Introduction to Linguistics

• Linguistics scientifically studies languages.
• Determinations of linguistics include:
  • Rules that govern a language's structure.
  • Whether language structures are universal.
  • If language structures are particular.

Linguistics Sub-Fields

• Syntax: The study of sentence structure.
• Pragmatics: The study of language use and communication.
• Morphology: Studies the structure of words.
• Phonology: The study of sound structure.
• Semantics: The study of meaning and denotation.
• Phonetics: The physical study of speech sounds.
• L1 is the first language.
• L2 is the second language.
• Applied Linguistics is linguistics in action.
• Applied Linguistics does not create unchanging solutions and practices for language-related problems.
• Areas of applied linguistics include:
• Discourse analysis.
• Second language acquisition.
• Translation.
• Language is not created by simply using tongues, lips, ears, or hands; it is a matter of the mind.
• 90 percent of right-handed people have language functions centralized in the left hemisphere.
• Approximately 30% of some left-handed and ambidextrous people are likely to have language centralized in the right hemisphere of the brain.
• Broca's area is the part of the brain that helps with speech.
• Wernicke's area is the part of the brain that helps with understanding language.
• Broca's aphasia occurs when there is damage to Broca's area, causing difficulty in producing speech.
• A person with Wernicke's aphasia experiences:
  • Incoherent speech.
  • Trouble understanding others' speech.
• A person with both Broca's and Wernicke's aphasia has global aphasia.
• Arcuate fasciculus is a group of fiber optics that connect Broca's and Wernicke's areas in the brain.
• Damage to the arcuate fasciculus causes trouble conducting information between listening and speaking.
• Agraphia affects writing.
• The aphasia where people have an inability to name things is called anomia.
• Because the brain breaks tasks into smaller tasks that are then handled by different areas, it is highly unlikely someone will retain all communication abilities after localized brain damage.
• The brain's ability to reassign functions to other parts is called synaptic plasticity.
• If the corpus callosum is severed, a person may struggle to name objects due to disrupted communication between the brain's two hemispheres.
• Because the brain is contralaterally organized, a person with a severed corpus callosum could look at something with their right eye and name it correctly if their left hemisphere is where their language is processed.
• Most scholars group languages into about twelve "relative families".
• Written language is not as old as spoken language.
• (Proto) Indo-European is theorized as the source of many languages.
• Comparative linguistics is the study of relationships among languages.

Relative Language Families

• North Germanic: Swedish.
• Celtic: Welsh.
• Slavic: Russian.
• Italic: French.
• West Germanic: English.
• Hellenic: Greek.

Timeline of English Language Development

• Fifth Century A.D.: English, the language of the Angles, displaced the Celtic language and Old English became the official language of Britain.
• Ninth Century A.D.: Vikings invaded Britain from Scandinavia.
• Tenth Century A.D.: N/A
• Eleventh Century A.D.: French became the language of nobility and business in England.
• Thirteenth Century A.D.: Middle English began.
• Fifteenth Century: With the invention of the printing press, word spelling needed standardization.
• 1604: The first English dictionary was published.

Language Terms

• Dialect: A sub-form variant of a language that is still generally comprehensible.
• Accent: The pronunciation of a language.
• Idiolect: Refers to the speech pattern of the language for one individual at a particular time in their life.
• Creole: Evolving from a pidgin, it serves as the native language of a speech community.
• Pidgin: A simplified vocabulary and grammar of a language or dialect, used for communication between peoples of different speech.