Linguistic Anthropology An Introduction Some English Phonemes Bilabial

Linguistic Anthropology An Introduction

Some English Phonemes Bilabial stop /p/ Alveolar stop voiceless (“pot”) /b/ (“bot”) /t/ (“tot”) voiced /d/ (“dot”)

What is Anthropology? Anthropo logy from the Greek anthropos - ἄνθρωπος legein - λέγω meaning “man; man-faced; a human being” meaning “to speak”

The “Study of” or “Science of” bios + logy = the study of bios (“life”) geo + logy = the study of geo (“earth”) psykhe + ology = the study of psykhe (“breath”, “spirit”, “soul”) theos + logy = the study of theos (“God”)

Four-Field Anthropology Cultural Anthropology Archaeology Linguistic Anthropology Biological (or Physical) Anthropology

Cultural Anthropology • Focuses on the role culture plays in human life • Culture is • Learned by individuals as they grow up within a group • Passed on from generation to generation • The primary means by which humans adapt to their environments • Constantly changing

Archaeology • Focuses on human life in the past • Humans of the past • Relied on their cultures to adapt • Shared many common features with recent and modern humans • Saw their cultures change as a result of the same processes that change cultures today

Linguistic Anthropology • Focuses on the role language plays in human life • Language is • Learned by individuals as they grow up within a group • Passed on from generation to generation • The primary means by which a human learns his/her culture • Constantly changing

Biological Anthropology (aka“Physical Anthropology”) • Focuses on humans as biological organisms • Biological organisms • Have similar features and needs • Are the products of evolutionary and environmental forces • Are genetically unique

Four-Field Anthropology Cultural Anthropology Archaeology the cultural fields Linguistic Anthropology Biological (or Physical) Anthropology the biological field Applied Anthropology (aka the “fifth field”) making it relevant

Linguistic Anthropology • Uses all of the tools of Anthropology (and other fields) to study language • Examples • What did language evolve? • What biological features make language possible? • How do languages change? • How does language affect culture (and vice versa)?

Other Questions • What does human language actually do? • How does human language do this? • How is human language like non-human systems of communication? • In what ways is human language different from non-human systems of communication?