Introduction to linguistics lec 1

1. 1. Introduction to Linguistics<br />

2. 2. Key points <br />Definition of linguistics<br /> Linguistics versus traditional grammar<br /> Use
of studying linguistics<br />Scope of linguistics<br />

3. 3. Difficult points <br />1. Linguistics versus traditional grammar<br />2. Scope of linguistics<br />
4. 4. Definition of linguistics<br />Linguistics can be defined as the scientific or systematic study of
language. It is a science in the sense that it scientifically studies the rules, systems and principles
of human languages.
5. 5. Linguistics is guided by three canons of science <br />1) exhaustiveness: it strives for thoroughgoingness in the examination of relevant materials<br />2) consistency, that is, there should be no
contradiction between different parts of the total statement<br />3) economy: other things being
equal, a shorter statement or analysis is to be preferred to one that is longer or more complex.
6. 6. Linguistics has two main purposes <br />One is that it studies the nature of language and tries
to establish a theory of language and describes languages in the light of the theory established.
<br />The other is that it examines all the forms of language in general and seeks a scientific
understanding of the ways in which it is organized to fulfill the needs it serves and the functions it
performs in human life.
7. 7. Linguistics versus traditional grammar: Prescriptivismvs Descriptivism<br />First, linguistics
describes languages and does not lay down rules of correctness. Linguists are interested in what
is said, not what they think ought to be said. So they are often said to be descriptive, not
prescriptive.<br />A second important way in which linguistics differs from traditional grammar is
that linguists regard the spoken language as primary, not the written. It is believed that speech
came into being first for any human language and the writing system came along much later.<br
/>Thirdly, traditional grammar is based on Latin and it tries to impose the Latin categories and
structures on other languages, while linguistics describes each language on its own merits.
8. 8. Use of studying linguistics<br />For a student of language <br />For a teacher of foreign
languages <br />For a researcher
9. 9. For a student of language <br />To know the general properties of language can help the
student to have an overview of human language which in turn will stop him from asking
unnecessary questions.
10. 10. For a teacher of foreign languages <br />He will definitely benefit a great deal from the
knowledge of linguistics. <br />He will learn about not only how language is pronounced or
structured, but also how it should be presented to learners. <br />He will know not only how each
level of the language system is related to other levels, but also how langrage is closely related to
many things outside itself, such as the mind, the brain, and society, among other things.
11. 11. For a researcher <br />There is even more scope for displaying his abilities. First, there are
various branches of linguistics, each of which is equally fascinating and challenging. <br
/>Secondly, linguistic research is going deeper and deeper, often from mere descriptions to logical

and philosophical explanations.<br />Thirdly, linguistics is becoming more and more

interdisciplinary, which means that it draws on the findings of other disciplines while it also sheds
light on their research.
12. 12. Scope of linguistics<br />Microlinguistics includes phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax,
semantics and pragmatics.<br />Macrolinguistics includes sociolinguistics,<br />Psycholinguistics,
neurolinguistics, stylistics, discourse analysis, computational linguistics, cognitive linguistics,
applied linguistics.

13. 13. Microlinguistics<br />Phonetics is the scientific study of speech sounds. It studies how speech
sounds are articulated, transmitted, and received.<br />Phonology is the study of how speech
sounds function in a language, it studies the ways speech sounds are organized. It can be seen
as the functional phonetics of a particular language.<br />Morphology is the study of the formation
of words. It is a branch of linguistics which breaks words itno morphemes. It can be considered as
the grammar of words as syntax is the grammar of sentences.
14. 14. Microlinguistics <br />Syntax deals with the combination of words into phrases, clauses and
sentences. It is the grammar of sentence construction.<br />Semantics is a branch of linguistics
which is concerned with the study of meaning in all its formal aspects. Words have several types
of meanign. <br />Pragmatics can bedefined as the study oflanguage in use. It deals with how
speakers use language in ways which cannot be predicted from lingistic knowledge alone, and
how hearers arrive at the intended meaningof speakers. PRAGMATICS =MEANING-SEMANTICS.
15. 15. Macrolinguistics<br />Socilinguistics studies the relations between language and society: how
social factors influence the structure and use of language.<br />Psycholinguistics is the study of
language and mind: the mental structures and processes which are involved in the acquistion,
comprehension and production of language.<br />Neurolingistics is the study of language
prodessing and language representation in the brain. It typically studies the disturbances of
language comprehension and production caused by the damage of certain areas of the brain.
16. 16. Macrolinguistics<br />Stylistics is the study of how literary effects can be related to linguistic
features. It usually refers to the study of written language, including literary text, but it also
investigates spoken language sometimes. <br />Discourse analysis, or text linguistics is the study
of the relationship between language and the contexts in which language is used. It deals with
how sentences ins poken and written language form larger meaningful units. <br />Computational
linguistics is an approach to linguistics which employs mathematical techniques, often with the
help of a computer.<br />Cognitive linguistics is an approach to the analysis of natural language
that focuses on language as an instrument for organizing, processing, and conveying information.
<br />Applied linguistics is primarily concerned with the application of linguistic theories, methods
and findings to the elucidation of language problems which have arisen in other areas of
experience.<br />

