Language Some Basics

Language – some basics

-5,000 different languages

-Problem of discerning languages and dialects

Could be political issues (Czech x Slovak)

-dialect continuant

-language

natural (used)
artificial (something created – mathematics, computer languages)

-all humans can learn language

-language is a system

language is in a certain balance
language is open (this can destroy the aforementioned balance)
e.g. influx of foreign words

system can re-establish itself

-[ χ ]  [ ø ]

enough [f]
laugh [f]

eight [ ø ]

Medium of language

-sound

allows distance

Language is not continuous

-made of discreet units

Non-verbal communication

-paralanguage

body language
paralinguistics

-kinesics

bodily gestures, facial expressions

-e.g. / quality if voice

Gestures

-complementing language

-learned gestures

culture based
e.g. giving the ‘finger’

-instinctive gestures

involuntary
voluntary
e.g. smiling, blushing

Origins of language

Divinity – g/God-given
experiments – children growing in isolation
Natural source
‘Natural sounds’ theory
onomatopoeic words
“bow-wow theory”
natural cries of emotion
yo-heave-ho theory
physical collective activities
Oral-gesture source
Physiological adaptation
certain physical features of human beings not shared by other animals
even upper teeth
flexible rounded lips
flexible moveable top of mouth
changing shape
pharynx
brain
specialized functions of the lobes

Human vs. animal communication

Types of signals

communicative

informative

-unique property of human language

displacement
language makes it possible to talk about past & future
> ability to lie
> ability to develop history & mythology

arbitrariness (property of the linguistic sign)
there is no direct link between the sign – the sound image & its meaning
> it’s conventional

sound symbolism
certain sounds accompany certain concepts
[ i ] [ i:]
connected to smal things
[ æ ]
sudden event, with sound
productivity / creativity
creating new expressions
number of utterances is unlimited
cultural transmission
language is learned from culture
discreetness
duality (double articulation)
2 levels
level of individual sound
p, i, tphonemes
level of words
pit

Other properties

-vocal-auditory channel

-reciprocity

speaker and hearer can change roles

-specialization

linguistic sounds only for communication

-non-diretionality

-rapid fade

-linearity

one sound follows another, not together

-prevarication = lying

The act of communication

-communicative frame

channel (medium)
situation (context)
contact
function of communication
message
code

somebody communicates something to somebody else using something in some code

Encoding and decoding

Speakerencodes content C1

Hearerdecodes content C2

C1?=? C2  C1 ≠ C2

Limiting factors in communication

-knowledge of the code

-level of speaker’s / hearer’s knowledge

-channel

social conventions
if not observed, the channel may be closed

-noise

semantic
mechanical
environmental

Bühler (1934)

Speaker > Message > Hearer

-functions of communication

expressive
Ausdruck
focus on speaker
conative
Appell
focus on hearer
referential
Darstellung
focus on message

Jacobson (1960)

content referential function
message poetic function
addressor emotive function / Addressee conative function
contact phatic function
code metalinguistic function

Referential function

-Speaker

Emotive function

~ expressive function

-traced on

phonic (phonological),
emphatic prolongation
lexical,
and grammatical levels

Conative function

-Hearer

Phatic function

-communication for the sake of communication

-assuring that the channel is still open

-ritualized formulas

Metalingual / Metalinguistic function

-related to the language itself

-definitions

-equational sentences

-language learning

Poetic function

-focus on the message for the sake of itself

-most dominant (sic!) in poetry

-puns, plays on words

-“poetic”

part of linguistics concerning the poetic function and its relationships to the other functions of language

-in poetry + outside poetry

Halliday

Ideational function
language as content (referential)
Interpersonal function
language as interaction (conative, expressive)
Textual function
language as text

Word Formation (Štekauer Ch. 3)

Position of word formation

-placed within:

morphology (derivational)
lexicology

Scope of word formation

- composites

- e.g. ‘reference library’

- determinans (reference) + determinatus (library) (the head)

defining element,identifies the object

identifier, typical

features of determinatus

- complex words

- e.g. speak-er, re-work, lamp-post = WF

- simple words

- e.g. work, lamp, post = lexicology

WF & its limits

-words formed as grammatical syntagmas (=combinations of full linguistic signs)

-complex words not made up of full linguistic signs (blending, clipping)

-monemes

e.g. conceive, receive, Tuesday, cranberry

WF processes

-compounding

compound x collocation x syntactic group
(adverse claim x sexual assault x assault claim)
orthography
uninflected word base (but sales-oriented)
stress

Types of Compounds

-primary vs. synthetic (no verbal element [shop lamp] vs. verbal element {-er, -ing, -ed} [brown-eyed])

