Linguistic Anthropology / Edition 1

by Alessandro Duranti

Overview

Alessandro Duranti introduces linguistic anthropology as an interdisciplinary field that studies language as a cultural resource and speaking as a cultural practice. The theories and methods of linguistic anthropology are introduced through a discussion of linguistic diversity, grammar in use, the role of speaking in social interaction, the organization and meaning of conversational structures, and the notion of participation as a unit of analysis. Linguistic Anthropology will appeal to undergraduate and graduate students.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521449939
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	09/04/1997
Series:	Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	422
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.98(d)

About the Author

The editor is Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Center for Language, Interaction and Culture at UCLA. His publications include From Grammar to Politics: Linguistic Anthropology in a Western Samoan Village (1994), Linguistic Anthropology (1997) and Key Terms in Language and Culture (Blackwell, 2001). He is the recipient of various awards, including the John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, the UCLA Alumni Distinguished Teaching Award, and the American Anthropological Association/Mayfield Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching.

Table of Contents

1. The scope of linguistic anthropology; 2. Theories of culture; 3. Linguistic diversity; 4. Ethnographic methods; 5. Transcription: from writing to digitized images; 6. Meaning in linguistic forms; 7. Speaking as social action; 8. Conversational exchanges; 9. Units of participation; 10. Conclusions; Appendix; References; Indexes.

Editorial Reviews

"Once in a while a book is published that defines and shapes the content of a discipline. Duranti's Linguistic Antrhopology is one of those books. Rooted in a profound knowledge of historical and current scholarship in both linguistics and anthropology...the author's discourse provides a clear manifesto for linguistic anthropology as a full-grown discipline of its own. ...instructors for linguistic anthropology classes will find this book extremely valuable. I know of no other text that is so well -documented about issues, theories, and methods in linguistic anthropology both synchronically and diachronically. ...the book is very coherent theoretically...it proposes a clear, distinctive way of doing linguistic anthropology. ...anybody who intends to conduct research in this discipline will find this to be an extremely valuable resource. " Giovanni Bennardo, American Anthropology

"Linguistic anthropology should be of great help in opening up this dynamic branch of research to a broader audience." language in Society

From the Publisher