1. Chapter 3: Language Objectives:
Compare and contrast historical linguistics, descriptive linguistics, and sociolinguistics
Name the major theories of language in anthropology
Describe the relationships between culture, language, and society
Discuss the importance of language ideology in reading Scripture

2. Historical Linguistics
Definition:
Key Concepts
The study of how languages develop and change over time, and how different languages are related to one another
morphology
language families
protolanguage

3. Descriptive Linguistics
Definition:
Key Concepts
The study of specific features of individual languages such as patterns of grammar, sounds, and so forth as they exist at a given moment in time
synchronic research
phonetics
phonemics
phonemes, morphemes
grammar
“proper” vs. linguistic grammar
syntax

4. Explanation of what language really is
Language Theory
Explanation of what language really is

5. Language Theory Structuralism Key Figures/Terms
All languages share an underlying binary structure
Ferdinand de Saussure ( )
the rules and structure of language do not vary
langue vs. parole
design features
Noam Chomsky (b. 1928)
deep structure vs. surface structure
generative grammar

6. Language Theory The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
Language shapes people’s perceptions, thoughts, and views of reality.
Current linguistic studies add that culture is not just a reflection of language, it changes language.

7. Sociolinguistics Definition: Key Concepts:
The study of how language is used in society
includes the study of social judgments of languages and dialects, multilingual societies, and language contact
pidgins & creoles
language hierarchies
linguistic nationalism
code switching

8. Sociolinguistics Social Judgments of Languages and Dialects
Dialects are distinct but mutually intelligible forms of a single language.
In language hierarchies some languages or dialects have favored political, economic, and social status.
Languages are not inherently better or worse than one another.

9. Sociolinguistics Multilingual Societies
In multilingual societies, political dynamics hierarchically arrange languages.
Sociology of language studies how people negotiate the relationships of these languages and their uses.

10. Sociolinguistics Language Contact, Pidgins, and Creoles
A creole is a type of language formed when speakers of different languages combine their languages.
A pidgin is a language formed when speakers in a multilingual context use a simplified form of one language (often a colonial language) as a common language across a region or group.
To understand how language and culture affect each other, it is important to focus on contextual factors like ethnic stratification, social inequality, and political representation.

11. Language and Scripture
Questions of language and language theory are essential in learning how to read and understand scripture.
Jesus is the Word of God; the Bible is the words of God.
No language is more suitable or appropriate for scripture than any other.
Cultural context matters.