Linguistic Anthropology

A haruini gathering, with women wearing decorative garb and standing in a wooded area.

Linguistic anthropology is the study of language use in social life. Linguistic anthropologists study the diversity of the world's languages and the diversity of language use and other forms of communication in societies around the world. Also included in this, is the study of cultural understandings of language and language varieties. This department has particular strengths in bilingualism and multilingualism, ethnography of communication, discourse analysis, indigenous language maintenance and revitalization, language and power, and language and place.