The field of linguistic anthropology looks at human uniqueness and diversity through the lens of language, our species' special combination of art and instinct. This state-of-the-field survey covers a wide range of topics, approaches and theories and promotes a broad vision of the subject, spanning a range of disciplines.

1. Introduction: directions in the anthropology of language N. J. Enfield, Paul Kockelman and Jack Sidnell; Part I. System and Function: 2. Basics of a language R. M. W. Dixon; 3. The item/system problem N. J. Enfield; 4. Language and the manual modality: the communicative resilience of the human species Susan Goldin-Meadow; 5. Linguistic diversity and universals Balthasar Bickel; 6. Denotation and the pragmatics of language Michael Silverstein; 7. Language function Sandra A. Thompson and Elizabeth Couper-Kuhlen; Part II. Process and Formation: 8. Language acquisition and language socialization Penelope Brown and Suzanne Gaskins; 9. Language, society and history: towards a unified approach? Paja Faudree and Magnus Pharao Hansen; 10. Language emergence: Al-Sayyid Bedouin sign language Wendy Sandler, Mark Aronoff, Carol Padden and Irit Meir; 11. Endangered languages Keren Rice; 12. Language evolution Stephen C. Levinson; 13. Causal dynamics of language N. J. Enfield; Part III. Interaction and Intersubjectivity: 14. Intentionality and language Robert B. Brandom; 15. The architecture of intersubjectivity revisited Jack Sidnell; 16. Language and human sociality Alan Rumsey; 17. The ontology of action, in interaction Jack Sidnell and N. J. Enfield; 18. Conversation across cultures Mark Dingemanse and Simeon Floyd; Part IV. Community and Social Life: 19. Poetics and performativity Luke Fleming and Michael Lempert; 20. Ritual language David Tavárez; 21. Oratory, rhetoric, politics Bernard Bate; 22. Language and media Paul Manning and Ilana Gershon; 23. The speech community and beyond: language and the nature of the social aggregate Shaylih Muehlmann; Part V. Interdisciplinary Perspectives: 24. Linguistic anthropology and critical theory Paul Kockelman; 25. Linguistic anthropology and sociocultural anthropology Rupert Stasch; 26. Sociolinguistics: making quantification meaningful Penelope Eckert; 27. Language and archaeology: state of the art Roger Blench; 28. Language and biology: the multiple interactions between genetics and language Dan Dediu; 29. Linguistic anthropology in the age of language automata Paul Kockelman.