Thomas. It should be noted here that St. Thomas also considered human person to be a soul. However, he did not consider body to be utterly invaluable. He has used a comparison method to discuss human person with animals. He noted that body in which the human soul is embodied is basically a way to differentiate humans from animals. At the

Combating Employee Turnover Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Combating Employee Turnover - Essay Example This has been explained in the form of a model in the diagram below: Figure 1: Employee’s Turnover Model Source: (Allen, Bryant & Vardaman 2011) If an organization sees that employees are unhappy with the work environment and there are some factors that may start the cycle of Employee’s Turnover Model, then the organization should try to remove them from the environment. They may develop strategies that will improve the work environment, improve employee’s relationship with others in the organization and try to focus on individual characteristics of workers to make them happy. These strategies will ensure that the employee does not leave the organization. Another idea suggested by Allen et al. study is that the organization should conduct employee’s surveys at regular intervals and should develop evidence-based strategies based on the problems identified in these surveys to make sure that employee’s turnover is reduced and this can be an effective w ay to combat the problem of high turnover in the large corporations and organizations. (Allen, Bryant & Vardaman 2011) Another study done on 76 organizations concludes that employment benefits and effective retirement policies reduce the problem of employee turnover by almost 34%. The study’s rationale was that employee’s benefits and retirement programs are given to employees after their retirement. Since gratuity fund grows exponentially, so employees think that longer they will stay with the organization, the bigger gratuity or pension they will get. Hence, this motivates them not to quit the job. Therefore, organizations with effective employee’s benefits and retirements plan tend to retain workers for longer periods than organizations that do not focus on these programs. Another important finding of the research was that it takes almost $3000 to replace a work in mid-management position. Hence, if these $3000/worker are used in creating effective retirement and pension plans, then an organization is likely to retain its workers for longer periods (Sutton 2001). In a model developed (Darmna 2000), it was found that replacing the employees that are leaving the organization is quite expensive. Hence, organizations could use half the costs that are spent on recruiting new staff to appease or solving the problems of the leaving staff. They can use the same money to increase their wages or to reduce the de-motivation factors from the organization. This would improve the problem of high employee turnover because factors that were perturbing the employees are being removed from the environment and hygienic factors such as increased pay are being given to them. Hence, there is no reason for them to leave the organization. (Darmna 2000) Participative management is another technique to reduce the problem of high turnover. Participative management believes in the autocratic leadership. It is an approach that calls for management by objective. Her e the responsibility is delegated to workers who are then free to decide how they will go about doing their work. This kind of approach has been highly successful in staff retention and large MNCs are making use of this approach. The illustrious lists of organizations that use this approach are Unilever, Proctor and Gamble, Reckitt-Beckniser and Siemens. It was found that these organizations retain employees twice longer than any other company. One reason for this high retention rate is responsibility management and participative

Project Management - Quality Planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Project Management - Quality Planning - Essay Example The quality planning process defines the approach to be adopted toward the management of project quality during the course of the project. For example, the quality manual necessitates the use of concrete blocks for the partition walls whose strength is at least 1000 psi, the quality assurance is accordingly achieved only when the blocks of specified strength are being used, and their continual checking and testing remains the responsibility of the quality control (QC) department. The QC department is supposed to carry out the tests as frequently as stipulated in the documents prepared in the quality planning process. As evident from the name, the quality planning process is designed in the planning phase of a project. In fact, it is one of the very early considerations about a project since it affects and is affected by the total project budget. However, its implementation occurs throughout the execution phase till the project closeout after the defects liability period, when contractor might have to incur additional costs to satisfy the customer in that period. This tool focuses on the comparison of costs incurred due to investment in quality and the benefits achieved thus. One way the analysis can be made is as mentioned here. For example, reduced amount of rework enhances the profits significantly. The cost of quality is weighed against the profits in terms of customer’s and client’s satisfaction, increased efficiency and improved public relations by comparing the current situation with some old project of similar nature that incurred losses because of bad quality. Benchmarking is termed as the measurement of quality for improvement. Basically, the previous quality level is taken as a benchmark and results achieved by the measurements taken to improve quality are compared with the old benchmark to analyze the progress.

