AN INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

1. AN INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

2. LINGUISTICS - the scientific study of all forms of language manifestation - other related fields of science = applied linguistics

3. LANGUAGE = basic means of human communication - the most widely used and most convenient means Man = homo loquens rather than homo sapiens Convention generally accepted in a speech community = chain of sounds – acoustic realization to a notion

4. LINGUISTIC SIGN The dual nature of linguistic sign: - notion = non-linguistic world - its phonetic realization = language phenomenon Phonetic realization varies from language to language: dog, Hund, chien, sobaka, kutya, perro, cachorro, pes

5. SPEECH COMMUNITY = society (a group of people) using the same language = agreed to use the same convention Linguistic signs - arranged in a grammatical system - used as a convention in the speech community The ability to create a system out of signs = a unique capacity of human beings.

6. LANGUAGE FAMILIES More than 4000 languages spoken in the world today: - classified into several language families - 2 to 100 or more separate but related languages Languages diverged from a single ancestoral tongue = protolanguage

7. BASIC ENGLISH British American Scientific International Commercial English = reduced and deliberately simplified natural language In 1927, Charles Kay OGDEN invented BASIC English as an: • international auxiliary language • aid for teaching/learning E. as a second language

8. BASIC ENGLISH - limited number of words - extensive use of paraphrases 850 words: 600 names of things 150 names of qualities 100 “operators“ (Vs + names of acts and directions)

9. BASIC ENGLISH Grammatical rules = cut down to the smallest number necessary for: • the clear statements of ideas • saying anything for purposes of everyday existence

10. BASIC ENGLISH GRAMMAR: • plural –s • degrees of comparison more, most • adverbs –ly • endings -er, -ing, -ed • negative prefix un- The core words=theoretically enough for everyday life

11. BASIC ENGLISH VOCABULARY Instead of: to disembark = to get off a ship, difficult weapons weeping beloved to enter the room to precede

12. BASIC ENGLISH OGDEN prescribed additional: 300 words for general fields of trade, economics, science 350 international words = general vocabulary of 1500words. This core vocabulary extended to a 2000word list = any learner should know

13. BASIC ENGLISH However, 2 important language facts: -lexicon = CNs + derivatives not only basic words - language learning is not only about words It is about: - the relations of words to one another - the relation of signs to meanings. Language learning is more than rote memory.

14. COMPOUND WORDS = 2 words joined together referring to a single object Each part = used as a separate word but: the meaning of a compound often differs from the meaning of its elements.

15. COMPOUND WORDS N stem + N stem: Adj stem + N stem: V stem + N stem: Adj stem + V stem: -ing form:

16. COMPOUNDS with a linking element: • vowel/consonant • preposition • conjunction Lexicalized phrases

17. COMPOUNDS • a solid yellow stuff made from milk or cream + a small insect with two wings = an insect with large brightly colouredwings

18. COMPOUNDS • the planet Earth + not narrow = spread over all parts

19. IDIOMS = a number of words which, when taken together, have a different meaning from the individual meanings of each word: to give someone the green lights to kick the bucket a hard / tough nut to crack

20. IDIOMS NOUN PHRASES: the calm before the storm ADJECTIVE + NOUN: a fair weather friend

21. IDIOMS IDIOMATIC PAIRS • of adjectives:spick and span • of nouns: ifs and buts • of verbs: do or die

22. IDIOMS IDENTICAL PAIRS: step by step PHRASAL VERBS: to look sth up to look up to sb to look after sb

23. IDIOMS connected with: • parts of the body to lose one´s head Achilles´ heel • colours: a black list white lie

24. IDIOMS connected with: - numbers: ten to one - time: at the eleventh hour - animals: a busy bee the lion´s share (of something)

25. TYPES OF SPEECH Leonard Bloomfield, the founder of American structural linguistics: 1) LITERARY STANDARD = the most formal language manifestation of highly educatedpeople (unnatural in everyday conversation)

26. TYPES OF SPEECH 2) COLLOQUIAL STANDARD = educated people speak / write in informal situation - not one but different standards for English in Britain: - colloquial standard spoken with RP - the Southern type of grammar

27. TYPES OF SPEECH 2) COLLOQUIAL STANDARD USA: several standards - according to what is the most common variety in one or another part of the country Australia and a few other countries: = a colloquial standard of their own

28. TYPES OF SPEECH 3) PROVINCIAL STANDARD = compared with colloquial standard it shows only slight phonetic and lexical differences (something of a kind of funny accent)

