Lecture 5 Sound and Sign

**Housekeeping:
- Nothing was due before class today
- RQ4 is due next Monday at 11:59 am ET
- RQ5 is due next Wednesday at 11:59 am ET
- Grades are generally released one week after assignments are due**

The Mind Creates Language
- Language elements become meaningful only when processed by the human mind.
- Linguistics is a cognitive science employing standard scientific methods.
- Linguists analyze the underlying mental rules and structures of language.
Language Shapes Society
- Language influences thoughts and social connections, impacting communication and identity.
All Language is Good Language
- Linguistic discrimination based on how individuals speak or sign is often seen as unjust.
- Every natural language variety is considered equally valid from a linguistic perspective.

Doing Language Justice
- Exploration of language justice concepts
- Introduction to language as a fundamental human characteristic
Sign and Sound
- Focus on phonetics, phonology, and speech perception
Root, Word, and Phrase
- Study of morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics
Language in Action
- Capstone studies on world languages, multilingualism, signed languages, and linguistics applicable at UMich

Hierarchical Nature of Language:
- Language is structured hierarchically, from smaller units to larger constructs (SOUNDS/SIGNS → MORPHEMES/WORDS → SENTENCES → MEANING).
- Introduction to sounds/signs is common as foundational study in linguistics, paving the way for sentence structure and meaning.

Hierarchical System
- Domains of language (sounds, morphemes, sentences, meaning) are not randomly arranged but follow a structured form.

Phonetics
- Study of the physical properties of speech sounds and signed language signs
- Focus on articulation (production), and acoustic characteristics
Phonology
- Examination of how the mind organizes and interprets speech sounds
- Study of sound distribution within a language and its interaction
Speech Perception
- Analysis of how sounds are heard, interpreted, and understood

Focus Areas
- Articulatory Phonetics: Production of sounds by speakers
- Acoustic Phonetics: Acoustic characteristics of sounds
Sound Classification:
- Phones/Phonemes: Smallest units of sound
- Segmental Sounds: Discrete units like consonants and vowels
- Suprasegmental Sounds: Features such as stress, tone, and intonation that extend beyond singular sounds.
Goals of Phonetics Unit:
- Facilitate cross-linguistic comparisons of speech sounds
- Develop a universal phonetic alphabet for standardized transcription across languages

Focus Areas
- Rules governing the mapping between mental representations of sounds and their acoustic expressions
- Examination of sound interaction and changes affecting meaning
Concept of Phonemes and Allophones:
- Phoneme: The mental representation of sound (e.g., /æ/)
- Allophones: The physical realizations of that sound ([æ], [æ̃])
- Examples of Sound Change:
  - Minimal pairs illustrating changes in meaning with sound alterations (e.g., “cheat” vs. “cheap”)

Focus Areas
- Processes by which sounds are perceived and understood
- Evidence of how the mind imposes structure on linguistic input
- Observations of auditory perception, including potential mismatches between input and perception

Social Meaning of Phonetic Variation:
- Linguistic variations reflect societal factors such as ethnicity, age, and region
- Understanding sound production aids equitable education and contributes to fields like speech pathology
Style-shifting:
- Refers to variations in pronunciation as demonstrated in a Key and Peele sketch.

Attitudes Towards Language:
- Beliefs about 'correct pronunciation' and their impacts
- Recognition that all languages maintain systematicity in phonetics and phonology
- Cultural biases towards language varieties can lead to discrimination

Potential for linguistic studies to challenge stereotypes and facilitate awareness of inherent biases related to language use.