Linguistics introduction

Question 1

What is linguistics?

Answer 1

Linguistics is a field of research that studies the human speech, the language. Linguists apply the scientific method to conduct formal studies of the units, nature, structure, meaning and modification of a language.

The method that linguists use is scientific and their study is systematic.
Linguistics is an umbrella term.

Question 2

Structural linguistics

Answer 2

It studies a language as a system of related structures whose elements are defined by their relationship to other elements within the system.

It has various branches:
PHONETICS – PHONOLOGY – MORPHOLOGY – SYNTAX

Question 3

Phonetics

Answer 3

aPhonetics: the study of the sounds of speech.
Deals with the description of the phones (=sounds)
Aim: to describe the formal properties of human speech sound (how they’re made and discerned).
Phones are concrete entities, not just abstract sounds BUT a linguist who study in this field doesn’t focus on “meaning”.

Question 4

Phones

Answer 4

(=sounds)
Phones are concrete entities, not just abstract sounds BUT a linguist who study in this field doesn’t focus on “meaning”.

Question 5

Phonology

Answer 5

Phonology: uses phonetics in order to see how sounds are organized in a system for each language. It studies the sounds focusing on their function in a language.

Deals with the phonemes
• abstract units that convey meaning (meaning-distinguishing units)
• they DO NOT have intrinsic meaning, but they’re arranged in a system so that it is possible to distinguish between meanings

Phonology deals with the contrasts at the level of sound that create differences of meaning in a particular language.
ex: MINIMAL PAIRS

Question 6

Minimal pairs

Answer 6

Couples of linguistic forms that are identical except for one sound (teach, reach, peach, beach, leach). And the meaning is totally different.

Question 7

Morphology

Answer 7

It studies how individual units (words) are formed by smaller units called the morphemes (units that carry meaning).
ex: a word that is formed by a root and a suffix: two morphemes combined in a new unit.

Question 8

Morphemes

Answer 8

Units that carry meaning

Question 9

Phonemes

Answer 9

• abstract units that convey meaning (meaning-distinguishing units)
• they DO NOT have intrinsic meaning, but they’re arranged in a system so that it is possible to distinguish between meanings

Question 10

Syntax

Answer 10

Studies how words combine to form larger units.
Deals with sentences (the main basic unit of syntactic analysis); sentences are able to form larger units too (ex. Texts).

There are many syntactic theories and studies, but of the main linguists who focused on this field is Noam Chomsky who developed the MP (Minimalist Program): its aim is to identify a fixed set of universal principle that are valid for all languages.

Question 11

MP

Answer 11

The minimalis program developed by Noam Chomsky. Its aim is to identify a fixed set of universal principle that are valid for all languages.

Question 12

I-Language

Answer 12

The internalized language.
The linguistic knowledge that a native speaker has, the innate linguistic competence that human brain has for language production.

Question 13

E-Language

Answer 13

The externalized language.
The concrete linguistic product that speakers make in social environment. It is the empirical manifestazion of a speaker’s internalized language.
–> The I generates the E. The E is directly observable and it’s what we study.

Question 14

Text linguistics

Answer 14

Its object is how sentences combine together to form larger units such as texts, that can be both oral and written. It focuses on how texts are constructed through sentences bonding through specific linking devices.

Question 15

Discourse analysis

Answer 15

It studies the naturally occurring use of language.

Question 16

Semantics

Answer 16

It’s the study of meaning, reference and denotation.
It focuses on the relation between words, phrases and other units of language.
Look how they’re linked to the extra-linguistic reality (the world).

Question 17

Pragratics

Answer 17

It studies how speakers use language to communicate and accomplish specific goals. It focuses on the relationship between the enunciator (speaker) and the co-enunciator (listener) in a specific context.

Question 18

Applied linguistics

Answer 18

“the theoretical and empirical investigation of real-world problems in which language is a central issue”.

ex. Regarding the English language an approach of applied linguistics can be found in the apparatus of linguistics in the field of a second language acquisition (SLA) and the teaching of English as a second/foreign language (TESOL/TEFL).

Question 19

Historical linguistics

Answer 19

Studies how language have changed over time (diachronic perspective).

Question 20

Sociolinguistics

Answer 20

Society’s effect on language.
Society → language

It deals with the actual use of language in society, studies how the linguistic facts are related to social facts.

ex. Variations of linguistics forms that are related to social differences (social or economic classes, ethnicity, gender, exc).

Social variables contribute on how different speakers use language. They can also favor the spread of linguistic change (what if… English from Nigeria).

Language is an emblem of social behavior (it tells a lot about the speaker’s social identity).

Question 21

Sociology of language

Answer 21

Effects of language on society.
Language → society

Also called macro-sociolinguistics, since it focuses on the ‘macro’ social context.

Macro-sociolinguists look at the status, roles and social functions that are assigned to different languages and language varieties in society..

Question 22

A question that a sociolinguist would study

Answer 22

• What social variables (age, class, gender, economic status, ethnicity…) determine the way speakers of English pronounce the (r) in
  the middle and at the end of words?

Question 23

A question that a macro-sociolinguist would study

Answer 23

• What language-in-education policies are more effective in a multilingual nation?
• What is the social impact of the English-medium-instruction policies in a multilingual African nation?