【精选】01 What is linguistics.pdf

II. Some basic concepts in linguistics • 1. Prescriptive vs. descriptive • 2. Prescriptive grammar vs. descriptive What is Linguistics? grammar • 3. Synchronic vs. diachronic Lecture 1 • 4. Speech and writing On Modern Linguistics • 5. Langue and parole • 6. Competence and performance I. What is Linguistics? 1. Prescriptive vs. descriptive • 1. The scientific study of language; • If a linguistic study aims to describe and analyze the language people actually use, it is said to be descriptive; • 2. It tries to answer the following questions: • If the linguistic study aims to lay down • What is language? rules for “correct and standard” behavior in • How does language work? using language, i.e. to tell people what they should say and what they should not say, it is said to be prescriptive. • Some related questions: • What do all languages have in common? • Modern linguistics is mostly descriptive. • What range of variat