Linguistics

People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria

Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research

Teacher Training School of Constantine

Distance Training Course for Middle School Teachers

In

Linguistics

Prepared by: S.BOULMERKA

Academic Year: 2007- 2008

Department of Distant Training

1

Linguistcics

3rd Year

General Introduction

This section introduces some important fields in

linguistics. These are:

Linguistics is the scientific study of language,

which can be theoretical or applied. Someone

who engages in this study is called a linguist.

Theoretical (or general) linguistics

encompasses a number of sub-fields, such as the

study of language structure (grammar) and

meaning (semantics). The study of grammar

encompasses morphology (formation and

alteration of word) and syntax (the rules that

determine the way words combine into phrases

and sentences). Also a part of this field are

phonology, the study of sound systems and

abstract sound units, and phonetics, which is

concerned with the actual properties of speech 2

sounds (phones), non-speech sounds, and how

they are produced and perceive.

Linguistics compares languages (comparative

linguistics) and explores their histories, in order

to find universal properties of language and to

account for its development and origins

(historical linguistics).

Applied linguistics puts linguistic theories into

practice in areas such as foreign language

teaching, speech therapy, translation and speech

pathology

Linguists may specialize in some subpart of the

linguistic structure, which can be arranged in the

following terms, from sound to meaning:

Phonetics, the study of the physical aspects of

sounds of human language

Phonology, the study of patterns of a language's

sounds

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Morphology, the study of the internal structure

of words

Syntax, the study of how words combine to form

grammatical sentences

Semantics, the study of the meaning of words

(lexical semantics) and fixed word combinations

(phraseology), and how these combine to form

the meanings of sentences

Pragmatics, the study of how utterances are

used (literally, figuratively, or otherwise) in

communicative acts

Discourse analysis, the analysis of language

use in texts (spoken or written )

Many linguists would agree that the divisions

overlap considerably, but the independent

significance of each of these areas is not

universally acknowledged. Regardless of any

particular linguist's position, each area has core

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concepts that foster significant scholarly inquiry

and research.

Intersecting with these domains are fields

arranged around the kind of external factors that

are considered. For example

Stylistics, the study of linguistic factors that

place a discourse in context

Developmental linguistics, the study of the

development of linguistic ability in an individual,

particularly the acquisition of language in

childhood

Historical linguistics or Diachronic linguistics,

the study of language change

Evolutionary linguistics, the study of the origin

and subsequent development of language

Psycholinguistics, the study of the cognitive

processes and representations underlying

language use

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Sociolinguistics, the study of social patterns of

linguistic variability

Clinical linguistics, the application of linguistic

theory to the area of Speech-Language Pathology

Neurolinguistics, the study of the brain

networks that underlie grammar and

communication

Biolinguistics, the study of natural as well as

human taught communication systems in animals

compared to human language

Computational linguistics, the study of

computational implementations of linguistic

structures

Applied linguistics, the study of language

related issues applied in every day life, notably

language policies and language education .

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I- SOCIOLINGUISTICS

Introduction

This chapter introduces an important field in

linguistics which is sociolinguitics . It deals with

the realtionships between language and society.It

also provides examples of the different linguistic

variation : dialect, diglossia, pidgin, and the

relation between language variation and

ethnicity, nationalism, social status, social

solidarity, sex,...etc

I.1 Sociolinguistics and linguistics

In general terms, sociolinguistics may be

defined as the study of language in relation to

society. It has become a thriving area within

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linguistics since 1960s, and the father of

sociolinguistics is claimed to be William Labov.

(William Labov (born December 4,

1927) is a professor in the linguistics

department of the University of

Pennsylvania. He is widely regarded as the

founder of the discipline of variationist

sociolinguistics and pursues research in

sociolinguistics, language change, and

dialectology).

Sociolinguistics studies issues like accents,

dialects, language change, age, gender,

etchnicity, social context, pidgins and creoles,

language planning,code-switching and code-

mixing etc. (Bloomer&Trott:1988).

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I.2 SOME USEFUL DEFINITIONS

I.2.1 Definition of Society

A society is a grouping of individuals, which is

characterized by common interests and may

have distinctive culture and institutions. In a

society, members can be from a different ethnic

group. A "Society" may refer to a particular

people, such as the Nuer (The Nuer are a

confederation of tribes located in Southern

Sudan and western Ethiopia. Collectively,

the Nuer form one of the largest ethnic

groups in East Africa. They are a pastoral

peoplewho rely on cattle for almost every

aspect of their daily lives) to nation state,

such as Switzerland, or to a broader cultural

group, such as a Western society. Society can

also refer to an organized group of people

associated together for religious, benevolent,

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cultural, scientific, political, patriotic, or other

purposes

I.2.2 Definition of Social class

IT refers to the hierarchical distinctions between

individuals or groups in societies or cultures.

Anthropologists, historians and sociologists

identify class as universal, although what

determines class varies widely from one society

to another. Even within a society, different

people or groups may have very different ideas

about what makes one "high" or "low" in the

hierarchy. The most basic class distinction

between the two groups is between the powerful

and the powerless. Social classes with more

power usually subordinate classes with less

power, while attempting to cement their own

power positions in society. Social classes with a

great deal of power are usually viewed as elites,

at least within their own societies.

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In the simplest societies, power is closely linked

to the ability to assert one's status through

physical strength; thus age, gender, and physical

health are often common delineators of class in

rudimentary tribes.

As societies expand and become more complex,

economic power replaces physical power as the

defender of the class status quo, so that one's

class is determined largely by:

-Occupation ( profession) ,education ( teaching

and learnng specific skills) , qualifications

(professional certification, trade certification, or

professional designation (often called simply

certification or qualification) that assure that

the person is qualified to perform a job or task.

-income:personal, household and per capita

wealth or net worth, including the ownership of

land, property, means of production, …

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Those who can attain a position of power in a

society will often adopt distinctive lifestyles to

emphasize their prestige and to further rank

themselves within the powerful class. Often the

adoption of these stylistic traits are as important

as one's wealth in determining class status, at

least at the higher levels:

costume and grooming

-manners and cultural refinement. For example,

there is a notion of high and low classes with a

distinction between bourgeois tastes and

sensitivities and the working class tastes and

sensitivities.

-political standing vis-à-vis the church,

government, and/or social clubs, as well as the

use of honorary titles

-reputation of honor or disgrace

-language : the distinction between elaborate

code, which is seen as a criterion for "upper-12

class", and the restricted code, which is

associated with "lower classes"

Finally, fluid notions such as race can have widely

varying degrees of influence on class standing.

Having characteristics of a particular ethnic

group may improve one's class status in many

societies. However, what is considered "racially

superior" in one society can often be exactly the

opposite in another.