The Patriot Act Impact on Law Enforcement Research Paper

The Patriot Act Impact on Law Enforcement - Research Paper Example Law enforcement is an integral part of ensuring the security of the US public is restored. This is because they are responsible for enforcing the policies recommended to restore the security of the country after this attack. The correction system also plays a crucial role in ensuring the security of a country is maintained. The security of citizens of a country is high up on the priority list of any nation. This is not any different for the US. After the devastating attacks of September 11, the American government was made to realize that measures needed to be taken to make certain that a repeat of the attacks does not occur on American soil. In order to restore security and treasure that the American public of their security, President George W. Bush signed an act into law that would significantly influence the security policies of the country. The patriot act was created in order to ensure that the intelligence community and law enforcement agencies were empowered by law, to combat acts of terror rather than be held back by it. The act reduced the restrictions that affected the intelligence agencies while gathering information on terrorist threats against the US. The act also expanded the mandate of the secretary in the treasury department to have the authority to have power over the financial transac tions, mostly those that involved individuals from foreign nationalities, and entities in order to make it difficult for terrorism to be funded within US soil. The act also aimed to strengthen its border security and control immigration to prevent the percolation of terrorists into the country (Bailie, 2012). They empowered the immigration authority to detain entrants who were suspected of having any link to terrorism. The authorities were also allowed to deport the individuals who could pose a terrorist threat to the country. This provision will ensure that terrorist elements a rode from the American population ensuring their safety.  

Brainstorming Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Brainstorming - Assignment Example l events such as essays, debates in their various forms and norms had somehow lost their sheen and it was time for interesting and innovative activities to enter Elite. I guess we had overdone it with the traditional ones. The willful participation and the pure desire to achieve something for the greater good of the student community was exhilarating! Well! In the two hours session that we had, all the boys and girls shared an enthusiastic vibe and the hall echoed with charming and smart ideas pulled out form many corners. The diverse experiences we had in our life and the many backgrounds that we hail from – all started giving results. A fun list was arrived at that included ‘Rhyming Couplets’, Mismatch Story’, ‘Air Crash’, ‘Wake up as a Celebrity, ‘I am stranded on an unknown island’, ‘Translate yourself’ etc. If literary events were meant to strengthen one’s speaking, listening, understanding and analyz ing abilities in a language, why not have some decent fun along? Not only was the effort worth its pain, it in fact gave a certain confidence to the participating members, which reflected in their expressions glowing with satisfaction, when the Convener approved

An Accounting Career Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

An Accounting Career - Research Paper Example It also looks at the salary scale, with emphasis on the average annual entry level salary as well as the salaries paid to persons who hold the CPA qualification in the state of Mississippi. Introduction Choosing a career is one of the most important decisions that a person will ever make in a lifetime. It is not uncommon for students to start college without any thought or knowledge of what it is that they would like to do as a career. This is so despite the number of career fairs that are held in high school and the resources available on the web and in school libraries. The most important aspects of the accounting profession are the skills required, duties performed and the salary it offers. These represent major considerations when making a decision on career choices. Skills Accounting is a very demanding career. Therefore, in addition to knowledge and qualifications the accountant is required to have a variety of skills. They include but are not limited to communication, presenta tion, information technology, analytical, computation, and critical thinking skills. Good communication skills are very important especially when a job function requires dealing with people at all levels inside and outside the organization. The accountant has to deal with the staff below the position held as well as those in authority. It is a reporting position so at all times reports of one kind or another have to be prepared. These have to be properly communicated both orally and in writing. According to Career Infonet (2011) active listening and speaking skills are required. Active listening involves giving total attention to what others are saying and taking time out to understand what is being said and asking the appropriate questions and interrupting only when appropriate (Career Infonet 2011). Information has to presented properly present so that others can understand. Information technology will also be required to aid in presentations to management as well as to input, pro cessing and summarizing information. In terms of presenting information accountants can use PowerPoint presentation. In terms of summarizing ability to use one or more accounting software packages as well as a spreadsheet is important. Accountants are required to analyze and evaluate accounting and other information. They need to be able to indicate reasons why figures change from one year to the other so that they can make proper