English Linguistics 1

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Programme

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1 Introduction: Linguistics and everyday life/ language

1.1 English at play: –Children's rhymes–Rebus, puns

1.2 Folk linguistics: –Popular beliefs about language–Folk etymology1.3 What is linguistics?–The scope of linguistics–Linguistics vs. traditional grammar

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1. Introduction: Linguistics and everyday life/language

1.1 English at play: Children's rhymes

HUMPty DUMPty SAT on a WALL HUMPty DUMPty HAD a great FALLALL the king's HORSes and ALL the king's MENCOULDn't put HUMPty toGETHer aGAIN

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Observations on stress, rhythm, rhyme (phonetics)

• four beats/stresses in a line• number of unstressed: varies from 1 to 2• principle of isochrony:

'distance' (duration) between stresses relatively regular

• effect on unstressed syllables: compressed, spoken 'faster', reduced forms!

• stress timed rhythm (vs. syllable timed rhythm)

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After having kissed Pamela John collapsed. AFter having KISSED PAMela JOHN colLAPSED

• stress timed rhythm• tendency towards equal length of stress

groups

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• rhyme in early children's verse: aa, bb etc. • why not ab, ab, cd, cd etc.?

• psycholinguistic explanation: short time memory working memory cannot 'save' meanings long enough to recognize distant rhymesadults: 5-9 units (words, phrases)

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example for high demands on the working memory:German: verb final position + verb separation

Die Studentin, die für die Prüfung zwar gelernt, sich aber wenig gemerkt hatte, weil sie während des Lernens Schmerzen gehabt hatte, welche von einem lange Zeit unbehandelten Zahn herrührten, ... trat zur Prüfung nicht an.

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Rebus, puns• Rebus

Representation of names, words by pictures or signs suggesting their syllables Xmas Christmas X for initial chi of Greek

Khristos x(xxx)U2 Bar-B-Q 4-sale, 4U

symbolizes kiss(es) you toobarbecuefor sale, for you

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O I C

Ped Xing

RU 18

U R 2 GOOD 2 B 4GOT10

Oh, I see

pedestrian crossing

Are you 18?

You are too good to beforgotten.

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• Puns use of words or phrases or structures with more than one meaning

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First shoot your dog

then freeze it.

(headline in printed ad)

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First shoot your dog then freeze it.

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Fig. 1-1a

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Fig. 1-1b

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to shoot

1. to kill or injure s.o. using a gun2. to take photographs or make a film of s.th.

to freeze

1. to make food extremely cold …2. to produce a still …

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tied up1. fastened by

strings, ropes2. metaphorical:

to be busy

Fig. 1-2

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People are saying PLAYERS PLEASE more than ever.

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People are saying PLAYERS PLEASE more than ever. Syntactic ambiguityN (Object) + Interjection'People buy more Players cigarettes than ever before' N (Subject) + Verb (Predicate)'Players are pleasing cigarettes'

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Guest: Waiter, what's this fly doing in my soup?Waiter: Looks like the breast-stroke, sir.

pragmatically motivated punmeaning as a consequence of situational context; response logically possible but not adequate for the situation

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1.2 Folk linguisticsPopular beliefs about languageoften stereotypes:

• all languages decay (e.g. E, G; Latin, Greek are closest to the ideal language)

• written language is more correct than spoken language

• dialects are corrupted varieties of the standard language

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• Some languages aremore beautifulmore logicalmore primitivemore cultivated ...

than others.

judgements based on social standing and on prescriptive attitudes

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• Folk etymology

etymology: facts relating to the historical development of form and meaning of words

folk etymology:modifying a word's form to make it seem to be derived from familiar words

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Ex.: etymologyOE fugel, fugol (800)ME vuhel (1175)

fouxl (1300)foule (1381) Chaucerfowle (1485) Caxton

ModE fowl (2006)'bird, especially a chicken, that is kept for its meat andeggs'(G Geflügel, E poultry)

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E. Rotten row ← F. route du roiE. Marylbone (Road) ← F. Marie-la-bonne

