TLGA 101: An Introduction to the Study of Language

(Source:  An Introduction to Language by Victoria Fromkin and Robert Rodman, 6th Ed.)

Every human knows at least one language, spoken or signed. Linguistics is the science of language, including the sounds, words, and grammar rules. Words in languages are finite, but sentences are not. It is this creative aspect of human language that sets it apart from animal languages, which are essentially responses to stimuli.

The rules of a language, also called grammar, are learned as one acquires a language. These rules include phonology, the sound system, morphology, the structure of words, syntax, the combination of words into sentences, semantics, the ways in which sounds and meanings are related, and the lexicon, or mental dictionary of words. When you know a language, you know words in that language, i.e. sound units that are related to specific meanings. However, the sounds and meanings of words are arbitrary. For the most part, there is no relationship between the way a word is pronounced (or signed) and its meaning.

Branches of Linguistics

Knowing a language encompasses this entire system, but this knowledge (called competence) is different from behavior (called performance.) You may know a language, but you may also choose to not speak it. Although you are not speaking the language, you still have the knowledge of it. However, if you don't know a language, you cannot speak it at all.

Creating sentences is never been this fun with Linguistics.

That is to be said, Linguistics has many sides of it which covers all components of language. One of the major courses of Bachelor of English Language and Literature (BENL) offered in International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), is about the use of language and computer. As a part of Computer Applications of Language Studies course project, this blog is a take on how to infuse the use of technology and computer with linguistics. We will be focusing on only one subject of linguistics; the Grammatical Analysis or GA for short. This blog will be solely dedicated to the teaching and learning of GA incorporated with computer applications.

And you thought grammar was simple, yes? Think again.

Happy teaching and learning GA.