Introduction to English Linguistics I PDF

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Dozentin: Irmgard Lensing...

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Mo., 10-12 Uhr, ES 131, Lensing

Introduction to English Linguistics I

(Lensing)

Introduction

Main course structure: Introduction Phonetics & Phonology Morphology Syntax Semantics & Lexicology Pragmatics & Discourse Analysis

What is language? Some general ideas: -

Definining language is not trivial (banal, belanglos, alltäglich)

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Language is not monolithic and changing  changes permanently, is spoken by over 400 million people Language is highly complex  variation; examples:  RP – Received pronunciation (“perfect English accent, Oxford English, public school English, spoken by less than 3%, very good English, spoken by highly educated people)  Cockney Dialect (London) (working class accent, not well educated people speak it)  West Yorkshire Discrepancy between spelling & pronunciation (for example “meat”, “great”, “threat”) English was invented in the 5th century “Language consists of a set of rules about forming sounds, words, and sentences that are used by speakers/writers to represent and communication …(s. BSCW)

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What is linguistics? 1

Mo., 10-12 Uhr, ES 131, Lensing

Linguistics is the scientific study of human language structure and language use.

Why do we need linguistics? -

to explore the complexity of language(s)

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to study human cognition: What is possible in human languages, what is not? What is universal (i.e. present in every language?) in order to apply one’s knowledge as a language teacher, to understand how languages are learned and how learning can be supported

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Books: -

Bussmann: Terminagocal dictionary Christian Mair: English Linguistics: An Introduction

Internet: -

Course website BSCW

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Wörterbücher zur Sprach- und Kommunikationswissenschaftm (uniweb free access)

SAC

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What is language? What is linguistics? Levels of linguistic description What is language? Cf. session 1: Language consists of a set of rules about forming sounds, words and sentences that are used by speakers/writers to represent and communicate concepts, ideas, meanings and thoughts.

Animal communication – no true language

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Non-symbolic sign system Limited in scope & functions Largely genetically transmitted (mostly do not imitate others) Instinct-based communication (e.g. bees learn of the dance to follow where the flowers are to survive  executing a waggle dance  animals may communicate information (here: location of flowers: how nature works)  people have language to survive as well)

Human communication

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Complex systems of communication Largely symbolic/arbitrary sign systems Limited set of elements allows an unlimited number of utterances (=expressions) Wide range of functions

Mo., 10-12 Uhr, ES 131, Lensing

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Transmitted through social interaction (e.g. if you do not speak to a child, it will not learn the language)

Aristoteles: The semiotic triangle

Concept (signified): idea, picture in head

Linguistic form (signifier)

Referent (worauf es bezogen wird)

Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913)

Langage (franz.) = language as a phenom Langue (franz.) = refers to one language e.g. English (knowledge) Parole (franz.) = spoken word

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Language links sounds/letters with meanings through convention:

The linguistic sign

______________

concept (signifié) _________________

[haʊs]

sound image

(signifiant) -

tree -----------arbre ---------

arbitrary 4

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-

-

-

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Baum ------------ words do not stand for themselves, a word stands for something else semiotics = Zeichenlehre  iconic signs  symptons (causal relationship)  index (index finger = Zeigefinger): e.g. smoke is an index of fire  symbol words are arbitrary and conventional  Symbols (stand for things) Largely symbolic/arbitrary sign systems:  e.g. /gɪft/ in German vs. English gift = Geschenk das Gift = poison  (rare) exceptions: motivated forms e.g. phonetic similarity (=onomatopoeia) e.g. cuckoo, Kuckuck bow-wow, Wau wau hiss, zischen - depends on the language - Onomatopoeia (Lautmalerei): Realität nachmalen - iconic signs Sound-based: just a fraction of the world’s languages have a writing system (acoustically) Exception: sign language (visually) (learned like any foreign language)  problem: every word is a sign (name)

Inborn ability to distinguish language sounds from other sounds and from each other Genetic or natural disposition of newborns to acquire a language/languages spoken in their community

Knowledge of language

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Knowledge of sound inventory and of contexts in which sounds may appear 5

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Knowledge of the lexicon (word inventory)

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Knowledge of how words may be combined to form phrases and sentences (syntactic rules)

Competence (cf. langue) = knowledge of a language Performance (cf. parole) = actually used language (sometimes incorrectly)

What is linguistics?

