Basics of Linguistics

CHAPTER 1 UNDERSTANDING THE FUNDAMENTALS OF LANGUAGES

Language is everywhere. Its what we use to order a pizza, talk on our phones, telling jokes and make sense of the world around us. We have use languages to learn about every other subjects but now, it's turn to learn about language itself-How language itself work? Now in upcoming Chapters, we will look at the structure of language From the smallest buliding block of sounds and handshapes to the structure of word meaning, to how words together to make Sentence and conversation. Along the way, we'll also look at the relationship between language and our identity,the brain and Even computers. We'll learn about writing, language acquisition , and the diversity of human language. There are actually 7000 identified language over the world today, that includes thousands of spoken languages 

and hundreds of signed languages. They can be found in small Communities or span across multiple countries. They can be written or unwritten and they can be learn through family, formal schooling and other social networks. Each one has living experience how humans communicate each other. Throughout this series, we will be sharing the Examples of widely know languages as well as some you may not have encountered Before like Japanese, Auslan , Welsh , English etc. But we won't be learning one language particularly. Instead we'll looking similarities and differences between these languages according to their region and function, learning how to think like linguists about languages we encounter in our everyday Life, including speech recognition and natural language processing, speech pathology, lexicography and communication. It is also useful when you are teaching or learning a language, not to mention for poets, journalist, translators,interpreters, and other people who work with languages. More generally, linguistics helps us understand how our mind and body works and hidden patterns in our interactions with other humans. This subject is really funny. Regardless of what part of a language we are analysing or which language or langauge of our focus. A linguist is actually interested in langauge as it's actually used. 

Linguistics is not about trying to establish and enforce one variety of language as better than another. The increased understanding of language comes with an ethical responsibility to be kind and compassionate with it. What do you think about the Power of a language? It is basically a tool of communication. You will find more about language functions in your upcoming chapters. 

Language is everywhere in old books and new words in a long conversation with a friend and a short chat with a stranger and the endless streams of our social media feeds and the snippets on the back of a cereal box. 

Language spans our whole lives- from the first thing we encounter as babies to our last words. We can observe and study how language works like any other natural phenomenon and that's linguistics. Linguistics is like to understand a big picture that how a language works in general. What's going in our mind and societies that allows every group of human to have a language spoken or signed and why do each of us use language slightly different? What do you mean by studying a language? Let's pretend you are on a trip to another country. The sun is shining and you are enjoying sometime in a place where you don't know anyone and don't speak the language. Then you met another person walking along and while you both admiring the flowers. A Rabbit hops into a view. The person points at the hopping rabbit and says," Gavagai". So you understand that he is saying "Rabbit" in his language. But maybe he is saying "Hopping animal" in his language or maybe he is saying only "Animal" in his language or maybe he is describing the rabbit as cute. Now in this situation, you are totally confused that what you should understand about his words. 

Language is a unique area to study because we need to use it to study too. On the one hand this means we can do a lot of linguistics without the need of a fancy equipment because language is right there in our brain and the people who surrounds us. On other hand this also means that we need to be really précise about cultivating meta linguistics awareness. We need to test and examine our assumption how language works. To do this linguistics have identified few features that distinguish a language from the other way of communication. First language exist in two forms. There is levels of the form like sound and handshapes which don't have meanings themselves. Then there is a level of combination of forms that creates meanings. So when it comes to speech the sounds ( /b/ /^/ /n/ /i/ ) don't meaning anything individually but can be combined to make "bunny" like our new friend "Gavagai". Because it makes combination that makes meaning not the individual sounds. The idea that words are made up of two level of structure is known as the Duality of patterning. Also when we look at other languages we can see there is no reason why a rabbit has to be called "Bunny". It could be Cinejo, Kelinci, Gavagai or Rabbit. The words we use are sign that reference things in the world like how a street sign labels which street you are on. 

But there is no specific reason why a particular word or set of smaller units of sound or shapes, are used. We can say that the choice is arbitrary. The feature of language is known as arbitrariness of the sign and distinguish a language from other kinds of communication. Now it is confusing that 'sign' means two things in linguistics. First a sign is anything that conveys a meaning beyond itself. 

The second 'Sign' is used as the signed language. Here we mean a language is produced using the hands arms and face. 

(compared to Spoken language which is produced using the tongue, lips and throat).

PREGUNTAS Y EJERCICIOUS 

1. What is the etymology of "Linguistics"?

2. What is a language?

3. How languages around us are useful for us? 

4. Tell me what these actions are trying to show-

a) Moving head up and down.

b) Smiling.

c) someone is staring.

d) Kissing someone.

5. How handshapes are different from a language?