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    Methods of Linguistic Anthropology

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    Linguistic anthropology studies language in its biological and sociocultural context, examining how aspects of society and culture relate to language. Linguistics focuses only on the analytical structure of language. Linguistic anthropologists consider characteristics of speakers and contexts, observing how factors like age, gender, status influence word choice. They also study indirect evidence of ancient languages. Fieldwork includes long-term participant observation in a community to communicate fluently and collect data on language use from knowledgeable native informants.

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    Methods of Linguistic Anthropology

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    Muzically Inspired
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    Linguistic anthropology studies language in its biological and sociocultural context, examining how aspects of society and culture relate to language. Linguistics focuses only on the analytical structure of language. Linguistic anthropologists consider characteristics of speakers and contexts, observing how factors like age, gender, status influence word choice. They also study indirect evidence of ancient languages. Fieldwork includes long-term participant observation in a community to communicate fluently and collect data on language use from knowledgeable native informants.

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    Linguistic anthropology studies language in its biological and sociocultural context, examining how aspects of society and culture relate to language. Linguistics focuses only on the analytical structure of language. Linguistic anthropologists consider characteristics of speakers and contexts, observing how factors like age, gender, status influence word choice. They also study indirect evidence of ancient languages. Fieldwork includes long-term participant observation in a community to communicate fluently and collect data on language use from knowledgeable native informants.

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    174 views5 pages

    Methods of Linguistic Anthropology

    Uploaded by

    Muzically Inspired
    Linguistic anthropology studies language in its biological and sociocultural context, examining how aspects of society and culture relate to language. Linguistics focuses only on the analytical structure of language. Linguistic anthropologists consider characteristics of speakers and contexts, observing how factors like age, gender, status influence word choice. They also study indirect evidence of ancient languages. Fieldwork includes long-term participant observation in a community to communicate fluently and collect data on language use from knowledgeable native informants.

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    Methods of Linguistic Anthropology

    Contrasting Linguistic with Linguistic Anthropology

    Linguistic is a scientific study of language. The term does not refer to the study of a particular language or
    languages for the purpose of learning to speak them; rather, it refers to the analytical study of language, any language to
    reveal its structure – the different kinds of language units (its sounds, smallest meaningful parts of words, and so on)
    and the rules according to which these units are put together to produce stretches of speech.

    The subject matter of linguistic anthropology, which can be briefly defined as the study of language in its
    biological and sociocultural context. Perhaps only the term sociocultural needs a comment. The term society is
    frequently used almost interchangeably with the term culture and the compound “sociocultural” points out their
    interconnection. There in a fine distinction, though, between society and culture, and linguistics anthropologist deal
    with aspect of both concepts: when they study and describe the communicative links between individual members of
    the group and between groups within a society, and when they study and describe traditional learned behavior (culture)
    and how it relates to the values of the members of the group, their linkages with language are sociocultural.

    Two linguistic statements:

    1. In English, the nasal consonant n as in sin, and n (written as ng) as in sing, are in contrast because they
    differentiate the meaning of two English words.
    2. The modern English word woman developed over the centuries from the Old wifman.

    One will notice that there is no reference in the statements as to the speakers, or the circumstances under
    which the words have been used.

    Statement from linguistic anthropology:

    1. In Javanese, the choice words are determined by such characteristics of the speaker and the addressee as
    their age, gender, wealth, education and occupation: and more refined the level of speech, the slower,
    softer and more even the presentation will be.
    2. The remarkable cave-wall paintings and carvings of the Upper Paleolithic Cro-Magnos serve as an indirect
    proof that these prehistoric people had a full-fledge language.

    To sum up, then, a division of labor exist between linguistics and linguistics anthropologist.

    The Fieldwork Component

     The immersion of anthropological field worker for an extended period in the day-to-day activities of people
    whom they study is referred to participant observation.
    o To be able to communicate in their own language with the people under study is very helpful to the
    anthropologist. Because members of a society who are fluent in two languages are sometimes culturally
    marginal people, they should be selected with care.
     Data for analysis of a language or of language use can of course be collected away from the area where the
    languages is spoken if an informant lives within reach of linguistic anthropologist.
     Besides being fluent in their native language, informants should be active participants in their culture.
     Informants should be able to enunciate clearly.
     If field-workers wish to include in their studies so-called body language, which may be very important
    component of communicative behavior, video recorder is useful.

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