1. Branches of Linguistics
GENERAL LINGUISTICS
Branches of Linguistics

2. The studies of language structures
Phonetics – the study of sounds
Phonology – the study of speech sounds in their cognitive aspects
Morphology – the study of the formation of words
Syntax – the study of the formation of sentence
Semantics – the study of meaning
Pragmatics- the study of language use

3. Interdisciplinary studies of language
Historical Linguistics
Sociolinguistics
Psycholinguistics
Ethnolinguistics (or anthropological linguistics)
Dialectology
Computational linguistics
Psycholinguistics and neurolinguistics

4. Theories of language origin

5. The divine source
The divine source – presented in most religions of the world, humans were provided with language by a divine source;
The hypothesis was if human infants were allowed to grow up without hearing any language, they would speak the original God given language.

6. The natural sound source
The natural sound source – primitive words could have been imitations of natural sounds; In English: cukoo, boom, hiss, bow-wow;
This process of word formation is called onomatopeia, examples could be found in any language;

7. The social interaction source
The social interaction source – “yo-he-ho” theory places the development of human language in a social context. People lived in groups, human sounds was a form of communication, no explication of the origins of the sounds provided. Animals use sounds, but have no capacity for speech.

8. The physical adaptation source
The physical adaptation source – changes in physical features of humans: upright posture on two feet, change in front limbs functions, vocal tract etc. Evolutionary development of physical features relevant for speech: human teeth, lips, mouth, tongue – face with muscle to deliver sounds through their different shapes.
The human larynx (voice box) and pharynx differ from animals’.

9. The tool-making source
The tool-making source – physical adaptation process led to change of functions. Gestures – a precursor of language. Tool-making –evidence of a brain at work. Functions of motor movement (vocalization, speaking) and object manipulation (making tools) are close in the left hemisphere of the brain. There might be an evolutionary connection between them, and both were involved in the development of speaking;
Other idea – single noises to indicate objects, but it lacks structural organization.

10. The genetic source
Innateness hypothesis – children are born with a special capacity for language.
Human genetics, a crucial mutation – not a gradual change, but something that happened rather quickly;
The investigation of language origin turns into a search for the special ‘language gene’ that only humans possess.

11. Home assignment George Yule. The study of Language. Chapter 1
Questions and Tasks
Study Guide online