Title: The Origins and Development of the English Language Chapter 1: Language and the English Language
1The Origins and Development of the English
Language Chapter 1 Language and the English
Language
- John Algeo
- Michael Cheng
- National Chengchi University
2A Definition of Language
- Language is a system of conventional vocal signs
by means of which human beings communicate. - System
- Signs
- Vocal
- Conventional
- Human
- Communicate
3Language as System
- Language is not a collection of words, like a
dictionary - There are rules or patterns that relate the words
to one another - Duality of patterning
- Meaningful units Words and words parts
- Adam liked apples.
- Meaningless components Sounds of letter
- About 35 basic sounds in English
4Language as System
- Duality of patterning lets people build an
immensely large number of meaningful words out of
only a handful of meaningless sounds. (p. 2) - Meaningless Components sound system or phonology
- Meaningful Units lexis or vocabulary
grammatical system or morphosyntax
5Language as System
- Patterns in the sound system
- mb never occurs at the beginning or end of words
in Modern English - Lexis is least systematic, but there are
collocations. - mild and gentle vs. lenient
- mild weather gentle breeze severe case of the
flu severe judgment lenient judgment lenient
case of the flu - More stuff can be added to bridge to next slide
6Language as System (Elaborate)
- Grammatical Signals The grammatical system of
any language has various techniques for relating
words to one another within the structure of a
sentence. - Most important
- 1. Parts of speech noun, verb, adjective, adverb
- 2. Affixes prefixes, suffixes, inflectional
suffixes - 3. Concord or agreement
- 4. Word order
- 5. Function words
- 6. Prosodic signals
7Language as System
8Language Signs
- The system organizes signs
- Signs stand for something else
- apple stands for the actual object
- Tell me a really long word.
- Linguistic signs can be smaller or larger than
whole words.
9Language Signs
- The smallest linguistic sign is a morpheme, which
is a meaningful form that cannot be divided into
smaller meaningful parts (p. 5) - Free morphemes can be used alone as words
- Bound morphemes must be combined with other
morphemes to make words. - Reactivation re-act-ive-ate-ion
- (again) (adj)(v) (n)
10Language Signs
- Morphemes can have more than one pronunciation or
spelling - Plural noun ending -s/-es s,z,?z
- Spoken variations are allomorphs
11Language Signs
- Base morphemes and affixes
- Affix is a bound morpheme that is added to a
base morpheme - Affixes can be prefixes or suffixes
- reactivation
- Base morphemes are usually free
- Insulate (insula ate) insula lat. island
- Compound word with more than one base morpheme
- firefighter
12Language Signs
- Language signs can be larger than words
- Idioms a combination of words whose meaning
cannot be predicted from those of its constituent
parts (p. 6)
13Language as Speech
- Language is basically oral-aural
- Produced by the mouth and received by the ear
- Sounds follow one another sequentially
- Language is one dimensional
- Other ways of expressing language
- writing, sign language
- What are the advantages and disadvantages of
other ways of expressing language?
14Language as Speech
- Writing vs. Speech
- Which is primary and which is secondary?
15Language as Speech Writing as Speech
- Humans have been writing for 5000 years
- Writing developed from speech and is meant to
represent speech - Some spoken languages have no written form
- We talk before we write
- We have to take special effort to learn to write
- Many people who can speak are unable to write
16Language as Speech
- If speaking makes us human, writing makes us
civilized. - Advantages of writing
- Permanent
- Indicates pauses more clearly
- Grade A vs. gray day
- Pretty hot day vs. pretty, hot day
17Language as Speech Writing as Speech
- Deficiencies of writing
- Cant indicate pitch
- Why did you do it? (rising vs. falling)
- sound quality (tone vs. quality)
- incense (enrage vs. stuff to burn)
- sewer (tailor vs. conduit)
18Language as Speech Writing as Speech
- Homonyms homographs, homophones
- Transliteration
- Translation
- Orthography Writing system
19Language as Speech Gestures and Speech
- Gestures can communicate also
- Speech may have developed from gestures
- Gestures can be unconscious
- Kinesics study of communicative body movement
- Tone of voice
- Paralanguage parallel communication that
accompanies language
20Language as Convention
- Language is mostly conventional and arbitrary
- There is usually no reason we connect the sounds
we make with a particular meaning, but each
language agrees on what particular sounds mean - Exception echoic words/onomatopoeia
- Bow wow, gnaf-gnaf, wau-wau
21Language as Convention Language Change
- Language changes because it is culturally
transmitted - Causes of language change
- Syntagmatic change nearby elements influence one
another within the flow of speech - sandwich
22Language as Convention Language Change
- Paradigmatic or Associative Change
- Words can be affected by other words that are not
immediately present but with which they are
associated
23Language as Convention Language Change
- Starboard Right
- Ladeboard Left
- Ladeboard ? Larboard ? Port
24Language as Convention Language Change
- Social Change
- Language changes because of the influence of
events in the world - New technology google
- New forms of behavior suicide bomber, sexting
- Contact with new people and cultures
25Language as Convention The Notion of
Linguistic Corruption
26Language as Convention Language Variation
- Language exists in many varieties
- Historical or diachronic variation
- Contemporary or synchronic variation
- Dialects mutually intelligible forms of
language associated with particular regions or
groups - Dialect Language associated with a certain
place, social level, ethnic group, sex, age - Registers Variations according to participants,
settings, and topics - Register Variety of language used for a certain
purpose sermon, restaurant, telephone, postcard
27Language as Convention Registers
28Language as Convention Registers
- Joos (1961) cited in Wikipedia
- Frozen Printed unchanging language such as bible
quotations often contains archaisms. - Formal One-way participation, no interruption.
