Introduction To Language

Introduction to Language
Introduction to Language
Language is the ability to produce and comprehend spoken and written words;

linguistics is the study of language.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Describe the key properties and features of language
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Key Points
 Grammar is a set of rules for generating logical communication.

 All languages have a grammar, and native speakers of a language have
internalized the rules of that language’s grammar.
 Every language has a lexicon, or the sum total of all the words in that
language.
 Phonetics and phonemics are the study of individual units of sound in
languages.
 Morphology is the study of words and other meaningful units of
language.
 Syntax is the study of sentences and phrases, and the rules of grammar
that sentences obey.
 Semantics is the study of sentence meaning; pragmatics is the study of
sentence meaning in context.
Key Terms
 lexicon: The sum total of all words in a language.

 grammar: The set of rules a language obeys for creating words and
sentences.
Language is the ability to produce and comprehend both spoken and written (and in the
case of sign language, signed) words. Understanding how language works means
reaching across many branches of psychology—everything from basic neurological
functioning to high-level cognitive processing. Language shapes our social interactions
and brings order to our lives. Complex language is one of the defining factors that
makes us human. Two of the concepts that make language unique are grammar and
lexicon.
Grammar
Because all language obeys a set of combinatory rules, we can communicate an infinite
number of concepts. While every language has a different set of rules, all languages do
obey rules. These rules are known as grammar. Speakers of a language have
internalized the rules and exceptions for that language’s grammar. There are rules for
every level of language—word formation (for example, native speakers of English have
internalized the general rule that -ed is the ending for past-tense verbs, so even when
they encounter a brand-new verb, they automatically know how to put it into past tense);
phrase formation (for example, knowing that when you use the verb “buy,” it needs a
subject and an object; “She buys” is wrong, but “She buys a gift” is okay); and sentence
formation.
Lexicon
Every language has its rules, which act as a framework for meaningful communication.
But what do people fill that framework up with? The answer is, of course, words. Every
human language has a lexicon—the sum total of all of the words in that language. By
using grammatical rules to combine words into logical sentences, humans can convey
an infinite number of concepts.
Introduction to Linguistics
Language is such a special topic that there is an entire field, linguistics, devoted to its
study. Linguistics views language in an objective way, using the scientific method and
rigorous research to form theories about how humans acquire, use, and sometimes
abuse language. There are a few major branches of linguistics, which it is useful to
understand in order to learn about language from a psychological perspective.
Major levels of linguistics: This diagram outlines the various subfields of linguistics, the study of language.
These include phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics.
Phonetics and Phonology
Phonetics is the study of individual speech sounds; phonology is the study of

phonemes, which are the speech sounds of an individual language. These two heavily
overlapping subfields cover all the sounds that humans can make, as well as which
sounds make up different languages. A phonologist could answer the question, “Why do
BAT and TAB have different meanings even though they are made of the
same three sounds, A, B and T?”
Morphology
Morphology is the study of words and other meaningful units of language like suffixes
and prefixes. A morphologist would be interested in the relationship between words like
“dog” and “dogs” or “walk” and “walking,” and how people figure out the differences
between those words.
Syntax
Syntax is the study of sentences and phrases, or how people put words into the right
order so that they can communicate meaningfully. All languages have underlying rules
of syntax, which, along with morphological rules, make up every language’s grammar.
An example of syntax coming into play in language is “Eugene walked the dog” versus
“The dog walked Eugene.” The order of words is not arbitrary—in order for the sentence
to convey the intended meaning, the words must be in a certain order.
Semantics and Pragmatics
Semantics, most generally, is about the meaning of sentences. Someone who studies
semantics is interested in words and what real-world object or concept those words
denote, or point to. Pragmatics is an even broader field that studies how the context of a
sentence contributes to meaning—for example, someone shouting “Fire!” has a very
different meaning if they are in charge of a seven-gun salute than it does if they are
sitting in a crowded movie theater.
The Structure of Language
All languages have underlying structural rules that make meaningful communication
possible.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Explain the hierarchy of the building blocks of language
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Key Points
 The five main components of language are phonemes, morphemes,

lexemes, syntax, and context. Along with grammar, semantics, and
pragmatics, these components work together to create meaningful
communication among individuals.
 A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound that may cause a change of
meaning within a language but that doesn’t have meaning by itself.
 A morpheme is the smallest unit of a word that provides a specific
meaning to a string of letters (which is called a phoneme). There are
two main types of morpheme: free morphemes and bound morphemes.
 A lexeme is the set of all the inflected forms of a single word.
 Syntax is the set of rules by which a person constructs full sentences.
 Context is how everything within language works together to convey a
particular meaning.
Key Terms
 lexeme: The set of inflected forms taken by a single word.

 phoneme: An indivisible unit of sound in a given language.
 morpheme: The smallest linguistic unit within a word that can carry a
meaning, such as “un-“, “break”, and “-able” in the word “unbreakable.”
Every language is different. In English, an adjective comes before a noun (“red house”),
whereas in Spanish, the adjective comes after (“casa [house] roja [red].”) In German,
you can put noun after noun together to form giant compound words; in Chinese, the
pitch of your voice determines the meaning of your words; in American Sign Language,
you can convey full, grammatical sentences with tense and aspect by moving your
hands and face. But all languages have structural underpinnings that make them logical
for the people who speak and understand them.

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Introduction to Language

Language is the ability to produce and comprehend spoken and written words;

Describe the key properties and features of language

 Grammar is a set of rules for generating logical communication.

 lexicon: The sum total of all words in a language.

Phonetics and Phonology

Phonetics is the study of individual speech sounds; phonology is the study of

The Structure of Language

Explain the hierarchy of the building blocks of language

 The five main components of language are phonemes, morphemes,

 lexeme: The set of inflected forms taken by a single word.

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