Levels of Language
Language is structured in layers, where each level builds on the ones below it.
The five levels
- Phoneme: smallest unit of sound contrast (“p” vs “b” distinguishes “pat” from “bat”)
- Morpheme: smallest unit of meaning (“cat” is one, “cats” is two: “cat” + plural)
- Syntax: rules for combining words and morphemes into sentences
- Semantics: meaning
- Pragmatics: social use of language, how context shapes meaning
Speech perception puzzle
The acoustic signal is continuous, but we perceive it as discrete units. The same phoneme sounds different depending on surrounding context, yet we hear the “same” sound.