Introduction to Linguistics

AN OUTLINE OF HISTORY OF LINGUISTICS

 An outline of the history of Linguistics
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The history of linguistics is bound up with various theories which have

been proposed in the attempt at explaining the nature of the
human language faculty. These theories can be grouped into three
broad categories which correspond roughly to historical epochs.
 History of Linguistics
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Orientation Period
0) non-theoretical studies before the 19th century
1) historical linguistics 19th century
2) structuralism first half of the 20th century
3) generative grammar second half of the 2oth century
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Various linguistic theories have been developed over the past two
centuries as shown above. The school of historical linguistics came to be
known in the late 19th century as Neogrammarianism.
 Structuralism in the 20th century was introduced by Ferninand de
Saussure (1857-1913), a Swiss-French linguist whose original ideas were
published in a book posthumously (Cours de linguistique générale,
1916). Generative grammar was invented and developed by Noam
Chomsky (1928- ) and has been the dominant model of formal
linguistics in recent decades.
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Linguistics as a science began at the beginning of the 19th century and

was diachronic in its orientation.
The essential theoretical assumption of linguists at this time was that of
the sound law which maintains that (phonological) change is without
exception unless this is prevented by phonotactic environment.
Later analogical change can mask an earlier change and make it
appear irregular by increasing its scope beyond environments in which
it originally applied.
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In the latter half of the 19th century linguistic techniques reached a
highwater mark and the linguists involved are known today
as Neogrammarians (Junggrammatiker).

One of their main concerns was the reconstruction of the proto-

language Indo-European from which nearly all languages in Europe
and many in the Middle East and northern India are derived.
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The advent of structuralism at the beginning of the 20th century is

associated with Ferdinand de Saussure, a French-Swiss scholar whose
ideas have had a lasting effect on the linguistic thought of following
generations.
Saussure stressed the interaction at any one time of elements in a
language's structure and maintained that these were interrelated in a
network of relations.
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Diachrony is in his view just a stringing together of various synchronic

slices, so that the structure of a language at one point in time is primary
and historical considerations are dependent on the principles derived
from viewing language synchronically.
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The generative approach to language change sees it primarily as rule

change which becomes part of the internalised grammar of a certain
generation and remains so until replaced by another rule change.

This type of change is always binary, i.e. a rule is either present or not,

and as such has been rejected by many, notably by sociolinguists, who
argue that there is often a variable application of rules and that
speakers can have a command of several subsystems whose use is
determined by external, social factors.
Introduction to linguistics
10

WHAT IS LINGUISTICS?
WHAT ARE THE SUB-AREAS OF LINGUISTICS
WHAT IS LANGUAGE?
 What is Linguistics?
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Linguistics can be defined as the scientific or systematics study of

language. It is a science in the sense that it scientifically studies the
rules, systems and principles of the human language.
Linguistics is the scientific study of human natural language.
Linguistics is a the study of a language
 What is linguistics?
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Linguistics is a scientific field which has impact on education,

anthropology, sociology, computer science and artificial intelligence
studies, philosophy, and neuroscience.
 Linguistics has two main purposes
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One is that it studies the nature of language and tries to establish a

theory of language and describes languages in the light of the theory
established.
The other is that it examines all the forms of language in general and
seeks a scientific understanding of the ways in which it is organized to
fulfill the needs it serves and the functions it performs in human life.
 What is linguistics?
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The major sub-disciplines of linguistics cover a wide range of topics.

One way to divide the larger study of linguistics is to think of some of

the tasks as descriptive and others as applied.
 Descriptive linguistics
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Descriptive linguistics may be defined as:

The study of how language is actually organized and used; an objective
description of the language as opposed to a prescriptive list of rules
imposed on language speakers.

Descriptive linguistics includes phonetics, phonology,

morphology, syntax, discourse studies, semantics, historical
linguistics, neurolinguistics, and a few others areas.
 Descriptive Linguistics: main sub areas
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Phonetics is the scientific study of speech sounds. It studies how

speech sounds are articulated, transmitted, and received.

Phonology is the study of how speech sounds function in a language,

it studies the ways speech sounds are organized.

Morphology the study of the ways in which words are constructed

out of smaller units that have a meaning or grammatical function.
 Descriptive Linguistics: main sub areas
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Syntax study the ways in which sentences are constructed; how

phrases and clauses are related to each other. (example: the study of
word order)

Semantics is the study of meaning; how words and sentences are

related to the (real or imaginary) objects they refer to and the situations
they describe.

Pragmatics is the study of how meaning conveyed by a word or

sentence depends on aspects of the context in which it is used.
 Cont.
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Sociolinguistics studies the interrelationships between language and

society: how social factors influence the structure and use of a language.

Anthropological linguistics: The study of the interrelationship

between language and culture.

Historical linguistics: The study of how languages change through

time and the relationships among languages.
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Psycholinguistics is the study of the interrelationship of language

and cognitive structures; the acquisition of language.

Neurolinguistics is the study of the brain and how it functions in the

production, perception, and acquisition of language.
 Applied Linguistics
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Applied linguistics may be defined as:

The application of the methods and results of linguistic research to such
areas as language teaching, national language policies, lexicography,
translation, language in politics, advertising, classrooms, and courts.

Each of these areas of applied linguistics require a prior descriptive

study of language. Teaching English to speakers of other languages can
benefit from an understanding of the sounds and structures of the
person’s native language so that appropriate emphasis can be given to
mastering the sounds the student finds difficult.
 Linguistics method
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Linguists are scientists

Take a scientific approach to study to language
 Observe some language phenomena
 Data collection
 Make a hypothesis about the phenomena
 Test the hypothesis
 Linguistics methods
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Observation: What sounds are used? Who says what to whom? Is an

adjective placed before or after the noun it modifies? What differences
are there between male and female speakers in terms of word choice?

Collection: A linguist may collect lists of words that begin or end in a

certain sound (pin, pen, pan, pun). Lists of words that begin or end
with similar sounds (pin/bin, pen/Ben, pan/ban, pun/bun).

Comparison: By comparing lists like those listed above, a linguist

would form a working hypothesis about the sound/structure patterns
and contrasts.
 Linguistics methods
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Forming hypotheses: A working hypothesis might state that the

initial sound in ‘pin’ and ‘bin’ makes a difference in meaning .

Testing hypotheses: By eliciting and comparing more data, a linguist

can “prove” or “disprove” these working hypothesis.
 Review Questions
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1. Broadly explain the concept of linguistics.

2. Compare and contrast the two main purposes of linguistics.
3. Explain the difference between descriptive and applied linguistics.
4. List the main sub area of descriptive linguistics, that you know and
explain them.
5. Explain the linguistic method highlight your answer with an
example.