I.2.3 Speech community is a concept in

sociolinguistics that describes a more or less

discrete group of people who use language in a

unique and mutually accepted way among

themselves.Speech communities can be

members of a profession with a specialized

jargon distinct social groups like high school

students , or even tight-knit groups like families

and friends. In addition, online and other

mediated communities, such as many internet

forums , often constitute speech communities.

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Members of speech communities will often

develop slang or jargon to serve the group's

special purposes and priorities.

I.3 Varieties of Language

Dear student. Before we review various aspects

of language variation in more detail, I want to

make sure you have got some basic terms and

concepts down:

I.3.1 SOME IMPORTANT TERMINOLOGY

1-Language variety: This is a general term that

may be used at a number of levels. So, we can

use the term to distinguish between English and

French, but we can also use the term to

distinguish between two varieties of English, such

as New York City English vs. Appalachian English

2-Internal Variation: the property of languages

having different ways of expressing the same

meaning. Importantly, this refers to within 14

language, not across language, differences. An

example of internal variation in English is "GIVE"

vs. "GIVES".

3-Dialect: This is a complex and often

misunderstood concept. For linguists, a dialect is

the collection of attributes (phonetic,

phonological, syntactic, morphological, semantic)

that make one group of speakers noticeably

different from another group of speakers of the

same language.

I .3.2 COMMON SOURCES OF

MISUNDERSTANDING

1- DIALECT is NOT a negative term for

linguists. Very often, for example, we hear

people refer to non-standard varieties of English

as "dialects", usually to say something bad about

the non-standard variety (and thus about the

people who speak it). But, the term dialect refers

to ANY variety of a language. Thus, by definition,

we all speak a dialect of our native language.

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2- DIALECT is NOT synonymous with accent.

Accent is only a part of dialectal variation. Non-

linguists often think accents define a dialect (or

that accents alone identify people as non-native

or foreign language speakers). Also, non-linguists

tend to think that it's always the "other" people

that have "an accent". So, what is "accent"?

3- ACCENT: This term refers to phonological

variation, i.e. variation in pronunciation Thus, if

we talk about a Southern Accent, we're talking

about a generalized property of English

pronunciation in the Southern part of the US. But,

Southern dialects have more than particular

phonological properties .A person is said to have

an Oxford accent when we find in his speech

certain phonological characteristics related to

English spoken in that town. The term accent is

also used to refer to some ,foreign, non –native

features in the speech of a person- usually a

foreigner speaking a second language. Accent is

thus about pronunciation, while dialect is a

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broader term encompassing syntactic,

morphological, and semantic properties as well.

A final note on accent. WE ALL HAVE ONE! There

is no such thing as a person who speaks without

an accent.

In sum, a dialect is a particular variety of a

language, and we all have a dialect. Accent refers

to the phonology of a given dialect. Since we all

have a dialect, we all have an accent.

-A language, say English, is really a collection

of dialects.

-A dialect is a particular variety of a language

that differs noticeably from the variety or

varieties of the same language spoken by

another group or groups of people.

-Dialects themselves are collections of idiolects

(and thus so are languages).

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I.3.3 Standard and Non-Standard dialects

A standard dialect (also known as a standardized

dialect or "standard language") is a dialect that is

supported by institutions. Such institutional

support may include government recognition or

designation; presentation as being the "correct"

form of a language in schools; published

grammars, dictionaries, and textbooks that set

forth a "correct" spoken and written form; and an

extensive formal literature that employs that

dialect (prose, poetry, non-fiction, etc.). There

may be multiple standard dialects associated

with a language. For example, Standard British

EnglishBritish English (BrE, BE, en-GB) is the

broad term used to distinguish the forms of the

English language used in the United Kingdom

from forms used elsewhere in the Anglophone

world. British English encompasses the varieties

of English used within the UK, including those in

England; Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales.

Some may also use the term more widely, to

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include other forms such as Hiberno-English

(spoken in Ireland.

In daily circumstances, most Britons — the

majority of whom speak English as either a first

or a second language — consider that they just

speak "English", rather than "British English"

specifically; the term "British English" is used

only when necessary to distinguish it from other

forms of English

Standard British English and Standard Indian

English may all be said to be standard dialects of

the English language.

A nonstandard dialect, like a standard dialect,

has a complete vocabulary, grammar, and

syntax, but is not the beneficiary of institutional

support.

I.3.4 Regional Dialect

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A regional dialect is not a distinct language but

a variety of a language spoken in a particular

area of a country. Some regional dialects have

been given traditional names which mark them

out as being significantly different from

standard varieties spoken in the same place.

Some examples are 'Hillbilly English' (from the

Appalachians in the USA) and 'Geordie' (from

Newcastle upon Tyne in the UK). For example

the differences between American and British

English are on many levels: Pronunciation –

e.g. Am E / Kar/ and Br E / ka/ for car ; Lexis-

e.g.AmE gas and BRE petrol; morphology –

AmE dove and BrE dived as the past form of

dive ; and syntax – e.g. AmE I don’t have a car

and BrE I have not a car.

I.3.5 Minority Dialect

Sometimes members of a particular minority

ethnic group have their own variety which they

use as a marker of identity, usually alongside a

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standard variety. This is called a minority

dialect. Examples are African American

Vernacular English in the USA, London

Jamaican in Britain, and Aboriginal English in

Australia.

I.3.6 Indigenized variety:

Indigenized varieties are spoken mainly as

second languages in ex-colonies with

multilingual populations. The differences

from the standard variety may be linked to

English proficiency, or may be part of a

range of varieties used to express identity.

For example, 'Singlish' (spoken in

Singapore) is a variety very different from

standard English, and there are many other

varieties of English used in India.

I.3.7 Social Varieties

Another kind of language variation is linked

to the different social classes in the

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society( speech community). Members

within the same speech community have

differences in their linguistic behaviour

determined by the social group or social

class they belong to. Factors such

religion ,cultural background education,

profession place of residence , financial

wealth and others ( see social class

above ???? ) determine people’s social

position and differentiation end thus the

way they speak.

I.3.8 Variation According to the Use of

Language

1-Registers (or diatypes): the specialised

vocabulary and/or grammar of certain activities

or professions ( professional language) .A register

is a subset of a language used for a particular

purpose or in a particular social setting. For

example, an English speaker may adhere more

closely to prescribed grammar , pronounce words

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ending in -ing with a velar nasal (e.g. "walking",

not "walkin'") and refrain from using the word

"ain't " when speaking in a formal setting, but the

same person could violate all of these

prescriptions in an informal setting.

