Introduction to Linguistics

Studying Language

• Linguistics is the study of language, and it's a unique area to study because we need to use language to study it.
• To study language, we need to be precise about cultivating meta-linguistic awareness, which means testing and examining our assumptions about how language works.

Key Features of Language

• Language exists at two levels: the level of form (sounds or handshapes) and the level of combinations of forms that create meaning.
• This is known as the duality of patterning.
• The choice of words and signs is arbitrary, meaning there's no inherent connection between the word and the thing it refers to.
• This is known as the arbitrariness of the sign.
• Language has the feature of displacement, which means we can talk about things that happened in the past, will happen in the future, or may happen in other worlds.
• Language also has the feature of reflexivity, which means we can use language to talk about language itself.

Language vs. Other Communication Systems

• Other forms of communication, such as bees' waggle dances or parrots' mimicry, don't have the same design features as human language.
• Animals can communicate, but none of the ways they communicate have all the design features of human language.

Language Varieties

• There are over 7,000 identified languages, and many varieties within them.
• Linguists are interested in all the different varieties of languages that people speak and sign, not just the standardized version.
• All language varieties tell us interesting things about how people use language.

Levels of Language Structure

• Phonetics: the study of individual sounds in spoken languages or handshapes in signed languages.
• Phonology: the study of how languages combine individual sounds or handshapes into words according to specific patterns.
• Morphology: the study of how words can be broken down into an internal structure.
• Syntax: the study of how words group together to make sentences.
• Semantics: the study of the meaning of words and sentences.
• Pragmatics: the study of meaning in a larger social context.

Studying Language

• Linguists can study language by observing people, asking them questions, or doing experiments with them.
• They can also work with existing text, recordings, video, or historical documents.
• Introspection, or consulting the language knowledge in our own heads, can also be a useful tool for studying language.

Importance of Linguistics

• Linguistics is relevant to anyone who uses language, but it's especially relevant to certain people and industries, such as speech pathologists, language teachers, and writers.
• Understanding linguistics and how language works is valuable for anyone who wants to better understand humans and the world we live in.

Studying Language

• Linguistics is the study of language, requiring precision and meta-linguistic awareness to examine assumptions about language.

Key Features of Language

• Language has two levels: the level of form (sounds or handshapes) and the level of combinations of forms that create meaning, known as the duality of patterning.
• The choice of words and signs is arbitrary, with no inherent connection between the word and the thing it refers to, known as the arbitrariness of the sign.
• Language has the feature of displacement, allowing us to talk about past, future, or hypothetical events.
• Language also has the feature of reflexivity, enabling us to use language to talk about language itself.

Language vs. Other Communication Systems

• Other forms of communication, such as bees' waggle dances or parrots' mimicry, lack the design features of human language.
• While animals can communicate, their methods do not possess all the design features of human language.

Language Varieties

• There are over 7,000 identified languages, with many varieties within them.
• Linguists are interested in all language varieties, not just standardized versions, as they reveal how people use language.

Levels of Language Structure

• Phonetics: the study of individual sounds in spoken languages or handshapes in signed languages.
• Phonology: the study of how languages combine individual sounds or handshapes into words according to specific patterns.
• Morphology: the study of how words can be broken down into an internal structure.
• Syntax: the study of how words group together to make sentences.
• Semantics: the study of the meaning of words and sentences.
• Pragmatics: the study of meaning in a larger social context.

Studying Language

• Linguists can study language through observation, interviews, experiments, text analysis, and introspection.

Importance of Linguistics

• Linguistics is relevant to anyone who uses language, particularly speech pathologists, language teachers, and writers.
• Understanding linguistics is valuable for anyone seeking to better understand humans and the world.