Title: Language | Perspectives: An Open Invitation to Cultural Anthropology
Headings: Perspectives: An Open Invitation to Cultural Anthropology
Perspectives: An Open Invitation to Cultural Anthropology
Language
Linda Light, California State University, Long Beach
Learning Objectives
THE IMPORTANCE OF HUMAN LANGUAGE TO HUMAN CULTURE
THE BIOLOGICAL BASIS OF LANGUAGE
Language Acquisition in Childhood
The Gesture Call System and Non-Verbal Human Communication
Kinesics
Proxemics
Paralanguage
HUMAN LANGUAGE COMPARED WITH THE COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS OF OTHER SPECIES
Hockett’s Design Features
UNIVERSALS OF LANGUAGE
DESCRIPTIVE LINGUISTICS: STRUCTURES OF LANGUAGE
The Sounds of Language: Phonemes
The Units That Carry Meaning: Morphemes
The Structure of Phrases and Sentences: Syntax
Conveying Meaning in Language: Semantics and Pragmatics
LANGUAGE VARIATION: SOCIOLINGUISTICS
Languages Versus Dialects
How Does Language Variation Develop?
What Is a “Standard” Variety of a Language?
Linguistic Relativity: The Whorf Hypothesis
LANGUAGE IN ITS SOCIAL SETTINGS: LANGUAGE AND IDENTITY
Social Class
Ethnicity
Language and Gender
The Deaf Culture and Signed Languages
LANGUAGE CHANGE: HISTORICAL LINGUISTICS
GLOBALIZATION AND LANGUAGE
Language Shift, Language Maintenance, and Language Death
Revitalization of Indigenous Languages
How Is the Digital Age Changing Communication?
discussion questions
Glossary
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Content: In fact, human language can be considered a culture’s most important feature since complex human culture could not exist without language and language could not exist without culture. They are inseparable because language encodes culture and provides the means through which culture is shared and passed from one generation to the next. Humans think in language and do all cultural activities using language. It surrounds our every waking and sleeping moments, although we do not usually think about its importance. For that matter, humans do not think about their immersion in culture either, much as fish, if they were endowed with intelligence, would not think much about the water that surrounds them. Without language and culture, humans would be just another great ape. Anthropologists must have skills in linguistics so they can learn the languages and cultures of the people they study. All human languages are symbolic systems that make use of symbols to convey meaning. A symbol is anything that serves to refer to something else, but has a meaning that cannot be guessed because there is no obvious connection between the symbol and its referent. This feature of human language is called arbitrariness.