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Handout 1
I. Linguistics
• language - the “human essence”
- a human system of communication which uses structured vocal sounds and can be embodied in other media, such as writing,
print and physical sign;
- a particular instance thereof;
- any more or less systematic means of communicating, such as animal cries and movements, code, gesture, machine language,
etc.;
- the usage of certain terms by a special group: scientific language, technical language, slang, etc.
• subfields of linguistics:
- phonetics – the study of speech sounds
- phonology – the study of the sound system of language
- morphology – the study of the ways in which words are constructed
- syntax – the study of the way in which sentences are constructed
- semantics – the study of meaning
- pragmatics – the study of how the meaning conveyed by a word or a sentence depends on the context in which it is used
• related fields:
- anthropological linguistics – the study of the interrelationship between language and culture
- applied linguistics – the application of the methods and results of linguistics to such areas as language teaching,
lexicography, translation, advertising, etc.
- neurolinguistics – the study of the brain and how it functions in the production, perception and acquisition of language
- psycholinguistics – the study of interrelationships of language and cognitive structures
- sociolinguistics – the study of interrelationships of language and social structure, of language variation and attitudes
toward language
- historical linguistics – the study of how languages change through time, the relationships among languages
- arbitrariness
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2 Introduction to Linguistics
Handout 1
Turk sap
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cno me
b) cries of emotion: (“pooh-pooh” theory)
- natural cries of emotion - “cries of nature” (Jean Jacques Rousseau): the original sounds of language come
from cries of emotion (pain, anger, joy).
- interjections (ouch!, ah!, hey!, wow! yuck!, brr!, oops!, eek!)
The innateness hypothesis: Human offspring are born with a special capacity for language
- innate
- not present in other creatures
- not tied to a particular language
- possibly, a result of genetic mutation