Element of Language

An anthropologist who goes into the field faces many of the same problems that any student of new languages faces.

Anthropological linguistics tries to overcome some of these problems by looking at language in general rather than at specific languages.

In this approach there are three main areas of concern:
*sound
*meaning
*structure

Human beings are able to make wide range of sounds. If you have heard people speaking other language, you know that they sound different from English, not just because the words unfamiliar but because some of the sounds used are not used in the English language.

Hebrew for example, has many sounds made deep in the throat that are unlike anything that occurs in English. Chinese may have a “sing-song” effect when spoken by a native, a pattern quite different from the English speech.

Some African languages use clicks as part of their speech, sound like those might use in calling a horse or those you might produce when making idle (but meaningless) sounds with your tongue.
Element of Language