29. TYPES OF SPEECH 4) SUBSTANDARD = sounds uneducated = the language of the lower middle class = less prestigious than either colloquial or provincial

30. TYPES OF SPEECH 5) LOCAL DIALECT = used in small parts of the country = often difficult to understand It shows: - phonetic and lexical diversions from other types - morphological and syntactical differences = incomprehensible to persons not familiar with it

31. SLANG = below the level of educated standard speech = new words or current words in special sense = people look down on it but can´t avoid using it

32. SLANG Reasons for using it: to be different to escape from clichés to be brief and concise to enrich the language to soften a tragedy to amuse public to show that one belongs to a certain school to be secret, not understood by those around

33. SLANG EXPRESSIONS • donkey´s years • Bugger off! • knick-knack • fishy

34. SOCIAL VARIANTS OF LANGUAGE Slang + diminutives + nicknames = emotional tinge = manifestations of social closeness and intimacy

35. SPOKEN LANGUAGE – WRITTEN LANGUAGE The spoken and written forms – a number changes Development of the spoken – quicker than written form English pronunciation =different from spelling

36. SPOKEN LANGUAGE – WRITTEN LANGUAGE Phonetic transcription= learning correct pronunciation The spoken form is based on speech sounds - more sounds than letters - no diacritical marks = to use different means to represent sounds in writing DIGRAPH= combination of letters represents a sound

37. SPOKEN ENGLISH – WRITTEN ENGLISH Sound [ i]= by different letters or digraphs: e i ee eo ea oe ie ae ei uay ey

38. SPOKEN ENGLISH – WRITTEN ENGLISH One letter “a“ = different sounds: [æ] [e] [ə] [a:] [o:] [ei] [i]

39. SPOKEN ENGLISH – WRITTEN ENGLISH Homophones: write – right – rite – wright Homographs: (the) wind – (to) wind Homonyms: Don´t lie in bed all day.Don´t lie to me.

40. HINTS ON PRONUNCIATION FOR FOREIGNERS I take it you already know Of tough and bough and cough and dough Others may stumble but not you On hiccough, thorough, lough and through Well done! And now you wish, perhaps, To learn of less familiar traps?

41. HINTS ON PRONUNCIATION FOR FOREIGNERS Beware of heard, a dreadful word, That looks like beard and sounds like bird. And dead: it´s like bed, not bead – For goodness sake don´t call it “deed“. Watch out for meat and great and threat (They rhyme with suite and straight and debt)

42. THE PROPERTIES OF HUMAN LANGUAGE LANGUAGE = convention used for communication among speakers belonging to a speech community. All creatures = communicate - members of their species Properties differentiating human language and make it a unique type of communication system:

43. THE PROPERTIES OF HUMAN LANGUAGE 1) DUALITY = the dual nature of linguistic structure LINGUISTIC FORMS: significant units of sounds (phonemes) + significant units of forms (morphemes) The arrangement of phonemes = meaningful in a linguistic form

44. THE PROPERTIES OF HUMAN LANGUAGE SPEECH PRODUCTION: - the physical level = individual sounds: n, b, i = distinct sounds - another level = meaning, i.e. sounds in combinations: bin, or nib = distinct meanings

45. THE PROPERTIES OF HUMAN LANGUAGE DUALITY OF LEVELS (“double articulation“) = one of the most economical features of language: limited set of distinct sounds = sound combinations distinct in meaning (words)

46. THE PROPERTIES OF HUMAN LANGUAGE 2) PRODUCTIVITY (creativity, open-endedness) = to combine structural elements of the language into combinations - understood by other members: child learning language; adults describing new objects = create new expressions, sentences,novel utterances The productivity of human language = infinite

47. THE PROPERTIES OF HUMAN LANGUAGE 3) ARBITRARINESS = no direct relation or “natural“ connection between a notion and its phonetic shape The phonetic realization of a notion = arbitrary, a matter of convention. Property of linguistic signs = their arbitrary relationship with the objects they are used to indicate

48. THE PROPERTIES OF HUMAN LANGUAGE 4) INTERCHANGEABILITY = in communication members of a speech community - both send and receive messages Any speaker / sender of a linguistic sign = a listener / receiver

49. THE PROPERTIES OF HUMAN LANGUAGE 5) SPECIALIZATION Every human language = a special system made up for communication in a speech community. Linguistic signals = special, not for breathing or feeding

50. THE PROPERTIES OF HUMAN LANGUAGE 6) DISPLACEMENT - to speak in a direct context = of things present + things not existing at all - to refer to past or future time, - to other locations