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English Linguistics 1

English Linguistics 1. Programme. 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 etymology 1.3 What is linguistics? The scope of linguistics

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English Linguistics 1

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  1. English Linguistics 1

  2. Programme Session 1

  3. 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 etymology 1.3 What is linguistics? • The scope of linguistics • Linguistics vs. traditional grammar Session 1

  4. 1. Introduction: Linguistics and everyday life/language 1.1 English at play: Children's rhymes HUMPtyDUMPty SAT on a WALL HUMPtyDUMPty HAD a great FALL ALL the king's HORSes and ALL the king's MEN COULDn't put HUMPtytoGETHeraGAIN Session 1

  5. 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) Session 1

  6. After having kissed Pamela John collapsed. AFter having KISSED PAMela JOHN colLAPSED • stress timed rhythm • tendency towards equal length of stress groups Session 1

  7. 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 rhymes adults: 5-9 units (words, phrases) Session 1

  8. 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. Session 1

  9. Rebus, puns • RebusRepresentation of names, words by pictures or signs suggesting their syllables Xmas Christmas X for initial chi of Greek Khristosx(xxx) U2 Bar-B-Q 4-sale, 4U symbolizes kiss(es) you toobarbecuefor sale, for you Session 1

  10. Oh, I see pedestrian crossing Are you 18? Youaretoogoodtobeforgotten. O I C Ped Xing RU 18 U R 2 GOOD 2 B 4GOT10 Session 1

  11. Puns use of words or phrases or structures with more than one meaning Session 1

  12. First shootyourdog thenfreeze it. (headline in printed ad) Session 1

  13. First shoot your dog then freeze it. Fig. 1-1a Session 1

  14. Fig. 1-1b Session 1

  15. toshoot 1. to kill orinjure s.o. using a gun 2. totakephotographsormake a film of s.th. tofreeze 1. tomakefoodextremelycold … 2. toproduce a still … Session 1

  16. tiedup 1. fastenedbystrings, ropes 2. metaphorical: tobebusy Fig. 1-2 Session 1

  17. People are saying PLAYERS PLEASE more than ever. Session 1

  18. People are saying PLAYERS PLEASE more than ever. Syntactic ambiguity N (Object) + Interjection 'People buy more Players cigarettes than ever before'  N (Subject) + Verb (Predicate) 'Players are pleasing cigarettes' Session 1

  19. Guest: Waiter, what's this fly doing in my soup? Waiter: Looks like the breast-stroke, sir. pragmatically motivated pun meaning as a consequence of situational context; response logically possible but not adequate for the situation Session 1

  20. 1.2 Folk linguistics Popular 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 Session 1

  21. Some languages are more beautiful more logical more primitive more cultivated ... than others. judgements based on social standing and on prescriptive attitudes Session 1

  22. 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 Session 1

  23. Ex.: etymologyOE fugel, fugol (800)ME vuhel (1175)fouxl (1300) foule (1381) Chaucer fowle (1485) Caxton ModE fowl (2006) 'bird, especially a chicken, that is kept for its meat and eggs' (G Geflügel, E poultry) Session 1

  24. E. Rottenrow←F. route du roi E. 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 Session 1

  25. bridegroom ←OE brydguma 'Bräutigam' ←bryde, E. bride'Braut' ←guma 'Mann' - extinct associated with E. groom 'Pferdepfleger; Diener' Session 1

  26. 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 Session 1

  27. North Riding, East Riding, West Riding names of three districts in Yorkshire; originally me. thriding'Drittel', assimilation of thto preceding thor t → incorrect boundaries Session 1

  28. reinterpretation due to assimilation assimilation: 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 Session 1

  29. 1.3 Whatislinguistics? 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. Session 1

  30. 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?' Session 1

  31. 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?' Session 1

  32. '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. Session 1

  33. What is a linguist? linguist (E) She's an excellent linguist. (1) studentoflinguistics ( 1. Student, 2. Forscher) (2) s.o. proficient in severallanguages (~ 'Sie ist sprachlich hochbegabt') Linguist (G)s.o. (1) Session 1

  34. linguistic (E) (1) linguistic skill,  minority refers to language (sprachlicheFertigkeit etc.) (2) linguistic analysisrefers to linguistics Session 1

  35. 1.3.1 Scopeoflinguisticanalysis / 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 Session 1

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

  37. 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. Session 1

  38. However, in widespread (sloppy) use the following characterizations apply: • diachronic historical varieties, e.g. Old E., Middle E. • synchronic modern varieties Session 1

  39. 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'tfor am not, is not, have not etc. • different from etc. • split infinitive - to humbly apologize Session 1

  40. 2.spoken vs. writtenlanguage/ gesprochene vs. geschriebene Sprache linguistics: • separate systems • primacy of spoken language Session 1

  41. 3.intrinsic or universal vs. Latin framework of description/ intrinsischer oder universaler vs. lateinischer Beschreibungsrahmen Session 1

  42. examples: descriptive vs. prescriptive grammar • Who´s there? - It´s me. • He is bigger than me. • Who(m) did you ask? Session 1

  43. 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) Session 1

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