The organization of systems of sound into language has enabled Homo sapiens to transcend the limits of individual memory. Speech is the most efficient medium of communication since DNA for transmitting information across generations. Linguistic anthropologists, representing one of the discipline's traditional branches, look at the history, evolution, and internal structure of human languages. They study prehistoric links between different societies, and explores the use and meaning of verbal concepts with which humans communicate and reason. Linguistic anthropologists seek to explain the very nature of language itself, including hidden connections among language, brain, and behaviour.
Language is the hallmark of our species.
It is upon language that human culture itself depends. Linguistic anthropologists, of course, are not the only ones who study historical dimensions of culture. Anthropologists recognize that, in seeking to understand today's society, they should not confine attention only to present-day groups. They also need information about what came before. The Hellmuth Prizes for achievement in research were established by the University to provide a way for all members of the Western community to appreciate and celebrate the research achievement of our most distinguished faculty members.