Language And Social Relations: Structure, Use And Social Si

Description:
Language is closely linked to our social relationships and is the medium through which we participate in a variety of social activities. This fascinating study explores the important role of language in various aspects of our social life, such as identity, gender relations, class, kinship, status, and hierarchies. Drawing on data from over thirty different languages and societies, it shows how language is more than simply a form of social action; it is also an effective tool with which we formulate models of social life and conduct. These models - or particular forms of social behaviour - are linked to the classification of 'types' of action or actor, and are passed 'reflexively' from person to person, and from generation to generation. Providing a unified way of accounting for a variety of social phenomena, this book will be welcomed by all those interested in the interaction between language, culture, and society.

Review:
'Language and Social Relations is the most comprehensive and broad-ranging synthesis to date of a particular perspective on the study of language use...' -Kwai Hang Ng, American Journal of Sociology

Table of Contents:
1. Reflexivity; 2. From referring to registers; 3. Register formations; 4. The social life of cultural value; 5. Regrouping identity; 6. Registers of person deixis; 7. Honorific registers; 8. Norm and trope in kinship behaviour.

Author Biography:
Asif Agha is Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania.