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Chapter 1 What is language?A The origins of languageSome speculations of the origins of language: The divine sourceThe basic hypothesis: if infants were allowed to grow up without hearing any language, then they would spontaneously begin using the original god-given language.Actually, children living without access to human speech in their early years grow up with no language at all. The natural-sound sourceThe bow-wow theory: the suggestion is that primitive words could have been imitations of the natural sounds which early men and women heard around them.The “Yo-heave-ho” theory: the sounds produced by humans when exerting physical effort, especially when co-operating with other humans, may be the origins of speech sounds.Onomatopoeic sounds The oral-gesture sourceIt is claimed that originally a set of physical gestures was developed as a means of communication.The patterns of movement in articulation would be the same as gestural movement; hence waving tongue would develop from waving hand. Glossogenetics（言语遗传学）This focuses mainly on the biological basis of the formation and development of human language.Physiological adaptationdevelop naming abilityinteractions and transactionsPhysical adaptation:Human teeth are upright and roughly even in height.Human lips have intricate muscle interlacing, thus making them very flexible.The human mouth is small and contains a very flexible tongue.The human larynx is lowered, creating a longer cavity called the pharynx, and making it easier for the human to choke on the pieces of food, but making the sound speech possible.The human brain is lateralized. Those analytic functions (tool-using and language) are largely confined to the left hemisphere of the brain for most humans.Two major functions of language:Interactional: a social function of language.Transactional: a function involving the communication of knowledge and informationB The properties of languageLanguage is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication.a) System: combined together according to rulesb) Arbitrary: no intrinsic connection between the word “pen” and the thing in the world which it refers toc) Vocal: the primary medium is sound for all languagesd) Human: language is human-specific（交际性与信息性）Communicative vs. Informative:Communicative: intentionally using language to communicate somethingInformative: through/via a number of signals that are not intentionally sentDesign features (unique properties): the defining properties of human language that distinguish it from any animal system of communication Displacement（跨时空性，移位性）Language can be used to refer to contexts removed from the immediate situations of the speaker (refer to past and future time and to other locations) Arbitrariness（任意性）There is no logical or natural connection between a linguistic form (either sound or word) and its meaning.While language is arbitrary by nature, it is not entirely arbitrary.a) echo of the sounds of objects or activities: onomatopoeic wordsb) some compound words Productivity（能产性，创造性）Language is productive in that it makes possible the construction and interpretation of new signals by its users. (Creativity or open-endedness) Cultural transition（文化传递性）While human capacity for language has a genetic basis (everyone was born with the ability to acquire a language), the details of any language system are not genetically transmitted, but instead have to be taught and learnt. Discreteness（可分离性）Each sound in the language is treated as discrete. Duality（双重结构性，两重性或二元性）Language is organized at two levels or layers simultaneously. The lower or basic level is a structure of sounds which are meaningless. The higher level is morpheme or word (double articulation)The above six properties may be taken as the core features of human language.Vocal-auditory channel, reciprocity, specialization, non-directionality, or rapid fade, these properties are best treated as ways of describing human language, but not as a means of distinguishing it from other systems of communication.C The development of written language pictograms & ideograms（象形文字和表意文字）Pictogram: when some of the pictures came to represent particular images in a consistent way, we can begin to describe the product as a form of picture-writing, or pictograms.Ideogram: the picture developed as more abstract and used other than its entity is considered to be part of a system of idea-writing, or ideogramHieroglyph: 古埃及象形文字 Logograms（语标书写法）When symbols come to be used to represent words in a language, they are described as examples of word-writing, or logograms.