Introduction to Linguistics: Signs, Language, and Communication
Signs and Meaning
Signs are realities we perceive through our senses, conveying meaning. They consist of two elements:
- Signifier: A fact perceived by the senses, associated in the mind with another reality.
- Signified: The meaning evoked by the signifier.
Kinds of Signs
- Icons: Signs resembling the reality they represent.
- Symbols: Signs representing social, cultural, or religious concepts.
- Symptoms/Signs: Natural phenomena that unintentionally suggest something.
Characteristics of Linguistic Signs
- Conventional: Created by implicit agreement among users.
- Linear: Articulatory sounds are produced sequentially.
- Arbitrary: No inherent similarity between the signifier and the signified.
Sounds and Phonemes
Sounds are actual emissions by speakers, while phonemes are mental images of sound units. Sounds are transcribed in square brackets (phonetics), and phonemes are represented by slashes (phonology).
Communication
Communication involves a sender conveying a message through a channel to a receiver in a specific context. The message is constructed using signs from a code (a system of signs and rules).
Functions of Language
- Referential: Reporting objective facts.
- Emotive/Expressive: Expressing feelings and experiences.
- Phatic: Initiating, maintaining, or breaking contact.
- Conative: Influencing the receiver.
- Metalinguistic: Referring to language itself.
- Poetic: Embellishing language for aesthetic effect.
Lexical Families and Word Formation
A lexical family consists of words sharing the same lexeme.
Word Formation Processes
- Simple Words: Consist of a lexeme and inflections.
- Derivation: Forming new words by adding prefixes or suffixes.
- Composition: Joining two or more words.
- Parasynthesis: Combining composition and derivation.
Abbreviations and Acronyms
- Initials: Formed from the first letters of several words (e.g., EU).
- Acronyms: Formed by combining parts of words (e.g., IT).