Introduction to Linguistics I - Overview

Course Outline

• Equivalent to the first semester in Linguistic Analysis or Contemporary Linguistic Analysis
• Focus on five main aspects of language: syntax, semantics, morphology, phonetics, and phonology
• No coverage on historical linguistics, sociolinguistics, or advanced discourse analysis

Syntax

• Structure of language and word order
  • English example: "I hit the ball" (Subject-Verb-Object)
  • Different languages have different word orders (e.g., Japanese: SOV)
• Hierarchical structure of sentences
  • Example trees: Noun Phrase (NP) and Verb Phrase (VP)
  • Advanced sentence structures not covered

Semantics

• Meaning of language
  • Ambiguity
    • Lexical ambiguity: "I bought a pen" (writing pen vs. animal pen)
    • Structural ambiguity: "I like small cats and dogs" (small cats and dogs or small cats and any dogs)
  • Presupposition
    • Example: "Do you regret kicking the dog last night?" implies the person kicked the dog
  • Implication and other concepts

Morphology

• Structures of words and smallest units of meaning
  • Example: "Birds" - "bird" (base) + "s" (plural)
  • Different sounds of the same morpheme: "pets" vs. "birds" (s vs. z)
  • Derivational morphemes: "establishment" ("establish" (verb) + "ment" (suffix) = noun)

Phonetics

• Study of sounds in language
  • Production of sounds: difference between "s" and "z", "t" and "d", "p" and "b", "k" and "g"
  • Role of vocal folds: voiced vs. voiceless sounds

Phonology

• Patterns of sounds and their organization
  • Example words: "pay", "bay", and "eBay"
  • English speakers' perception of sounds: aspirated "p" vs. unaspirated "b"
  • Language-specific sound distinctions (e.g., Korean)

Course Goals

• Basic understanding of the five aspects of linguistics
• Foundation for more in-depth studies in future courses

Engagement

• Feedback and suggestions encouraged for future topics and improvements