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Living Language: An Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology
Accessible and clearly written, Living Language: An Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology introduces readers to the study of language in real-life social contexts around the world through the contemporary theory and practice of linguistic anthropology.
348 pages, Paperback
First published March 21, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
February 27, 2020
This is the worst textbook I've ever read. I'm shocked that it was assigned for a class. Over half of each chapter I've read so far is spent bashing linguists. The book has no concept of linguistic anthropology as a separate field of study--it is linguistics perfected. Linguistics As It Was Always Meant To Be. A significant part of the first chapter is spent complaining that linguists do not study the same thing linguistic anthropologists do--including material culture and literature. Well, you got me there, Dr. Ahearn! Linguists do not in fact study material culture and literature! That is the job of archaeologists and fxxing literature professors! She also claims that linguists are not interested in linguistics and historical linguistics, which I should not have to explain is false.
Many of the critiques the author makes are valid--if you assume the field of linguistics has not advanced IN LITERALLY A HUNDRED YEARS. Linguists and all their definitions are Bad and Evil, and include anyone the author disagrees with--including missionaries. Linguistic anthropologists are perfect, pure beings who can do no wrong. They include William Labov (a sociolinguist), Franz Boas (an important figure in linguistics, but he was originally a physicist), Sapir (a linguist), and Whorf (a linguist!). Notably absent is Margaret Mead, probably because she was a problematic anthropologist.
When the author isn't bashing linguists, she's explaining Linguistics 101, and having needlessly pedantic, long, and pseudo-politically correct discussions about the definitions of terms. Overall, I feel like the only thing I learned from this book that I didn't already know was why there isn't much interdepartmental collaboration between the linguistic and the linguistic anthro departments at my university. What a shame.
Literally every time I pick up this book to read an assigned chapter I have to lie down because it's so fxxxing awful. It's ruining my life and my perception of anthropology.
Many of the critiques the author makes are valid--if you assume the field of linguistics has not advanced IN LITERALLY A HUNDRED YEARS. Linguists and all their definitions are Bad and Evil, and include anyone the author disagrees with--including missionaries. Linguistic anthropologists are perfect, pure beings who can do no wrong. They include William Labov (a sociolinguist), Franz Boas (an important figure in linguistics, but he was originally a physicist), Sapir (a linguist), and Whorf (a linguist!). Notably absent is Margaret Mead, probably because she was a problematic anthropologist.
When the author isn't bashing linguists, she's explaining Linguistics 101, and having needlessly pedantic, long, and pseudo-politically correct discussions about the definitions of terms. Overall, I feel like the only thing I learned from this book that I didn't already know was why there isn't much interdepartmental collaboration between the linguistic and the linguistic anthro departments at my university. What a shame.
Literally every time I pick up this book to read an assigned chapter I have to lie down because it's so fxxxing awful. It's ruining my life and my perception of anthropology.
November 3, 2025
read for ant253, one of my favourite courses i've done at uoft (right behind ant205)
April 18, 2023
[Read for Culture, Language, and Society]
This was such a fascinating read. The way Ahearn explains the guiding principles of linguistic anthropology, as well as some of the debates in the field, is comprehensive and enjoyable. I also appreciate that Ahearn includes several references to ethnographies, so that we can not only learn about the types of research linguistic anthropologists have pursued, but also to apply the vary concepts that are being introduced.
This was such a fascinating read. The way Ahearn explains the guiding principles of linguistic anthropology, as well as some of the debates in the field, is comprehensive and enjoyable. I also appreciate that Ahearn includes several references to ethnographies, so that we can not only learn about the types of research linguistic anthropologists have pursued, but also to apply the vary concepts that are being introduced.
April 16, 2024
It was an interesting read. Some of the examples were outdated and certain chapters were hard to understand. Not bad though had to read it for my Anthropology class. We had really good discussion about each chapter.
June 2, 2020
This book reads like one long literature review in anthroling. The author's stance (haha stance) is very "rip to chomsky but I'm different". Why can't we have a nuanced, balanced take in this field?
January 1, 2024
I would say that I'm glad we had to read some chapters of this for linguistic anthropology and overall, I did enjoy this book. I'm giving it four stars because while I did like it very much, there were some things I didn't like as much.