The term was first used by the linguist Thomas

Bertram Reid in 1956, and brought into general

currency in the 1960s by a group of linguists who

wanted to distinguish between variations in

language according to the user (defined by

variables such as social background, geography,

sex and age), and variations according to use, "in

the sense that each speaker has a range of

varieties and chooses between them at different

times" (Halliday et al, 1964). The focus is on the

way language is used in particular situations,

such as legalese or motherese, (Baby talk,

motherese, parentese or child-directed

speech is a non-standard form of speech used

by adults in talking to toddlers and infants. It is

usually delivered with a "cooing" pattern of

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intonation different from that of normal adult

speech: high in pitch, with many glissando

variations that are more pronounced than those

of normal speech. Baby talk is also characterized

by the shortening and simplifying of words ) and

the language of a biology research lab.

Halliday (1964) identifies three variables that

determine register: field (the subject matter of

the discourse), tenor (the participants and their

relationships) and mode (the channel of

communication, e.g. spoken or written). Any or

all of the elements of language may vary in

different registers — vocabulary , syntax,

phonology, morphology, pragmatic rules or

different paralinguistic features such as pitch,

volume and intonation in spoken English, or size

and speed of sign production in a sign language.

Registers often also have non-linguistic

prescriptions such as appropriate dress codes,

body language, and proximity of speakers to one

another

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2-Stylistics is the study of varieties of language

whose properties position that language in

context. For example, the language of

advertising, politics, religion, individual authors,

etc., or the language of a period in time, all

belong in a particular situation. In other words,

they all have ‘place’.

Stylistics also attempts to establish principles

capable of explaining the particular choices made

by individuals and social groups in their use of

language, such as socialisation, the production

and reception of meaning , critical discourse

analysis and literary criticism.

Other features of stylistics include the use of

dialogue, including regional accents and people’s

dialects , descriptive language, the use of

grammar , such as the active voice or passive

voice, the distribution of sentence lengths, the

use of particular language registers, etc.

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I.3.9 Other Examples of Language Varieties

1-Idiolect: An idiolect is simply the technical

term we use to refer to the variety of language

spoken by each individual speaker of the

language. Just as there is variation among groups

of speakers of a language, there is variation from

speaker to speaker. No two speakers of a

language speak identically. Each speaks her or

his own particular variety of that language. Each

thus speaks her or his own idiolect.

2-Idiom is a term neutral to the dialect–language

distinction and is used to refer to the studied

communicative system (that could be called

either a dialect or a language) when its status

with respect to this distinction is irrelevant (thus

it is a synonym to language the more general

sense);

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3-sociolects: varieties spoken by socially

defined speech communities . It is associated

with a particular social class

4-Standard language :standardized for

education and public performance .

5-Ethnolects: for an ethnic group

6-Ecolect: an idiolect adopted by a household

Note:Varieties such as dialects, idiolects, and

sociolects can be distinguished not only by their

vocabulary, but also by differences in grammar,

phonology and prosody.

I.4 Varieties in Contact ( Mixture of

varieties)

Whenever two languages or two language

varieties exist in the same speech community

side by side, many important matters related to

their functions ,their relation to each other, to

their seperation or mixture evolve; which involve

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the topics of diglossia, bilingualism, code

switching, pidgins and creoles.

I.4.1 Diglossia

diglossia is a situation where, in a given society,

there are two (often) closely-related languages,

one of high prestige, which is generally used by

the government and in formal texts, and one of

low prestige, which is usually the spoken

vernacular tongue. (Vernacular refers to the

native language of a country or locality. it is

used to describe local languages as opposed to

linguae francae( lingua franca is any language

widely used beyond the population of its native

speakers ), official standards or global languages.

It is sometimes applied to nonstandard dialects of

a global language.For instance: in Western

Europe up until the 17th century, most scholarly

work was written in Latin, so works written in a

native language (such as Italian or German) were

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said to be in the vernacular) The high-prestige

language tends to be the more formalised, and

its forms and vocabulary often 'filter down' into

the vernacular, though often in a Fergusson in

1959 who gave it the folowing defintion ”

diglossia is a relatively stable language situation

in which,in addition to the primary dialects of the

language ( which may include a standard or

regional standards), there is a very divergent,

highly codified ( often grammatically more

complex) variety , the vehicle of a large and

respected body of written literature, either of an

earlier period or in another speech community,

which is learnrd largely by formal education and

is used for most written and formal spoken

purposes, but is not used by any sector of the

community for ordinary conversation”

There are few cases of the diglossic situation in

the world. We may find it in Switzerland

( standard German and Swiss German), in Haiti

( Standard French and Haitian creole). The best

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example of diglossia is the linguistic situation in

the Arab world. In each Arab- speaking

community, there are two varieties of Arabic in

use:Standard Arabic and a spoken colloquial.In

each diglossic situation there is a High variety

( Standard Arabic)and a Low variety (Spoken

colloquial).

I.4.2 Bilingualism and Multigualism

The term bilingualism( sometimes also

referred to as multigualism) can refer to

phenomena regarding an individual speaker who

uses two or more languages, a community of

speakers where two or more languages are used,

or between speakers of different languages.

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Multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual

speakers(monoglottism from(Greek monos,

"alone, solitary", + glotta, "tongue, language")

or, more commonly, monolingualism or

unilingualism is the condition of being able to

speak only a single language

I.4 2.1 Multilingualism within an individual

A multilingual person, in the broadest

definition, is anyone who can communicate in

more than one language, be it active (through

speaking and writing) or passive (through

listening and reading). More specifically, the

terms bilingual and trilingual are used to

describe comparable situations in which two or

three languages are involved, respectively.

Multilingualism could be rigidly defined as being

native-like in two or more languages. It could also

be loosely defined as being less than native-like

but still able to communicate in two or more

languages.

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Multilingual speakers have acquired and

maintained at least one language during

childhood, the so-called first language (L1). First

languages (sometimes also referred to as mother

tongue) are acquired without formal education,

by mechanisms heavily disputed. Children

acquiring two first languages since birth are

called simultaneous bilinguals. Even in the case

of simultaneous bilinguals one language usually

dominates over the other. This kind of

bilingualism is most likely to occur when a child is

raised by bilingual parents in a predominantly

monolingual environment.

I.4.3 Distinction between Bilingualism and

Diglossia

It is important to note that "diglossia" and

"bilingualism/multilingualism" refer to different,

although similar, sociolinguistic situations.

Diglossia is the term usually applied to the

sociolinguistic situation in much of the Arabic-

32

speaking world. In these countries, there are two

FORMS OF THE SAME LANGUAGE

(conventionally called "High" and "Low") that are

used in different situations. The "High" form

(called "Modern Standard Arabic") is normally

used in FORMAL situations, such as writing,

political speeches, university lectures, television

news, etc. The "Low" form (referred to as

"dialects," ) is used in INFORMAL situations,

such as conversations, etc. It is useful to think of

the language situation as it applies to Arabic as

being on a continuum. At one end of this

continuum is the "High" form, i.e., Modern

Standard Arabic, and at the other lies the "Low"

form, i.e., the various dialects. A person's place

on this continuum would most likely be

somewhere between these two poles, for it is

unlikely that they would use pure Modern

Standard or a colloquial in a given setting. The

choice on which form, or code, to use would

depend on many factors, including speaker,

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conversation, topic, and setting.

