Linguistics
Chapter 1 Introduction: Language and Linguistics
? What is language?
? Different definitions of language ? Language is a system whose parts can and must be considered in their
synchronic solidarity. (de Saussure, 1916)
? [Language is] a set (finite or infinite) of sentences, each finite in length
and constructed out of a finite set of elements. (Chomsky, 1957)
? Language is a purely human and non-instinctive method of
communicating ideas, emotions and desires by means of voluntarily produced symbols.
? Each of the definitions above has pointed out some aspects of the essence of
language, but all of them have left out something. We must see the multi-faceted nature of language.
? As is agreed by linguists in broad terms, language can be defined as a
system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication.
? Features of human language
? Creativity
? Language provides opportunities for sending messages that have never
been sent before and for understanding brand new messages.
? The grammar rules and the words are finite, but the sentences are
infinite. Every speaker uses language creatively.
? Duality
? Language contains two subsystems, one of sounds and the other of
meanings.
? Certain sounds or sequences of sounds stand for certain meanings.
? Certain meanings are conveyed by certain speech sounds or sequences
of speech sounds.
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? Arbitrariness
? The relationship between the two subsystems of language is arbitrary. ? There is no logical connection between sound and meaning. ? Displacement
? There is no limit in time or space for language.
? Language can be used to refer to things real or imagined, past, present or
future.
? Cultural transmission
? Culture cannot be genetically transmitted. Instead, it must be learned. ? Language is a way of transmitting culture. ? Interchangeability
? All members of a speech community can send and receive messages. ? Reflexivity
? Human languages can be used to describe themselves.
? The language used to talk about language is called meta-language.
? Functions of language – three meta-functions
? The ideational function
? To identify things, to think, or to record information. ? The interpersonal function
? To get along in a community. ? The textual function
? To form a text.
? Types of language
? Genetic classification ? Typological classification
? Analytic language – no inflections or formal changes, grammatical
relationships are shown through word order, such as Chinese and Vietnamese
? Synthetic language – grammatical relationships are expressed by
changing the internal structure of the words, typically by changing the inflectional endings, such as English and German
? Agglutinating language – words are built out of a long sequence of units,
with each unit expressing a particular grammatical meaning, such as
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Japanese and Turkish
? The myth of language – language origin
? The Biblical account
? Language was God’s gift to human beings. ? The bow-wow theory
? Language was an imitation of natural sounds, such as the cries of
animals, like quack, cuckoo.
? The pooh-pooh theory
? Language arose from instinctive emotional cries, expressive of pain or
joy.
? The yo-he-ho theory
? Language arose from the noises made by a group of people engaged in
joint labour or effort – lifting a huge hunted game, moving a rock, etc.
? The evolution theory
? Language originated in the process of labour and answered the call of
social need.
? What is linguistics?
? Linguistics is the scientific study of language.
? Observing & questioning ? Formulating hypotheses ? Verifying the hypotheses ? Proposing a theory ? Branches of linguistics
? Internal branches: intra-disciplinary divisions
? Phonetics ? Phonology ? Morphology ? Syntax ? Semantics
? External branches: inter-disciplinary divisions
? Pragmatics
? Psycholinguistics ? Sociolinguistics
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? Applied linguistics
? Computational linguistics ? Neurolinguistics
? Features of linguistics
? Descriptive
? Dealing with spoken language ? Synchronic
Chapter 2 Phonetics
? What is phonetics?
? Phonetics is termed as the study of speech sounds. ? Sub-branches of phonetics
? Articulatory phonetics – the production of speech sounds ? Acoustic phonetics – the physical properties of speech sounds ? Auditory phonetics – the perceptive mechanism of speech sounds
? The speech organs
? Where does the air stream come from?
? From the lung
? What is the function of vocal cords?
? Controlling the air stream ? What are the cavities?
? Oral cavity
? Pharyngeal cavity ? Nasal cavity
? Transcription of speech sounds
? Units of representation
? Segments (the individual sounds) ? Phonetic symbols
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? The widely used symbols for phonetic transcription of speech sounds is
the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). ? The IPA attempts to represent each sound of human speech with a single
symbol and the symbols are enclosed in brackets [ ] to distinguish phonetic transcriptions from the spelling system of a language.
? In more detailed transcription (narrow transcription) a sound may be
transcribed with a symbol to which a smaller is added in order to mark the finer distinctions.
? Description of speech sounds
? Description of English consonants
? General feature: obstruction ? Criteria of consonant description
? Places of articulation ? Manners of articulation ? Voicing of articulation ? Places of articulation
? This refers to each point at which the air stream can be modified to
produce a sound.
? Bilabial: [p] [b] [m] [w] ? Labiodental: [f] [v] ? Interdental: [?] [?]
? Alveolar: [t] [d] [s] [z] [l] [n] [r] ? Palatal: [?] [?] [t?] [d?] [j] ? Velar: [k] [g] [?] ? Glottal: [h]
? Manners of articulation
? This refers to how the air stream is modified, whether it is
completely blocked or partially obstructed. ? Stops: [p] [b] [t] [d] [k] [g]
? Fricatives: [s] [z] [?] [?] [f] [v] [?] [?] [h] ? Affricates: [t?] [d?] ? Liquids: [l] [r] ? Glides: [w] [j] ? Nasals: [m] [n] [?]
? Voicing of articulation
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