It's copied to your library with every feature (audio, generate more, ask the teacher) without spending AI again on flashcards/quizzes. "Add the whole unit" also brings in the other topics in this category.
Linguistics
University, Philology and Languages
Levels of language analysis: phonetics, morphology, syntax, and semantics. Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Sign up to open «Linguistics»
Browsing the syllabus and its units is open to all. Opening the full topic — summary, quiz, flashcards and audio — is free but requires an account, so we can save your progress and keep this sustainable for everyone.
What you need to know
Read the full theory →Definition, objectives, and classification of linguistics
- Definition: Scientific study of the origin, evolution, and structure of language.
- Historical origin: Influence of the Neogrammatiker and Saussure's structuralism.
- First record of the term "linguist": Year 1816.
- Theoretical linguistics: The objective is the structure of languages and the cognitive system.
- Applied Linguistics: Focuses on language acquisition and practical applications (e.g., teaching).
- Synchronic Dichotomy: The study of language at a given moment in time.
- Diachronic Dichotomy: The study of the historical development and changes of a language.
- Microlinguistics: The restricted analysis of language without external context.
- Macrolinguistics: A broad field of study including sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, stylistics, among others.
Historical evolution of linguistics: from normative grammar to scientific linguistics
- Grammar: a normative discipline based on logic to distinguish correct forms.
- Philology: a movement initiated in 1777 by Friedrich August Wolf focused on the criticism of texts.
- Comparative philology: the study of relationships between related languages initiated by Franz Bopp in 1816.
- Neogrammarians: the impetus for scientific linguistics in the 19th century through phonetic laws.
- Course in General Linguistics (1916): Saussure's work that integrates linguistics into semiology.
- Key concepts of Saussure: the distinction between langue (system) and parole (use), and the linguistic sign.
- American structuralist approach: emerged after World War I.
- Linguistic relativity: the study of the relationship between language and reality in indigenous communities.
Linguistic currents and levels of language study
- Generativism: a mentalist/rationalist current focused on competence and the human mind.
- Formalism: includes generativism and structuralism (language as an autonomous system).
- Functionalism: studies language in its use, linked to sociology and pragmatics.
- Phonology: the study of phonemes (abstract units).
- Phonetics: the study of phones (allophonic realizations).
- Morphology: the study of the morpheme and word formation.
- Syntax: the study of sub-sentential and sentential combinatorics.
- Lexicology: the study of words, organization, and meaning.
- Lexicography: the principles of dictionary composition.
- Phraseology: the study of idioms and routine formulas.
- Paremiology: the study of sayings and proverbs.
- Semantics: the study of the meaning of signs.
- Pragmatics: the study of enunciation, speech acts, deixis, and presupposition.
- General linguistics: the study of methods and issues common to all languages.
Historical evolution, approaches, and centers of linguistics
- Neogrammarians: 19th Century
- Structuralism: First half of the 20th century (Prague, Copenhagen, American, Linguistic)
- Transformational Generative Grammar: Noam Chomsky (second half of the 20th century)
- Principles and parameters / Rection and linkage: 1980s
- Minimalist program: 1990-present
- Humanistic Linguistics: Language is a human invention and a communication tool
- Structural analysis: Decomposition into minimal units (phonemes, morphemes, etc.)
- Functional analysis: Assignment of semantic roles (agent, patient, etc.)
- Generative grammar: Proposes innate grammatical knowledge
- Cognitive Linguistics: Rejects innate grammar; based on event schemas and cognitive biases
- Evolutionary linguistics: Studies linguistic units as cultural replicators (memes)
- Formalism vs. Functionalism: Generative approach vs. evolutionary approach
- Diachrony and synchrony: Axes of study of language in time and at a specific moment
- Number of languages: Approximately 6000
Classification, distribution, and demographics of the world's languages
- There is no universal criterion for distinguishing dialects from independent languages
- Areas with low linguistic precision: New Guinea, Amazon, Tibet, Nepal, Burma, and Andaman
- Phylogenetic classification: based on genetic relationship and the proto-language
- Typological classification: based on the internal structures of the language
- Asia and Africa: 32% of the world's linguistic diversity (approx. 1,900 languages each)
- Americas: 15% of the world's linguistic diversity (approx. 900 indigenous languages)
- Oceania: 18% of the world's linguistic diversity (approx. 1,100 languages)
- Europe: 3% of the world's linguistic diversity (lower diversity due to the unifying effect of states)
- New Guinea: region with the highest linguistic diversity
- The 20 most spoken languages account for nearly 50% of the world's population
- 95.2% of the world's languages have fewer than one million speakers
- Key factor of extinction: linguistic substitution
Bibliography and external resources on Linguistics
- Saussure: Cours de linguistique générale (1916, 1998)
- Skinner: Verbal Behavior (1957)
- Chomsky: Works on syntax and language theory
- Crystal: Linguistics dictionaries and encyclopedias
- Lyons: Linguistic Semantics (1995)
- Comrie: Universals and linguistic typology (1989)
- Zuckermann: Linguistic contact and lexical enrichment (2003)
- Escandell Vidal and Mairal Usón: Reference texts in Spanish
- Digital resources: Linguistics Portal, Wikibooks, Wiktionary, and RAE
- Spanish Society of Linguistics: Reference entity
- Additional topics: Linguistic change, linguistic maps, and complexity
Flashcard preview (6 of 30)
- 01
In modern linguistics, which group introduced the notion of law and phonetic laws?
The Neogrammatiker
- 02
According to the text, what is the 'starting point' of modern linguistics?
Structuralism derived from the works of Saussure (20th century)
- 03
What is the primary objective of theoretical linguistics?
The construction of a general theory of the structure of natural languages and the cognitive system that makes it possible
- 04
In linguistics, what does a diachronic description describe?
The historical development of a language and its structural changes
- 05
What does microlinguistics study?
The analysis of languages for their own sake (without reference to social function, acquisition, psychological mechanisms, etc.)
- 06
In pre-scientific linguistics, what was the primary objective of grammar?
To provide rules for distinguishing correct forms from incorrect ones (normative discipline).
+ 24 more flashcards, 18 quiz questions and audio when you sign up (free).