Language levels: PMSS β Phonology, Morphology, Syntax, Semantics (+ Pragmatics for context)
Phonology Β· Morphology Β· Syntax Β· Semantics
The four core levels of linguistic analysis β every language has all of them
Phonology: sound system β phonemes (meaning-distinguishing sounds), allophones. Morphology: word structure β morphemes (smallest meaning units), prefixes/suffixes. Syntax: sentence structure β how words combine into phrases and clauses. Semantics: meaning β word meanings and relationships. Pragmatics: how context shapes meaning (speech acts, implicature, politeness). Linguistic anthropology focuses on how all these interact with culture and society.
Phonology
Sound system β phonemes distinguish meaning
Morphology
Word structure β morphemes, affixes
Syntax
Sentence structure β grammar rules
Semantics
Meaning β word and sentence meaning
Pragmatics
Context-dependent meaning use
Linguistic Relativity
Sapir-Whorf hypothesis: strong (language determines thought β rejected) vs weak (language influences thought β supported)
Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
Does the language you speak shape how you think and perceive the world?
Strong Whorfian (linguistic determinism): language determines thought β not supported by evidence. Weak version (linguistic relativity): language influences certain cognitive patterns. Evidence for weak version: Russian speakers (separate blue/goluboy-siniy) faster at discriminating blues. PirahΓ£ (no numbers) β counting difficulties. Spatial language differences affect navigation. Guugu Yimithirr (cardinal directions only) β superior spatial memory.
Language Universals
Language universals: all languages have nouns, verbs, negation, questions, and recursion. No "primitive" languages.
Universal Grammar
Despite surface differences, all languages share deep structural properties
Chomsky's universal grammar: innate language capacity (Language Acquisition Device). All ~7,000 languages: nouns and verbs, ways to negate and question, recursion (sentences within sentences). Language acquisition: children acquire any language equally fast β critical period ends ~puberty. No language is primitive or simpler than another β all equally complex. Endangered languages are not "less developed."
Diglossia
Diglossia: H (high = formal, written) + L (low = everyday speech) varieties used in same community.
Diglossia
When a community uses two distinct language varieties for different social contexts
Ferguson (1959) coined "diglossia." H variety: education, religion, formal writing, news β learned formally. L variety: home, market, casual conversation β acquired naturally. Examples: Arabic (Modern Standard Arabic vs dialects), Greek (Katharevousa vs Demotiki until 1976), Swiss German (Standard German vs SchwyzerdΓΌtsch). Code-switching: moving between varieties mid-conversation β socially meaningful, not "sloppy."
Language Endangerment
~7,000 languages exist; ~40% endangered. A language dies when its last fluent speaker dies. Extinction rate accelerating.
Language Endangerment and Loss
The global crisis of language extinction β and what's lost with each language
50β90% of current languages may be extinct by 2100. Each language encodes unique ecological knowledge, classification systems, history. Language shift: community adopts dominant language for economic/political reasons. Documentation: record grammar, lexicon, texts before last speakers die (ELDP, AILLA archives). Revitalization: Hawaiian, MΔori, Welsh successes. Master-apprentice program: immersive one-on-one transmission.
Sociolinguistics
Sociolinguistics: language varies by region (dialect), class, age, gender, ethnicity. Variation is systematic, not random.
Sociolinguistics
Language is not uniform β it varies predictably according to social identity
Labov: variable rules β linguistic variation correlates with social variables. New York City /r/ dropping: class-stratified, style-stratified. AAVE (African American Vernacular English): fully rule-governed dialect β not "incorrect English." Dialect vs language: "a language is a dialect with an army and a navy" (Weinreich). Register: formal/informal speech styles. Gendered speech: different intonation, lexicon, politeness strategies across genders and cultures.
Communicative Competence
Communicative competence (Hymes): knowing not just grammar, but when, where, and how to speak appropriately.
Communicative Competence
Language use requires cultural knowledge that goes far beyond grammar rules
Chomsky: linguistic competence = knowing grammar. Hymes (1972): communicative competence = knowing what to say, to whom, when, how. SPEAKING mnemonic: Setting, Participants, Ends (goals), Act sequence, Key (tone), Instrumentalities, Norms, Genre. Ethnography of communication: document speech events cross-culturally. Silence: culturally variable β Apaches use silence differently than Anglo-Americans.
Language and Power
Language ideologies: beliefs about which languages/dialects are "better" β always reflect power relations, not linguistic fact.
Language Ideologies
Beliefs about language reflect and reinforce social hierarchies
Language ideology: shared beliefs about what language is and should be. Standard language ideology: one dialect is "correct," others are "corrupted" β always the dialect of the powerful. Linguistic discrimination: treating people differently based on their dialect (legal in many places). Colonial language policies: suppressing Indigenous languages β cultural genocide. Language revitalization as decolonization. Codeswitching as linguistic resistance and identity maintenance.
Gesture and Multimodality
Communication is multimodal: speech + gesture + gaze + posture work together. Gesture is not decoration β it's integral to meaning.
Gesture and Embodied Communication
Language is not just spoken β it includes the body and visual channel
McNeill: gestures are tightly coordinated with speech β co-expressive, not just illustrative. Types: iconic (depicts content), metaphoric (abstract concepts), deictic (pointing), beat (rhythmic emphasis). Sign languages: fully grammatical visual-gestural languages β not pantomime. Cross-cultural variation: gesture frequency and type differ. Multimodal interaction analysis: studies gaze, gesture, posture alongside talk in natural settings.
Language Origins
Language origins: unknown. Hypotheses β gestural (hands first), vocal (social grooming), music, or co-evolution of brain and culture.
Origins of Human Language
The hardest problem in linguistics β language leaves almost no fossil record
Language doesn't fossilize β indirect evidence only. Anatomical clues: descended larynx (allows speech, increases choking risk), hyoid bone shape, Broca's area in endocasts. FOXP2 gene: mutations cause speech/language disorder; shared with Neanderthals. Behavioral modernity: symbolic behavior, art, complex tools ~70,000β40,000 ya suggests language. Gestural hypothesis: hands before voice. Oldest agreed language-capable anatomy: ~300,000 ya in H. sapiens.
Speech Acts
Speech acts (Austin/Searle): saying something IS doing something β "I now pronounce you..." changes reality.
Speech Act Theory
Language doesn't just describe the world β it acts on and changes it
Austin (1962): performatives β utterances that perform actions (promises, declarations, warnings). Locutionary act: the literal meaning. Illocutionary act: the social function (promising, threatening, requesting). Perlocutionary act: the effect on the listener. Searle: taxonomy of speech acts (assertives, directives, commissives, expressives, declarations). Indirect speech acts: "Can you pass the salt?" is a request, not a question about ability. Politeness strategies use indirect speech acts.
Pidgins and Creoles
Pidgin: simplified contact language (no native speakers). Creole: pidgin that becomes a first language β gains full grammar.
Pidgins and Creoles
How new languages are born when speakers of different languages must communicate
Pidgin: simplified contact language with reduced grammar, from two+ language communities (trade, colonialism). No one's first language. Creole: when children acquire a pidgin as first language β they unconsciously add full grammatical complexity. Bickerton's Language Bioprogram Hypothesis: creoles share grammatical features because children draw on innate UG. Examples: Haitian Creole, Tok Pisin, Jamaican Creole. Creoles are fully complex languages β not simplified.