Turkish has all of the linguistic structures mentioned in Aitchison's linguistics: phonetics, phonology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. Turkish is phonetically more straightforward than English, as each letter is associated with a distinct sound, unlike English where pronunciation depends on surrounding letters. In terms of grammar, the basic Turkish word order is subject-object-verb, and Turkish words can be agglutinative, both of which contrast with English. Phonetics and grammar have systematic rules to follow, but learning where to stress/emphasize certain words/syllables (which involves phonology, semantics and pragmatics) might be more difficult to master in comparison.
The article mentions the selective focusing of each level of linguistic organization. When beginning a new language, I think spending time on each aspect would be a helpful initial exposure to the language, tending towards starting in the center of the diagram with phonetics and working outwards towards pragmatics. However, I think as I progress in Turkish it would be beneficial to seek resources that touch many of these categories at once while also reinforcing each category on the side in additional lessons. Many resources combine these language structures, although some might emphasize some over others. Resources that involve speaking, such as audio and video, include all of the linguistic organization layers. Learning from these sources can reveal how the different levels interact with each other and better enhance my understanding of the language.
Learning about these different levels will make me more conscientious about how Turkish is structured, as well as how to organize my language learning. I like the idea of selective focusing, which I want to integrate into my independent learning plans, but I will also make sure to consult resources that touch on multiple levels simultaneously. I will also keep the linguistic organization model in mind so that I spend time learning about each level rather than focusing too much on one.
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