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Why do you need this lecture?

you will learn to use (critically) concepts related to language in the widest sense

• think about “familiar” terms systematically (e.g. grammar)

• integrate new technical terms into the system (e.g. morpheme)

learn about (the variation of) English (usage)

• according to their listeners/readers

• as a medium-specific form of communication

• in its socio-cultural contexts

see and solve (English) language problems generally

• non-sexist language (e.g. singular they, their in a student should do their home-work)

• “markedness”: NOT subject/object “norm” (who said us Chemnitzer are stupid,

you and me will do it, between you and I).

practise general skills of learning

• esp. deductive (=from concept/term to examples) and

• inductive (=from examples to concept/term) and

• academic discourse

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Introduction to English Language & Linguistics

NB: The keywords in this handout cannot replace the lecture and the independent study of

these materials combined with (tutorial) handouts and the group discussions, since this

introduction can give you a sound basis for all further studies! (cf. 1.1.1 or 1.1.2 below)

References/Recommended Reading: Korte, Barbara/Klaus Peter Müller/Josef Schmied (2004). Einführung in die Anglistik. Stuttgart: Metzler.

Kortmann, Bern (2005). English Linguistics: Essentials. Berlin: Cornelsen.

Becker, Annette/Markus Bieswanger (32010). Introduction to English Linguistics. Tübingen:

A. Francke.

Rasinger, Sebastian M. (22014). Quantitative Research in Linguistics: An Introduction.

London: Continuum.

NB: You are allowed to use Wikipedia as a starting point for concept discussions, but not

as an end point (or only reference), because you can only decide whether Wikipedia offers

a suitable entry when you have compared it with further information (often found in the

references at the end) and are convinced that this is a scholarly sound contribution.

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Reading

1 Basic thoughts on language, linguistics, culture, English

grammar = linguistics from school

linguistics = thinking about language

relationships: language, communication, culture, etc.

Englishes: a “wild world” of ENL,ESL,EIL, EAP, …

2 Phonetics & phonology

3 Morphology & word formation

4 Syntax and grammar

5 Semantics, pragmatics and lexicology

6 Systems, relationships and thinking

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1. Introduction survey

1.1 Concepts and categories of traditional grammar

from Aristotle (384–322 BC) to Quirk (1920-)

1.1.1 Classification parts of speech (POS = word classes) In grammar, a part of speech (also a word class, a lexical class, or a lexical category) is a linguistic category of words (or more precisely lexical items), which is generally defined by the syntactic or morphological behaviour of the lexical item in question. Common linguistic categories include noun and verb, among others. There are open word classes, which constantly acquire new members, and closed word classes, which acquire new members infrequently if at all. …

Linguists recognize that the above list of eight word classes is drastically simplified and artificial.[7] For example, "adverb" is to some extent a catch-all class that includes words with many different functions. Some have even argued that the most basic of category distinctions, that of nouns and verbs, is unfounded,[8] or not applicable to certain languages.[9]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Part_of_speech (18/10/13) word classes are the basis of all traditional grammars (usually chapters)

distinction open/major – closed/minor: - productivity: high/low

- diachronic change: fast/slow

- semantic: +/- lexical

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Grammar = linguistics from school

A. VERBS = “action”? TAM modification? clause head (only 1)?

B. NOUNS = “things”? (vs. abstracts)

C. ADJECTIVES = attributive/predicative? gradable? +elative (very)?

D. ADVERBS = FUNCTION “ad-adjective/-clause”? FORM –ly? (see below!!)

E. PREPOSITIONS = introduce NP? (dependency?)

F. CONJUNCT(IONS) = connect CLAUSEs/NPs?

G. PRONOUNS = personal pronoun, possessive pronoun is adjective (if attributive), but:“pro”-clause so?

DETERMINER (his functions like the, pre-nominal)?

H. AUX / NUM / ART = own class OR subcategory of category VERB/ADJ./ ?

(INTERJECTIONS) = discourse markers + emotion (like surprise, annoyance)?

NB: interjections are culture-specific!

Conventions like Hi, Bye and Goodbye are interjections, as are exclamations like Cheers! and Hooray!. …

Expressions such as "Excuse me!", "Sorry!", "No thank you!", "Oh dear!", "Hey that's mine!", and similar ones often serve as interjections. Interjections can be phrases or even sentences, as well as words, such as "Oh!" "Pooh!" "Wow!" or "sup!".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interjection (18/10/13)

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Traditional English word classes: survey in keywords

Noun = any abstract or concrete entity; a person (police officer, Michael), place (coastline, London), thing (necktie, television), idea (happiness), or quality (bravery)

Pronoun = any substitute for a noun or noun phrase

Adjective = any qualifier of a noun

Verb = any action (walk), occurrence (happen), or state of being (be)

Adverb = any qualifier of an adjective, verb, clause, sentence, or other adverb

Preposition = any establisher of relation and syntactic context

Conjunction = any syntactic connector

Interjection = any emotional greeting (or "exclamation")

Open word classes: adjectives, adverbs, nouns, verbs (except auxiliary verbs), interjections Closed word classes: auxiliary verbs, clitics, coverbs conjunctions determiners (articles, quantifiers, demonstrative adjectives, and possessive adjectives) particles measure words adpositions (prepositions, postpositions, and circumpositions) preverbs pronouns contractions cardinal numbers

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Part_of_speech (18/10/13)

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word classes: traditional modern

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Adverbs are words that modify

• a verb (He drove slowly. — How did he drive?)

• an adjective (He drove a very fast car. — How fast was his car?)

• another adverb (She moved quite slowly down the aisle. — How slowly did she move?) …

And Infinitive phrases can act as adverbs (usually telling why):

She hurried to the mainland to see her brother. The senator ran to catch the bus. …

Adverbs frequently end in -ly; however, many words and phrases not ending in -ly serve an adverbial function and an -ly ending is not a guarantee that a word is an adverb. The words lovely, lonely, motherly, friendly, neighborly, for instance, are adjectives:

That lovely woman lives in a friendly neighborhood. …

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/adverbs.htm (19/10/13)

An adverb is a word that changes or qualifies the meaning of a verb, adjective, other adverb, clause, sentence or any other word or phrase, except that it does not include the adjectives and determiners that directly modify nouns. Adverbs are traditionally regarded as one of the parts of speech, although the wide variety of the functions performed by words classed as adverbs means that it is hard to treat them as a single uniform category. …

Adverbs are considered a part of speech in traditional English grammar and are still included as a part of speech in grammar taught in schools and used in dictionaries. However, modern grammarians recognize that words traditionally grouped together as adverbs serve a number of different functions. Some would go so far as to call adverbs a "catch-all" category that includes all words that do not belong to one of the other parts of speech.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adverbs (19/10/13)

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classification problem: adverb as form? – function?

GENDER (# SEX) = “inexplicable noun class system” in German?

depends on sex? Male = masculine (child)?

(except country/ship = feminine)

N CASE = indicates NP relationships in a clause:

form (morphology, mother’s; cf. 3.2.1) –

function (case grammar cf. 4.5.3)

NUMBER = 1 (=singular) or MORE (=plural)

(except either/both = dual)

PERSON = 1st=+speaker, 2nd=+hearer, 3rd=-speaker/-hearer

V TENSE (# TIME) = relationship action time - speaker time/ ?

MOOD = indicative (unmarked) - subjunctive/imperative (God save the Queen)

OR: modality: likelihood? (it may/must be him)

+ necessity/possibility/etc. (you must/may do it)

VOICE = active/passive = +/-agent; result emphasis (=GENUS VERBI)

ASPECT (in E) = progressive, imperfective, etc. (cf. 5.1.6 below)

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1.1.2 Establishing patterns/paradigms N: declension

(secondary categories) V: conjugation

A system of grammatical gender, whereby every noun was treated as either masculine, feminine or neuter, existed in Old English, but fell out of use during the Middle English period. Modern English retains features relating to natural gender, namely the use of certain nouns and pronouns (such as he and she) to refer specifically to persons or animals of one or other sex, and certain others (such as it) for sexless objects – although feminine pronouns may optionally be used when referring to ships (and analogous machinery) and nation states.

Some aspects of gender usage in English have been influenced by the movement towards a preference for gender-neutral language. This applies in particular to avoidance of the default use of the masculine he when referring to a person of unspecified sex, and avoidance of the use of certain feminine forms of nouns (such as authoress and poetess). …

Gender is no longer an inflectional category in Modern English.[7] The only traces of the Old English gender system are found in the system of pronoun–antecedent agreement, although this is now generally based on natural gender[8] – the sex, or perceived sexual characteristics (or asexual nature), of the pronoun's referent. Another manifestation of natural gender that continues to function in English is the use of certain nouns to refer specifically to persons or animals of a particular sex: widow/widower, actress, cow/bull, etc.

Benjamin Whorf described grammatical gender in English as a covert grammatical category.[9] He noted that gender as a property inherent in nouns (rather than in their referents) is not entirely absent from modern English: different pronouns may be appropriate for the same referent depending on what noun has been used. For example, one might say this child is eating its dinner, but my daughter is eating her (not its) dinner, even though child and daughter in the respective sentences might refer to the same person.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_in_English (18/10/13)

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category problem: “gender”

Personal pronouns are pronouns that are associated primarily with a particular grammatical person – first person (as I), second person (as you), or third person (as he, she, it). Personal pronouns may also take different forms depending on number (usually singular or plural), grammatical or natural gender, case, and formality.. …

Some languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns – those that do and do not include their audience. For example, Tok Pisin has seven first-person pronouns according to number (singular, dual, trial, plural) and clusivity, such as mitripela ("they two and I") and yumitripela ("you two and I"). …

For instance, in formal situations, adults usually refer to themselves as watashi or the even more polite watakushi, while young men may use the student-like boku and police officers may use honkan ("this officer"). In informal situations, women may use the colloquial atashi, and men may use the rougher ore.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_pronouns (17/10/13)

Standard English has systematic problems with personal pronouns: • no distinction 2nd person singular and plural (yous, you’all are AmE, you guys is spreading)

• no polite forms (German/French originally plural: tu/Du – Sie/vous), since E plural sing.!

• 3rd person singular is not gender-neutral (singular they??) – but Japanese is “worse”!

• 1st person plural we is inclusive or exclusive (communication problems?)

• English (like German) is a non PRO-drop (null-subject) language (Italian, Spanish are!)

• English has many archaic (thou) and non-standard forms (hisself, theirself)

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Problems in the (English) system e.g. personal pronouns

ADVERBIAL Tomorrow To everyone‘s surprise

SUBJ Mrs Thatcher she

VERB/PREDICATE will introduce was elected

OBJ direct/ her cabinet indirect to the Queen

COMPLEMENT

subject/ Prime Minister

object

reference identity

the same words can have different functions in different sentences

e.g. active objects become passive subjects:

The student read the book The book was read by the student

exercises: Classify each sentence element according to form (POS) and function!

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1.1.3 Functions (= clause elements) in a particular sentence

1.2.1 History of linguistics (schools)

• traditional grammar

• neogrammarians

• structuralism

• generative-transformational grammar

• cognitive grammar

• construction grammar

1.2.2 Linguistic subdisciplines (cf. the “football model”)

• microlinguistics: phonology, morphology, lexicology, semantics, syntax

text-linguistics - discourse analysis

• macrolinguistics: pragmatics, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, etc.

• applied linguistics: lexicography, translation studies, error analysis, SLA, corpus-linguistics;

computational linguistics?

