Introduction to English Linguistics Kohn, Watts, Winkler · O’Grady, W. et al. Contemporary...

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Introduction to English Linguistics

Kohn, Watts, Winkler

SS06-PartIIIVLS02

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Orientierungsprüfung:

Freitag, 21.07.06 15 Uhr, R. 406

1. Orientierungsprüfungsformulare vor R. 464 (bitte 2-fach ausfüllen)2. Studienbuch, Scheine plus Stammdatenblätter mitbringen!

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WEB-BASED ASSESSMENT:The final web-based assessement follows the structure of our lecture. It is divided into three thematic parts (or "quizzes"). For each quiz the maximum score is 100. To pass the assessment, you need a minimum of 70 scores in each quiz.

1. Language and Discourse2. Phonetics and Phonology3. Structural Aspects of Meaning

The assessment will be open from July 28th (8 am) until August 14th 2006 (10 pm)

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Course Notes:

These are available on the web:http://homepages.uni-tuebingen.de/susanne.winklerSelect: Course Notes

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Course Books:

Syntax:

Radford, A. (2004) English Syntax: An Introduction. Cambridge University Press.

Morphology and Syntax:

O’Grady, W. et al. Contemporary Linguistics: An Introduction. New York: St. Martin’s Press. (3rd, 4th, or 5th edition).

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Assignments

1. Read Radford (2004), Chapter 1.

2. Register for the web-based assessment test:

http://www.es-courseportal.de

3. Reread „Course Notes“


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Today:

Approaches to English Grammar

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What is linguistics?

The study of language is the study of one aspect of human psychology, that is the human mind.

Introduction to English Syntax

Definition: Linguistics is the science of natural (i.e. human) language.

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What do we do when we study a language?

Three basic questions:

1. What constitutes knowledge of language?

2. How is knowledge of language acquired?

3. How is knowledge of language put to use?


What exactly is “knowledge of language”?

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The learner’s view:What’s in a language?

1. Sounds (Phonetics/Phonology and Meaning)

2. Words (Morphology and Meaning)

3. Sentences (Syntax and Meaning)

4. Utterances (Discourse and Meaning)


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Slips of the Tongue:What are they and what can they tell us?

When you say something by accident -something which you did not mean or plan to say - you have made a slip of the tongue.


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Slips of the Tongue:What can they tell us?

Slips of the tongue can provide an insight intolanguage planning and production.


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Slip of the Tongue 01: Phonetics

"What does it mean when 25 percent of our childrenin Harlem have asthma because of hair pollution? We can do better. America can do better. And helpis on the way." (John Kerry)


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Phonetics

Definition:

The study of the inventory and structure of the sounds of language.

(O‘Grady et al.)


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Phonology

Definition:

The component of a grammar made up of the elements and principles that determinehow sounds pattern in a language.

(O‘Grady et al.)


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Slip of the Tongue 02:Morphology or Semantics?

"...but to strengthen American forces that arenow overstretched, overextended, and underpressure, we will double our special forces to conduct terrorist operations...." (John Kerry)


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Q1: What did Kerry intend to say?


Q2: How do we know?

Q3: How can we characterize anti- ?

Q4: Where does anti- occur?Q5: What does anti- mean?

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The morpheme anti:

- anti- is a prefix;

- anti- can be prefixed to both nouns (anti-missile, anti-matter) and adjectives (anti-social);

- anti- means “being not in favor of”;

- anti-terrorist attacks: means “being not in favor of terrorist attacks”.


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Morphology

Definition:

The system of categories and rules involvedin word formation and interpretation.

(O‘Grady et al.)


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Semantics

Definition:

The study of meaning in human language.

(O‘Grady et al.)


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Slip of the Tongue 03:Semantics or Logic?

„We are here 282 years after right here in Boston we fought to establish the freedoms of America." (Rev. Al Sharpton)


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Or perhaps Morphology?

Note: 2004-1776 = 228

Two-hundred-and-twenty-eight vs.

Two-hundred-and-eighty-two


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Syntax:

Definition:

The system of rules and categories thatunderlies sentence formation in human language.

(O‘Grady et al.)


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Information Packaging 04:Complex Syntax - Complex Meaning?

“Let's respect one another.

And let's never misuse for political purposesthe most precious document in American history, the Constitution of the United States.”(John Kerry)


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Claim: English Word Order is SVO (T/F?)

S V OWe should respect one another.

V (S) V O

Let 's respect one another.


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Claim: English Complement Order is Direct Object before Prepositional Phrase (T/F?)

And let's never misuse the most precious document in American history, the Constitution of the United States


[for political purposes]

[for political purposes]

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Pragmatics:

Definition:

The study of the relations between languageand context that are basic to an account of language understanding.

(Levinson 1983, 21)


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“I think I know a great leader when I see one –


Information Packaging 05:

Syntax, Intonation and Pragmatics

and so does America.“

(Hillary Clinton, DNC, 2004)

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Time (s)0 2.60336

100

500

and so does America


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Contour description


The contour is characterized by three accents:

- a fall on so,

- a fall on the auxiliary does and

- a contrastive sentence final accent on America.

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Intonation:

Definition: Intonation refers to the use of suprasegmental phonetic features (pitchmovements/melody) to convey sentence-level pragmatic meanings in a linguisticallystructured way.

(Ladd 1996, 6).


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Intonational Phonology:

Definition: The elements and principles thatdetermine the intonation of an utterance. (SW)


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PD Dr. Susanne Winkler Universität Tübingen

I think I know a great leader when I see one –

a. and America knows a great leader when she sees one.

b. *and so does America know a great leader when she sees one.

Intonation, Discourse and MeaningQ1: What does and so does America mean?

Q2: What does so refer to?

Q3: How can we find out?

Use PARAPHRASES!

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Components of grammar:

1. Sounds (Phonetics/Phonology and Meaning)

2. Words (Morphology and Meaning)

3. Sentences (Syntax, Intonation and Meaning)

4. Utterances (Discourse and Meaning)


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Traditional view: the word grammar relates to the study of morphology and syntax. Broader view: grammar includes the study of phonetics, phonology, semantics and pragmatics.

What is a grammar of a language?

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A grammar of a language is a mental system of rules and categories that allows humans to form and interpret sounds, words, and sentences of their language.

What is a grammar of a language?

Definition of Grammar:

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Different approaches to the study of language:

1. the traditional approach

2. the formal approach

3. the cognitive approach

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The traditional approach:

? lists the rules of a specific language.

The description should account for

• illformed sentences

• ambiguous sentences

• wellformed sentences

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Agatha Christie has written many books.

Wellformed or illformed?

Agatha Christie many books written has.

I don´t like detective stories.

Detective stories I don’t like.

I detective stories like.*

*

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Students announced that they would protest vehemently and

Protest vehemently they did.

Students protested vehemently.

(?)

protest vehemently they did.

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Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.

The child seems sleeping.

The child seems to be sleeping.

*

Tired little children sleep quietly.

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They don't want some cake.

We don‘t need no linguistics.

I didn‘t do nothing.

I saw nobody.

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We don't need no educationWe dont need no thought controlNo dark sarcasm in the classroomTeachers leave them kids aloneHey! Teachers! Leave them kids alone!

(Pink Floyd)

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Descriptive vs. Prescriptive Grammars:

Prescriptive Grammars: they lay down the normative rules of a grammar which define the so-called “standard language”.

They constitute an attempt to tell the users of the language how to use it in order to speak correctly. This is the sense in which "I didn't do nothing" is„bad“ English grammar.

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Descriptive vs. Prescriptive Grammars:

A descriptive grammar then is not primarily interested in good or bad, correct or incorrect use of language. Rather, it wants to provide a precise description of the facts. References to normative principles, or analogies with classic languages, such as Latin, are of no use. A descriptive grammar describes the actual grammatical state of a language.

(Ferdinand de Saussure, 1891)

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Descriptive Grammars: attempt to describe the language as it is being used, regardless of whether it is considered correct or not. In many dialects, people say "I didn't do nothing"; a descriptive grammar of such dialects would accordingly treat that sentence as grammaticaland provide rules that account for it.

Likewise a descriptive grammar of formal English (standard English) would provide rules accounting for "I didn't do anything."

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...þæt heora nan ne mehte nanes wæpnes gewealdanthat of-them none not could no weapon wield

'... that none of them could wield any weapon' (Orosius 4.10.103.24)

…ne sende se deofol ða fyr of heofenum, þeah þe hit ufan come…not sent the devil then fire from heaven though that it from above came

'the devil did not send fire from heaven then, though it came from above'

(ÆCHom I, (Pref)6.13)

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I want to thank my friend, Sen. He married a Texas girl, I want you to know.

