LINGUIST 1ZZ3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Psycholinguistics, Linguistic Description, Binoculars
10 Apr 2017
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Scientific method to study linguistic more precisely. Syntax: the scientific study of sentence structure. I saw the girl with the binoculars. The man is standing near the bank. Particular word is ambiguous = lexical ambiguity. Scientific method: observe, analyze, develop hypotheses, check predictions of the hypothesis, gather more data to test predictions. Good hypothesis: needs to be able to make predictions, must be falsifiable (must be a way to show our hypothesis is incorrect). Difference between prescriptivism and descriptivism & which is more scientific. Prescriptivism: rules about how one should use language, conscious, must be learned. The rules must be follow to be considered good grammar. These rules need to be explicitly learned, normally in school (part pf your conscious knowledge of a language). Descriptivism: how we actually use language, unconscious, enable you to use language (speak and understand). Competence: what native speakers know about their native language. The grammar in their mind - mental grammar.
