Theoretical linguistics 55422 216055905 2008-05-30T21:47:58Z SmackBot 433328 Date the maintenance tags or general fixes {{for|the journal|Theoretical Linguistics (journal)}} '''Theoretical linguistics''' is the branch of [[linguistics]] that is most concerned with developing models of linguistic knowledge. Part of this endeavor involves the search for and explanation of [[linguistic universal]]s, that is, properties all [[language]]s have in common. The fields that are generally considered the core of theoretical linguistics are [[syntax]], [[phonology]], [[morphology (linguistics)|morphology]], and [[semantics]]. Although [[phonetics]] often informs phonology, it is often excluded from the purview of theoretical linguistics, along with [[psycholinguistics]] and [[sociolinguistics]]. {{Linguistics}} ==Major fields== {{see|grammar|formal grammar|grammar framework}} ===Phonetics=== {{Sectstub|date=May 2008}} [[Phonetics]] is the study of speech sounds with concentration on three main points : * [[Articulation]] : the production of speech sounds in human speech organs. * [[Perception]] : the way human ears respond to speech signals, how the human [[brain]] analyses them. * Acoustic features : physical characteristics of speech sounds such as color, [[loudness]], [[amplitude]], [[frequency]] etc. According to this definition, phonetics can also be called linguistic analysis of human speech at the surface level. That is one obvious difference from [[phonology]], which concerns the structure and organisation of speech sounds in natural languages, and furthermore has a theoretical and abstract nature. One example can be made to illustrate this distinction: In English, the suffix ''-s'' can represent either [{{IPA|s}}], [{{IPA|z}}] or can be silent (symbolised as ø) depending on context. '''Orthographic representation''' : S, s '''Phonetic features:''' Phonetic representations: [{{IPA|s}}], [{{IPA|z}}], ø Perception through the ear: high frequency sounds accompanied by a hissing noise. Acoustic features: ''Frequency'' : 8000 - 11000 Hz ''Color'' : similar to the hissing noise made by snakes. '''Phonological characteristics''' : Occurrence : beginning, middle or end of words. Accompanied by vowels or consonants. Distinguishes meanings of words depending on context: '''''s'''''''low'' ≠ '''''g'''''''low'' =====Articulatory phonetics===== The field of [[articulatory phonetics]] is a subfield of phonetics. In studying [[articulation]], phoneticians attempt to document how humans produce speech sounds (vowels and consonants). That is, articulatory phoneticians are interested in how the different structures of the vocal tract, called the articulators (tongue, lips, jaw, palate, teeth etc.), interact to create the specific sounds. =====Auditory phonetics===== [[Auditory phonetics]] is a branch of phonetics concerned with the hearing, acquisition and comprehension of phonetic sounds of words of a language. As articulatory phonetics explores the methods of sound production, auditory phonetics explores the methods of reception--the ear to the brain, and those processes. =====Acoustic phonetics===== [[Acoustic phonetics]] is a subfield of phonetics which deals with acoustic aspects of speech sounds. Acoustic phonetics investigates properties like the mean squared amplitude of a waveform, its duration, its fundamental frequency, or other properties of its frequency spectrum, and the relationship of these properties to other branches of phonetics (e.g. articulatory or auditory phonetics), and to abstract linguistic concepts like phones, phrases, or utterances. '''Phonology''' [[Phonology]] is the study of language sounds. <ref>Ottenheimer, 34</ref> Phonology is divided into two separate studies; [[Phonetics]] and [[Phonemics]]. Phonetics is what depicts the sounds we hear. It calls attention to the smallest details in language sounds. There are three kinds of phonetics; Acoustic phonetics, auditory phonetics, and articulatory phonetics. Acoustic phonetics deals with the physical properties of sound. What sounds exactly are coming from the person speaking. Auditory phonetics deals with how the sounds are perceived. Exactly what the person hearing the sounds is perceiving. Finally, articulatory phonetics studies how the speech sounds are produced. This is what describes the actual sounds in detail. It is also known as descriptive phonetics.<ref> Ottenheimer, 36-37</ref> Phonemics studies how the sounds are used. It analyzes the way sounds are arranged in languages and helps you to hear what sounds are important in a language.<ref> Ottenheimer, 46-47</ref> It helps one to understand the culture behind the language. The unit of analysis for phonemics is called phonemes. "A phoneme is a sound that functions to distinguish one word from another in a language,".<ref> Ottenheimer, 47</ref> For example, how we distinguish the English word tie from the word die. The sounds that differentiates two words are [t], and [d].<ref> Ottenheimer, 47</ref> ===Morphology=== [[Morphology (linguistics)|Morphology]] is the study of word structure. For example, in the sentences ''The dog runs'' and ''The dogs run'', the [[word form]]s ''runs'' and ''dogs'' have an affix ''-s'' added, distinguishing them from the bare forms ''dog'' and ''run''. Adding this suffix to a [[noun|nominal]] stem gives plural forms, adding it to [[verb]]al stems restricts the [[subject (grammar)| subject]] to third person singular. Some morphological theories operate with two distinct suffixes ''-s'', called [[allomorph]]s of the [[morpheme]]s Plural and Third person singular, respectively. Languages differ with respect to their morphological structure. Along one axis, we may distinguish [[analytic language]]s, with few or no affixes or other morphological processes from [[synthetic language]]s with many affixes. Along another axis, we may distinguish [[agglutinative language]]s, where affixes express one grammatical property each, and are added neatly one after another, from [[fusional language]]s, with non-concatenative morphological processes ([[infixation]], [[Germanic umlaut|umlaut]], [[ablaut]], etc.) and/or with less clear-cut affix boundaries. ===Syntax=== [[Syntax]] is the study of language structure and word order. It is concerned with the relationship between units at the level of words or morphology. Syntax seeks to delineate exactly all and only those sentences which make up a given language, using native speaker intuition. Syntax seeks to describe formally exactly how structural relations between elements (lexical items/words and operators) in a sentence contribute to its interpretation. Syntax uses principles of formal logic and Set Theory to formalize and represent accurately the hierarchical relationship between elements in a sentence. [[Abstract syntax tree]]s are often used to illustrate the hierarchical structures that are posited. Thus, in active declarative sentences in English the subject is followed by the main verb which in turn is followed by the object (SVO). This order of elements is crucial to its correct interpretation and it is exactly this which syntacticians try to capture. They argue that there must be such a formal computational component contained within the language faculty of normal speakers of a language and seek to describe it. ===Semantics=== [[Semantics]] is the study of intensive meaning in words and sentences. Semantics can be expressed through [[diction]] (word choice) and [[inflexion]]. Inflexion may be conveyed through an author's tone in writing and a speaker's tone of voice, changing pitch and stress of words to influence meaning. == See also == * [[Journal of Language and Linguistics]] == References == * Ottenheimer, H.J. (2006). The Anthropology of Language: An Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology.Canada: Thomas Wadsworth. {{reflist}} [[Category:Linguistics]] [[ar:لسانيات نظرية]] [[bg:Теоретична лингвистика]] [[de:Theoretische Linguistik]] [[fr:Linguistique théorique]] [[ja:理論言語学]] [[pl:Językoznawstwo ogólne]] [[vi:Ngôn ngữ học lý thuyết]]