What is a linguist?
The Linguists: A Movie
• http://thelinguists.com/
Linguistics has many subfields
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Phonetics
Phonology
Syntax
Semantics
Pragmatics
Morphology
Phonetics
• The study of minimal sound units of a
language
• Example: beat, bit, bat
Phonology
• The language-specific study of the distribution
of speech sounds
Example: Ptolemy
Pterodactyl
Captive
Example: thedogisplayinginthebackyard
the dog is playing in the back yard
Morphology
• Study of word formation
(breaking down individual words into smaller parts)
Unbelieveability
Ungiraffelike
Baker vs. *erbake
Nicley vs. *bookly
Anytime you see a *
it means you’re looking at an
example that is ungrammatical
Syntax
• Study of how words combine to form phrases
and sentences
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2)
3)
4)
I will pick the package up at 8 o’clock.
At eight o’clock, I will pick the package up.
*Package up pick at o’clock will the eight I.
*I will picks the package up at eight o’clock.
Semantics
• The study of the ability of determine the
meaning of sentences
• Couch vs. sofa
• “duck”
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The green duck dawdled around the cactus.
The duck dawdled around the green cactus.
The platypus ducked under the sofa.
!The sofa ducked under the platypus.
Anytime you see a !
it means you’re looking at an
example that is semantically
anomolous
Pragmatics
• The study of meaning in context
– Can you close the door?
– What a beautiful cake!
– “Dude, ‘sup?” vs. “Good morning, sir”
– Chillaxin’ vs. resting
When greeting a professor, it would be
pragmatically awkward to use “#Dude, ‘sup?”
Anytime you see a #
it means you’re looking at an
example that is pragmatically
awkward
POP QUIZ
A. Syntax
B. Semantics
C. Phonetics
D. Pragmatics
E. Phonology
F. Morphology
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Context
Meaning
Sentences
Words
Distribution of speech
sounds
6. Minimal speech
sounds
POP QUIZ
A. Ungrammatical
B. Semantically
Anomolous
(meaning is weird)
C. Pragmatically Awkward
(wouldn’t be used in
that context)
1.#
2.!
3.*
What linguists do besides teach?
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Document (Endangered) Languages
Work on voice recognition programs
Perfect spell-check/grammar check
Shape language-learning textbooks/software
Search through large quantities of texts
looking for new words
While linguistics has many facets, all linguists have one thing in common:
LANGUAGE
What is language?
Get in groups of 2-3 and write your
very best definition of language.
Some stats about language
• 6,000 languages spoken in the world
• But 90% of the population speaks only 10% of
them
• Languages are very diverse, yet there are
many universal properties of languages
• There are some characteristics shares by all
languages as well as characteristics that no
language has
Competence vs. Performance
• Competence = what we know about a
language (hidden potential)
• Performance = what we produce (observable)
• Walking analogy (even when you’re sitting,
you have the competence to walk)
What language is NOT
• Language is not writing (p. 13)
– Archeological evidence
– Writing does not exist everywhere
– Writing must be taught
– Neurolinguistic evidence
– Writing can be edited
• Language is not prescriptive grammar (p.14)
Prescriptive vs. Descriptive
• Prescriptive grammar is the socially embedded
notion of the “correct” or “proper” way to use
a language
• Descriptive grammar describes what happens
in a spoken language and, therefore, accepts
the patterns a speaker uses without judgment
• (see page 16 for double negative example)
• (for practice, see page 31, question 12)
Design Features of a Language
by Charles Hockett
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Mode of communication
Semanticity
Pragmatic Function
Interchangeability
Cultural Transmission
Arbitrariness
Discreteness
Displacement
Productivity