LINA01H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Linguistic System, American Sign Language, Noam Chomsky
Document Summary
Linguistics: the study of spoken human language (includes pronunciation, grammar (not. Linguists: study language (not necessarily learning to speak languages) Attempt to build models of human knowledge so native speakers understand and can speak their language. Specific to human kind therefore a gateway to studying the mind. Creativity is a universal aspect of all languages sentences can be infinitely complex & unique. Is systematic (has particular rules/patterns: ex. Don"t end a sentence with a preposition, don"t split an infinitive (prescriptive rules) From where do you come? over where do you come from? . Descriptive rules: how people actually speak, characterizes actual usage: linguist"s focus, mental grammar/linguistic competence: what a speaker thinks, descriptive grammar (aka linguist"s grammar): the model of what linguists note when regarding mental grammar. Suffixation of ness: pluralization sounds; unconscious internal rules cats /s/ vs. dogs /z, happy + ness = happiness, can only be added to adjectives.
