University:
McGill University
Course:
LING 201 | Introduction to Linguistics
Academic year:

2024
Views:

251

Pages:

1
Author:

Allenna T.

Lecture 1: What is linguistics? What distinguishes language? 1. Arbitrariness - Arbitrariness: Most words’ meanings are arbitrarily assigned (i.e. dog, white) - Vs. Iconicity: The words itself represents its meaning (i.e. onomatopoeia; oof, boom) 2. Productivity - Using a finite set of words -> can create infinite new sentences What is the definition of language? Language (1): a specific language (i.e. English, Mandarin) Language (2): the part of human cognition that controls a specific type of communication What is grammar? Grammar is: A set of rules that users tacitly agree on to use language - We know what is possible and impossible - even w/out explicit instruction - I.e. knowing meaning in context Grammar is not: - Rules in written communication (too formal) - Prescriptive - instead, descriptive - language evolves! What 2 parts in our human cognition make up our “language faculty”? Mental grammar: set of structural rules <-> Mental lexicon: set of words What are the 5 fields that make up our “mental grammar”? Phonetics: sound production and perception - All humans have same physical structures, but different ways of using it for production - I.e sparm vs. sptarm Morphology: how parts of words combine - I.e Undo vs. uncat Syntax: How words combine - I.e. Terry wants to see Kerry vs. Wants to see Kerry Terry Semantics: How meanings combine to create expressions ex? Pragmatics: Meaning in context - I.e. was the show good? Well, the costumes were nice Where can we find patterns for studying grammar? Natural language examples: shows what is produced Metalinguistic intuition: asking language users what could/couldn’t be produced

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