Welcome to Linguistics
Linguistics is a vibrant area of research and teaching in UCD. Degree programmes are offered at both undergraduate and postgraduate level covering a broad range of topics. Linguists at UCD are active researchers in phonetics and phonology, sociolinguistics, syntax and pedagogy.
What is Linguistics?
Linguistics is the study of the nature of language. Linguists study the languages of the world in order to answer questions like:
What are the building blocks of languages?
The building blocks of language include the sounds which combine to make words; then words which combine into phrases and sentences; and the sentences which combine into discourses.
What are the rules and principles that govern the combination of the building blocks of language?
Different rules and principles govern the combination of the different building blocks of language, and different branches of linguistic research have developed different kinds of models to explain this. Linguists explore the basic principles that govern all languages as well as the way languages vary in how they build up words, phrases and sentences.
How do languages change over time?
Languages are constantly changing, each generation of speakers alter their language in some way. Languages can change because of contact between speakers of different languages or varieties of the same language. Social barriers such as social segregation, different cultural or ideological backgrounds or the construction of political borders may also lead speakers to actively differentiate their language use in order to assert separate identities.
How is language acquired and how are languages learned?
Language is acquired by children in all societies and only humans can acquire language. Linguists explore the way in which children acquire their language(s) and the way that the interaction between the child and the environment lead to complete mastery of language a short period of time.
What are language disabilities?
Although language can be acquired with ease it can also be impaired later in life. One of the most common causes of language impairment is stroke. Damage to those parts of the brain that deal with language can result in language impairment of different types and severity. This is known as Aphasia. Study of such damage to language can tell us a lot about the way the brain encodes and processes language.
What determines how we use language?
We regularly adapt the way we use language to suit the setting. We speak differently in formal and informal situations, we do not speak in the same way to our boss or teacher as we do to our friends. And we adapt our way of speaking based on how we want to present ourseleves to others.
Subfields of Linguistics
Because language pervades most aspects of human behaviour, Linguistics inevitably overlaps with a broad range of subject areas in the Arts, Humanities and Sciences ranging from Languages and Cultures to Psychology, Philosophy, Geography and Sociology, to Computer Science, Cognitive Science, Speech Therapy and others. Within Linguistics, a number of different branches of linguistics are recognized. They include:
Phonetics: Phonetics explores how the linguistically relevant sounds in the languages of the world are produced, and how these sounds are perceived using experimental and computational tools.
Phonology: Phonology examines how sounds pattern in languages, how sounds are combined to make words, how sounds near each other affect each other and how sounds are affected by where in the word/phrase they occur.
Semantics: Semantics studies the meanings of words and sentences independently of any context. We are all aware of the meaning of the words and phrases we use and are quite clear about what they mean. Semantics seeks to explain how it is that we come to have such a clear understanding of the language we use.
Pragmatics: Pragmatics explores how the meanings of utterances can be altered by the social or physical context in which they are uttered. The use of irony, sarcasm or metaphor can lead to our utterances communicating something quite different to their literal meaning.
Morphology: Morphology examines the structure of words and the principles that govern the form of words. Words in language are dynamic. As we use words we can add other elements to them, such as when we add the plural marker or the possessive marker. Words can also be made up of a number of units, the word ‘unhappiness’ involves three elements (or morphemes) un-, -happy- and –ness. Morphology deals with how languages add morphemes together.
Syntax: Syntax investigates the structure of sentences and the principles that govern it. An essential skill in any language is the ability to combine words in phrases and sentences. Syntax seeks to show the common principles that determine how phrases and sentences are built up from words. It also explores the way that languages vary in their application of these common principles by looking at the variation across languages.
Sociolinguistics: Sociolinguistics explores the many ways in which society impacts on language and language practices, how language and language practices influence society and social identities, and how speakers actively craft language for their own interactional ends.
Applied Linguistics: Applied Linguistics is concerned with the application of linguistic theories, models and findings to understand and address language problems which have arisen in other areas of experience such as language learning and teaching, the management of bilingualism and multilingualism and language revival within a society or one or more of its institutions.
Computational linguistics: Computational linguistics involves modeling language from a computational point of view. It involves both how computers can help us understand language, and how language can make computers easier to interact with.
Psycholinguistics: Psycholinguistics explores the interaction between linguistic behaviour and psychological processes such as memory and perception. When we produce or understand language, we are using non-linguistic factors such as our short-term working memory. We also rely heavily on our perceptual abilities in order to compensate for poor transmission of language, such as when we speak to the phone or chat in a noisy environment.