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1.2 Linguistics = “thinking about language”,

= the scientific study of language

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The „football model“

of linguistic

subdisciplines

lexicology/ psycho-

lexiography semantics grammar/ linguistics

syntax

first/second

translation pragmatics discourse analysis/ language

studies text-linguistics acquisition

historical linguistics corpus

linguistics

dialectology

English

world-wide

phonology

sociolinguistics

language & culture: intercultural communication

contrastive linguistics

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linguistics = the scientific study

of language

object

methods (empirical, qual./quant)

types (theoretical - applied)

approaches (syn-/diachronic)

subdisciplines (1.2.2)

history (1.2.1)

definitions (1.3)

properties/

design features (1.3.3) purpose

(communication)

medium (oral – written)

varieties (1.5)

types (1.3.5)

1.3.1 Definitions of language “Language is a purely human and non-instinctive method of communicating ideas,

emotions and desires by means of voluntarily produced symbols” (Sapir 1921)

“I will consider a language to be a set (finite or infinite) of sentences, each finite in

length and constructed out of a finite set of elements” (Chomsky 1957)

language and the linguistic symbol/semiotic triangle

(de Saussure > Pierce):

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1.3 Language

thought (reference)

referent/reality symbol

communication = the passing on or exchange of information – distinguishes what is living from what is non-living in nature (O'Grady et al. 1996)

human language is different from animal communication because of special features:

1.3.3 The design features of human language (cf. Hockett, Charles F. 1968)

1. interchangeability: all members of the species can send and receive messages

2. feedback: users of the system are aware of what they are transmitting

3. specialisation: the communicative system serves no other function but to communicate

4. semanticity: the system conveys meaning through a set of fixed relationships among signifiers, referents and meaning

5. arbitrariness: there is no natural or inherent connection between a token and its referent

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1.3.2 Communication vs. language

6. discreteness: the communication system consists of isolatable, repeatable units

7. displacement: users of the system are able to refer to events remote in space and time

8. productivity: new messages on any topic can be produced at any time

9. tradition, cultural transmission: certain aspects of the system must be trans- mitted from an experienced user to a learner

10. duality of patterning: meaningless units (phonemes) are combined to form arbitrary signs; signs can be recombined to form new

larger meaningful units (s-p-o-t tops, pots)

11. prevarication: the system enables users to talk nonsense or to lie

12. learnability: the user of the system can learn other variants; humans can

learn different languages, bees are limited to their genetically

specified dialect

13. reflexiveness: the ability to use the communication system to discuss the system itself

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The design features of human language II (cf. Hocket)

channel: the messages are primarily transmitted via the vocal-

auditory channel

linearity: the message is extended temporally (speech) and locally as

a string

(writing) and is produced and analysed as a sequence

redundancy: the same information is given several times

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1.3.4 An ideal model of communication

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relation between words is expressed

• in different words = analytic/isolating (Chinese)

• in merged/fused affixes = synthetic/inflecting (Latin)

• in unchanging affixes = agglutinative (Turkish)

others, like polysynthetic (Inuit, Nutka)

English

• combines synthetic and analytic features

e.g. Anglo-Saxon –s genitive (used for humans, etc.) is synthetic,

modern of genitive (used for inanimates) is analytic

• as moved from synthetic to analytic, further than German (diachronic shift)

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1.3.5 Types of languages

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Types of languages: principles and examples

a n a l y t i c s y n t h e t i c

isolating inflecting agglutinative

name Greek ‘dissolve’ Latin ‘put together’ Latin ‘glue together’

language example classical Chinese,

Vietnamese

Latin, Greek,

Sanscrit, Russian

Turkish, Hungarian,

Japanese, Kiswahili

expressing relation

between words in

different words merged affixes unchanging affixes

form example

mit dem Schwert gladio ni/na

sie haben geliebt amaverunt a/li piga

to the man dem Mann(e) Wa/ta

language < communication (see semiotics in 5.6)

language < thinking/cognition (see cognitive linguistics in 4.5.4)

Philology is the academic study of language, literature and culture (see The philological triangle): Is the text the basis of all philology?

„Anglistik (Englische Philologie) ist die Wissenschaft, die sich mit der englischen Sprache und Literatur beschäftigt. In der Anglistik werden alle auf englisch verfassten oder gesprochenen Texte und alle englischsprachigen Kulturen erforscht.“ (Wikipedia s.v. 11/04/06)

“Philology is the study of ancient texts and languages. The term originally meant a love (Greek philo-) of learning and literature (Greek -logia). In the academic traditions of several nations, a wide sense of the term "philology" describes the study of a language together with its literature and the historical and cultural contexts which are indispensable for an understanding of the literary works and other culturally significant texts. Philology thus comprises the study of the grammar, rhetoric, history, interpretation of authors, and critical traditions associated with a given language.” (Wikipedia s.v. 11/04/06)

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1.4 Relationships The philological triangle

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language

language

creates

is the core of

culture

culture

literature

literature

Sapos yu kisim bagarap kisim namba bilong narapela draiva,

sapos yu ken, kisim naim bilong em na adres tu, na tokim polis long en.

Noken paitim em o tok nogut long em.

If you have an accident, get the other driver’s number,

if possible his name and address and report it to the police.

Do not fight him, or abuse him.

(Crystal, David The English Language. London: Penguin.1988: 13)

buk bilong yu

your book

Bimeby hed bilongyu i-arrait gain

by and by head belong you he-alright again

= your head will soon get well again

Mi driman long kilim wanpela snek

I dreamed that I killed a snake

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1.5 Varieties of English world-wide

1.5.1 Tok Pisin as an extreme example (beyond the line?)

ENL = English as a native language

ESL = English as a second language

EIL = English as an international language

ELF = English as a lingua franca (plural: lingue franche)

esp. of international science and technology

ESP = English for specific purposes

EAP = English for academic purposes

pidgin languages develop rudimentary grammar in superficial

contact situations (e.g. Tok Pisin in PNG)

creole languages develop from pidgins when they expand in

form, parallel to the expansion of functions as

a first language (e.g. Krio in Sierra Leone)

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1.5.2 Typology of Englishes

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Standard English (often shortened to S.E. within linguistic circles) refers to whatever form of the English language is accepted as a national norm in an Anglophone country.[1] It encompasses grammar, vocabulary, and spelling. In the British Isles, particularly in England and Wales, it is often associated with: the "Received Pronunciation" accent (there are several variants of the accent) and UKSE (United Kingdom Standard English), which refers to grammar and vocabulary. In Scotland the standard is Scottish Standard English. In the United States it is generally associated with the General American accent and in Australia with General Australian.[2] Unlike the case of other standard languages, however, there's no official or central regulating body defining Standard English.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_English (18/10/13)

definition “non-Standard” English? (=“broken English”?) (1) Any dialect of English other than Standard English.

(2) A term used disapprovingly by some non-linguists to describe "bad" or "incorrect" English.

The Stigma of Nonstandard English "We should not be so naive . . . as to begin thinking that nonstandard English will ever shed its stigma. Many who argue against teaching Standard conventions seem to believe it will. The reality is that failure to teach the conventions of Standard and formal Standard English in our classes is unlikely to have any effect on society's attitudes toward speakers of nonstandard English, but it will most certainly have an effect on our students' lives. Their horizons will be limited, and many at the bottom of the socioeconomic scale will remain ghettoized. On this basis alone, I would argue that we must push students to reach their full potential, especially with regard to language. Our society is growing ever more competitive, not less, and Standard English, because it is inclusive rather than limiting, is a basic requirement for social and economic opportunities." (James D. Williams, The Teacher's Grammar Book, 2nd ed. Routledge, 2005)

http://grammar.about.com/od/mo/g/nonstandterm.htm (18/10/13)

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1.5.3 Standard and Nonstandard English

Nonstandard Usage in Huckleberry Finn "I see Jim before me, all the time; in the day, and in the night-time, sometimes moonlight, sometimes storms, and we a floating along, talking, and singing, and laughing. But somehow I couldn't seem to strike no places to harden me against him, but only the other kind. I'd see him standing my watch on top of his'n, 'stead of calling me, so I could go on sleeping; and see him how glad he was when I come back out of the fog; and when I come to him agin in the swamp, up there where the feud was; and suchlike times; and would always call me honey, and pet me, and do everything he could think of for me, and how good he always was. And at last I struck the time I saved him by telling the men we had smallpox aboard, and he was so grateful, and said I was the best friend old Jim ever had in the world, and the only one he's got now; and then I happened to look around, and see that paper. "It was a close place. I took it up, and held it in my hand. I was a trembling, because I'd got to decide, forever, betwixt two things, and I knowed it. I studied a minute, sort of holding my breath, and then says to myself: "'All right, then, I'll go to hell'--and tore it up." (Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, 1884)

"The kinds of errors that Huck makes [in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn] are by no means haphazard; Twain carefully placed them to suggest Huck's basic illiteracy but not to overwhelm the reader. Nonstandard verb forms constitute Huck's most typical mistakes. He often uses the present form or past participle for the simple past tense, for example, see or seen for saw; his verbs frequently do not agree with their subjects in number and person; and he often shifts tense within the same sequence."

(Janet Holmgren McKay, "'An Art So High': Style in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." New Essays on Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, ed. by Louis J. Budd. Cambridge Univ. Press, 1985)

http://grammar.about.com/od/mo/g/nonstandterm.htm (18/10/13)

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Non-Standard English in Literature

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Standard or non-standard?

1) I seen him at the Union this morning.

2) Either he put on weight or his clothes shrinked.

3) Let‘s not get excited now.

4) He wants that we should help him.

5) I‘ll learn you not to be late.

6) She did the job good.

7) It don‘t matter at all.

e.g. Northern English, Scots

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scots_language (16/10/13)

“Although a number of paradigms for distinguishing between languages and dialects do

exist, these often render contradictory results. Focused broad Scots is at one end of a bipolar linguistic continuum, with Scottish Standard English at the other.[8] Consequently,

Scots is generally regarded as one of the ancient varieties of English, yet it has its own

distinct dialects.[7] Alternatively, Scots is sometimes treated as a distinct Germanic

language, in the way Norwegian is closely linked to, yet distinct from, Danish.[7]”

Stylistics is the study and interpretation of texts in regards to their linguistic and tonal style. As a discipline, it links literary criticism to linguistics. It does not function as an autonomous domain on its own, but it can be applied to an understanding of literature, journalism as well as linguistics.[1][2] Sources of study in stylistics may range from canonical works of writing to popular texts, and from advertising copy to news, non-fiction, popular culture, as well as to political and religious discourse.[3

Stylistics as a conceptual discipline may attempt to establish principles capable of explaining particular choices made by individuals and social groups in their use of language, such as in the literary production and reception of genre, the study of folk art, in the study of spoken dialects and registers, and can be applied to areas such as discourse analysis as well as literary criticism.

Common features of style include the use of dialogue, including regional accents and individual dialects (or ideolects), the use of grammar, such as the observation of active voice and passive voice, the distribution of sentence lengths, the use of particular language registers, and so on. In addition, stylistics is a distinctive term that may be used to determine the connections between the form and effects within a particular variety of language. Therefore, stylistics looks at what is 'going on' within the language; what the linguistic associations are that the style of language reveals.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stylistics_%28linguistics%29 (18/10/13)

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1.5.4 Stylistic Variation

1) I‘m lucky to have found my watch, (ain’t I / am I not / aren’t I)?

2) Everybody has (his / his or her / their) work done.

3) We (can / can’t) hardly see in this fog.

4) The weather looks (kind of / rather) uncertain today.

5) (Who / Whom) did you meet downtown?

