Introduction to Linguistics

Linguistics describes patterns in use and distinguishes description from prescription.

How to study this source

• What makes a pattern part of a language?

  coreLecture notes: Introduction and the first syntax notes

  Linguistics describes patterns in use and distinguishes description from prescription.

• How can a sound difference change a word?

  coreLecture notes on phonetics and phonology

  A sound contrast can distinguish meanings in one language without doing so in another.

• What can be lost in translating a concept?

  coreCourse notes on semantics; use one publicly available bilingual passage for the comparison

  Translations can preserve a useful relation while changing associations and distinctions.

Ideas and questions

Read background definitions when a term blocks the argument. Then return to the source and reconstruct its claim in your own words.

Read alongside, read against