recommendations on how to reduce expenses and so increase profitability. The ability to carry out basic computations is very important. All accountant jobs involve figures and there accuracy is key to becoming a good accountant. Critical thinking skills are very important. The accountant is required to use logic and reasoning in identifying the strengths and weakness that may arise from various alternatives relating to the solution of a problem. Duties Accountants perform a wide range of tasks some of which are specific to the profession and some of which are generalized work activities. Completing these tasks play a major role in getting a job done properly. According to Career Infonet (2011) the accounting specific tasks include advising clients in various areas such as compensation, health benefits, design of data processing systems as well as tax planning. They prepare tax computations as well as ensure that organizations that use their services or to which they are employed comply with the requirements of the tax authorities. Additionally, accountants develop, maintain and analyze budgets for clients with the use of information technology. They also prepare financial statements which indicate the financial position and financial performance of organizations including their as well as cash flow statements. Some general duties

Brainstorming Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Brainstorming - Assignment Example l events such as essays, debates in their various forms and norms had somehow lost their sheen and it was time for interesting and innovative activities to enter Elite. I guess we had overdone it with the traditional ones. The willful participation and the pure desire to achieve something for the greater good of the student community was exhilarating! Well! In the two hours session that we had, all the boys and girls shared an enthusiastic vibe and the hall echoed with charming and smart ideas pulled out form many corners. The diverse experiences we had in our life and the many backgrounds that we hail from – all started giving results. A fun list was arrived at that included ‘Rhyming Couplets’, Mismatch Story’, ‘Air Crash’, ‘Wake up as a Celebrity, ‘I am stranded on an unknown island’, ‘Translate yourself’ etc. If literary events were meant to strengthen one’s speaking, listening, understanding and analyz ing abilities in a language, why not have some decent fun along? Not only was the effort worth its pain, it in fact gave a certain confidence to the participating members, which reflected in their expressions glowing with satisfaction, when the Convener approved

Linguistics and Interjections Essay Example for Free

Linguistics and Interjections Essay In Western philosophy and linguistic theory, interjections—that is, words like oof, ouch, and bleah—have traditionally been understood to indicate emotional states. This article offers an account of interjections in Q’eqchi’ Maya that illuminates their social and discursive functions. In particular, it discusses the grammatical form of interjections, both in Q’eqchi’ and across languages, and characterizes the indexical objects and pragmatic functions of interjections in Q’eqchi’ in terms of a semiotic framework that may be generalized for other languages. With these grammatical forms, indexical objects, and pragmatic functions in hand, it details the various social and discursive ends that interjections serve in one Q’eqchi’ community, thereby shedding light on local values, norms, ontological classes, and social relations. In short, this article argues against interpretations of interjections that focus on internal emotional states by providing an account of their meanings in terms of situational, discursive, and social context. p a u l k o c k e l m a n is McKennan Post-Doctoral Fellow in Linguistic Anthropology in the Department of Anthropology at Dartmouth College (Hanover, N. H. 03755, U. S. A. [paul. [emailprotected] edu]). Born in 1970, he was educated at the University of California, Santa Cruz (B. A. , 1992) and the University of Chicago (M. S. , 1994; Ph. D. , 2002). His publications include â€Å"The Collection of Copal among the Q’eqchi’-Maya† (Research in Economic Anthropology 20:163–94), â€Å"Factive and Counterfactive Clitics in Q’eqchi’-Maya: Stance, Status, and Subjectivity,† in Papers from the Thirty-eighth Annual Regional Meeting of the Chicago Linguistics Society (Chicago: Linguistics Society, in press), and â€Å"The Interclausal Relations Hierarchy in Q’eqchi’ Maya† (International Journal of American Linguistics 69:25–48). The present paper was submitted 1 vi 01 and accepted 27 xii 02. 1. A longer version of this article was presented at the workshop â€Å"Semiotics: Culture in Context† at the University of Chicago in January 2001. Chris Ball, Anya Bernstein, John Lucy, and Michael Silverstein all provided very helpful commentary. This article also greatly bene? ted from suggestions made by Benjamin S. Orlove and several anonymous referees. Western philosophy and linguistic theory have traditionally considered interjections at the periphery of language and primordially related to emotion. For example, the Latin grammarian Priscian de? ned interjections as â€Å"a part of speech signifying an emotion by means of an unformed word† (Padley 1976:266). Muller (1862) ? thought that interjections were at the limit of what might be called language. Sapir (1921:6–7) said that they were â€Å"the nearest of all language sounds to instinctive utterance. † Bloom? eld (1984[1933]:177) said that they â€Å"occur under a violent stimulus,† and Jakobson (1960: 354) considered them exemplars of the â€Å"purely emotive stratum of language. † While interjections are no longer considered peripheral to linguistics and are now carefully de? ned with respect to their grammatical form, their meanings remain vague and elusive. In particular, although interjections are no longer