Introduction to English Linguistics Chapter 1 A Language Like English Objectives 1) to engage students in the study of the English language and show them how material in the book may challenge some of their asumptions about the English language; 2) to provide foundational material on the nature of language; and 3) to highlight how all living languages change over time

Language is everywhere a primary means of communication. What do we do with language? social link, literature, work, ….. A comparison of language to machines like a computer, a phone, a. we do not understand how they work, but we use them b. rule-governed

Language is changing “The Story of Aks” (p.2) aks --> ask ‘aks’ is bad or wrong? linguistically same (same meaning) It’s I --> It’s me. 여름  과일

The Power of Language name calling: Mr. Peterson vs. Mark, taboo words, spells, curses, c-word, f-word, n-word judging a person by his/her language (cf. by appearance, demeanor ....) 바른말 고운말 : language influences mind

wrong beliefs about language 1) Language is the same thing as the writing system used to represent it. 2) necessary, inevitable connections between words and their meanings 3) a vehicle for thought, or informative function ==> many more functions: 'phatic' (How are you?..), performative (I promise you to marry her...), 4) Language is a finite set of sentences. 5) Language is a set of learned responses. 6) Grammar is a set of rules that we must be taught. 7) Language is a perfect instrument for communication.

The System of Language “Human language is a conventional system of signs that allows for the creative communication of meaning.” (p.8) 1. Conventional 2. System 3. Creativity

Conventional Sign arbitrary relations between signs and meanings iconic signs (사진, 그림...) indexical signs symbolic signs (언어, 교통표지...

Conventional Sign Ferdinand de Saussure(p.9): a. signifier vs. signified b. langue vs. parole = Noam Chomsky: linguistic competence vs. linguistic performance

Creativity an infinite number of sentences from a finite set of sounds, words, and rules a. How long is the longest sentence in English? b. recursion -The experts said that the teacher said that ....... - the house by the lake near the stream in the woods outside the village beyond the mountain…

definitions of ‘grammar’ grammatical: Tom loves Sue. ungrammatical: *Tom loves. *Loves Sue. *Tom Sue. prescriptive grammar: right vs. wrong, correct vs. incorrect descriptive grammar; Generative grammar broad sense vs. narrow sense

Linguistics a scientific study of language as a system formal approaches: phonology 음운론 phonetics 음성학 morphology 형태론 syntax 문장론, 구문 semantics 의미론 functional approaches: pragmatics 화용론 discourse analysis 담화분석 conversational analysis stylistics 문체론 sociolinguistics 사회언어학 psycholinguistics applied linguistics 응용언어학 historical linguistics

Human Language vs. Animal Communication What makes human language distinctive/unique? a. Is language faculty unique only to humans? Yes. (Chomsky, Pinker ... No. Some animals share some of it. b. bees, chimps, dogs(border collie

Can animals ‘speak’? a. different speech organs: the position of the larynx (lowered at 3 months) b. animal communication: simple/holistic --> no combinations of messages for new sentences c. Brain capacity: man 1400cc apes 400-450cc

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How are human languages/animal communications different? humans acquire language in speech communities. -human words are unique in number; about 50,000, -language change: concrete meanings --> abstract ones --> grammatical ones -beyond ‘here and now’: displacement(the ability to project forward & backward in time) human language can be ambiguous. tall boys and girls, She is a child. human language is infinitely creative.