Chapter 6, Language

Key Terms

arbitrary nature of languageThe meanings attached to words in any language are not based on a logical or rational system but rather are arbitrary.

bound morphemeA morpheme which can only convey meaning when combined with another morpheme.

closed systems of communicationCommunication systems that cannot create new sounds or words by combining two or more existing sounds or words.

code switchingThe practice of using different languages or forms of a language depending on the social situation.

cultural emphasis of a language The idea that the vocabulary in any language tends to emphasize words that are adaptively important in that culture.

cultural linguisticsA branch of anthropological linguistics that examines how language influences culture and how culture influences language.

descriptive linguisticsThe branch of anthropological linguistics that studies how languages are structured.

diachronic analysisThe analysis of sociocultural data through time, rather than at a single point in time.

dialectsRegional or class variations of a language that are sufficiently similar to be mutually intelligible.

diglossiaThe situation in which two forms of the same language are spoken by people in the same language community depending on the social situation.

displacement The ability that humans have to talk about things that are remote in time and space.

free morphemesMorphemes that appear in a language without being attached to other morphemes.

grammar The systematic ways that sounds are combined in any given language to send and receive meaningful utterances.

historical linguisticsThe study of how languages change over time.

language familyA grouping of related languages.

morphemesThe minimal linguistic forms (usually words) that convey meaning.

morphologyThe study of the rules governing how morphemes are turned into words.

nonverbal communicationThe various means by which humans send and receive messages without using words (for example, gestures, facial expressions, and touching).

open systems of communicationSystems of communication that can create new sounds or words by combining two or more existing sounds or words.

phonemesThe smallest sound contrasts in a language that distinguish meaning.

phonologyThe study of a language’s sound system.

Sapir–Whorf hypothesisThe notion that a person’s language shapes her or his perceptions and view of the world.

sociolinguisticsA branch of anthropological linguistics that studies how language and culture are related and how language is used in different social contexts.

synchronic analysis The analysis of cultural data at a single point in time, rather than through time.

syntaxThe linguistic rules, found in all languages, that determine how phrases and sentences are constructed.