| CODE | LIN1010 | ||||||
| TITLE | Introduction to Linguistics 1 / Introduzzjoni għal-Lingwistika 1 | ||||||
| UM LEVEL | 01 - Year 1 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | ||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 2 | ||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Institute of Linguistics and Language Technology | ||||||
| DESCRIPTION | Objectives Most people use language without having even an inkling of its complex structure. This unit is designed to give the student a "feel" for language, introducing the basic theoretical tools linguists use in their analyses. Syllabus The first part of the course introduces notions underlying the new paradigm of structuralism in linguistics which resulted from the movement away from interest in data and specific languages towards a more general theory of language. Amongst the most important of these notions is the idea of language as an abstract, complex system of interrelated signs and symbols. The notion of linguistic relativity is discussed in some detail in an attempt at dealing with the relation between language and thought. Human Language is compared with other systems of communication, in particular to animal communication systems, in an attempt to show which characteristics make it the versatile tool for communication that it is. The second part of the course introduces the sub-branches of linguistics from which linguists derive the tools for analysing language in its many forms, namely phonology (the sound structure of a language), morphology (the structure of words), syntax (the ways in which words combine to former larger structures such as phrases and sentences),semantics (the study of meaning) and pragmatics (the study of meaning incontext). Select Bibliography - Aitchison J., 1995. Linguistics: An Introduction. London: Hodder & Stoughton. - Akmajian A., Demers R. & Harnish R.M.,1984. Linguistics: an introduction to language and communication, Cambridge,Mass.: MIT Press - Crystal D., 1987. The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press - Crystal D., 1997. A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics, 4th edition. London: Basil Blackwell - Fromkin V. and Rodman R., 1978. An Introduction to Language. New York: Holt, Reinhart and Winston - Hayakawa S.I., 1974. Language in Thought and Action. London: George Allen and Unwin - Lyons J., 1981. Language and Linguistics: an introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press - Martinet A., 1960. Elements of General Linguistics. London: Faber & Faber Ltd. |
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| ADDITIONAL NOTES | Kindly note that lectures are delivered in Maltese |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture and Workshop | ||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Michael Spagnol |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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