Introduction to Linguistics

• Linguistics scientifically studies languages
• Language particular structures do deter understanding

Linguistics Sub-Fields

• Syntax: studies the structure of words

• 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 theory in action

• Applied Linguistics creates evolving solutions and practices for language-related problems

• is not created by simply using tongues, lips, ears, or hands; but is a matter of the mind

• 95% of right-handed people have language functions centralized in the left hemisphere

• Roughly 30% of left-handed and ambidextrous individuals have language centralized in the right hemisphere of the brain

Brain Areas and Language

• Broca's area helps with speech

• Wernicke's area helps with understanding language

• Broca's aphasia occurs when there is damage to the Broca's area and a person has trouble producing speech

• Wernicke's aphasia can cause incoherent speech and trouble understanding other speech

• Both Broca's and Wernicke's aphasia results in global aphasia

• The arcuate fasciculus connects Broca's and Wernicke's areas in the brain

• Damage to the arcuate fasciculus can cause trouble conducting information between reading and speaking

• Agraphia affects writing

• Anomia is the aphasia where people have an inability to name things

• The brain's ability to reassign functions to other parts of the brain is called synaptic plasticity

• If the corpus callosum is severed, a person may have trouble naming objects because communication is disrupted between their two hemispheres of the brain

• 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

Language Families

• Most scholars group languages into about 100 "relative families"
• (Proto) Indo-European is the source of all theories
• Comparative linguistics is the study of relationships among languages

Language History

• Fifth Century A.D.: Old English, the official language of Britain
• Ninth Century A.D.: Vikings invaded Britain from Scandinavia
• Tenth century A.D.: With the invention of the printing press, more standardization of word spelling becomes necessary
• Eleventh Century A.D.: English, the language of the Angles, displaced the Celtic language
• Thirteenth Century A.D.: Middle English
• Fifteenth Century: first English dictionary was published
• 1604

Language Definitions

• Dialect: this is a sub-form variant of a language that is still generally comprehensible
• Accent: this is 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
• Jargon: a simplified vocabulary and grammar of a language or dialect which is used for communication between peoples of different speech