Lecture 7 Flashcards
(22 cards)
What is linguistics
Study of language
Fundamental areas of linguistics
Phonetics
Phonology
Morphology
Syntax
Semantics
Phonetics
Study of most basic units of language
-speech sounds for spoken languages
-signs and movements for sign languages
Phonology
Study of sound/sign patterns that occur in a particular language
Morphology
Study of word formation
Syntax
Study of phrase, clause, and sentence formation
Semantics
Study of linguistic meaning
Modality
- Vocalized/spoken (speaking,speaker,speech)
- signed (signing,signer)
(Language user, languager, languaging)
Mental lexicon
Relationship between form and meaning
Pineapple vs ananas
Usually arbitrary, but not always
Ex. Cuckoo vs gookooko’oo
Similarities between languages could stem from
- shared inheritance
- contact
- random chance/ coincidence
Language related organs
Lungs
Vocal cords
Tongue
Teeth
Lips
Nose
Hands
Face
What about written language?
Most languages in the world aren’t written regularly
Writing systems are an arbitrary representation of language
Principles of Grammar (language structure)
-Generality
- parity
- creativity/ productivity
- mutability
-accessibility
Generality def
All languages have grammar
Parity def
All grammars are equally valid
Creativity/ productivity
All grammars can create an infinite number of words and sentences
Mutability
All grammars change over time
Accessibility
Grammars are a combination of conscious and subconscious knowledge
Creativity and constraints
Language is fundamentally creative
- speakers are able to express novel
propositions
- speakers are able to change
language over time
There are constraints to language
- these may be anatomical, cognitive,
Or cultural
- there’s is still lots of debate
surrounding the nature of language
constraints
Language description vs prescription
Linguistics is descriptive
-linguistics are interested in how languages are actually used
- no value judgements
- no expectations of how language should be used
Metalinguistic awareness
Ability to think about language as a separate entity, and to analyze its structure and rules
Ex.
Do any of these feel wrong?
Sam compared the forged painting with the original
Sam compared the forged painting and the original
Tools for linguistics
Corpus
Survey
Interview
Acoustic analysis
Ultrasound
Palatogrophy
Experiments
Eye-tracking
Functional MRI
Electroencephalography (EEG)
