Understanding Language: Structure and Communication

What is Language?

• Language serves as a communication system, enabling humans to articulate thoughts and comprehend each other.
• Language involves generating sounds (or signs in sign languages) to convey meaning.
• Understanding a language encompasses grasping the principles governing sounds, words, and sentences and knowing how to employ them for communication.

Animals and Human Language

• Human language differs from animal communication as it allows for creating endless sentences with set rules.
• Animals typically rely on fixed signals.
• Human language facilitates discussions about non-present events like the past or future.
• Animals generally communicate about immediate occurrences.
• Human language possesses intricate structures that enable the formation of detailed, creative sentences.
• Animal signals are generally simple and direct.

Linguistic Knowledge and Performance

• Linguistic knowledge (or competence) refers to an individual's in-depth comprehension of a language's grammar, syntax, and word meanings.
• Linguistic performance pertains to how individuals practically apply this knowledge in their speech and comprehension.

Grammar

• Grammar constitutes the system of rules that dictates how words and phrases combine within a language.
• Descriptive grammar elucidates how language is employed by speakers.
• Descriptive grammar refrains from judging usage as "correct" or "incorrect."
• Prescriptive grammar establishes rules for speaking and writing, frequently drawing from historical or societal conventions.

Phonology

• Phonology is a linguistic branch studying sound patterns in languages, aiming to understand how speakers organize sounds and how those sounds affect meaning.

Phonemes

• Phonemes are the smallest sound units in a language that differentiate meaning.

Phones and Allophones

• Phones represent actual speech sounds produced during speaking.
• Allophones are phoneme variations that don't alter a word's meaning.

Minimal Pairs and Sets

• Minimal pairs are word pairs differing by only one phoneme, resulting in different meanings.
• Minimal sets are word groups differing by one phoneme in the same position.
• Examples include "bit," "bat," and "but."

Followed by Stressed Vowel

• When a sound or phoneme is "followed by [stressed] vowel," it means the vowel coming immediately afterwards is stressed.
• Stress is indicated by greater emphasis or force.

Complementary Distribution

• Complementary distribution means two allophones of the same phoneme never appear in the same phonetic context, complementing each other without overlap.

Phonetics

• Phonetics studies speech sound characteristics, including how speech sounds are made or articulated.

Articulatory Phonetics

• Articulatory phonetics studies the production of speech sounds using human vocal organs.

Acoustic Phonetics

• Acoustic Phonetics analyzes speech sounds' physical properties, focusing on sound waves.

Auditory Phonetics

• Auditory phonetics examines how speech sounds are perceived and processed through human hearing.

Voiced Sounds

• Voiced sounds are produced with vocal cord vibration.
• Examples: (z), (v).

Voiceless Sounds

• Voiceless sounds are produced without vocal cord vibration.
• Examples: (s), (f).
• The difference is felt by placing a finger on the throat while pronouncing sounds.

Place of Articulation

• Place of articulation refers to where airflow is restricted in the mouth to create sound.

Bilabials

• Involve using both lips.
• Examples: (p, m, b).

Labiodentals

• Involve the lower lip touching the upper teeth.
• Examples: (f, v).

Alveolars

• Involve the tongue tip touching the alveolar ridge.
• Examples: (t, d, s, z).

Palatals

• Involve the tongue touching the alveolar ridge or hard palate.
• Examples: (ʃ, ʒ, tʃ, dʒ).

Velars

• Involve the back of the tongue touching the soft palate.
• Examples: (k, g, ŋ).

Glottals

• Sounds produced at the glottis.
• Example: (h).

Manner of Articulation

• Manner of articulation describes how airflow is obstructed when producing sounds.

Stops (Plosives)

• Airflow is completely blocked before release.
• Examples: (p, b, t, d, k, g).

Fricatives

• Air passes through a narrow opening, creating friction.
• Examples: (f, v, θ, ð, s, z, ʃ, ʒ, x, ɣ).

Affricates

• Affricates combine a stop and a fricative.
• Examples: (tʃ, dʒ).

Nasals

• Air flows through the nose.
• Examples: (m, n, ŋ). (Voiced)

Liquids

• The tongue forms a wide channel for airflow.
• (l, r).

Glides (Semivowels)

• The tongue moves from one position to another.
• (w, j).

Vowels and Diphthongs

• Vowels are produced with an obstructed airflow.
• Vowels are categorized based on tongue position, including high vs. low tongue position in the mouth.

Front vs. Back

• Front vs. back refers to which part of the tongue is used.

Diphthongs

• Diphthongs are a combination of two vowel sounds within one syllable.
• Examples: (aɪ) as in "eye" and (aʊ) as in "cow."

Voiceless Stops

• Voiceless stops are consonants without vocal cord vibration