Language Culture And Society

Language, Culture, and Society

Language, our primary tool of thought and perception, is at the heart of who we are as individuals. Languages are constantly changing, sometimes into entirely new varieties of speech, leading to subtle differences in how we present ourselves to others. This revealing account brings together eleven leading specialists from the fields of linguistics, anthropology, philosophy and psychology, to explore the fascinating relationship between language, culture, and social interaction. A range of major questions are discussed: How does language influence our perception of the world? How do new languages emerge? How do children learn to use language appropriately? What factors determine language choice in bi- and multilingual communities? How far does language contribute to the formation of our personalities? And finally, in what ways does language make us human? Language, Culture and Society will be essential reading for all those interested in language and its crucial role in our social lives.

Language, Culture, and Society: a Book of Readings

"Twenty- four articles representing a diversity of interests and approaches have been brought together in this revised collection intended to define and develop topics of central interest to language, culture and society. Opening pieces include enduring, classic writings by Boas, Sapir, Whorf, Mead and others, giving the volume an important historical orientation. These contributions form the ground-work for the wide sampling of more recent and contemporary works that follows. The selections chosen for Language, culture, and Society, Second edition, reflect several major themes within the field: language in relation to thought and cognition; language in relation to the cultural partitioning of the environment; language in relation to self-as-social; language in relation to the emergence of language as a sociocultural phenomenon. The twelve new contributions included in the second edition, combined with the twelve retained pieces from the widely used previous edition, form a diverse, well-balanced, and up-to-date reader. The editor, a highly regarded linguistic-anthropologist, has included helpful introductions that point out significant ideas and trace their development." -- Publisher.

Language in Culture and Society