“Arbitrariness”a writing system which was word-based had come into existence.Cuneiform-楔形文字the Sumerians (5000 and 6000 years ago)Chinese is one example of its modern writing system.Advantages: two different dialects can be based on the same writing system.Disadvantages: vast number of different written forms. Syllabic writing（音节书写法）When a writing system employs a set of symbols which represent the pronunciations of syllables, it is described as syllabic writing.The Phoenicians: the first human beings that applied the full use of a syllabic writing system (ca 1000 BC) Alphabetic writing（字母书写法）Semitic languages (Arabic and Hebrew): first applied this ruleThe Greeks: taking the inherently syllabic system from the Phoenicians via the RomansLatin alphabet and Cyrillic alphabet (Slavic languages) Rebus writingRobus writing evolves a process whereby the symbol used for an entity comes to be used for the sound of the spoken word used for that entity.Chapter 2 What is linguistics?A The definition of linguisticsLinguistics is generally defined as the scientific study of language.Process of linguistic study: Certain linguistic facts are observed, generalization are formed; Hypotheses are formulated; Hypotheses are tested by further observations; A linguistic theory is constructed.Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication.B The scope of linguisticsGeneral linguistics: the study of language as a wholePhonetics: the general study of the characteristics of speech sounds (or the study of the phonic medium of language) (How speech sounds are produced and classified)Phonology: is essentially the description of the systems and patterns of speech sounds in a language. (How sounds form systems and function to convey meaning)Morphology: the study of the way in which morphemes are arranged to form words (how morphemes are combined to form words)Syntax: the study of those rules that govern the combination of words to form permissible sentences (how morphemes and words are combined to form sentences)Semantics: the study of meaning in abstractionPragmatics: the study of meaning in context of useSociolinguistics: the study of language with reference to societyPsycholinguistics: the study of language with reference to the workings of the mindApplied linguistics: the application of linguistics principles and theories to language teaching and learningAnthropological linguistics, neurological linguistics; mathematical linguistics; mathematical linguistics; computational linguisticsC Some important distinctions in linguistics Prescriptive vs. Descriptive Synchronic vs. DiachronicThe description of a language at some point in time;The description of a language as it changes through time. Speech and writingSpoken language is primary, not the written Langue and paroleProposed by Swiss linguists F. de Sausse (sociological)Langue: refers to the abstract linguistic system shared by all the members of a speech communityParole: refers to the realization of langue in actual use Competence and performanceProposed by the American linguist N. Chomsky (psychological)Competence: the ideal users knowledge of the rules of his languageChapter 3 Phonetics and phonologyA The definition of phoneticsPhonetics: the study of the phonic medium of language: it is concerned with all the sounds that occur in the worlds languages.Articulatory phonetics: the study of how speech sounds are made, or articulated.Acoustic phonetics: deals with the physical properties of speech as sound waves in the air.Auditory (or perceptual) phonetics: deals with the perception, via the ear, of speech sounds.Forensic phonetics: has an application in legal cases involving speaker identification and the analysis of recorded utterances.B Organs of speechVoiceless: when the vocal cords are spread apart, the air from the lungs passes between them unimpeded.Voiced: when the vocal cords are drawn together, the air from the lungs repeated pushes them apart as it passes through, creating a vibration effect.All the English vowels are typically voiced (voicing).The important cavities:The pharyngeal cavityThe oral cavityThe nasal cavityLips, teeth, teeth ridge (alveolus), hard palate, soft palate (velum), uvula, tip of tongue, blade of tongue, back of tongue, vocal cordsC Orthographic representation of speech soundsBroad and narrow transcriptionsIPA (International Phonetic Alphabet/Association)Broad transcription: the transcription with letter-symbols onlyNarrow transcription: the transcription with diacriticsE.g.:lli:f- a clear l (no diacritic)lbild-a dark l ()lhelW-a dental l ( )ppit-an aspirated ph(h)pspit-an unaspirated p (no diacritic)n5bQtna syllabic nasal n (7)D Classification of English consonantsIn terms of manner of articulation (the manner in which obstruction is created) Stops: the obstruction is total or