Linguistic Anthropology

The study of language has been part of anthropology since the discipline started in the 1ate 1870s. This site is a place for linguistic anthropologists to post their work and discuss important events and trends in the field.

Monday, June 25, 2007

So Be It

Via Michael Erard's blog:

Two Little Letters, Addressed to Everyone, That Speak Volumes - washingtonpost.com

One thing I like about this piece is that, despite some quotes with negative connotations, it doesn't seem to be the typical prescriptivist normative language snobbery of the "kids these days don't know how to speak proper" type. Because it describes the usefulness of such a common word, it's much closer to what linguistic anthropology's passion with use of language in everyday life.

Also, for non-native speakers of English (or for ESL teachers), this piece could serve as a useful reminder that, despite the pervasiveness of disambiguation in Anglo-centric language ideology, English has this type of evocative power which is so cherished by speakers of other languages like Farsi or French.