Linguistics
Linguistics tests the systematic study of language: phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, sociolinguistics, and historical change. The exam favors analysis of small language data and distinctions between descriptive patterns and prescriptive rules.
Core concepts
- Phonology studies contrastive sounds. A phoneme is a sound that can distinguish meaning; allophones are variants of one phoneme, often in complementary distribution. A minimal pair establishes contrast.
- Morphology studies morphemes, the smallest meaning-bearing units. Free morphemes can stand alone; bound morphemes cannot. Derivational affixes change meaning or word class; inflectional affixes mark grammatical categories.
- Syntax studies phrase and sentence structure, including word order and constituency. Semantics studies meaning; pragmatics studies meaning in context, such as implicature and speech acts.
- Design features of language include arbitrariness, productivity, displacement, and cultural transmission.
- Sociolinguistics examines dialect, register, code-switching, diglossia, and language and identity. Dialects are systematic varieties, not failed standard languages.
- Historical linguistics uses cognates and regular sound correspondences in the comparative method. A pidgin is a contact language without native speakers; a creole develops when children acquire it natively.
Worked example
In English, pat and bat differ only in the initial sound and have different meanings, so /p/ and /b/ are separate phonemes. Now imagine a language where [p] occurs only at the beginnings of words and [b] only between vowels, with no overlapping environments. Speakers may treat them as variants of one phoneme, making them allophones. Reasoning: contrast requires a minimal pair or overlapping distribution; complementary distribution suggests allophony, not phonemic contrast.
Traps that cost marks
- Confusing letters with sounds; English spelling is not phonology.
- Calling a dialect a language solely for political reasons, or vice versa.
- Mixing pidgin and creole.
- Confusing descriptive linguistics with prescriptive grammar rules.
- Overstating the strong Sapir-Whorf hypothesis; language influences but does not fully determine thought.
- Treating code-switching as confusion rather than rule-governed behavior.