complete, and then going abruptlyp/b, t/d, k/g Fricatives: the obstruction is partial, and the air is forced through a narrow passage in the monthf/v, s/z, W/T, F/V, h (approximant) Affricates: the obstruction, complete at first, is released slowly as in fricativestF/dV Liquids: the airflow is obstructed but is allowed to escape through the passage between part or parts of the tongue and the roof of the mouthla lateral sound; r retroflex Glides: w, j (semi-vowels)Liquid + glides + h approximants Nasals: the nasal passage is opened by lowering the soft palate to let air pass through itm, n, By place of articulation (the place where obstruction is created) bilabials: upper and lower lips are brought together to create obstructionsp/b, w(velar) labiodentals: the lower lip and the upper teethf/v dentals: the tip of the tongue and the upper front teethW/T alveolars: the front part of the tongue on the alveolar ridget/d, s/z, n, l, r alveo-palatals (palato-alveolars): tongue and the very front of the palate, near the alveolar ridgeF/V, t/d palatal: tongue in the middle of the palatej velars: the back of the tongue against the velumk, g, N w glottals: the glottal is the space between the vocal cords in the larynxhE Classification of English vowelsFront i:CentralBack Close iu:uSemi-close eE:Semi-open E C:Open ABQ RB: The highest position of the tongue: front, central, back; The openness of the mouth: close, semi-close, semi-open, open; The roundness (shape) of the month (the lips):All the front, central vowels are unrounded vowels except BAll the back vowels, except A: are rounded vowels The length of the sound: long vowels & short vowelsLarynx (tense) or (lax)Monophthongs, diphthongsCardinal vowelsF The definition of phonologyPhonetics is interested in all the speech sounds used in all human languages; how they are produced, how they differ from each other, what phonetic features they possess, how they can be classified, etc.Phonology, on the other hand, is interested in the system of sounds of a particular languages; it aims to discover how speech sounds in a language form patterns and how these sounds are used to convey meaning in linguistic communication.G Phone, phoneme, and allophonePhone: the different versions of the abstract unit phonemePhoneme: the mean-distinguishing sound in a language, placed in slash marksAllophone: a set of phones, all of which are versions of one phonemeG Phonemic contrast, complementary distribution, and minimal pairPhonemic contrast: when two phonemes can occur in the same environments in two words and they distinguish meaning, theyre in phonemic contrast.E.g. pin & bin /p/ vs. /b/ rope & robe /p/ vs. /b/Complementary distribution: two or more than two allophones of the same phonemes are said to be in complementary distribution because they can not appear at the same time, or occur in different environment, besides they do not distinguish meaning.Minimal pair: when two different forms are identical in every way except for one sound segment which occurs in the same place in the strings, the two sounds are said to form a minimal pair.When a group of words can be differentiated, each one from the others, by changing one phoneme (always in the same position), then all of these words constitute a minimal sets.H Some rules in phonology sequential rulesSyllableOnset rime Nucleus codaConsonant vowel consonant(s)Phonotactics of 3Cs occurring in onset:No1:_/s/_voiceless stops: /p/, /t/, /k/_approximants: /r/, /l/, /w/, /j/No2:The affricates tF/dV and the sibilants s, z, F, V are not to be followed by another sibilants. assimilation rulesCo-articulation effects: the process of making one sound almost at the same time as the next is called co-articulation.Assimilation & elision effectsAssimilation: two phonemes occur in sequence and some aspect of one phoneme is taken or copied by the otherE.g. nasalize a vowel when it is followed by a nasal sound. deletion rule-ElisionDefinition: the omission of a sound segment which would be present in deliberate pronunciation of a word in isolationE.g. delete a g when it occurs before a final nasal consonantI Suprasegmental features StressWord stress & sentence stressThe stress of the English compounds always on the first element ToneDefinition: Tones are pitch variations, which are caused by the differing rates of vibration of the vocal cords.Pitch variations can distinguish meaning just like morphemes.Tone language, like Chinese, has four tones.Level, rise, fall-rise, fall IntonationWhen pitch, stress and sound length are tied to the sentence rather than the word in isolation, they are collectively known as intonation.English: the four basic types of intonation, or the four tonesThe falling tone, the