Chapter 4: Linguistic Anthropology

Language

A system of communication consisting of sounds, words, and grammar

Call systems

Patterned sounds or utterances that express meaning

Philology

Comparative study of ancient texts and documents

Proto-language

A hypothetical common ancestral language of two or more living languages

Cognate Words

Words in two languages that show the same systematic sound shifts as other words in the two languages, usually interpreted by linguists as evidence for a common linguistic ancestry

Descriptive linguistics

The systematic analysis and description of a language's sound system and grammar

Phonology

The systematic pattern of sounds in a language, also known as the language's sound system

Morphology

The structure of words and word formation in a language

Syntax

Pattern or word order used to form sentences and long utterances in a language

Stops

Sounds that are formed by closing off and reopening the oral cavity so that it stops the flow of air through the mouth, such as the consonants p,b,t,d,k, and g

Sociolinguistics

The study of how sociocultural context and norms shape language use and the effects of language use on society

Linguistic Relativity

The idea that people speaking different languages perceive or interpret the world differently because of differences in their languages. Edward Sapir

Ethnoscience

The study of how people classify things in the world, usually by considering some range or set of meanings

Creole language

A language of mixed origin that has developed from a complex blending of two parent languages that exists as a mother tongue for some part of the population

Pidgin language

A mixed language with a simplified grammar, typically borrowing its vocabulary from one language but its grammar from another

Language Ideology

widespread assumptions