INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTICS

CHAPTER 1: THE OVERVIEW

 Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication.

 Language is a system--- elements in it are not arranged and combined randomly, but according to some rules and
principles.
 Language is arbitrary--- there is no intrinsic connection between the word and the thing.
 Language is vocal--- the primary medium for all languages is sound.
 Language is used for human communication--- it is human specific.

ORIGIN OF LANGUAGE

 PLATO--- there was a “perfect” language, which all human beings are striving to rediscover.
 GOD SAID--- Let there be language.
 SOCRATES--- imitation of natural sounds was the basis for the origin of language.
 SOME OTHERS--- man’s instinctive response to certain external stimuli was the basis for the birth of
language.
 GERMAN SCHOLAR M. MULLER--- a mystic connection between sound and meaning: Human
speech developed from primitive man giving vocal expressions to the objects he encountered------ “Ding-
Dong Theory”.
 JESPERSON--- Language developed from primitive ritual songs of praise----- “Sing-Song Theory”.
 L.H. GRAY’S--- traced language back to interjections, which express the speaker’s
emotions-----“Exclamation” or “Interjectional”.
 NOIRE--- explained the origin of speech in terms of the cries uttered----- “Yo-He-Ho Teory”
 R. PAGET--- from the combination of certain gestures and tongue movements----- “Ta-Ta Theory”

DESIGN FEATURES OF LANGUAGE

All human languages have certain characteristics in common and linguists have identified these characteristics as
defining features of human language, which set human languages apart from animal cry systems, these features are called
design features.

AMERICAN LINGUIST C. FS. HOCKETT

 Arbitrariness: There is no logical or intrinsic connection between a particular sound and the meaning it
is associated with.
 Duality: At one level are elements which have no meaning in themselves but which combine to form
units at another level which do have meaning.
 Productivity: Man’s linguistic ability which enables him to produce and understand an infinitely large
number of sentences in our native language, including the sentences which ere never heard before.
 Interchangeability: Man can both produce and receive messages and his roles as a speaker and a hearer
can be exchanged at ease.
 Displacement: *Enabling people to talk about things remote either in space or in time.
*Human beings can communicate about things that are absent as easily as about things
that are present.
*Man can talk about events, locations, and objects which are far removed from the
present time and context.
 Specialization: Man does not have a total physical involvement in the act of communication. We use it in
a detached manner.
 Cultural Transmission: *Language is culturally transmitted. It cannot be transmitted through
heredity.
*Animals transmit their cries through heredity.
*What language the baby is going to speak is determined by the culture
he is born into.

FUNCTIONS OF LANGUAGE

 Phatic Function
--- Language is used to establish an atmosphere or maintain social contact between the speaker and the
hearer. Greetings, farewells, and comments on the weather serve this function.
 Directive Function
--- Language is used to get the hearer to do sth.
 Informative Function
--- Language is used to tell sth., to give information, or to reason things out.
 Interrogative Function
--- Language is used to ask information from others.
 Expressive Function
--- Language is used to reveal the speaker’s attitudes and feelings.
 INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTICS
 Evocative Function
--- Language is used to create certain feelings in the hearers.
 Performative Function
--- Language is used to do things or to perform acts.

NATURE OF LANGUAGE

1. Language is a combination of sounds.

“boat” ---- /b/

2. Words have meanings.

- Meanings are in people not in words.

“set”

Noun- 58 meanings

Verb- 126 meanings

Adjective- 10 meanings

3. Language follows a grammatical structure.

4. Language is based on aural and oral system.

5. Language can die.

Some reasons for the growth and decline of language.

1. changing societal needs

2. erosion of old customs

3. call for elegance

 Endangered language is a language that is at risk of falling out of use as its speakers die out or shift
to speaking another language. Language loss occurs when the language has no more native speakers,
and becomes a “dead language”.
Examples:
Ancient Greek- slowly evolved into modern Greek
Latin- slowly evolved into modern Italian

Yuchi (Euchee) is the language of the Yuchi people living in the Southeastern United States, including
eastern Tennessee, Western Carolinas, Northern Georgia and Alabama, in the period of early European
colonization. However, speakers of the Yuchi language were forcibly relocated to Oklahoma in the early
19th century.

 Extinct language is a language that no longer has any speakers, or that is no longer in current use.
 Dead language is still known and used in special contexts in written form.
6. Language can be diverse.
- Arabic, Swedish, Indonesian, Dutch, Italian, French, German, Japanese, Mandarin, English, Russian

THE INTRODUCTION

Linguistics is the scientific study of language. It involves the analysis of language form, language meaning, and
language in context. Linguists traditionally analyse human language by observing interplay
between sound and meaning. Linguistics also deals with the social, cultural, historical, and political factors that influence
language, through which linguistic and language-based context is often determined. Research on language through the
sub-branches of historical and evolutionary linguistics also focuses on how languages change and grow, particularly over
an extended period of time.

SOME OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL LINGUISTS:

1. Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913) : Linguistic Signs

Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure is widely considered to be one of the

forefathers of both linguistics and semiology, which is the philosophical study of the
interpretation of signs and symbols. Most notably, Saussure introduced the idea
 INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTICS
that every word is a linguistic sign, which consists of two components:
the signifier, or the phonetic form of a word (e.g., the word “dog” consists of two
consonants split up by a vowel); and the signified, or the conceptual meaning
underlying the sign (e.g., a dog is a furry animal that is commonly used as a household
pet). Crucially, Saussure articulated the arbitrariness of the linguistic sign:
the phonetic form and the underlying concept of the word “dog” have no
natural link, and instead are the product of social interaction. The arbitrariness of
meaning and form is a fundamental tenet of modern linguistics.