rising tone, the fall-rising tone, and the rise-fall toneChapter 4 MorphologyA The definition of morphologyMorphology is a branch of grammar which studies the internal structure of words and the rules by which words are formed.Inflectional morphologyDerivational morphology (lexical morphology)Morpheme: the smallest meaningful components of words(A minimal unit of meaning or grammatical function)B Free morphemes & bound morphemesFree morphemes: can stand by themselves as single words Lexical morphemes n.a.v & functional morphemes conj.prep.art.pron.Bound morphemes: can not normally stand alone, but which are typically attached to another form Derivational morphemes-affix (suffix, infix, prefix) + root Inflectional morphemes 88 types of inflectional morphemes in EnglishNoun+ -s, -s possessive; pluralVerb+ -s, -ing, -ed, -en 3rd person present singular; present participle; past tense, past participleAdj+ -er, -est comparative; superlativeC Derivational vs. inflectionalInflectional morphemes never change the grammatical category of a wordInflectional morphemes influence the whole category;Derivational morphemes are oppositeOrder: root (stem) + derivational + inflectionalD Morphological RulesN. +ly a.; A. +ly adv.; guard overgeneralizationE Morphs and allomorphsMorphs: the actual forms used to realize morphemesAllomorphs: a set of morphs, all of which are versions of one morpheme, we refer to them as allomorphs of that morpheme.F Word-formation process Coinagethe invention of totally new terms Borrowingthe taking over of words form other languagesLoan-translation (Claque) a direct translation of the elements of a word into the borrowing languageStand alone to be the opposite of word-formation Compounding a joining of two separate words to produce a single formFeatures of compoundsa) Orthographically, a compound can be written as one word, with or without a hyphen in between, or as two separate words.b) Syntactically, the part of speech of the compound is generally determined by the part of speech of the second element.c) Semantically, the meaning of a compound is often idiomatic, not always being the sum total of the meanings of its components.d) Phonetically, the stress of a compound always falls on the first element,While the second element receives secondary stress. Blending taking over the beginning of one word and joining it to the end of other word Clipping a word of more than one syllable reduced to a shorter form Back formation a process by which new words are formed by taking away the suffix of an existing wordHypocorismsclipping or +ie Conversion category change, functional shift Acronyms new words are formed from the initial letters of a set of other words Derivation the new words are formed by the addition of affixes to the roots, stems, or words Abbreviation a shortened form of a word or phrase which represents the complete formAnalogyChapter 5 GrammarA Types of grammarThe study of grammar, or the study of the structure of expressions in a language, has a very long tradition. Mental grammar: a form of internal linguistic knowledge which operates in the production and recognition of appropriately structured expressions in that language. Psychologist Linguistic etiquette: the identification of the proper or best structures to be used in a language. Sociologist The study and analysis of the structures found in a language, with the aim of establishing a description of the grammar of English, e.g. as distinct from the grammar of Russia or French. LinguistB The parts of speechNouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, prepositions, pronouns, conjunctions the grammatical categories of words in sentencesC Traditional grammar (Categories and analysis)Other categories: number, person, tense, voice and genderAgreement:English languagenatural genderGrammatical gender FrenchD Types of grammar concerning analysisThe prescriptive approach: The view of grammar as a set of rules for the proper use of a languageThe descriptive approach: analysts collect samples of the language they are interested in and attempt to describe the regular structures of the language at it is used, not according to some view of how it should be used.E Structural and immediate constituent analysis (IC Analysis)Structural analysis: to investigate the distinction of forms (e.g. morphemes) in a languageIC Analysis: how small constituents (Components) in sentences go together to form larger constituentsF Labeled and bracketed sentencesHierarchical organization of the constituents in a sentenceLabel each constituent with grammatical terms such as Art. N. NPChapter 6 SyntaxA The definition of syntaxA subfield of linguistics
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