On the other hand, bilingualism is the term more

conventionally used to describe the

sociolinguistic situation in Belgium and

Switzerland (multilingualism for Switzerland's 4

languages). The key difference is that in a

bilingual situation certain INDIVIDUALS

(communities, etc.) will use Language A, while

other INDIVIDUALS (communities, etc.) will use

Language B, but EVERYONE will use the SAME

LANGUAGE for all situations -- writing, job

interviews, dinner table chats, etc. That's the

IDEAL. In practice, it gets much messier, and it is

best to think of these terms as representing ends

of a continuum--actual societies fit somewhere

along connecting these two poles. In the

American Southwest, for instance, Spanish and

English coexist in a situation of bilingualism, but

there are some important diglossic elements: in

many cases English is used for high-prestige,

formal contexts of speech, while Spanish is used

34

primarily in the home, in conversations among

good friends, etc. Spanish thus becomes the

"Low" form and English the "High" form.

I.4.4 Code switching (code mixing)

Speakers of more than one language (e.g.,

bilinguals) are known for their ability to code-

switch or mix their languages during

communication. This phenomenon occurs when

bilinguals substitute a word or phrase from one

language with a phrase or word from another

language. To illustrate, consider the sentence, (1)

I want a motorcycle VERDE. In this sentence, the

English word “green” is replaced with its Spanish

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equivalent. A noteworthy aspect of sentence (1)

above is that the Spanish adjective “verde”

follows a grammatical rule that is observed by

most bilingual speakers that code-switch. Thus,

according to the specific grammatical rule-

governing sentence (1) above, sentence (2) I

want a VERDE motorcycle would be incorrect

because language switching can occur between

an adjective and a noun, only if the adjective is

placed according to the rules of the language of

the adjective. In this case, the adjective is in

Spanish; therefore, the adjective must follow the

Spanish grammatical rule that states that the

noun must precede the adjective.

Traditionally, code-switching has been viewed

as a strategy to compensate for diminished

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language proficiency. The premise behind this

theory is that bilinguals code-switch because

they do not know either language completely.

This argument is also known as semi-lingualism,

which underscores the notion that bilinguals

“almost” speak both languages correctly.

However, one concern with this account is that

the notion of language proficiency is not clearly

defined. It is not clear whether reading and

writing language skills should take precedence

over spoken language. This reliance on reading

and writing is problematic because most

bilinguals receive their formal education in one

language, whereas a majority of their social

interactions take place in the other language. So,

when their reading and writing abilities are tested

37

in both languages, the language in which

bilinguals received more formal education will

usually fare better.

Recent developments in psycholinguistic

research has focused on how code-switching is a

natural product of the interaction of the

bilingual’s two languages. Early researchers

viewed code-switching as evidence that the

bilinguals’ two languages were organized in

separate and distinct mental dictionaries. For

example, a general finding throughout the

literature is that bilinguals take longer to read

and comprehend sentences containing code-

switched words as compared to monolingual

sentences. Apparently, this time consuming

process is due to a “mental switch mechanism”

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that determines which of the bilingual’s two

mental dictionaries are “on” or “off” during the

course of language comprehension. This mental

switch is responsible for selecting the appropriate

mental dictionary to be employed during the

comprehension of a sentence. Thus, for a

Spanish-English bilingual speaking English, the

English linguistic system is turned on, whereas

the Spanish linguistic system remains off.

However, if during the course of comprehending

a sentence, a Spanish code-switched word is

encountered, the mental switch must disable the

English linguistic system, and enable the Spanish

linguistic system.

Another current view suggests that language

dominance (i.e., which language is used more

39

frequently) plays an important role in code-

switching. For example, Spanish-English

bilinguals report more linguistic interference

(code-switching) when they communicate in

Spanish, their first-language, and little or no

code-switching when they communicate in

English, their second-language. In other words,

these bilinguals code-switch more when they

communicate in Spanish than when they use

English. Empirical research supports these

observations. Psycholinguistic evidence also

suggests that bilinguals retrieve English code-

switched words faster when they listen to

Spanish sentences, whereas they are slower to

retrieve Spanish code-switched words as they

listen to English sentences. More interestingly,

40

evidence also shows that code-switched words

are actually retrieved faster than monolingual

words, but only if the code-switched word is in

English, and the language of communication is

Spanish. These results suggest a reliance on the

bilingual’s second-language as opposed to their

first-language. How are these results explained?

The general idea behind this view is that after a

certain level of fluency and frequent use of the

second-language, a language shift occurs in

which the second-language behaves as if it were

the bilingual’s first-language. In other words, the

second-language becomes more readily

accessible and bilinguals come to rely on it more.

Thus, regardless of which language the bilingual

learned first, the more active (dominant)

41

language determines which mental dictionary is

going to be accessed faster. This argument is

reasonable since most bilinguals in the US, whose

first-language is Spanish, obtain their formal

education in English. Likewise, many of their

everyday interactions involve the second-

language. As a result, words and concepts in

English, the second-language, become more

accessible than words in Spanish, the first-

language. Thus, code-switching is not the same

for both languages. Rather, it depends on

language dominance.

In short, code-switching may be indicative of

difficulties in retrieval (access) affected by a

combination of closely-related factors such as

language use (i.e., how often the first-language is

42

used) and word frequency (i.e., how much a

particular word is used in the language). Finally,

the notion that people code-switch as a strategy

in order to be better understood and to enhance

the listeners’ comprehension is another plausible

alternative.

I.4.5 Borrowing

There is a difference between code-switching

and borrowing though on the surface they seem

to include the use of “foreign words” in a

conversation that is conducted in another

language .The difference lies in the existence and

the use of one or more language system in the

mind of the speaker. Borrowing usually occurs

when the speaker is unable to find or ignores an

appropriate equivalent for the borrowed word in

43

the first language. The borrowed elements are

usually single words and are modified so as to

conform to the first language rules. In code

switching, however, speakers switch codes not

because they do not know an item/s in one of the

codes; rather they do for necessary social

considerations. Code switching occurs completely

i.e. in phonetics, morphology, grammar and

vocabulary. There is no adjustment or change to

the rules of the other code.

I.4.6 Pidgin

Pidgin is a new language which develops in

situations where speakers of different

languages need to communicate but don't

share a common language. The vocabulary of

a pidgin comes mainly from one particular

language (called the 'lexifier'). An early 'pre-

pidgin' is quite restricted in use and variable in 44

structure. But the later 'stable pidgin' develops

its own grammatical rules which are quite

different from those of the lexifier.

