An Introduction to Linguistics

Chapter1InvitationtoLinguisticsAnIntroductiontoLinguisticsGradingClassPerformance…………….…10%TermPaper…………..…………….20%FinalExamination…………………70%Whatislinguistics?ScienceSubjectmatterchemistryhowsubstancescombinetoformothersubstancespsychologyhowindividualsbehavesociologyhowpeoplebehaveingroupsculturalanthropologyhowhumanculturesresembleanddifferfromeachotherlinguistics?LinguisticsanditsresearchscopeThescientificstudyoflanguageanditsmechanismlanguagesinallthehumansocietiesasascienceMajorbranchesinlinguistics&Macro-linguistics---“It’scoldinhere.”Ascientificstudyisonewhichisbasedonthesystematicinvestigationofdata,conductedwithreferencetosomegeneraltheoryoflanguagestructure.linguisticsdatacontainsintuitionandcorpus.---“It’scoldinhere.”SpeechsoundsWordsSentenceMeaning(text)(Whatwillbeyourresponse?)---“It’scoldinhere.”Whyandhowdopeopleuselanguageindifferentways?Howdopeoplecomprehend,produceandacquirelanguage?HowdoweusetheknowledgetofacilitateourEnglishlearning?What’stherolecomputerplayinthisdiscipline?LinguisticsC2PhoneticsC2PhonologyC3MorphologyC4SyntaxC5SemanticC8pragmaticsPsycholinguisticsSociolinguisticsAnthropologicalLinguisticsAppliedLinguisticsComputationalLinguisticsLiterarystylisticsC6LanguageprocessinginmindC7LanguageCultureSocietyC9LanguageAndLiteratureC10LanguageandComputerC11LinguisticsAndFLTC1InvitationsLinguisticsC12TheoriesandSchoolsofML(1)Phoneticsisthebranchoflinguisticswhichstudiestheproduction,thephysicalproperties,andtheperceptionofspeechsounds.(2)Phonologystudiesthesoundpatternsoflanguage,therulesgoverningthestructure,distribution,andsequencingofspeechsoundsandtheshapesofsyllables.Morphologystudiestheformofwords,theinternalorganizationofwords,andthesmallestmeaningfulunitsinalanguage---morphemes.SyntaxisabouttheprinciplesofformingandunderstandingcorrectEnglishsentences.Theserulesspecifywordorder,sentenceorganization,andtherelationshipbetweenwords,wordclassesandothersentenceelements.Semanticsstudieshowmeaningisencodedinalanguage.Itisconcernedwithmeaningsofwordsandthoseunitsbelowandabovewords.Pragmaticsisthestudyofmeaningincontext.Itisconcernedwiththewaylanguageisusedtocommunicateratherthanwiththewaylanguageisstructured.Macro-linguisticsThestudyoflanguagehasestablishedcloserelationshipswithotherbranchesofsocialsciences.Thisresultsinsomeinterdisciplinarystudyoflanguage.Thestudyoflanguageasawholeisoftencalledgenerallinguistics.Thisdealswiththebasicconcepts,theories,descriptions,models,applicableinanylinguisticsstudy,incontractstothosebranchesofstudywhichrelatelinguisticstotheresearchofotherareas.AppliedlinguisticsAppliedlinguisticsservesasamediatingareawhichinterpretstheresultsoflinguistictheoriesandmakesthemuser-friendlytothelanguageteacherandlearner.Whenthefindings,methods,ortheoreticalprinciplesoftheoreticallinguisticsareappliedtoproblemsfromotherfields(suchasanthropology,philosophy,psychology,sociology,oreducation),thisinquiryiscalledappliedlinguistics.ImportantdistinctionsinlinguisticsDescriptivevsprescriptiveSynchronicvsdiachronicLange&paroleCompetence&performanceDescriptivevsPrescriptiveDescriptiveandprescriptiverepresenttwodifferenttypesoflinguisticstudy.Alinguisticstudyisdescriptiveifitdescribesandanalysesfactsobserved,inotherwords,whatisinlanguageuse,whatpeopleactuallysay.Alinguisticstudyisprescriptiveifittriestolaydownrulesforcorrectbehavior,andtellspeoplewhattheyshouldsayandwhattheyshouldnotsay.Linguisticsstudiesbeforethe20thcenturyarelargelyprescriptive.Modernlinguisticsismostlydescriptive.SynchronicandDiachronicOriginatedbyFerdinanddeSaussureThedescriptionoflanguageatsomepointoftimeinhistoryissynchronicstudy.Ittakesafixedinstantasitspointofobservation.Adiachroniclinguisticsisthestudyofalanguagethroughthecourseofitshistory.Synchronicdescriptionsareoftenthoughtofasbeingdescriptionsofthelanguageasitexistsatthepresentdayandmostlinguisticstudiesareofthistype.Judgewhichofthefollowingstudyisasynchronicone?Tracethedevelopmentofmodalverbs.DescribethesystemofShakespeare’sEnglish.InvestigatewhichinflectionalcategoriesonverbswerelostfromMiddleEnglishtoModernEnglish.Investigatewhendo-insertionbegantobeused?StudyadjectiveinflectionfromOldEnglishtoModernEnglish.Langue&ParoleThiswasalsomadebytheSwisslinguistSaussure.Langueisthelinguisticcompetenceofthespeaker,theabstractlinguisticsystemsharedbyallthemembersofaspeechcommunity.Paroleistheactualphenomenaordataofutterances,theactualizedlanguageorrealizationoflangue.Whatthelinguisthastodoistoabstractlanguefrominstancesofparole,thatis,todiscovertheregularitiesgoverningallinstancesofparoleandmakethemthesubjectoflinguistics.Langueisabstract,andparoleisspecifictothesituationinwhichitoccurs;langueisnotspoken,andparoleisanaturallyoccurringevent;langueisstableandsystematic,andparoleissubjecttopersonalandsituationalconstraints.Competence&performanceOriginatedbyNormChomsky(AspectsoftheTheoryofSyntax)Competenceistheideallanguageuser’sknowledgeoftherulesofhislanguage.Performanceistheactualrealizationofthisknowledge