LIN100Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Vocal Folds, Soft Palate, Survival Function
Document Summary
Language is at the heart of all things human. We use it when we"re talking, thinking, reading, writing, and listening. It"s part of the social structure of our communities; it forges the emotional bond between parent and child; it"s the vehicle for literature and poetry. Linguistics is the study of how language works how it is used, how it is acquired, how it changes over time, how it is represented in the brain, and so on. It is concerned not only with the properties of the world"s almost 7000 living languages, but also with the abilities and adaptations that have made it possible for our species to create and use language in the first place. Early humans were anatomically like us they had large brains and vocal tracts capable of producing speech. Archaeological evidence (such as tools, carvings, and cave paintings) suggest that they also had the type of intellect that could accompany language.
