First post of a new era?

So, this is my first linguistics-themed post! To celebrate, I've given the blog a redecorate since obviously guys are interested in linguistics too and I don't want to put anyone off by it being overly pink!


Let's start at the very beginning - linguistics is the scientific study of language (although it is a BA/MA rather than a BSc/MSc, which I don't wholly understand!). Linguists, confusingly enough, can be either students of languages or students of linguistics although languages =/= linguistics.


I thought I'd have a regular feature on here of 'word of the week' because enhanced vocabulary is never a bad thing and etymology is so fascinating! This week's word is the adjective perspicuous, which means clearly expressed or understood, lucid, (of a person) able to give an account or express an idea clearly (Credit: Google dictionary). Its other forms are the nouns perspicuity and perspicuousness and the adverb perspicuously. I think this is a really fascinating word in terms of etymology - it's from the Latin perspicio which means to see through sth., to perceive or discern clearly (Wiktionary), which itself really relies on spicere, to look at/see. The really interesting thing about this word though, is the other variants that have grown alongside it - from this root we also get perspective, perspicacious and even perspex. From spicere we also get conspicuous, inspect, retrospect and even expect (ex + specare, frequentative of spicere [etymonline.com])


Anyway, mustn't let myself run away with etymology! Now for today's other feature, which is a brief look over some common linguistic terms and their meanings.
Semantics - the study of meaning. This is a fascinating field as it looks beyond the actual sound a word makes but the meaning it signifies.
Morphology - the study of words! Includes how they are derived and made.
IPA - you don't commonly come across this word as such, more you come across what it refers to. IPA is an acronym for International Phonetic Alphabet which is a standardised notation system for sounds in language. For example, in IPA the name Madeleine may be written as  /ˈmadəlɛn/ .
Syntax - the study of the rules of language so that you can form sentences. I've also heard it referred to in everyday speech as grammar and punctuation although I'm not sure how correct this is.
Phonetics - the study of (how humans form) sound.
Phonology - the study of how sounds have meaning
Phoneme - the smallest meaningful unit of sound in a language. For example I is a phoneme in English, being the first person. However E is just a sound.
Sociolinguistics - the study of the effect of society on language (e.g. geography, social class etc). A related field that sociologists and anthropologists study is sociology of language which is the effect of language on society.


Blogspot is getting angry that I've written so much and used bold and italics (thank you Aldus Manutius!) so I'd better leave it here for now. Three cheers for linguistics! :)

Further Musings (: - on the origins of christmas

So today, I was at home by myself when Spice (the naughty cat) comes in. I was watching Friends so I was rather absorbed but I eventually got up to tell her off for shredding the curtains. BUT, I then saw what she had in her mouth - a tiny dead wren. I felt terrible: if I had got up when she first came in, the bird might not have been dead at that point and might have survived. I had to wrestle its tiny corpse off her and dispose of it, all the while trying not to cry (and failing miserably). This is only a day after I cried my eyes out watching a YouTube video (available here, I don't want to embed it cause I'll only start crying again). Argh, teenage hormones making me all emotional!
On the plus side, the The Sixteen concert I went to was awesome :) and even better, I only have three more exams until I'm off for Xmas!
I love Christmas. I love the tree and the lights, the family and the food, the TV and the laziness, church and presents. This might surprise you if you've read my profile as it clearly states that I'm pagan, which I am. Christmas is the only time I go to church (except for a wedding or funeral of course). I believe all gods are one God so I do still believe in Jesus and the God of the church. I celebrate Yule and Saturnalia alongside Christmas - Saturnalia because my main pantheon is the Roman/Greek one and Yule (the winter solstice) because I love to feel in touch with the cycles of the earth. It's also interesting to find out where all our traditions come from - the yule log, mistletoe and the Christmas tree were all pagan symbols first and Christmas is even in December to coincide with earlier pagan festivals so that the invaded population would take Rome's new religion easier! It's funny how things change. From a pagan festival, to a christian holiday, to being outlawed under Cromwell and now today's mainly secular holiday - Christmas sure has come a long way.
...
Whilst writing this, I got up to close the blind but I slipped and fell over the end of my bed - banging my head on the wall, bruising my ribs on the foot of the bed and ramming the bedknob into my neck/shoulder. I am now in bed nursing a bag of frozen peas. Today is not my day.

I hope that you're all fine and dandy, unlike me! Until next time, folks.
- Joanna Eve

First post!

Well, woohoo! I finally got round to my first post! Not thst I actually remember making an account...
But anyway. I'm Joanna Eve and this is my blog, Musings of an Oddball.

In the news this week: Nick Clegg being a coward and therefore tuition fees rising, Russia and Qatar win World Cup bids, there is lots of snow in England and a website called Wikileaks has posted sensitive and illegal information all over the net and prompted attacks on big sites such as Paypal and Amazon.

What do I think about this? Well, I think it's cool that Russia gets the 2018 World Cup since I might be starting Russian classes next year however I don't know anything about Qatar. I know it's next to Saudi Arabia but that's all anyone seems to know! The snow is nice, but it gets annoying after a while- it doesn't have the same effect as when I was a kid! Plus, I'm not even supposed to go out in it because of surgery so that's no fun. I don't know much about the Wikileaks case, but the guy in charge has been arrested and it's got everyone angry so that's not good.
And finally, I think the tuition fees increase is a good thing. Say what?!? Yep, a good thing. This will mean that less students will go to university, which makes a degree wrth more again. It will also reduce the amount of 'mickey mouse' degrees and students who are just there for a laugh and not really to learn. I am annoyed that Nick Clegg has done a u-turn after promising no rise in fees but seriously, people need to learn that you can't trust a politician. I also am annoyed about all the riots and protests, because they make a bad name for students and the things they are doing are terrible - burning benches, attacking policemen and the royal family, desecrating monuments etc. Plus most of the people rioting won't even be affected since it doesn't start until 2012 (just in time for me...)!

I'm currently on study leave for my mock exams which means I get to come home at lunchtime and spend the rest of the day wasting time on the internet :) Student life's good! One of my cats, Spice, is beig particularly naughty and keeps bringing in baby mice! We had to hold her down and take it off her then take it back outside. Not good.

I hope everyone's well and dandy, and you can await my next blog :)
It's going to take me a while to get good at this...