Cf. session 1: Linguistics is the scientific study of human language structure and language use. We can study 1. The forms and functions of individual human languages: English linguistics, Spanish linguistics etc. 2. The forms and functions of human language in general: General linguistics Example: The future construction e.g. Mr Hintz will get a divorce We can ask 1. What does the English future tense look like and what is its function? English linguistics 2. What kind of future constructions exist in the languages of the world, what do they have in common? General linguistics We can consider 1. Language with regard to rules and norms and judge linguistic forms as right or wrong: prescriptive approach 2. Language as actually used at a given time and observe linguistic forms without value judgement: descriptive approach We can study 1. Language as it is at one point in time: synchronic perspective (e.g. What does the English future tense look like at one particular point in time, and what is its function?) - De Saussure starts with the synchronic language (syn=gleich) diachronic  was interested in language which is abstract (very theoretical)  asks himself what is a word; is the essence of a thing in the word? 6

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2. The change of language through time : diachronic perspective (e.g. How did the English future tense originate and change through

time?)

Levels of linguistic description Example sentence: Mr Hintz will get a divorce. May be analysed and described at the following levels: 1. Phonetics/Phonology The sounds which make up the sentence: 2. Morphology The structure of the words which make up the sentence:

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3. Syntax The structure of the whole sentence:

4. Semantics The meaning of the sentence and the words it consists of:

5. Pragmatics The meaning of the sentence as an utterance, i.e. in a particular context:

Linguistics -

Describes language on different structural levels: phonetics/phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics Describes language at two levels of abstraction: form and function

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Phonetics and Phonology I

Introduction

One sound

different letters

/i:/ realized by (y jedoch kein langer Vokal)

One letter

different sounds

represents /ɑ:/, /ɒ/, /e/, /ə/, /ɪ/, /eɪ/, /ɶ/ The ordinary spelling system/orthography inadequate for representing sounds of speech consistently.

Phonetics The science of the articulation and reception of human speech sounds, not restricted to a particular language Phonology The study of sounds as they operate in the system of a specific language Phone Any individual sound Phoneme Any meaningfully distinctive sound in a language Allophone Variant of a phoneme, e.g. positional allophone Branches of phonetics 9

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Articulatory phonetics: How are human speech sounds formed in the mouth, the glottis and the nasal cavity?  Production of speech sounds Acoustic Phonetics: What are sounds like when measured while travelling through the air?  Physical properties of speech sounds Auditory phonetics: How are speech sounds perceived by the listener?  Perception of speech sounds Phonology: Levels of description 1. Description of speech sounds in terms of speech segments (i.e. level of individual sounds)  Segmental phonology 2. Description of speech sounds in terms of prosodic features like intonation and stress (i.e. level of prosody)  Suprasegmental phonology

Speech Organs

(Kortmann, 2005) 10

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Vowels: IPA

Vowels: English vowel inventory, RP

(NB: Both /e/ and /ɛ/ are commonly used for transcribing the short vowel in words such as bed) Vowels: Production and description

Production of vowels: -

No obstruction of airstream, vocal folds vibrate Monophthongs (vowel sounds which consist of one element) vs. diphthongs (two elements)

Criteria for phonetic description: 1. 2. 3. 4.