I had to wait until this book gets better, or least more interesting than it was for me in the beginning. I say this because Ahearn picks on Chomsky quite a noticeable amount. Look, one of my hobbies is poking fun at Chomsky, so I understand why someone would disagree with his claims. I also understand that linguists and linguistic anthropologists have different opinions on some things and struggle to agree in some cases. This is okay - the impression I got from the author, however, is that she doesn't like linguists as much as linguistic anthropologists. Which, again, is okay, I just noticed it and thought that for a textbook about linguistic anthropology, the tone would be a little warmer. But it's very possible that I could have misread something here.
My favorite chapter by far was the one about language death and revitalization. But of course, this is because that topic is one of my favorites and main interests within linguistics. The other favorites that closely followed were the ones about communities of language users and multilingualism and globalization. I liked the one about communities of language users because I appreciate the approach Ahearn took with explaining the whole concept of speech communities, something I found rather abstract and nebulous and tricky to grasp when reading Morgan's article for class. She brought in many viewpoints and explanations, which I found very helpful.
I had to wait until this book gets better, or least more interesting than it was for me in the beginning. I say this because Ahearn picks on Chomsky quite a noticeable amount. Look, one of my hobbies is poking fun at Chomsky, so I understand why someone would disagree with his claims. I also understand that linguists and linguistic anthropologists have different opinions on some things and struggle to agree in some cases. This is okay - the impression I got from the author, however, is that she doesn't like linguists as much as linguistic anthropologists. Which, again, is okay, I just noticed it and thought that for a textbook about linguistic anthropology, the tone would be a little warmer. But it's very possible that I could have misread something here.
My favorite chapter by far was the one about language death and revitalization. But of course, this is because that topic is one of my favorites and main interests within linguistics. The other favorites that closely followed were the ones about communities of language users and multilingualism and globalization. I liked the one about communities of language users because I appreciate the approach Ahearn took with explaining the whole concept of speech communities, something I found rather abstract and nebulous and tricky to grasp when reading Morgan's article for class. She brought in many viewpoints and explanations, which I found very helpful.
April 30, 2025
Perhaps the best textbook in linguistic anthropology. Ahearn attends to power and relationality in language, which sets her book apart from the majority. The only drawback to Living Language is that it's a bit hard for most undergraduates, particularly in their 1st or 2nd years, when they are most often reading in introductory book. Recommended for use at schools where students have advanced reading skills; and for courses in which the instructor can really help students understand the rich and complex views of language that Ahearn has to offer.
September 21, 2022
Excellent primer on the field of linguistic anthropology, exploring language ideologies, research methods, and featuring a pivotal conclusion on power relations in languages. I felt that the contribution of Chomsky and his adherents was looked down upon negatively whenever they were brought up and I believe that they deserved to be covered more since their work actively impacts the field and its research to this day.
July 10, 2025
Extremely unprofessional for a university-level textbook. Spends far too much time dragging linguists in general and Noam Chomsky in particular. I'm not saying you can't have a professional disagreement, but dedicating an entire page to a terribly unfunny digression analogizing Chomsky to a "knittist" (replete with reproductions of stitch sequences) is a really, really bad first impression.
September 1, 2022
Great introduction to the ideas behind linguistic anthropology with a good discussion of the differences from linguistics. Newest edition also includes a section on online communities that starts an interesting discussion. Easy to read and digest. Great for undergraduate students.
December 24, 2017
Read for ANTH 1106.
September 11, 2018
A thorough guide to linguistic anthropology - best for third or fourth year undergraduate college students.
April 7, 2022
An interesting read for sure but also more than glad I’m done. Sorry Ahearn, I enjoyed this new edition and the comments but someone save me from textbooks.
November 24, 2023
Wow! Wowww! I learned so much!!
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May 4, 2024As far as textbooks go, this was sufficient.
May 22, 2018
Mostly easy to understand. Many examples from case studies are provided.
I've never read any textbook that contains this many names of other scholars.
However, it had some simple typing mistakes about Korean which could misinform readers who don't know Korean.
I've never read any textbook that contains this many names of other scholars.
However, it had some simple typing mistakes about Korean which could misinform readers who don't know Korean.
May 3, 2013
Very informative and was a great addition to the articles supplied by my professor.
Read
March 2, 2021Read for socioling class. Too much anthropology, not enough linguistics for my taste. Mostly it's a collection of summations of case studies without too much to tie them together.
March 11, 2015
Loved this book! So easy to understand complicated terms, and so full of relevant information. I really liked it!
January 5, 2016
Strong book for undergrad. Solid overview, lots of references to major works. Smooth general genealogy of anthropological linguistics.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews