GENERAL LINGUISTICS FOR BEGINNERS SPLASH OXFORD 2016

WHAT IS LINGUISTICS? “The scientific study of language”/ “the science of language” Linguistics being a science is key to how we approach its study What does it mean to study language “scientifically”? Employment of the scientific method Lesson goal: to start to think about phenomena that occur when we speak in a more scientific way

WHAT IS LANGUAGE? “The human ability to acquire and use complex systems of communication, and a language is any specific example of such a system.” Human ability – language is often viewed as the quintessential human characteristic ‘Language’ is a different object of study to ‘a language’ ‘ Language’ is the general capacity that every human being with a typically functioning brain has to learn any mode of communication – this ability is not restricted to any specific language, but is universal Language (rather than any specific language) is the object of study for General Linguistics; the specifics of any particular language are not our concern

WHAT IS LANGUAGE? Hello ‘Language’ is something most humans have in their brain, and languages are just different systems of communication that make use of this phenomenon Bonjour こんいち わ

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO ‘KNOW’ A LANGUAGE? When you know a language, you can speak to and be understood by others who speak that language This is not as simple as it sounds, and requires much more knowledge than most speakers are aware of

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO ‘KNOW’ A LANGUAGE? Sound system What can be possible words and what can’t be box squox ngox  Sequences of sounds represent ideas or objects ‘cat’ = domestic feline This link between idea and sound is arbitrary – ‘cat’ only means ‘cat’ because speakers of English all use it to represent the same animal, but they could just as easily use any other sequence of sounds Therefore we can and do not assume that ideas/objects are related just because they sound similar – Language does not work like that

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO ‘KNOW’ A LANGUAGE? Combining words into sentences Speakers of a language know how to put words in the right order so that other speakers can understand them ‘I like carrots.’ ‘Like I carrots.’  ‘I carrots like.’ 

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO ‘KNOW’ LANGUAGE? When you know a language, you know all its sounds and words and how to put them together to produce meaningful speech that other speakers of the same language can understand. This is not something that is consciously taught or learned – babies learn these rules when they learn to speak, thanks to the Language ability in their brain that allows them to make sense of adults’ speech

IS LANGUAGE UNIQUE TO HUMANS?

Arbitrariness of signs There is no real connection between a string of sounds and the meaning it represents ‘Cat’ is meaningful in English, but it is made up of meaningless chunks of sound Animal sounds cannot be separated from their meanings – a monkey’s ‘predator warning’ screech cannot be split up into different component sounds and rearranged to make a different ‘word’ with a different meaning

IS LANGUAGE UNIQUE TO HUMANS? Structure All human languages have rules that dictate how words and sentences can be structured Sound system rules Sentence formation rules Animal ‘speech’ doesn’t have these rules – sounds can be combined in any order and still convey the same message

IS LANGUAGE UNIQUE TO HUMANS? Infinite production and creativity We can talk about anything we can imagine Not restricted to repeating phrases we have consciously learnt, unlike parrots and apes We can use smaller units as building blocks and combine them to create larger phrases that have never been heard before We can even produce and understand utterances that do not strictly make sense Twas bryllyg, and the slythy toves Did gyre and gymble in the wabe: All mimsy were the borogoves; And the mome raths outgrabe. Animal communication is more restricted in the complexity and type of messages it can express Animals have a set number of sounds they can use, but cannot combine them to create new meanings

IS LANGUAGE UNIQUE TO HUMANS? Displacement Humans can talk about events in the past and future, as well as hypothetical events and abstract concepts We can choose to withhold information, or present false information Animals are more restricted in what they can convey Their messages usually relate to the here and now, or things that threaten their immediate survival They are compelled to relay their message when it is needed Possible exception – waggle dance of bees

IS LANGUAGE UNIQUE TO HUMANS?

Language clearly displays several characteristics that separate it from animal communication Arbitrariness of speech sounds Structure-based combination Infinite capacity for production of new utterances Displacement of speech

CONCLUSIONS Linguistics is the study of Language in a scientific way Language is the ability (most) humans have to learn to use systems of communication, such as different languages A language is a complex system of communication, and being able to use it involves knowing many rules Language is, as far as we know, only found in one species – human beings