Language and Culture

Catalog description

This course is a survey of the foundations of linguistic anthropology. Basic concepts, methods, and forms of analysis associated with linguistic anthropology are covered. Emphases will be placed on such areas of inquiry as the origins of human language and communication, language acquisition, how linguists describe and compare different language systems, how historical relationships among the world's languages are determined, understanding the use of language across social and situational contexts (sociolinguistics), and cross-cultural communication.