The human experience 10th grade

Language Arts Subject for

High School:

Linguistics
5th Semester
Mr. Abdullah Aljhani
Linguistics 1st lecture

Faculty of Languages
Theoretical Linguistics Department

Linguistics

3rd Semester
Mr. Abdullah Aljhani
 Linguistics 1st lecture

01. What’s Linguistics?

02. What’s Language?
03. Branches of Linguistics?
04. Animal and Human Communication
A. Properties of Human Language
1. Arbitrary
Table of contents 2. Conventional
3. Culturally transmitted
4. Productivity / Creativity
5. Displacement
6. Duality
B. Properties of Animal Communication
05. The Functions of Language
1. Transactional Function
2. Social Function
Mr. Abdullah Aljhani
3. Literary Function
 Linguistics 1st lecture

What’s Liguistics?
Linguistics is a science which studeis human language as
a natrual phenomenon rather than human made.

Linguistics is not only a theoretical science, but it is also

an empirical science.

1. It formulates theories and explanations to explain the

phenomena of language.

2. It makes detailed observations on particular languages

to conform or refute generalizations.

Linguistics is concerned with human language as a part

of human behaviour and human faculties.
Mr. Abdullah Aljhani
Branches of Linguistics
Linguistics 1st lecture

What is a Linguist?
A person who studies linguistics.
A person who speaks a large number of languages.

It is not important to be flluent in the languages, but it is

important for him to:

1. Analyse and explain the linguistic phenomena.

2. Understand the nature of language.

3. Study the strucetre of language, its function,

psychological and cultural systems.

4 Construct theories of how langauge works. Mr. Abdullah Aljhani

 Linguistics 1st lecture

What is Language?
It refers to the general human capacity of verbal communication.

It may refers to specific language such as Arabic, English, French,

etc.

It refers to aspects of human and animal communication (body

language)

Linguists view language as:

1. an abstract knowledge that is internalized in the mind.

2. a system of structures /signs that is stored in the mind.
3. a social phenomenon, it is a form of human social behaviour.
Mr. Abdullah Aljhani
Properties of Human Language 1st lecture

There are some features that distinguish animal communication

from human language:

1. Arbitrary
2. Conventional
3. Culturally transmitted
4. Creativity / Productivity
5. Displacement
6. Duality

Mr. Abdullah Aljhani

 Properties of Human Language 1st lecture

Arbitrary = the form of linguistic form bear no natural resemblance to their meaning..
Four-footed creature Dog in English, Kalb in Arabic

Conventional = a kind of public agreement that certain things will be done in certain
ways. Speakers of English agree upon calling a certain animal a horse, a cat , etc..

Culturally transmitted = language is passed from one generation to the next as a form
of learned behavior rather than physically inherited.

Creativity / Productivity = there is no limit to the number of sentences, phrases , words

that can be said. We can utter/hear sentences that we have never said before.

Displacement = human can talk about things and events not present in the immediate
environment (past and future)
Duality / Double articulation = linguistic forms have two simultaneous levels of sound
production and meaning. We can produce individual sounds, like n, b. i, etc. Then we
can combine these sounds in particular manner to produce pin, which has meaning.
Mr. Abdullah Aljhani
 Properties of Animal Communication 1st lecture

Humans and animals can communicate, but only humans have language. Animals
can communicate by a variety of means.

Example, Birds signals to each other by singing

Bees communicate through a series of dances.

Animals can communicate about things in the immediate environment only. Their
communication is routine, restricted and automatic response. They use a limited
number of sounds

There is a strong link between the actual signal and the message an animal wish
to convey.

Animals know how to communicate without learning. Their system of

communication is genetically inbuilt.
Mr. Abdullah Aljhani
Linguistics 1st lecture

The Functions of Language

Language plays a central role on our lives.

It serves as a means of communication.

It enables us to think about, and communicate with

others in our community.

It is an integral part of being human. When we acquire

language, we discover our identity as social beings.

Language has three main functions:

1. Transactional Function
2. Social Function
3. Literary Function Mr. Abdullah Aljhani
Three Functions of Language 1st lecture

Transactional Function (referential) is used to communicate facts

throughout society.

Social Function (interpersonal) is used for scioal contact. It is used

for social chit-chat, talk of everyday life as Hello, nice to see you,
etc.

Literary Function (imaginative) is highly specilized language that is

used in poetry.

Mr. Abdullah Aljhani

Linguistics The Scope of Linguistics 1st lecture

1. The Scope of Linguistics

a. Langue and Parole
b. Competence and Performance
c. Language Structure and Language Use

2. The Study of Language in Social Context

3. Investigating Language
a. The Use of Intuition
b. The Use of Corpus Linguistics
Linguistics The Scope of Linguistics 1st lecture

Two well-known terms in linguistics to describe language

knowledge and language use are:

a. Langue and Parole (Swiss scholar, Ferdinand De Saussure)

b. Competence and Performance (Noam Chomsky)

Ferdinand De Saussure
Book: A Course in General Linguistics (1916)

Langue is the abstract system according to which speakers in a speech

community speak.

Parole is the utterances (USE) in that system.

Linguistics is concerned with the abstract system (langue)

Linguistics The Scope of Linguistics 1st lecture

Noam Chomsky
Book: Syntactic Structures (1957)

Competence is the unconscious knowledge of the ideal speakers.

Performance is the actual use of the language.

Linguistics is concerned with the knowledge of the system which is innate and universal
(Competence)

Language is a system of sounds and meanings. Language is a set of sentences

described by the rules of a grammar. To know a language it is important to know these
rules

Chomsky, the scope of linguistics is to describe the forms of the languages without
regard to how these forms function in communication (social life).
Mr. Abdullah Aljhani
Linguistics The Scope of Linguistics 1st lecture

Language Knowledge Language Use

Langue Parole (Ferdinand De Saussure)

Competence Performance (Noam Chomsky)

The speaker’s knowledge of the language The speaker’s use of the language

Grammar that contains all linguistic The principles (rules) that govern
knowledge innate or acquired language use

Mr. Abdullah Aljhani

Linguistics The Study of Language in Social Context 1st lecture

Michael Halliday
Language in Context

Studies how language is influenced by the environment, how it is shaped by social use,
and how it reflects the functions

Language and context are interlined in the production of meaning.

Competence is not only the abstract knowledge, but also the ability to put this
knowledge in actual use.

Communicative competence is the knowledge the speaker’s needs in order to use

language appropriately.

Mr. Abdullah Aljhani

 Linguistics Investigating Language 1st lecture

There are TWO methods of investigating language:

Mr. Abdullah Aljhani
The 1st draws upon the knowledge we all have
The 2nd use the empirical approach which examines language as it is
used in real communication

A. The Use of Intuition

The judgement of native speaker about his language , he decides whether
a sentence is correct or not, is acceptable or not.

B. The Use of Corpus Linguistics

The study of language based on real usage, spoken or written. Corpus
linguistics contain a number of structures and usage that are acceptable
to native speakers.
The meaning in Language 1st lecture

Thanks!
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Abdullahaljhani@gmail.com
Abdullah Aljhani@facebook.com
What’s App: 0927511784

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Mr. Abdullah Aljhani