2. Roman Jakobson: Distinctive features

Russian-born linguist and literary theorist Roman Jakobson had many

influential ideas about language; most remarkably, he changed the way scholars
studied phonology, the sound structure of language. Specifically, he proposed the
idea of distinctive features, which suggests that all sounds of speech are marked by
binary contrasts which can be described and quantified. The difference between “p” and
“b”, for instance, is that “b” uses our vocal chords (it’s voiced), whereas “p” does not
(it’s unvoiced).Similarly, “b” and “m” are the same, except in “m”, air
comes out of the nose (it’s nasal), whereas in “b”, it does not (try it!). Though the
idea of distinctive features has been questioned in recent years, it allowed
linguistics to classify the sounds of languages in an organized, hierarchical
structure, which had previously been impossible.

3. Edward Sapir (1884 - 1939): Linguistic relativity

Edward Sapir was a linguistic anthropologist whose thorough classification of

indigenous American languages is still widely used today. Sapir is most famous,
however, for a concept known as linguistic relativity, which he developed with
his student, Benjamin Whorf. This hypothesis, in its strongest form, claims that the
language one speaks drastically influences the way in which one
perceives the world. This hypothesis has been largely dismissed by modern linguists,
but caused significant discussion and consideration about the link between language
and culture.

4. Paul Grice (1913 - 1988): Cooperative principle

Paul Grice is one of the most important contributors to pragmatics, which is the
study of how context contributes to meaning. His best-known idea is the cooperative
principle, which breaks down how people behave in conversations in order to
enable effective communication. In general terms, Grice articulates that speakers must
be truthful, relevant, and unambiguous, and must say neither too much
nor too little. If a speaker violates one of these principles (known as “maxims” in Grice’s
terminology), communication is compromised. A classic example of a violation of the
cooperative principle is if somebody says to you, “I love you. Do you love me?” and you answer,
“Yes.” This is saying too little, which suggests that your answer might be a lie.

5. Noam Chomsky (1928 - ): Universal grammar

Probably the best-known name on this list, Noam Chomsky is famous for many
things. But within the realm of linguistics, he’s most famous for his idea of universal
grammar, which poses that all languages have the same underlying structure, and simply
use different words and sounds on the surface. Humans, Chomsky claims, are
biologically equipped with a language acquisition device, which endows us with the
innate ability to learn language.

6. Eve Clark (1942 - ): First language acquisition

Users of Immersia are most likely interested in learning a second (or third, or fourth!)
language. However, in order to understand how it’s best to learn a second language, we must also
understand how we acquire our first language. Eve Clark is a pioneer in the field of first language
acquisition, and has revolutionized the way in which we understand how children pick up
language. From babbling to coherent conversation, Eve Clark proposes theories and cites
evidence that sheds insight into the mystifying topic of how children learn their first language so
successfully and efficiently. Ultimately, this information will help us understand how to
maximize efficiency in second language acquisition, too.
 INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTICS

7. Steven Pinker (1954 - ): Popularizing linguistic

In his wildly popular books such as The Language Instinct, Steven Pinker argues for a
biological basis of language acquisition. As the title suggests, he proposes that language is
an instinct — a behavior which, like any other instinct, was formed by natural selection, and
has adapted to suit humans’ communicative needs throughout time. His accessible, fun-to-
read books have made great strides in popularizing the field of linguistics, and making it
accessible to those outside the realm of academia.

Nowadays, linguistics is a rich field with many subdivisions — sociolinguistics,

psycholinguistics, neurolinguistics — and there are too many brilliant minds in each field to
fit in this article. Still, these seven prominent figures are a good starting point if you’re
looking to get a sense of who the major players are.

BRANCHES OF LINGUISTICS

1. General Linguistics

 studying language in general

 supplies the concept and categories in terms of which particular languages are to be analyzed
2. Descriptive Linguistics
 studying particular languages
 provides the data which confirm or refute the propositions and theories put forward in general linguistics
3. Diachronic (Historical Linguistics)
 traces the historical development of the language and records the changes that have taken place in it
between successive points in time
 of particular interests to linguists in the nineteenth century
4. Synchronic Linguistics
 Non-historical: presents an account of the language as it is at some particular point in time
5. Theoretical Linguistics
 studies language and languages with a view to constructing a theory of their structure and functions and
without regard to any practical applications that the investigation of language might have
 Goal: formulation of a satisfactory theory of the structure of language in general
6. Applied Linguistics
 application of the concepts and findings of linguistics to a variety of practical tasks including language
teaching
 concerned with both the general and descriptive branches of the subject
7. Micro Linguistics
 adopts the narrower view
 concerned solely with the structures of the language system in itself and for itself

 Phonetics
 Phonology
 Morphology
 Syntax
 Semantics
 Pragmatics
8. Macro Linguistics
 adopts the broader view
 concerned with the way languages are acquired, stored in the brain and used for various functions;
interdependence of language and culture, physiological and psychological mechanisms involved in
language behaviour

 Psycholinguistics
 Sociolinguistics
 Neurolinguistics
 Discourse Analysis
 Computational Linguistics
 Applied Linguistics
 INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTICS

Sibonga Community College

Poblacion, Sibonga, Cebu
486 – 8232

Name: _________________________ Date: ____________

Degree Program: _________________ Subject: Introduction to Linguistics

ACTIVITY #1

Direction: Explain the following briefly. (Minimum of 5 sentences)

1. Choose one nature of language and explain it in your own words.

2. Is it important for a language to follow a grammatical structure? Why or why not?

3. What do you think will happen to the world if there is no language?