Anthropology ANTH-A 104 Chapter Notes - Chapter 4: Linguistic Anthropology, Paralanguage, Kinesics
18 Dec 2016
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Document Summary
Through linguistic anthropology, one of the four fields of anthropology, we explore not only the details of a language"s vocabulary and grammar but also the role of language in people"s lives, both as individuals and as communities. Languages change and grow, constantly adapting to the needs and circumstances of the people who speak them. Because languages are deeply embedded in culture, languages are culture, they also become arenas where norms and values are created, enforced, and contested, where group identity is negotiated, and where systems of power and status are taught and challenged. Language: a system of communication organized by rules that uses symbols such as words, sounds, and gestures to convey information. All animals communicate in some fashion, often relying on a call system of sounds and gestures that are prompted by environmental stimuli: Ants share information through chemical trails and pheromones. Bees dance to communicate distance and direction to flower petals and nectar.
