Name : Muh.

Rendra AR
Class : B/02
NIM : 220512501005

Resume Introduction to Lingustics

A. Part 1 ( What is Language? )

Language has been defined by many linguists. W. N. Francis defines that language as an
arbitrary system of articulated sounds made use of by a group of humans as a means of
carrying on the affairs of their society. According to Finocchiaro, language is a system of
arbitrary, vocal symbols which permits all people in a given culture, or other people who
have learned the system of that culture, to communicate or to interact. Pei & Gaynor state that
language is a system of communication by sound, through organs of speech and hearing,
among human beings of a certain group or community, using vocal symbols possessing
arbitrary conventional meanings, Wardaugh defines language as a system of vocal symbols
used for human communication. According to Greene, language is the set of all possible
sentences and the grammar of a language is the rules which distinguish between sentences
and non – sentences, Chomsky defines language as a set (finite or infinite) of sentences, each
finite in length and constructed out of a finite set of elements. A. A. Hill describes language
as the primary and most highly elaborated from human symbolic activity. Its symbols are
made up of sounds produced by the vocal apparatus, and they are arranged in classes and
patterns which make up a complex and symmetrical structure. The entities of language are
symbols, that is, they have meaning, but the connection between symbol and thing is arbitrary
and socially controlled. The symbols of language are stimultaneously substitute stimuli and
substitute responses, so that discourse becomes independent of an immediate physical
stimulus. The entities and structure of language are always so elaborated as to give the
speaker the possibility of making linguistic response to an experience.
According to Charles F. Hockett, a language is a complex system of habits. This system can
be broken down into five principal subsystems :

A. he grammatical system: a stock of morphemes, and the arrangements in which they occur

B. The phonological system: a stock of phonemes, and the arrangements in which they occur

C. The morphonemic system: the code which ties together the grammatical and the
phonological systems

D. The semantic system: which associates various morphemes, combinations of morphemes,

and arrangements in which morphemes can be put, with things and situations, or kinds of
things and situations

E. The phonetic system: the ways which sequences of phonemes are converted into sound
waves by the articulation of a speaker, and are decoded from the speech signal by a hearer.

The first three are the central subsystems and the last two are the peripheral subsystems.

B. The Defining Characteristics of Language

Based on the definitions of language given above, we can conclude that language has the
following defining characteristics.

First, language is a set of sounds. This is perhaps at least important characteristic, since the
communications of mammals and birds is also a set of sounds. On the other hand, the system
of communication which is in some ways most strikingly like the language, that of bees, is a
set of body movements, not sounds. It would be easy, further, to imagine a language based on
something else than sound, but no human language is so constructed. Even the manual
language of the deaf is derived from the preexistent spoken language of the community.

Second, the connection between the sounds, or sequences of sounds, and objects of the
outside world is arbitrary and unpredictable. That is to say, a visitor from Mars would be
unable to predict that in London a given animal is connected with the sound sequence written
dog, in Paris with sequence chien, in Madrid with perro.The arbitrary quality of language
symbols is not infrequently denied, or fora number of reasons. Sometimes the denial is based
on nothing more than the notion that the forms of one's native language are so inevitably right
that they must be instinctive for all proper men. Sometimes the denial is more subtle .It is
often maintained that all languages, even though now largely arbitrary, must once have been
a systematic imitation of objects by means of sound. It is true that here are some imitative
words of all languages, but they are at best a limited part of the vocabulary.

Third, language is systematic. As in any system, language entities are the arranged in
recurrent designs, so that if a part of the design is seen, predictions can be made about the
whole of it, as a triangle can be drawn if one side and two angles are given.

Fourth, language is a set of symbols. That is to say, language has meaning. In this from other
activities which are also symbolic. The nature of language symbols turns out to be rather
different from the symbols of other types of communication.

Fifth, language is complete. By this is meant that whenever a human language has been
accurately observed, it has been found to be so elaborated that its speakers can make a
linguistic response to any experience they may undergo.