characterized purely in terms of emotion, they are still characterized in terms of â€Å"mental states. † For example, Wierzbicka (1992:164) characterizes interjections as â€Å"[referring] to the speaker’s current mental state or mental act. † Ameka (1992a:107) says that â€Å"from a pragmatic point of view, interjections may be de?ned as a subset of items that encode speaker attitudes and communicative intentions and are contextbound,† and Montes (1999:1289) notes that many interjections â€Å"[focus] on the internal reaction of affectedness of the speaker with respect to the referent. † Philosophers have offered similar interpretations. For example, Herder thought that interjections were the human equivalent of animal sounds, being both a â€Å"language of feeling† and a â€Å"law of nature† (1966:88), and Rousseau, pursuing the origins of language, theorized that protolanguage was â€Å"entirely interjectional† (1990:71). Indeed, such philosophers have posited a historical transition from interjections to language in which the latter allows us not only to index pain and express passion but also to denote values and exercise reason (D’Atri 1995). 2 Thus interjections have been understood as a semiotic artifact of our natural origins and the most transparent index of our emotions. Such an understanding of interjections is deeply rooted in Western thought. Aristotle (1984), for example, posited a contrastive relationship between voice, proper only to humans as instantiated in language, and sound, shared by humans and animals as instantiated in cries. This contrastive relation was then compared with other analogous contrastive relations, in particular, value and pleasure/pain, polis and household, and bios (the good life, or political life proper to humans) and zoe (pure life, shared by all living things). Such a contrast is so pervasive that modern philosophers such as Agamben (1995) have devoted much of their scholarly work to the thinking out of this tradition and others built on it such as id versus ego in the Freudian paradigm. In short, the folk distinction made between interjections and language 2. D’Atri (1995:124) argues that, for Rousseau, â€Å"interjections . . . are sounds and not voices: they are passive registerings and as such do not presuppose the intervention of will, which is what characterizes human acts of speech. † 467 468 F c u r r e n t a n t h ro p o l o g y Volume 44, Number 4, August–October 2003 proper maps onto a larger set of distinctions in Western thought: emotion and cognition, animality and humanity, nature and culture, female and male, passion and reason, bare life and the good life, pain and value, private and public, and so on (see, e.g. , Lutz 1988, Strathern 1988). In this article I avoid such abstracting and dichotomizing traps by going straight to the heart of interjections: their everyday usage in actual discourse when seen in the context of local culture and grounded in a semiotic framework. I begin by characterizing the linguistic and ethnographic context in which I carried out my research and go on to relate interjections to other linguistic forms, showing how they are both similar to and distinct from other classes of words in natural languages. Next I provide and exemplify a semiotic framework, generalizable across languages, in terms of which the indexical objects and pragmatic functions of interjections can best be characterized. Then I detail the local usage of the 12 most commonly used interjections in Q’eqchi’ and show the way in which they are tied into all things cultural: values, norms, ontological classes, social relations, and so on. I conclude by discussing the relative frequency with which the various forms and functions of interjections are used. In short, I argue against interpretations of interjections that focus on emotional states by providing an account of their meanings in terms of situational, discursive, and social context. Linguistic and Ethnographic Context While I am attempting to provide as wide a theoretical account of interjections as I can, thereby providing a metalanguage for speaking about similar sign phenomena in other languages, I am also trying to capture the grammatical niceties of Q’eqchi’ Maya and the discursive and social particularities of one Q’eqchi’-speaking village in particular. Before I begin my analysis, then, I want to sketch the linguistic and ethnographic context in which I worked. Q’eqchi’ is a language in the Kichean branch of the Mayan family, spoken by some 360,000 speakers in Guatemala (in the departments of Alta Verapaz, Izabel, and Peten) and Belize (Kaufman 1974, Stewart 1980). 3 Lin? guistically, Q’eqchi’ is relatively well described: scholars such as Berinstein (1985), Sedat (1955), Stewart (1980), Stoll (1896), and Chen Cao et al. (1997) have discussed its syntax, morphology, phonology, and lexicon, and I have detailed various morphosyntactic forms (encoding grammatical categories such as mood, status, evidentiality, taxis, and inalienable possession) as they intersect with sociocultural values and contextual features and as they illuminate local modes of personhood (Kockelman 3. Typologically, Q’eqchi’ is a morphologically ergative, head-marking language. In Q’eqchi’, vowel length (signaled by doubling letters) is phonemic; /k/ and /q/ are velar and uvular plosives, respectively, and /x/ and /j/ are palato-alveolar and velar fricatives, respectively. All other phonemes have their standard IPA values. 