Language
�System of communication using sounds or gestures put together in meaningful ways according to set of rules
Nature of Language
Connections between meanings & attached
words:arbitrary
-Capable of infinite number of messages
Example: Dog, Eggplant
All languages organized in same basic way: Spoken and Sign Languages
-Spoken languages.: sounds+ rules for putting sounds together
-Sign languages. use gestures + rules
Language & Other Primates
�Orangs, chimps & gorillas can learn & communicate with sign
language
�Only humans speak of past or future events (displacement)
Language found in all cultures*
...
Language Diversity
�Ca. 6,500 languages
�500 yrs ago: 10,000
<100 langs. account for
95% of people
-Mandarin: ca. 1 in 5
-English, Hindi, Spanish, and Russian: ca. 45%
Dialects
�varying forms of a language that are mutually intelligible
�reflect particular regions or social classes
Linguistics
Systematic Study of all aspects of language
-3 main branches
1. Descriptive Linguistics
Unravels languages by:
-Recording
-Describing
-Analyzing
all features
4 Features of Language
�Phonology
�Morphology
�Syntax
�Grammar
Phonology
�Study of language sounds
�identify & describe distinctive sounds of a language
Phonemes
#NAME?
Morphology
�Patterns or rules of word formation
-rules concerning verb tense
-pluralization
-compound words
Morphemes
0
Syntax
�Rules or principles of phrase & sentence making
Grammar
�Entire formal structure of a language = all observations about morphemes and syntax
2. Historical Linguistics
Languages change
�Covers:
-deciphering dead languages
-relationships between earlier & later forms
-interrelationships among older languages
Historical Linguistics: Linguistic divergence
-Development of different languages from single ancestral language
-English Language diverged from many other languages
Historical Linguistics: Language family
-Group of languages descended from single ancestral language
Most done in Indo-European
Language Family: Indo-European
Finnish:
NOT Indo-European
Glottochronology
�Method for gauging when languages branched off from common ancestor
�based on analyzing core vocabularies
-pronouns
-lower numerals
-names for body parts
-names for natural objects
�Not very accurate time-wise
Linguistic Nationalism
1.Ethnic minorities or countries purging language of foreign terms
2.Language revivals
3a. Sociolinguistics
�study of relationship between language & society
�social categories influence use & significance of distinctive styles of speech
-Age
-Gender
-Ethnicity
-Religion
-Occupation
-Class
Sociolinguistics: Gendered speech
-distinct male and female syntax in some languages
Code Switching
�Changing from one language/dialect/form of speaking to another
�Depends on context
3b. Ethnolinguistics
�Study of relationship between language
& culture
Linguistic Determinism
�Idea that language shapes way we view and think about the world
�"Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
Linguistic Relativity
�Distinctions about natural world encoded in a language can be unique to that language
�In contrast to natural/universal categories
Example: Colors some culture don't distinguish between blue and purple
Language Reflects Cultural Reality
�Aymara Indians: 200 words for potato
�US culture: many words for sex, drinking, violent acts
Signal
�Sound or gesture with natural or self-evident meaning
Gestures
�Facial expressions
�Bodily postures & motions
-convey intended or subconscious messages
Kinesics
�
studying postures, facial expressions, &
body motions that convey messages
Proxemics
�cross-cultural study of perception & use of space
Writing System
�Set of visible or tactile signs used to represent units of language in a systematic way
Writing Systems
�independently invented at least 5 times
Alphabet
�Series of symbols representing the sounds of a language
-arranged in a traditional order