Overview

Linguistics 101 provides an introduction to the scientific study of human languages, concentrating on the similarity and diversity of the languages of the world. In addition we will examine and explore the properties of human language that make it unique; and that make it uniquely powerful in studying the human mind. We will be searching for answers to the questions, What does someone know when they know a language? and How do they get that knowledge?

The study of linguistic knowledge is divided into several areas: the study of sounds and their patterns (Phonetics and Phonology), words (Morphology), sentences (Syntax) and meanings (Semantics). Linguistics also study how linguistic knowledge is applied in social situations in different cultures (Sociolinguistics), how people learn languages (Language Acquisition), and how language is processed in the human brain (Neurolinguistics). These three areas all involve language comparison.

The diversity of human languages and the prominent role language plays in culture makes language a critically important factor in studying human behavior. For this reason LING 101 satisfies the UD multicultural (Group C) requirement. The study of linguistics is concerned with every language, but you will notice that many of the examples come from non-Western languages. Homework assignments and exam questions will include data from many unfamiliar languages.

By the end of the course you should be able to:

• transcribe English words phonetically
• apply pronunciation rules
• discover pronunciation rules from language data
• diagram and justify the internal structure of words
• discover the internal structure of sentences from language data
• compare languages and dialects in terms of pronunciation, words, sentences and meanings
• compare child language with adult language

In addition, you will have discovered:

• that you have a highly sophisticated and systematic knowledge of language, which you are able to apply largely unconsciously.
• that the 5000+ languages of the world vary in many ways, but are nevertheless remarkably similar in many respects.
• how much your language influences the way you think.
• how we can learn more about language from the signed languages of deaf communities and from the language of people who have suffered brain-damage.