C. Functions of Language
The main function of language is as a means of communication. Within this communicative
function, we can differentiate five functions of language.
1. The Informational Function
Language can have an informational function in which language is used to convey
information to other persons, Conceptual meaning is predominant in the informational use of
language.
2. The Expressive Function
Apart from the neutral informational function, language can have, that is, it can be used to
express its originator’s feelings and attitudes – swear words and exclamations are the most
obvious instances of this.
3. The Directive Function
A third function of language is the directive function whereby we aim to influence the
behavior or attitudes of others. This function of social control places emphasis on the
receiver’s end, rather than the originator’s end of message but it resembles the expressive
function in giving less importance, on the whole, to conceptual meaning than to other types
of meaning, affective, and connotative meaning.
4. The Aesthetic Function
The Aesthetic function can be defined as the use of language for the sake of the linguistic
artifact itself, and for no ulterior purpose. This Aesthetic function can have at least as much to
do with conceptual as with affective meaning.

5. The Phatic Function

The Phatic function is the function of keeping communication lines open, and keeping social
relationships on good repair.

Function
Informational : Subject – Matter
Expressive : Speaker/Writer
Directive : Listener/Reader
Phatic : Chanel of Communication
Aesthetic : Message

B. Part 2 ( What is Linguistics )

a. Definitions of Linguistics
Linguistics has also been defined by many linguists According to Wardaugh, linguistics is
the scientific study of language. Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary defines linguistics as
the science of language of its structure, acquisition, relationship to other forms of
communication. Lado states that linguistics is the science that describes and classifies
languages. The linguist identifies and describes the units and patterns of the sound system,
the words and morphemes and the phrases and sentences, that is, the structure of a language.
According to Hartman and Stock, linguistics is the field of study the subject of which is
language. Linguists study language as man's ability to communicate, as individual
expression, as the common heritage of a speech community, as spoken sound, as written text,
etc. last but not least, Francis defines linguistics as the scientific study of language.
From the definitions of linguistics given above, we can conclude that linguistics is the
scientific study of language. The scientific approach to language means that its investigations
through observations that can be proved empirically with reference to the general theory of
language structure. In linguistics there is no priority of certain speech communities.
linguistics studies any language - its structure, uses, and relations to other languages.
Linguistics also studies how a language develops into dialects, and studies how that language
changes from period to period.

b. The Scientific Features of Linguistics

According to Francis, linguistics as the scientific study of language must conform to the
following requirements:
First, linguistics must have a subject-matter. The subject-matter of linguistics is all the
systems of articulated sounds used today by humans in their carrying on of their affairs, that
is, all living languages, it also includes records of languages that have been used at some time
in the past, namely, records in writing and in such media as photograph records and magnetic
tapes.
Second, linguistics produces careful objective descriptions. The methods of observation used
by linguists are various, including simple listening, phonetic transcription, and the use of
various instruments, such as oscillographs, sound-spectrographs and kymographs. Records
made in these ways constitute various kinds of objective descriptions.
Third, linguistics makes generalizations. The kinds of generalization made by linguistics are
primarily statements about the systematic selection and arrangement of significant sounds
and groups of sounds which are actually used by native speakers. Other kinds of
generalization include statements about the changes which have taken place in specific
languages in the past and about the genetic and other relationships between languages both at
present and in the past.
Fourth, linguistics makes predictions. The predictions made by linguistics are principally of
the nature of grammars and dictionaries, which say, in effect, “if you use these sounds and
groups of sounds in the patterns of arrangement have described native speakers of this
language will understand you and you will respond in its predicted way.”
Fifth, linguistics examines the outcomes of its predictions and in the light of their success or
failure, corroborates or revises its generalizations. Since linguistics is a very active science,
just now, it is constantly engaged in revising and overhauling all parts of its methods,
findings, and generalizations.
C. Part 3 ( Divisions of Linguistics )

