1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:00,660 Hi! 2 00:00:00,660 --> 00:00:03,220 I’m Taylor Behnke, and welcome to Crash Course Linguistics! 3 00:00:03,220 --> 00:00:04,419 Language is everywhere. 4 00:00:04,419 --> 00:00:09,820 It’s what we use to order a pizza, talk on our phones, tell jokes, and make sense of the world around us. 5 00:00:09,820 --> 00:00:16,129 We’ve used language to learn about every other subject on Crash Course, and now it’s time to learn linguistics — how language itself works! 6 00:00:16,129 --> 00:00:22,520 Over the next 16 episodes, we'll look at the structure of language from the smallest building blocks of sounds and handshapes, 7 00:00:22,520 --> 00:00:27,740 to the structure of words and meanings, to how words go together to make sentences and conversations. 8 00:00:27,740 --> 00:00:33,760 Along the way, we’ll also look at the relationship between language and our identity, the brain, and even computers. 9 00:00:33,760 --> 00:00:38,180 We’ll learn about writing, language acquisition, and the diversity of human languages. 10 00:00:38,180 --> 00:00:42,790 There are actually over 7000 identified languages in the world today! 11 00:00:42,790 --> 00:00:46,940 That includes thousands of spoken languages and hundreds of signed languages. 12 00:00:46,940 --> 00:00:50,700 They can be found in small communities or span across multiple countries. 13 00:00:50,700 --> 00:00:53,079 They can be written or unwritten. 14 00:00:53,079 --> 00:00:57,450 And they can be learned through family, formal schooling, or broader social networks. 15 00:00:57,450 --> 00:01:00,809 Each one is a living experiment into how humans communicate. 16 00:01:00,809 --> 00:01:06,799 Throughout this series we’ll be sharing examples from widely-known languages, as well as some you may not have encountered before. 17 00:01:06,799 --> 00:01:08,950 But we won't be learning one language in particular. 18 00:01:08,950 --> 00:01:12,720 Instead, we'll be looking at similarities and differences across many languages, 19 00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:17,270 learning how to think like a linguist about the languages we encounter in our everyday lives. 20 00:01:17,270 --> 00:01:22,310 We’re excited to produce a series on linguistics because it is super relevant to lots of fields, 21 00:01:22,310 --> 00:01:28,609 including speech recognition and natural language processing, speech pathology, lexicography, and communications. 22 00:01:28,609 --> 00:01:37,509 It’s also useful if you are teaching or learning languages, not to mention for journalists, poets, translators, interpreters, and other people who work with language. 23 00:01:37,509 --> 00:01:41,040 And if that sounds like basically everyone, it kind of is. 24 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:49,640 More generally, understanding linguistics helps us understand how our own minds and bodies work, and the hidden patterns in our interactions with other humans. 25 00:01:49,640 --> 00:01:50,840 It's also really fun! 26 00:01:50,840 --> 00:01:59,540 Regardless of what part of language we’re analyzing, or which language or languages are our focus, a linguist is interested in language as it’s actually used. 27 00:01:59,540 --> 00:02:05,040 Linguistics is not about trying to establish and enforce one variety of language as better than another. 28 00:02:05,040 --> 00:02:11,599 After all, if we were studying rabbits, we wouldn't go around telling some rabbits that their hopping style is better than others. 29 00:02:11,599 --> 00:02:18,489 But this increased understanding of language does come with an ethical responsibility to be kind and compassionate with it. 30 00:02:18,489 --> 00:02:21,120 Before we get into it all, let me introduce myself. 31 00:02:21,120 --> 00:02:25,420 My name is Taylor Behnke, and I’m a writer, video maker, and digital organizer. 32 00:02:25,420 --> 00:02:29,260 I studied linguistics in college, alongside writing and Spanish. 33 00:02:29,260 --> 00:02:33,920 Ever since, I’ve been fascinated by how language works, and how it shapes our identities. 34 00:02:33,930 --> 00:02:38,140 I think a lot about the power of language as a tool for communication, 35 00:02:38,140 --> 00:02:42,250 both in my work with digital communities and on my YouTube channel ItsRadishTime. 36 00:02:42,250 --> 00:02:45,640 I’m excited to keep learning about linguistics with you. 37 00:02:45,640 --> 00:02:46,760 See you in the first episode!