Revision summary
Pike drew emic/etic from phonemic versus phonetic. Emic is insider meaning; etic is outsider comparison. A phoneme is a local contrast; a phonetic chart is a global kit. Harris and Goodenough split on which side science should privilege. Fieldwork needs both standpoints.
Model answer
Introduction
Emic and etic name two standpoints on culture. The words were borrowed from linguistics, from phonemic and phonetic.
Body
The linguistic root
- Pike coined the pair. A phonetic account lists all sounds. A phonemic account lists the sounds that make meaning in one language.
- Hindi speakers hear /p/ and /ph/ as different; some languages do not. That is an emic contrast.
In anthropology
- Emic is the insider’s meaningful categories: a Nuer ox-name, a Hindu jati rule.
- Etic is the observer’s comparative grid: calories, lineage diagrams, blood pressure.
- Harris used etic for material measurement. Goodenough kept emic as the culture the native uses to interpret.
Use
- Good ethnography needs both: hear the terms, then compare. Neither is a moral high ground.
Flow diagram
flowchart TD L[Linguistics] --> PH[Phonetic etic] L --> PM[Phonemic emic] PM --> IN[Insider categories] PH --> OUT[Observer grid]
Conclusion
Emic is the inside contrast that matters locally, on the model of the phoneme. Etic is the outside measuring kit, on the model of phonetics.
Quick related
Students also ask
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What made Geertz's Interpretive Anthropology distinct from Turner's Symbolic Anthropology? What does each of them mean by the terms 'Symbol' and 'Symbolic'?
Next question in the 2015 paper (Q4). View answer →
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Is emic always truer?
No. Insiders can misread power. Etic can miss meaning. Use both.
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Does etic mean Western?
It means observer-comparative. An Indian demographer’s fertility rate is etic too.
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