Linguistcs: A Shor Inroducton o he Beatng Hear of Human Communicatons
February 16, !1" by #ane Cameron $ Commens Share%! &11 Share" 'in ()ee Shares %* +eryday +eryday conersaton may coney di-eren meanings o you and your friends. Image by #usben
+eryday +eryday conersaton may coney di-eren meanings o you and your friends. Image by #usben
(he sudy of /inguistcs incor0oraes a number of as0ecs )hich are ery c/ose/y re/aed, ye distncte from one anoher. anoher. Some of he as0ecs )e e0/ore mos o2en inc/ude 0honetcs, 0hono/ogy, mor0ho/ogy, syna, semantcs, and 0ragmatcs:
'honetcs is he science concerned )ih he sudy of s0eech 0rocesses, inc/uding inc/uding he 0roducton, 0erce0ton and he ana/ysis of sounds. I is c/ose/y conneced o 0hono/ogy. 0hono/ogy. 'hono/ogy is he sudy of he sound sysem sysem of a /anguage or /anguages. 3or0ho/ogy is is a branch branch of bio/ogy bio/ogy )hich concerns he form form and srucure srucure or organisms4 organisms4 his de5niton inc/udes he form and srucure of )ords )ihin a /anguage, and heir modi5caton. Syna is he branch branch of /inguistcs /inguistcs ha coers he grammatca/ arrangemens arrangemens of )ords )ihin )ihin senences, and ho) )e use s0eech in communicaton. Semantcs dea/s )ih he sudy sudy of meaning4 meaning4 ho) )e combine )ords o o creae meaningfu/ meaningfu/ discourse. I sudies he re/atonshi0 be)een signs and symbo/s symbo/s and )ha hey re0resen. I is a/so used in /ogic as he 0rinci0/es ha deermine ruha/ues of formu/as )ihin a /ogica/ sysem. 'ragmatcs 7as 7as a00/ied o /inguistcs8 /inguistcs8 is abou abou ho) )e acua//y use s0eech in communicaton,
and ho) cone aids he ransmission of meaning in u9erances.
(hese as0ecs of /inguistcs are /ised in heir hierarchica/ order, )ih 0honetcs and 0hono/ogy being he mos basic, and rising o 0ragmatcs a he o0. I can sometmes be dicu/ o di-erentae be)een hese sub5e/ds as hey are so c/ose/y re/aed o one anoher.
'honetcs and 'hono/ogy ; (he Sub/etes of
'honetcs dea/s )ih human 0roducton of s0eech sounds. Indiidua/ sounds are 0honemes, of )hich here are hundreds, a/hough in +ng/ish )e manage )ih around fory. (he distnctons be)een he sounds indicae regiona/ di-erences or sub/e nuances of s0eech.
'hono/ogy is abou 0a9erns of sounds, es0ecia//y di-eren 0a9erns of sounds in di-eren /anguages, or )ihin each /anguage, and )ih di-eren 0a9erns of sounds in di-eren 0ositons in )ords ec.
3or0ho/ogy ; Le=s 3a>e a 3oc>umenary?
3or0ho/ogy is he sudy of ho) )ords are formed. @e can undersand )ords by focusing on he sma//es uni of functona/iy )ihin /anguage4 he 0ar ha sands a/one. For eam0/e, you may be sing a your des> righ no). (he )ord des> is a mor0heme.
If you s0ea> of des>s hen you hae changed he )ord ino a 0/ura/. (herefore, i com0rises )o mor0hemes, he obDec ise/f and he 0/ura/ s. So does he )ord des>o0.
In her artc/e, 3or0ho/ogy, Ho) are @ords FormedE Caherine 3cCarhy describes he )ays in
)hich )e sometmes b/end mor0hemes o ma>e a brand ne) )ord:
A b/end combines )o )ords o creae a ne) )ord. Smog is a b/end of smo>e 0/us fog. 3oc>umenary combines moc> and documenary. #eggings are snug5ng /eggings ha /oo> /i>e Deans.
@e can a/so com0ound )o roo )ords o ma>e a ne) )ord. Some eam0/es migh be boahouse, ye//o)hammer, b/oc>head, reen0eace.
@e can a/so add 0re5es and sues o roo )ords. A// of hese eam0/es are as0ec of mor0ho/ogy. Syna ; Senences )ih C/ou?
Syna concerns he correc srucure of senences in agreemen )ih cerain 0rinci0/es, 0rocesses and ru/es as /aid do)n by grammarians.
ood grammatca/ senences hae a subDec 7)ho and )ha he senence is abou8 and a 0redicae 7informaton re/atng o he subDec.8 For eam0/e, 7in acte oice8: Gecoded sies he/0 o disseminae usefu/ informaton. (he subDec is Gecoded sies and he 0redicae is ha hey he/0 o disseminae usefu/ informaton. enera//y, senence srucure is c/earer if he subDec comes 5rs, bu i =s no mandaory. @e cou/d say, 7in 0assie oice8: sefu/ informaton is disseminaed by Gecoded sies. (o)er of Babe/, 'aintng by 'ieer Bruege/ he +/der, 16$. @i>imedia Commons, 'ub/ic Gomain. h90:JJen.)i>i0edia.orgJ)i>iJFi/e:'ieerKBruege/KheK+/derKK(heK(o)erKofKBabe/K7ienna8K Koog/eKArK'roDecKKedied.D0g
(o)er of Babe/, 'aintng by 'ieer Bruege/ he +/der, 16$. Image couresy of he Munshisorisches 3useum Semantcs ; A Negu/ar (o)er of Babe/?
(he erm semantcs is essenta//y o do )ih meaning, a/hough i is an ereme/y broad erm.
I can be used o eamine changes in meaning oer tme. I eamines shi2s in meaning due o cu/ura/ or socia/ changes. I coers he iner0reaton of es, ambiguiy in he )ay /anguage is used, connoatons ha may s>e) meaning and i eamines he e-ecs of mea0hor, 0un and )ord0/ay.
In his essay (he Signs of Grama, 3artn +ss/in says, of he 5ctona/ characer, Ham/e, He mayO become in he eyes of some members of he audience a re0resenate of a c/ass of indiidua/s. +ss/in contnues by e0/aining ha Ham/e cou/d be ie)ed as a 0rince, or as an ine//ecua/ )ho hin>s oo much, or as a son in /oe )ih his moher. He cou/d a/so re0resen he human 0redicamen and, as +ss/in adds, a mu/tude of ohers.
'o/itcians are accused of using semantcs in order o mis/ead he 0ub/ic. +am0/es of ho) adertsers e0/oi he use of semantcs o increase heir 0ro5s a00ear on our e/eisions and in our ne)s0a0ers eery day.
In his essay, (he Babe/ of Iner0reatons, /inguis +.G. Hirsch as>s:
Ho) can a consensus be reached )ih regard o a e=s meaning )hen eery >no)n iner0reaton of eery e has a/)ays been di-eren in some res0ec from eery oher iner0reaton of he eE O P+Qery iner0reaton is 0arta/. no)s, he fu//er )i// be one=s undersanding.
+.G. Hirsch se0araes he ac of iner0reaton ino )o distncte areas, he ar of undersanding and he ar of e0/aining.
Iner0reaton can dee0en and dee/o0 our a00reciaton of es or i may een a/er our conce0ton of he e=s meaning, 0erha0s ma>ing us change our mind or ie)0oin.