6) She is taller than (I / me).

style is very ambiguous:

socio-stylistic variation

general style guides academic style manuals (APA, MLA) copy-editing

Markedness, a term which originated in linguistics, is the state of standing out as unusual or

difficult in comparison to a more common or regular form. In a marked/unmarked relation,

one term of an opposition is the broader, dominant one. The dominant default or minimum

effort form is known as the 'unmarked' term and the other, secondary one is the 'marked' term. In other words, it is the characterization of a "normal" linguistic unit (i.e. the

unmarked term) compared to the unit's possible "irregular" forms (i.e. the marked term).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markedness (18/10/13)

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which variant is marked? what does (marked?) style tell us?

academic:

• English has a more elaborate spectrum of world-wide functions, esp. as

an additional language (EIL, ESP/EAP)

• English is more widely spoken than other languages

• English is the language of modern ww communication technology

• English is related to German, but has undergone more (radical) changes

in grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, etc.

• English linguistics has more and better literature than other languages

practical (post-academic):

• English has more job offers in “language services”, teaching, translation

(simultaneous interpretation), web publishing, information retrieval, etc.

• English skills (advanced and aware) are relevant in all jobs in an inter- national intercultural context

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1.6 Why English – „all languages are created equal“ but …

English is more equal than others

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2.1 Phonetics 2.1.1 Introduction to phonetics Phonetics = the study of the speech sounds that occur in all human languages to represent meanings (Fromkin/Rodman 1993:176)

types of phonetics:

1. articulatory phonetics: study of the way speech sounds are made (articulated) by the vocal organs

2. acoustic phonetics: study of the physical properties of the speech sounds (like physics)

3. auditory phonetics: study of the perceptual response to speech sounds through the ear, auditory nerve, brain

The International Phonetic Association / Alphabet

http://www2.arts.gla.ac.uk/IPA/ipachart.html updated with fonts

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2. Phonetics and Phonology

Phonetics (pronounced /fəˈnɛtɪks/, from the Greek: φωνή, phōnē, 'sound, voice') is a

branch of linguistics that comprises the study of the sounds of human speech, or—in the

case of sign languages—the equivalent aspects of sign.[1] It is concerned with the physical

properties of speech sounds or signs (phones): their physiological production, acoustic

properties, auditory perception, and neurophysiological status. Phonology, on the other hand, is concerned with the abstract, grammatical characterization of systems of sounds or

signs. …

In contrast to phonetics, phonology is the study of how sounds and gestures pattern in and

across languages, relating such concerns with other levels and aspects of language.

Phonetics deals with the articulatory and acoustic properties of speech sounds, how they

are produced, and how they are perceived. As part of this investigation, phoneticians may

concern themselves with the physical properties of meaningful sound contrasts or the social meaning encoded in the speech signal (socio-phonetics) (e.g. gender, sexuality, ethnicity,

etc.). However, a substantial portion of research in phonetics is not concerned with the

meaningful elements in the speech signal.

While it is widely agreed that phonology is grounded in phonetics, phonology is a distinct

branch of linguistics, concerned with sounds and gestures as abstract units (e.g., distinctive

features, phonemes, mora, syllables, etc.) and their conditioned variation (via, e.g., allophonic rules, constraints, or derivational rules).[5] Phonology relates to phonetics via the

set of distinctive features, which map the abstract representations of speech units to

articulatory gestures, acoustic signals, and/or perceptual representations.[6][7][8]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonetics (18/10713)

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definitions: phonetics - phonology

vocal tract is the area above the larynx

parts of the oral tract forming the sound= articulators

front to back (numbers on Fig. below): - lips (1+8) - teeth (2)

- alveolar ridge (3)

- hard palate (4)

- soft palate (5) (velum)

velum = a flap that can shut off the nasal tract

at the end of velum is the uvula

between uvula (6) and larynx (7) is the pharynx (14)

the tongue can be separated into: tip (9), blade (10), front (11), center (12), back (13)

33

2.1.2 Vocal organs and articulations

34

Fig. The human speech organs

vocal cords can vibrate under pressure of airstream

vibrating cords = voiced (all vowels + voiced consonants)

non-vibrating cords = voiceless (voiceless consonants)

vowels vs. consonants:

vowels: little obstruction of airstream, generally voiced

= continuous “Selbstlaut”

consonants: voiceless or voiced, obstructed airstream

consonants are classified according to place and manner of obstruction

gradients! semi-vowels <w>, <j>, liquids <l>, <r> (syllabic)

35

Articulation of consonants and vowels

1. labial/bilabial (upper and lower lips) <pie>, <buy>, <my>

2. labiodental (lower lip + upper front teeth) <fire>, <vicious>

3. dental (tongue tip + upper front teeth) <thigh>, <thy>

4. alveolar (tongue tip/blade + alveolar ridge) <tie>, <die>, <lie>

5. retroflex (tongue tip + back of alveolar ridge) <row> and <hour> !not used by all speakers of English!

6. palato-alveolar (tongue blade + back of alveolar ridge) <shy>, <show>

7. palatal (tongue front + hard palate) <Hugh>, <hue>

8. velar (tongue back + soft palate) <hack>, <hag>, <hang>

9. glottal (vocal cords) <heave>, <hug>

not used in English: - uvular (French <r>)

- pharyngeal (Arabic) - clicks (Zulu)

36

2.1.3 Consonant articulation I: place

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articulators can close the oral tract completely or partially

1. stop (closure, airstream cannot escape)

• nasal stop: air stopped in mouth but can escape through nasal tract: <my>, <night>, <song>

• oral stop: raised velum closes nasal tract

Pressure builds, airstream is released in bursts: <pie>, <cool>, <guy>, <tool>

2. fricative (close approximation of two articulators) airstream

is partially obstructed turbulent airflow

hissing sounds: <shy>, <those>, <friend>

• higher-pitched: sibilants

• lower-pitched: non-sibilants

37

Consonant articulation II: manner

3. approximant: narrowing of articulators until turbulent airstream occurs, but not close

enough for a fricative

<we>, <Howard>

4. lateral: obstruction along center of oral tract without complete closure

<lip>

5. affricates: some sounds are combinations of other simpler sounds, cf.

<church>

= stop + fricative

38

Consonant articulation III: manner, special cases

articulators are open, airstream unobstructed

<heed, hid, head, had, father, good, food>

dome of tongue is raised

<heed, hid, head, had>

highest point of tongue is front of mouth front vowels

high front vowels <heed> and low front vowels <had>

mouth is increasingly open

tongue close to back of vocal tract back vowels

high back vowels <food> and low back vowels <father>

39

2.1.4 Articulation of vowels I

Articulation of vowels II

lip position: close together in mid and high back vowels <good, food>

lip rounding: rounded vs. unrounded vowels

three factors for vowels

1. height of the body of the tongue

2. front-back position of tongue

3. degree of lip rounding

40

Articulation of vowels II

relative position of the

highest point of the tongue

high

mid

low

front central

heed

hid

head

had father

good

food

back

41

http://www.soundcomparisons.com/ (04/11/12) day by Paul Heggarty

42

http://www.soundcomparisons.com/ (04/11/12) RP by Paul Heggarty)

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8

43

2.1.5 Variation of vowels (Wells’ standard lexical sets for English)

differences between Brit.E/RP and Gen. American

Wells classifies words of the English language into 24 lexical sets on the basis of the pronunciation of the vowel of their stressed syllable in the two reference accents. Each lexical set is named after a representative keyword. Wells, John C. (1982). Accents of English I: An Introduction. Cambridge: C.U.P. “[t]he keywords have been chosen in such a way that clarity is maximized: whatever accent of English they are spoken in, they can hardly be mistaken for other words. Although fleece is not the commonest of words, it cannot be mistaken for a word with some other vowel; whereas beat, say, if we had chosen it instead, would have been subject to the drawback that one man's pronunciation of beat may sound like another's pronunciation of bait or bit.” (ibid: 123)

= a glide from one vowel position to another

(less extreme than monophthongs)

in English all diphthongs are centring or closing (cf. RP Fig. below from Roach 2004:242)

triphthongs (centring)

are unstable and tend to be reduced to monophthongs:

shire, shower > [ʃa:] homophones! (also: Shah)

44

2.1.6 Articulation of diphthongs/triphthongs

2.2.1 Introduction

speech sounds to be analysed after:

physical properties (form) phonetics

sound differences / similarities (function) phonology

• sounds form segments; speakers know which segments

contrast, i.e. are in opposition or distinctive

• sip vs. zip; hit vs. hot minimal pairs

= 2 forms with distinct meanings that differ only by one segment

45

2.2 Phonology

phonetics phonology

sounds of language functioning of sounds as part of a system

parole, speech act langue, language system

universal language specific

concrete abstract

phone [ ] phoneme / /

established on the basis of sound, not spelling

only one segment can differ, NOT soldier vs. shoulder

contrasts are language-specific, i.e. sounds that are

distinctive in one language may not be distinctive in another

wide vs. narrow transcription for leaf-feel

[l] difference is never to differentiate meanings (cf. 2.2.3 below)

difference is phonetic, not phonemic:

unit of description: phoneme /l/

phoneme: smallest unit with potentially distinctive function

variants: allophones, cf. German /x/: ich vs. Buch

46

2.2.2 Levels of description: from minimal pairs to phonemes

complementary distribution: phonetic units that never occur in the same environment

= allophones if phonetic similarity

[l] only in front of vowels clear

[ɫ] in front of consonants and word endings: dark

free variation: <economics> [e-] – [I-]?

phonetic difference realised by speakers for the same word

neutralization: foreigners can have difficulty in phonological

difference, cf. German Auslautverhärtung: <Rad> vs. <Rat>

47

2.2.3 Principles in phonology

spelling systems generally ignore phonetic variation that is non-distinctive,

evidence that speakers have a mental notion of what phonemes are

phonologically relevant differences are never left out in spelling:

cf. /r/ and /l/ in rift vs. lift

linking (liaison): BrE (is non-rhotic, but SW England, Shakespeare!) avoids two distinct vowel phonemes clashing

insertion of liquid /r/ or glide /j/ or /w/

near – nearing near Africa

see – seeing to see Arthur

sue – suing to sue Arthur

intrusive /r/ in law and order (r is not there in spelling)

phoneme relationships: /-et/ /p-t/ /pe-/

/p/ /e/ /t/

/b/ /i/ /n/

/l/ /o/ /k/

= matrix of real and potential words

language can contain irregular words: as loan words, foreign words

48

2.2.4 Phoneme relationships

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/k/ /g/ /ŋ/ /p/ /b/ /m/ /t/ /d/ /n/

bilabial - - - + + + - - -

velar + + + - - - - - -

dental - - - - - - + + +

voicing - + + - + + - + +

nasal - - + - - + - - +

sub-phonemic analysis

basis: distinctivity of the 9 phonemes

“rule”: phonemes of one language can only be defined in contrast to other phonemes of the same language (Hockett)

49

2.2.5 Distinctive features of English stops

2.3.1 Levels of description: syllable

syllable (σ) = composed of a nucleus (usually a vowel) and its associated non-syllabic elements

nucleus (N): syllable's obligatory member, forms core

coda (C): consists of those elements following the nucleus in the same syllable

rhyme (R): nucleus + coda

onset (O): elements preceding the rhyme

reason: speakers syllabify after underlying rules

closed vs. open syllable: syllable with coda vs. syllable without coda

50

2.3 Suprasegmental phonology

1) identify nucleus: obligatory, each vowel makes a syllabic nucleus

2) longest sequence of consonants to the left that does not violate phonotactic rules: onset

3) remaining consonants to the right: coda

NB: English often has a coda = closed syllable, many African/Asian languages do not!

thus learners tend towards adding a final vowel like [buku]

51

Syllabification of words

extreme: word

σ σ

R R O

N C C N

e k str i: m

how segments are formed is part of speaker's knowledge of his/her language

similar to German:

word-initial consonant clusters /str-/, /spr-/, /sl-/, /sm-/, */sfr-/

(difficult for other foreigners)

but also differences from German, because

• sound changes (knight, write)

