1. Chapter 6, Language Key Terms

2. arbitrary nature of language The meanings attached to words in any language are not based on a logical or rational system but rather are arbitrary. bound morpheme A morpheme which can only convey meaning when combined with another morpheme.

3. closed systems of communication Communication systems that cannot create new sounds or words by combining two or more existing sounds or words. code switching The practice of using different languages or forms of a language depending on the social situation.

4. 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 linguistics A branch of anthropological linguistics that examines how language influences culture and how culture influences language.

5. descriptive linguistics The branch of anthropological linguistics that studies how languages are structured. diachronic analysis The analysis of sociocultural data through time, rather than at a single point in time.

6. dialects Regional or class variations of a language that are sufficiently similar to be mutually intelligible. diglossia The situation in which two forms of the same language are spoken by people in the same language community depending on the social situation.

7. displacement The ability that humans have to talk about things that are remote in time and space. free morphemes Morphemes that appear in a language without being attached to other morphemes.

8. grammar The systematic ways that sounds are combined in any given language to send and receive meaningful utterances. historical linguistics The study of how languages change over time.

9. language family A grouping of related languages. morphemes The minimal linguistic forms (usually words) that convey meaning.

10. morphology The study of the rules governing how morphemes are turned into words. nonverbal communication The various means by which humans send and receive messages without using words (for example, gestures, facial expressions, and touching).

11. open systems of communication Systems of communication that can create new sounds or words by combining two or more existing sounds or words. phonemes The smallest sound contrasts in a language that distinguish meaning.

12. phonology The study of a language’s sound system. Sapir–Whorf hypothesis The notion that a person’s language shapes her or his perceptions and view of the world.

13. sociolinguistics A 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.

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