Linguistic Anthropology Cheat Sheet

The core ideas of Linguistic Anthropology distilled into a single, scannable reference — perfect for review or quick lookup.

PiqCue — piqcue.com/linguistic-anthropology/cheatsheet

Quick Reference

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

The proposition that the structure of a language influences or determines the way its speakers perceive and conceptualize the world. The strong version (linguistic determinism) holds that language determines thought, while the weak version (linguistic relativity) holds that language influences thought and perception.

Communicative Competence

Coined by Dell Hymes, this concept refers to the knowledge a speaker needs not just of grammar but of the social rules governing when, where, how, and with whom to use language appropriately. It extends beyond Chomsky's notion of linguistic competence to include pragmatic and sociolinguistic knowledge.

Language Ideology

The culturally specific beliefs, attitudes, and values that speakers hold about language and its role in society. Language ideologies mediate between social structures and forms of talk, shaping how people evaluate languages, dialects, and speakers.

Code-Switching

The practice of alternating between two or more languages or language varieties within a single conversation or even a single sentence. Code-switching is a skilled communicative strategy that indexes social identity, context, and interactional goals.

Ethnography of Speaking

A methodological and theoretical framework developed by Dell Hymes for analyzing language use within its cultural context. It focuses on speech events, speech acts, and the social norms governing communicative behavior in specific communities.

Language Endangerment

The process by which a language loses speakers and domains of use, often as a result of colonialism, globalization, economic pressure, or state policies that promote dominant languages. A language is considered endangered when children are no longer learning it as their first language.

Indexicality

The property of linguistic signs that point to or invoke aspects of the social context in which they are used, including the speaker's identity, social position, emotional state, or relationship to the listener. Language does not just describe reality but indexes and creates social meaning.

Speech Community

A group of people who share a set of norms and expectations regarding the use of language. Members of a speech community do not necessarily speak the same language but share rules for conducting and interpreting speech.

Language Socialization

The process through which children and other newcomers to a community acquire the linguistic and cultural knowledge necessary to become competent members. It involves learning both language and culture simultaneously, as language use is the primary medium through which cultural values are transmitted.

Performativity

Drawing on J.L. Austin's speech act theory and Judith Butler's work, performativity in linguistic anthropology refers to the capacity of language not merely to describe reality but to constitute it through utterance. Certain speech acts create social facts in the moment of their speaking.

Key Terms at a Glance

Code-Switching:The practice of alternating between two or more languages or language varieties within a conversation or utterance as a communicative strategy.

Communicative Competence:The knowledge required to use language appropriately in social contexts, encompassing grammatical, sociolinguistic, discourse, and strategic competence.

Creole:A stable natural language that develops from a pidgin when it becomes the native language of a community, acquiring full grammatical complexity.

Diglossia:A sociolinguistic situation where two language varieties coexist within a community, each reserved for distinct social functions such as formal versus informal use.

Discourse Analysis:The study of language in use beyond the sentence level, examining how meaning is constructed through talk, narrative, and interaction.

Endangered Language:A language at risk of falling out of use, typically because children are no longer learning it as their first language.

Ethnography of Speaking:A framework developed by Dell Hymes for studying language use within its cultural and social context through participant observation and analysis of speech events.

Honorifics:Linguistic forms that encode social distinctions such as respect, deference, and relative status between speakers and addressees.

Indexicality:The property of linguistic signs to point to or invoke aspects of the social context, including speaker identity, status, and relationships.

Language Contact:The social situation in which speakers of different languages interact, often leading to borrowing, code-switching, pidginization, or creolization.

Language Documentation:The systematic recording and preservation of a language's grammar, vocabulary, texts, and usage patterns, especially for endangered languages.

Language Ideology:Culturally shared beliefs and attitudes about language that shape how people evaluate languages, dialects, and speakers, often reflecting social hierarchies.

Language Policy:Official decisions by governments or institutions about the status, use, and teaching of languages within a given political territory.

Language Revitalization:Efforts to reverse language shift by restoring intergenerational transmission and expanding the domains in which an endangered language is used.

Language Shift:The process by which a community gradually abandons its heritage language in favor of a more socially or economically dominant one.

Get study tips in your inbox

We'll send you evidence-based study strategies and new cheat sheets as they're published.

We'll notify you about updates. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.