Linguistic anthropology is the study of human languages. There are three primary subfields of linguistics. These are Historical Linguistics, Descriptive Linguistics, and Sociolinguistics. Historical Linguistics is the study of the origins of language, language change over time, and the ways in which languages may be related to each other. Descriptive Linguistics is the study of the sounds that make up different languages and how humans articulate speech sounds. Humans make sounds by pushing air from their lungs, across their vocal chords, and out of their mouths or noses across different configurations of our lips, tongues, and teeth. The human vocal apparatus can make about one hundred different sounds, but most languages use only twenty to thirty sounds. Consequently, descriptive linguists study what sounds are used in different languages and how humans make them. Finally, Sociolinguistics is the study of the relationship between language and culture. For example, a sociolinguist might investigate the differences in how men and women speak, or class differences in speech. In terms of the origin of language, studies among the great apes have played an important role. For a long time, anthropologists argued that humans were different from all other species because of our tool use and language. However, once primates were observed using simple tools in the wild, linguists became interested in the possible language capabilities of non-human primates. Since the nineteen forties, linguists, primatologists and psychologists have studied whether or not apes can learn human forms of communication.
Linguistic studies with great apes (chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans) have demonstrated that they have a limited capacity to use human forms of communication such as American Sign Language (ASL). The great apes cannot “speak,” meaning that their vocal apparatus is different enough from ours that they cannot duplicate the sounds that humans make, but the ability to duplicate sounds does not really tell us much about their language processing abilities. By contrast, consider parrots. Parrots can duplicate any human sound (or the sounds of other species, such as horses), but teaching a parrot to replicate human speech sounds does not mean parrots understand the words they mimic.
The great ape sign language studies were initiated as an attempt to bypass the biological inability of the great apes to duplicate human sounds and try, in essence, to get into their heads by using an alternate form of human language that they could replicate. Sign language seemed an ideal way to determine if apes could use a language that was structurally similar to that of humans. The versatility of the hands of chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans are similar enough to those of humans that they are capable of replicating any gesture used in human sign language. The goal was to get beyond the physical “speech” limitations of apes and see if they could learn and understand a form of language. After several decades of research, anthropologists have found that the great apes are sensitive and intelligent primates who can use sign language to communicate their thoughts, but in an extremely limited way that is qualitatively different from any human language. You can see a gorilla using American Sign Language in the film clip Koko Meets Mr. Rogers, Her Favorite Celebrity.
Koko Meets Mr. Rogers, Her Favorite Celebrity
In linguistic jargon, the communication of apes in sign language is largely holophrastic, which means they rely on one-word meanings. When apes combine one-word meanings, they do not do so with any semblance of grammatical structure, which is characteristic of any human language. For example, any given human language would have a regular grammatical structure to communicate an idea such as, “I would like for you to give me an orange.” An analogous chimpanzee signed sentence might be, “you me orange give orange you give orange me.” This phrase shows the holophrastic nature of communication, and that unlike human language use, chimpanzee signing lacks grammar and syntax.
Given the results of the great ape studies, a minimal defining feature of human language is the ability to use grammar, to move beyond the holophrastic level of communication, and to regularly communicate abstract concepts, which all human languages do. A chimpanzee can communicate that he or she wants an orange, but cannot communicate, “I am trying to be cooperative, and I see that you have an orange, I'd like to have a piece, but what I'd really like is to get out of this laboratory experiment and have a chance to live normally with other chimpanzees.” While a gray area may exist in pinning down exactly what constitutes the primordial elements of language, anthropologists have not found any communication system in any other species that rivals the complexity of human language. We can say with assurance that all human languages are similar in their level of complexity and that we are the only known species that uses “language.”
Linguists are also interested in the relationship between language and culture. Language is the most important vehicle for communicating a broad range of cultural information. It is key to the enculturation process, where children learn the norms and values central to their culture of birth. Language is an important basis of group identity and group differentiation. Even among speakers of the same language, dialect differences occur across geographic space or through time. The way individuals use language can vary with social categories such as age, sex, class, and occupation. This is called sociolinguistics. All of these aspects of linguistics are discussed further in Chapter 4.
Linguistic anthropology is the study of human languages. There are three primary subfields of linguistics. These are Historical Linguistics, Descriptive Linguistics, and Sociolinguistics. Historical Linguistics is the study of the origins of language, language change over time, and the ways in which languages may be related to each other. Descriptive Linguistics is the study of the sounds that make up different languages and how humans articulate speech sounds. Humans make sounds by pushing air from their lungs, across their vocal chords, and out of their mouths or noses across different configurations of our lips, tongues, and teeth. The human vocal apparatus can make about one hundred different sounds, but most languages use only twenty to thirty sounds. Consequently, descriptive linguists study what sounds are used in different languages and how humans make them. Finally, Sociolinguistics is the study of the relationship between language and culture. For example, a sociolinguist might investigate the differences in how men and women speak, or class differences in speech. In terms of the origin of language, studies among the great apes have played an important role. For a long time, anthropologists argued that humans were different from all other species because of our tool use and language. However, once primates were observed using simple tools in the wild, linguists became interested in the possible language capabilities of non-human primates. Since the nineteen forties, linguists, primatologists and psychologists have studied whether or not apes can learn human forms of communication.
Linguistic studies with great apes (chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans) have demonstrated that they have a limited capacity to use human forms of communication such as American Sign Language (ASL). The great apes cannot “speak,” meaning that their vocal apparatus is different enough from ours that they cannot duplicate the sounds that humans make, but the ability to duplicate sounds does not really tell us much about their language processing abilities. By contrast, consider parrots. Parrots can duplicate any human sound (or the sounds of other species, such as horses), but teaching a parrot to replicate human speech sounds does not mean parrots understand the words they mimic.
Given the results of the great ape studies, a minimal defining feature of human language is the ability to use grammar, to move beyond the holophrastic level of communication, and to regularly communicate abstract concepts, which all human languages do. A chimpanzee can communicate that he or she wants an orange, but cannot communicate, “I am trying to be cooperative, and I see that you have an orange, I'd like to have a piece, but what I'd really like is to get out of this laboratory experiment and have a chance to live normally with other chimpanzees.” While a gray area may exist in pinning down exactly what constitutes the primordial elements of language, anthropologists have not found any communication system in any other species that rivals the complexity of human language. We can say with assurance that all human languages are similar in their level of complexity and that we are the only known species that uses “language.”