Living Language: An Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology

361 Pages·2011·3.59 MB·English

by  Laura M. Ahearn(auth.)

Living Language
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Blackwell Primers in Anthropology
Each volume in this series is a lively first look at a traditional area of
anthropological study. These concise books provide theoretically
sophisticated yet accessible and engaging introductions for nonspe-
cialists. They will be invaluable for undergraduate instruction as well
as offering pithy overviews to those unfamiliar with the primary issues
in the chosen subdiscipline.
Published
1. People and Nature: An Introduction to Human Ecological Relations by
Emilio F. Moran
2. Living Language: An Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology by Laura
M. Ahearn
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Living Language
An Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology
Laura M. Ahearn
A John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., Publication
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This edition first published 2012
© 2012 Laura M. Ahearn
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ahearn, Laura M., 1962–
Living language : an introduction to linguistic anthropology / by Laura M. Ahearn.
p. cm. – (Blackwell primers in anthropology)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4051-2440-9 (hardback) – ISBN 978-1-4051-2441-6 (paperback)
1. Anthropological linguistics. 2. Language and culture. I. Title. II. Series.
P35.A38 2011
306.44–dc22
2010049292
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
This book is published in the following electronic formats: ePDFs 9781444340532; Wiley Online
Library 9781444340563; ePub 9781444340549
Set in 11.5/13.5 Bembo by SPi Publisher Services, Pondicherry, India
1 2012
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For Mellie,
whose words and smiles
have brought me indescribable joy
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Contents
List of Figures viii
List of Tables x
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xvi
Part I Language: Some Basic Questions 1
1 The Socially Charged Life of Language 3
2 The Research Process in Linguistic Anthropology 31
3 Language Acquisition and Socialization 50
4 Language, Thought, and Culture 65
Part II Communities of Speakers, Hearers, Readers, and Writers 99
5 Communities of Language Users 101
6 Multilingualism and Globalization 119
7 Literacy Practices 140
8 Performance, Performativity, and the Constitution
of Communities 160
Part III Language, Power, and Social Differentiation 185
9 Language and Gender 187
10 Language, Race, and Ethnicity 214
11 Language Death and Revitalization 240
12 Conclusion: Language, Power, and Agency 259
Notes 292
References 307
Index 336
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Figures
1.1 Cartoon demonstrating how certain styles of speech
can both reflect and shape social identities 4
1.2 Khim Prasad during the Pounded Rice Ritual, with
the bride, Indrani Kumari, and the bridal attendant 6
1.3 Cartoon about the varying cultural meanings
associated with language use 13
1.4 Jakobson’s model of the multifunctionality of language 18
1.5 Cartoon playing off the language ideology that
considers French a romantic language 21
1.6 Semiosis as a relation between relations 26
3.1 The cultural concepts of hed and save in Gapun,
Papua New Guinea 59
4.1 Relationship between language and thought
according to the (mistaken) “strong” version
of the Sapir–Whorf Hypothesis 69
4.2 Relationship among language, thought,
and culture according to contemporary
understandings of the Sapir–Whorf Hypothesis
within linguistic anthropology 70
4.3 Another of the many representations in popular
culture of the “Eskimo words for snow” myth 79
4.4 Set-up for experiment involving coordinate systems 88
5.1 De Saussure’s “linguistic community” 104
5.2 Santa Ana and Parodí’s model of nested
speech-community configurations 108
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List of Figures ix
5.3 Strong, multiplex, high-density network with
individual “X” at center 114
5.4 Weak, uniplex, low-density network with
individual “X” at center 114
6.1 Peter Auer’s continuum of codeswitching,
language mixing, and fused lects 133
7.1 Nepali love letter (with all identifying
features removed) 152
8.1 Spatial configuration at August 1990 Tij songfest
in Junigau 181
9.1 Cartoon referring to author Deborah Tannen’s
ability to understand gendered language 196
9.2 Cartoon showing how certain linguistic forms
can index social identities 212
10.1 Political cartoon that appeared in the wake
of the Ebonics controversy 231
11.1 Cartoon depicting normal and inevitable
changes in a language over time 253
12.1 Doxa as that which is taken for granted
and therefore outside the universe of discourse 269
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Tables
4.1 English pronouns in the nominative case 81
4.2 Nepali pronouns in the Junigau dialect 82
4.3 Noun classes in Swahili 83
4.4 Spatial categorizing in English and Korean 90
5.1 Santa Ana and Parodí’s typology of
speech-community configurations 109
7.1 ‘Be + like’ as a percentage of total quotatives
in face-to-face and IM talk 155
9.1 Findings of Hyde’s meta-analyses regarding
gender differences in communicative behavior 198
11.1 Ten most commonly spoken languages in the world 244
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Preface
Language as used in real-life social contexts is fascinating but extremely
challenging to study. Linguistic anthropology as a discipline offers a
set of concepts and tools for undertaking this challenge. My goal in
this book is to provide an accessible introduction to the main princi-
ples and approaches of linguistic anthropology without overly simpli-
fying the complex contributions of scholars in the field. To the degree
that this book succeeds in accomplishing this goal, it will be useful not
just to graduate and undergraduate students studying linguistic anthro-
pology for the first time (to whom I very much hope to communi-
cate my enthusiasm for the field) but also to all sorts of other readers
who might for various reasons be interested in “living language.”
These readers might include, for example, cultural anthropologists,
sociologists, or political scientists who have never looked closely at
language in their research but could benefit from doing so. I also hope
the book will be of value to linguists whose work thus far has been
more technical and abstract in nature but who would like to turn
their attention to the study of actual instances of linguistic p ractice.
And finally, I hope the book will appeal to anyone who has a natural
curiosity about the central role language plays in shaping and reflect-
ing cultural norms and social interactions.
Within the United States, linguistic anthropology is one of the four
traditional fields of anthropology: archaeology, biological (also called
physical) anthropology, cultural anthropology, and linguistic anthro-
pology. When Franz Boas helped to establish the discipline of anthro-
pology in the United States more than one hundred years ago, most
anthropologists were trained in all four of these fields and often
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