Once a stable pidgin has emerged, it is

generally learned as a second language and

used for communication among people who

speak different languages. (Nigerian Pidgin)

I.4.6.1 Reasons for the Development of

Pidgins

       In the nineteenth century, when slaves from

Africa were brought over to North America to

work on the plantations, they were separated

from the people of their community and mixed

with people of various other communities,

therefore they were unable to communicate with

each other. The strategy behind this was so they

couldn't come up with a plot to escape back to

their land. Therefore, in order to finally

communicate with their peers on the plantations,

and with their bosses, they needed to form a

45

language in which they could communicate.

Pidgins also arose because of colonization.

Prominent languages such as French, Spanish,

Portuguese, English, and Dutch were the

languages of the colonizers. They travelled, and

set up ports in coastal towns where shipping and

trading routes were accessible.

       The superstrate ( lexifier) language from the

Papua New Guinea Creole example above is

English. The other minority languages that

contribute to the pidgin are called the substrate

languages.

I.4.7 CREOLE

When children start learning a pidgin as their

first language and it becomes the mother

tongue of a community, it is called a creole.

Like a pidgin, a creole is a distinct language 46

which has taken most of its vocabulary from

another language, the lexifier, but has its own

unique grammatical rules. Unlike a pidgin,

however, a creole is not restricted in use, and

is like any other language in its full range of

functions. Examples are Gullah, Jamaican

Creole and Hawaii” Creole English.

Note that the words 'pidgin' and 'creole' are

technical terms used by linguists, and not

necessarily by speakers of the language. For

example, speakers of Jamaican Creole call

their language 'Patwa' (from patois) and

speakers of Hawaii Creole English call theirs

'Pidgin.'

I.5 Language and Social Interaction

I.5.1 Speech Functions

One particular side of the relation between

language and society is that of the use of

language in the interaction between

47

individuals in a community. This social

interaction requires some necessary

functions and rules reflected in the ways

people use speech.

Speech has functions. We speak to

communicate some information. This

informative or referential function is one

of the basic functions of speech. We may

also use speech to report feelings and

attitudes. This is its expressive function .

We may speak to cause or prevent overt

actions ; this is the directive function.

These three functions are the basic ones

though identifying just these three is an

oversimplification. Several other uses of

language deserve mention. The phatic

function refers to the expressions of

sympathy like " how are you? “ and”

fantastic” as well as “street –corner” and

“elevator talk” conversations”.The poetic

function of speech refers to the use of

48

aesthetic features, such as poems ,rhymes ,

etc…The metalinguistic function refers to

the use of language

I.5.2 Solidarity and Power

The type of relationship the speaker has

with the addressee determines the choice of

one linguistic form than another. Among the

social relationships between the speaker

and the interlocutors can be defined in

terms of power and solidarity.

Power refers to the unequal relation

between people –one of them being

superior, the other a subordinate. e.g.

teacher-pupil- father-son-officer- soldier.

Solidarity on the other hand, concerns the

extent of the social distance between

people- how close they are, how intimate

they are, how much they share in social

characteristics. The variety in social

relations determines the choice of language

49

and linguistic forms. For example a teacher

usually tends to use the imperative with his

pupils, whereas people of equal status will

use the declarative and the interrogative

and strangers will tend to use polite

formula.

I.5.3 Forms of Address

The type of relationship the speaker has

with the addressee determines again the

form of address in speech situations. A

person can be addressed by different titles

( Mr or Dr,or Pr Brown) or by his first name

John. Again the concepts of power and

solidarity discussed above interfere. Mr or

Dr Brown is used when there is low

solidarity between the speaker and the

addressee i.e. when the addressee is

superior. In case there is high solidarity

between the speaker and Mr Brown , then

the first name John is used. In French “tu” is

50

used in situations of high solidarity and

“vous” is used in between strangers and

cases of low solidarity.

I.5.4 Language and Social Inequality

In the view of modern linguistics all

languages are equal. There is no language

that is better, more beautiful or more

expressive and cultured than another. There

is no bad or ugly language. All languages

are complex and serve the communicative

needs of their communities. However, many

people do not agree with this view and

attribute judgments to one language /s or

language variety.

In this section, some issues of social

inequality will be discussed.

I.5.4.1 Minority Languages

51

A minority language is a language spoken by a

minority of the population of a country usually

ethnic distinct groups (minorities). Such people

are termed "linguistic minorities".For example , in

Algeria , beside Arabic, there is Berber, and in

Iraq there are Kurdish, Turkish, and one or two

dialects of Syriac beside Arabic.

The social status of these languages is different

from that of the language of the majority which is

usually the official language and is a tool for for

social, politiacl, and economic advantage.

Historically, minority languages have been

overlooked, and since language is emblematic for

national and ethnic identity, most of their native

speakers were kept at their low satus socially and

politically. For political reasons , govenments

have intervened in the affais of their linguistic

minorities by discourging the leaning and the

teaching of such languages and even sometimes

the use of these languages.

52

Nowdays, humanistic attitudes have gained

position . Govenments now encourage these

minority languages in education especially when

they do not represent , as symbols of national

unity, any political threat to these

governments .

I.5.5 Elaborated and Restricted Codes

Another linguistic disadvantage concerns the

deficiency of the language of the lower social

classes. Basil Bernstein in 1971 makes a

significant contribution to the study of

Communication with his sociolinguistic theory of

language codes. As an educator, he was

interested in accounting for the relatively poor

performance of working-class students in

language based subjects, when they were

achieving scores as high as their middle-class

counterparts on mathematical topics. In his

theory, Bernstein makes a direct correlation

53

between societal class and language. Within the

broader category of language codes are

elaborated and restricted codes. These two codes

(varieties) are different as far as the contexts

they are used in are concerned. They also differ

linguistically.

The elaborated code is characterised by the use

of syntactically complex sentences and

subordinate clauses, a high proportion of

adjectives and adverbs, frequent use of the

pronoun I and complex use of prepositions and

conjunctions Elaborated codes have a longer,

more complicated sentence structure that utilizes

uncommon words and thoughts. In the elaborate

code there is no padding or filler, only complete,

well laid out thoughts that require no previous

knowledge on the part of the listener, i.e.,

necessary details will be provided. The restricted

code is, however, distinguished by the

employment of short and simple sentences,

which may not be formed, few conjunctions, and

54

little subordination. The use of adjectives and

adverbs is limited. The restricted code is less

formal with shorter phrases interjected into the

middle or end of a thought to confirm

understanding. For example, “you know,” “you

know what I mean,“ “right?” and  “don’t you

think?”

