scientific study of language The word language here means language in general not a particular language According to Robins 1985 linguistics is concerned with human language as a universal and recognizable ID: 656683
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Slide1
What is linguistics? Slide2
Linguistics is the
scientific study
of language.
The
word ‘language’ here
means language
in general, not a particular language.Slide3
According to Robins (1985), linguistics
is concerned with human language as a universal and recognizable
part of
the human
behaviour
and of the human faculties perhaps one of
the most
essential to human life as we know it, and one of the most
farreaching
of
human capabilities in relation to the whole span
of mankind’s
achievements.Slide4
Why scientific?
Because
Linguists study language systematically.
They apply
the scientific method
by:
making
observations,
testing
hypotheses, and
developing
theories. Slide5
Linguistics involves
an
analysis of language form, language meaning, and language in
context.Slide6
The science of language encompasses more than sounds, grammar, and meaning.
When
you study linguistics, you are at the crossroads of every discipline
.Slide7
Linguistics as a science
Scientific approaches in the study of linguisticsSlide8
1. Objectivity:
Objectivity means judgment based on observable phenomena and uninfluenced by emotions or personal prejudices.
Objective study of language is hindered by various cultural, social and historical misconceptions about certain languages.Slide9
2. Consistency:
allows no contradictory remarks or statements, requires that all parts of analysis be consistent with the wholeSlide10
A linguist tries to answer:
How did languages begin and what were the very earliest languages like?
How have languages changed over time? What makes languages change
?
How is it that we learn our own language as children without anybody teaching us
?Slide11
How do we speak, and how do we understand what people mean?
How are languages organized and what is the best way to describe their organization?Slide12
Scope of linguistics
What does linguistics study?
The scope of Linguistics is
huge
.
It covers
a wide range of fields and topics
.Slide13Slide14
Phonetics
Phonetics
studies the production, transmission and reception of speech sounds;
Phonology
with
the way sounds are used in individual
languages.Slide15
Morphology: the study of the formation of words
Morphology is the study of the structure of words.
Morphologists study minimal units of meaning,
called morphemes
, and investigate the possible combinations of
these units
in a language to form words. Slide16
For example, the
word "imperfections
" is composed of four morphemes:
The
root,
perfect, is transformed from an adjective
into a
noun by the addition of
-
ion
, made negative with
im
,
and pluralized
by
s
.
im
perfect
ion
sSlide17
Syntax: the study
sentences formation
Syntax is the level at which we study how words combine to form
phrases, phrases
combine to form clauses, and clauses join to make sentences.Slide18
Syntax studies the rules for placing the elements
in the sentence such as the nouns/noun
phrases
,
verbs/verb phrases
, and adverbial phrases.Slide19
Syntax also attempts to describe how
these elements
function in the sentence, i.e. what is their role in the sentence.Slide20
The word
‘boy’ is a noun. However, in each of the
following sentences
, it functions in different roles:
(a) The
boy
likes cricket.
(b) The old man loved the
boy
.
In sentence (a), it functions as the subject of the sentence.
In sentence (b), it functions as the object.Slide21
A sentence should be both grammatical and meaningful.
‘
Colourless
green ideas sleep furiously’ is grammatically
correct but
it is not meaningful.Slide22
Semantics
Semantics is a sub-discipline of Linguistics which focuses on the study of meaning.Slide23
Semantics
deals with the level of meaning in language. It attempts to
analyse
the
structure of meaning in a language, e.g. how words similar or different
are related;
tries
to give an account of both word and
sentence meaning
,Slide24
It may be easy to define the meanings of words such as ‘tree’ but
not so
easy to define the meanings of words such as ‘love’ or similar
abstract things
.Slide25
Pragmatics
is
simply defined as the branch of linguistics dealing with
language in use
and the contexts in which it is
used.Slide26
David Crystal
"Pragmatics studies the factors that govern our
choice of
language in social interaction and the effects of
our choice
on others."Slide27
Semantics vs. Pragmatics
Language Internal
Language external (society)
Linguistic Meaning
Communication
What expressions mean
What speakers mean
What is said
What is implied
Language itself
The use of languageSlide28
Branches of linguistics
Linguistics
Phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics
Theoretical Linguistics
Socio-linguistics
Anthropological Linguistics
Computational Linguistics
Psycholinguistics
Neurolinguistics
Historical linguistics
Applied Linguistics Slide29
End of Section