Final answer:
Linguistic anthropologists focus on language as a means of creating diverse cultures. They study the origins of language, patterns of speech associated with men and women, and the role language plays in society.
Step-by-step explanation:
Linguistic Anthropology
Linguistic anthropologists focus on language as a primary means by which humans create their diverse cultures. They study the origins of language, how language shapes our thinking processes and views of the world, and how people use language to form communities, identities, assert power, and resist authority.
Anthropological Research on Speech
Linguistic anthropologists have found that patterns of speech associated with men and women are culturally relative. For example, in Madagascar and New Guinea, women are expected to speak in a more confrontational and argumentative style, while men are associated with more cooperative, euphemistic, and ceremonial speech.
Language and Sociocultural Life
Language plays a central role in the production of human culture. Linguistic anthropologists explore different categories of formal and informal speech, analyze conversations, and study the ways people interpret and build on one another's speech acts.