'Maria, die Gute'E. sparrow grass ←asparagus

'Spargel' E. lance-knight ← G. Landsknecht

reinterpretation of first component: lance, replacement of second ~ by etymologically similar: knight

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bridegroom ← OE brydguma 'Bräutigam'← bryde, E. bride 'Braut'← guma 'Mann' - extinct associated with E. groom 'Pferdepfleger; Diener'

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Reinterpretation of morphological boundaries

lone ← alone, me. al(l) one, 'einsam', G 'allein'

adder ← a nadder, G. 'Natter'umpire ← a nompere, a nounpere;

lat. non par, G. 'Schiedsrichter'beginning of a word interpreted as indefinite article

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North Riding, East Riding, West Riding

names of three districts in Yorkshire; originally me. thriding 'Drittel',

assimilation of th to preceding th or t → incorrect boundaries

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reinterpretation due to assimilationassimilation: a sound changes because of the effect of another sound next to it

Sherry ← sherris (Shakespeare) ← Xeres 'city' and 'wine from Xeres'

misinterpretation of a singular form as a plural

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1.3 What is linguistics?

Because of crucial importance of the ability to communicate / use language adequately the study of language has increased in many disciplines, e.g. psychology, neurology, sociology, anthropology, teaching professions, speech therapy, computer sciences etc.

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one of the fastest-expanding branches of knowledge linguistics - the systematic study of language

tries to answer basic questions, such as'What is language?''How does language work?'

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these lead to more specific questions:

'What do all languages have in common?''What range of variation is found among languages/ Where do languages differ?''How does human communication differ from

animal communication?''How does a child learn to speak?''How do we learn second or third languages?'

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'Why are children better in acquiring a foreign language than adults?'

'How and why do languages change?''Are social class differences reflected in language?''How is language used to persuade?''Will the spread of English cause the death of

other languages?'etc.

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What is a linguist?

linguist (E) She's an excellent linguist.

(1) student of linguistics ( 1. Student, 2. Forscher)

(2) s.o. proficient in several languages (~ 'Sie ist sprachlich hochbegabt')

Linguist (G)s.o. (1)

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linguistic (E)(1) linguistic skill, minorityrefers to language (sprachliche Fertigkeit etc.)(2) linguistic analysisrefers to linguistics

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1.3.1 Scope of linguistic analysis / Bereiche der linguistischen Analyse

• Pronunciation/ Aussprache: phonetics and phonology/ Phonetik und Phonologie

• Structure of words: morphology/ Morphologie• Sentences: syntax/ Syntax• Meanings: semantics/ Semantik• Textual cohesion: text linguistics/ Textlinguistik• Utterance and context: pragmatics/ Pragmatik

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Fig. 1-3 The scope of linguistics, Aitchison 1999, 7

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• Diachronic vs. synchronic analysis(a) diachronic:historical perspective, development, change etc.

• (b) synchronic:analysis of the linguistic system at a particular point of time.This includes for instance also Old English around 1000 A.D.

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However, in widespread (sloppy) use the following characterizations apply:

• diachronic historical varieties, e.g. Old E., Middle E.

• synchronic modern varieties

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1.3.2 How does linguistics differ from traditional grammar (school grammar)?

1. descriptive / deskriptiv (linguistics) vs. prescriptive / präskriptiv (traditional grammar)

grammatically unacceptable: e.g.• ain't for am not, is not, have not etc.• different from etc.• split infinitive - to humbly apologize

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2. spoken vs. written language/ gesprochene vs. geschriebene Sprachelinguistics:

• separate systems• primacy of spoken language

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• 3. intrinsic or universal vs. Latin framework of description/intrinsischer oder universaler vs. lateinischer Beschreibungsrahmen

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examples: descriptive vs. prescriptive grammar

• Who´s there? - It´s me.• He is bigger than me.• Who(m) did you ask?

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• She gave him the book. (StE)• She gave it to him. (SE) = school grammar• She gave him it. (unusual)• She gave it him. (very common indeed in NE)

• Put your coat on! (SE)• Put on your coat! (ScottishE, NE)

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