LING 201 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Mutual Intelligibility, Linguistic Competence, Vocal Folds
19 Sep 2016
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Document Summary
Linguistics is the discipline that studies the nature and use of language. Put more simply, it is the study of how language works. Linguistics offers a broad field of specific studies (phonetics, semantics, applied, psycholinguistics etc) Languages are not mutually intelligible (english vs german) Dialects are mutually intelligible (british english vs american english) Linguistics also considers the abilities and adaptations that occurred with humans to allow for the creation/use of language. Thousands of years of evolution create specialized anatomy and mental capacities for speech and language. All human beings have at least one language. Language defines us as humans, because language capabilities do not exist in other species. For example, parrots can speak, but the can only repeat what they have heard in the order of words that they heard it in. This inability to create original sentences shows a true capability to use language. Humans have developed secondary functions for certain organs to maintain language:
