Linguistic Anthropology

Interdisciplinary subject.
LA is the study of language as a cultural resource
and speaking as cultural practice.
Is Anthropological Linguistics a synonym?
Language for LA is both a source and a product of
social interaction.
LA and Linguistics proper.
LA and Ethnolinguistics (term preferred in the
European studies).
LA and Sociolinguistics
Methods used in LA (other social sciences, linguistics,
etc. )
Branches of Anthropology

archeological

biological (=physical)

sociocultural

linguistic
Linguistic Anthropology vs.
Sociolinguistics
Sociolinguistics was born in the 1960s as the
study of linguistic forms in relation to the social
context of their use.
Among the disciplines in the social sciences
and humanities that study communication,
sociolinguistics is the closest to linguistic
anthropology. In fact, looking back at the
history of the two disciplines, it is sometimes
difficult to tell them apart.
Some of the differences between the two
disciplines have to do with their history.
Linguistic Anthropology vs.
Sociolinguistics
Linguistic anthropology was one of the
four subfields of anthropology when the
discipline was officially defined by Boas
and his colleagues at the beginning of
the twentieth century.
Sociolinguistics came out of urban
dialectology in the late 1950s and early
1960s.
Linguistics proper

Refers to the analytical study of any

language to reveal its structure and the
rules according to which the language
units are put together to produce
stretches of speech.
Branches of Lingustics

Micro-linguistics (according to the

language levels) phonology, grammar,
syntax, etc.
Macro-linguistics (according to the field
of human life/human) neurolinguistics,
sociolinguistics, historical linguistic,
clinical linguistic, typology, etc.