LinguisticsTHE STUDY OF LANGUAGE

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What is “Linguistics”?

Linguistics is the study of language not just particular languages, but the system of human communication

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Each human language is a complex of knowledge and abilities enabling speakers of the language to communicate with each other, to express ideas, hypotheses, emotions, desires, and all the other things that need expressing. Linguistics is the study of these knowledge systems in all their aspects: how is such a knowledge system structured, how is it acquired, how is it used in the production and comprehension of messages, how does it change over time? Linguists consequently are concerned with a number of particular questions about the nature of language. What properties do all human languages have in common? How do languages differ, and to what extent are the differences systematic, i.e. can we find patterns in the differences? How do children acquire such complete knowledge of a language in such a short time? What are the ways in which languages can change over time, and are there limitations to how languages change? What is the nature of the cognitive processes that come into play when we produce and understand language?

Common Misconceptions

“A linguist is someone who just knows lots of languages.”

“A linguist is someone who just knows lots of big words.”

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So then which of thesedoes a linguist do?

Studies lots of different languages

Studies how children learn language

Studies conversations

Studies speech sounds

Studies language structure

YES, all of the above, and much more!

The field of Linguisticshas many subfields

Anthropological linguistics

Applied linguistics Cognitive science Computational linguistics Corpus linguistics Discourse Analysis Ecolinguistics Forensic Linguistics Historical linguistics Lexicography Linguistics and Literature Morphology

Neurolinguistics Philosophy of Language Phonetics Pragmatics Psycholinguistics Semantics Semiotics Sociolinguistics Syntax Typology Writing Systems XenolinguisticsThe study of languages

originating from alien species!

Why study Linguistics?

Because language is fascinating!

Direct or Indirect?

Why do men say, "Open the window," but women say, "Boy, it sure would be nice if we could get a breeze in here"?

Gender Differences in Language

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Jobs Available to LinguistsSome examples…

Teaching English as a second Teaching English as a second language (TESL)language (TESL)

Research jobs with companies such Research jobs with companies such as Microsoft, Apple or IBMas Microsoft, Apple or IBM

Government jobs with the FBI or Government jobs with the FBI or CIACIA

Teaching at a community college or Teaching at a community college or universityuniversity

Field work documenting language Field work documenting language in a foreign countryin a foreign country

Or use your linguistic skills in the Or use your linguistic skills in the fields of anthropology, law, library fields of anthropology, law, library science, psychology, or sociology.science, psychology, or sociology.

Language Fun Fact

Did you know that "nice" used to mean "ignorant" thousands of years ago?

Meanings assigned to words in any language are completely arbitrary. We've all simply agreed upon the meanings we give to words.

Future of Linguistics

What will texting do to our ability to write? “OMG! I'm omw, will u b there 2? TTFN!”

Email, texting and instant messaging are replacing older forms of communication. What will the consequences be?

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Future of Linguistics

How can we help bridge the cultural gap between employees working together from different parts of the world?

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MAIN BRANCHES OF LINGUISTICS

PhoneticsPhonology Morphology SyntaxSemantics Pragmatics

. PHONETICS Phonetics studies speech sounds, including

Production of speech, that is how speech sounds are actually made Articulatory Phonetics

Transmission and receipt of speech Acoustic Phonetics

Perception of the transmitted sound by human brain Auditory Phonetics.

PHONOLOGY

Studies the sound system of languages. Distinctive sounds within a language, Nature of sound systems across the

languages.

Phoneme (from the Greek: φώνημα, phōnēma, "a sound uttered") is the smallest segmental unit of sound employed to form meaningful contrasts between utterances.

MORPHOLOGY Studies the formation of words from

smaller units called morphemes. Morpheme: minimal meaningful

language unit. Phoneme(s): smallest linguistically

distinctive units of sound) in spoken language.

Grapheme(s): written symbol to represent speech

SYNTAX

Rules that govern the formation of sentences from words.

Syntactic phrases include:

Noun Phrase : a tall man, the bus

Verb Phrase : roam around, hit the ball

Prepositional Phrase : in the class, at the club

Adjective Phrase : Very good, nice girl The Grammatical Rules:

SOV: eg. Hindi

SVO: eg . English

GRAMMARThe syntax of a language deals with the

grammatical structure of a language. Grammar is the structural foundation

of our ability to express ourselves.

Descriptive grammar : structure actually used by speakers and writers.

Prescriptive grammar : structure that should be used

SEMANTICS Study of language meaning.Concerned with not only the meaning

of words, but also that of morphemes and of sentences.

Lexical semantics study how and what the words of a language denote

PRAGMATICSPragmatics is the study of meaning in

context. How language is used to communicate

rather than how it is internally structured.

Govern a number of conversational interactions, such as sequential organization, repair of errors, role and speech acts.

Thank you !!!!