Language is not merely a set of words and grammatical rules; it is a deeply cultural phenomenon we use to navigate our social lives and craft our identities. Linguistic anthropology situates language in this essential context. A distinctively Canadian take on the field of linguistic anthropology, Keep Talking provides an up-to-date and detailed introduction to the discipline.
guides students through all the major concepts of the field while highlighting scholars and research relevant to the Canadian experience. Major areas of focus include Indigenous languages, the role of gender and ethnicity in communication, and doing research in the field. With an approachable writing style, this book includes images, tables, and text boxes along with summaries of further reading for students.
Wide-ranging and deeply current, this textbook is perfectly suited for readers interested in the intersections of language and culture.
By:
Eric Henry
Imprint: University of Toronto Press
Country of Publication: Canada
Dimensions:
Height: 191mm,
Width: 197mm,
Spine: 19mm
Weight: 700g
ISBN: 9781487563707
ISBN 10: 1487563701
Pages: 296
Publication Date: 25 November 2025
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Primary
,
Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Foreword Part 1: Talking About Talk: Key Terms and Concepts 1. Anthropology 1.1 The Culture Concept 2. Linguistics 2.1 Ferdinand de Saussure 2.2 Noam Chomsky 2.3 Levels of Linguistic Structure 3. An Anthropology of Language 3.1 Speech Community 3.2 Language Ideology 3.3 Indexicality 4. Conclusion Part 2: What Is Language? 5. Animal Communication 6. Human Language 7. Discourse 7.1 Talking Like a Human 7.2 Sign Languages in Nicaragua 8. Conclusion Part 3: Language Socialization 9. Two Language Socialization Stories 10. Social Orientation: From Language to Culture 10.1 Language Ideology 10.2 Space 10.3 Gender 11. Ongoing Socialization: “Not Just Kid Stuff” 11.1 Baristas 11.2 Bureaucrats 11.3 Lawyers 12. Conclusion Part 4: Linguistic Relativity 13. The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis 13.1 Classifying the World 13.2 Evaluating the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis 14. Linguistic Relativity 14.1 Metaphor 14.2 Context 15. Conclusion Part 5: Indigenous Languages and Revitalization 16. Walking with Indigenous Languages 16.1 Polysynthesis 16.2 Evidentiality 16.3 Land and Place-Making 17. Language Endangerment 18. Language Revitalization 18.1 Emergent Vitalities 19. Conclusion Part 6: Social Identity and Performativity 20. Performativity 21. Social Identity 22. Enregisterment 23. Connecting Language and Identity Together 24. Conclusion Part 7: Language and Gender 25. From Women’s Language to Gendered Language 25.1 Gendered Communication in Cross-Cultural Perspective 25.2 The Problem of Women’s Voices 26. Language and Masculinity 27. Conclusion Part 8: Raciolinguistics 28. What is Race? 28.1 Racialization and Ethnicization 29. African-American Vernacular English 30. Covert Racist Discourse 31. Encounters Across Race and Language 32. Conclusion Part 9: Multilingualism and Globalization 33. Colonialism and Standardization 34. Multilingual Societies 34.1 Canada: A Case Study in Multilingualism 34.2 Diglossia 34.3 Pidgins and Creoles 35. Mixing Languages Together 36. Conclusion Part 10: Orality and Literacy 37. Spoken and Written Texts 38. Orality and Verbal Art 38.1 Performance 39. Literacy 39.1 Literacy and Power 39.2 Multiliteracies 40. Conclusion Part 11: Digital Language 41. New Communication Technologies 42. Interdiscursivity 43. Texting LOL! 44. Conclusion Part 12: Researching Language in Society 45. Ethics 46. Interviewing: Learning How to Ask, Learning How to Listen 47. Linguistic Landscape 48. Dialect Surveys 49. Conclusion References
Eric S. Henry is an associate professor of anthropology at Saint Mary’s University.
