v2 - What Is Linguistics?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 12 พ.ย. 2024
- 1. My t-shirt is from the Centro Cultural Tijuana (CECUT):
www.cecut.gob.mx/
2a. On my use of #scientific | #humanistic | #philosophical:
I've recently decided that calling linguistics the "_scientific_ study of language" does a huge disservice to the field and enforces a particular way of thinking about inquiry that I no longer support. Linguistics is the objective study of langauge, but that allows many approaches besides the scientific one.
2b. On my use of #form | #meaning | #use:
My entire approach to linguistic inquiry circles around this FORM-MEANING-USE trifecta: the form of linguistic elements, the meaning behind linguistic elements, and the use of those elements in context. I don't think we can separate the three -- in fact, I think it's theoretically pernicious to do so -- and I think that any theory that requires the ignorance of one or more of these aspects is doomed to remain in the dark about the true nature of language.
For more on linguistic competence and an alternative way of doing linguistic methodology (one that doesn't focus on #use, really):
Steven Pinker: Linguistics as a Window to Understanding the Brain
• Steven Pinker: Linguis...
3. Brain woodcut in the "Systematic" graphic is by Juan Valverde de Amusco.
4. On competence vs Performance:
en.wikipedia.o...
5. On langue and parole:
en.wikipedia.o...
6. Why can't we just ask people what they know about their language?
(see comment below)
7. Deduce! Images from Star Trek: The Next Generation, "Elementary, Dear Data". Probably copyright Paramount.
8. For more descriptive vs. prescriptive hijinks:
Tom Scott: There's Nothing Wrong with Saying "10 Items or Less":
Descriptivism vs. Prescriptivism
• There's Nothing Wrong ...
Language Log: Everything Is Correct vs Nothing Is Relevant, by Geoffrey K. Pullum.
itre.cis.upenn....
Matthew Rogers: Stephen Fry Kinetic Typography -- Language
• Stephen Fry Kinetic Ty...
9. More on double negatives and non-standard grammar:
Double negatives, also called Negative Concord in linguistics, are everywhere. If you're an English speaker, negative concord is very likely the default that you acquire with English and only later learn to avoid as a prescriptive rule. Here's a nice map from Yale of who uses Negative Concord:
microsyntax.sit...
10. "Because I'm a Linguist" from Life After PhD at:
lifeafterphdcom...
"Literally pissed myself" from The Oatmeal at:
theoatmeal.com/...
11. "Period Speech" from xkcd at: xkcd.com/771/
12. On the use of * in linguistics:
Most of the time, linguists use * to indicate that the following thing is ungrammatical, or not well-formed, as in: *lfez - which violates the rules of English phonology - or *Donut Jon the ate. - which violates the rules of English syntax.
13. Sociolinguistic Competence (Communicative Competence):
en.wikipedia.or...
14. Biscuits & Groovy (www.iwantbiscui...) is amazing.
15. Language Teaching "Pizza":
beingmultilingu...
16. ASHA logo is presumably copyright:
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, www.asha.org
17. For more on Forensic Linguistics:
The International Association of Forensic Linguists, www.iafl.org?
Forensic text analysis image from:
The case for forensic linguistics. by Elizabeth Mitchell. 2008. BBC News.
news.bbc.co.uk/...
18. Analysis of the sexist ketchup ad from:
chomskywhatalad...
19. Linguist Llama is amazing. / lingllama
20. "My Fair Lady" images are presumably copyright Warner Bros.
21. Zork screenshot from Wikipedia:
en.wikipedia.or...
ZOMG! You can play Zork online! For free! thcnet.net/zork/
22. Go a-linguisting! Here's how you do it:
a. Go somewhere where people are talking.
b. Listen to what people are saying around you... write it down as perfectly as you can. (Don't record it, though... that's an invasion of privacy. Hear that, NSA? RECORDING PEOPLE WITHOUT PERMISSION IS AN INVASION.)
c. Go home and look at your transcript. Highlight the things that look interesting to you. Are they performance errors or dialectal variation?
d. Repeat as necessary - linguistics is awesome!
I swear this is the sweetest video about Linguistics I've ever seen. Sounds like a love letter. Shows so much passsion. :)
Thank you for making this subject more digestible and entertaining. Geting started on my Masters in TESOL and I'm trying to get ahead of the study curve. These videos are a major non-confusing asset. Stay Awesome!
I'm 54. Not educated. If u read can you reply. Is it possible for me to self study linguistics on my own? If so, can you recommend a beginners book? Muchos gracias hombre.
thank you for this information.I think I'm going to choose the option of Linguistic Studies thank you again Bigham.
Wasn't sure what electives to take at Uni but... I think I might just MAJOR in Linguistics, actually :) thanks
Definitely! Majoring in Linguistics is fantastic, especially if you can pair it with something like Anthropology, Psychology, Computer Science, or Literature.
+DS Bigham Definitely pair with CS! CS+linguistics+Logic = very rich, very lucrative education
I think I like linguistics.. :D
that was very good Bigham!
@2:09 he's got alotta hommies he be wit!!!
Great job bro I really enjoyed it
This is a very good video. Thanks buddy :).
Thank you so much. Very helpful. (y)
Would one be considered to have a mental grammar of a language they "acquire" rather than learn later in life, eg. by watching movies with subtitles and picking it up slowly?
Good question! The majority of theories about how language works-- even across different fields, subtheories, etc.-- say that there is *something* different about the way a child's brain grapples with language and the way an adult brain grapples with language, so "acquire" is something you do early in life, "learn" is something you do later in life, regardless of how you do that learning.
***** Alright, that's interesting! Thanks for answering. The fact that a child can simply learn language based on pattern recognition alone is rather impressive whenever I reflect on it.
Great video!
thank u
Do I have to be a math genius to study linguistics? I once read on the internet that algorithm and computational science are included in the study of linguistics. Well, I have a really huge interest in learning languages and would love to study about how things like grammar and phonetics and such things work in language. I am multilingual and I consider myself as a language geek aka polyglot. But the problem is (as you may have already assumed), I suck at Math. I don't really like it and I think my brain must has stopped working in the math class since algebra came. This makes me depressed. I'm going to graduate next year and the only thing I am capable of to study in the college is in a language-related field :(((
I like the way Yoda talks.. mhmm
Hehehe. "I ain't no prescriptivist"
yellow cat LOooooooOL
Good Job! But I stick to mathematics.
Does this guy really talk like that??
He sounds like somebody holding their nose.