Linguistic Anthropology and Language Variation

These flashcards cover key concepts related to linguistic anthropology, language variation, and language acquisition.

What is linguistic anthropology?

A distinct subfield only in the US, originally focused on documentation and description of Indigenous Languages.

What does formal/theoretical linguistics study?

It describes the underlying structure of a language, seeking language universals.

What are the sources of language-internal variation?

Geography, class, race or ethnicity, gender, age/generation, and other social categories.

What is historical linguistics?

It traces ancestral relationships among languages and focuses on systematic phonological change.

What is a proto-language?

A hypothetical, reconstructed ancestor language from which a family of related languages is believed to have evolved.

What is language variation?

The diverse ways in which a language is used and differs within various social contexts.

What does it mean to have a 'standard language'?

A language variety that is taught in schools and used in print and broadcast media.

What is linguistic inequality?

The unequal social valuation and treatment of languages leading to discrimination against certain speakers.

What is African American Language also known as?

Black English, Black Vernacular English, African American Vernacular English, and other terms.

What is code-switching?

Regular use of more than one language in social interaction.

What is diglossia?

The co-presence of 'high' and 'low' varieties of the same language.

What is language accommodation?

The tendency to speak more like the people you are interacting with.

What is a pidgin?

A simplified language that develops among speakers of different languages for communication.

What is a creole?

A stable, fully developed language that originates from a pidgin when children acquire it natively.

What are Hockett’s design features of language?

13 features that characterize human language, including vocal-auditory channel and productivity.

What is the critical period hypothesis?

The theory that there is a window during which language acquisition is most effective, typically before puberty.