Kary is with us. A West Texas girl,

(George W. Bush, Nashville, Tenn., May 27, 2004, 49:25-45)

Video Clip:

just like me.

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We‘ll make America what we want it to be –

a literate country and a hopefuller country.

(George W. Bush, Des Moines, Iowa, 8-21-2000; 11:35-12:14)

This has been tough weeks in that country.

(George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., April 13, 2004).

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The traditional approach:

? lists the rules of a specific language.

The description should account for

• illformed sentences

• ambiguous sentences

• wellformed sentences

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The father of the boy and the girl left.

Lisa saw young lions and tigers.

We don’t sell gasoline to anyone in a glass container.

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Ben could not go to her party. (two readings)

Ben couldn't go to her party. (one reading)

P1: It was not possible for Ben to go to her party.

P2: It was possible for Ben not to go to her party.

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To summarize: Traditional linguists formulate rules which account for the grammaticality, the ungrammaticality and the ambiguity of sentences.

The SVO Hypothesis:

English sentences are constructed according to the SVO pattern.

One of these rules is the SVO word order rule.

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English sentences which are constructed according to the SVO pattern are grammatical.

S V O

[ ] [ ] [ ]I like detective stories

S V O

[ ] [ ] [ ]John bought a new car

S V O

[ ] [ ] [ ]Bush won the presidential election

S V Adv

[ ] [ ] [ ]Students protested vehemently

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English sentences which are not constructed according to the SVO pattern are ungrammatical.

S V O

[ ] [ ] [ ]I like detective stories

S O V

[ ] [ ] [ ]I detective stories like*

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- Language is described in terms of a taxonomy (i.e. classificatory list).

Traditional Grammar:

- Assumption: sentences are built up of a series of constituents (i.e. syntactic units), each of which belongs to a specific grammatical category and serves a specific grammatical function.

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Each word belongs to a specific grammatical category:- I is a first person singular pronoun- like a present tense verb- and detective stories is a noun.

- Task of the linguist: identify each of the constituents in the sentence, and to say what category it belongs to and what function it serves.

- I like detective stories.

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- I like detective stories.

The overall sentence has the categorial status of:- a finite clause

Each word serves a specific grammatical function:

It has the semantic function of expressing a proposition which is declarative in force;(it is used to make a statement rather than e.g. ask

a question).

likeI detective stories

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Constituent Structure:

“Sentences are not just linear sequences of elements, but are made up of ‘layers’ of immediate constituents, each lower-level constituent being part of a higher –level constituent.” (John Lyons 1968: 210 ff)

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Constituent Structure:TP

DP VP

like detective storiesI

Bush won the election

Agatha Christie has written many books

Students protested vehemently

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Every linguistic unit ( ... ) is to a greater or lesser degree restricted with respect to the contexts in which it can occur. This fact is expressed by saying that every linguistic unit (below the level of sentences) has a characteristic distribution. If two (or more) units occur in the same range of contexts they are said to be distributionallyequivalent (or to have the same distribution).“

(John Lyons 1968:70)


Distributional analysis

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Explanation of Grammaticality vs. Ungrammaticality:

The SVO-Hypothesis can account for:

I like detective stories.

*I detective stories like.

We call such a grammar an observationally adequate grammar.

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An observationally adequate grammar must be able to distinguish those strings of words which are sentences of the language from those which are not sentences of the language in question.


Observational Adequacy:

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Q: How can the SVO-Hypothesis account for the grammaticality of the following sentences?

Which stories do you like ?

O S V

[ ] [ ] [ ]Detective stories, I don’t like .

O S V

[ ] [ ] [ ]

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The formal approach:

? Assigns structural representations to sentences of a particular language.

Result: descriptively adequate grammars (definition given below)

? Formulates simple & elegant rules for the wellformedness of representations.

? "Formal grammar is a way of thinking about language" (Freidin 1992)

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A descriptively adequate grammar does not only list appropriate rules but also accounts for the competence of the speaker with respect to more general regularities of his or her language.

Descriptive adequacy:

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The SVO word order must be observed at some level of representation. (preminimalistic view)

Claim: (initial version)

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The SVO word order must be observed at the level of D-structure. (preminimalistic view)

Claim: (revised version)

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I don’t like.

