This document provides an overview of the study of language or linguistics. It defines language as the means through which humans express thoughts and discusses how language distinguishes humans from other animals. The document then outlines the main branches of linguistic study, including micro linguistics which examines smaller linguistic units like sounds, words, and sentences, and macro linguistics which studies higher-level topics like the social aspects of language and applied uses. It closes by inviting questions.

1. What is Language?
Lecture # 1
Instructor: Bibi Halima
Bibi.Halima@uow.edu.pk

2. Language:
WHAT
&
WHY

8. DEFINITIONS BY
LINGUISTS

12. “Language is the dress of our thoughts”

13. “The possession of language perhaps more than
any other attribute, distinguishes humans from
rest of the animal world”

14. BUT wait, I have a bird that talks…..

16. Sorry, talking birds and talking dogs do not
really represent a language because they are
stimulus-bound responses and do not represent
the creative aspect that is unique to humans
alone.

17. WHAT IS LINGUISTICS?
Scientific Study of Language

19. Branches of Linguistics
Microlinguistics
• Phonetics
The study of speech sounds; how they are produced in the vocal tract (articulatory
phonetics), how they are transmitted through the air (acoustic phonetics), and how
they are perceived by the listener (auditory phonetics).
• Phonology
The study of the sound system of language; how the particular sounds used in each
language form an integrated system for encoding information and how such
systems differ from one language to another.

20. • Morphology
The study of the way in which words are constructed out of smaller units
which have a meaning or grammatical function, for example the word
friendly is constructed from friend and the adjective-forming –ly.
• Lexicography
The compiling of dictionaries. Lexicography could be seen as a branch of
applied linguistics

21. • Syntax
The study of how words combine to form sentences and the rules which
govern the formation of sentences.
• Semantics
The study of meaning; how words and sentences are related to the real or
imaginary objects they refer to and the situations they describe.

22. •Pragmatics
The study of the use of language in communication, particularly the
relationships between sentences and the contexts and situations in which
they are used such as time, place, social relationship between speaker and
hearer, and speaker’s assumptions about the hearer’s belief.

23. • Discourse Analysis
The study of how sentences in spoken and written language form larger
meaningful units such as paragraphs, conversations, interviews etc.

24. MACROLIGUISTICS
• Sociolinguistics
• Psycholinguistics
• Stylistics
• Applied Linguistics
• Computational Linguistics

26. QUESTIONS