LIN204H1 Study Guide - Linguistic Description, Linguistic Prescription, Written Language
Document Summary
System of sounds (know which combinations of sounds are possible) Knowledge of word structure (know which words are possible) Knowledge of sentence structure (know which combinations of words are possible) Real-world usage (can recognize ambiguities in meaning/ aware of level of formality) ambiguities: in a sentence, there are several meanings. Linguistics -> scientific study of human languages/ human capacity for language. describe language as it is actually spoken by people native speakers accept (a word/ sentence) then that form grammatical in that people"s dialect! are interested in all natural languages (dialects), non-just (standard dialect) ex: hk linguists only wants to study cantonese, not mandarin. some word/sentence can be grammatical in one dialect yet ungrammatical in another dialect. examine speech"s formality (formal speech/ casual speech/ polite speech/ impolite speech) formal/ all systematic, and have grammar (unconscious knowledge of a linguistic rule system) changing over time (continuum of language varieties)
