Introduction to Linguistics Fall 2023/2024

Introduction to linguistics Fall 2023/2024 What is linguistics? Linguistics can be defined as the scientific or systematic study of language. What is language? It is a Communication of thoughts and feelings through a system of arbitrary signals, such as voice sounds, gestures, or writte...

Introduction to linguistics Fall 2023/2024 What is linguistics? Linguistics can be defined as the scientific or systematic study of language. What is language? It is a Communication of thoughts and feelings through a system of arbitrary signals, such as voice sounds, gestures, or written symbols Let's have a look what the experts have to say.. 1. Sapir (1921): “Language is a purely human and non-instinctive method of communicating ideas, emotions, and desires by means of a system of voluntarily produced symbols.”  2. David Crystal (1989): “The discussion may be summarized by referring to language as human vocal noise (or graphic representation of this noise in writing) used systematically and conventionally by a community for purposes of communication.”  Robbins (1990): “Language is a form of communication by means of a system of symbols principally transmitted by vocal sounds What do we study in linguistics? Subsystems of language 1- Phonetics 2- Phonology 3- Morphology 4- Syntax 5- Semantics 6- Pragmatics Phonetics Phonetics is the scientific study of speech sounds in isolation. It studies how speech sounds are articulated, transmitted, and received. Phonology Phonology is the study of sound patterns; how speech sounds function in a language, it studies the ways speech sounds are organized. Morphology Morphology is the study of the formation of words. It is a branch of linguistics which breaks words into morphemes. It can be considered as the grammar of words as syntax is the grammar of sentences. Syntax Syntax deals with the combination of words into phrases, clauses and sentences (how words go together). It is the grammar of sentence construction. Semantics Semantics is a branch of linguistics which is concerned with the study of meaning in all its formal aspects. Words have several types of meaning. Lexical relations: Antonyms, synonyms.... Pragmatics Pragmatic can be defined as the study of language in use. It deals with how speakers use language in ways which cannot be predicted from linguistic knowledge alone, and how hearers arrive at the intended meaning of speakers.