Chapter 1 Reading (notes): language defines us. Linguistics is the study of how language works - used, acquired, changes over time, and represented in the brain. How human beings created a fundamental language and how it's been changed over time. Homo sapiens had large brains and could produce speech (had the ability to form a language). Humans have speech organs such as lungs, larynx. Speech organs also not only used for language but for survival functions (dual functions of the speech). Language is also how the human mind forms words, sentences, interpretations. The diversity and experiences always help language developed and grow as people discover new things and creativity gives people the ability to produce and understand new words. Process to create verbs and nouns in English. Although we say jail the robber to mean 'put the robber in jail', we do not say prison the robber to mean 'put the robber in prison'. This is because the well-established verb imprison already has the meaning that the new form would have. a. * Jerome midnighted in the streets. b. * Andrea nooned at the restaurant. c. * Philip one o'clocked at the airport. These examples show that when a verb is created from a time expression, it must be given a very specific interpretation-roughly paraphrased as 'to be somewhere for the period of time X'. Thus, to summer in London is 'to be in London for the summer', to holiday in France is 'to be in France for the holidays', and so on. Since noon and midnight express points in time rather than extended periods of time, they cannot be used to create new verbs of this type. As a speaker of English, you would then automatically know that something with the properties of a soleme could be called solemic. You would also know that to make something solemic is to solemicize it, and you would call this process solemi-cization. Further, you would know that the c is pronounced as s in solemicize but as k in solemic, and that both words are pronounced with the stress on the second syllable. (You would say soLEmic, not SOlemic or soleMIC.) linguistic competence, constitutes the central subject matter of linguistics and of this book. Linguistics focuses on mental system that allows humans to form and interpret sounds, words and language. TABLE 1.3 The components of a grammar Component Phonetics sounds Phonology Morphology Domain the articulation and perception of speech the patterning of speech sounds word formation
Syntax Semantics sentence formation the interpretation of words and sentences In limgusists grammar is the network of knowledge that underlies the ability to use lagnagues. Reasons why grammar is I portant in linguistics: - All languages have grammar. They have to have grammar. In order to make sense 7 form sentences. If a language is spoken, it must have a phonetic and phonological system; since it has words and sentences, it must also have a morphology and a syntax; and since these words and sentences have