Bernstein makes a correlation between social

class and the use of either elaborated or

restricted code. He reports that in the working

class you are likely to find the use of the

restricted code, whereas in the middle class you

find the use of both the restricted and elaborated

codes. His research argues that the working class

have access only to restricted codes, the ones

they learned in the socialization process, where

“both the values and role systems reinforce

restricted codes”.  However, the middle class,

being more geographically, socially and culturally

mobile has access to both the restricted codes

and elaborate codes. According to Bernstein

55

(1971), a working class person communicates in

restricted code as a result of the conditions in

which they were raised and the socialization

process. The same is true for the middle class

person with the exception that they were

exposed to the elaborate code as well. Both

groups use restricted code at some point, for as

Atherton (2002) points out, “Everyone uses

restricted code communication some of the time.

It would be a very peculiar and cold family which

did not have its own language.” 

I.5.6 Language and Sex

Language mirrors the structure of the speech

community and reflects the social and cultural

values that exist in that community. Among the

latter is sexism. Language itself is not sexist, but

the speech community distinguishes between its

members according to whether they are males or

females, and gives them different social roles

which are going to be reflected in the language of

56

that community. In the following two sections

how sexist social attitudes are reflected in

language and the ways men and women use

language will be discussed.

I.5.6.1Sexism in Language

Human civilisation has given unequal status

to men and women which can be observed easily

in human language. Sexism in language is the

use of language which devalues members of one

sex, almost invariably women, and thus fosters

gender inequality.

It discriminates against women by rendering

them invisible or trivializing them at the same

time that it perpetuates notions of male

supremacy. For example English has manly

courage and masculine charm, but feminine

hands and women tears. Some nouns that refer

to professions reflect the distribution of roles that

57

has been, historically prevalent. Rector,

chancellor, worker and doctor, and similar terms,

are interpreted to refer to a man because these

were professions that only men did. Similarly,

typist and nurse are interpreted to refer to a

woman.

The following table shows the differentiation

patterns in English as a result of the sexism in

the society and the increasingly more neutral

terms that replacing the old sexist ones.

Current Usage Alternative

man human being, human, person, individual

mankind, men human beings, humans,

humankind,humanity, people, human human species, society,

men and women workers, wage earners

58

working men, workmen

man on the street average person, ordinary person, the common tao

forefather ancestor

layman layperson, nonspecialist, non professionalmanhood adulthood, maturity

to a man everyone, unanimously,

without exception

one man show one person show solo exhibition

founding fathers founders

manpower human resources, staff,

personnel, labor force

59

brotherhood of man the family of humanity, the unity of people or

of humankind human solidarity

early man early people, early men and

women, early human beings

statemanship diplomacy

man-made manufactured, synthetic,

artificial

old masters classic art/artists

masterful domineering, very skillful

I.5.6.2 Man Language and Woman

Language

60

Study of human societies has indicated that

the speech of women differs from that of

men. These differences are seen at all

linguistic levels. At the level of vocabulary

for example, women do not use some taboo

words that only males use. These words are

sexual vocabulary, swear words, words

referring to body function, etc…Research

has also revealed that in Norwich , a town in

England, women pronounce words like

walking , cooking , singing, etc with the

standard variant of the variable ing more

than men. In English women also use some

colour words that are not used by men such

beige, mauve and lavender.

Women and men are treated differently by

the society, which involves different

behavioural patterns from them since they

play different roles in it. Women and men

know these social differences and behave

accordingly so as not to be socially inept.

61

II Psychology and Language

This chapter deals with psycholinguistics. It

describes the developmental stages of child

language acquisition and introduces some

theories of First Language Acquisition. The

chapter also presents some analysis and

classification of some language disorders

II.1 Some Important Definitions

II.1.1Definition of psychology

Psychology is both an academic and applied

discipline involving the scientific study of mental

processes or mental functions ( such as

perception, introspection, memory , creativity,

imagination , conception , belief , reasoning ,

volition, and emotion — in other words, all the

62

different things that we can do with our minds)

and behaviour ( the actions or reactions of an

object or organism, usually in relation to the

environment; which can be conscious or

unconscious, overt or covert, and voluntary or

involuntary ). Psychologists study such

phenomena as perception, cognition, emotion,

personality, behaviour, and interpersonal

relationships. Psychology also refers to the

application of such knowledge to various spheres

of human activity, including issues related to

daily life—e.g. family, education, and work—and

the treatment of mental health problems.

The social science branch of psychology (mainly

social psychology) attempts to understand the

role human behavior plays in social dynamics

(e.g., culture, economics, and politics). Although

the natural science branch of psychology differs

from biology which is the branch of science that

studies life . This broad spectrum of empirical

fields studies (Empirical data is data that is

63

produced by experiment or observation ) and

classifies living organisms and biological

phenomena and neuroscience (a field that is

devoted to the scientific study of the nervous

system. Such studies may include the structure,

function, evolutionary history, development,

genetics, biochemistry, physiology,

pharmacology, and pathology of the nervous

system.) .Psychological science has a long

tradition of incorporating physiological and

neurological processes into its conceptions of

mental functioning. Psychology includes many

sub-fields of study and application concerned

with such areas as human development, sports,

health, industry, forensics, and spirituality. As

such, psychology is not a unified scientific

discipline, with many different perceptions of

what the field entails, and many different

standards of what constitutes scientific research.

II.1.2 Definition of Psycholinguistics or psychology of language

64

Psycholinguistics is the study of the psychological

and neurobiological factors ( the study of cells of

the nervous system and the organization of these

cells into functional circuits that process

information and mediate behavior. ) that enable

humans to acquire, use, and understand

language. Initial attempts to study

psycholinguistics were largely philosophical

ventures, due mainly to a lack of cohesive data

on how the human brain functioned. Modern

research makes use of biology, neuroscience ,

cognitive science, and information theory to

study how the brain processes language. There

are a number of subdisciplines; for example, as

non-invasive techniques for studying the

neurological workings of the brain become more

and more widespread, neurolinguistics ( the

science concerned with the human brain

mechanisms underlying the comprehension,

production and abstract knowledge of language,

65

be it spoken, signed (body language) or

written.)has become a field in its own right.

Psycholinguistics covers the cognitive processes

that make it possible to generate a grammatical

and meaningful sentence out of vocabulary and

grammatical structures, as well as the processes

that make it possible to understand utterances,

words, text, etc. Developmental psycholinguistics

studies infants' and children's ability to learn

language, usually with experimental or at least

quantitative methods (as opposed to naturalistic

observations such as those made by Jean Piaget (

Swiss philosopher, natural scientist and

developmental psychologist, well known for his

work studying children, and for his theory of

cognitive development ( in his research on the

development of children).