a. Fields of Linguistics

According to Francis, the various fields of linguistics are arrived at by dividing the total
subject matter (which is all languages, present and past) into various language groups or
families, and individual languages. All languages in the world can be divided into groups of
languages. The important groups of languages are: (1) Indo-European Group, (2) Afro-
Asiatic or Semitic group, (3) Sino-Tibetan Group, (4) Altaic Group, (5) Dravidian Group, (6)
Austro-Asiatic Group, (7) Finno-Ugric Group, and (8) Malayo-Polynesian Group. These big
language groups can be further be divided into subgroups of languages. The Indo-European
Group, for example, can be further divided into:(a) Teutonic Subgroup, (b) Celtic Subgroup,
(c) Romance Subgroup, (d) Slavonic Subgroup, (e)Baltic Subgroup, etc. Further, these
subgroups of languages can be divided into individual languages. The Teutonic Subgroups
includes German, Dutch ,English, The Celtic Subgroups includes Gaelic, Welsh, Breton, etc
the Romance or Latin Subgroup includes French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Rumanian, etc
the Slavonic Subgroup includes Russian, Polish, Czech, Slovakian, Bulgarian, Serbo-
Croatian, and Slovene, the Baltic Subgroup includes Lithuanian and Lettish.

b. Aspects of Linguistics

Francis states that the aspects of linguistics are divisions ofthe subject matter on the basis of
time or point of view. Here the fundamental distinction is between synchronic and diachronic
linguistics. Synchronic means “dealing with the state of affairs at a given point of time.” It
takes no account of history, in other words. On the other hand, diachronic means “dealing
with changes that occur in time.” History is its material. This distinction between synchronic
and diachronic linguistics is very important because many mistakes and fallacies result from
overlooking it.
The study of language in its diachronic aspect is often called historical linguistics. This is a
perfectly acceptable term, of course, since history is indeed the description of changes taking
place in time. On the other hand, the study of language in its synchronic aspect is often called
descriptive linguistics.
This is a less acceptable and misleading term, because by definition all linguistics is
basically descriptive. There is another aspect under which we can study language. We can
compare two or more synchronic statements about two points of time.

Finally, we should consider the term structural linguistics. This term is used to refer to the
kind of linguistics which is primarily interested in discovering and describing as concisely
and accurately as possible the interrelationships and patterns which make up the intricate
structures of languages. In a way, structural linguistics can be called the mathematics of
language study because it is likely to be rather abstract and preoccupied with methods. It is
the most rigorously scientific form of linguistics, and its practitioners sometimes claim to be
the only true linguistics, just as mathematicians sometimes claim to be the only pure scientist.
The structural linguists have claimed that they have developed methods and standards of
procedures that have made linguistics the most scientific of the social sciences. It is largely
due to their work during the last three decades, that the study of language has been taken on
new vitality and interest in our day.

c. Branches of Structural Linguistics

Francis states that the third method by which the subject matter of linguistics can be
subdivided is on the basis of the various parts, or layers of structure, which go to make up
speech. This gives us the various branches of linguistics. Four branches may be recognized.
They are as follows:

1. Phonetics, whose subject matter is sound-features or qualities and their organization into
speech-sounds, or phones.
2. Phonemics, whose subject matter is the organization of phones into groups or families,
called phonemes, whose members are the significant sounds of speech.
3. Morphemics, whose subject matter is the organization of phonemes into meaningful groups
called morphs. It is also concerned with the organization of these morphs into family groups,
called morphemes, and the organization of morphemes into words.
Francis states that in addition to the four branches of structural linguistics, there are four
more branches of linguistics that will concern us to a greater or less degree. They are
semantics, graphics, linguistic geography, and lexicography. They have in common two
qualities:(1) they represent attempts to apply the findings and methods of linguistics to the
solution of problems and the attainment of ends that are not strictly within the field of
linguistics proper, and (2) they draw upon materials, ideas, and methods from other fields of
study outside the strictly defined limits of linguistics. They thus are of the nature both of
applied sciences.

1. Semantics, the study of meaning. If it deals with notional meaning, it is philosophical

semantics. If it deals with referential meaning, it is referential or, in a special sense, general
semantics. Only if it deals with distributional meaning, can it be called linguistic semantics.

2. Graphics is a convenient term to use for the branch of linguistics whose subject matter is
all the conventions used in representing speech in writing. At this point our concern is to
place it in its relationship to the other branches of our science.

3. Linguistic geography, or area linguistics (dialectology) is the branch of linguistics which is

interested in the geographic distribution of dialects within the general system of a language.
These dialects may differ from one another in many ways: in their phonology, their grammar,
their vocabulary, and their semantics.

4. Lexicography, the preparing of dictionaries. This is pretty certainly the most important
branch of applied linguistics, and the one most familiar to the general public.