Language, the very foundation of society, has impacted and continues to impact everyday life in profound ways. Being the basis for communication, culture, religion and just about every other aspect of society, language is the focal point of humanity. But what really constitutes a language? How is one formed? The WCHS Linguistics Club aims to find the answers to these questions surrounding the understanding of global dialects.
The Linguistics Club, a group of WCHS students interested in the study of language, aims to gain a better comprehension of the languages of the world. For members of the club, linguistics is necessary to become well-versed in terms of understanding the human condition, and the group hopes to teach other students the value of this study.
“I have been taking Chinese for many years now, and I have been learning Polish at home, so that motivates me to pursue linguistics,” WCHS sophomore Anthony Wormack said. “You do not need to know a foreign language to join; just knowing the English language is sufficient.”
Wormack was recently elected president of the club, and as president, he seeks to make the club more appealing to the average student. Members have been educated on the basics of linguistics, with each meeting focusing on a different element. Moreover, the club has completely transformed previously cynical assumptions about the intrigue of linguistics.
“The club influenced my sense of learning and creativity. Learning about phonetics is something I would not think about,” WCHS sophomore Sky Zhang said. “The club has impacted how I now think of things I once considered mundane.”
The club engages students through informational lessons that relay a wide variety of concepts and ideas. Given that linguistics is such a vast field of study, there are an astounding number of subject areas that comprise it.
“We do not study any languages in particular, at least not yet,” Wormack said. “Mostly, we discuss the fields of linguistics such as phonetics, which studies speaking; phonology, which studies speech sounds; morphology, which studies word structures; and even pragmatics, which deals with contextual meaning.”
Due to the extensivity of Linguistics, the opportunity to learn new and fascinating things is virtually limitless. The club educates members on the parts of linguistics, and in the future, Wormack hopes to cover even more areas to offer members a more complete understanding of this study.
“Syntax and Etymology are other fields of linguistics that we have not had meetings on,” Wormack said. “Historical linguistics may even be covered, and we might attempt to make a conlang, which is about creating a language.”
Overall, the linguistics club is perfect for anyone looking to immerse themselves in a crucial subject or learn something new and riveting.
“The club is great because it educates and entertains while teaching about a key study,” Zhang said. “Not to mention, the sense of community amongst members of the club is awesome.”
