The fourth edition of Living Language is fully updated with new perspectives on gender and language revitalization.

Now in its Fourth Edition, Living Language: An Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology continues to ground students in how language both shapes and is shaped by social contexts, cultural meanings, and power dynamics. Fully updated throughout, this fourth edition covers both theory and real-world interaction, frontloading with a robust conceptual framework and equipping readers to interpret the chapters that follow.

New to this edition are discussions of AI in relation to literacy, updated coverage of transgender language research and pronouns, and a perspectival shift from language endangerment to language shift grounded in Native and Indigenous linguistic anthropologists’ perspectives. The text now explicitly addresses scale as a concept and highlights differences between Internet and cellular-based communication.

This insightful and indispensable book offers:

• Sign language scholarship integrated throughout the entire text rather than confined to a single chapter, reflecting current disciplinary approaches
• Cartoons, data tables, and relatable examples of actual language use illustrating linguistic anthropology's relevance in a globalized world
• A unified theoretical framework rooted in social theory covering language ideologies, multifunctionality, practice, and indexicality across chapters
• An accessible yet rigorous presentation that treats language as a non-neutral form of social action without oversimplifying core concepts
• A new appendix providing examples of classroom activities that can help instructors teach and students explore the key concepts of the book.

Living Language is ideal for undergraduate and graduate courses in linguistic anthropology, language and culture, and language and society, as well as related courses in sociolinguistics, sociology, education, and communication. Its accessible yet theoretically grounded approach enables students to analyze language as social action across diverse cultural contexts.

Laura M. Ahearn, PhD, is a curriculum developer for the International Baccalaureate Organization and former tenured professor at Rutgers University. She is the author of Invitations to Love: Literacy, Love Letters, and Social Change in Nepal and the first three editions of Living Language. A 2014 Science and Technology Policy Fellow, she led research projects at USAID and later served as Senior Technical Director at Social Impact.

Catherine R. Rhodes, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of New Mexico, with affiliated appointments in Latin American Studies, Educational Linguistics, and Organization, Information, and Learning Sciences. She holds a dual PhD in Anthropology and Education from the University of Pennsylvania and was a 2024-2025 Fulbright U.S. Scholar fellow to Mexico. She is author of Undoing Modernity and co-author of Migration Narratives.