What is linguistics?

Lin 211 • Section 1, Part 2

Kevin B McGowan
kbmcgowan@uky.edu

2026-08-26

Grading Breakdown (from the syllabus)

Grade Breakdown
Activity Percentage
Quizzes (10): 30%
Observation notes (5): 15%
Data Collection: 20%
Data Analysis: 25%
Participation: 10%

Course Activities and Exams (from the syllabus)

  • Quizzes (30%): Each week in discussion sections (beginning during the second week of classes), students will complete a short quiz in Canvas over the material that has been covered in lecture and in the course readings. Twelve 12 total quizzes and the lowest two (2) quiz grades will be dropped.

  • Observation notes (15%): Beginning in the second week of classes, you need to keep an online language observation journal.The idea is just to pay attention to language use in the real world and think about how it works.

  • Data Collection (20%): Near the middle of the semester, students will complete a large-scale assignment involving the collection of linguistic data. This assignment is worth 20% of the final grade.

  • Data Analysis (25%): Near the end of the semester, students will complete another large-scale assignment. This assignment will involve the analysis of the linguistic data collected near midterm. (There is no final exam)

Course Activities and Exams (from the syllabus)

  • Participation (10%): Students are expected to attend each class (lecture and discussion) and to have done any reading or other work assigned for that day.
  • Friday Discussion: participation will be gauged by attendance, participation in class activities, and/or submission of assignments, as required.
  • Monday/Wednesday lectures: participation in the class will be gauged by responses to participation questions that are sprinkled throughout the lectures. Students will be able to submit answers in class through Echo360 using a laptop, tablet, or mobile phone. If you have questions or concerns about this aspect of the course, please see the instructor immediately

What is Linguistics?

Linguistics is the study of language.

But what does that mean?

Answer for yourself, just in your own mind, but try to be as clear about what you think as possible. Take a stand! What does “Linguistics is the study of language” mean?

But what does that mean?

Answer for yourself, just in your own mind, but try to be as clear about what you think as possible. Take a stand! What does “Linguistics is the study of language” mean?

Let’s start with what it does not mean

  • “Linguistics is the study of language”
    • ≠ learning many languages
    • ≠ studying a language with the goal of learning to communicate in it
    • ≠ noticing and pointing out grammatical errors
    • (did you have a different meaning in mind?)

Ok, then! But what is Linguistics?!

Ok, then! But what is Linguistics?!

  • If linguists aren’t just studying a bunch of languages or correcting people’s speech, what are they doing?
  • Here is a (not very useful) first definition from the Linguistic Society of America (LSA):
    • Linguistics is the scientific study of language. Linguists apply the scientific method to conduct formal studies of speech sounds and gestures, grammatical structures, and meaning across the world’s 6,000+ languages.
    • Includes the study of:
      • the structure of language – i.e., how do we make a sentence?
      • and the use of language – i.e., how do we speak with one another?

Then what is language?!?

  • First – we are talking about language as an ability humans have, not any particular code.
  • (It’s a bit like the difference between studying the biology of frogs and dissecting a particular frog)
  • Second – and perhaps most importantly – the kinds of things we talk about with any individual language can be talked about for any other language because language is a feature of being human

Example Q slide

One thing we’ll say is that all languages follow rules and that linguists try to figure out those rules. Think about times when someone has talked to you about what you can/should do with language (spoken, written, or signed). What’s a rule someone told you to follow?

We can talk about two kinds of rules

  • Prescriptive: probably what you’ve experienced before this class

  • Descriptive: what linguists do

Pescriptive Rules

  • Rules are made up by external actors (e.g., teachers, grammar book writers)
  • The expectation is that one can write a set of rules like this and expect all language users to conform
  • “Don’t end a sentence with a preposition.”

Descriptive Rules

  • Rules are based on observations of language in use by real language users.
  • Native speakers = good grammar; if a native speaker can’t say/understand it = bad grammar
  • “Native speakers of English put ‘the’ in front of nouns, not after.”

Why do prescriptive rules exist?

  • The justification for prescriptive rules is often historically motivated, usually for absurd reasons
  • “Don’t split infinitives” or “Don’t end sentences in a preposition”
  • Why?
  • Because Latin doesn’t/can’t.
  • Wait, what?
  • The Latin language heavily influenced Western grammarians

More about Prescriptive rules

  • Prescriptive judgments of “right” vs. “wrong” or superior vs. inferior represent learned social attitudes to a particular variety or a particular form.
  • They are usually judgments against the speaker groups who use those varieties rather than against the language itself.

“Y’all”

  • A prescriptivist would say, “Don’t use ‘y’all’”
  • also: ‘ fixin ’ to’
  • or: [ ra:d ] vs. [raid]
  • These are all judgments against Southerners (not really about language) and reflect mainstream society’s view of Southern culture and people!

What’s next?

  • Go to your discussion section on Friday!
  • Get your textbook as soon as possible
  • Read Chapter 1 from your textbook for Monday (a pdf is on canvas)
  • Take a look at Observation Notes #1 before Monday (we’ll discuss it that day)