Basic Concepts of Linguistics

1.1 Language

Language is a system that associates sounds (or gestures) with meanings in a way that uses

words and sentences.

Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It tries:

• first, to observe languages and to describe them accurately,

• then, to find generalizations within what has been described,

• finally, to draw conclusions about the general nature of human language.

Applied linguistics attempts to make practical use of the knowledge derived from general

linguistic research – in order, for example, to:

• improve the ways in which a student’s native language is taught

• help people learn foreign language more efficiently

• write better dictionaries

• improve therapy for people with language problems

• search the Internet more efficiently and successfully

Linguistics overlaps and (ideally) cooperates with: psychology, sociology, anthropology, philosophy,
logic, mathematics, computer science, speech pathology, acoustics, music, cryptanalysis, etc.
The parts of Grammar

Grammar is a language system, a set of principles (rules) that underlie a language.

Mental Grammar – the knowledge of language that allows a person to produce and understand
utterances

Grammar can be described as having different parts:

• phonetics

THE PARTS OF GRAMMAR

• phonology

• morphology

• syntax
• semantics

• pragmatics

Since linguists study all of these, the terms are also used to refer to subfields of linguistics.

Phonetics & Phonology

Phonetics – the production and perception of speech sounds as physical entities.

E.g., [v] is pronounced by bringing the lower lip into contact with upper teeth and forcing

air out of the mouth while the vocal folds vibrate and nasal cavity is closed off.

Phonology – the sound patterns (the sound system of a particular language) and of sounds
as abstract entities.

In Czech, a word never ends with a voiced obstruent (e.g., zubu [zubu] ‘toothgen’ but zub

[zup] ‘toothnom’).

In English, a word never starts with [kn] (note that knife starts with [n] not [k]), while in

German it is possible (e.g., Knabe ‘boy’)

In Setswana (a language of southern Africa), a consonant is always followed by a vowel –

when the speakers adopted the word Christmas from English, they pronounce as kirisimasi.

Morphology

Morphology – the word structure and of systematic relations between words.

Morpheme – the building-blocks of words, the smallest linguistic unit which has a meaning

or grammatical function.

Words are composed of morphemes (one or more).

Sing-er-s answer-ed un-kind-ly

uč-i-tel-k-u ‘she-teacheracc’

In comparison with many other languages, English has rather simple morphology.

1.5.3 Syntax

Syntax – phrase and sentence structure

Syntacticians try to discover rules that govern:

word order:

The book is on the table. *Table book on is the the.

agreement:

I am here.

*I are here.

subject/object forms (cases):

I like her.

*I like she.

etc.

Note: In linguistics, placing an asterisk (*) before a sentence marks that sentence as ungrammatical,

i.e., not of the kind normally used by most speakers of that language.

Semantics

Semantics is the literal meaning of sentences, phrases, words and morphemes.

E.g., What is the meaning of the word vegetable?

E.g., How does the word order influence meaning of sentence in English? How about Czech?

1.5.5 Pragmatics

Pragmatics studies language usage, especially how context influences the interpretation of

utterances – the same sentence can be used to do different things in different situations.

E.g., Gee, it’s hot in here! can be used either to state a fact or to get someone open a

window.

Simply put: semantics is the literal meaning and pragmatics is the intended meaning.

1.6 Arbitrariness

The relation between form and meaning in language can be either:

• arbitrary (conventional), in which case:

– the meaning is not deducible from the form

– the form is not deducible from the meaning

– the connection between the form and meaning must be learned via memorization

• nonarbitrary

– the meaning is (at least partly) derivable from the form, and vice versa

E.g., buzzEn, bzučení Cz – ‘sound of the type made by (the wings of) bees’

iconicity – the most extreme example of nonarbitrary form/meaning connection: the

form shows a physical correspondence to the meaning and vice versa

Non-language examples:

• arbitrary: traffic lights, warning siren

• nonarbitrary: a “no-smoking” sign (with a crossed-out cigarette), a deer-crossing sign

(with a silhouette of a deer)

Language is overwhelmingly arbitrary.