Length: short vs. long Openness: open/low to close/high Position/part of tongue: front, central or back Roundedness: rounded vs. unrounded (cf. lips)

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Diphthong sounds: eɪ

make

ɘʊ

so

aɪ

lie

aʊ

house

ɔɪ

soil

ɪə

fear

ɛə/eə rare ʊə

sure

Consonants: IPA Consonants: English consonant inventory

Consonants: Production and description

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Production of consonants: -

Obstruction of airstream, vocal folds may vibrate (c.f. voiced consonants) or may be inactive (c.f. voiceless consonants) Obstruents (plosives, fricatives, affricates), sonorants (nasals, laterals, rolls), semi-vowels (e.g. [w], [j])

Criteria for phonetic description 1. Voicing : voiced (stimmhaft) vs. Voiceless (stimmlos) 2. Place of articulation 3. Manner of articulation

Sounds as phonemes

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Basic function of sounds: distinction of meanings Phonemes – smallest meaning distinguishing units in a language Minimal pair test (i.e. word pairs in a language that differ in just one sound and in their meaning), e.g. /pɪt/ vs. /bɪt/  /p/ and /b/ are phonemes /taʊn/ vs. /daʊn/  /t/ and /d/ are phonemes /siːt/ vs. /sɪt/  /iːt/ and /ɪ/ are phonemes

Allophones

Phonemes may have realisational variants, that is distinct sounds which do not, however, distinguish meaning Allophones in English, e.g.: /r/

[ɹ] RP (Standard British English) [ɺ] GA (Standard American English) [r] Scottish English

Free variants (interchangeable, vary from speaker to speaker or in different contexts, dialects or sociolects) /l/

[L] (“clear l”) e.g. light, bliss  clear l [l] occurs before vowels and /j/ (palatal approximant) [ɫ] (“dark l”) e.g. milk, ball  dark l [ɫ] occurs before other consonants and word-finally, i.e. in all other phonetic contexts 13

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Complementary distribution (each allophone is used in a different phonetic context in RP)

Phonetics and Phonology II

Syllables

Syllable: phonological unit of at least one phoneme -

can have more than one segment there is no syllable without nucleus onset: no vowel, max. 3 consonants inflectional e.g. {-s} or {-ed} (Onset) Optional Max. 3 consonants

Nucleus Compulsory Vowel/syllabic Liquid or nasal

(Coda) Optional Max. 4 consonants (last one always inflectional)

Rhyme Cf. words such as key (no coda), on (no onset), strike (coda & onset), texts (max. 4 consonants in coda), button (nucleus: nasal) Cats /k

ɶ ts/ 14

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Key /k iː

/  no coda

Strike /str aɪ k/  diphotongs count as one vowel, max. 3 consonants in onset Texts /t e/ɛ ksts/  s ist inflectional, max. 4 consonants in coda Button /b ʌ  end of first syllable /t ə n/  two syllables, ə is optional Earthquake / ɜː ɵ/  no onset /kw eɪ k/

Example splash (CCCVC) C-any consonant V-any vowel

Multisyllabic words: maximum onset principle example spinster

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Maximum onset principle: move as many consonants as possible to the onset position of the second syllable The maximum onset principle also applies in real speech:

Resyllabification

Example: have it  [hæ.vɪt] Types of syllables: Open syllable no coda

vs.

Ex.: key, be, too

closed syllable at least one consonant in coda on, strike, texts

Phonotactics

Phonotactic constraints: -

Determine which sounds can occur in which position in a syllable, i.e. only particular sequences of phonemes are allowed Are language-specific

Examples: /str/, /bl/, /kr/

are possible word-initially in English

/tsr/, /tl/, /lb/ are not possible word-initially in English

Word and sentence stress

Syllables: stressed (strong) vs. unstressed (weak) Stress is a result of increased loudness, higher pitch, and increased length. Terminology (NB: This differs in different textbooks!) Stress – mental representation/abstract property Vs.

Accent – measurable phonetic event

English word stress One or more syllables per word are stressed: 16

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e.g.: compare

/kǝmˈpeǝ/ (one main stress)

realization /ˌrɪəəlaɪˈzeɪʃn/ (primary and secondary stress) Placement of word stress is a result of 3 stress systems: Germanic: stem/root syllable e.g. ‘baker/’beɪkə/ French:

final syllable e.g. de’scend/dɪ’send/

Latin & Greek: movable stress e.g. ‘photograph, pho’tographer, photo’graphical Stress in English may: -

Differentiate word classes e.g. ‘object (noun) vs. ob’ject (verb) Differentiate phrases from compounds e.g. black ‘bird (phrase) vs. ‘blackbird (compound)

Sentence stress in English -

New information in utterances is stressed Both sentence stress and intonation are used to emphasize important content in utterances

Linguistics only describes and does not create (linguistic) rules (prescribe).