• foreign words are accepted or adjusted (psychology)

52

2.3.2 Phonotactics

= a set of constraints on sound combinations

word stress: BrE /ˈse.kre.trɪ/ - AmE /ˈse.kreˌtærɪ/

rhythm: isochrony / English is stress-timed

= same time span between stressed syllables

contrast syllable-timed = same between all syllables (French, African languages)

weak forms in unstressed position: auxiliaries, prepositions/conjuncts, pronouns/determiners

features of connected speech:

• function words: he’s vs. he is; he’ll vs. he will

• assimilation = adjacent sounds are altered in context to make them more similar, i.e. easier to pronounce

types: partial /tem baɪks/ – total /tem maɪs/

regressive /speɪʃɪp/ – progressive (rare!) – coalescent /wudƷu:/

53

2.3.3 Introduction to prosody

54

assimilation

regressive progressive reciprocal

total partial total partial total partial

tem'mais tem'baiks Kiʃu: wudƷu:

Classification of assimilation in English

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variation and control of pitch has 3 functions:

grammatical = to distinguish declarative (falling) from interrogative clauses (rising in yes/no questions)

pragmatic = to manage information, emphasizing NEW vs. old information

attitudinal = to signal emotions (surprise/enthusiasm=rise-fall, uncertainty /

doubt=fall-rise, boredom/irony/ sarcasm=level tone)

cf. great

English is not a tone language like Chinese (ma may mean mother or horse)

55

2.3.4 Intonation

In linguistics, intonation is variation of spoken pitch that is not used to distinguish words; instead it is used for a range of functions such as indicating the attitudes and emotions of the speaker, signalling the difference between statements and questions, and between different types of question, focusing attention on important elements of the spoken message and also helping to regulate conversational interaction. It contrasts with tone, in which pitch variation in some languages does distinguish words, either lexically or grammatically. (The term tone is used by some British writers in their descriptions of intonation, but this is to refer to the pitch movement found on the nucleus or tonic syllable in an intonation unit – see Intonation in English: British Analyses of English Intonation, below).

Although intonation is primarily a matter of pitch variation, it is important to be aware that functions attributed to intonation such as the expression of attitudes and emotions, or highlighting aspects of grammatical structure, almost always involve concomitant variation in other prosodic features.

Most transcription conventions have been devised for describing one particular accent or language, and the specific conventions therefore need to be explained in the context of what is being described. However, for general purposes the International Phonetic Alphabet offers the two intonation marks shown in the box at the head of this article. Global rising and falling intonation are marked with a diagonal arrow rising left-to-right [↗] and falling left-to-right [↘], respectively. These may be written as part of a syllable, or separated with a space when they have a broader scope:

He found it on the street? [ hiː ˈfaʊnd ɪt | ɒn ðə ↗ˈˈstɹiːt ‖ ]

Here the rising pitch on street indicates that the question hinges on that word, on where he found it, not whether he found it.

Yes, he found it on the street. [↘ˈjɛs ‖ hi ˈfaʊnd ɪt | ɒn ðə ↘ˈstɹiːt ‖ ]

How did you ever escape? [↗ˈˈhaʊ dɪdjuː | ˈɛvɚ | ə↘ˈˈskeɪp ‖ ]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intonation_%28linguistics%29 (18/10/13)

56

definition intonation

etymology

The English word orthography dates from the 15th century. It comes from the French

orthographie, from Latin orthographia, which is derived from Greek ὀρθός orthós,

"correct", and γράφειν gráphein, "to write".

functions

Orthography is largely concerned with matters of spelling, and in particular the relationship

between phonemes and graphemes in a language.

Other elements that may be considered part of orthography include hyphenation,

capitalization, word breaks, emphasis, and punctuation.

Orthography thus describes or defines the set of symbols used in writing a language, and

the rules about how to use those symbols.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthography

57

2.3.5 Introduction to orthography

An orthography is a standardized system for using a particular writing system (script) to write a particular language. It includes rules of spelling. Other elements of written language that are part of orthography include hyphenation, capitalization, word breaks, emphasis, and punctuation.

Most significant languages in the modern era are written down, and for most such languages a standard orthography has developed, often based on a standard variety of the language, and thus exhibiting less dialect variation than the spoken language. …

The writing systems on which orthographies are based can be divided into a number of types, depending on what type of unit each symbol serves to represent. The principal types are logographic (with symbols representing words or morphemes), syllabic (with symbols representing syllables), and alphabetic (with symbols roughly representing phonemes). Many writing systems combine features of more than one of these types, and a number of detailed classifications have been proposed. …

In some cases an orthography based on the principle that symbols correspond to phonemes may lack characters to represent all the phonemes or all the phonemic distinctions in the language. This is called a defective orthography. An example in English is that the digraph th is required to represent two different phonemes (as in either and ether). A more systematic example is that of abjads like the Arabic and Hebrew alphabets, in which the short vowels are normally left unwritten and must be inferred by the reader.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthography 818/10/13)

58

definition orthography

English has fewer graphemes than phonemes <> > //

digraphs <sh>, <ch>, <th>, double graphs for length <door>

huge discrepancy between writing and pronunciation

• 1 phoneme many graphemes: /ɔ:/ in glory, all, door, bought,

• 1 grapheme many phonemes: <ou> in stout, soul, bought, drought, youth, young

in English for historical reasons: orthography fixed earlier than in German (Caxton 1476)

• silent letters: <gh> in bough, <b> in lamb, final <e>

• different conventions (e.g., <VCe#> long vowel in mate/mat)

• Great Vowel Shift (continuous / 1500 - 1700?)

= long vowels become closer and diphthongised spelling reform?

59

The basic problems of English

Attempts to regularize or reform the language, including spelling reform, have usually met with failure. The only significant exceptions were the reforms of Noah Webster which resulted in many of the differences

between British and American spelling, such as center/centre, and dialog/dialogue. …

Besides the quirks the English spelling system has inherited from its past, there are other idiosyncrasies in

spelling that make it tricky to learn. English contains, depending on dialect, 24–27 separate consonant phonemes and 14–20 vowels. However, there are only 26 letters in the modern English alphabet, so there

cannot be a one-to-one correspondence between letters and sounds. Many sounds are spelled using

different letters or multiple letters, and for those words whose pronunciation is predictable from the spelling, the sounds denoted by the letters depend on the surrounding letters. For example, the digraph th

represents two different sounds (the voiced interdental fricative and the voiceless interdental fricative)

(see Pronunciation of English th), and the voiceless alveolar grooved fricative can be represented by the letters s and c.

It is, however, not the shortage of letters which makes English spelling irregular. Its irregularities are caused

mainly by the use of many different spellings for some of its sounds, such as the sounds /uː/, /iː/ and /oʊ/

(too, true, shoe, flew, through; sleeve, leave, even, seize, siege; stole, coal, bowl, roll, old, mould), and

the use of identical sequences for spelling different sounds (over, oven, move).

Furthermore, English no longer makes any attempt to anglicise the spellings of loanwords, but preserves the

foreign spellings, even when they employ exotic conventions like the Polish cz in Czech (rather than *Check)

or the Norwegian fj in fjord (although fiord was formerly the most common spelling). In early Middle

English, until roughly 1400, most imports from French were respelt according to English rules (e.g. bataille - battle, bouton - button, but not double, trouble). Instead of loans being respelled to conform to English

spelling standards, sometimes the pronunciation changes as a result of pressure from the spelling.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_orthography (18/10/13)

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English orthography

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61

Writing systems

3.1 Introduction 3.1.1 Def.: Morphology deals with the internal structure of words that can be broken down into meaningful parts

concerned with how speakers understand / create complex words

words have an internal structure consisting of smaller units

morpheme = smallest unit that carries meaning/information about function

= smallest unit in grammatical analysis

“word” is an unreliable term in English because of unclear spelling rules: football vs. gold watch (NOT ˈgolden ˈwatch = clearly 2 words)

pronunciation decides: ˈblack ′bird vs. ˌblack ˈbird

NB: languages differ in morphological complexity: Japanese relatively low, Turkish high

62

3. Morphology

In linguistics, morphology is the identification, analysis and description of the structure of a given language's morphemes and other linguistic units, such as root words, affixes, parts of speech, intonation/stress, or implied context (words in a lexicon are the subject matter of lexicology). Morphological typology represents a method for classifying languages according to the ways by which morphemes are used in a language—from the analytic that use only isolated morphemes, through the agglutinative ("stuck-together") and fusional languages that use bound morphemes (affixes), up to the polysynthetic, which compress many separate morphemes into single words. (One of the definitions for Morphology).[clarification

needed]

While words are generally accepted as being (with clitics) the smallest units of syntax, it is clear that in most languages, if not all, words can be related to other words by rules (grammars). For example, English speakers recognize that the words dog and dogs are closely related—differentiated only by the plurality morpheme "-s", which is only found bound to nouns, and is never separate. Speakers of English (a fusional language) recognize these relations from their tacit knowledge of the rules of word formation in English. They infer intuitively that dog is to dogs as cat is to cats; similarly, dog is to dog catcher as dish is to dishwasher, in one sense. The rules understood by the speaker reflect specific patterns, or regularities, in the way words are formed from smaller units and how those smaller units interact in speech. In this way, morphology is the branch of linguistics that studies patterns of word formation within and across languages, and attempts to formulate rules that model the knowledge of the speakers of those languages.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morphology_%28linguistics%29 (18/10713)

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definition morphology

which forms a word can take depends on its role in a sentence

- grammatical morphemes express grammatical relationship

between word and context: plural-s, past tense –ed

- free grammatical morphemes (3.2.3) = function words and, the

64

3.1.2 Types: Inflectional morphology

(in contrast to derivational morphology, cf. 3.4.1)

Inflectional morphemes in English

• nouns:

plural –s the books

genitive (sing.) –s my mother’s

• verbs:

3rd person sg. non-past -s Mary reads well

progressive –ing John is working

past tense –ed She read

past participle –en/ed He has eaten/worked • adjectives:

comparative –er taller

superlative –est tallest

3.2.1 Allomorphs

= a group of morphs constituting 1 morpheme

- variation is phonologically or lexically (“irregular”) conditioned

e.g. plural {-S}

past tense {-D}

past passive participle {-N}

special cases:

- zero morpheme = no form, but meaning (sheep-sheep)

- ‘empty morpheme’ = form, but no meaning (periphrastic do)

- discontinuous ‘morpheme’ = 2 forms, 1 meaning (is –ing)

65

3.2 Morpheme types

66

3.2.2 Conditioning of allomorphs in English

Kortmann (2005:93)

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67

phonologically conditioned

{-D} Allomorphs

PAST TENSE

[d] after voiced cons./+ vowels

[t] after voiceless cons.

[Id] after alveolar stops

morphologically conditioned

(contractions)

root inflection

" + /-d/

begged showed

passed

expected

had made said

won (-win)

sold (-sell)

went suppletion

build-er; marry/remarry: phonology/form is not revealing

–er/-or +NOUN: indicates function of word: “agent” cf. reader, writer, runner, actor

re- +VERB: meaning “again” understood automatically

cf. reconsider, rebuild

but restrictions: *relike, *rehave (=stative verbs)

“immediate constituents”: |criminal law|²yer|³, |heavy smok|²er|³

68

3.2.2 Form – function relationship

simple/monomorphemic words: no further subdivision (cranberry?)

complex/polymorphemic words: 2 or more morphemes

basic types:

• free vs. bound morphemes

free = a morpheme can be a word by itself doghouse, ready-made

bound = a morpheme must be attached to another element

{{un{{manage}V able}A}A}ness}N

• lexical vs. grammatical morphemes

- lexical (in lexicon) for constructing new words {black}{bird}

- grammatical (in grammar) {the}, {BE + -ing}

- bound + lexical = derivational (disbelief, readable...)

