Biological Anthropology

Louis Leakey

This blog post will be about linguistic anthropology!

Linguistic anthropology is the study of language and how it influences social life. It came from the desire of many scientists to record languages that weren’t spoken anymore or were dying out. But in recent years, it has grown to be the study of language structure and use. There are three categories of linguist anthropology that have been studied: “anthropological linguistics”, “linguistic anthropology”, and lastly, looking at the issues associated with other fields of anthropology with a “linguistic lens”.

One famous linguistic anthropologist was Edward Sapir. He was the first chief ethnologist for the Geological Survey of Canada’s Department of Anthropology. During his time there, he managed a multitude of anthropologists who studied the Indigenous languages across the country. Sapir was also known for his Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, which he formulated with his pupil, Benjamin Lee Whorf. This hypothesis stated that “the structure of a language determines a native speaker’s perception and categorization of experience”. Though this was perceived as false by many linguistic anthropologists around the world, it was one of the most important theories that shaped the way linguistic anthropology is studied and known to be today.

Linguistic anthropology is one of the most important fields of study. We see this every day, in social media, news outlets, and even in regular places like the supermarket or on the television. The quote, “Language is a powerful weapon” by Julius Caesar comes to mind. Nowadays, people manipulate words, trying to persuade their audience/consumers. On social media and news outlets, words will be twisted to try and cause a reaction or to get an outcome that will benefit the producer. Similarly, ads that come on the television are specially designed to get the viewer’s attention and make them want to buy their product. The creators specifically use words that will attract customers. Although these are just a few examples, you can see how language and linguistic anthropology plays a big role in our lives.

In the next post, I will talk about biological anthropology and its importance!