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Morphology I

Words vs. morphemes

Defining word is anything but trivial. Example: She took some of the books from the shelf. Properties of words: 1. Word a minimum free form (i.e. smallest unit that can form an utterance of its own) Test: questions (Who took the…? What did she take…?) does not apply to all words (cf. of, the, or from) 2. Word a linguistic unit that can be moved around quite freely in a clause Test: transform clauses (e.g. the door was closed vs. there was a closed door the door was closed vs. *there was an ed close door) Does not apply to all words (cf. for example the, a) 3. Word minimal unit of meaning (i.e. smallest unit that carries meaning) Does not cover {-s} (‘more than one’) in books (cf. She took some of the books from the shelf.)

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Words -

Tend to have identifiable properties Not all words show these properties There are different types of words

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There are meaningful units below the word level

Types of words: Parts of speech/word classes (cf. Mair 2915: 73 ff.) Words can be divided into word classes according to syntactic, structural and semantic criteria. Symbol N V Pro Adj Adv P Conj Det Int Num

Word class noun verb pronoun adjective adverb preposition conjunction determiner/article interjection numeral

Examples book, Sarah, tree read, assimilate she, he, his, who green, sad, flat rapidly, here on, of, onto, up and, because a/an, the oops, hey, oh four, fifteen

What is a morpheme? They are meaningful units below the word level: Cf. {-s} in books

‘plural/more than one’

{-er} in teacher ‘one who does sth.’ Morpheme Minimal unit capable of expressing meaning There are words that consist of one morpheme: simple words/monomorphemic words friend {friend} There are words that consist of 2+ morphemes: complex words/polymorphemic words unfriendliness {un-} {friend} {-ly} {-ness} What is morphology? 19

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Morphology is concerned with the internal structure of words in a language. Morphology

Derivational inflectional morphology morphology (word formation) (word forms) Types of morphemes

Identify the morphemes in: unaffordable

{un-} {afford} {-able}

rapidly

{rapid} {-ly}

teachers

{teach} {-er} {-s}

Some may stand on their own: free morphemes (lexemes) {afford}, {rapid}, {teach} Some have to be attached to other morphemes: bound morphemes (=affixes) {un-}, {-able}, {-ly}, {-er}, {-s} bound morpheme {-s} {-ed} {un-}

{-ness} {-er}

function singular > plural with nouns present > past tense with verbs “negative” morpheme: reversal with verbs; opposite quality with adjectives adjectives > nouns inhabitant of a locality

examples teachers, books, answers looked, talked, wanted undo, unlock unhappy, unequal happiness Londoner

Bound morphemes may be derivational morphemes Derivation is a word-formation process where a new word is created by adding at least one bound derivational morpheme. e.g. {king} + {-dom} = kingdom N + affix = N Derivation can result in a change of word class:

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e.g. {happy} + {-ness} = happiness Adj + affix = N

root: monomorphemic word base: basis of word formation process stem: basis of inflectional process

internal word structure: playfulness

Bound morphemes may be inflectional morphemes. Inflection is process which results in a change of word form to indicate grammatical meaning.

examples {-(e)s} {-(e)s}

meaning plural 3rd person singular 21

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{-(e)s} {-(e)d} {-(e)d} {ing} {-(e)r} {-(e)st}

possessive/genitive simple past present/past perfect, passive progressive aspect comparative superlative

derivation - Word formation/creation of new words - Has a lexical meaning - Can change word class - Closer to root (=occurs before inflection)

inflection - Creation of new word forms - Has a grammatical meaning - Cannot change word class - Occurs after derivation

Grammatical vs. lexical morphemes Lexical morphemes carry a word meaning -

Free lexical morphemes = content words

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Bound lexical morphemes = used for deriva...