INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTICS AND LANGUAGE STUDIES

1. INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTICS AND LANGUAGE STUDIES Part I

2. Linguisticform • „I findithelpful to thinkoflinguisticform as ifitwerelocatedin a paneofglassthroughwhichideas are transmittedfromspeaker to listener. Underordinarycircumstanceslanguageusers are notconsciousoftheglassitself, but onlyoftheideasthatpassthroughit. Theformoflanguageis transparent, andittakes a specialactofwill to focus on theglassandnottheideas. Linguistsundergo a trainingthatteachesthem how to focus on theglass…theexperienceofbecomingconsciousofpreviouslyunconsciousphenomenais one ofthe principal joysoflinguisticwork” (WallaceChafe 1994:38)

3. Languagestudies • Linguists use a varietyofmethodsofanalyzinglanguageinorder to find how weacquireit, how andwhywepronounceitthewaywe do, how westringwordstogether to make meaning, how weunderstandmeaning, how andwhywe are effectiveinusinglanguage for communicationin some situations but perhapsnotinothers, how andwhyitchanges, whylanguagesdisappear…

4. Linguisticterminology: meta-language • Linguisticsneeds a language to talk aboutlanguage, i.e. itneeds a meta-language • Linguisticssharesthis meta-languagewithprescriptivegrammar, whichmaylead to theideathatlinguisticsisaboutcorrectnessinlanguage use – thisisvery far fromtherealityoflinguisticstudies

5. Exercise 1.1. • 1. Make a list of word classes as youknowthem. • 2. Nowanalyzethe sentence: • ‘Criminologists, inorder to uncovercluesnotvisible to theeye, use specializedtools, such as luminal, a liquidthatreactswiththe hemoglobin inblood to illuminatepreviouslyinvisiblebloodstains’, • 3. Assigneachofthewords to a word class

6. Contentwords • Nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs • Refer to somethinginourexperience (whetherrealorimagined)

7. Functionwords • Allowus to connectdifferentpartsofphrases, clausesandsentences, or to conveyanothertypeofmeaning, such as polarity (‘yes’ or ‘no’ polarity), prepositions, prepositionalphrases, articles, discoursemarkers

8. Exercise 1.2. • Make a list ofutteranceswhichyouhaveheardorhaveusedyourselfwhichyouconsiderbadusage, orincorrectlanguage. • Canyouidentifywhyyouconsiderthemincorrect?

9. Variabilityoflanguage • Linguisticworkisaboutdescribinglanguage, notaboutprescribingwhatpeopleshould do. • Languageisconstantlychanging • All languagesanddialects are equalfrom a descriptivelinguisticpointofview • All languagesanddialectshavethenecessaryresources to drawupon to createnewmeaningsin a systematicway, inorder to matchthecommunicativeneedsofthecommunitywhichspeaksthelanguageordialect

10. Variabilityoflanguage • From a socialperspective, there are differencesin how languagesanddialects are perceived • Certainwaysofspeaking are considered more appropriateingivencontextsandsituations, andpeopleattachjudgments to differentwaysofspeakingwhichin some settings are considered as notappropriateorwhich one mightnotusuallyencounterin a givensituationorcontext

11. Who are linguists? • Personswhospeakmanylanguages?

12. How canlinguisticshelpus? • Workingwithmultipleperspectivesconcerningthe nature oflanguageand how itworksindifferentcontextscan provide anunderstandingwhichcanhelpusbe more successfulinusingourfirstlanguagein a rangeofsituation

13. Linguistics • A scientificstudyoflanguage • Differenttheoreticalperspectives

14. Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913):thefatherofmodernlinguistics

15. 18th and 19th c. linguistics • 1) historicalandcomparativestudies: historyoflanguage, relationshipsamonglanguages, regularitiesinlanguagechange; • 2) also: grammarsofdifferentlanguages, describingtheirpronunciations, rules for formingwordsandsentences, to aidthosewishing to learnanotherlanguageor for translationofdocumentsandliterarytexts

16. Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913) • Cours de linguistique générale (1913) • Synchronicapproach: focuses on describinglanguage at anypointin time as itexists as a system • Language: system ofsigns, whichconsistoftwoparts: signifiedandsignifier

17. Sign • Signified • Signifier • CAT

18. Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913) • Therelationshipbetween a signifiedanditssignifier – arbitrary • Therelationshipbetween a signifiedanditssignifier – notfixed: differencesin how wecarveupexperienceindifferentlanguages (e.g. words for a mother’ssisterand a father’ssisterinArabicand English); differencesacross time inrelationshipsbetweensignifiedsandsignifiers: e.g. meatin 17th c. meant ‘food’) • Signs are notstableintermsoftherelationshipbetweensignifiedandsignifier

19. Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913) • Iflanguageisnot a fixednomenclature for pre-existingconcepts, how do we use it to meananything? • Languageis a set ofsignswhich are: • a) membersof a system • B) definedbytheirrelationships to eachother (e.g. pat and bat)

20. Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913) • Elementsoflanguagestandinrelationship to eachotherintwoimportantways: • 1) syntagmatic: thewaysinwhichtheystringtogether; a set ofsmallerstructuralunitscombinedaccording to appropriaterules (e.g. thelittlegirl) • 2) paradigmatic: constitutechoices, sothatonly one linguisticitemmaybepresent at a time in a givenposition (e.g. Lat. N. amicus, G. amici, D. amico, A. amicum…)

21. Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913) • Linguistics – a studyofthe system of a languageinorder to articulatetheelementswhichdistinguish one functionalformfromanother • Langue – the system offorms • Parole – theactual use oflanguagebyindividualspeakers

22. Discussionquestion • Whenwelearnanotherlanguage, wesometimesdiscoverwordsandphrasesthat do nothaveanexactcounterpartinourownlanguage. • DiscussSaussure’snotionthatthereis no signifiedwithout a signifier, especiallyintermsoftranslatingterms for more abstractnotions. • How canthisbeapplied to legaltranslation?

23. NoamChomsky (1928)

24. NoamChomsky (1928) • In Chomsky’sview: structuralistanalysiswasadequate for descriptionsofphenemes, morphemes, andclauseconstituents (e.g. nounphrases, verbphrasesetc.) but itwasnotrobustenough to account for syntax, especiallytheabilityofsyntax to generateaninfinitenumberofsentences

25. NoamChomsky (1928) • For Chomsky, actuallanguage use, orperformance,wasonlythe tip oftheicebergoflinguisticcompetence, ortheunderlyingmentalprocesseswhichwecarryoutinourproductionoflanguage

26. NoamChomsky (1928) • Wehave a repositoryoftherulesbywhichourlanguageorganizeslinguisticelementsintowell-formedstrings; • Wehavesyntacticexpertiseintermsof a set offiniteruleswhichallowsus to generateaninfinitenumberofsentences, manyofwhichwehaveneverheardbefore

27. NoamChomsky (1928) • Syntactictheoriesattempt to make transparent thementalknowledgebymodelingit, andinmanycasesshowing how languagemightbegeneratedby a computerifprogrammed to havethe same kindofrule-basedknowledge • Chomsky’smentalistsyntactictheory – contemporary to thegrowthofcomputertechnology, whichadded a dimension to thestudyofsyntax: a desire to beable to replicatetheabilityofhumans to producelanguage

28. NoamChomsky (1928) • Thisdesirecalls for a theoryoflanguagewhichispreciseandexplicit: formulasanddefinitionsinthestyleofmathematics to describeand model linguisticcompetence • Suchtheories – formal (contrastedwithfunctional) • Becauseoftheinterestinunderlyingmentalstructuresratherthan on actualperformance, Chomsky’stheoryfocuses on idealizedutterances, orinstancesoflanguagewhich are considered to bewell-formedaccording to syntacticrules, ratherthan on reallanguagein use

29. NoamChomsky (1928) • Chomskylatermovedfromthetermscompetenceandperformance to usingtheterms I-languageand E-language (Chomsky 1986) • I-language: internal set oflinguisticrules • E-language: externallanguage, oftenincomplete • Humanshaveaninnatefaculty for acquiringtheidealized I-language

30. Michael Halliday (1925)

31. Michael Halliday (1925) • Systemicfunctionallinguistics • Influencedby J.R. Firth, whodrewattention to therelationshipbetweenmeaningandcontext, includingthesurroundingco-textthat a pieceoflanguageparticipatesin; thisco-textlendsmeaning to words: ‘You shallknow a word bythecompanyitkeeps’ • Halliday: a systemicframeworkoffunctionalchoices • Language – a system ofchoices at differentlevels, andeachchoiceprovidesanaspectofmeaning

32. Michael Halliday (1925) • Clausesfunction to createmeaning at the same time inthreeways • 1) interpersonally: byestablishingandmaintainingrelationshipsbetweenpeople; • 2)ideationally: byconstructingtheworld, whetherreal, invented, orabstract, and • 3) textually: organizingtheinterpersonalandtheideationalintocoherenttexts

33. Michael Halliday (1925) • Functionalchoices: • Mood: • imperative, • indicative: declarative, interrogative

34. Michael Halliday (1925) • Functionalchoices: Register=linguisticchoicesmadein a situationalcontext: • 1) lexico-grammatical; • 2) field(subjectmatter), • 3) mode (writtenorspoken), and • 4) tenor (relationshipbetweeninterlocutors: symmetrical, as betweenfriends, orasymmetrical, as betweenemployerandemployee)

35. Exercise 1.3. • Analyzethefollowingtextsintermsoffield, mode and tenor. Explainyourchoices • 1. Keepout! • 2. Watchadoin’? Wannaget a burgerorsomethin’? • 3. I am writing to enquireaboutthepositioninsalesadvertisedintheSaturday August 12 editionofThe Times.