2002, 2003a, b). This article is therefore part of a larger project in which I examine how intentional and evaluative stances are encoded in natural languages and the relations that such stances bear to local modes of subjectivity. Alta Verapaz, the original center of the Q’eqchi’-speaking people who still make up the majority of its population, has had a unusual history even by Guatemalan standards. In 1537, after the Spanish crown had failed to conquer the indigenous peoples living there, the Dominican Friar Bartolome de Las Casas was permitted to ?pacify the area through religious methods. Having succeeded, he changed the name of the area from Tezulutlan (Land of War) to Verapaz (True Peace), and the Dominicans were granted full control over the area—the state banning secular immigration, removing all military colonies, and nullifying previous land grants. In this way, for almost 300 years the area remained an isolated enclave, relatively protected by the paternalism of the church in comparison with other parts of Guatemala (King 1974, Sapper 1985). This ended abruptly in the late 1800s, however, with the advent of coffee growing, liberal reforms, and the in? ux of Europeans (Cambranes 1985, Wagner 1996). Divested of their land and forced to work on coffee plantations, the Q’eqchi’ began migrating north into the unpopulated lowland forests of the Peten ? and Belize (Adams 1965, Carter 1969, Howard 1975, Kockelman 1999, Pedroni 1991, Saa Vidal 1979, Schwartz 1990, Wilk 1991). In the past 40 years this migration has been fueled by a civil war that has ravaged the Guatemalan countryside, with the Q’eqchi’ ? eeing not just scarce resources and labor quotas but also their own nation’s soldiers—often forcibly conscripted speakers of other Mayan languages (Carmack 1988, IWGIA 1978, Wilson 1995). As a consequence, the past century has seen the Q’eqchi’ population spread from Alta Verapaz to the Peten and ? nally to Belize, Mexico, and even the ? United States. Indeed, although only the fourth largest of some 24 Mayan languages, Q’eqchi’ is thought to have the largest percentage of monolinguals, and the ethnic group is Guatemala’s fastest-growing and most geographically extensive (Kaufman 1974, Stewart 1980). The two key ethnographies of Q’eqchi’-speakers have been written by Wilk (1991) and Wilson (1995), the former treating household ecology in Belize and the latter upheavals in village life and identity at the height of the civil war in highland Guatemala during the 1980s. In addition to these monographs, there are also a number of dissertations and articles on the history (King 1974, Sapper 1985, Wagner 1996), ecology (Carter 1969, Secaira 1992, Wilson 1972), and migration (Adams 1965, Howard 1975, Pedroni 1991) of Q’eqchi’-speaking  people. The data for this article are based on almost two years of ethnographic and linguistic ? eldwork among speakers of Q’eqchi’, most of it in Ch’inahab, a village of some 80 families (around 650 people) in the municipality of San Juan Chamelco, in the department of Alta Verapaz. At an altitude of approximately 2,400 m, Ch’inahab is one of the highest villages in this area, with an annual precipitation of more than 2,000 mm. It is also one of k o c k e l m a n The Meanings of Interjections in Q’eqchi’ Maya F 469  the most remote, access to the closest road requiring a three-hour hike down a steep and muddy single-track trail. Its relatively high altitude and remote location provide the perfect setting for cloud forest, and such a cloud forest provides the perfect setting for the resplendent quetzal, being home to what is thought to be the highest density of such birds in the world. Because of the existence of the quetzal and the cloud forest in which it makes its home, Ch’inahab has been the site of a successful eco-tourism project the conditions and consequences of which are detailed in my dissertation (Kockelman 2002). While the majority of villagers in Ch’inahab are monolingual speakers of Q’eqchi’, some men who have served time in the army or worked as itinerant traders speak some Spanish. All the villagers are Catholic. Ch’inahab is divided by a mountain peak with dwellings on both of its sides and in the surrounding valleys. It takes about 45 minutes to hike across the village. At one end there is a biological station kept by the eco-tourism project and used sporadically by European ecologists, and at the other there is a Catholic church and a cemetery. In the center there is a small store, a school for primary and secondary grades, and a soccer ? eld. The surrounding landscape is cloud forest giving way to scattered house sites, agricultural parcels, pasture, and ? elds now fallow. All villagers engage in corn-based, or milpa, agriculture, but very few have enough land to ful? ll all of their subsistence needs. 4 For this reason, many women in the village are dedicated to chicken husbandry, most men in the village engage in seasonal labor on plantations (up to ?ve months a year in some cases), and many families engage in itinerant trade (women weaving baskets and textiles for the men to sell) and eco-tourism (the women hosting tourists and the men guiding them). Dwelling sites often contain a scattering of houses in which reside an older couple and their married sons, all of whom share a water source and a pasture. The individual families themselves often have two houses, a relatively traditional thatched-roof house in which the family cooks and sleeps and a relatively new house with a tin roof in which they host festivals and in which older children and ecotourists may sleep. Because of eco-tourism and the in? ux of money and strangers that it brings, there has been an increase in the construction of such tin-roofed houses, and, as will be seen, many of my examples of interjections come from such construction contexts. My data on the use of interjections among villagers in Ch’inahab comes from 14 months of ? eldwork carried out between 1998 and 2001. The data collection con4. Before 1968, what is now Ch’inahab was owned by the owner of a plantation. Q’eqchi’-speakers who lived in the village of Popobaj (located to the south of and lower than Ch’inahab) were permitted to make their milpa in this area in exchange for two weeks of labor per month on the ? nca (Secaira 1992:20). Only in 1968, when a group of villagers got together to form a land acquisition committee, were some 15 caballer? as (678 ha) of land purchased from the owner ? for 4,200 quetzals (US$4,200). This land, while legally owned by the entire community, was divided among the original 33 villagers as a function of their original contributions.  