-neoclassical (elements of Greek or Latin origin) (subject to other WF processes [clipping – kilogram > kilo]) vs. classical (still follow original [Greek of Latin] grammar [agriculture (not agerculture)])

-endocentric vs. exocentric

endo- - the meaning of the compound is inward-looking, contained in determinatum (table tennis is a kind of tennis)
exo- - have so-called zero determinatum (redskin is not a kind of skin, but a kind of person), the meaning looks externally (blackshirt, pickpocket, cutthroat), description of people, animals, plants (heal-all)
bahuvrihi (specifically referring to people)

-w/o a connecting element vs. with a connecting element (an interfix)

can be specific vowel (agriculture)
can be meaningful (editor-in-chief, Rent-a-Car)

-syntactic vs. asyntactic

syntactic – follow syntactic rules (pickpocket – someone, who picks pockets)
asyntactic – does not follow syntactic rules (frostbitten – bitten by frost)

-Germanic-type vs. French-type

Germanic – determinans + determinatum
French – determinatum + determinans (attorney general – kind of attorney, not a kind of general)

-coordinative (copulative/dvandva) vs. subordinate

coordinative – both elements are equally important (actor-manager, bittersweet, left-right arguments, mother-daughter relationship, Austria-Hungary)
subordinate – one of the element is more important (‘a kind of’)

Affixation

-affix morpheme added to WF base

-Prefixation

expansion X class-changing affixes
declutch, enthrone, behead (de-, en-, be-)

-Suffixation

speak-er (base form + suffix) (verb > noun)
suffix cannot stand on its own
changes word classes

Conversion

-typical of English

-also zero derivation

-to pocket the money, to finger one’s face

-based on the economy of expression

-very expansive verbs

-explanations

not a WF process, use of word in syntactic function not typical for its word class
zero derivation (zero suffix)
down, like, round – acquire word class in the process of sentence-generation
based on conceptual recategorization

-total vs. partial conversion

partial conversion
can be used only in limited forms of the converted class
thethen president – not predicative, *very then, etc.

-“There is no noun that can’t be verbed.” (McArthur)

-where to find

journalism (esp. American – to interview sb), Shakespeare

-limits to conversion

if a verb has a specific verbal ending (modify), not likely to change into noun

Back formation

-lazylaze (= craze crazy)

-based on analogy

-difficulty ( < difficulté[Fr]) > difficult

-cherries, peas (< pisum [La]) > cherry, pea

-peddlertopeddle

-synchronically – suffixation

-historically – reanalysis

Blending

-‘portmanteau words’/blends

-smog (smoke + foke), Oxbridge (Oxford + Cambridge), brunch (breakfast + lunch), electrocute

-Roo-mania

Shortening of complex words

-does not make new words

-Clipping

taking away something

back clipping ad advertisement, lab, pro, brandy, high-tech, Will
fore clipping burger < hamburger, gator, Becky, Ginny < Virginia
fore and aft clipping flu < influenza, tec < detective, Lex < Alexander, Liz < Elisabeth
Aus + NZ E – adding suffixes (+ Willie)

-Acronyms

letter acronyms – NATO
syllabic acronyms – ASDA
radar, laser, scuba
MADD – Mothers Against Drink Driving
DAMM – Drivers Against Mad Mothers
byob – bring your own bottle
INRI – IesusNazarenus Rex Iudaeorum
ARC – AIDS (Acquired Immunity Deficiency Syndrome) Related Complex
WASP – White Anglo-Saxon Protestant

Reduplication

-combination of two similar or same elements

-ping-pong

-by mere repetition

girly-girly, no-no

-ablaut combinations

chit-chat, ping-pong, tip-top, criss-cross, hocus-pocus

-rhyme combinations

walkie-talkie, willy-nilly [volky-nevolky]

Lexicalization

-acceptation of a new word by speakers

nonce formation (creating the word for specific needs based on situation)
institutionalization (accepting the word)
lexicalization proper (losing its former syntactic base)

Lexical Semantics

-lexicology

-lexicography

Extralinguistic reality

-amorphous vs. discrete

amorphous
there is a continuant, there are no limits

-different distinctions in different languages

stream vs. river, hill vs. mountain, plant vs. weed

-also in different groups (children/adults, illiterate/educated, philosophers…)

-there is no direct relation between the sign and the meaning (de Saussure – signifiant and signifié)

-different cultures may not feel the need to distinguish, or distinguish on different levels

-colour spectrum

different cultures distinguish different basic colours
e.g. dark/light; dark/light/red; …

Word

-sequence of sounds (phonological word)

-word ends with spaces around it (orthographical word)

