A wide-ranging overview of linguistically oriented approaches to human behavior, including sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics and ethnolinguistics. H. and V. also place language within its behavorial and historial context. Thus they touch on the antecedents of language (i.e. nonverbal communication and sound- symbolism), the biological basis of language, and derived systems such as sign language and secret languages. Most of the issues are relevant to pragmatics.