Introduction to Linguistics book+lectures summary Chapter 1-12
CH 1
Linguists study:
- Sounds: phonetics and phonology
- Word structure: morphology
- Sentence structure: syntax
I.e. the rules of languages to combine elements into larger units
And to interpret the created units:
- Language meaning: semantics
- Language use: pragmatics
Language as a rule-governed system:
Grammars may be described in terms of sets of rules.
Native speakers’ knowledge of these rules is unconscious→ languages acquired
in the critical period 0-13 is unconsciously. Afterwards, it’s acquired consciously
with intelligence.
We know a language is rule-governed if: you can apply the rules of grammar to
words or sentences that don’t make sense.
Colourless green ideas sleep furiously.
The tanids were stulked by the promuter→ The promuter stulked the tanids
Universals: properties that are shared by all languages
- All languages consist of small elements, e.g. speech sounds/hand shapes from
which for example words/signs are built. These are combined to make sentences
- All spoken languages have vowels and consonants
- In all languages one can make a negative statement, ask a question and issue an
order
- All languages have words for (concept of) black and white or dark and light.
A natural human language: a language that is transmitted across generations, i.e. it
is acquired by children as a native language.
Criteria:
1. Compositionality: (samengesteld) build up meaning from meanings of parts.
while each word has an own meaning, they’re made of smaller elements(letters/sounds) that
distinguish meaning and combine to make different meanings in sentences
[John hit] the man [with the stick]
John hit [the man with the stick]
2. Creativity: Humans, with the rules at their disposal, can always make new and
possibly unique sentences.
,Airplane: fly-kanoe
3. Interactive and spontaneous. Anyone can talk about anything in any moment
4. Not bound to the here and now
5. Arbitrary(willekeurig) relation between the from of the language symbol and the
meaning of that symbol. (Except for onomatopoeia: kukelekuu, and some signs)
6. Acquired by children, transmitted across generations
7. recursive?
Sign languages are less arbitrary (=random) than spoken languages but by far not all
of the signs are iconic (signs looks like its meaning).--> Natural language.
Bee wiggle dance language:
Compositional(movement and direction)
Not creative
Not interactive or spontaneous (only do the dance after they found a flower)
Bound to the here and now
Not arbitrary
Not acquired (it’s not taught, it’s instinct)
Esperanto = constructed language. It is not (yet) a natural language since it’s not acquired
as a child. And if so, the language changes: It has not evolved through natural interaction
between humans.
Recursion: one linguistic unit is contained within another of the same type./ the
ability to create new entities from existing ones of the same type (= Herhaling, soort droste-
effect)
He thinks that she said that he knows that she thought…
Great-great-great-grandmother
The dog of the man with the hat without a feather
Modality: languages can be produced in different modalities. There are spoken
languages and sign languages.
Descriptive grammar: all forms of a language are accounted for, not just the standard form.
Prescriptive grammars: do not describe, but prescribe the rules for ‘correct usage’.
CH 2
In the cognitive system:
Types of knowledge:
Knowledge of language (linguistic knowledge):
- Linguistic competence: knowledge of the language system (abstract,
, uncons)
- Linguistic performance: the actual use of this knowledge
Knowledge of language use:
- Communicative competence: how to use your language in different
situations. bijv: use of formality→ both linguistically acceptable but
not pragmatically equal in a specific context.
Knowledge of the world
Mental lexicon: not ordered alphabetically but related through meaning and sound.
→ has a network of ‘knots’ and ‘strings’. Relations are not only semantic but also
phonological!
links
Activation: when a word from the lexicon is used, it is activated. This activation
spreads to other words that are somehow connected to the one that has been activated.
This is called activation spreading.
Aphasia: language dysfunctions caused by damage. Acquired language disorder.
- in production and comprehension
- in spoken and/or written language
Caused by stroke, tumour or trauma.
CH 1
Linguists study:
- Sounds: phonetics and phonology
- Word structure: morphology
- Sentence structure: syntax
I.e. the rules of languages to combine elements into larger units
And to interpret the created units:
- Language meaning: semantics
- Language use: pragmatics
Language as a rule-governed system:
Grammars may be described in terms of sets of rules.
Native speakers’ knowledge of these rules is unconscious→ languages acquired
in the critical period 0-13 is unconsciously. Afterwards, it’s acquired consciously
with intelligence.
We know a language is rule-governed if: you can apply the rules of grammar to
words or sentences that don’t make sense.
Colourless green ideas sleep furiously.
The tanids were stulked by the promuter→ The promuter stulked the tanids
Universals: properties that are shared by all languages
- All languages consist of small elements, e.g. speech sounds/hand shapes from
which for example words/signs are built. These are combined to make sentences
- All spoken languages have vowels and consonants
- In all languages one can make a negative statement, ask a question and issue an
order
- All languages have words for (concept of) black and white or dark and light.
A natural human language: a language that is transmitted across generations, i.e. it
is acquired by children as a native language.
Criteria:
1. Compositionality: (samengesteld) build up meaning from meanings of parts.
while each word has an own meaning, they’re made of smaller elements(letters/sounds) that
distinguish meaning and combine to make different meanings in sentences
[John hit] the man [with the stick]
John hit [the man with the stick]
2. Creativity: Humans, with the rules at their disposal, can always make new and
possibly unique sentences.
,Airplane: fly-kanoe
3. Interactive and spontaneous. Anyone can talk about anything in any moment
4. Not bound to the here and now
5. Arbitrary(willekeurig) relation between the from of the language symbol and the
meaning of that symbol. (Except for onomatopoeia: kukelekuu, and some signs)
6. Acquired by children, transmitted across generations
7. recursive?
Sign languages are less arbitrary (=random) than spoken languages but by far not all
of the signs are iconic (signs looks like its meaning).--> Natural language.
Bee wiggle dance language:
Compositional(movement and direction)
Not creative
Not interactive or spontaneous (only do the dance after they found a flower)
Bound to the here and now
Not arbitrary
Not acquired (it’s not taught, it’s instinct)
Esperanto = constructed language. It is not (yet) a natural language since it’s not acquired
as a child. And if so, the language changes: It has not evolved through natural interaction
between humans.
Recursion: one linguistic unit is contained within another of the same type./ the
ability to create new entities from existing ones of the same type (= Herhaling, soort droste-
effect)
He thinks that she said that he knows that she thought…
Great-great-great-grandmother
The dog of the man with the hat without a feather
Modality: languages can be produced in different modalities. There are spoken
languages and sign languages.
Descriptive grammar: all forms of a language are accounted for, not just the standard form.
Prescriptive grammars: do not describe, but prescribe the rules for ‘correct usage’.
CH 2
In the cognitive system:
Types of knowledge:
Knowledge of language (linguistic knowledge):
- Linguistic competence: knowledge of the language system (abstract,
, uncons)
- Linguistic performance: the actual use of this knowledge
Knowledge of language use:
- Communicative competence: how to use your language in different
situations. bijv: use of formality→ both linguistically acceptable but
not pragmatically equal in a specific context.
Knowledge of the world
Mental lexicon: not ordered alphabetically but related through meaning and sound.
→ has a network of ‘knots’ and ‘strings’. Relations are not only semantic but also
phonological!
links
Activation: when a word from the lexicon is used, it is activated. This activation
spreads to other words that are somehow connected to the one that has been activated.
This is called activation spreading.
Aphasia: language dysfunctions caused by damage. Acquired language disorder.
- in production and comprehension
- in spoken and/or written language
Caused by stroke, tumour or trauma.