S-Structure

Detective stories,

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I don’t like

D-Structure

detective stories.S V O

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The grammatical operation which relates these two sentences is known as TOPICALIZATION.

Topicalization: Movement of an object to the left periphery of the sentence for information structural purposes.

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Which stories will you read?

(S-Structure)

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Which stories you will read?

(D-Structure)

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you will read which stories?

(D-Structure)

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The grammatical operation which relates these two sentences is known as Wh-Movement.

ii. Movement of the modal/auxiliary to the left of the subject.

Wh-Movement involves two grammatical processes informally described as:

i. Movement of a wh-constituent to the left periphery of the sentence.

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T-model (based on Haegeman 1994, Webelhuth 1995)


Lexicon/Argument Structure

D-Structure

S-Structure

Phonological Form (PF) Logical Form (LF)

Theta-TheoryX-Bar Theory

Movement TheoryCase Theory

Binding TheoryGovernment Theory

ControlTheory

Bounding Theory

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TopicalizationI wonder if he likes detective stories.

Apply the topicalization rule to further examples:

Detective stories, I wonder if he likes.

Q: What is a possible explanation of this ungrammaticality?

*

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Question Formation.Jane wonders if he lives in town.

Question:Could you formulate an hypothesis why these sentences are ungrammatical?

Where does Jane wonder if he lives?

Apply the wh-rule to further examples:

*

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More formal Rule:No element in English must be moved across if.

Traditional Rule:

The direct object cannot move across if.

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Q: From which sentences is this example derived?

Where do you wonder if Emsworth has hidden the Empress?

A formal rule allows to formulate predictions concerning other data:

You wonder if Emsworth has hidden the Empress where?

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Do you wonder where Emsworth has hidden the Empress?

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Which detective do you wonder if Emsworth will invite for Sunday lunch?

A formal rule allows to formulate predictions concerning other data:

To Bill, I wonder if he will give any money.

You wonder if Emsworth will invite which detective for Sunday lunch?

I wonder if he will give any money to Bill.

*

*

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- Where has Emsworth hidden the Empress?

Q: Why are the following sentences grammatical?

- Which detective will Emsworth invite for lunch?

- To Bill, he won´t give any money.

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Motivation for formal grammars:The search for rigorous formulation in linguistics has a much more serious motivation than mere concern for logical niceties or the desire to purify well-established methods of linguistic analysis. Precisely constructed models for linguistic structure can play an important role, both negative and positive, in the process of discovery itself. By pushing a precise but inadequate formulation to an unacceptable conclusion, we can often expose the exact source of this inadequacy and, consequently, gain a deeper understanding of the linguistic data. More positively, a formalized theory may automatically provide solutions for many problems other than those for which it was explicitly designed." (Chomsky (1957) Syntactic Structure.)

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Generative Grammar (GG):A GG is defined as a formal grammar that is fully explicit. It consists of a set of rules by which it is possible to decide whether any given sentence is grammatical or not.

In most cases, a GG is capable of identifying as grammatical ("generating") an infinite number of strings, from a finite set of rules. This is obviously a requirement for a correct grammar of any natural human language.

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The cognitive approach:

Early view (the preminimalistic view):

? Assigning structural representations to sentences of a particular language.

? Formulating simple and elegant rules for the wellformedness of these representations.

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Result: "explanatory" adequate grammar

An explanatory grammar aims at the formulation of abstract rules, which specify universals on the one hand, and language acquisition on the other.

? Explaining the linguistic competence of the native speaker. The formal grammar has psychological reality.

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Conditions which we need to impose on a theory of language:

Criteria of adequacy:

1. universality

2. explanatory adequacy

3. maximally constrained

4. learnability

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Conclusion:A cognitive linguist – regardless whether preminimalist or minimalist - is like the formal linguist interested in isolating the principles or procedures that govern sentence formation and interpretation. But additionally, he conceives the study of language as the study of one aspect of human psychology, that is the human mind. As such, the cognitive linguist is interested in the linguistic abilities of the native speaker. A native speaker of a language is said to know his or her language without having explicitly studied the formation and interpretation rules. But the study of this implicit knowledge of language allows us to draw conclusions about the highly specialized functioning of the human mind.

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