Reading 1: Linguistics 1103/2103

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1 Reading 1: Linguistics 1103/2103 Phil Branigan Directory Table of Contents Begin Article Copyright c 2000 Last Revision Date: September 3, 2008

2 Table of Contents 1. A Linguist s Perpective 1.1. Fundamentals 1.2. Focussing on the essentials 1.3. The central goals of linguistics 2. Technical background 3. Parts of speech 3.1. Nouns 3.2. Verbs 3.3. Adjectives 3.4. Grammatical functions

3 Section 1: A Linguist s Perpective 3 1. A Linguist s Perpective 1.1. Fundamentals The word language is used in many ways by different people. Lawyers are familiar with legal language ; computer programmers use programming languages ; cheesy poets and songwriters use the language of love. Scientists interested in communication systems of bees or birds refer to these as languages. When linguists use the word language, they are usually referring to a specific human activity, one in which one person speaks and another (or a group) hears what is spoken. The study of this activity is the foundation for the science of linguistics. If we try to describe what happens in this type of activity, there are some common elements which we always seem to find. What is being said may be a familar phrase or something completely novel. There are a regular groups of sounds or sound patterns ( words ) which are produced in the mouth of the person speaking. 1 And the people who hear these sounds automatically understand them, which must mean that some sort of meanings or meaning patterns show up somewhere in their brains as a consequence of hearing these sound patterns. 1 For visual languages used by hearing-impaired people, there are analogous regular gestural patterns.

4 Section 1: A Linguist s Perpective 4 Much of language is... sound patterns meaning patterns (in the brain) (in the brain) The different parts of this diagram correspond to different areas of study within linguistics. sound patterns are studied in phonology meaning patterns are studied in semantics : sound and meaning are connected by grammar, which forms linguistic structures, such as words, phrases, and sentences. These are studied in morphology and syntax Focussing on the essentials In order to get a clear picture of what is most important in language, linguists normally choose to focus on some parts of linguistic activity and to ignore other parts which seem less fundamental. The term linguistic competence refers to the mental abilities people have which allow them to use language.

5 Section 1: A Linguist s Perpective 5 Linguistic competence includes: linguistic abilities of normal adult human beings: ability to form and pronounce linguistic expressions, including novel expressions ability to understand linguistic expressions, including novel ones ability to distinguish between those linguistic expressions which are properly formed (in their own language) and those which are not Linguists consider that much of our linguistic competence is biological in origin. Much of the evidence for this comes from witnessing how children acquire their native language(s). Facts about language development in normal circumstances, children from any culture will somehow acquire the ability to use the language or languages of their community children acquire language without special training, or explicit instruction children acquire language with great speed

6 Section 1: A Linguist s Perpective 6 It seems that spoken language is a natural faculty of human beings. Linguistics is concerned primarily with this natural faculty. It makes sense then to treat some things which are related to language as less significant in understanding what this natural faculty involves. One aspect of language which seems peripheral to the main concerns of linguists is written language. Although writing is certainly valuable and important, it differs from spoken language in several crucial respects. Writing is not a necessary part of language many languages have no written form. Writing itself is a relatively recent invention in human history, unlike spoken language. And the acquisition of the ability to write follows a completely different course from spoken language. People normally need explicit instruction to learn to write, which is never the case with speaking. Everyone has an easy time acquiring spoken language; people vary widely in how easily they acquire reading and writing skills. Some people never become fluent readers or writers. Other facts about language use are still less significant for most linguists, because they do not seem to reflect the properties of the natural faculty of spoken language. Peripheral issues... correct usage (spelling, punctuation, rules of formal grammar) not acquired naturally: explicit instruction is necessary

7 Section 2: Technical background 7 accidental patterns of language use slips of the tongue or other speech errors language use distorted by pathology, fatigue, intoxication, etc The central goals of linguistics To sum up, the primary goals of linguistics are to learn the main properties of spoken languages, and to discover why they are what they are. In syntax and morphology, which are concerned with the grammar of languages, the goals are: to describe and understand what abilities naturally lie in the human brain which give rise to: creation of (novel) linguistic expressions understanding of (novel) linguistic expressions well-formedness judgements for (novel) linguistic expressions 2. Technical background To make steady progress, we need some basic terminology and concepts, involving: parts of speech, and

8 Section 3: Parts of speech 8 grammatical functions 3. Parts of speech Words can be divided into grammatical categories, depending on how they behave in different contexts. Words are either function words or content words. Function words are used to do specific grammatical jobs. They are limited in number, and often carry small amounts of meaning. Examples: the, a, and, or, if, that. Function words are divided into smaller grammatical categories, such as Determiner, Conjunction, Complementiser, etc. (These will be discussed in more detail when their role in syntax is discussed later on.) Content words are used to express most ideas. They comprise the vast majority of the words in any language, and express specific concepts. Examples: house, water, run, sleep, dream, green, huge, quietly, beside, behind. In many languages, content words can be divided into 5 grammatical categories: Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives, Adverbs, and Prepositions Nouns Nouns can be:

