LET 103

Introduction to Linguistics
& Linguistic Meaning

Dr. Alla Baksh Mohd Ayub Khan

allabaksh@usm.my Ext: 3991
Lecture 1 (23rd September 2019)
Lecturers
 First half (week 1 – 9) is handled by
Dr. Alla Baksh Mohd Ayub Khan/Dr.
Abbas
 Week 8 is the mid-term break
 Second half (week 10 – 15) is
handled by Dr. Shaidatul Akma Adi
Kasuma
CLASS RULES
 Please switch off your mobile phones
before you come in to the lecture hall.
 Eating and other distracting activities
are not allowed during class time.
 Coming late to class is disruptive, so
please do show up to class on time
(both lectures and tutorials, of course).
Student consultation hours
(Dr. Abbas)
 Tuesday – 2 pm – 5 pm
 Friday – 10 am – 12 pm
 You can come to my office for
consultation without any prior
appointment/s. (D09 – 025)
 Make an appointment (by e-mailing)
when it is outside of the consultation
hours.
E-mail etiquette
 When corresponding with your
lecturer/s, you are expected to follow
the standard e‐mail etiquette.
 E-mailing is very different from texting
(WhatsApp, Facebook messenger, etc.).
E-mail etiquette
 Remember: You’re e‐mailing (not texting).
Therefore, your message should have the
following:
 subject line (e.g., An appointment, etc.).
 salutation (e.g., Dear Dr. Abbas/Alla Baksh).
 well written and clear message.
 end it with one of the usual closing expressions
(e.g., Sincerely, Regards, etc.), and your
signature.
Course objectives
 understand the components of language
 understand how and why we study
languages
 understand the essential elements of
linguistics
 Acquire knowledge of theories related to
language, renowned linguists and various
language studies
Course objectives
 understand the creation of meaning in language
particularly in the English language, through a
focus on semantics
 understand the significance of contexts in the
creation of meaning in language, particularly in
the English language, through a focus on
pragmatics
Course objectives
 undertake the analysis of language or
linguistic issues to better understand
language.
Assessments/Books
 1 Test 10%
 2 written Assignments 20% (10%
each)
 1 presentation 10%
 Examination 60%

References: refer to the IP (uploaded

on eLearn portal)
First half of the course
 1 written assignment 10%
(due week 7*)
 1 test 10%
(due week 7)

The other 20% is from Dr. Shaidatul.

You will be briefed later.
Lectures & Tutorials
 Topics enlisted in the IP will be
covered in lectures every week.
 Tutorial activities are based on the
lecture of every week.
 There are 4 tutorial groups (T1, T2,
T3 and T4). Tutorials are on
Thursdays (11 – 3 pm). One hour for
each group. Have you signed up?
Lectures and Tutorials
 You’ll be divided into small groups
within your tutorial group.
 Each group takes turns to discuss the
tutorial question/s every week.
 Discussion time: 30 minutes. Q & A
session: 15 – 20 minutes.
 It is compulsory for the groups,
which are not presenting to ask
questions. ☺
Introduction to Language
 Definition of language
 Human being communication
 Universal properties of language
Definition of language

