21.2159, Qs: Anthropology of Grief: Language of Bereavement

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LINGUIST List: Vol-21-2159. Sat May 08 2010. ISSN: 1068 - 4875.

Subject: 21.2159, Qs: Anthropology of Grief: Language of Bereavement

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1)
Date: 05-May-2010
From: Stefanie Gause < gaus5310 at wlu.ca >
Subject: Anthropology of Grief: Language of Bereavement
 

	
-------------------------Message 1 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Sat, 08 May 2010 12:36:59
From: Stefanie Gause [gaus5310 at wlu.ca]
Subject: Anthropology of Grief: Language of Bereavement

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I am a fourth year anthropology student currently working on a project 
called "The Anthropology of Parental Bereavement." This project is 
being conducted in Canada (at McGill University, Wilfrid Laurier 
University and University of Victoria). The section of the project that I 
am currently working on entails an examination of the language of 
parental bereavement in a cross-cultural context. Specifically, we are 
interested in terminology for: A.) bereaved parents and B.) the 
deceased children. Our interest is in examining the language of 
bereavement in other linguistic groups to better understand how they 
speak about the loss of children. One of the goals of this research is to 
elucidate possible cultural differences/similarities in the experience and 
understanding of the loss of a child through a linguistic analysis.

1. There is no single noun in English (to my knowledge) for a 
"bereaved parent" (as opposed 'to widow,' 'orphan,' etc). Is this similar 
in other languages?

2. A second question pertains to how "parent" and "child" are defined 
cross-culturally. In certain cultures, children are not named until a 
certain amount of time has elapsed since birth. If the child dies before it 
is named, are the parents considered "parents" or are their other terms 
to more specifically define their status/experience?

Any suggestions about linguistic research pertaining to bereavement 
would be greatly appreciated! 

Linguistic Field(s): Anthropological Linguistics
                     Sociolinguistics




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