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as having a single focus, anthropology is actually made up of several sub-disciplines,
according to the American Anthropological Association, and historians also cover a very
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broad field.
The field of anthropology includes archaeology, biological, cultural and linguistic
anthropology. All anthropologists study human cultures, but their perspectives are
different. Archaeologists are interested in the things people or cultures make -- from
buildings to pottery to weapons. Biological anthropologists study how humans adapt to
different environments and causes of human disease or death. Cultural anthropologists
study societies -- how people interact, the rules they make for living together and the
perspectives of each society. Linguistic anthropologists study how language is used, the
meaning of words in a particular culture and how its language changes over time.
In some ways, historians are similar to anthropologists. They study records from
previous times, such as diaries, newspapers or manuscripts, to track the development of
societies and cultures or to collect information about specific historical figures.
Historians examine questions or problems within the context of larger issues, such as
how a particular event fits into a chain of events or is connected to other historical
issues. They also study the impact certain individuals have on history. An example is
Winston Churchill's impact on the British in World War II.
Anthropologists often spend months in the field performing research. Some
anthropologists study communities by living in them for extended periods. Historians
are more likely to perform their research in public libraries and museums or by
examining private document collections.
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Q4. How does the linguistic anthropologists account for the diversity of
languages?
Ans. Linguistic anthropology is a branch of anthropology that studies the role of
language in the social lives of individuals and communities. Linguistic anthropology
explores how language shapes communication. Language plays a huge role in social
identity, group membership, and establishing cultural beliefs and ideologies.
A closely related field (some say, exactly the same field), anthropological linguistics,
investigates the relationship between language and culture from the linguistics
perspective. According to some, this is a branch of linguistics.
This may differ from linguistic anthropology because linguists will focus more on the
way words are formed, for example, the phonology or vocalization of the language to
semantics and grammar systems.
For example, linguists pay close attention to "code-switching," a phenomenon that
occurs when two or more languages are spoken in a region and the speaker borrows or
mix the languages in normal discourse. For example, when a person is speaking a
sentence in English but completes his or her thought in Spanish and the listener
understands and continues the conversation in a similar way.

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