Emory University
Linguistic Anthropology

Key Concepts and Debates in Linguistic Anthropology

This page and its links are designed after the innovative model of The Postcolonial Studies website in the English Department at Emory University. It is intended to serve primarily as a resource for students at Emory University. Pages are contributed by faculty and students as part of their participation in Emory University Linguistic Anthropology courses. The information provided is not intended to be exhaustive. Rather, this page and its links provide a framework for understanding the key contributions of linguistic anthropology and some important current directions in research. Please send comments to the individual authors or the faculty developer of this page, Debra Spitulnik. Please cite the information from these pages responsibly. For guidance, go to How to Cite our Web Pages.

How Does Linguistic Anthropology Inform Cultural Anthropology?
Intellectual Connections between Linguistic Theory and Social Theory
How is Linguistic Anthropology Relevant in Today's World?

Structure/Use Form/Function Saussure's Dualisms Arbitrary and Non-Arbitrary Nature of the Sign Semiotics: Icon, Index, and Symbol Dialogism and Heteroglossia Speech Event and Context Discourse, Text, and Textuality 'Discourse' and 'Discourse Analysis' Performance Dialogic Emergence of Culture Speech Genres and Performativity Speech Acts and Language as Social Action Pragmatics and Metapragmatics Presupposition and Entailment Speech Norms and Conversational Implicature Pragmatic Lamination; Multifunctionality of Forms Linguistic Relativity Ethnolinguistics Language and Cognition Metaphor and Cultural Models Language, Embodiment, and Nonverbal Communication

Levels of Awareness in Language & Speech Variation & Sociolinguistic Variables The Strategic Negotiation of Identity Voicing, Footing, and Positionality Life History Language and Agency Language and the Self Language and Power Language Ideology Language and Gender Language and Nation Political Economy of Language The Culture of 'the Standard' Language Media Discourse Theraputic Discourse Medical Discourse Organizational Discourse Greetings and Closings Names and Modes of Address Codeswitching Pidgins, Creoles, and Hybrid Languages Computer Mediated Communication

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