Anthropology (ANTH) 354

Overview

ANTH 354 introduces students to a subfield of anthropology—linguistic anthropology. Culture cannot be studied without the aid of language, but linguistic anthropology contributes more than the means to study culture. Descriptive linguistics, for example, helps anthropologists study language and culture, and historical linguistics provides clues that help archaeologists reconstruct past ways of life. This course presents some of the techniques and methods used by linguistic anthropologists.

Outline

ANTH 354 consists of the following ten units:

Unit 1: The Study of Language and the Nature and Origins of Human Languages

Unit 2: Phonology 1: The Production of Speech Sounds

Unit 3: Phonology 2: Sound Patterns and Phonological Environments

Unit 4: Morphology and Writing Systems

Unit 5: Language Change, History, and Classification

Unit 6: Syntax: The Sentence Patterns of Languages

Unit 7: Language Acquisition

Unit 8: Semantics

Unit 9: Ethnolinguistics

Unit 10: Sociolinguistics: Language and Society

Evaluation

To receive credit for ANTH 354, you must achieve a minimum grade of “D” (50 percent) on all assignments and an overall grade of “D” (50 percent) for the entire course. The weighting of the composite grade is as follows:

To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University's online Calendar.