Linguistic Anthropology: Definition and Goals

Definition

The study of language in anthropology is called LINGUISTIC ANTHROPOLOGY. It involves not only the study of language itself, but also how language is related to culture in function and meaning. Linguistic anthropologists study how language affects culture and how culture affects language. Language and culture are both dynamic systems. A change in one often leads to a change in the other. So a major goal of linguistic anthropology is to understand the dynamic relationship between a culture and its language.

Goal 1: The Relationship Between Language and Culture

In the chart above we see that a change in culture will bring about a change in the language of that culture. The change can take the form of a change in the words themselves, the elimination of old words, and/or the creation of new words. The changes in the language will now include the new semantics of the new cultural beliefs system.

The next generation will learn the language with the new changes. To them it will seem as if the language always contained the new meanings. To them this is their culture. The language they learned will be a starting point from which they further change the language and culture to fit their generation’s needs and challenges.

For example the Civil Rights Movement brought about many linguistic changes. The words we used to refer to men, women, humans, and groups of different ethnogeographic origins all changed. Old terms were eliminated or reduced in importance and meaning through social pressure. Old terms, once considered to be useful descriptions, were now considered to be racists or sexist. Referring to women, as ‘dames’, and ‘broads’ or ’chicks’, is now considered to be sexist. Racial terms, now considered to be slurs, were once part of normal language.

Unfortunately, some words originated as slurs and have become part of normal language because their infamous origins have been forgotten. An example is the word ‘gypped’, as in “Don’t get gypped when buying a car.”. This term originated from the word gypsy and the mistaken belief that all gypsies would try to cheat people when making a deal.

There are also cases where a change in culture may create entirely new words and meanings. If for example, something completely new is introduced to a culture, the culture may have no terms for it. Terms will be invented for or adopted with the new phenomena. When I was born there were no terms for the internet. We did not talk about computers, we talked about THE computer that M.I.T. had developed (because we weren’t supposed to know about the one the government had).

Since the development of the internet and world-wide-web, an entirely new linguistic domain has sprung out of this technology. Because this was a global occurrence, and not limited to one culture, many cultures adopted the same terms even through their languages were diverse. The word ‘internet’ is the same in English, Italian, and many other languages.

Goal 2: The Importance of Words

Of course linguistic anthropologists also have the goal of understanding a language itself. But instead of just learning the language, they want to understand the cultural significance of words. To do this they may study LINGUISTIC DOMAINS. A linguistic domain is a set of related words that refer to a particular object, belief, behavior, or phenomena.

The Maasai of Africa, for example, have 400 words for cow. This large linguistic domain reflects the importance of cattle for that culture. Cattle are used for food and milk, commerce, and bride exchange. For the Maasai, it is the responsibility of boys around 7-12 years old to herd and protect the cattle from grass fires. A young boy may take his name from cow, such as ‘Horns Twisted’. The cattle are defended by older boys who are warriors, called Moran. Cattle are not just a commodity; they are considered the life blood of this tribe. This is evident by their extensive representation in art, language and folklore. The linguistic domain for cattle is much more extensive than our own, even among cattle and dairy ranchers.

Goal 3: Preservation of Language

Another goal of linguistic anthropology is to help preserve and maintain potentially dying languages. Linguistic anthropologists often work with the older generations of a culture to preserve their language. It has often been the case in Native American history that children were taken from their families and put in colonial schools. This forced enculturation included beating students who spoke their native tongue. In one generation these languages could be lost. Now grandparents and other teachers are instructing children in their own languages. This is of great advantage to the children who grow up to be bilingual.

Goal 4: How Languages are Related

Finally, linguistic anthropologists will also look at a group of languages to see how they might be related. Determining language relatedness is important because people who are related linguistically are also related culturally and biologically. Typically one population splits in two and the languages spoken by each group begin to diverge until they are mutually unintelligible. By looking at linguistic relatedness we can tell something about the history that two modern cultures share.

By looking at similarities with grammar, usage, and words (cognates), the linguistic anthropologist may be able to determine if and to what degree languages are related. For example, if we compare the words, ‘one’, ‘two’, ‘three’, ‘four’, and ‘five’, we can get an idea of which languages are closely related.

Now consider the similarities in the following phrases:

We can see from the examples above that English, German, and Dutch are closely related, as are Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian. Of course linguistic anthropologists compare similarities between 1000s of words to determine the relatedness of two languages.

To try this yourself, click Here

Languages, Dialects, and Language Families:

An example is Ebonics, or black vernacular. Ebonics is an english dialect that uses grammar that is not considered to be standard English. The origins of this grammar are thought to have originated in African languages. English spoken in the southern United States is also a regional dialect. Sometimes nonstandard dialects are considered to be a symptom of lack of education. But this is not always the case. Many people, who do not speak standard English, will write in standard English.

American spoken English is also a dialect. To people from England, American English is poorly spoken. Within England there are also different dialects. Dialects are often associated with social status. A famous musical written about the relationship between speech and social status in England was My Fair Lady.

Dialects are generated when there is a short separation between speakers of a population. As we have seen, this separation can be geographic or social. The language’s dialects are still mutually intelligible, although a few words may be unfamiliar. If the separation continues, dialects may diverge so much that they become distinct languages and are no longer mutually intelligible. This is similar to biological evolution. A few mutations can create variation within a population. But if enough changes accumulate, a speciation event will occur.

In Native North American there were 1000s groups represented by many linguistic stocks (language families) and dialects. Here is a web site that documents some of these:

The relatedness of languages presented at the above web site reflects the relatedness of the tribes themselves. Enjoy.