II.2 First Language Acquisition

66

Language acquisition is one of the central topics

in cognitive science. Every theory of cognition

has tried to explain it. Possessing a language is

an essential human trait: all normal humans

speak, no nonhuman animal does. Language is

the main vehicle by which we know about other

people's thoughts, and the two must be

intimately related. Every time we speak we are

revealing something about language, so the facts

of language structure are easy to obtain; these

data hint at a system of extraordinary

complexity. Nonetheless, learning a first

language is something every child does

successfully, in a matter of a few years and

without the need for formal lessons.

Language acquisition takes place mainly before

the age of 5 years old. No child fails to learn a

language (pathologies aside); and language

acquisition is carried out in much the same way.

67

In acquiring language, the child’s linguistic

knowledge passes through stages; each stage

resembles the adult’s linguistic knowledge until

the child gains full competence .Children do not

acquire their mother tongue by memorisation

and repetition of sentences they hear in their

immediate environment. Quite the reverse,

children are continuously involved in the creative

activity of constructing and comprehending new

sentences which they have never experienced

before .In fact what they do is building a

grammar of the language they are learning, a

mental system of rules and principles, a theory of

their language which makes them able to

produce and understand all the sentences of the

language .The very difficult task and the very

short time in which it is acquired , added to the

poor quality of the language material the child is

exposed to ( parents ,mothers in particular,

sometimes even imitating child’s language )

confirm the assumption that human beings are

68

born with the disposition to learn language.

However, the role of the environment is very

important. With no linguistic input- i.e. speech

from the surrounding environment- to provoke

the acquisition process, a child will not learn a

language.

II. 2.1 Stages of Language Development

1-Babbling

Approximately by the age of six months, all

normal children start to babble; making long

sequences of varied vowels and consonants. Per

se , babbling is a linguistic universal. Children at

this stage do not produce sounds proper to their

mother tongues. Babbling belongs to infants of all

communities. Babbling is not a true language

69

though it shares with adult language the property

of being stimulus -free .Infants do not babble to

express a physical need. They rather do it for

pleasure.

Babbling sequences are usually stretches of

vowels, or stops followed by vowels. They

generally have the structure of ( CV) or ( VV)

e.g. / gaa/, / boo/. / aa/etc…., these sequences

usually have the intonation patterns that are

similar to the intonation of the adult language

they hear. Babbling is considered as the first

stage of the acquisition process.

II.2.2 The First Words

Towards the age of twelve months- sometimes

later- the child produces his/ her first words with

some overlapping with babbling sequences at

first. The first words the child produces are

monosyllabic and are not different from babbling

sequences except in their symbolic function.

70

They are of the form / CV(V)/ / daa/ , / maa/, etc…

and may be similar to adult words.

For about six months, children seem to pass this

stage in which the single words which they

produce represent full adult sentences. In the

case of English, / waa/ means water, or I want

water or this is water. Here a variety of functions

and intentions are conveyed through these single

words.

II.2.3 The Two- Word Stage

Between 18 and 24 months, children begin to use

two-word utterances. They first utter two single

word utterances one after the other, with a pause

in between. Later, the two words are uttered with

no pause.

e.g. Baby sleep - Mommy sock

These utterances are used with no syntactic

markers.

71

II.2.4The Hierarchical Stage

After the two-word stage, children combine their

two words together to produce longer utterances.

At the beginning, the utterances don not contain

function words and syntactic markers but only

words which carry important information, e.g.

mommy eat bread. Though they lack function

words these utterances are sentence –like.

II .3The Acquisition of Linguistic

Subsystems

II.3.1Phonology

Infants respond to speech sounds a few days

after their birth. Experiments carried on infants’

perception demonstrate that they are able to

perceive contrasts on voicing, place of

articulation, nasals, and stops. Infants do this

without any previous experience with language

72

which is evidence that human beings are born

with an innate ability to acquire language.

The production of sounds in infants starts with

babbling. Most of babbling sequences start with

stops and end with vowels or voiceless stops, and

there are non consonants clusters. At about 10-

12 months, the infant starts copying accurately

the sounds he hears from the adults around him.

At this age, the child pronounces the same words

differently when trying to imitate adult

pronunciation. The child can discriminate

between sounds but cannot contrast in

production. Comprehension is not problematic for

him/her whereas production is.

Individual sounds are produced gradually; some

are acquired earlier than others, and therefore

substituted for them. The sound system is fully

acquired by the age of 7.

The early words are generally monosyllabic (until

the age of 2), of the form/ CV/ or/ CVC/ .However,

73

consonants clusters appear later. Children

shorten adult words by deleting final consonants,

or by reducing clusters and omitting unstressed

syllables.

II.3.2 Morphology

The child learns early the morphological rules of

the language. In the two-word utterances

production we can notice that they lack affixes

and function words. Children learn them later

when they start constructing rules for using

morphemes. At the beginning over generalise,

but later they perfect their rules.

Inflections or grammatical morphemes are

learned in order, depending on their regularity,

transparency, and frequency of use. In English, /

ing/ is acquired earlier than the present tense

/s/ . In the same way productivity and regularity

in derivational morphemes are factors affect the

74

order of acquisition. In English for example the

agentive / er/ is learned early e.g. writer, teacher,

baker, etc

Overgeneralisation with irregular forms is usual

in children’s speech. Goed and breaked are

typical examples. Before the stage of over

generalisation , the child may use the forms went

and broke without associating them with present

forms .Later ,overgeneralisation is restricted to

regular forms, and irregular forms reappear.

II.3.3Syntax

A Holophrases or one-word sentence used by the

child to express what adults would use sentences

for are the first step in the syntactic

development. Though children posses only single

words, they use them for different functions:

naming, asking, requesting, etc…. They intend

their utterances to be understood a full

75

sentences. Any way they understand full

sentences when they hear them.

With the two –word stage ,the structure in the

child’s utterances comes into existence. The two

words are usually linked with some word order.

However the structure of these utterances is

semantically determined. The variety of relations

between the two words can be exemplified in the

following English examples:

Daddy sleep(agent-action)

Daddy car(possessor-possession)

Kick ball black car( action –object)

Mommy bed( subject –location)

These examples indicate the child is aware of the

different semantic relations.

After this stage when there is a lack of inflections

and function words, the child ‘s sentences

76

develop to look like adult sentences. In the stage

of the acquisition of syntax, the child moves from

simple to more complex sentences by learning

the negative , passive, questions ,etc…The

acquisition of syntax progresses until the age of

ten or beyond where some syntactically complex

sentences develop longer than others.

II.3.4Semantics

The acquisition of meaning is more complicated

than the acquisition of phonology and syntax.

Semantics is a never-ending process. We always

learn vocabulary and store it continuously.

