You are on page 1of 29

INTRODUCTION TO LANGUAGE AND

LINGUISTICS
• LANGUAGE - DEFINITIONS
- FEATURES
- FUNCTIONS

• LINGUISTICS - DEFINITIONS
- BRANCHES
LANGUAGE
LANGUAGE DEFINITIONS

BASIC CONCEPTS :
SIGN; COMMUNICATION; and LANGUAGE
ORAL vs SIGN LANGUAGE
LANGUAGE FEATURES
LANGUAGE FUNCTIONS
KNOWING & PERFORMING LANGUAGE:
COMPETENCE & PERFORMANCE
What is Language?
1. Wardhaugh (1977: 3), Language is a system of arbitrary
vocal symbols used for human communication.

2. O’Grady (1987: 1), Language is a system of human


communication, a medium for thought, a vehicle for literary
expression, a social institution, and a matter for political
controversion.

3. Finocchiaro (1974: 3), Language is a cultural product


subject to laws and principles that are particularly unique
and partially reflected of general properties of the human
mind.
COMMUNICATION AND SIGNS
• Since language can be defined as the most
effective means of human communication, we
will first briefly examine what we mean by
communication. Communication in general
can be defined as the transmission of
information (= transfer of a message) between
a sender and a receiver by means of signs.
TYPES OF SIGNS
• There are three types of signs wich differ according to the
types of the relationship that exist between form and meaning:
ICON; INDEX; and SYMBOL

• An Icon is a sign whose form has a physical resemblance to


the meaning, the thing being represented. A photograph is a
good example as it certainly resembles whatever it depicts.
• An Index is a sign whose form shows evidence of what’s
being represented. A good example is using an image of
smoke to indicate fire.
• A Symbol is a sign whose form has no resemblance to the
meaning or between the signifier and the signified. The
connection between them must be arbitrarily and culturally
learned. Numbers and alphabets are good examples. There’s
nothing in the number 9 to indicate what it represents.
EXAMPLES
What is the difference between ORAL and SIGN
languages?
• Oral languages are spoken and heard, i.e. oral
communication. (Symbols)
• Sign languages use gestures/signs and sight, i.e.
visual communication. (icons)
• Sign languages have a different system of
communication from oral languages but conform to
the universal grammar: things that are common to
all human languages.
• Sign languages are not derived from oral languages
DOES LANGUAGE HAVE SPECIFIC FEATURES?

• 1. Language as system : Sounds and Meaning


• Ex I understand this / understand this I
• 2. Language as arbitrary : We Cannot predict the meanings
from the sounds of words; that is there is no relationship
between the word and its referent. There would have been
only one language in the world without this feature.
• 3. Language as symbol : Objects, ideas, and actions are
represented in symbols
• A symbol - something that is intended to stand for something
else other than itself. – e.g. Words. The relationship between
words and their meanings is (mostly) arbitrary.
• 4. Language as communication : Allow people to speak, to
hear, to interact; to express,……the main human feature.
• It is the tool that conveys traditions and values related to
members of a society
OTHER FEATURES

5)CREATIVITY= PRODUCTIVITY this means


that words can be used to create an infinite number
of sentences. We can produce and understand
sentences that we have never heard before.
6) DISPLACEMENT can be defined as the ability to
use language in connection with things and events
remote in space and time. For instance we can talk
about past, future and distant events.
7) REFLEXIVENESS, which means that we are able
to use the language to talk about language – which
is typically what linguists do.
What are the functions of language?
• 1. Personal Function: Any person uses language to express
one's emotions, personality, preference and
a reaction to a situation derived from his instinct and
experience . For example: I believe that, I agree with you, ‘I
hate that!’
• 2. Interpersonal function : According to Halliday, it is a
linguistic function in which language expresses the relations
between speakers and listeners.
• 3. Directive function: language is used for the purpose of
causing (or preventing) overt action. The directive function is
most commonly found in commands and requests. The
directive function is a function of social control and is related
to interpersonal interaction. Another feature of this function is
that the reaction of a listener is even more important than a
thought expressed by a speaker.
• Ex: "Close the windows »./ « Do not smoke in this area; « I am
hungry »
OTHER FUNCTIONS
• 4. Imaginative function: This means a function in which one
creates and explores a private world. Example of poetry and
literature
Ex: ‘Let's pretend…the sun and moon are friends….

5. Expressive function: reports feelings or attitudes of the


writer (or speaker), or evokes feelings in the reader (or
listener).

Ex: I love this movy so much: there is no particular information


about the subject of this sentence except our feelings about it.
• To sum up, language is a tool for the transmission of messages
• A vehicle for thoughts to emerge
• Social activity
• Medium of learning
Knowing a Language
• Every human infant is born with the capacity to
acquire a language.

• Knowing a language means that you can speak


and be understood by those who know that
language.

