Linguistics_Anthropology

Lindsey Santillanes ANT101 Dropbox 2 February 17, 2011 Anthropological Linguistics Linguistic anthropology has a distinct discipline that deserves to be studied for its precedent achievements as well as its vision for the future. The study is an interdisciplinary field that is dedicated to the domain of language as a cultural resource, and speaking as a cultural ritual. It assumes that human language is a cognitive and social accomplishment that provides tools for thinking and interacting throughout the world. To examine linguistics, anthropologists study features including languages written, vocalized, endorsed and gestured. They also look at factors such as garments, trinkets, and greeting and parting actions. Anthropological linguistics considers how language exemplifies or articulates cultural meaning. Because this field has so many parts, it is broken into multiple sub-categories. The first being historical linguistics. Historical linguists investigate how languages evolve and change through time, how offspring languages crop up from past parent languages and how cultural contact between speakers of different languages can influence language progress or evolution. Did you know there are over 5,000 human languages in the world' Discovering this required focus on the interconnections between different languages in the world and their historical maturity. The thing to remember when it come to languages is, they are always changing and are a dynamic part of culture. There are a few methods to distinguishing language’s development. The term descriptive linguistics is used to depict a true understanding of changes in language. There are a few different parts to this sub-category that can help when trying to distinguish a language and its development such as phonemes, morphemes, syntax, and other semantic elements. These are the backbone of every language. A morpheme would be the plurality of a noun in the English language, such as dog is to dogs as cat is to cats. Phonemes affects the way letters are pronounces such as [sh] together or [c] and [k] having the same sound to them. Syntax has to do with how words are combined into sentences. When the Spanish language is translated to English, it often comes out backwards to how we would organize a sentence. There are plenty of other semantics that create each language of the recorded 5,000 languages. Studying these changes permits anthropologists to track migration of people through the development and change in their language. In the United States, gestures are a huge part of our cultural language. Gestures vary culturally and geographically. Different countries create their own body language and the meaning behind it. Gestures create an illustration of our mind and often times are involuntary. Gestures include facial expressions, eye contact, and even reflexes. Linguistic anthropology is a fascinating development in cultural anthropology. Detailed documentation regarding social interactions is crucial to the study of linguistics in anthropology. Linguistics in the world are ever changing and so anthropologists will continue to study the history, and changes that take place in every cultures language of choice/development. References Cited Duranti A. 1997 Linguistic Anthropology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK Pike, Kenneth 1982 Linguistic Concepts. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. Reed College. Linguistics. Retrieved from http://academic.reed.edu/linguistics/