If language were not arbitrary, then:

• different languages would not use different words for the same thing (in fact, there

would be just one language), as they obviously do:

English tree, Czech strom, French arbre, German Baum, Japanese ki, Korean namu.

• word forms would not change over time.

Old English (before 1100) hūs → Modern English house

Why is arbitrariness is an advantage?

• It allows user of a communication system to adopt the most convenient means available for
communicating, since it obviates any need for the forms of signs to bear an inherent relationship to their
meanings.

• It also makes it much easier for users of a communication system to refer to abstract entities, since it is
hard to find a combination that involves an inherent link between a form and an abstract meaning
Phonetics

What is Phonetics

Phonetics is the study of speech sounds:

• how they are produced,

• how they are perceived,

• what their physical properties are.

The technical word for a speech sound is phone (hence, phonetics). Cf. telephone, headphone,
phonograph, homophone.

Place of phonetics in the language system:

Pragmatics – Meaning in context

Semantics – Literal meaning

Syntax – Sentence structure

Morphology – Word structure

Phonology – Sound patterns, language dependent abstraction over sounds Phonetics

– Sounds; (nearly) language independent

– understanding language expressions; ↓ – producing language expressions

3.2 Subfields of Phonetics

Articulatory Phonetics – the study of the production of speech sounds.

The oldest form of phonetics.

A typical observation: “The sound at the beginning of the word ‘foot’ is produced

by bringing the lower lip into contact with the upper teeth and forcing air out of

the mouth.”
Auditory Phonetics – the study of the perception of speech sounds.

Related to neurology and cognitive science.

A typical observation: “The sounds [s, S, z, Z] are called sibilants because they

share the property of sounding like a ‘hiss’.”

Acoustic Phonetics – the study of the physical properties of speech sounds.

A relatively new subfield (circa 50 years); uses sophisticated equipment (spectrograph, etc).

Related to acoustics (the subfield of physics dealing with sound waves).

A typical observation: “The strongest concentration of acoustic energy in the

sound [s] is above 4000 Hz.”

Phonetic Alphabet

Why do we need a new alphabet?

Because: We want to be able to write down how things are pronounced and the traditional

Roman alphabet is not good enough for it:

• Words are pronounced differently depending on region, speaker, mood, …but they are (usually)
spelled the same way

root [rut] or [rUt], truck [tr2k] or [tSr2k], strong [strON] or [StrON]

• Words or word forms sounding differently can be spelled the same way

read [rid] vs. [rEd]

• One sound is spelled many different ways:

[k]: king, card, clique, nick, chasm, exit

reed vs. read; mě ‘Igen/acc’ vs. mně ‘Idat/loc’, tip ‘tip’ vs. typ ‘type’

• There are many more sounds than there are letters in Latin alphabet

There are only 6 vowel letters, but English has at least 10 vowel sounds thigh, thy

There are many other sounds in other languages

What we want is a simple system where every symbol would correspond to exactly one sound.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) - a special alphabet for representing sounds was developed. See:
http://www.langsci.ucl.ac.uk/ipa/index.html

Describing Czech and English sounds

Consonants vs Vowels

• consonants – involve some constriction (closure/narrowing) at some point in the vocal tract
• vowels – do not have constriction; can always be held indefinitely

Describing Consonants

Three-part description of consonants:

• Voicing – do vocal folds vibrate?

– voiced – vocal folds vibrate

[b], [d], [g] [m], [n], [N], [z], [Z], etc.

– voiceless – vocal folds are open and do not vibrate

[p], [t], [k], [s], [S ], etc.

• Manner of Articulation – degree of the obstruction (narrowing, closure) & closure

release type (sudden, slow), etc.