36. Exercise 1.3. • Shadowscoveredthe wide areasof European lifeinthefourteenthandfifteenthcenturies. Thevigorousexpansionintobordeingareasthat had marked European historysincetheeleventhcenturycame to anend. The Christian West fought to halttheexpansionoftheMuslimTurks. Plague, famine, andrecurrentwarsdecimatedpopulationsandsnuffedouttheirformerprosperity. Thepapacyandfeudalgovernmentstruggledagainstmountinginstitutionalchaos. PowerfulmysticalandhereticalmovementsandnewcriticalcurrentsinScholasticismrockedtheestablishedreligiousandphilosophicalequilibriumofthethirteenthcentury.

37. Exercise 1.4. Attributeeachofthefollowing to either F. de Saussure, N. Chomsky, or M. Halliday • 1. ‘Ifwecouldembracethesumof word-imagesinthemindsofallindividuals, wecouldidentifythesocialbondthatconstituteslanguage. Itis a storehousefilledbythemembersof a givencommunitythroughtheiractive use ofspeaking, a grammatical system thathas a potentialexistenceineachbrain, or, specifically, inthebrainsof a groupofindividuals. For languageisnotcompleteinanyspeaker; itexistsperfectlyonlywithin a collectivity.’ • (De Saussure, Ferdinand (1959) Coursein General Linguistics. New York: McGraw-Hill, 13-14)

38. Exercise 1.4. Attributeeachofthefollowing to either F. de Saussure, N. Chomsky, or M. Halliday • 2. ‘Itseemsclearthatwe must regardlinguisticcompetence – knowledgeof a language – as anabstract system underlyingbehavior, a system constitutedbyrulesthatinteract to determinetheformandintrisicmeaningof a potentiallyinfinitenumberofsentences’ • (Chomsky, Noam (2006) LanguageandMind. 3rd ed. Cambridge University Press)

39. Exercise 1.4. Attributeeachofthefollowing to either F. de Saussure, N. Chomsky, or M. Halliday • 3. ‘Everytext – thatis, everythingthatissaidorwritten – unfoldsin some contextof use; furthermore, itistheusesoflanguagethat, overtensofthousandsofgeneratons, haveshapedthe system. Languagehasevolved to satisfy human needs; andthewayitisorganizedisfunctionalwithrespect to theseneeds.’ • (Halliday, M.A.K. (1985) AnIntroduction to FunctionalGrammar. London: Edward Arnold, xiii.)

40. Exercise 1.4. Attributeeachofthefollowing to either F. de Saussure, N. Chomsky, or M. Halliday • 4. ‘Linguistictheoryisconcernedprimarilywithan ideal speaker-hearer, in a completelyhomogeneousspeechcommunity, whoknowsitslanguageperfectlyandisunaffectedbysuchgrammaticallyirrelevantconditions as memorylimitations, distractions, shiftsofattentionandinterest, errors (randomorcharacteristic) inapplyinghisknowledgeofthelanguageinactualperformance’. • (Chomsky, Noam (1965) AspectsoftheTheoryofSyntax. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, p. 3)

41. Exercise 1.4. Attributeeachofthefollowing to either F. de Saussure, N. Chomsky, or M. Halliday • 5. ‘Languageis a system ofinterdependenttermsinwhichthevalueofeachtermresultssolelyfromthesimultaneouspresenceoftheothers…To determinewhat a five-francpieceisworth one must know: 1) thatitcanbeexchanged for a fixedquantityof a differentthing, e.g. bread; and 2) thatitcanbecomparedwith a similarvalueofthe same system, e.g. a one-francpiece, orwithcoinsofanother system (a dollar, etc.). In the same way a word canbeexchanged for somethingdissimilar, anidea; besides, itcanbecomparedwithsomethingofthe same nature, another word. Itsvalueisthereforenotfixedsolong as one simplystatesthatitcanbe ‘exchanged’ for a givenconcept’ • (De Saussure, F. (1959) Coursein General Linguistics. New York: McGraw-Hill, p. 114-115)

42. Exercise 1.4. Attributeeachofthefollowing to either F. de Saussure, N. Chomsky, or M. Halliday • ‘Spokenandwrittenlanguage, then, tend to display different KINDS ofcomplexity; eachofthemis more complex initsownway. Writtenlanguagetends to belexicallydense but grammaticallysimple; spokenlanguagetends to begrammaticallyintricate but lexicallysparse’… ‘Thevalueofhaving some explicitknowledgeofthegrammarofwrittenlanguageisthatyoucan use thisknowledge, notonly to analyzethetexts, but as a criticalresource for askingquestionsaboutthem’. • (Halliday, M.A.K. (1987) Spokenandwrittenmodesofmeaning. In Horowitt, R. & Samuels, S.J. (eds) ComprehendingOralandWrittenLanguage. Orlando, FL: Academic Press, 66.)