-contains no smaller unit able to stand on its own

you can’t change the sequence of units in word and preserve the meaning

-in analytical languages words are not so strictly connected to word classes (as opposed to synthetic languages)

Lexemes/lexical units

-abstractions (in CAPITALS)

TABLE – table x tables
morphological changes not important to lexicology

-may be a phrase

Meaning: notional core + periphery (denotation + connotations)

-denotation – the meaning of the word itself outside of context

-connotations – other senses of the word

Central (focal) vs. metaphorical

-central – what comes to mind first

table, head

-metaphorical – based on the central

head – person representing some constitution

-denotations are quite similar in different languages, but connotations are very different

Components of meaning

-denotation (signification)

CAT- a feral animal

-connotation

stylistic layer (territorial, social, stylistic, temporal)
a black cat…

-association

idiosyncratic, personal
feeling about cats (e.g. love/hate)

-relational features (converseness)

relationships to other words
e.g. buy – sell (when somebody buys, somebody else sells)
cat – CAT – cat, leopard, lion…
pussycat – tomcat

-inferential meaning

kiss  a mouth

meaning vs. sense

-sense

more precise

//polysemous words – words with many meanings

signification

-what the word means

designation

-what it relates to

What does it take to know a word?

-denotation

-connotation

-inner structure

-collocability

-paradigmatic relations

-paratactic classification (taxonomy)

classifying the word into certain semantic category

-distribution and frequency

Motivation and arbitrariness

-Ogden and Richard: semiotic triangle

concerning the signs

meaning

/ \

sign (word) form ------> object [extralinguistic world] (referent)

-linguistic sign

signifiant + signifié (physical form + referent)
icon X index X symbol
icon
direct similarity (photograph)
index
one things implies another (fire + smoke)
symbol
no relation between signifiant and signifié

transparency X opaqueness
getable vs. accessible

Semasiology vs. Onomasiology

-start from form and end with meaning vs. start from meaning and end with form

-semasiology(form  meaning)

polysemy
use of antonymy to find out whether the word is polysemous or not
manvs 1. woman 2. child 3. animal
economy of language
homonymy
several meanings, unrelated words
real homonyms
bar – 1. (<barrer, Fr. – obstacle) something which prevents enter 2. a unit of pressure (baros, Gr.)
bank – 1. place where you put your money 2. place by river
homophones
same sound, but different spelling
course vs. coarse, manor vs. manner, threw vs. through
homographs
same spelling, different sound
wind [wind] vs. wind [waind]
interlanguage homonyms (faux amis)
similar form, but different meanings
//J. Hladký – Zrádnáslova v angličtině//

-onomasiology (meaning  form)

synonymy
same or nearly the same meaning
laughter – laugh, father – dad (only in denotations, father [priest]≠dad)
absolute synonyms
sciences
common nouns for plants vs. botanic names
usually difference in at least one seme (meaning)
jump vs. leap (leap incorporates “change vertical position”)
may have stylistic, emotional connotations (break vs. smash – smash is marked, includes violence)
antonymy
oppositeness of meaning
contradictory antonyms
binary relationships
above vs. below, left vs. right, death vs. life
hyponymy, hyperonymy

Componential analysis

-finding out semes included in the word

-based on binary questions

-boy

+ HUMAN
+ MALE
– ADULT

-potential semes

present only in some meanings of the word

Centre vs. periphery

-centre – currently used expressions

-periphery – new words, dated words

Neologisms

-compounding

couch potato
spin doctor (P.R. person, sending messages to the media in order to win the public opinion)

-derivation

yuppie (young urban professional)

-abbreviation

-shift of meaning

-blending

-borrowing

loan words
keeping its original form
lain words
changing its form to match the English (plural, etc.)
school (<schola, L.)

-calque translation

word by word translation (Superman < Übermensch)

//asset-stripping – tunelování//

//bren gun – Brno Enfield//

-coinage / root creation

sometimes names of products (Codac, Google, Hobbit)

Language variations

-the fiction of homogeneity

-variation

synchronic
diachronic

-descriptivism

-prescriptivism

-variety

e.g. British and American English
formal – informal, slang

-common core

things common for all of the varieties
e.g. children (vs. offspring [only in particular style] or kids)

Varieties

-user-related (dialects)

associated with particular people
geographical, temporal, social, gender, age

-use-related (usage / styles / registers)

associated with functions, used in particular context
legal

Dialects

geographical
Cockney (also social)
Cumbria
Estuary
Lancashire
Geordie (NE of England)
Scouse
Yorkshire
the U.S.A.
North
Coastal South
Midland
West

temporal
diachronic
language spoken at different times
Shakespearean English vs. modern English

social
social classes
ethnicity
African-American English, Chicano English, RP

Kachru
Indian linguistic
English as three concentric circles
inner circle
English as native language
second circle
English as native language, but also other native language
third circle
speakers who use English as second language

standard or non-standard
standard
'supranational'
not considered regional

idiolectal
manner of speech specific to individual

age
e.g. different diction

sex / gender
'powerful' vs. 'powerless'