1. language & linguistics

1. 1. Language & Linguistics1
2. 2. Language is commonly defined (simply) as a means of communication; but if it is defined so,
there will be no difference between human communication and animal communication. The
reason is because, both animal and human do have means to communicate. 2 What is a
language?

3. 3. To be more scientific, a language can be defined as: An arbitrary system of creative vocal
symbols used as a means of communication among human beings.
4. 4. Let us see what is meant by arbitrary system, vocal symbol, creative, and means of
communication as the characteristics or properties of human language.
5. 5. A language is arbitrary because the relationship between a vocal symbol (in form, in the sense
of linguistics) and the entity, state, event, or action (meaning) of the vocal symbol cannot be
proved logically. A. Language is Arbitrary
6. 6. For example, the question of: why the following entity is called birds in English and not
monkey or money for instance, cannot be answered.
7. 7. See this fact!!! Children grow up learning and speaking a language (orally) before learning to
write. Even in this modern age, some people still cannot write but they can communicate with a
language.7 Considering a language as a construction of vocal symbols, we actually want to
distinguish oral from written language. A language is originally oral / spoken (vocal symbols). In
other words, we can say that spoken language is the origin of a language. B. Language is
Vocal Symbols
8. 8. On the other hand, writing or written language is the best thought of as a written
representation of a language. One of the differences (in characteristics) between oral and written
language is that written language tends to be prescriptive (what one thinks it/ the language ought
to be) but oral/ spoken language is not prescriptive.
9. 9. As illustration, the same word can be employed in so many different infinite numbers of
sentences, as exemplified with the following phrases:9 No matter how well a dictionary of a
language is designed and written, it will never contain all possible sentences that a human being
(the speaker of a language) can make and use for communication. Once we speak a language
(say, our mother tongue/ native language), the components and rules of the language enables us
to create infinite number/ unlimited numbers of sentences. It enables us to put words together to
make phrases, put phrases together to make sentences, and so forth. C. Language is Creative
10. 10. 1. I eat rice. You eat bread. 2. The goats eat bread and cheese. (Have you ever created or
heard this possible sentence before?). 3. They eat grass. 4. I eat rice, you eat bread, the goats
eat cheese, they eat grass, eat , .. eat . and so on. (How many times can you
repeat the word eat in the last sentence? How long can you make the sentence? The answer is,
It is infinite).
11. 11. Indeed, we create and heard new sentences in our language all the time in our everyday
communication. Even we may have created and heard a sentence that had never been spoken or
heard before, but we did not realize it. This is because a language is creative.
12. 12. Language is only one among another means of communication, but it is the most perfect
means of communication possessed by human beings. The use of a language as a means of
communication is what distinguishes animal communication from the communication among
human beings.12D. Language is a Means of Communication
13. 13. While human beings communicate with language; it is believed that animals simply
communicate with their instinct; but this belief has not been proved empirically.13 In most
societies (or cultures) there are fables, legends, etc., where we are told that animals do play