- possible: change of word class, change in meaning

69

3.2.3 Morpheme level of analysis

70

Types of Morphemes

AUTONOMY

free

(lexeme)

bound

(affix)

FUNCTION lexical

(open)

grammatical

(closed)

lexical

(open)

grammatical

(closed)

content

word

function

word derivational

affix

inflectional

affix

prefix suffix suffix POSITION

- necessary to identify and classify morphemes according to their function for the word and its meaning

- complex words: root + one or more affixes

• root morpheme: major component of word's meaning,

usually a root belongs to a major word class N, V, A, P

affixes are always bound morphemes

• stem: morpheme (group) to which inflectional affixes are attached blackbird: 2 root morphemes form 1 compound stem

• base: the form to which a morpheme is added

A: root and base for -en; V1: base for –ed black en ed example/exercise: unhealthy, pretreatment

71

3.3 Morphological structure of words

3.4.1 derivation = process of morphological variation in the constitution of words

morphological patterns vary in degree of productivity

high = many cases: -ness (brightness) vs. low = few -ity (eternity)

unproductive (=no new cases): -dom (kingdom, martyrdom, etc.)

3.4.2 affixation: prefixation (bound+free morpheme): unhappy

suffixation (free+bound morpheme): useless

(infixation: unfuckingbelievable)

3.4.3 composition = combination of 2+ free/bound lexical morphemes

exocentric = meaning cannot be inferred from rightmost component (walkman, paperback, paleface, redneck) (=“Bahuvrihi” from Sanscrit)

endocentric= right morpheme indicates basic meaning (hyponym) and determines the word class (N: blackbird, V: spoonfeed, Adj/Adv: nationwide)

• determinative compounds: washing machine

• copulative compound: actor-manager

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3.4 Word formation

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3.4.4 zero-derivation/conversion = change of word class without change in form

challenge – (to) challenge, ship – (to) ship

V derived from N, N derived from V

less common: N from A (the poor), V from Prep (to down a beer)

3.4.5 backformation = to remove a real or potential affix

to housekeep (AmEn), to babysit, to televise, to liaise

3.4.6 clipping & blending/telescoping = shortening of polysyllabic words

laboratory > lab, gymnasium > gym; influenza > flu; ad, exam, phone

smoke+fog=smog, breakfast+lunch=brunch, motel, heliport, Chunnel, infotainment

3.4.7 acronyms = initial letters of words combined (in capitals)

(first isolated in pronunciation; later combined if possible)

NATO, LASER, AIDS

3.4.8 ‘reduplications’

walkie-talkie, wishy-washy

73 74

3.4.9 Survey of word formation processes

Kortmann (2005:95)

3.5 Alternatives to word formation

new expressions have to be used all the time, but they do not have to use intrinsic material

if there is language contact

borrowings = taking words/morphemes from another language

e.g. croissant (<French), pretzel (<German), yogurt (Turkish)

from English: suupaa = suupaamaaketto (>Japanese), futbal (>Hungarian)

loan translation (calque) = direct translation of words/morphemes

from another language

e.g. from English sky-scraper > Wolkenkratzer, wolkenkrabber, gratte-ciel

multiple processes!

deli (US) < delicatessen (< German)

waspish attitudes (<acronym WASP=‘white Anglo-Saxon protestant’

75 76

4. Syntax

4.1 Introduction

4.1.1 Definitions In linguistics, syntax (from Ancient Greek σύνταξις "arrangement" from σύν syn, "together", and τάξις táxis, "an ordering") is "the study of the principles and processes by which sentences are constructed in particular languages". The term syntax is also used to refer to the rules governing the behavior of mathematical systems, such as formal languages used in logic. …

Works on grammar were written long before modern syntax came about; the Aṣṭādhyāyī of Pāṇini is often cited as an example of a premodern work that approaches the sophistication of a modern syntactic theory.[2] In the West, the school of thought that came to be known as "traditional grammar" began with the work of Dionysius Thrax.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syntax (19/10/13)

In linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules that governs the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology, syntax, and phonology, often complemented by phonetics, semantics, and pragmatics. Linguists do not normally use the term to refer to orthographical rules, although usage books and style guides that call themselves grammars may also refer to spelling and punctuation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammar (19/10/13)

English grammar is the body of rules that describe the structure of expressions in the English language. This includes the structure of words, phrases, clauses, and sentences.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_grammar (19/10/13)

language is structured, not random - its rules are called grammar

syntax is basically word order

words/noun phrases behave as units, they form constituents

The cat ate the rat / The rat ate the cat NOT random *Rat ate the

the same words with different word order different meaning

speakers "know" about the importance of word order

but: the rat, the cat ate = the basic units are larger than words

groups of words form a unit and are put in square brackets [...]

sentence switch board (since structuralist language learning in 1960s):

[our vicar] – [likes] – [fast cars] – units, because they can be replaced

[he] - [likes] – [them]

[our vicar] - [[likes] – [fast cars]]

a unit because like is a Vt

77

4.1.2 Introduction in traditional/structural thinking:

syntax = formal constituents and word order

78

4.1.3 Introduction in generative/cognitive thinking:

syntax = how people combine words to form sentences

speakers have a finite set of memorized words/morphemes

as a basis for potentially infinite sets of sentences

• this includes discrete infinity (recursive: I think you think I think ...)

this is the basis of creativity of human language

• this allows speakers to create/understand novel sentences

syntactic theory = how speakers know how to form sentences and how they get this knowledge

• speakers' knowledge is their mental / cognitive grammar

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subject: performs an action (agent),

what the sentence is about (topic)

predicate: what the subject is engaged in doing,

is anything except the subject

operations of finding subjects: simple, formal subjects do not always "do" something

(agentive in case grammar, “stative verbs”)

i.e. not all verbs are “dynamic”: I dislike the idea. Miriam stood aside.

subjects can be meaningless: It was hot. It is raining.

There are ways of making you talk.

non-referential it and existential there: a dummy fills the subject slot

79

4.1.4 Form – function relationships: subject + predicate

4.2.1 Properties of subjects vs. objects

subjects are predominantly nouns, groups with N: NPs (the stupid dog, the girl with the red hair, this committee...)

subjects are

a) usually NPs

b) (usually) the 1st NP in the clause

c) obligatory

d) determine forms of verbs (agreement in 3rd PSingPres)

objects are a) often NPs

b) after V

direct object (DO) = entities that undergo a process denoted by verb:

He broke the teapot

play a patient role (= semantic test)

contrast: complements denote the same referent as subject or object

- DO (in active sentence) subject (in passive sentence)

- DOs complete the meaning of the verb, are thus complements

a complement is any element that is required by another element

80

4.2 Functions

indirect objects (IO): typical role receiver, goal

We gave the boys the CDs.

verbs taking DO and IO: ditransitive verbs

a) usually NPs

b) cannot occur without DO

c) always precede DO in E (not in German)

d) can be passive subjects (The boys were given the CDs.)

81

4.2.2 Properties of direct vs. indirect object

Traditional grammar makes a binary distinction between intransitive verbs that cannot

take a direct object (such as fall or sit in English) and transitive verbs that take one direct

object (such as throw, injure, kiss in English).

In practice, many languages (including English) interpret the category more flexibly, allowing: ditransitive verbs, verbs that have two objects; or even ambitransitive verbs,

verbs that can be used as both a transitive verb and an intransitive verb.

Further, some verbs may be idiomatically transitive, while, technically, intransitive.

This may be observed in the verb walk in the idiomatic expression To walk the dog.

In functional grammar, transitivity is considered to be a continuum rather than a binary

category as in traditional grammar. The "continuum" view takes a more semantic approach. One way it does this is by taking into account the degree to which an action affects its

object (so that the verb see is described as having "lower transitivity" than the verb kill).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transitivity_%28grammar%29 (19/10/13)

82

4.2.3 Transitivity

4.3.1 Word forms, word classes, phrases

words are difficult to define (cf. Morphology ch. 3): dogs, eats, duty-free

grouping into word classes, parts of speech (=POS)

phrases are groups of words around a head = central element (hat below): NP, VP, PrepP/PP, AdjP, AdvP

traditional word classes (cf. 1.1.1) are notions of form, not function

4.3.2 Form criteria of word classes I: nouns (N)

• nouns are words preceded by a ,the, this...

i.e. common determiners: the/a, this/these, that/those,

• nouns can be preceded by adjectives

N are characterized by their environment

subclasses: common N (+/-count), proper N, pronouns

• nouns are heads of NP: the hat the blue hat on the shelf

83

4.3 Form

verbs (V)

• verbs have inflections, which encode grammatical properties (-ed past)

like tense, agreement

• a special subclass are auxiliaries: they express point of view (deontic - epistemic)

• non-finite verbs: to-infinitive (I wanted him to dance),

• participles (wanting, reconsidered)

• V are head of VPs: The library [VP recalled their books]

adjectives (Adj)

• may have formal markers: -ful, -ible, -ive but this is not exclusive: green

• are gradable (very...) – exceptions: materials, Nationalities

(?very wooden, ?very Swedish)

• can take comparative, superlative forms as endings: -er/-est

exceptions are ADJ with analytical comparison : good-better-best

• premodify nouns, etc., but

• can also be used predicatively, with VL: appear, be, feel, look, seem, smell

• ADJ are heads of APs: [AP very glad to be here]

84

Form criteria of word classes II

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adverbs (Adv) modify verbs, adjectives or other adverbs; or clauses!

-ly, -wards, -wise, -ways, but not all (very, here, now)

some have comparison (well, soon)

classes: circumstantial often, reluctantly

degree extremely, very

sentence however, probably, perhaps

prepositions (PREP) have no formal criteria, but have linking function for NPs

introduce nouns/are head of PPs [PP with [NP the dog]]

often: NPs as prepositional object/prepositional complement

conjunctions (CONJ) have a linking function for clauses

a) coordinating: and, or, but

b) subordinating: that, if, whether, for, because

85

Form criteria of word classes III

clause = a self-containing expression which contains a subject and a predicate

main vs. subordinate / matrix vs. subclause complete sentence

finite vs. non-finite clauses: +/- to infinitive,

present/past participle –ing/-ed

most cases: predicate has a finite lexical verb

number of lexical verbs number of clauses

a) I paid the entire bill at once.

b) They were happy after I had paid the bill at once.

c) They wanted me to pay the entire bill at once.

Tim thought that Kate believed the story.

matrix clause

subclause

that: complementiser

86

4.4 Clauses and sentences

Structuralism is a theoretical paradigm that emphasizes that elements of culture must be understood in terms of their relationship to a larger, overarching system or structure. …

Structuralism originated in the early 1900s, in the structural linguistics of Ferdinand de Saussure and the subsequent Prague[2], Moscow[2] and Copenhagen schools of linguistics. In the late 1950s and early '60s, when structural linguistics was facing serious challenges from the likes of Noam Chomsky …

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structuralism

de Saussure --> American Indian anthropology: Boas - Sapir - Whorf - Bloomfield (Language 1933)

Sapir - Whorf hypothesis (cf. W. von Humboldt): linguistic determinism + relativity = language determines/influences culture

emphasis on methodology (corpus-based)

segmentation - classification:

• immediate constituent (IC) analysis (e.g. heavy smoker)

• bracketing and tree diagrams

application (from 1960 in language lab): pattern practice, sentence switch boards

87

4.5 Theoretical approaches to syntax

4.5.1 Structuralist grammar

His theory is that mutations are not brought about by chance

S |V| Cs

We met the Joneses unexpectedly in New York last year.

S | V | O | Adv | Adv | Adv

My father bought whoever came in a beer

S | V | Oi | Od

Adv?