Standard

- 1476 William Caxton

printing press
unification of spelling

originally a regional dialect

considered English standard

ca 3-5% speakers in England

Registers

situations
religious
journalism
at work
…
adoption of different styles

field/domain
subject matter of the situation
e.g. science, advertising, law etc.

tenor
relation between the speaker and hearer
e.g. friend to friend, etc.

mode
textual organization of the message
e.g. choice between written or spoken medium
thematic organization

Disciplines

sociolinguistics

diachronic linguistics

dialectology
1876 Georg Wenker
no clear distinction between Low and High German
lots of transitional areas
natural barriers may result in creation of dialects
1903-10 Jules Gilliéron
linguistic atlas

Dialectology - basic concepts

dialect continuum

dialect levelling
due to standard, media, greater movement of people…
greater uniformity

isogloss
imaginary line on a map separating two distinct occurrences of language

wave theory of language change
centre & periphery
features emanate from centre to periphery

diglossia - sociolinguistics
state when speakers have two different language varieties
L
low variety
vernacular
H
high variety
used in formal context

language contact

Pidgin
auxiliary languages
enabling communication between people with different language background
business,

Creole
Pidgin becoming mother tongue

Standard English

past: King's/Queen's English

prestigious variety
print standards
educational & standard English

standard Englishes
British models
RP - conservative, general (BBC), advanced
now called BBC English (+= no social class implied)

BBC English
RP accent
BBC - 1922
Advisory Committee on Spoken Language - 1926
recommend policy on words disputed in the society
based on the public school pronunciation
BBC Pronunciation Unit - 1940s
after war - non RP accents
1989 - regional variations in World Service

Cockney

anybody born within the sound of St. Mary-le-Bow Church bells

pronunciation
th > f
th > v
h > 0
at the beginning of words h in front of initial vowels to emphasise
diphthongization
eiai
aioi
glottal stop (ráz)
t, k in the middle and at the end of words butter > bu'er
linking r
syllabic final l > vocalization [u]

syntax
double negatives
question tags to invite agreement
dropping of prepositions to, at

vocabulary
Cockney rhyming slang
slang
words originating in e.g. Yiddish
minced oaths and euphemisms
Blimey! < God blind me!
sometimes -o endings
backslang (yob < boy)

Estuary

1984
common among young people in London and around London
something between RP and Cockney

accent

[l] > [w]
sometimes disappears completely
glottal stop
[i:] in word final position (citee instead of city)

Pidgins and creoles

contact languages between language of colonizators and the original inhabitants

pidginization
simplifying of languages > creation of pidgin
creolization
creating greater complexity in pidgin, creating creole

TokPisin

reduced distinct phonemes [s] for [sh], [p] for [f] (no distinction between e.g. ship and sip)
no [r]
voiced > unvoiced
grammar
no plural (plural marker - prepositioning 'ol')
no tense markers (use of adverbials to indicate tense)
universal pronoun 'em'
dual, trial number
adjectives created by -pela (<fellow)
transitive verbs -im (<him)

Pragmatics

'a wastebasket of linguistics'
C. W. Morris
syntax
relationship of signs to other signs
semantics
relationship of signs to the objects
pragmatics
relationship of signs to their interpreters (users)

philosophy of language --> 2 theories

speech act theory
conversational implicature (logic of conversation / co-operative principle)

the study of speaker meaning
the study of contextual meaning
the study of how more gets communicated than is said
the study of solidarity and distance

Disciplines

universal pragmatics
language-specific pragmatic
(E: frequency of discourse markers; Jap: honorifics)
contrastive pragmatics
cross-cultural pragmatics
inter-language pragmatics
2nd language learners - 'getting our pragmatics wrong' and revealing the social outsider in us

Basic concepts

speaker meaning
utterance
context
not only immediately relevant 'co-text'
also e.g. situational context
and cultural context
speech act
speech event

presupposition
something the initiator of communication assumes to be the case prior to making utterances
I've spoken to John on the underground.
entailment (logical implicature)
logically follows from what is stated in the utterance
I've never been to Liverpool. (>can entail: I'd like to go, I don't know much about Liverpool…)
implicature
speaker-oriented (S communicates meaning via implicature)
inference
listener recognises the meaning (decodes the implicit meaning)

speakerimplicature > utterance < inference < listener