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PHILOSOPHY OF LANGUAGE AND LINGUISTICS
I use the term Philosophy of Language
to refer to the use of logical and scientific
methods to explain the workings of language.
It is concerned
with five central issues:
the nature of meaning (i.e. how do words
mean?);
the relationship between language and the world (reference);
the
relationship between language and the mind (is language innate or
acquired? what is the relationship between language and thought?);
the process by which the meaning of an entire sentence is derived from its
parts; and
the social use of language.
I use the term Linguistics almost
synonymously to refer to the use of logical and scientific methods
to explain the workings of human language. It is sub-divided
into several fields:
Anthropological linguistics examines the history, evolution, and
internal structure of human languages through human genetics and
human development. It studies prehistoric links between
different societies, and explores the use and meaning of verbal
concepts with which humans communicate and reason. Linguistic
anthropologists seek to explain the very nature of language itself,
including hidden connections between language, the brain, and behaviour.
Linguistic
anthropology is the branch of anthropology that studies humans
through the languages that they use.
Historical linguistics (or
diachronic
linguistics) is the study of language change. It
has four main concerns: to describe and account for
observed changes in particular languages, to
describe the history of speech communities, to
reconstruct the pre-history of languages and
determine their relatedness, grouping them into
language families (comparative linguistics), and to
develop general theories about how and why language
changes.
Morphology is the branch of linguistics that studies such
patterns of word-formation across and within languages, and attempts
to explicate formal rules reflective of the knowledge of the
speakers of those languages.
Phonetics (from the Greek φωνή,
phonē [sound /
voice]) is the study of sounds and the human voice. It is
concerned with the properties of speech sounds (phones) and
non-speech sounds, as well as their production, audition and
perception. Phonology (from the Greek phonē and
logos [word / speech]), is a subfield of linguistics which
studies the sound system of a specific language (or languages).
Pragmatics studies the practical use of signs by agents or
communities of interpretation in particular circumstances and
contexts (that is, any factor — linguistic, objective, or subjective
— that affects the actual interpretation of signs and expressions).
In particular, it explores the difference between sentence meaning
(the literal meaning of the sentence) and speaker meaning (the
concept that the speaker is trying to convey in a particular
context).
Psycholinguistics (or psychology of language)
is the study of the psychological and
neurobiological factors that enable humans to
acquire, use, and understand language. It
explores the cognitive processes that make it
possible to generate a grammatical and meaningful
sentence out of vocabulary and grammatical
structures, as well as the processes that make it
possible to understand utterances, words, text, etc.
Cognitive linguistics views language as based
in mental faculties that have evolved and speciated
over time.
The guiding principle behind this area of
linguistics is that language creation, learning,
and usage are explained by reference to human
cognition in general - the basic underlying mental
processes that apply not only to language, but to
all other areas of human intelligence.
Semantics (from the Greek words
sema
[sign] and semantikos [giving signs,
significant, symptomatic]) is the study of the aspects of
meaning that are expressed in a language, code, or
other form of representation. Lexical
semantics focuses on how and what individual words
mean, by denoting either things in the world or
concepts. Semiotics: please click
here.
Sociolinguistics is the study of
the effect of social determinants on
the way language is used. It
also studies how 'lects' differ
between speech communities (more or
less discrete groups of people who
use language in a unique and
mutually accepted way among
themselves) separated by certain
social variables (e.g. ethnicity,
religion, status, gender, level of
education, etc.) and how creation
and adherence to these rules is used
to categorize individuals in social
class or socio-economic classes.
As the usage of a language varies
from place to place ('dialect'),
language usage varies among social
classes, and it is these 'sociolects'
that sociolinguistics studies.
Syntax (from the Greek words συν [syn,
meaning 'co-' or 'together'] and τάξις [táxis,
meaning 'sequence, order, arrangement'] is the study
of the rules, or "patterned relations" that govern
the way words combine to form phrases and phrases to
form sentences.
Theoretical Linguistics
explores the nature of human linguistic ability, or
competence, by explaining what it is that an
individual knows when an individual knows a language
and how it is that individuals come to know
languages.