The jury found the prisoner guilty.

S | V | O | Co

88

structuralist examples,

esp. C/O (complements/objects) and Adv (adverbials)

In linguistics, a transformational grammar or transformational-generative grammar (TGG)

is a generative grammar, especially of a natural language, that has been developed in the

Chomskyan tradition of phrase structure grammars (as opposed to dependency grammars).

Additionally, transformational grammar is the tradition that gives rise to specific

transformational grammars. Much current research in transformational grammar is inspired by Chomsky's Minimalist Program. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transformational_grammar)

Noam Chomsky: 1957 Syntactic Structures

1965 Aspects of the Theory of Syntax

1986 Knowledge of Language: Its Nature, Origin, and Use

1995 The Minimalist Program

language = an infinite number of sentences, generated by applying an

unconscious finite system of rules (rule-governed creativity)

ideal speaker-listener: performance - competence (all potential well-formed sentences)

selection restrictions (e.g. *colourless green ideas sleep furiously)

generate (in the mathematical sense) = rewrite rules x->y (rewrite x as y):

e.g. S --> NP+VP; VP --> V+NP

transformations: surface structure --> deep structure

e.g. passive transformation: NP1 + VP + NP2 --> NP2 + be VP (+ by NP2)

solves ambiguities (e.g. murdering peasants can be dangerous)

agens/agentive or patiens/object?

89

4.5.2 Transformational grammar

90

S -> NP1 + VP1 NP1 + VP1

NP1 -> PN PN + VP1

VP1 -> VP2 + PP PN + VP2 + PP

VP2 -> V + NP2 PN + V + NP2 + PP

NP2 -> Pron + N PN + V + Pron + N + PP

PP -> Prep + NP3 PN + V + Pron + N + Prep + NP3

NP3 -> PN PN + V + Pron + N + Prep + PN

PN -> George, London George + V + Pron + N + Prep + London

N -> friend George + V + Pron + friend + Prep + London

V -> saw George + saw + Pron + friend + Prep + London

Pron -> his George + saw + his + friend + Prep + London

Prep -> in George + saw + his + friend + in + London

transformation example: similar structure, but different meaning

S1) George saw his friend in London.

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91

S2) George saw his friend in a hurry.

S -> NP1 + VP1 NP1 + VP1

NP1 -> PN PN + VP1

VP1 -> V + NP2 PN + V + NP2

NP2 -> NP3 + PP PN + V + NP3 + PP

NP3 -> Pron + N PN + V + Pron + N + PP

PP -> Prep + NP4 PN + V + Pron + N + Prep + NP4

NP4 -> Art + N PN + V + Pron + N + Prep + Art + N

PN -> George George + V + Pron + N + Prep + Art + N

V -> saw George + saw+ Pron + N + Prep + Art + N

Pron -> his George + saw + his + N + Prep + Art + N

N -> Friend, hurry George + saw + his + friend + Prep + Art + hurry

Prep -> in George + saw + his + friend + in + Art + hurry

Art -> a George + saw + his +friend + in + a + hurry

Case Grammar is a system of linguistic analysis, focusing on the link between the valence, or number of subjects, objects, etc., of a verb and the grammatical context it requires. The system was created by the American linguist Charles J. Fillmore in (1968), in the context of Transformational Grammar. This theory analyzes the surface syntactic structure of sentences by studying the combination of deep cases (i.e. semantic roles) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Case_grammar 18/10/13)

underlying cases (e.g. agentive, instrumental, dative/benefactive, objective, locative, source, goal) matched by surface-structure relations

verb as central element with obligatory complements: e.g. NP put NP PNP

obligatory complements, e.g. They enjoyed the trip.

optional complements, e.g. She is reading a book.

adjuncts, e.g. Alcohol can be obtained at the bar.

1. John opened the door with the key.

2. The door was opened by John.

3. The key opened the door.

4. The wind smashed the window.

5. John gave me the book.

6. I went to London the other day.

7. This tent sleeps ten people.

8. No one can escape the difficulties of life.

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4.5.3 Functional Grammars: case/valency/systemic functional

Systematic Functional Grammar

developed by Michael (M.A.K.) Halliday:

Language as a Social Semiotic: The Social Interpretation of Language and Meaning (1978),

An Introduction to Functional Grammar (1985/94)

focus on language as a social semiotic system: focus on meaning and social aspects

grammar as system of choices, not of rules

lexis and grammar inseparable => lexicogrammar

basis: language as means to create meaning in discourse

3 metafunctions:

ideational/field: language construes experience (social process)

interpersonal/tenor: language describes social relations (distance, status, persona)

textual/mode: language constructs discourse (textual interaction, spontaneity,

cohesion)

Note: clause as basic unit of analysis

93 Examples metafunctions

At the lake shore there was another rowboat drawn up. The two Indians stood waiting. Nick and his father got in the stern of the boat and the Indians shoved it off and one of them got in to row. Uncle George sat in the stern of the camp rowboat. The young Indian shoved the camp boat off and got in to row Uncle George. The two boats started off in the dark. Nick heard the oar-locks of the other boat quite a way ahead of them in the mist. The Indians rowed with quick, choppy strokes. Nick lay back with his father's arm around him. It was cold on the water.

1. ideational: context, persons, process

2. interpersonal: What establishes a relation to the reader?

3. textual: limitations of clause described through punctuation, word order, etc.

example taken from: http://folk.uio.no/hhasselg/systemic/Intro.htm (18.10.13)

94

Important Concepts: Rank

text: one or more sentences

sentence: one or more clauses

clause: groups and phrases

group: phrases and words

phrase: words

word: morphemes

morpheme: phonemes

from biggest (text) to

smallest unit (morpheme)

95

The 5 Principles of Systematic Functional Grammar

1) paradigmatic dimension: meaning is choice

2) stratification dimension: lexicogrammar

3) metafunctional dimension: ideational, interpersonal, textual

4) syntagmatic dimension: language is structured into spoken or written

5) instantiation dimension: relationship between instance and system

(cf. parole – language, performance – competence)

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Cognitive grammar is a cognitive approach to language developed by Ronald Langacker, which considers the basic units of language to be symbols or conventional pairings of a semantic structure with a phonological label. Grammar consists of constraints on how these units can be combined to generate larger phrases which are also a pairing of semantics and phonology. The semantic aspects are modeled as image schemas rather than propositions, and because of the tight binding with the label, each can invoke the other. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_grammar (12710/14)

The term construction grammar (CxG) covers a family of theories, or models, of grammar that are based on the idea that the primary unit of grammar is the grammatical construction rather than the atomic syntactic unit and the rule that combines atomic units, and that the grammar of a language is made up of taxonomies of families of constructions. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Construction_grammar

“Cognitive linguistics is an approach to the analysis of natural language that focuses on language as an instrument for organizing, processing, and conveying information. (...) The formal structures of language are studied not as if they were autonomous, but as reflections of general conceptual organization, categorisation principles, processing mechanisms, and experiential and environmental influences.” (Geeraerts 1995: 111)

conceptualisation in grammar cf. gold nugget vs. gold dust , a continuum of sizes

BUT grammar does not reflect physical reality but experienced reality conceptual distinction:

- grammar codes gold nugget as a count noun, bounded

- grammar codes gold dust as a mass noun, unbounded

conceptualisation in lexicon: metaphor (cf. Lakoff/Johnson below)

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4.5.4 Cognitive grammar/linguistics

Lakoff, George/Mark Johnson (1980), Metaphors we live by. Chicago: U. of Chicago Press. pp. 3-24

1 argument is war (e.g. your claims are indefensible)

2 time is money (e.g. you are wasting my time)

2a time is a limited resource

2b time is a valuable commodity

3 ideas (or meanings) are objects (e.g. I gave you that idea)

4 linguistic expressions are containers (e.g. put in a nutshell)

5 communication is sending

6 happy is up; sad is down

6a conscious is up; unconscious is down

6b health and life are up; sickness/death are down (e.g. his health is declining)

6c having control or force is up; being subject to control or force is down

6' more is up; less is down

6d foreseeable future events are up (and ahead)

6e high status is up; low status is down

6" good is up; bad is down

6f virtue is up; depravity is down

6g rational is up; emotional is down

6h active is up; passive is down

7 the mind is an entity

7a the mind is a machine

7b the mind is a brittle [breakable] object

98

groups a number of models of grammar that all subscribe to the idea that knowledge of a language is based on a collection of "form and function pairings". The "function" side covers what is commonly understood as meaning, content, or intent; it usually extends over both conventional fields of semantics and pragmatics. Such pairs are learnt by hearing them being used frequently enough by others. Uses of constructions may happen and be acquired in mainstream or everyday language, but also in linguistic subcultures that are using a sociolect, dialect, or in formal contexts using standard languages or jargon associated with greater sociolinguistic prestige in comparison to plain language.[1] Construction grammar (often abridged CxG) is thus a kind of metalinguistic model, letting the door open to a variety of linguistic theories. It is typically associated with cognitive linguistics, partly because many of the linguists that are involved in construction grammar are also involved in cognitive linguistics, and partly because construction grammar and cognitive linguistics share many theoretical and philosophical foundations. … The usage-based model is based on inductive learning, meaning that linguistic knowledge is acquired in a bottom-up manner through use. It allows for redundancy and generalizations, because the language user generalizes over recurring experiences of use. The shift towards the usage-based approach in Construction grammar has inspired the development of several corpus-based methodologies of constructional analysis (for example, collostructional analysis).

Types of CxG: Berkeley (=Filmore) - Goldberg/Lakoff - Cognitive (Langacker) - Radical (Croft) etc. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Construction_grammar (12/10/14)

99

4.5.5 Construction grammar

100

4.6 Formal vs. functional grammar

Contrasts between formalism and functionalism (cf. Kortmann 2005:30)

issue formation functionalism

autonomy of grammar Yes, as a cognitive system

No, inseparable part of cognition

syntax cannot be separated from semantics and pragmatics

competence an instrument of interaction (communicative tool designed for key purpose communication)

language acquisition ‘nature’ = genetic, innate

‘nurture’ =result of communicative interaction

universals formal properties functional tendencies

relationship form-function arbitrary motivated (iconicity, metaphor, etc.)

dichotonmy syn-/diachronic sharp fuzzy

method deductive introspection reductionist, formal

indicative empirical (authentic data) non-reductionist

101

Some differences between systemic-functional grammar

and traditional grammar (http://folk.uio.no/hhasselg/systemic/Intro.htm)

5.1 Introduction

5.1.1 Ogden/Richards (1923). The meanings of meaning

5.1.2 For language to fulfill communicative function/convey a message form must have content

same form – different content: ambiguous sentences like Ruth saw the people with binoculars.

5.1.3 structuralist system of lexicology: seme sememe + morpheme = lexeme?

5.1.4 approaches:

semasiological = FORM CONTENT

e.g. chair means 1. “thing to sit on” 2. professor

onomasiological = CONTENT FORM

e.g. “things to sit on” are called: chair, arm-chair, stool, sofa, couch, etc.

102

5. Semantics

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Semantics (from Ancient Greek: σημαντικός sēmantikós)[1][2] is the study of meaning. It focuses on the relation between signifiers, like words, phrases, signs, and symbols, and what they stand for, their denotation.

Linguistic semantics is the study of meaning that is used for understanding human expression through language. Other forms of semantics include the semantics of programming languages, formal logics, and semiotics.

