LING 100 Study Guide - Fall 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes - Verb, Noun, Spanish Language
12 Oct 2018
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LING 100
MIDTERM EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
Fall 2018
LING 100 - 002
The Study of Language
Natural Language = a speech community where people are raised with that language as their
first language
o Technically it doesn't have to be a "real" (or non-invented) language, as long as it is what
one was raised speaking
Germanic Languages = languages that have roots in two or more languages
o English is a Germanic language (albeit a very unusual manner, because it also holds roots
in French and other romance language)
Romantic Languages = languages that have roots in Latin
o Includes Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, Catalan, Provençal, and Romansh
Linguistics as a Science
Linguistics is a scientific theory of language, not an interpretive theory of language (like literature
analysis).
o It is breaking down language to its basic parts and understanding how it is built back up
o It is empirical (based on observable data) - only interested in the types of theories that can
be tested (theories that can be proved wrong)
What makes something testable?
o It has to make predictions (that can be proved false)
o Theory = something that predicts what will happen (based on previous events on
observations)
How to formulate a scientific theory
o Your theory must be a generalization (a general statement about something)
▪ i.e. "sentences have subjects" is a generalization, and can therefore be used to make a
prediction. "This sentence has a subject" is specific to this one sentence, and is just
listing one observable fact. No predictions can come from it.
o The generalization must be clear and precise
▪ i.e. "a sentence contains a predicate" is a good generalization, whereas "a sentence
contains an action word" is a bad generalization, but it is highly unclear and lacks
precision. The first sentence uses a specific linguistic term, where as the second
sentence uses a far more simplistic and vague term for a similar concept
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
LING 100 - 002
Basic Parts of Language
Subject = the part of the sentence that the predicate is describing
Predicate = the part of a sentence that describes the ongoing state, event, or action
Grammatical words, like is, help to connect the subject and the predicate.
EXAMPLE: The child is feeling tired.
o Subject = child
o Connecting Word = is
o Predicate = feeling tired
To be able to (can) or to want to are both states, and not actions. When added to sentences with
action words, they negate them. For example, "I can swim a mile" is someone is the state of
having the ability to do so, and "I want to swim a mile" is someone being in the state of having
the desire to so. But, if you just say "I swam a mile" it is then an event or an action, and there is
an action word (swam).
"See" actually isn't an action word. An action word is something we can do at will, so if you say
"I saw a bear" it is technically a state and NOT an action, because you cannot invoke the ability to
see a bear at any given time.
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Natural language = a speech community where people are raised with that language as their first language: technically it doesn"t have to be a real (or non-invented) language, as long as it is what one was raised speaking. Germanic languages = languages that have roots in two or more languages: english is a germanic language (albeit a very unusual manner, because it also holds roots in french and other romance language) Romantic languages = languages that have roots in latin. Includes italian, french, spanish, portuguese, romanian, catalan, proven al, and romansh. Linguistics is a scientific theory of language, not an interpretive theory of language (like literature analysis). It is breaking down language to its basic parts and understanding how it is built back up. It is empirical (based on observable data) - only interested in the types of theories that can be tested (theories that can be proved wrong)
