Linguists scientifically study human language and how it is used. They examine the systematic rules that unconsciously govern speakers' language use. Linguists work in fields like education, technology, translation, and consulting. They analyze the human capacity for language, how individual languages relate to an overall linguistic system, and what it means to have knowledge of a language. Linguists seek to understand where language comes from, its unique properties, and avoid potential misunderstandings about non-human communication systems or prescriptive grammar rules.

1. Pop quiz...

2. ★ What do you think a linguist does?

3. A very broad definition of Linguistics
❖ Linguistics is the scientific study of the
phenomenon of human language
❖ Language is systematic
➢ Language speakers unconsciously
follow complicated sets of rules

4. Practical jobs for Linguists
Education/TESOL Specialists
Computational Linguists Works to design software dealing with human
language such as voice recognition systems
Military or Government Agency Works for a language defense
department or with the government based on strategic language
knowledge
Translator/Interpreter
Marketing/Corporate Communications Creating brand/product names,
testing slogan efficacy, etc.
Consultant on language in professions such as law or medicine
Language Documentation and Revitalization

5. What linguists talk about when they talk
about language:
1. The human ability to use particular languages =
the specifically human capacity for acquiring
and using complex systems of communication;
2. Human language is one big system, with each
individual language being a specific part of the
overall system.

7. What does it mean to know a language?
LINGUISTIC KNOWLEDGE
❏ When you know a language, you can speak (or
sign) and be understood by others who know that
language
❏ Children learn a language at a young age
❏ The ability to use a language requires profound
knowledge that speakers don’t know that they
have.

8. Unconscious linguistic knowledge
❖ John said that Jane helped
himself
❖ The man saw the boy with the
binoculars

9. LANGUAGE IS….
1) Systematic
2) Uses arbitrary symbols
3) Uses symbols that have conventionalized
meanings
4) Is used for communication
5) Operates in a speech community
6) Is essentially human, but not limited to humans
7) Has universal characteristics
(Brown, 2014, p.7)

10. Big questions
● Where does language come from?
● What are its unique properties?
● Avoiding potential misunderstandings:
● We refer to some kinds of communication
“dog language” or “body language.” They are
not the same sort of thing as French, English,
etc.
● Grammar in linguistics does not mean the
same thing as “correct grammar” or “good
grammar.”