The word semantics itself denotes a range of ideas, from the popular to the highly technical. It is often used in ordinary language for denoting a problem of understanding that comes down to word selection or connotation. This problem of understanding has been the subject of many formal enquiries, over a long period of time, most notably in the field of formal semantics. In linguistics, it is the study of interpretation of signs or symbols used in agents or communities within particular circumstances and contexts.[3] Within this view, sounds, facial expressions, body language, and proxemics have semantic (meaningful) content, and each comprises several branches of study. In written language, things like paragraph structure and punctuation bear semantic content; other forms of language bear other semantic content.[3]

The formal study of semantics intersects with many other fields of inquiry, including lexicology, syntax, pragmatics, etymology and others, although semantics is a well-defined field in its own right, often with synthetic properties.[4] In philosophy of language, semantics and reference are closely connected. Further related fields include philology, communication, and semiotics. The formal study of semantics is therefore complex.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantics (18/10/13)

103

definitions semantics

104

5.1.5 Seven types of meaning

1. CONCEPTUAL MEANING (or Sense)

Logical, cognitive, or denotative content (cf. theories)

ASSOCIATIVE MEANING

2. CONNOTÀTIVE MEANING

What is communicated by virtue of what language refers to.

female= soft, caring, likely to cry, cooking?

3. SOCIAL/ STYLISTIC

MEANING

What is communicated of the social circumstances of language use.

domicile – residence – abode – home; cast – throw - chuck

4. AFFECTIVE MEANING

What is communicated of the feelings and attitudes of the speaker/writer.

will you belt up [+intonation]

5. REFLECTED MEANING

What is communicated through association with another sense of the same expression.

intercourse, erection, gay

6. COLLOCATIVE MEANING

What is communicated through association with words which tend to occur in the environment of another word.

heavy smoker, rain, fine; pretty vs. handsome

7. THEMATIC MEANING

What is communicated by the way in which the message is organized in terms of order and emphasis.

She donated the first prize. The first prize was donated by her.

Source: Leech, Goeffrey (1981). Semantics. 2nd ed. Harmondsworth: Penguin, p.23.

meaning in grammar: continuous form (cf. Cambridge Grammar 2002:162-8)

aspectual meanings depending on aktionsart and meaning context

progressive: he was speaking durative long reference time

imperfective: she was phoning durative simultaneous reference time

non-telic: he has been reading dur.-telic mid-interval implicature

aktionsart- she is mowing the lawn single event not serial/habitual

-specific: they were nodding punctual iterative

dynamizing: he is being silly stative temporary

limited duration: she is studying at TUC durative limited time/not habitual

temporary: he is cycling to work singular/not habitual (car is in the garage)

vaxing/vaning: you are making more develp.-telic linear development up/down

and more/fewer and fewer mistakes

time meanings: near future plan: I’m phoning her tonight

meaning in intonation: rising = doubt, question (s. 2.3.4)

meaning in discourse: How are you? … Nice talking to you.

meaning in paralinguistics (intercultural differences!):

nodding and shaking one’s head

smile + you know I hate you (+ irony)

105

5.1.6 Non-lexical semantics

5.2.1 Semantic features/markers theory Fodor/Katz "The structure of a semantic theory“. Language 1963, 170-210

incl. the principle of compositionality (Frege, a logician)

list components (incl. distinctive markers):

e.g. cat [+concrete +animate -human +mammal +mature +/-male]

the meaning of single words is determined in componential analysis

• girl [+anim, +human, -adult, +female]

• woman [+anim, +human, +adult, +female]

• table [-anim]

106

5.2. Semantic theories

aunt girl calf …

animate + + +

human + + -

male - - +-

mature + - -

.

.

.

the lexical field theory introduced by Jost Trier in the 1930s

= the field value of a lexeme is due to oppositions to paradigmatic neighbours

standard examples (from any Thesaurus, e.g. http://thesaurus.com/):

walk, hike, march, pace, amble, stroll, sneak, stagger

stupid, thick, silly, dumb; imbecilic, half-witted, half-baked; senseless, trivial

mosaic with overlaps? lexical gaps?

e.g. English: Shona or Welsh colour terms (cf. 5.2.3)

107

5.2.2 Semantic field theory

ENGLISH

WELSH

green blue grey brown

gwyrdd glaz llwydd

the borders of meanings are blurred, fuzzy

bird [+animate, -human, +wings?, +lays eggs, +can fly?, +feathers?]

concept of prototypes

use of attributes: can be similar (birds) or not (games)

board/ball/card games only a network of overlapping similarities “family resemblance” (cf. Wittgenstein)

• attribute tests confirm the (intuitive) ”best example”

• thus: prototypical members have the largest number of attributes in common

Berlin/Kay Basic Color Terms: Their Universality and Evolution (1969)

basic color terms (today defined by brightness, hue, saturation); focal colors are consistent for speakers of the same and of other languages

B/K claim as languages evolve, they develop colour terms in a strict chronological sequence; if a colour term was found in a language, then colour terms from all previous stages would also be present:

white, black; red; green/yellow; blue; brown; purple, pink, orange, gray

108

5.2.3 Prototype theory: the emergence of prototypes

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Def.: prototype = “the clearest cases of category membership defined [...] by people’s

judgments of goodness of membership in the category”

from Eleonore Rosch 1973 "Natural categories," Cognitive Psychology 4: 328-50

• humans classify things into categories with no discrete boundaries

• categories can be distinguished with emphasis on their structure

• prototype is an image that averages similar experiences

most frequent phenomena?

coded as basic categories?

= earliest to be learned?

= easiest to be triggered?

classic example: bird with prototype robin

(from Wikipedia)

109

5.3.1 Synonymy and antonymy

synonymy = two words have the same meaning in a number of contexts: I spent my holidays/vacations in Spain but Christmas, Easter holidays

real synonyms rare or not-existent

youth - adolescent

purchase - buy

remember - recall begin - start

antonymy = lexemes contrast in semantic feature(s)

one member can be marked: How tall is Rita? (tall vs. small, tall is unmarked)

graded antonymy: not clever stupid ungraded antonymy: alive vs. dead

dark - light

hot - cold

in - out

110

5.3 Semantic relations

polysemy = lexemes have two or more related meanings (cf. surfer) seen as single word with different meanings

(numbered under the same headword in dictionaries)

bright: 1. shining 2. intelligent

deposit: 1. minerals in the earth 2. money in the bank

homonymy = lexemes have entirely distinct meanings

seen as separate words with same pronunciations

(listed as separate headwords in dictionaries)

bat1: flying mammal – bat2: equipment in baseball

club1: social organization – club2: a blunt weapon

homography = words written identically but pronounced differently:

wind = /ωaind/ - /ωind/

homophony = words pronounced identically but written differently: threw – through = /θru:/

111

5.3.2 Polysemy and homonymy

112

homonymy

in general medium dependent

homonymy pronunciation:

homophony

orthography:

homography

total

sight-site

partial

bear N-bear V

partial

see-sea

total

flower-flour

total

lead/led/ (metal)

-lead/li:d/ (+dog)

partial

tear N-tear V

collocations = words which tend to occur together: fair hair, fair play

collocational range: limited, if a lexeme has few collocates

(omen has only few, like good, bad; good has many)

colligation = a lexical item may be primed to or with a particular grammatical function (Firth, Sinclair, Hoey)

in QUALIFIER [some/many] cases; I think - I am thinking?

lexical priming = “a word becomes cumulatively loaded with the contexts and co-texts in which it is encountered” (Hoey)

( grammatical priming: bus is primed to be used as a N but can also be a V)

semantic prosody/associations, e.g. cause + negative contexts

amazingly/astonishingly/surprisingly good – surprisingly bad

idioms = composite meaning cannot be deduced from individual elements

(semantically opaque): to pull s.o.'s leg

sayings: the early bird catches the worm

rituals: keep one’s fingers crossed

113

5.3.3 Syntagmatic Relations

When analyzing the structure of language statistically, a useful place to start is with high frequency context words, or so-called Key Word in Context (KWICs). After millions of samples of spoken and written language have been stored in a database, these KWICs can be sorted and analyzed for their co-text, or words which commonly co-occur with them.

Valuable principles with which KWICs can be analyzed include:

Collocation: words and their co-occurrences (examples include "fulfill needs" and "fall-back position")

Semantic prosody: the connotation words carry ("pay attention" can be neutral or remonstrative, as when a teacher says to a pupil: "Pay attention!" (or else)

Colligation: the grammar that words use (while "I hope that suits you" sounds natural, "I hope that you are suited by that" does not).

Register: the text style in which a word is used ("President vows to support allies" is most likely found in news headlines, whereas "vows" in speech most likely refer to "marriages"; in speech, the verb "vow" is most likely used as "promise").

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexis_%28linguistics%29

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5.3.4 Con- and Cotext

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5.4.1 Introduction to the lexicon

In short, the lexicon is:

Formulaic: it relies on partially fixed expressions and highly probable

word combinations

Idiomatic: it follows conventions and patterns for usage

Metaphoric: concepts such as time and money, business and sex,

systems and water all share a large portion of the same vocabulary

Grammatical: it uses rules based on sampling of the Lexicon

Register-specific: it uses the same word differently and/or less

frequently in different contexts

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexis_%28linguistics%29

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5.4 Lexicology

= subfield of semantics?

- investigates the lexicon of a language and its relationships

lexicon entries: not seen as a list of isolated elements

lexicology tries to find generalizations and regularities

• lexicon = vocabulary considered from a synchronic, psycholinguistic, systematic perspective [in English NOT an encyclopaedia]

lexicography

= study of dictionaries and dictionary making

• common: based on the assumption that English contains a large central area that is shared by all speakers (cf. diagram)

• literary: contains scientific, foreign and archaic words

• colloquial: contains dialectal, vulgar, slang and technical elements

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Lexicology

English vocabulary: not homogeneous

A temporally variable

(changes over time)

= synchronic vs. diachronic view:

although words look familiar

their meanings can have

changed (see 5.4.3)

B spatially variable

BrE vs. AmE

railway railroad

luggage baggage

lorry truck

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5.4.2 Structure of the English vocabulary

common

literary

colloquial

foreign

archaic

dialectal

vulgar slang

technical

scientific

diagram adapted from Lipka 1992

waves of (lexeme) invasions: loan words (and loan translations)

• continental Latin: cheese

• Celtic (mainly in place names: -comb)

• North Germanic: skirt (vs. shirt)

• Norman: beef, pork, mutton (vs. ox, pig, sheep)

• French: guardian (vs. warden)

• Latin/Greek: disk (vs. dish Greek via Latin)

• colonial (Dutch): yacht

• imperial/global: pizza, curry, nasi goreng

typological parallels German – English and differences (false friends: actual, brave, bright?)

homophones through phonetic change:

meet vs. meat, queen (vs. quean)

types of semantic shifts:

town (Zaun), knight (Knecht), knave (Knabe)

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5.4.3 History of the lexicon: etymology

- paradigmatic vs. syntagmatic relationships in a lexicon

- language is linear, elements follow sequentially

syntagm: successive linguistic elements that are combined (de Saussure)

paradigm: linguistic elements in opposition or alternatives to the same position in a syntagm/sentence

syntagmatic relations = elements can be combined, co-occur

paradigmatic relationships = elements can be exchanged, replaced

He can go tomorrow syntagmatic

she may come soon

I will start next

You could sleep now

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5.4.4 Fundamental distinctions in lexicology

paradig-

matic

bilingual vs. monolingual dictionaries

monolingual dictionaries should contain the following information:

pronunciation, definitions, collocations/ idioms, notes on usage

for English: Oxford English Dictionary OED ( COED)

- online: e.g. beolingus at TUC, LEO at TUMunich

- “production dictionary”/Thesaurus: Longman Language Activator (on LDOCE CD)

learner dictionaries (all with CD!):

• Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English (OALD)

• Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (LDOCE)

• COBUILD English Language Dictionary

• Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (CALD)

others:

- encyclopedic: e.g. Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language

- Encycopedia Britannica vs. Wikipedia?

