Sarah Shulist is a linguistic anthropologist and Associate Professor in the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at Queen’s University, located on the territory of the Anishnaabe and Haudenosaunee peoples in what is currently called Ontario, Canada. Her work focuses on the social and political dimensions of Indigenous language revitalization.
“Proving” the language/culture connection
Over the weekend, several anthropologist called attention to this research report produced by Princeton University (link to full report here). The headline touts the research with the claim that “Machine Learning reveals role of culture in shaping the meaning of words”. My response, and that of many others, was immediately snarky – we didn’t particularly need computers to tell us something that has been amply demonstrated by the entire field of linguistic anthropology for the better part of a century, {+}