sisted in part of characterizing tokens of usage when I heard them and in part of tracking tokens of usage through recordings of naturally occurring conversations. 5 In particular, given the fact that many interjections occur in relatively nonconversational, task-engaged situations (house building, planting, playing, cooking, etc. ), trying to record them in such contexts was futile. Luckily, as will be seen, they often occur in modes of disruption (when some goal-directed action goes awry), which makes them relatively easy to notice in real-time context and their contextual regularities relatively easy to stipulate. In addition, I tape-recorded naturally occurring conversations in the households of three families once a week over several months, usually at dinnertime. 6 After I describe the forms and meanings of the interjections I will discuss the relative frequency of the various tokens collected and thereby illuminate which forms and meanings are most often used by whom. The Grammatical Form of Interjections There are four criteria by which interjections may be differentiated from other linguistic forms within a particular language and generalized as a form class across languages (Ameka 1992, Bloom?eld 1984[1933], Jespersen 1965, Wilkins 1992). First, all interjections are conventional lexical forms, or words, that can constitute utterances on their own (Wilkins 1992). They are conventional in that their sign carriers have relatively standardized and arbitrary phonological forms, and they can constitute utterances on their own because their only syntagmatic relation with other linguistic forms is parataxis—in which two forms are â€Å"united by the use of only one sentence pitch† (Bloom? eld 1984[1933]:171). They can therefore stand alone as perfectly sensible stretches of talk before and after which there is silence. Second, with few exceptions, no interjection is simultaneously a member of another word class (Ameka 1992a, Wilkins 1992). Almost all of them are what Ameka (1992a:105), following Bloom? eld (1984[1933]), calls primary interjections: â€Å"little words or non-words which . . . can constitute an utterance by themselves and do not normally enter into constructions with other word classes. † In Q’eqchi’, the main exceptions are interjections built, through lexical extension, from the primary interjection ay. In the case of ay dios, the additional 5. I also include several examples of interjection usage that occurred in the context of ethnographic interviews about topics other than interjections, for these often indicated that an ethnographic question was poorly posed or inappropriate in the local context. I also carried out extensive interviews about the meanings of interjections with native speakers (see Kockelman 2002 for an extended discussion of the relationship between form, usage, and speakers’ re? ections). 6.  Indeed, the best two accounts of interjection-like things— â€Å"response cries† in Goffman (1978) and â€Å"emblematic gestures† in Sherzer (1993)—explicitly take into account social interaction and ethnographic description. Good accounts of the discursive use of interjections are offered by De Bruyn (1998), Ehlich (1986), Gardner (1998), and Meng and Schrabback (1999). 470 F c u r r e n t a n t h ro p o l o g y Volume 44, Number 4, August–October 2003 element, dios, is a loan noun from Spanish, meaning â€Å"god. † In the case of ay dios atinyuwa’, besides the Spanish loanword there is a Q’eqchi’ expression, at-in-yuwa’ (you [are] my father). Interjections of this latter kind, which are or involve forms that belong to other word classes, will be called secondary interjections (again following Ameka and Bloom? eld). Similarly, the English secondary interjections damn and heavens may be used as both interjections and verbs or nouns. Third, with few exceptions, an interjection consists of a single morpheme and undergoes neither in? ectional nor derivational processes (Wilkins 1992). Interjections cannot be in? ectionally marked for grammatical categories such as tense or number, and they cannot be further derived into another form class such as noun or verb. Such forms are often classi? ed as a subclass of â€Å"particles† or discourse markers (see Ameka 1992a, Fraser 1999, Jespersen 1965, Schiffrin 1987, Wilkins 1992, and Zwicky 1985). In Q’eqchi’ there are three exceptions to this characterization. First, uyaluy is what I will call a reduplicative interjection, being composed, through syllabic reduplication, from the interjection uy. Second, ay dios and ay dios atinyuwa’ are what I will call extended interjections, being composed, through lexical extension, from the interjection ay. And lastly, the interjection ay may undergo further derivation into a delocutionary verb (becoming ayaynak, â€Å"to cry or yell continually,† often said of dogs howling), which may then undergo normal verbal in? ection for grammatical categories such as tense, aspect, person, and number. Lastly, although it is not a criterial feature, many of these forms are phonologically or morphologically anomalous, having features which mark them as odd or unique relative to the standard lexical forms of a language. For example, unlike most Q’eqchi’ words, in which stress falls on the last syllable (Stewart 1980), the interjection uyaluy has syllable-initial stress. Similarly, while reduplication is a common morphological process in Q’eqchi’ (Stewart 1980), the reduplicative interjection uyaluy is derived through a nonstandard morphological form. While many Q’eqchi’ words involve a glottalized alveolar stop, the interjection t’ is also implosive. 