• Monolingual, Bilingual, Multilingual


communities
Knowing a Language
• When you know a language, You have linguistic
knowledge with you (unconscious in case of first
language acquisition and conscious in case of
second language learning)
• Linguistic Knowledge is comprised of:
• 1. Knowledge of the Sound System
• When you speak a language you have knowledge of
the sound system of that particular language:
English, French, Arabic…
Knowing a Language
2. Knowledge of Words
- Knowing a language means also knowing that
certain sequences of sounds that signify certain
concepts are meanings

- Knowing structures of words in that language

- Knowing about arbitrary relationships between forms


and meanings
Knowing a Language
• 3. Knowledge to create
• Knowledge of a language enables you to combine sounds to
form words, words to form phrases and phrases to from
sentences.
• NOTE: You cannot buy a dictionary of any language with all
the sentences of the language
• You need to create on the basis of your existing knowledge
• 4.Knowledge of Sentences and non sentences
• Knowledge of language is finite but your production of
language is infinite
• Novel sentences
• Lengthy sentences
• You have knowledge about right and wrong sentences
• John is anxious to go.
• It is anxious to go John.*
Knowing and Performing a Language
• You know a language (Linguistic Knowledge/
Competence)
• You use a language (Linguistic Performance)

• To sum up

• Language has form, meanings and functions

• Language: knowing and Performing


LINGUISTICS

• LINGUISTICS DEFINITIONS
BRANCHES
What is Linguistics?
• Linguistics can be defined as the scientific
or systematic study of language.
• It is a science in the sense that it
scientifically studies the rules, systems and
principles of human languages.
Why do we need to learn about
linguistics?
• 1. To have an overview of human language.
• 2. To learn not only how language is
pronounced or structured, but also how it
should be presented to learners.
• 3. To know not only how each level of the
language system is related to other levels, but
also how language is closely related to many
things outside itself, such as the mind, the
brain, and the society.
How many branches of linguistics?

• BRANCHES OF LINGUISTICS

• MICROLINGUISTICS
• MACROLINGUISTICS
MICROLINGUISTICS?
• 1. MICROLINGUISTICS
• a. PHONETICS
• b. PHONOLOGY
• c. MORPHOLOGY
• d. SYNTAX
• e. SEMANTICS, and
• f. PRAGMATICS
LINGUISTICS LEVEL
• Object of study Name of field
• All human sounds PHONETICS
• Classified sounds PHONOLOGY
• Words, forms MORPHOLOGY
• Sentences, clauses SYNTAX
• Meaning SEMANTICS
• Language use PRAGMATICS
MACROLINGUISTICS?
• 1. MACROLINGUISTICS
• a. DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
• b. SOCIOLINGUISTICS
• c. PSYCHOLINGUISTICS
• d. APPLIED LINGUISTICS
Microlinguistics
• 1. Phonetics is the scientific study of speech
sounds. It studies how speech sounds are
articulated, transmitted, and received.
• 2. Phonology is the study of how speech sounds
function in a language, it studies the ways speech
sounds are organized. It can be seen as the
functional phonetics of a particular language.
• 3. Morphology is the study of the formation of
words. It is a branch of linguistics which breaks
words into morphemes.
Microlinguistics
• 4. Syntax deals with the combination of words into phrases, clauses
and sentences. It is the grammar of sentence construction.
• 5. Semantics is a branch of linguistics which is concerned with the
study of meaning in all its formal aspects. Words have several types
of meanings.
• Semantics deals with the literal meaning

• 6. Pragmatics can be defined as the study of language in use. It deals


with how speakers use language in ways which cannot be predicted
from linguistics knowledge alone, and how hearers arrive at the
intended meaning of speakers.
• Pragmatics: deals with intended meaning or how sentences are used
• Ex:
Macrolinguistics
• 1. Discourse analysis, or text linguistics is the
study of the relationship between language and
the contexts in which language is used. It deals
with how sentences in spoken and written
language form larger meaningful units.
• 2. Applied linguistics is primarily concerned with
the application of linguistic theories, methods and
findings to the elucidation of language problems
which have arisen in other areas of experience.
Psycholinguistics
• The study of the psychological aspect of language: the
relationship between language and the mind.
• It includes:
– First Language Acquisition: how children acquire their first
language.
– Second Language Acquisition: how children/adults acquire
a second language.
– Language Processing: how language is used to code and
decode ideas, concepts, etc. How we produce and
understand language.
• The mind is presumably in our brains. Language is processed
in our brains.
SOCIOLINGUISTICS

• Sociolinguistics is the study of the relationship between


language and society.
• Sociolinguistics is concerned with how language use
interacts with, or is affected by, social factors such as
gender, ethnicity, age or social class, for instance. As
Coulmas defines, it is the study of choice and “the principal
task of Sociolinguistics is to uncover, describe and interpret
the socially motivated” choices an individual makes.[1]
• Sociolinguists are interested in how we speak differently in
varying social contexts, and how we may also use specific
functions of language to convey social meaning or aspects
of our identity.
REVIEW
1. What is language?
2. What is linguistics?
3. What are the differences between both of them?
4. What are the features of language?
5. What is meant by language as symbol?
6. One of the functions of language is directive? What is
it?
7. How many branches of linguistics? What are they?
8. What is the difference between semantics and
pragmatics?
9. What is psycholinguistics?
10. What will you learn in applied linguistics?

You might also like