Language, Culture, And Society: An Introduction To Linguistic Anthropology

by Zdenek Salzmann

This second edition of Language, Culture, and Society has profited from the comments of several instructors who have been using the text successfully during the past several years. In his revisions, Zdenek Salzmann has not only updated the text but has made it even more user-friendly. Two of the original chapters have been subdivided, the text has been enriched by the inclusion of additional examples, and the discussions of some of the more abstract topics have been edited with the student and the layperson in mind. With the growing emphasis in anthropology on applications of anthropological findings, references to the uses of linguistic anthropology are included throughout the book, and the final chapter is devoted solely to applications. Because anthropology stresses the holistic view, the tendency to integrate the data from all subfields of anthropology is evident throughout the book.

Genres: Anthropology, Linguistics, Nonfiction, Language, History, Academic, Textbooks

352 pages, Paperback

First published July 14, 1993

Reviews

[Anne]

This book is a bit older (1993) so I'm sure some research may be outdated for linguistic experts, but it was interesting nonetheless. I have a huge but abstract interest in language, so I was happy to find that this textbook for students of anthropology nicely connected what is proposed in the title: language, culture, and society. Salzmann convincingly shows the connection between these three concepts, and after reading this, any language enthusiast will once again be made aware of the beauty that is the language phenomenon.

[Caitlin]

I found this text book at a store for one dollar! I have long been interested in other cultures and how we relate to one another and although I have no talent for languages I thought this would be interesting. Salzmann writes in a very readable way, a true introduction. Although some of the ideas or terms were new to me I was able to understand what he was talking about. The book is not a linguistics text, though he does do a refresher course on what happens physiologically when we speak. The book covers how languages developed from early man through current language adaptations. It discussed how differences in communication cause misunderstandings between cultures. It also focused on how languages that do not have a written form, or are grammatically simpler than others are not inferior languages, nor is the culture that uses it, an incredibly important concept if you are going to study cultures for a living. You cannot have a superiority complex if you want to succeed in documenting the way another culture lives and views the world. It talks about pidgin languages and how they developed to ease communication between colonial powers and the natives. There is a strong focus on debunking the myth that African American Vernacular English is an inferior communication tool and explains how it developed from a pidgin into a Creole language and is still used in large swaths of the African American community and in the South. The last section of the book discusses the practical application to linguistic anthropology: language development for communities; documenting and preserving, and even trying to resurrect languages that are at risk of extinction, he makes a lot of references to Native American languages; legal proceedings such as making technical jargon comprehensible; working to help different cultures communicate better; and finally, the creation of a writing system for previously verbal only languages. I am happy that he added this chapter because some anthropologists don't want to spend their lives living and working in cultural observations and want to take an active role. I think it is important for students to see what opportunities are there for them if they pursue this education.

[Theresa]

I had to read this for a class. So it's safe to say I only read a handful of chapters out of this brick. I wouldn't recommend it unless you're really interested in linguistic anthropology.

[Kara]

Read this for a linguistic anthropology class, as one could imagine, but it is one of my favorite text-booky texts I've ever been assigned.

[Stanley Dunagin]

Liberal biased.

[Jessica Harn]

A really full and indepth introduction to linguistic and cultural anthropology

[Riversue]

I thoroughly enjoyed this, even though I didn't expect to. Written in brilliant, straight-forward English and filled with fascinating examples, it well worth the read.

[Faiza]

Informative

[P.J. Moore]

Very comprehensive but a bit outdated. Linguistic Anthropology needs a modern approach now.