Linguistics and Language Theory Overview

Documentary: "Colorless Green Ideas"

• Explores Noam Chomsky's transformational generative grammar.
• Highlights universal language features, deep structure, and surface structure.
• "Colorless green ideas sleep furiously" illustrates correct syntax with nonsensical semantics.
• Emphasizes innate human language capacity independent of meaning.

Linguistic Anthropology

• Explores the connection between language and culture.
• Language reflects and shapes social life.
• Like This Word Fits Anywhere examines how language functions in different social contexts; prioritizing descriptive linguistics over prescriptive linguistics.

Historical Linguistics and Language Evolution

• Examines language origins and evolution, emphasizing Chomsky's Universal Grammar (UG).
• Universal Grammar (UG): Humans have a biological predisposition to learn language, demonstrated by:
  • Children's rapid language acquisition.
  • Studies, like "Village of the Deaf," showing innate syntactic structures even in isolated communities; the Bedouin sign language demonstrates this.

Universal Features of Human Languages

• Surface Structure: Arrangement of words in a sentence.
• Deep Structure: Underlying meaning and grammatical relationships.
• Transformational grammar: Explains interactions between surface and deep structures.
• Infinite Productivity/Open System: Language generates limitless sentences and expresses novel ideas.
• Semantic Universality: Ability to discuss abstract concepts (past, present, future).
• Symbolic Arbitrariness: Words/symbols lack inherent connection to their meaning (e.g., 'dog' vs. 'perro').
• Duality of Patterning: Meaningless units (phonemes) form meaningful units (morphemes, words).
• Complexity: All languages are equally complex, regardless of cultural or societal differences.

Language and Thought

• Lost in Translation explores linguistic relativity – how language shapes thought and perception.
• Linguistic Relativity (Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis):
  • Strong version: Language determines thought.
  • Weak version: Language influences thought.
  • Language affects perception and cognition, seen in different color terminology and spatial orientations across cultures.

Ethnolinguistics

• Studies the relationship between language, culture, and social practices.
• Focuses on linguistic profusion (language diversity).

Structural (Descriptive) Linguistics

• Analyzes and describes language systems.
• Phonology: Study of sound systems.
  • Phonemes: Smallest units of sound.
  • Minimal Pair Test: Identifies phonemes through contrasting word pairs (e.g., "bat" vs. "pat").
• Morphology: Study of word formation.
  • Morphemes: Smallest meaningful units of language.
  • Free morphemes (stand alone) vs. bound morphemes (attach to other morphemes).
• Syntax: Study of sentence structure.
  • Examines sentence ambiguity (e.g., "The chicken is ready to eat").

Sociolinguistics

• Studies language use in social contexts, including status and roles.
• To Give up on Words: Explores silence in Western Apache culture, where silence signifies respecting status and avoiding role ambiguity.
• Gendered Speech: Examines how gender influences language use.

Language and the Sacred

• Explores how hallucinogens – their use and impact on community – connect to language/religious practices.
  • Hallucinogenic Plants and Their Use in Traditional Societies: Examines how sacred plants facilitate societal bonds and spiritual transitions.
  • Peyote Art: Explores visionary art among the Huichol and hallucinogens’ connection to divine visions.
• The God Gene: Explores the hypothesis of a genetic predisposition to spirituality and belief.

Key Lecture/Discussion Points

• Linguistics: Descriptive vs. Prescriptive - differentiate the two approaches.
• Historical Linguistics and Evolution: Examine language's origins and evolution.
• Chomsky's Universal Grammar: Discuss supporting evidence and implications.
• Universal Features of Human Language: Define and exemplify each feature.
• Linguistic Relativity: Contrast perspectives from "Lost in Translation".
• Silence in Sociolinguistics: Analyze Western Apache's use of silence.
• Hallucinogens and Spiritual Language: Connect language, rituals, and spirituality.

Study Strategies

• Review documentary content - focus on Chomsky's transformational grammar.
• Annotate readings, finding examples reinforcing linguistic theories.
• Practice applying learned linguistic terms to examples.
• Prepare discussion questions on relativity and silence.
• Connect language features to cultural/evolutionary contexts.

This quiz delves into key concepts of linguistics, including Noam Chomsky's transformational generative grammar, linguistic anthropology, and historical linguistics. It emphasizes the relationship between language and culture, as well as the innate capabilities of humans to acquire language. Explore various theories and their implications for understanding language evolution and social contexts.