- ontology = a set of terminologies for organising (technical) information

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5.4.5 Dictionaries of the English language

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5.5.1 Introduction

pragmatics: = the study of how context influences the interpretation of meaning

context includes: speaker, hearer, third party participants, beliefs, world knowledge

(in expanding circles)

• deals with people's use of language

• is part of performance (not competence)

• is concerned with principles people use when communicating

• cannot be captured by semantic theory, cf.: It is rather cold in here.

performative utterances/verbs (the saying of the words constitutes the performing of an act)

e.g. I name this ship Queen Elizabeth.

Speech acts (Austin/Searle): e.g. There's a bull in the field.

• locutionary speech act is purely a description

• illocutionary “ is a warning (+speaker intention)

• perlocutionary “ has the intended effect (+hearer reaction)

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5.5 Pragmatics

cooperative principle

describes how people interact with one another normally behave in conversation:

"Make your contribution such as it is required, at the stage at which it occurs, by the

accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged.“

1. maxim of quantity

• give the right amount of information when talking

• make your contribution as informative as required but not more

2. maxim of quality

• be truthful, try to make a contribution that is true

• do not say anything for which you lack evidence

3. maxim of relevance

• give a reply that fits the question

4. maxim of manner

• be brief/clear and orderly, avoid obscurity and ambiguity

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5.5.2 Grice‘s (1975) rules of cooperative behaviour

Conversational implicatures: something is understood although it is not said explicitly said we draw conclusions from what is said

The cooperative principle goes both ways: speakers (generally) observe the cooperative principle, and listeners (generally) assume that speakers are observing it. This allows for the possibility of implicatures, which are meanings that are not explicitly conveyed in what is said, but that can nonetheless be inferred. e.g, if Alice points out that Bill is not present, and Carol replies that Bill has a cold, then there is an implicature that the cold is the reason (from: Wikipedia)

He continued writing the essay. - implication: He wrote an essay before.

Facticity of utterance

• factive verbs: situation is true: The cat is in the garden.

• non-factive verbs: situation has some probability: I believe the cat is in the garden.

• contrafactive verbs: situation is not the case: I wish the cat was in the garden.

• performative verbs: statement is an action itself

I warn you, John accuses Mary, Fred promises

we act with speech (speech act)

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5.5.3 Implications and facticity

= the study of signs and sign processes (semiosis), indication, designation, likeness, analogy,

metaphor, symbolism, signification, and communication.

Semiotics is closely related to the field of linguistics, which, for its part, studies the

structure and meaning of language more specifically.

Semiotics is often divided into three branches:

• Semantics: Relation between signs and the things to which they refer; their denotata,

or meaning

• Syntactics: Relations among signs in formal structures

• Pragmatics: Relation between signs and the effects they have on the people who use them

Semiotics is frequently seen as having important anthropological dimensions; for example, Umberto Eco proposes that every cultural phenomenon can be studied as communication.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semiotics (5/12/13)

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5.6 Semiotics

6.1 Grammar is a complex system “My aim, if you like, was to provide a 'grammar' of English behaviour. Native speakers can rarely explain the grammatical rules of their own language. In the same way, those who are most 'fluent' in the rituals, customs and traditions of a particular culture generally lack the detachment necessary to explain the 'grammar' of these practices in an intelligible manner. This is why we have anthropologists.”

Kate Fox (2005). Watching the English. The Hidden Rules of English Behaviour. London: Hodder & Stoughton.

Some systems share common characteristics, including

• A system has structure, it contains parts (or components) that are directly or indirectly related to each other;

• A system has behavior, it contains processes that transform inputs into outputs (material, energy or data);

• A system has interconnectivity: the parts and processes are connected by structural and/or behavioral relationships.

• A system's structure and behavior may be decomposed via subsystems and sub-processes to elementary parts and process steps.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System (15/12/13)

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6. Systems, methodologies and academic thinking

“If linguistics can be said to be any one thing it is the study of categories: that is, the study of how language translates meaning into sound through the categorisation of reality into discrete units and sets of units”. (Labov 1973: 342)

“The task of cognitive systems is to provide maximum information with the least cognitive effort”. (Rosch 1978: 28)

complex categorisation - gradience / gradients:

vowels – consonants -> semivowels

verbs – auxiliaries -> semiauxiliaries

According to the classical view, categories should be clearly defined, mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive. This way, any entity of the given classification universe belongs unequivocally to one, and only one, of the proposed categories. …

Conceptual clustering is closely related to fuzzy set theory, in which objects may belong to one or more groups, in varying degrees of fitness. …

A cognitive approach accepts that natural categories are graded (they tend to be fuzzy at their boundaries) and inconsistent in the status of their constituent members.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Categorization (15/12/13)

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6.2 Linguistics is categorisation

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A comparison of auxiliaries and main verbs

syntax auxiliary verbs main verbs

the only verb in the

sentence

no *He has,

except in ellipsis, answers

to questions of the type

Has/Is/Does he …?

yes He comes every day.

inversion (Vfin S) yes Has he come? no *Comes he?

NICE properties - do + do

N) in negations no He hasn‘t come;

not: *He doesn‘t have

come.

yes He doesn‘t come;

not: *He comes not.

I) inversion in

questions

no Has he come?

not: *Does he have come?

yes Does he come?;

not: *Comes he?

C) „code“ = ellipsis of

main verb after first

occurrence (proform)

no John will come and so

will _ Mary.

yes John came and so did Mary

stranding:

John never sings, Mary does

E) for emphasis no He HAS come,

not: *He DOES have come

yes He DOES come.

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A comparison of auxiliaries and main verbs

morphology: modal verbs main verbs

bare infinitive yes He can come,

not: *He can to

come

no *He comes see me;

but: He comes to see

me

non-finite forms no *to can,

*canning,

*canned

yes walk, walking, walked

3rd sg. ind. pres. -s no *he cans,

*she musts

yes he walks, she comes

past tense in simple

declarative sentences

has past meaning

no He could/might

come tomorrow

yes *He came tomorrow

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6.3 Linguistics is systematic

e.g. the Great Vowel Shift

http://facweb.furman.edu/~mmenzer/gvs/ see and hear the GVS

6.4.1 Overview of research approaches in linguistics

Understanding research approaches used for collection of data in Linguistics is critical.

In general, research approaches employed in linguistics studies cover both quantitative and

qualitative approaches.

e.g.

• ethnographic or observational research techniques

• survey technique and experimental methods

• content analysis/discourse analysis

Many researches combine a thorough qualitative analysis of key concepts and a quantitative

analysis of most frequent categories later, e.g.

in socio- and corpus-linguistics.

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6.4 Linguistics uses divers research methodologies

Grounded theory method is a systematic methodology in the social sciences involving the

discovery of theory through the analysis of data. It is mainly used in qualitative research,

but is also applicable to quantitative data.

Grounded theory method is a research method which operates almost in a reverse fashion from traditional social science research. Rather than beginning with a hypothesis, the first

step is data collection, through a variety of methods. From the data collected, the key

points are marked with a series of codes, which are extracted from the text. The codes are

grouped into similar concepts in order to make them more workable. From these concepts,

categories are formed, which are the basis for the creation of a theory, or a reverse engineered hypothesis. This contradicts the traditional model of research, where the

researcher chooses a theoretical framework, and only then applies this model to the

phenomenon to be studied.

All is data is a fundamental property of GT which means that everything that gets in the researcher’s way when studying a certain area is data. Not only interviews or observations

but anything is data that helps the researcher generating concepts for the emerging theory.

Field notes can come from informal interviews, lectures, seminars, expert group meetings,

newspaper articles, Internet mail lists, even television shows, conversations with friends

etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grounded_theory (18/10/12)

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6.4.1 Combining research methodologies, e.g. Grounded Theory

Collecting different types of data (or combination of data)

• quantitative data: numeric data often collected by questionnaires

• qualitative data: textual data collected from written or spoken text analysis,

interviews, diaries, questionnaires

Popular to combine different types of data:

• in order to triangulate your data, i.e. to be able see an object from different

perspectives

• in order to use multiple methods, i.e.

• to combine data that can be generalised to a wider population (e.g. survey)

• with data that reflects the experience of individual actors or agents

(e.g. sequence of interviews over time)

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6.4.2 Collecting the data

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The data does not analyse and interpret itself !

You need to adopt an explicit method of analysing your data and describe

this in your methods section:

Quantitative analysis: a few simple statistical tests.

But this must be written into the research design from the beginning!

Qualitative analysis: according to themes and categories.

Look at previous studies and research methods primers in order to decide

a systemic approach to this.

The discussion relates back to the theoretical framework in the literature

review:

• To what extent do your findings confirm/contradict previous findings?

• What is your contribution to knowledge in the field?

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6.4.3 Analysing and interpreting the data = the process of selecting units (e.g., people, organizations) from a population of interest so

that by studying the sample we may fairly generalize our results back to the population from

which they were chosen, a process commonly known as making inferences. The main idea of

statistical inference is to take a random sample from a population and then to use the

information from the sample to make inferences about particular population characteristics such as the mean (measure of central tendency), the standard deviation (measure of spread)

or the proportion of units in the population that have a certain characteristic. E.g.

• Probability sampling

• Non-probability sampling

• Simple random sampling

• Convenience sampling

• Stratified sampling

• Systematic sampling

• Cluster sampling

• Sequential sampling

• Disproportional sampling

• Judgmental sampling

• Snowball sampling

• Quota sampling

• Sampling Error

• Sampling distribution

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6.4.4 Sampling

Experiments are suit of scientific method, consisting of a set of techniques used by the scientific community to investigate natural phenomena, by providing an objective framework in which to make scientific inquiry, and analyze research data to reach a conclusion about an inquiry. Experimental method is a systematic and scientific approach to research in which the researcher manipulates one or more variables, and controls and measures any change in other variables. There are a number of ways to conduct a scientific experiment, depending on the subject being studied. Some are performed in laboratories, while others require accumulating data in field work, surveys, longitudinal or double-blind studies, or in other manners, such as an archeological excavation. This module will cover experiments conducted in field work.

E.g.:

• Pretest-Posttest Design

• Control Group

• Randomized Controlled Trials

• Solomon Four-Group Design

• Between Subjects Design

• Within Subject Design

• Counterbalanced Measures Design

…

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6.4.5 Experimental Methods

Inferential statistics involves making inferences from sample statistics, such as the sample

mean and the sample standard deviation, to population parameters such as the population

mean and the population standard deviation. With inferential statistics, we are trying to

reach conclusions that extend beyond the immediate data observed. We can also use

inferential statistics to make judgments of the probability that an observed difference between groups is a dependable one or one that might have happened by chance in a study.

E.g.

1. HYPOTHESIS TESTING

• Developing hypothesis

• How do we know whether a hypothesis is correct or not?

2. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN VARIABLES

• Correlation (linear relationship)

3. MAKING PREDICTIONS

• Regression analysis

• Linear Regression

• Multiple Regression

…

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6.4.6 Inferential statistics

quantitative analysis qualitative analysis

137

Hypothesis/ theory/ research question

Methodology

Data

Result

Hypothesis/ theory true

Hypothesis/ theory false

Methodology

Data

Patterns, structures

Hypothesis/ theory

Develop

Generate

Analyse

Deduct

Generate

Analyse

Induce

6.4.7 Comparison of empirical linguistic research

based on Rasinger (2008:12)

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because it

is conscious of current terminology and concepts

is focussed, exemplary, data-based

is driven by data, theories, etc.

uses explicit methodology

is critically aware (of implications, applications, etc.)

is “readable” (with examples, diagrams, etc.) to facilitate academic

discourse

linguistics can combine theory and practice in English studies

- and beyond

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6.5 Linguistics supports academic

thinking/writing/research