Other Linguistic terms (Language, Linguistics, Paradigms, Grammar) Flashcards
Language
- uniquely human
- a system of interrelated signs and unconscious rules
- creative
- variable and social (usage varies according to region [dialect], social group [sociolect], speaker [idiolect], situation [register], …)
- constantly changing
Descriptive
neutral depiction of language as it is actually used
Prescriptive
dictating rules for how language should be used “correctly”
Introspective
based on the intuitions of trained linguists
Empirical
based on authentic language data from experiments, text corpora etc.
Sociolinguistics
the influence of society on language use
Pragmatics
meaning in context
What is language? - De Saussure
- structuralist understanding
- langue = a system of signs
(arbitrary but conventional) and rules of combination - parole = language as individual
activity, the concrete process
of utterance
What is language? - Generative Understanding
- competence = the knowledge a competent speaker has of his/her language and his/her ability to use this system infinitely
- performance= language as individual activity, the concrete process of utterance
Language Functions - Bühler’s Organon Modell
- conative function → sign = Signal → effect on recipient, achieve a goal
- referential function → sign = Symbol → speaker refers to a referent
- emotive function → sign = Symptom → speaker also tells sth. about his/her emotions
Language Functions - Jakobson
- referential
- emotive
- conative
- poetic
- phatic
- metalinguistic
- cognitive
Modern Linguistics
- Descriptive approach
- Spoken language is primary, written language is derived → two systems
- Each language has its own standard → no judgement
Traditional linguistics/grammar
- Prescriptive approach
- Written language overemphasised – permanent, superior
- Analysis on the basis of a Latin- based framework, assumption that Latin provides a universal framework
Design features of Language
- Sound signals: vocal and auditory channel, directional perception, rapid fading
- Arbitrariness
- Duality: sound becomes meaningful in combination with others
- Need for learning/cultural transmission: language can only be learned in a social group
- Displacement: time & space; hypothetical worlds; psychological distance between speaker and message
- Creativity:novel utterances
- Patterning: internal structure
- Structure Dependence: language operations are structure-dependent**
What is Linguistics?
- approaches phenomenon of language → scientific/systematic/objective study of human language/s → idea of a system
Facets of language:
- structure
- use
- history
- place/function in society
-What is a paradigm?-
- paradigm = “example”, has been used in linguistics and science to describe distinct concepts
- systematic arrangement of all the inflected forms of a word
- generally accepted perspective of a particular discipline at a given time
Historical Linguistics
- interest in origin, history and
genealogy of individual languages
method: reconstruction
Historical Linguistics - a) First Half of the 19th Century
- trigger: discovery of Sanskrit & and romanticists‘ interest in the history of their people
- **reconstruction of Proto-Indo-European: **Genetic tree theory
- Goal: search for the origin of language
→ philosophical & speculative
Historical Linguistics - b) Second Half of 19th Century
- neogrammarians,the Leipzig School
- approach: positivism; compilation of large amounts of data
- description of language change
- analysed by incorporating oral language, dialects
What is language? - usage-based models
knowledge of one’s language
(grammar) emerges from usage
(ling experience)
Grammar in the wider sense
- grammar as knowledge (of a language): (native) speakers simply know how to use their language; automatically use expressions conforming to the rules
Grammar in a narrow sense
- divided into morphology and syntax → both have to do with the structure of words, phrases and sentences
