1 Introduction to Linguistics

Handout 1
I. Linguistics
• language - the “human essence”
- a human system of communication which uses structured vocal sounds and can be embodied in other media, such as writing,
print and physical sign;
- a particular instance thereof;
- any more or less systematic means of communicating, such as animal cries and movements, code, gesture, machine language,
etc.;
- the usage of certain terms by a special group: scientific language, technical language, slang, etc.

• subfields of linguistics:
- phonetics – the study of speech sounds
- phonology – the study of the sound system of language
- morphology – the study of the ways in which words are constructed
- syntax – the study of the way in which sentences are constructed
- semantics – the study of meaning
- pragmatics – the study of how the meaning conveyed by a word or a sentence depends on the context in which it is used

• related fields:
- anthropological linguistics – the study of the interrelationship between language and culture
- applied linguistics – the application of the methods and results of linguistics to such areas as language teaching,
lexicography, translation, advertising, etc.
- neurolinguistics – the study of the brain and how it functions in the production, perception and acquisition of language
- psycholinguistics – the study of interrelationships of language and cognitive structures
- sociolinguistics – the study of interrelationships of language and social structure, of language variation and attitudes
toward language
- historical linguistics – the study of how languages change through time, the relationships among languages

II. The origins of language

1. The divine source:

(a) “And out of the ground the Lord God had formed all the beasts of the field, and all the birds of the air, and He
brought them to Adam to see what he would call them and whatever Adam called a living creature, that was its
name” (Genesis 2: 19). GODGAVEADAMTHEPOWER CHRISTIANITYBELIEFS
(b) “They quit building the city, which accordingly was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the whole
world’s language…” (Genesis 11: 9) TOWEL BABEL
OF storysieowstnninuinrrouao.es
areoranateoerore a sinceresource
- monogenetic theory of language origin
moomrearmoro
Godot- e.g. Egypt writing armno
wisdom wisdom
KNOWLEDGE
writino
art
(the god Thoth), Babylon (the god Nabu), India music
propaecy
(the goddess Sarasvati)

- “scientific” experiments to rediscover the original God-given language:

1) the Egyptian Pharaoh Psammetichus (664-610 B.C.E.): two infants, a mute shepherd and the company of goats;
the Phrygian word bekos, meaning “bread”
2) King James IV of Scotland (1473-1513): Hebrew
3) the Mogul emperor Akbar the Great (1542-1605): the children didn’t speak

2. The natural-sound source:

a) “bow-wow” [onomatopoeic] theory (sound imitation)
- sounds of nature: primitive words were imitations of the sounds people heard around them.
- onomatopoeic words:

1) Crosslinguistic examples of onomatopoeia:

SOUND ENGLISH GERMAN FRENCH SPANISH HEBREW JAPANESE
[bawwaw] [vawvaw] [wahwah] [wawwaw] [hawhaw] [wãwa]
Doo [miaw] [miaw] [miaw] [miaw] [miaw] [niaw]
cat [ba:] [mε:] [be:] [bε:] [mε:mε:] [mε:mε:]
SHEEP
[tiktok] [tiktik] [tiktak] [tiktak] [tiktak] [čiktak ]
clock
2) cuckoo, splash, bang, boom, rattle, buzz, hiss, screech, click, coo, gurgle, crunch

- arbitrariness
oer can
rn Wasser,
1) eau, ero woda,
shui, water, n acqua
it
 2 Introduction to Linguistics
Handout 1

Turk sap
2) kyinii, doakam, odun, asa, cane, pies pi Doo
cno me
b) cries of emotion: (“pooh-pooh” theory)
- natural cries of emotion - “cries of nature” (Jean Jacques Rousseau): the original sounds of language come
from cries of emotion (pain, anger, joy).
- interjections (ouch!, ah!, hey!, wow! yuck!, brr!, oops!, eek!)

c) “yo-he-ho” theory: (yo-ho-ho, yo-heave-ho)

- rhythmical grunts of people working together, leading to chants
- social context

3. The physical adaptation source:

- focus on the physical aspects of humans that are not shared with other creatures

Human evolutionary developments:

- the transition to an upright posture, with bipedal locomotion, and a reversed role for the front limbs (The assumption of
an upright posture moved the head forward and the larynx lower, creating the pharynx.)
- the development of vocal tract (in Neanderthal man)
- the increased size of the brain

Physical features relevant for speech:

a) human teeth (upright vs. slanting; roughly even in height)
b) human lips (intricate muscle interlacing; flexibility)
c) the human mouth (relatively small; can be opened and closed rapidly)
d) the human tongue (flexible)
e) the larynx or ‘voice box’ (containing the vocal cords)
f) the pharynx (a resonator for any sounds produced via the larynx)

The human brain

- relatively large (1,300-1,400 g [2.87 - 3.1 lb])
- lateralized (specialized functions in each of the hemispheres); the tool-using and language-using abilities of
humans are largely confined to the left hemisphere

4. The genetic source

a) automatic developments
- the weight of the baby’s brain (at birth) a quarter of its eventual weight (350-400 g [0.77-0.88 lb])
- the position of the larynx in babies much higher in the throat than in adults
- the assumption of an upright posture and the start of walking
- the emergence of speech
b) the complexity of the young child’s language

The innateness hypothesis: Human offspring are born with a special capacity for language
- innate
- not present in other creatures
- not tied to a particular language
- possibly, a result of genetic mutation