Children produce their first words at the age of

one and associate each word with its meaning

through the process of trial and error. By the age

of six, children acquire about 14000 words. The

progress of vocabulary acquisition is so rapid that

it is impossible to give statistics at any time, add

to this the fact that the person/ child possess two

types of vocabulary: active and passive . Active,

77

which the person actually uses in his speech, and

passive, which he does not use in his speech, but

recognises when he hears it. The former is larger

in number.

There are many things specific to children’s

acquisition of vocabulary. There is a certain order

in learning words. The first words a child learns

are those which include words that the child can

act on, or things that can act for themselves, and

names of large objects that exist in his

environment. The meanings of the words

acquired by the child are different from their

adult’s meanings. This is a proof that the child

has not acquired the semantic system of the

language.

The child’s language is full of cases of

overgeneralisation . A child may use an item for a

wider range of things than he should. The word

doggie is used by an English-speaking child to

refer to dogs, horses, cows, sheep ,etc…This

78

demonstrates that a general feature is acquired

which covers all these things.

II.4Theories of First Language Acquisition

Linguists and psychologists have long addressed

the issues of language acquisition and its

mechanisms. Many of them, however disagree on

many points. The behaviourist school of

psychology emphasises the role of the

environment and the role of standard methods in

language development. Other and mainly those

who belong to the generative school hold that

human beings are born with the ability to learn a

language. Others like Piaget and his followers

assert that language acquisition is linked to the

cognitive development in the child.

The following sections will discuss briefly these

theories.

II.4.1The Behaviourist Theory

79

The advocates of this theory assert that the

linguistic behaviour like any other kind of

behaviour is a result of a chain of stimuli and

responses. Language learning is a result of

responses to a given stimulus that is positively

reinforced so as to become automatic.

Children learn their first language by imitating

the speech of adults the hear and by keeping a

certain response ( for example a certain answer

to a certain question) when it is positively

reinforced, and rejecting another response when

it is negatively reinforced by the environment.

Imitation and reinforcement are considered two

complementary methods the child uses to

acquire his mother tongue.

II.4.2The Nativistic Approach

Human beings are born with a mental device

which is called (LAD) Language acquisition

device which enables them to acquire language.

80

Thanks to this device or language faculty, the

child when exposed to linguistic input from the

outside environment , even if it is poor, will

construct a mental system representing the

language of his community, a grammar provided

to him by the language faculty.

The advocates of this approach are Noam

Chomsky and his school of Generative Grammar

who believe that humans are born with the

capacity of constructing a grammar with highly

specified properties. According to this view,

imitation and reinforcement are not valid

methods for language acquisition since the child

does not learn his language as a set of habits .

II.4.3The Cognitive Approach

The proponents of this approach refuse the

specific mental faculty that enables language

acquisition hypothesised by the nativistic

81

approach. They rather believe that this

knowledge is determined by general cognitive

principles. Piaget describes the linguistic

development in the child as an interaction

between his developing cognitive capacities and

linguistic experience.

Though we still need a lot of information to

decide which of these theories is more valid, all

what is suggested in them plays an important

role in language acquisition.

II.4 Language Disorders and Language Loss

Neurolinguistics is the study of the relation

between language and the central nervous

system. Linguistics helps in identifying and

categorising language disorders which are

generally speaking termed aphasia. These

disorders are described and categorised in

linguistic terms.

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Particular damages in the central nervous system

affects different language aspects because

certain areas of the brain are linked with

language. They are located in the left

hemisphere , which s said to be responsible for

language ability.

II.4.1What are speech and language

disorders?

Speech and language disorders are inabilities of

individuals to understand and/or appropriately

use the speech and language systems of society.

Such disorders may range from simple sound

repetitions or occasional misarticulations to the

complete absence of the ability to use speech

and language for communication.

II.4.2What are some types of speech and

language disorders?83

Speech disorders may include:

-Fluency disorder-an interruption in the flow or

rhythm of speech characterized by hesitations,

repetitions, or prolongations of nouns,

syllables, words or phrases.

-Articulation disorder-difficulties with the way

sounds are formed and strung together usually

characterized by substituting one sound for

another (wabbit for rabbit), omitting a sound

(han for hand) and distorting a sound (shlip for

sip).

-Voice disorder-characterized by inappropriate

pitch (too high, too low never changing or

interrupted by breaks; quality (harsh, hoarse,

breathy or nasal); loudness, resonance, and

duration.

Language disorders may include:

Aphasia-the loss of speech and language

abilities generally resulting from stroke. 84

Delayed language-characterized by a marked

slowness in the development of language skills

necessary for expressing and understanding

thoughts and ideas.

 II.4.3What are the causes of speech and

language disorders?

Some of the causes of speech and language

disorders are related to hearing loss, short

memory span, cerebral palsy and other

neuromuscular disorders, severe head injuries,

stroke, viral diseases, certain drugs, physical

impairments such as cleft lip or palate, and

inadequate speech and language models in the

home environment. The majority of voice

disorders in children usually result from frequent

vocal abuse associated with excessive throat

clearing, coughing screaming, or yelling. This

abuse can cause inflammation of the larynx

(vocal cords), or the formation of nodules and

polyps, which are small growths, on the vocal

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cords. Allergies, smoking, and the consumption of

alcoholic beverages are other factors which may

adversely affect the larynx (vocal cords) resulting

in varying degrees of voice disorder.

 In the following sections different types of aphasia will be discussed.

1. Broca’s aphasia

In this type of aphasia, speech is hesitant and

not fluent, with many stops and deficient

intonation. Both speech and writing lack

grammar. This kind of aphasia also is

characterised by the incorrect use of

grammatical morphemes (function

words).Lexical morphemes are used but

phonologically deformed.

2.Wernicke’s aphasia

A lesion in an area in the brain called

Wernicke’s area causes this aphasia. 86

Generally, language comprehension and

expression are affected. The person may be

quite fluent but his speech is meaningless. The

utterances are made of indefinite noun

phrases sequences of actual or non-actual

words. Comprehension and the ability to read

and to repeat are damaged.

3.Anomic aphasia

This type of aphasia is characterised by the

difficulty to find words. Some patients block and

may substitute the words they want to say.

Others block even in writing.

4.Conduction aphasia

While production and comprehension are whole,

the ability is impaired. It is phonological . There

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are errors in the sequencing and selection of

segments.

5.Alexia and agraphia

The patient can speak and understand correctly

but unable to read and write (alexia and agraphia

respectively). He / She can recognise individual

letters but totally unable to read them in

combination. There is another type of aphasia

that is characterised by word deafness. The

patient can speak, read, and write, but cannot

understand spoken language.

From the above brief presentation of the types of

aphasia , we can deduce that linguistics can

provide the description, analysis and

classification of language disorders. The latter

are described in terms of the linguistic abilities

of the patient- i.e. the four language skills:

speaking, comprehension, reading and writing.

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