LING1001 Elements of Linguistics - Sound, Structure and Meaning

There are many ways of viewing language. It could be viewed as a communication system or a means of social interaction. It could be viewed as sounds. It could be viewed as a list of words and associated meanings. It could be seen as a set of rules or principles for combining words into sentences. In fact, linguists regard all of these as important aspects of language, and they are all studied in the various branches of Linguistics. This courses concentrates on sound, structure and meaning in the branches known as phonetics and phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics and pragmatics. Particular attention will be given to providing you with the tools necessary for the analysis of language, from its sounds, to its words, its sentences, discourse features and beyond, with reference both to English and to the principal Western European languages. Many of these topics can then be studied further in years 2 or 4 (e.g. syntax, phonology, morphology, discourse analysis etc.).

Special Features

This module provides a grounding in general linguistics for students who have already been introduced to the subject from a typically socio-oriented language-specific point of view in the first semester. Whilst the lectures serve to introduce, explain and explore key aspects of each of the sections of the module (sound - 4 sessions; structure - 4 sessions; meaning - 3 sessions), the seminars are intended to apply the knowledge in the form of exercises. Given that one of the main aims of this module is to familiarise students with a number of ‘tools of the trade’ (e.g. in phonetics with the IPA; in syntax with identification of segments of phrases and tree representation), much time is devoted to ‘demonstrating and doing’. Not only does this build up savoir-faire through practice and comment, but also it places much emphasis on methodology and working within a given approach or paradigm. Use of examples from European languages (in particular those studied at the University at Southampton) as well as English will enable students to enrich their understanding of the languages they use and study and will provide opportunities for experiencing the wider implications and usefulness of linguistics. Assignment tasks for each of the sections will serve to consolidate both knowledge and analytical skills as students are asked to investigate in depth specific elements. The end of module examination is intended to verify how certain notions, concepts and techniques have been taken on board and how these can be dealt with within the confines of the exam.

Teaching and learning methods

Teaching methods include - 1 lecture and 1 seminar per week. Learning activities include - A series of specific assignments to be carried out (e.g. an investigative transcription for phonetics).

Resources & Reading list

V. FROMKIN Victoria (2003). An Introduction to Language. 

Phonetics. For Phonetics, our in-house interactive Introduction to Phonetics for students of English, French, German and Spanish by R. Ball is available at the following address: http://www.lang.ltsn.ac.uk/resources/materialsbank.aspx?resourceid=296

Summative

Repeat Information

Repeat type: Internal & External