What is a language?
 In simple terms, it is commonly known
as “a means of communication”
 Such a narrow definition may not be
considered suitable as it may result in a
confusion between the means of
communication between animals and
human beings.
 Language is an arbitrary system of signs
constituted of the signifier and signified (Saussure,
1916).
 In other words, language is first a system based on
no logic or reason; secondly, the system covers
both objects and expressions used for objects; and
thirdly objects and expressions are arbitrarily
linked; and finally, expressions include sounds and
graphemes used by humans for generating speech
and writing respectively for the purpose of
communication.
 A language is a set of (finite or infinite) sentences,
each finite length and constructed out of a finite set
of elements Chomsky (1957).
 Language is undoubtedly a kind of means of
communication among human beings. It consists
primarily of vocal sounds. It is articulatory,
systematic, symbolic and arbitrary Derbyshire
(1967).
 A language is a system of arbitrary vocal sounds
used for human communication Wardaugh (1972).
 Language is a system of conventional or
written symbols by means of which human
beings as members of social groups and
participants in its culture, communicate.
Encyclopedia Britannica
What is a language?
 Thus, we can say, language is a system of
communication or arbitrary vocal sounds by
means of which human beings communicate
and interact with each other in their daily
lives. There are almost 6,500 spoken
languages available in the entire world used
by different kinds of social groups and
cultures.
Universal features of language
 Linguistic knowledge
 Knowledge of sound system
 Knowledge of words
 The creativity of linguistic knowledge
Linguistic knowledge
 When you know a language, you are
able to speak and be understood by
others who know that language. In
other words, you have the capacity to
produce sounds that signify certain
meanings and to understand the sounds
produced by others.
 Unlike normal-hearing individuals, deaf
persons produce sign languages just as
normal-hearing persons hear and
produce spoken languages.
Knowledge of sound system
 Different languages have different sound
systems
 They are not shared by other languages.
 For instance, the initial letters such as th (this
and that) are not part of French sound system. It
is therefore pronounced as zis (this) and zat
(that) by French speakers.
Knowledge of words
 Sound system is just one part of the
linguistic knowledge.
 The meaning associated with the sounds is
another aspect (words).
 The words in languages are however
arbitrary. For instance, why a house is
called a house but not something else? Why
not monkey?
Knowledge of words
 Sound symbolism in languages – the
pronunciation of words suggests its
meaning.
 Examples in English: Splash, bam, hiss,
cuckoo, etc. – Onomatopoeia.
 Some words in a language may appear to
relate to a particular concept. For instance,
glare, glint, gleam, glitter, glossy and glisten.
Knowledge of words
 The words refer to sight (concept)
 Is that always the case?
 No! such words are only a small part of the
language. Words beginning with gl may
mean something else too. For instance,
gladiator, glucose, glory, etc.
The creativity of linguistic knowledge
 Sounds are made into words. Words
are combined to form phrases and
sentences.
 Do you know all the possible
sentences in English language? Any
dictionaries with such a feature?
The creativity of linguistic knowledge
 The linguist Noam Chomsky refers to the
human’s ability of producing new sentences
never spoken before and understanding
sentences never heard before as the creative
aspect of language use.
 In other words, language is not a stimulus-
response behaviour.
The creativity of linguistic knowledge
 For example, someone steps on your toe.
 Which of the following is your reaction?
A: Ouch!
B: Urrgghhh!
C: “the price of a double-cheese burger is RM9”
The creativity of linguistic knowledge
 Is there any limit to the length of sentences in
languages?
 No! look at the examples:
 This is the house
 This is the house that Ahmad bought
 This is the guy who presently lives in the house
that Ahmad bought
 Can be made longer? Yes!
Another level of linguistic creativity
Examples
Examples
Knowledge of sentences and non-
sentences
 If putting one word after another in any order
always formed sentences, then language could
simply be a set of words.
 Look at the following examples:
a. Saiful is anxious to go.
b. It is anxious to go Saiful.
Knowledge of sentences and non-
sentences
Universal properties of
language
 Although languages differ in many ways, they
are made possible by the same genetic
information, processed in the brain in the same
ways and they share some fundamental features
and structural characteristics
 Understanding and explaining the properties
which are universal to all languages, as well as
those which vary across languages – task of
linguistics
Universal properties of
language
 Modularity
 Compositionality and recursion
 Discreteness
 Productivity
 Arbitrariness
 Reliance on context
 Variability
Conclusion
 A language consists of all the sounds,
words, and infinitely many possible
sentences. When you know a
language, you know the sounds, the
words, and the rules for their
combination.
What is Linguistics?
 It is a scientific study of language.
 Who is considered as a linguist? A
polyglot?
 A linguist is someone who studies the
components of a language. In other
words, the subject matter is language.
What are the branches of linguistics?
 Micro linguistics
 Macro linguistics
 The former is also known as pure
linguistics
 The latter is also known as applied
linguistics
Branches of Linguistics
Pure/micro linguistics
Thank you!