does convert into particular patterns of use that are understandable, precisely because they fit these beliefs and the expectations they generate. The connections between usage and beliefs are empirically identifiable as 'metapragmatics' - the articulation of beliefs about language use in language use (as when one uses polite formulae in addressing someone in a superior position). Silverstein's work caused a theoretical and conceptual shift in anthropology, linguistics and sociolinguistics. It led to a renewed interest in the study of linguistic relativity. It also added another perspective of critique of 'Chomskyan' conceptions of language and it has boosted a critical and politically sensitive trend in the study of language in society, influencing notably the study of language policy, language planning, and language in education. He also studied the indigenous languages of Australia and the Americas. In 2014, he was awarded the "most prestigious award in anthropology," the Franz Boas award for Exemplary Service to Anthropology by the American Anthropological Association Publications 1976a. "Hierarchy of features and ergativity." In Grammatical Categories in Australian Languages (R.M.W. Dixon, ed.), 112–171. 1976b. "Shifters, linguistic categories and cultural description." 1977. "Cultural prerequisites to grammatical analysis." In Linguistics and Anthropology (M. Saville-Troike, ed.), 139-51. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press. 1979. "Language structure and linguistic ideology." In The Elements: A Parasession on Linguistic Units and Levels (R. Cline, W. Hanks, and C. Hofbauer, eds.), 193-247. Chicago: Chicago Linguistic Society. 1981a. "Case marking and the nature of language." Australian Journal of Linguistics, 227-244. 1981b. "The limits of awareness." 1985a. "Language and the culture of gender: at the intersection of structure, usage, and ideology." In Semiotic Mediation: Sociocultural and Psychological Perspectives (E. Mertz and R. Parmentier, eds.), 219-259. Orlando: Academic Press. 1985b. "The functional stratification of language and ontogenesis." 1987a. "The three faces of function: preliminaries to a psychology of language." 1987b. "Cognitive implications of a referential hierarchy." 1987c. "Monoglot 'Standard' in America: standardization and metaphors of linguistic hegemony." 1992. "The indeterminacy of contextualization: when is enough enough?" In The Contextualization of Language (Auer, Peter & Aldo Di Luzio, eds.), 55-76. 1992. "Of nominatives and datives: universal grammar from the bottom up." 1993. "Metapragmatic discourse and metapragmatic function." In Reflexive Language: Reported Speech and Metapragmatics (J. Lucy, ed.), 33-58. 1996. Natural Histories of Discourse (editor, with Greg Urban). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. . Includes chapter, "The Secret Life of Texts," 81-105. 1997a. "Encountering languages and languages of encounter in