Week1 - William Harold Torrence updated exam study guide

Introduction to the Study of Language Current Linguistic Theory ○ Phonetics ○ Morphology ○ Syntax - - First Language Acquisition Sociolinguistics ○ How we use language in the world - - Data from Multiple Languages Understanding Human Language ○ How we learn and use it in daily life - Objectives Know about… ○ Areas of Linguistics ○ Methods to study language - Acquire knowledge to… ○ Evaluate claims about language in the media and popular culture - Gain appreciation for… ○ Diversity of the world's languages ○ Complexity of your language - What is Linguistics? Linguistics is the scientific study of language ○ Make observations ○ Form hypotheses ○ Test hypotheses ○ Revise hypotheses ○ Develop theory matching results - What is Language? Why can't you not see the color red in a red colored box? ○ Your visual system is a subconscious process. ○ You can't force yourself to see blue or green in the box - - You do not have conscious control of how your brain understands visual input - Language has very similar properties There are two ways of approaching language: Language as a kind of tool  Tool for communication  Speakers encode meanings into sounds or hand shapes  Listeners decode speech into meaning We accomplish a lot with language: □ We invite people to lunch □ We argue with each other □ We compliment our friends □ We insult our enemies □ We complain, apologize, etc.  1. Language as a kind of knowledge  What do you know when you know a language?  You have a finite set of building blocks and rules  You know how to use them  This is a type of unconscious knowledge 2. - Unconscious Knowledge? Expletive Infixation ○ "I can guaran-goddamn-tee you of that" ○ "What a fan-fuckin'-tastic day!" - - These phrases are examples of expletive infixation, where an expletive is inserted in the middle of another - Also, frickin', freakin', bloody, etc. - Let's try doing expletive infixation on different cities. - "I've never been to Kalamazoo" W