Technical vocabulary "Fussy semantics" or exact
definitions are important. Includes introductions
between strangers. (This is the standard for
work, school, and business.) - Consultative Two-way participation. Background
information is provided prior knowledge is not
assumed. "Backchannel behaviour" such as "uh
huh", "I see", etc. is common. Interruptions
allowed. (Formal Register used in conversations.) - Casual In-group friends and acquaintances. No
background information provided. Ellipsis and
slang common. Interruptions common. (Language
used in conversation with friends.) - Intimate Non-public. Intonation more important
than wording or grammar. Private vocabulary.
(Language between lovers (and twins).)
29- Dialects and registers provide options
- Alternate ways to communicate depending on the
circumstances
30Language as Convention Correctness and
Acceptability
- Correctness Idea that some form of English is
pure or correct. - Language isnt so clean cut
- Acceptability Degree to which users will judge
an expression to be OK, or will not notice
anything out of the ordinary - How acceptable? To whom?
31Language as Convention Correctness and
Acceptability
- If I were in your shoes
- If I was in your shoes
- If we was in your shoes
- ate
- et
- et
32Language as Human
- Gestures may have preceded language
- Ability to learn language is innate
- Children below 9 can learn a new language better
than their native language - Children of about 5 have mastered comprehension
of most grammatical forms of a language (but
still continue to improve)
33Language as Human Animals in the wild, do they
communicate?
- Informative behavior vs. Communicative behavior
- Do you intend an action to inform?
- Alarm cries are signaling behavior but not
intentionally communicative - Do animals display deceptive behavior?
- Innate, involuntary, limited in number
34Language as Human
- Conditioning vs. Intentionality
- Clever Hans
- Some birds can mimic human sounds
35Language as Human
- Closest human relatives are apes
- Teaching apes to talk has been a complete failure
- Problem is anatomical
- Alternatives to speech include signing and
writing - Apes are capable of forming paired associates
linking an object with an arbitrary symbol
(Holzman, 1997)
36Language as Human
- Sarah used plastic tokens to communicate
- Lana typed messages
- Washoe used Ameslan
- Kanzi used lexagrams
- Is this real communication?
37Language as Communication
- Relationship between language and thought
- Language is clothing for thought and thought is
quite independent of the language used to express
it - Thought is merely suppressed language, and when
we are thinking, we are just talking under our
breath
38Language as Communication
- Whorf hypothesis
- The language we speak influences the way we think
about the world and the way we perceive it - Sorting colored chips into piles
- Usually make as many piles as basic color terms
in your language - Australian Bushman give directions by NWSE
39Other Characteristics of Language
- Open you can make up new combinations of words
that no one has made before - Displaced you can talk about things that are not
present abstract, lie, - Entertaining it is not just utilitarian, you can
joke, tell stories, etc.
40Why Study the History of English?
- To understand how things are, it is often helpful
to know how they got that way (p. 18) - Many of the irregularities of English are
remnants of earlier regular patterns - Clarify literature written in earlier periods
41- Keats description of sculptured effigies on
tombs - The sculpturd dead, on each side, seemed to
freeze - Emprisond in black, purgatorial rails.
42Exercises