7 Whereas the Spanish loanword dios is usually phonetically assimilated in Q’eqchi’ as tiox when used as a noun, in the interjection ay dios there is no devoicing of the initial consonant of this noun (i.e. , /d/ does not become /t/) or palatization of its ? nal consonant (i. e. , /s/ does not become /x/). And the interjection sht differs from ordinary Q’eqchi’ words in using /sh/, rather than a vowel, as a syllabic (see Bloom? eld 1984[1933]:121). In short, it is clear from the number of quali? cations that interjections, like most linguistic forms, are dif? cult to characterize with necessary and suf? cient conditions (see Taylor 1995, Zwicky 1985). Nevertheless, they may simultaneously be differentiated from other form classes within a particular language and generalized as a form class across languages. 7. Often called a â€Å"dental click† (Wilkins 1992) or a â€Å"suction stop† (Jespersen 1965:90). Readers who speak some Spanish may have noticed that many Q’eqchi’ interjections look similar to Spanish interjections—ay (dios), uy, ah, eh, sht—and even to English interjections (sh[t] and t’). While I have no historical data that would attest to such a claim, given the history of sustained linguistic contact between speakers of Spanish and Q’eqchi’ via the colonial encounter and between speakers of Spanish and English this should come as no surprise. The one good account of interjections in Spanish (Montes 1999) discusses only a small range of the discursive functions of interjections and focuses on the internal state of the speaker. As I will show, however, the meanings of some of these interjections in Q’eqchi’ seem to bear a resemblance to their meanings in Spanish, as far as can be discerned from the comparative data. In this way, these â€Å"loan interjections† show that almost any linguistic form may be borrowed (see Brody 1995) with some maintenance of its meaning. The Meanings of Q’eqchi’ Interjections  Although interjections are relatively easy to characterize from the standpoint of grammatical form, there is no framework in terms of which one may order and compare their meanings—that is, the classes of objects and signs that they index (and thereby stand in a relationship of contiguity with) and the types of pragmatic functions they serve (and thereby may be used as a means to achieve). In what follows, I frame their use in terms of situational, discursive, and social context. I will begin with an extended example through which the framework will become clear. The Q’eqchi’ interjection chix indexes loathsome objects in the situational context. For example, when picking up his bowl of food from the ground, a man notices that he has set it in chicken feces. â€Å"Chix,† he says, scraping the bowl on the dirt to wipe off the feces. His wife, herself responsible for the chicken, then takes his bowl for herself and gives him a new one. Similarly, when opening the door to her house early one morning, a woman notices that the dog has vomited right outside the doorway. â€Å"Chix,† she says, and her ? ve-year-old son comes over to look. She tells him to scrape it away with a machete. Like most interjections that have indexical objects in the situational context, this interjection serves to call another’s attention to the object. 8 Relatedly, and as a function of responsibility assessment (husband 1 wife 1 child), it directs another’s attention to what must be cleaned up, avoided, etc. The interjection chix may also be transposed to index a sign denoting or characterizing a loathsome object (see Buhler 1990). In such cases of sign-based transposition, ? the interjection is in a relationship of contiguity with a 8. Montes (1999:1293) notes that most of the Spanish interjections she examined â€Å"seem to be associated with seeing. We ? nd that a large number of the interjections [ah, oh, uh, ay, oy, uy] used in the conversations examined co-occur with directives to ‘see’ or ‘look at’ or as a response to these directives. † k o c k e l m a n The Meanings of Interjections in Q’eqchi’ Maya F 471 sign that denotes or characterizes the object or event in question (rather than being in contiguity with the actual object or event, as in the usage of chix just discussed). In other words, it is as if the speaker were inhabiting the frame of the narrated event (Buhler 1990). In this way, ? the interjection chix indexes not just loathsomeness but also signs that refer to or predicate qualities of loathsome objects. Insofar as the denotatum of such a sign has the same qualities and values as the object itself, the modality of contiguity (being able to taste, touch, see, or smell the object in question) is suspended while the ontological class of the object (loathsomeness) is maintained. For example, in telling a story to a group of  men about a friend who was bitten by a poisonous spider while working on a plantation in the lowland area of Guatemala, the speaker describes the pus blisters that rose up on his friend’s arm. â€Å"Chix,† says one of the men listening. The other men laugh, and before continuing his story the speaker adds that the pus blisters took two weeks to heal. Like most interjections that undergo signbased transposition, such usage often serves as a backchannel cue, indicating that the speaker is listening but cannot or does not want to contribute to the topic at hand (Brown and Yule 1983:90–94; Duncan 1973; compare the usage of mmm or jeez in English). Lastly, the interjection chix may be transposed to index an addressee’s relation of contiguity with a loathsome object. In such cases of addressee-based transposition, the situational indexical object is transposed to a person other than the speaker. The speaker’s sign is audible (a relation of contiguity) to the addressee, who is in a relationship of contiguity with the object. In other words, it is as if the speaker were inhabiting the ad? dressee’s current corporal?  