Unit I

1.1 Introduction to linguistics

Each human language is a complex of knowledge and abilities enabling speakers of the
language to communicate with each other, to express ideas, hypotheses, emotions,
desires, and all the other things that need expressing. Linguistics is the study of these
knowledge systems in all their aspects: how is such a knowledge system structured,
how is it acquired, how is it used in the production and comprehension of messages,
how does it change over time? Linguists consequently are concerned with a number of
particular questions about the nature of language. What properties do all human
languages have in common? How do languages differ, and to what extent are the
differences systematic, i.e. can we find patterns in the differences? How do children
acquire such complete knowledge of a language in such a short time? What are the
ways in which languages can change over time, and are there limitations to how
languages change? What is the nature of the cognitive processes that come into play
when we produce and understand language?
The part of linguistics that is concerned with the structure of language is divided into a
number of subfields:
 Phonetics - the study of speech sounds in their physical aspects
 Phonology - the study of speech sounds in their cognitive aspects
 Morphology - the study of the formation of words
 Syntax - the study of the formation of sentences
 Semantics - the study of meaning
 Pragmatics - the study of language use

1.2 Phonetics
1.3 Phonology
1.4 Morphology
Morphology is the study of words. Morphemes are the minimal units of
words that have a meaning and cannot be subdivided further. There are two
main types: free and bound. Free morphemes can occur alone and bound
morphemes must occur with another morpheme. An example of a free
morpheme is "bad", and an example of a bound morpheme is "ly." It is bound
because although it has meaning, it cannot stand alone. It must be attached
to another morpheme to produce a word.
Free morpheme: bad
Bound morpheme: -ly
Word: badly

When we talk about words, there are two groups: lexical (or content) and
function (or grammatical) words. Lexical words are called open class words
and include nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. New words can regularly be
added to this group. Function words, or closed class words, are conjunctions,
prepositions, articles and pronouns; and new words cannot be (or are very
rarely) added to this class.

Affixes are often the bound morpheme. This group includes prefixes, suffixes,
infixes, and circumfixes. Prefixes are added to the beginning of another
morpheme, suffixes are added to the end, infixes are inserted into other
morphemes, and circumfixes are attached to another morpheme at the
beginning and end. Following are examples of each of these:

Prefix: re- added to do produces redo

Suffix: -or added to edit produces editor
Infix: -um- added to fikas (strong) produces fumikas (to be strong) in Bontoc
Circumfix: ge- and -t to lieb (love) produces geliebt (loved) in German

There are two categories of affixes: derivational and inflectional. The main
difference between the two is that derivational affixes are added to
morphemes to form new words that may or may not be the same part of
speech and inflectional affixes are added to the end of an existing word for
purely grammatical reasons. In English there are only eight total inflectional
affixes:

-s 3rd person singular present she waits

-ed past tense he walked
-ing progressive she's watching
-en past participle she has eaten
-s plural three tables
-'s possessive Holly's cat
-er comparative you are taller
-est superlative you are the tallest

The other type of bound morphemes are called bound roots. These are
morphemes (and not affixes) that must be attached to another morpheme
and do not have a meaning of their own. Some examples are ceive in perceive
and mit in submit.

English Morphemes

Free
Open Class
Closed Class
Bound
Affix
Derivational
Inflectional
Root
There are six ways to form new words.
Compounds are a combination of words, acronyms are derived from the
initials of words, back-formations are created from removing what is
mistakenly considered to be an affix, abbreviations or clippings are shortening
longer words, eponyms are created from proper nouns (names), and blending
is combining parts of words into one.
Examples:
Compound: doghouse
Acronym: NBA (National Basketball Association) or scuba (self-contained
underwater breathing apparatus)
Back-formation: edit from editor
Abbreviation: phone from telephone
Eponym: sandwich from Earl of Sandwich
 Blending: smog from smoke and fog

1.5 Syntactic
1.6 Semantic

2.1 English phonetics symbols/ signs OR sounds (IPA)

3.1Place of articulation
Places of Articulation
Bilabial: lips together
Labiodental: lower lip against front teeth
Interdental: tongue between teeth
Alveolar: tongue near alveolar ridge on roof of mouth (in between teeth
and hard palate)
Postalveolar: tongue towards soft palate
Palatal: tongue on hard palate
Velar: tongue near velum
Glottal: space between vocal folds

4.1 Manner of articulation

Stop: obstruct airstream completely

Fricative: partial obstruction with friction
Affricate: stop airstream, then release
Approximants: partial obstruction, no friction, similar to vowels

You should practice saying the sounds of the English alphabet to see if you can identify the places of
articulation in the mouth. The sounds are described by voicing, place, and then manner of articulation,
so the sound /j/ would be called a voiced palatal glide and the sound /s/ would be called a voiceless
alveolar fricative.