INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTICS

LINGUISTICS

 

Language is common to all humans; we seem to be “hard-wired” for it. Many social scientists and philosophers say it’s this ability to use language symbolically that makes us “human.”

Though it may be a universal human attribute, language is hardly simple. For decades, linguists’ main task was to track and record languages. But, like so many areas of science, the field of linguistics has evolved dramatically over the past 50 years or so. 

 Linguistics is a science.This means that linguists answer questions about language by observing the behavior of language users.Modern linguists go straight to the source by observing language users in action. One of the charms of linguistics is that the data is all around you; you need nothing more than a patient ear and an inquiring mind to do original linguistic research of your own. But you need not start from scratch — generations of linguists before you have laid a fairly stable groundwork for you to build on. Throughout the history of linguistics, the primary source of data for linguists have been the speech, writing, and intuitions of language users around them.

 

This is not the only way one could imagine learning about language. For example, one could study respected authorities. But this approach raises an obvious question: how did the respected authorities learn what they knew? If each language were invented by an ancient sage, who determined once and for all how that language worked, the authoritative approach would have great appeal. We would go to the writings of the Founding Sage of Danish, for example, and to the writings of the sage's immediate disciples, to find out the Original Intent, much as American judges refer to the Constitution. But, as far as we can tell, this is not how most languages come to be. We have ancient authorities in plenty, but in most cases these authorities were merely trying to codify the practices of the people who seemed to them most skillful in the use of language. In other words, these authorities were themselves scientific linguists of a sort: they observed language users and tried to describe their behavior.

The part of linguistics that is concerned with the structure of language is divided into a number of subfields:

• Phonetics - the study of speech sounds in their physical aspects
• Phonology - the study of speech sounds in their cognitive aspects
• Morphology - the study of the formation of words
• Syntax - the study of the formation of sentences
• Semantics - the study of meaning
• Pragmatics - the study of language use

 

What is Applied Linguistics?

 

Applied Linguistics is concerned with the systematic study of language structure, the acquisition of first and subsequent languages, the role of language in communication, and the status of language as the product of particular cultures and other social groups.

A background in linguistics is essential for language teachers, translators, speech-language pathologists, audiologists, and many other language professionals.

Applied Linguistics:

• Examines the structure of language and its role in communication
• Explores how children acquire language
• Studies how the skills of second-language speakers develop
• Investigates how the social or cultural environment interacts with language