eld (see Buhler 1990, Hanks 1990), and, again, the modality of contiguity is suspended while the ontological class is maintained. For example, a mother watching her three-year-old son approach a dog that is defecating wormy stool calls out to him â€Å"Chix. † The child stops his advance and watches from a distance. In this most addressee-focused way, the sign is used by a parent to index that a child is within reach (typically tactile) of a disgusting object and serves as an imperative not to touch the object. Interjections are primarily indexical (see Peirce 1955) in that they stand for their objects by a relationship of contiguity rather than by a relationship of convention (as in the case of symbols) or similarity (as in the case of icons). 9 Although the indexical modality of interjections is emphasized in this article, the symbolic modality is always present in at least two interrelated ways. First, and trivially, the interjection itself has a standard9. If interjections were iconic, then they would be expected to resemble their objects. The problem with this, as exempli?  ed by Kryk-Kastovsky’s (1997) argument that interjections are the most iconic of all linguistic elements expressing surprise, is that one needs to know what â€Å"surprise† looks like when usually our only indication of surprise is the interjection or behavior itself. However, interjections as indexical of situational and discursive objects do in certain cases have iconic modalities of meaning (see, e. g. , the discussion of ay, ay dios, and ay dios atinyuwa’ below). ized but relatively arbitrary form that is conventionally used by members of a given linguistic community. Second, interjections conventionally stand in a relation of contiguity with particular classes of objects. These conventional classes of indexical objects are present in two ways. First, across interjections, one may characterize what semiotic class of objects is being indexed. Second, in the case of any particular interjection, one may characterize what ontological class of objects is being indexed. Besides indexing objects or signs in the immediate context, interjections have pragmatic functions: they serve as a means to achieve certain ends. For example, chix variously serves as an attentative (when nontransposed), a back-channel cue (when undergoing sign-based transposition), and an imperative (when undergoing addressee-based transposition). Both the objects indexed and the pragmatic functions served (see Silverstein 1987) are integral aspects of the meanings of interjections. Finally, interjections may index more than one object at once. In particular, they may index objects, signs, internal states, and social relations. In what follows, I will refer to these distinct types of indexical objects as situational, discursive, expressive, and social, respectively. Situational indexical objects are the objects or events in the immediate context of the speech event. Discursive indexical objects are the signs that occur in the speech event. 10 Together, situational and discursive indexical objects are the most stable co-occurrence regularities that interjections possess and therefore the only ones that are easy to tabulate. Expressive indexical objects are the intentional stances of the speaker—the putative mental states, whether construed as â€Å"cognitive† or â€Å"emotive. †11 Lastly, social indexical objects are the various social roles inhabited by the speaker or addressee (gender, ethnicity, age, etc. ) or the social relations that exist between the two (status, deference, politeness, etc. ). For example, chix may index not only a loathsome object in the situational context but a social relation (parentchild, husband-wife, raconteur–appreciative listener) and, in many cases, an internal state (â€Å"disgust†). And the interjection ay not only indexes a painful object in the situational context or an unexpected answer in the dis10. This is not quite the standard distinction between â€Å"text† and â€Å"context† (Montes 1999 and Wilkins 1992). For example, while it is tempting to put sign-based transposition into the discursive context for the purposes of schematizing the data, sign-based transpositions make sense only in terms of the qualities of the objects referred to by the sign indexed by the interjection. In contrast, an unsolicited response such as a dubitive is directed at the truth of another’s assertion rather than at any particular quality of the state of affairs predicated by that assertion. For this reason, dubitives belong to the discursive context and sign-based transpositions to the situational context. 11. Whereas interjections creatively index expressive indexical objects in that the interjection is often the only sign of the internal state in question, they presupposedly index situational and discursive indexical objects in that both interjection and indexical object are simultaneously present in context (see Silverstein 1976 for this distinction). This difference in semiotic status (presupposing/creative) maps onto a putative difference in ontological status (world/mind). 472 F c u r r e n t a n t h ro p o l o g y Volume 44, Number 4, August–October 2003 cursive context but also an internal state (pain) in the expressive context and a role in the social context (in particular, female gender). Many interjections index signs in the discursive context in that they co-occur with (or serve as) a response to an addressee’s previous utterance or a nonresponse. In the case of a response, the use of an interjection occurs after and makes sense only relative to the addressee’s previous utterance. For example, the interjection ih indexes an addressee’s previous statement and serves as a registerative, indicating that the speaker has heard and understood the statement. In the case of a nonresponse, the interjection may either elicit an addressee’s utterance (and thereby occur before it) or occur in the midst of the speaker.