SUB-PAGES
Philosophers / Theorists:
Related Pages:
ASSOCIATIONS
CONFERENCES
2008:
2007:
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Context-Dependence, Perspective and Relativity in Language and Thought,
École Normale Supérieure, November 9-11
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Plurality, Unity and Structure in Ontology and Mathematics,
Institute for the History of Philosophy, Science and Technology, Paris,
October 18-19
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Normative Concepts, Department of Philosophy, University of
Zurich, September 21-22
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Concept Types and Frames in Language, Cognition, and Science,
Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, August 20-22
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Philosophy of Language Workshop, Irish Network of Philosophy of
Language and Thought, Geary Institute, University College Dublin, June
18
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Linguistics
and Epistemology, Department of Philosophy, University of Aberdeen,
May 12-13
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Translation and Translation -- des Faux Amis: Tracing Translation(s)
Across Disciplines, Department of Translation and Interpreting
Studies, Boğaziçi University, Istanbul, April 5-8
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37th
Linguistic Symposium on Romance Languages, University of Pittsburgh,
March 15-18
2006:
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A Figure of
Speech: Conference on Metaphor, Centre for Cognitive Sciences
and Semantics, University of Latvia, December 17-18
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Oxford-Paris
Philosophy of Language Workshop, Institute of History and
Philosophy of Science and Technology, Paris, December 16-17
- Philosophy of Language and Linguistics Workshop II, Humanities
Institute of Ireland, University College Dublin, December 14
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Workshop on Semantics and Pragmatics, Department of Philosophy,
University of Sheffield, December 2
-
First Lisbon Workshop
on Semantics, Faculty of Letters, University
of Lisbon, October 6-7
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Sociological Theories of Language in the USSR, 1917-1938, Bakhtin
Centre, University of Sheffield, September 9-11
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Annual Colloquium,
Henry Sweet Society for the History of Linguistic Ideas, Sheffield
University, September 7-10
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State of Stylistics,
Annual Meeting 2006, PALA, University of Joensuu Finland, July 26-29
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Integrating Perspectives and
Methodologies in the Study of Language, Second Language, Culture and
Mind Conference, École Nationale Supérieure des Télécommunications (ENST),
July 17-20
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External Symbol
Grounding Workshop 2006, University of Plymouth, July 3-4
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Utterance Interpretation
and Cognitive Models: How Realistic are our Semantic and Pragmatic
Theories?, Doctoral School: Theory of Mind and Language, University of Brussels, June 23-24
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Economics and Language, Fundación Urrutia Elejalde, Universidad
Nacional de Educación a Distancia Madrid, June 15-17
-
Language in
Action: Vygotsky and the Leontievian Legacy Today, Centre for
Applied Language Studies and
Department of Languages, University of Jyvaskyla, June 8-10
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Philosophy of Language Workshop, Irish Network of Philosophers of
Language and School of Philosophy, University College Dublin, June 1
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Is There Such a
Thing as Literal Meaning?, Institute of Philosophy, School for Advanced Studies, University of
London, May 26
-
Logic and Language,
University of Birmingham, April 28-30
2005:
- Meaning and Use, LOGOS Workshop with Saul Kripke,
Dept. de Logica,
Historia i Filosofia de la Ciencia, Facultat de Filosofia, Universidad de
Barcelona, December 19-21
- Second Workshop on Vagueness, Department of Philosophy, University
of Navarra, Spain, November 14
-
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Relativizing Utterance Truth, LOGOS Research Group, Dept. de Logica,
Historia i Filosofia de la Ciencia, Facultat de Filosofia, Universitat de
Barcelona, September 5-7
-
Workshop
on Inference and Meaning, Department of Philosophy, University of
Melbourne, July 12-14
-
The Semantics / Pragmatics
Distinction, Context-05 Modeling and Using Contexts, Paris,
July 5
-
Music
and Language, Music Research Group, University of Aberdeen, June
21-22
-
Experimental Pragmatics: Exploring the Cognitive Basis of Conversation,
Faculty of English, University of Cambridge, April 14-16
2004:
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The Lens of Language: Howard
Wettstein's The Magic Prism, Department of Philosophy, University
of California, Riverside, December 1
-
Language,
Cognitive Science, and Evolutionary Psychology, New England
Institute for Cognitive Science and Evolutionary Psychology, University of
New England, October 22-23
-
The
Infinite Dialogue: Redefining the Word / Image Analogy in the 20th - 21st
Centuries, Institute of Romance Studies, University of London,
September 23-24
-
International Language and Cognition Conference,
University of New England, Australia, September 10-12
-
Prospect and
Retrospect, Annual Conference, PALA, University of New York, July
25-28
2003:
-
Recent
Work in the Philosophy of Language, Philosophy Programme, Research
School of the Social Sciences, Australian National University, July 1-2
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European
Philosophy of Language and the Analytical Tradition, Forum for European Philosophy and the Centre for Post-Analytic
Philosophy, Department of Philosophy,
University
of
Southampton,
April 6
2002:
2001:
2000:
Annual:
COURSES
Analytic Philosophy of
Language:
Linguistics:
Figurative Language:
- University of Waterloo:
Metaphor
(Harris)
JOURNALS
SOURCES: PRIMARY Off-Line:
On-Line:
SOURCES: SECONDARY
Off-Line:
On-Line:
- General:
- Analytic Philosophy of Language:
- Linguistics:
- Beaugrande, Robert de:
Linguistic Theory: the Discourse of Fundamental Works
- Clarke, D. S.:
Sign Levels Synopsis
- University of Indiana:
Anthropology and Linguistics
-
Kerstens, Johan, Eddy Ruys, and Joost Zwarts, eds.:
Lexicon of Linguistics
-
Koteyko, Nelya:
Corpus
Linguistics and the Study of Meaning in Discourse Linguistics
Journal 2 (2006)
-
Linguistic Society of America:
The Domain of
Linguistics
-
Loos, Eugene, ed.:
Glossary of Linguistic Terms
-
Lynch, Jack:
Guide to Grammar
and Style
- Minnesota State University EMuseum:
Linguistic Anthropology
-
Robinson, Douglas:
Linguistics and Language (Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory
and Criticism)
-
Wikipedia Encyclopedia:
Linguistics:
UNIVERSITY PROGRAMMES / RESEARCH CENTRES / RESEARCH
PROJECTS
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Netherlands:
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Portugal:
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UK:
USA:
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