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Summary Introduction to Linguistics
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Summary Introduction to LinguisticsChapter 1
Universals: properties shared by all languages
Compositionality: small elements (words, handshapes) that combined make a sentence
Recursion: linguistic unit contains another linguistic unit of the same type
The dog [of the man [with the hat [without the feather]]]
Creativity: characteristic feature for human language
The possibility of using a limited number of symbols or signs (words or gestures)
and a limited number of rules (the grammar) to produce an unlimited number of
new, and possibly unique utterances.
Onomatopoeia: word describing a sound -> not arbitrary
Constructed languages: a language that is consciously devised, it did not develop naturally
Computer languages: used to write computer programs
Languages can be produced in different modalities
Spoken language: Relationship form and meaning more arbitrary
Sign language: Relationship form and meaning is closer
Written language: Based on spoken language thus secondary
Descriptive grammar: rules for all varieties of language, all forms of language are accounted
for, not just the standard form.
Prescriptive grammar: does not describe, but prescribes the rules for ‘correct usage’
Diachronic grammar: changes in language are the subject of a diachronic grammar
Synchronic grammar: describes rules in languages at a given moment in time
Pedagogical grammar: explains the rules of a language for the purpose of teaching and
learning of that language
Syntax: The set of rules, principles and processes that govern the structure of sentences,
usually including word order
Semantics: The study of meaning in language. It is concerned with the relationship between
words, phrases, signs and symbols
Pragmatics: Study of how words are used, dealing with language in use and the context in
which it is used
Deixis, the taking of turns in conversations, implicature
Morphology: word formation, study of words, how they are formed, relationship to other
words
Phonetics: Branch of linguistics that studies the sound of human speech or signs. It is
concerned with the physical properties of sounds or signs.
Phonology: Branch of linguistics busy with the systematic organization of sounds
and signs.
, Chapter 2
In order to communicate with others, a language user needs various cognitive abilities:
Linguistic competence: the system of linguistic knowledge possessed by native
speakers of a language
Knowledge of the world: knowing about things such as sports teams, stores…
Communicative competence: a language users grammatical knowledge of syntax,
morphology, phonology and the like, as well as social knowledge about how and
when to use utterances appropriately; the knowledge of knowing how to use your
language in different situations
These three kinds of knowledge form part of the cognitive system
Performance limit: human brain is not able to memorize sentences that are too long
Mental lexicon: knowledge of words, vocabulary (60000 words), important part of linguistic
competence
Activation spreading: When a word from the metal lexicon is used, it is activated.
This activation spreads to other words that are somehow connected to that one that has
been activated.
Performance: when speaking and understanding language
Aphasia: language dysfunctions caused by damage in the brain -> left hemisphere
In the comprehension of spoken language we can distinguish 4 processes:
Speech recognition: when the hearer analyses the speech signal which is continuous
(one long connected stream of words) and is also - as a result of Co-articulation
(pronunciation of a letter is influenced by the sound that precede it and those who
follow) - variable
Word recognition: when the hearer, using the cohort model and supported by
context and priming (activation words), tries to identify as quickly as possible the
various words
Sentence parsing: when the hearer, on the basis of syntactic and semantic
strategies, tries to group together words in order to arrive at the correct meaning of
the sentence
Interpretation: when the hearer tries to establish the content of the message and
the communicative intention of the speaker
Continuous signal: idunnowatsaytim – I don’t know what to say to him
Co-articulation: kill, cool, kale, cat, teak
Cohort: set of words that is activated at a certain stage in the process of word recognition
this model of recognition is known as the cohort model
b- (bath, baker, big, book, blossom)
blo- (blossom, blot, blog)
blos- (blossom, blossoms)
, In the comprehension of a language we work from both ends:
Bottom-up processing: when we use smaller units (speech sounds, syllables, words)
as a basis for the interpretation of a whole sentence
Top-down processing: when we use our knowledge of the world and the context in
order to properly recognize and interpret those smaller units
Context effect: context builds up an expectation what may lead to a faster recognition of the
word
In a vase on the table stood some beautiful cherry blossom
Syntactic strategy: listeners have a preference for simple parsing. Connecting parts of a
sentence to another nearby helps to uncover the structure and meaning of a sentence as
quickly as possible
Semantic strategy: use of knowledge of words and the world to understand a sentence as
quickly as possible
How speaking works:
Conceptualising: thinking out and planning of the preverbal message
Preverbal message: when planning stage is complete but linguistic shape of the utterance
is still missing
Grammatical encoding: adding a linguistic shape to a preverbal message; suitable
word meanings are accessed from the mental lexicon and fitted into the systematic
structure that links up with the verb
Phonological encoding: the corresponding word forms are activated
Phonetic plan: contains all the information necessary for articulation
Pronunciation of the sounds that form part of the utterance.
Complexity of speaking can result in:
Slip of the tongue: when something goes wrong in pronouncing words
Buit frowl – fruit bowl
Slips of the hand: mistakes that are made in sign language
Because speaking involves complex processes, which need to result in fluent speech, the
speaker will carry out many of these processes in parallel. As soon as part of the utterance
has been planned or formulated, it will be put through to the next phase in the speaking
process. Little by little, the utterance ‘grows’ in size and shape at all levels. This process is
therefore incremental.
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