speaking role, not only among themselves but also with human beings. But can the fables, or
legends provide evidence that animals do speak and have language?
14. 14. The subject matter of linguistics is language.14Linguistics is the study of languages.
What is Linguistics?
15. 15. There are also some other linguistic branches.15 Besides, the linguistic studies which are
supposed as the interdisciplinary field of studies that identify, investigate and offer solutions to
language-related real life problems, called macro linguistics or applied linguistics; and
Traditionally, linguistics studies a language as a formal system consisting of four main branches,
known as micro linguistics;
16. 16. Linguistics Language Micro Macro Linguistics Other Linguistics (Applied Linguistics)
Branches Phonology Sociolinguistics Lexicology Morpho phonemic /Morphophonology
Morphology Psycholinguistics Comparative Historical LinguisticsMorphosyntax Syntax
Neurolinguistics Anthropological Semantics Linguistics Language Acquisition
17. 17. Semantics (the study of meanings).17 Syntax (the study of sentence structure); and
Morphology (the study of words and word formation); Phonology (the study of speech sound
and their patterns); Furthermore, we will merely discuss about micro linguistics, which are
related to pure language studies, such as:
18. 18. LANGUAGE & All normal children of all races learn to speak the language of their
community, so speech has often been seen as the primary medium of language.18 A language
is described as an abstraction based on the linguistic behavior of its users. MEDIUM
19. 19. The abstract system which is language can also be realized as writing. However, although
speech and writing have much in common, they are not to be equated or hierarchically ordered.
20. 20. Diagram of the correlation between language and its mediums: LANGUAGE
(ABSTRACTION) MEDIUMS (CONCRETE) SPEECH WRITING20
21. 21. A simple example of this is that pronunciation is often affected by spelling. A word like often,
for example, is frequently pronounced with a [t] because of influence from the written
medium.21 The diagram indicates that, although speech and writing are in theory distinct, they
can and do influence each other.
22. 22. The main differences between speech and writing: Speech: Writing: Composed of sounds.
Composed of letters / signs. Make use of intonation, pitch, Makes use of punctuation and other
rhythm, tempo. graphological devices like italics, boldfaces, underlines, and so on. Produced
effortlessly no tools Produced with effort tools required. required. Transitory/ temporarily.
Relatively permanent. Perceived by the ear. Perceived by the eye. Addressee present. Addressee
absent. Immediately feedback. Feedback delayed. Meaning helped by context, body Meaning
must be made clear within the movement, gestures. context. Spontaneous. Not spontaneous.
Directly Associative Indirectly Associative.22

Welcome to the world of language! Its a world that you already live in, but
this module will give you tools that will help you see and hear language
in all its wonder.
Language is connected to every aspect of what it means to be human:
languages are spoken by everyone, everywhere. Language is the medium
through which humans socialize with each other, barter and trade, teach and
learn, lead and follow. Studying language can take you to the ends of the

earth and back. It can also take you into the depths of a research lab or to
the inner recesses of your own mind.

Scholars spend hours thinking about language: how many different

languages there are (6,000!), what they share in common, how they differ,
how kids learn language, how humans perceive and produce language,
how people make new words and sentences, how language expresses
meaning, how people use language to communicate, how language is
written down, how sign languages are organized, and on and on. We
believe that language provides a window into the workings of the human
mind, and that its one of the most rewarding and fascinating things that
anyone can study
Linguistics doesnt have all the answers about how language works, but you
can use it to ask some very interesting questions: Where do accents come
from? Why are computers amazing at chess but lousy at language? Why can
kids soak up language like sponges but adults cant? How can sign language
really be a language? How does rap ride the rhythm of language? Why do
some languages end their sentences with a verb? Why are you able to
recognize someones voice at a loud party? What happens in your brain when
you speak? Why is language always changing? How has writing changed the
course of human history? Figuring out the answers to these questions and
a host of others is what linguistics is all about.
Imagine what your life would be like if you could no longer use language: no
more chit-chats over a cup of coffee, no more friendly greetings or sad
goodbyes, no more arguments with your friends about which sports team is
best. You couldnt explain the symptoms of an illness to your doctor. You
wouldnt be able to warn someone across the street of a looming danger. No
more e-mails or text messages. Not only is human language important to us
as humans, its a uniquely human ability. Its also part of our genetic
endowment. For both of these reasons human language is unique and
humans seem to be pre-programmed for it the study of language
(linguistics) lies at the center of efforts to understand the nature of what it is
to be human. For more than 2,000 years, linguists have been trying to
understand how language works, and thats what this book is about.
Linguistics is the study of language Individual languages are like different
models of cars. For cars, each model varies according to engine size,
wheelbase, transmission, and passenger capacity, but they all share a
common set of traits. Same thing with languages each language varies
according to sound inventory, vocabulary, sentence patterns, and so on, but
they all have a common set of traits. Most linguists agree that all human
languages have the following six traits in common:
Language is used to communicate.
Language is composed of arbitrary signs.
Language is hierarchically organized.
Humans produce and perceive language using auditory, visual, and even
tactile modalities.
Language is unique to human beings.
Humans are genetically endowed for language