LINGUIS 101 1st Edition Lecture 1 What is linguistics Linguistics the scientific study of the structure of human language Object of study mental grammar o People are not consciously aware of many rules of mental grammar which they apply systematically in speech Five subfields of linguistics Phonetics study of speech sounds Phonology how sounds pattern in language and are organized in mind Morphology structure of words Syntax structure of sentences Semantics meaning of words and sentences Descriptive vs prescriptive grammar Descriptive grammar goal is to discover what rules people actually know and describe them o In an English wh question the wh word appears at the beginning of the sentence o Ex what do you want to eat Not Do you want to eat what o But in mandarin the wh word stays in place You want eat what Prescriptive grammar goal is to tell people what rules they should know Attempting to change people s linguistic behavior o You should use whom in object position Instead of this who did you see Say this whom did you see o You shouldn t strand prepositions Instead of this what is she talking about Say this about what is she talking
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