Introduction to Linguistics Prof. Sharon Hargus Spring 2006

Ideas about language What do you already know about language? What is interesting to you about language?

Ideas about language heard at ’05 ITE Some languages are more modern than others. People who speak with a southern accent are not as smart as other Americans. Some languages are harder than others. There are rules for the pronunciation of different languages. Which do you believe to be true? Which do some people believe to be true? take a minute to talk to your neighbor about this

Are some languages more modern than others? What does ‘more modern’ mean? Has a word for ‘World Wide Web’? Has written records over a longer period of time? Has changed less over time? Zuni—spoken in New Mexico

English vs. Zuni Is English more modern than Zuni? English  Old English  Proto-Germanic  Proto-Indo-European (ca. 5000 B.C.) www.ethnologue.com

Attitudes about accents People who talk with a southern accent are ____________. People who talk with a ____________ accent are ___________.

Accents and advertising A: Old Betsy here just won’t start any more and my wife says to get her out of here. B: Why don’t you donate her? A: My wife?

Are some languages harder than others? What are criteria for determining difficulty? Extensive nominal case (accusative, genitive, etc.)? Finnish: 14-15 nominal cases Latin: 7 German: 4 Verb must go at end of sentence? Are consonant clusters harder than tone, or vice versa? ‘Difficult’ depends on one’s native language language being acquired age of acquisition

Are there rules for pronunciation in language? Sahaptin: Sahaptin www.ethnologue.com

Consonant clusters in Sahaptin Some attested combinations tsnits ‘your (man’s) younger sister’ kw’siis ‘pointed’ kw’laapsh ‘bare, empty’ Some unattested combinations kp occurs but not pk k’sh occurs but not k’sh etc. Consonant clusters are not random in Sahaptin; there are patterns

What is linguistics? The study of human language as a rule-governed system of knowledge What linguists do: make explicit the systems of knowledge found in human language Much of this class is about how to discover such systems, some results

Goals for student learning in this class Learn some concepts about language Develop competence in linguistic analysis Learn some tools for analyzing language Learn some facts about particular languages

Some questions we’ll discuss Lots of languages are going extinct. Is that good or bad? How close have chimpanzees and other primates come to learning a human language? Is American Sign Language a language or is it pantomime? What’s the big deal about Ebonics?

We’ll also discuss Phonetic transcription Paradigms wh- questions “it’s just semantics” Good vs. bad grammar Many other technical issues in the description of language

A preview on grammar What does “grammar” mean to you?

Administrative matters Class website: http://courses.washington.edu/lingclas/200.html Syllabus Lecture slides and video clips FAQs about the course (and answers) Corrections to the textbook (if needed) Links to on-line quizzes I welcome your feedback on this class

Highlights of the syllabus Grades based on midterm (25%), final (35%), homework and quizzes (30%), participation (10%) Textbook: Fromkin, Rodman and Hymans (2003). There will be quizzes about the reading through Catalyst Tools. Exams will be multiple-choice, machine scorable. You will be tested on lectures, assigned readings, and any new materials reviewed in sections.

On its way… Turning Point Audience Response System Hopefully in place to use in lecture by Mon of 2nd week of classes Students purchase wireless RF Response Card devices (“clickers”) in the book store: $33 new, $24 used.

Student responsibilities Do the assigned work on time Read the textbook Homework announced Fridays in lecture, due Thursdays in section No make-up exams Be respectful of others Getting to know me is your job Office hours: Mondays 3-5

Next lecture Endangered languages Reading: 3 short articles accessible on-line through our library system. See the syllabus.