LINGUISTICS
1
The Study of Language
Nel Hart
Ocean Lakes High School
LINGUISTICS
2
What I Already Knew and What I Want to Know
From the moment we begin to form sounds that resemble words, to our last breath, we are
exposed to at least one language, our native language1. Our native language may be English,
Spanish, Chinese, or one of the many other different languages that fill this world.
Linguistics is the scientific study of language; any new information may have an impact
around the world.
Ever since I was a little child, I have been interested in the workings of every language
that I’ve come across, such as Spanish, French, and many more. I already know English and
how it works, but what I would like to know overall is the importance of linguistics and what I
could do with a degree in linguistics, if I decide to major in linguistics while in college.
As well as what I could do with a degree, I had a couple more questions: What are the
rules of linguistics? What are the trends and patterns for the many different languages? How
has the field of linguistics changed over time? Are there any special terms I should know before
I interview a professional and what is their significance?
LINGUISTICS
3
The Story of My Search
To begin my search into the study of language, I looked around the internet for the rules
in linguistics. Originally, I wanted to find the ethical rules in the field of linguistics, but as I
poked around, I found that, in order to understand each language, I would have to learn about the
grammatical rules that cover language. English Language and Linguistics Online2 and An
Introduction to the Study of Language3 helped me understand each of the following rules of
language: phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, lexicon, and more.
Continuing on, I discovered that finding full articles on trends and patterns between
languages would prove to be a discouraging task. Eventually, I found a PDF file from Cell
Press4 that would provide the answers that I would need to further my knowledge of linguistics.
With the intention of learning more about the field of linguistics, I wanted to find out any
changes in linguistics that have occurred over the past few decades or so, but it took a lot of
searching and examining each paper that I came across. I finally found a credible source in the
National Science Foundation5.
In regards to the terminology of linguistics, most definitions were from Dictionary.com
as well as from the other websites that I have used for the other questions.
LINGUISTICS
4
Search Results
After reading through the information on English Language and Linguistics Online and
An Introduction to the Study of Language, I found that “knowledge of language includes
knowledge of morphemes, words, phrases, and sentences2.” Phonology is the study of sounds
and how they are organized, and used, in the native language. I also found that morphology, the
“linguistic discipline covers the structure of words2” and that a morpheme is the “smallest unit of
linguistics meaning3.” Syntax “explains sentence patterns2” and is essentially sentence order.
Lexicon, the vocabulary of a certain language, is described by semantics, which “explore
different aspects of meaning2.” These are only few of the many important rules of language that
I have happened upon.
Tools from evolutionary biology… explored Baye’s Theorem, and using Bayesian
phylogenetic methods, Stephen Levinson and Russell Gray found that although there are “casual
linkages” between languages, they discovered more likely possibilities after much examination
that “historical patterns of change are responsible for the observed linkage in each language
family4.”
In order to understand the current field of linguistics, I had to look for any changes that
have occurred in this field. We will have to begin with the theories of the origin of language,
which are different between each religion, mythologies, etcetera; “linguistic history suggests that
spoken languages of the kind that exist today have been around for tens of thousands of years at
the very least3.” Most importantly for this question, changes in language create new changes in
the field of linguistics. According to National Science Foundation, linguists have found that
every language changes at different rates. There are a variety of reasons as to why languages
change, including the pressures of society, colonization, and any new technologies created5.
LINGUISTICS
5
In the beginning of our process of getting ready for the I-Search paper, Mrs. Graves,
advised that we keep a glossary of key terms that a lay person may need. As I continued my
research, I found many words that perplexed me and therefore might confuse others that read my
blog or I-Search paper. Some of the important terminologies that I found along the way, that I
have not already mentioned, are the following: Accomodation Theory, language variation due to
social interaction; Baye’s (Bayesian) Theorem , a theory of probability in regards to the statistics
of conditional probability; neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to create new pathways due to
changes in behavior; pragmatics, how context affects meaning; sociolinguistics, the study of the
relationship between language and social factors.
My Growth
I have learned many important aspects of research and the like as a result of working on
this I-Search paper. To name one, I realized that research took a big chunk of time out of my
already limited time for school work. Because of that, I now know to plan my time accordingly
to successfully research and write the I-Search paper in good time. Another thing I found out,
as I was going through this process, was that multiple prospective interviewees and a solid plan
of contacting someone ahead of time is paramount to gathering primary information for the
research. Furthermore, I have learned to sort out the important information from my resources
and that I will need to work more in advance next time I do something like this. As a result of all
this, I also learned about the many elements of linguistics that I will need for my senior year.
LINGUISTICS
6
References
1
Macaulay, M. & Syrett, K. (2012). Why Major in Linguistics?. Retrieved June 11, 2014
2
Bergs, A. & Reiners, A. (n.d.). What are phonetics and phonology?. Retrieved May 12, 2014
3
Fromkin, V. & Rodman, R. (2003). An Introduction to the Study of Language (7th ed.). Boston,
Massachusetts: Wadsworth. Retrieved May 11, 2014
4
Levinson, S. C. & Gray, R. D. (n.d.). Tools from evolutionary biology shed new light on the
diversification of languages [PDF document]. Retrieved May 14, 2014
5
Language Change. (n.d.). Retrieved May 25, 2014
LINGUISTICS
7
IGNORE THIS PAGE
http://www.ello.uos.de/field.php/PhoneticsandPhonology/PhoneticsandPhonology
http://staff.neu.edu.tr/~soznur/An%20introduction%20to%20language%207th%20
edition.pdf
http://www.linguisticsociety.org/content/why-major-linguistics
http://pubman.mpdl.mpg.de/pubman/item/escidoc:1211548:7/component/escido
c:1379633/Levinson_Gray_TICS_2012.pdf
http://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/linguistics/change.jsp
http://www.spokaneschools.org/cms/lib/wa01000970/centricity/domain/3241/
3atheisearchpaper.pdf