It is proposed that there are cultural universals in the use of language and that these universals have implications for language acquisition. The model rests on three hypotheses: (1) there are culturally universal tendencies in the linguistic marking of four dimensions of language (epistemic and affective stances, social acts, social activities, and social identity); (2) language and culture universals lie primarily in the "indexing" of stance and social acts, the marking of which is more widespread and conventionalized across social groups than the marking of other domains; and (3) language and culture particulars lie primarily in how stance and social acts relate to social activities and social identities. Interlocutors understand a large portion of the stance and social act meanings indexed in one another's utterances. It is concluded that research is needed in determining precisely how and when language acquirers develop competence in indexing and linguistically constituting social life. A 23-item bibliography is included. (MSE)