9 Section 3: Parts of speech 9 proper nouns (names): Carlie, Angela, Jim, Montreal pronouns: she, us, them, it, me common nouns: dog, fish, idea, quark, sincerity Many common nouns can combine with determiners: the, a, this, every. For example: the fish, every quark, this idea Most common nouns have plural forms. dogs, ideas, mice, feet If a word combines with determiners or if it has a plural form, it is safe to conclude that it is a noun Verbs Verbs typically describe events (things which happen) or situations: look, love, lurch Verbs often have past and progressive forms. Present Past Progressive hunt hunted hunting consider considered considering drink drank drinking

10 Section 3: Parts of speech 10 If you can make a past and a progressive form of a word, then it is likely to be a verb Adjectives Adjectives usually identify qualities which are found in objects, people, or other nouny ideas: small, wet, interesting, aggressive, crowded. Adjectives can be used as comparatives or superlatives, either by adding endings to the word or by using the adjective together with more or most. early, earlier, earliest young, younger, youngest intelligent, more intelligent, most intelligent (Adverbs also have comparative and superlative forms, so be careful in using this as a test for grammatical category.) Many adjectives can appear in between a determiner and a common noun. this young turtle every blue jeep Both of these tests can tell you whether a word is an adjective.

11 Section 3: Parts of speech 11 Prepositions Prepositions are usually small words which refer to notions involving time or space: to, from, beside, before, after, since. Identifying prepositions Most prepositions appear before a noun (or noun phrase). after you before sunset since the revolution to the cleaners Adverbs Adverbs often express ideas about time, manner, reason, likelihood, or value of some event or situation. time manner reason likelihood value Pam left immediately. The jugglers bowed politely. Sally opened the door deliberately. Beth will probably bring chips. Fortunately, Cliff had a spare.

12 Section 3: Parts of speech 12 Identifying adverbs many English adverbs end in -ly adverbs are not nouns, verbs, adjectives or prepositions 3.4. Grammatical functions Grammatical functions Besides their grammatical categories, the parts of an individual sentence can be classified according to their grammatical function. Grammatical functions include notions like: subject, object, principal verb and a variety of others. Grammatical functions for verbs In English, every sentence (and every clause) contains at least one verb. Some sentences contain multiple verbs: the principal verb and one or more auxiliary verbs. In the following sentences, the principal verb is in bold-face type and the auxiliary verbs are italicised. The fox ate the chicken The fox has eaten the chicken The fox may have eaten the chicken The fox may have been eating the chicken

13 Section 3: Parts of speech 13 Normally, the principal verb is the rightmost verb. All verbs to the left of the principal verb are auxiliary verbs (in a simple sentence) Verbs which function both as principal verbs and as auxiliaries The verbs have and be are used as principal verbs in some sentences, and as auxiliaries in others. used as principal verbs used as auxiliary verbs John has 3 sisters. John may have 3 sisters. Sheila is tired. Sheila should be tired. Siobhan had taken a bow. Siobhan should have taken a bow. Rick is learning Mohawk. Rick will have been learning Mohawk.

14 Section 3: Parts of speech 14 Verbs used only as auxiliaries Some English verbs are only used as auxiliaries the future marker: will modal verbs: can, could, shall, should, may, might, would Grammatical functions for nouns Nouns can have 4 different grammatical functions in an English sentence: subject object object of a preposition possessor Subjects The subject of a sentence is the noun (or noun phrase) which appears before the verb in a simple sentence. I shot the sheriff. The deputy was chasing me.

15 Section 3: Parts of speech 15 Objects The object of a sentence is the noun (or noun phrase) which appears immediately after the verb. I shot the sheriff. The deputy was chasing me. Double object structures Sometimes, a verb can be immediately followed by two nouns (or noun phrases) We baked them a cake. The bartender poured the boys another shot. the first object (on the left) is the indirect object the second object is the direct object Objects of prepositions Nouns which are neither subjects nor objects may appear following a preposition. This grammatical function is called an object of a preposition. We were speaking with Gabrielle. Mary sent a parcel to Marco. Scott conducted interviews with everyone about the incident.

16 Section 3: Parts of speech 16 objects of prepositions may appear with or without normal objects in a sentence there may be multiple objects of prepositions in a sentence Possessors Nouns which appear immediately to the left of other nouns are often possessors. Judy s job looks stressful. We should visit your aunt. The problem s solution was obvious only to Beth s roommate. proper and common nouns which are possessors are marked (in English writing) with s pronouns which are possessors are called possessive pronouns