What is Linguistics?
Language is a system of speech sounds, letters of the alphabet, words, patterns, etc., used by humans to communicate thoughts and feelings. It is a tool of communication. We can use language for communication in two ways, spoken language and written language. Human beings can also communicate with each other without the use of the language (by using facial expressions, gestures and signals). And, Linguistics is a systematic or scientific study of how a language works.
Example1:
We add the letters –ed (or the letter –d) to the infinitive form of a regular verb to make it into the past tense form in the English language. But the same two letters –ed is pronounced [t] in the word, cooked and [d] in the word, played. The answer to the question of why the past tense marker <-ed> is pronounced differently in different words lies in the study of the linguistics of English.
Example2:
In English, if someone points a dog and asks us the question, What’s this? our answer will be This is a dog(.). The same answer in Hindi, if literally (word for word) translated, will be This dog is(.).which is unacceptable in English. All these questions are dealt with in the study of the linguistics of English.
Components of linguistics
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S. No.
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Component of linguistics
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Area of language
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1.
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Phonetics
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Speech sounds
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2.
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Phonology
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T
he Sound system of languages
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3.
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Morphology
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Word system of languages
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4.
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Syntax
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Sentence- structure of languages
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5.
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Semantics
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Meaning
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1. Phonetics
Phonetics is a component of linguistics that deals with speech sounds. The English word spoon is made up of four speech sounds. These are [s], [p], [u:] and [n]. There is no correspondence between the number of letters in the written form of the word and the number of sounds in its spoken form. There are, of course, several words in English in which the number of sounds in their spoken form is the same as the number of letters in their written form. Ex: bat, skin, man etc.
Phonetics deals with
1. The articulation or production of speech sounds
2. The way in which speech sounds are transmitted from the speaker to the hearer
3. The way in which the hearer receives the sounds and
4. The classification of speech sounds into vowels and consonants
2. Phonology:
Phonology is a component of linguistics which deals with how sounds function in a language. It deals with
1. The Selection and Organisation of Sounds
2. Sound Units called Phonemes
Selection of Sounds
Some sounds that exist in one language do not exist in the other. For example, the sound that begins the English word father (the sound [f)] does not exist in several Indian languages. The sound represented by the letter < s > in the English word Pleasure (the sound [ʒ]) doesn’t exist in several Indian languages. And the sound that is in the English word village the sound [v] doesn’t exist in many Indian languages. (The first sound in the name Vivekananda which occurs in several Indian languages is NOT the same as the first sound in the English word village.) That means that the sounds [f], [ʒ], and [v] have not been selected by several Indian languages.
Organisation of Sounds
The sounds selected by a language form the sound system of that language. Each language organises the sounds by it in different ways. For example, both English and Hindi have selected the sounds [s] and [k] (the sounds that begin the English words son and canteen). English words can begin with these two sounds without a vowel between them. Ex: skin, school, skill, sky, skull, scale, etc. but Hindi words do not begin with these sounds coming together.
Again English words can begin with three consonants without a vowel between them. Ex: spring, screw, stupid, spleen, etc. On the other hand, many Indian languages (Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, etc.) do not permit three consonants to occur together at the beginning of words.
English and Hindi words can end with consonant sounds. Ex: (English) cup, tub, cut, bud, luck, beg, etc. Ex: (Hindi) [namak] (= salt), [a:p] = (you- honorific), but words in Kannada never end in consonants. They end in vowels.
Phonemes
Take the English word scene [si:n] for example. It is made up of three sounds [s], [i:] and [n]. Now take the word soon [su:n]. This word also has three sounds. These two words are different from each other in just one sound, the sound that occurs in the middle of these words. These two words prove that in English, the two sounds [i:] and [u:] belong to two different phonemes and by changing these phonemes, we can get a new word. The two English words fan [fæn] and van [væn] prove that in English [f] and [v] belong to two different phonemes.
3. Morphology
Morphology deals with words and how words can be divided into smaller units.
Example 1- Lovely
We can divide the word into two meaningful parts. [1. Love 2. ly ] Both these parts of this word have meanings. Love is a word in English which can be used as a verb and as a noun. The bit –ly is also meaningful as it is a suffix which makes the word love into an adjective. Each one of these meaningful parts of the word lovely is a morpheme.
Example 2- Girls
This word can be divided into two parts, the word Girl and the bit -s which makes the singular noun into plural. The word Girl has a meaning and the bit –s means more than one. Both of these parts are meaningful. So the word, girls has two morphemes.
Example 3- Re-examination
This word is made up of the morphemes re (which means once again), examine (which means a verb), -ation (which makes the verb examine into a noun]
The way in which the words of a language are structured is called the morphology of that language.
4. Syntax
The Syntax is a component of linguistics that deals with the sentence-structure of languages. It deals with how the words are arranged to form sentences in languages. It’s not the same in all languages.
1. In English, adjectives are placed before the noun
Ex: good boy
But in Arabic after the noun
2. English does not permit a verb to begin a statement
Ex: Eats Ravi bread every day
But Arabic permits a verb to begin a statement.
5. Semantics
We use a language for communication and communication must be meaningful. The component of linguistics that deals with meaning is called semantics.
Examples:
1. He drank a cup of tea 2. He drank a camel
The first sentence is grammatically acceptable and is also meaningful. The second sentence is acceptable grammatically because in its construction we have followed the rules of English syntax. But, semantically it is an unacceptable sentence because it is not possible for any human being to drink a camel.
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