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Formal Properties of Language: Talk is achieved through the interdependent components of sounds, words, sentences, and meanings. Last class we learned about:. the importance of language in human behaviour the different meanings transmitted by language cultural contexts and cultural models - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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Formal Properties of Language:
Talk is achieved through the interdependent components of sounds, words, sentences, and
meanings.
Last class we learned about:
• the importance of language in human behaviour
• the different meanings transmitted by language
• cultural contexts and cultural models
• speech community
The components of language:
• the sounds of language,
• the structure of language
• and the meanings of language
What is Language?
• Language is a communicative system consisting of formal units (of sound, structure, and meaning) that are integrated through processes of combination.
Phonology:
• the study of the distinctive, contrastive sounds (“phonemes”) of a language.
• Phonetics and phonemics
Phonetics
• it is the study of the articulation of sounds that occur in a language
• it describes how sounds are produced or articulated
• it tries to describe how human language becomes possible through the manipulation of vocal apparatus.
• Voiced/voiceless oral/nasal
Phonemics
• It analysis how sounds are used to differentiate meanings of words
• It looks at how phonemes function to differentiate the meanings of words
• contrasts signal differences in meanings of words
• For example, in English /b/: pit versus bit
Prosodic features
• Stress
• Pitch
• Length
• Present and object
• They came in. They came in?
Grammar
• Morphology
• Syntax
Morphology
• Is concerned with how phonemes are combined by language into larger units
• Words: one or more morphemes
Morphological Example
• Cow-----Cow- boy
• Affixes: bound morphemes: dis --- dis-like
Syntax
• rules that determine how words should be combined to make sense to speakers of a language
• (English) word order critical for meaning (you, are, and there) There you are, You are there, Are you there?
In Romance languages
• Order of words not as
• important
Spanish:
Ahi estas tu--Tu estas ahi
• Tu estabas ahi
• You were there
Mandarin, Chinese
• Meaning primarily determined by tone:
• Ma
• High= Mother
• Rising=horse
• Falling=scolding
Exceptions to syntax rules
Eat
Ate
eated
Morphological Analysis
• Morphology: the analysis of the structure of words
• Morphemes=words• Cat or Cat-S
• /P/ /I/ /N/ = PIN
Roots (stems) and Affixes
Roots: they have meaning in themselves cat,good, happy Affixes:Are attached to roots (express grammatical
meanings) un-, -s, -ing, -lyThree kinds of affixes: Prefixes: un-happy suffixes: happy-ness and infixes: fikas: fumikas (Strong ---He is
becoming strong)
Morphological Typologies
• Classification of languages according to how they structure words out of morphemes
• Isolating languages: few morphemes, simple method: prefix and suffix (English)
• Agglutinating languages: words containing many morphemes, highly regular rules (Turkish)
• Synthetic or polysynthetic: Words containing many morphemes, very complex rules (Inuktitut)
Qasirrsarrvigssarsingitluinarpug
“someone did not find a completely suitable resting place”
Grammatical meanings
• Tense (time of the event’s occurrence) I visited the zoo
• Aspect (manner in which an events occurs) I am visiting the zoo
• Mode (likelihood of an event’s occurrence) I could visit the zoo
Syntax
• Is an analytical tool that linguists utilize to study the structure of sentences, including construction of phrases, clauses, and the order of words
• Example
• The dog chased the cat
• The cat chased the dog
Semantics
• The study of meaning in language, including the analysis of meanings of words and sentences
• Types of meanings produced by language: situational, social and cultural
Language rules over regularalizations
• Past tense of regular verbs (english)by adding ed as in worked
• I gave I gived
• I took I taked
Linguistic interference
• Idiomatic expressions
• En este momento (literal translation) at this moment (Instead of now)
• Drive down the parkway and park on the driveway.
• Chop the tree down and cut the pieces up.
• His nose is running and his feet smell.