– Stops: made by completely obstructing (“stopping”) the flow of air

[p/b, t/d, c/é, k/g, P]

[c]: tisknout ‘print’, ťapka [capka] ‘paw’, Greek: [ceri] ‘candle’

[ é]: ďábel [ éa:bEl] ‘devil’, děda [ éEda] ‘grand-father’

[P] (glottal stop): uh oh! [OPoU], doopravit [dOPOp..] ‘finish repairing’

English voiceless stops are either aspirated (pit [ph

It]) or nonaspirated (spit [spIt])

– Fricatives: made by forming a very narrow constriction and forcing air through,

producing a hissing turbulent sound because of the friction between the air and

the sides of the constriction.

[f/v, T/D, s/z, S/Z, x/G, h/H]

[T]: thick, thigh

[D]: then, thy

[S ]: ship, šest ‘six’

[Z]: visual, žába ‘frog’

[ j]: yes

[x]: chleba [xlEba] ‘bread’; German Bach

[G]: abych byl [abIGbIl]; Spanish digno ‘worthy’

[h] (voiceless) / [H] (voiced)

Czech glottal fricative is usually voiced, English usually voiceless.

– Affricates: stop immediately followed by a fricative.

[ts
<

/ dz

<

, tS

<

/ dZ

<

[ts

<]: cihla [ts

<

IHla] ‘brick’, German Zug ‘train’ (≈ as ts in cats)

[dz

<]: leckdo [lEdz

<

gdO] ‘various people’; sometimes in Honza [..ndz

<a] x [..nza]

[tS

<

]: change, český ‘Czech’;

[dZ

<

]: journal, džbán ‘pitcher’; sometimes in manžel [..ndZ

<

El] x [..nZEl] ‘husband’

Often written as [Ù, Ã, . . . ] or simply as [tS, dZ. . . . ].

– Trills

[r] (voiced alveolar trill): krtek ‘mole’

[rfi

] (voiced (

ˇ
) raised (fi

) alveolar trill): dři [dr

fi

I] ‘labour/sweatimp’

[r

fi

] (voiceless (

) raised alveolar trill): tři [tr

˚fi

I] ‘three

Theoretically linguistic" typically refers to the study or analysis of language based on theoretical
frameworks within linguistics. This can involve examining linguistic structures, processes, or phenomena
through various theoretical perspectives, such as generative grammar, cognitive linguistics,
functionalism, or structuralism, among others.

Sure! Within the field of theoretical linguistics, researchers explore a wide range of topics, including
syntax (the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), phonology (sound systems), morphology
(word formation), and pragmatics (language use in context), among others. Theoretical linguists develop
models, theories, and frameworks to understand how language works, how it is acquired by humans,
and how it evolves over time. These theories often inform practical applications in areas such as
language teaching, natural language processing, and computational linguistics.

Functional linguistics is a theoretical approach to the study of language that emphasizes the functional
aspects of language use in communication. It focuses on how language serves various communicative
purposes in different contexts rather than solely on its abstract structure. Functional linguists analyze
language in terms of its functions, meaning, and use, often drawing on principles from pragmatics,
sociolinguistics, and discourse analysis. This approach seeks to uncover how linguistic forms are
motivated by the functions they serve in communication, and how language users make meaning
through their linguistic choices.

Functional linguistics often explores how language is used to achieve social goals, express identity,
negotiate power dynamics, and convey interpersonal relationships within various social contexts. It also
examines how linguistic structures are shaped by the communicative needs of language users, such as
the influence of context, audience, and cultural norms on language production and interpretation.

One prominent framework within functional linguistics is Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), which
was developed by Michael Halliday. SFL views language as a system for expressing meaning, with a focus
on the interrelated functions of language in communication. It analyzes language at multiple levels,
including the levels of discourse, clause, and lexicogrammar, to uncover how language structures
encode meaning and facilitate communication.

Functional linguistics is interdisciplinary, drawing on insights from fields such as anthropology, sociology,
psychology, and cognitive science to understand the complex relationship between language, cognition,
and social interaction. It is used in various areas of research, including language education, discourse
analysis, stylistics, and language policy.