Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Indo European
Dravidian
Niger- Congo
Basque Isolated and not related to any other language
Languages are similar because of reasons of contact (different
language speakers come in contact with a widely spoken
language) and physical similarities in human beings
Linguists work in 5 different areas
Library Ethonologue and INterenet as well looking into
reference books historical linguists or philologists looking
into literature and book
Bush Field work go to difficult places to study languages
spoken and not written.
Closet spend time to think about a language which are full of
mysteries and puzzles, or to write a grammar. Theoretical
linguists Grammarians
Laboratory phonologists working on people and speech
sounds machines and microphone ----- psycholinguists
working with peoples minds and their relations to language
technology ------brain scanner and use of language.
Street small differences in the language in the everyday life of
people. Tiny differences which can result in large variations
between languages.
Victoria Nyst Sign Language linguistic structure of sign
language. African sign language is different European Sign
language. Like spoken language, sign languages have different
structures spoken languages are build of sounds (phonologyparameters: of hand: locations, orientation, movement,
handshape, non menu features all work in the articulation of
sounds phonemic - distinctive) also part of sign language.
Sounds
Phonetics studies physical and physiological aspects of
sounds how we produce them
Phonology studies as part of the language
1. Finite set of sounds 20 20,000 vowels and consonants
2. Building blocks for constructing words
All languages work with consonants and vowels
International Phonetic Alphabets writes all the sounds of
the vowels and consonants in all the languages of the world.
Common to all the languages.
Consonants mostly more than vowels.
1. Airstream is not hindered in vowels
2. Every syllable has to have a vowel sound but not a
consonant
Phonetics - Three dimensions in the production of sound
1. Place of articulation
a. lips (p, m, b) Labial sounds
b. Alveolar the tip of the tongue touches the upper
sections of the mouth (l, n, t, d) Alveolar Sounds
c. Velar (k, g, n) Velar Sounds
2. Manner of articulation
a. Stop/Plosive (p, t, k) no air
b. Fricative some air (f, s)
c. Nasal (m, n)
Uncovering (suffix)
cover: base
ing: affix
Polysynthetic
Isolating
Fusional
Agglutinative