The Origins and Development of the English Language Chapter 1: Language and the English Language

The Origins and Development of the English Language

Chapter 1: Language and the English Language

John Algeo

Michael Cheng

National Chengchi University

A Definition of Language

Language is a system of conventional vocal signs by means of which human beings communicate.

System

Signs

Vocal

Conventional

Human

Communicate

Language as System

Language is not a collection of words, like a dictionary

There are rules or patterns that relate the words to one another

Duality of patterning– Meaningful units: Words and words parts

• Adam liked apples.

– Meaningless components: Sounds of letter• About 35 basic sounds in English

Language as System

Duality of patterning lets people build an immensely large number of meaningful words out of only a handful of meaningless sounds. (p. 2)Meaningless Components: sound system or phonologyMeaningful Units: lexis or vocabulary; grammatical system or morphosyntax

Language as System

Patterns in the sound system:– mb never occurs at the beginning or end of words in

Modern English

Lexis is least systematic, but there are collocations.– mild and gentle vs. lenient– mild weather; gentle breeze; severe case of the flu;

severe judgment; lenient judgment; lenient case of the flu

More stuff can be added to bridge to next slide

Language as System (Elaborate)

Grammatical Signals: The grammatical system of any language has various techniques for relating words to one another within the structure of a sentence.Most important:1. Parts of speech: noun, verb, adjective, adverb2. Affixes: prefixes, suffixes, inflectional suffixes3. Concord or agreement4. Word order5. Function words6. Prosodic signals

Language as System

Language Signs

The system organizes signs

Signs stand for something else– apple stands for the actual object– Tell me a really long word.

Linguistic signs can be smaller or larger than whole words.

Language Signs

The smallest linguistic sign is a morpheme, which is a meaningful form that cannot be divided into smaller meaningful parts (p. 5)

Free morphemes: can be used alone as words

Bound morphemes: must be combined with other morphemes to make words.

Reactivation: re-act-ive-ate-ion

(again) (adj)(v) (n)

Language Signs

Morphemes can have more than one pronunciation or spelling

Plural noun ending: -s/-es ; [s],[z],[әz]

Spoken variations are allomorphs

Language Signs

Base morphemes and affixesAffix is a bound morpheme that is added to a base morphemeAffixes can be prefixes or suffixes– reactivation

Base morphemes are usually free– Insulate (insula + ate) insula = lat. island

Compound: word with more than one base morpheme– firefighter

Language Signs

Language signs can be larger than words

Idioms: a combination of words whose meaning cannot be predicted from those of its constituent parts (p. 6)

Language as Speech

Language is basically oral-aural– Produced by the mouth and received by the ear

Sounds follow one another sequentiallyLanguage is one dimensionalOther ways of expressing language:– writing, sign language

What are the advantages and disadvantages of other ways of expressing language?

Language as Speech

Writing vs. Speech

Which is primary and which is secondary?

Language as Speech : Writing as Speech

Humans have been writing for 5000 years

Writing developed from speech and is meant to represent speech

Some spoken languages have no written form

We talk before we write

We have to take special effort to learn to write

Many people who can speak are unable to write

Language as Speech

“If speaking makes us human, writing makes us civilized.”

Advantages of writing:

Permanent

Indicates pauses more clearly:– Grade A vs. gray day– Pretty hot day vs. pretty, hot day

Language as Speech : Writing as Speech

Deficiencies of writing:

Can’t indicate pitch– Why did you do it? (rising vs. falling)– sound quality (tone vs. quality)– incense (enrage vs. stuff to burn)– sewer (tailor vs. conduit)

Language as Speech: Writing as Speech

Homonyms: homographs, homophones

Transliteration

Translation

Orthography: Writing system

Language as Speech: Gestures and Speech

Gestures can communicate alsoSpeech may have developed from gesturesGestures can be unconsciousKinesics: study of communicative body movementTone of voiceParalanguage: parallel communication that accompanies language

Language as Convention

Language is mostly conventional and arbitraryThere is usually no reason we connect the sounds we make with a particular meaning, but each language agrees on what particular sounds meanException: echoic words/onomatopoeia– Bow wow, gnaf-gnaf, wau-wau

Language as Convention: Language Change

Language changes because it is culturally transmitted

Causes of language change:

Syntagmatic change: nearby elements influence one another within the flow of speech– sandwich

Language as Convention: Language Change

Paradigmatic or Associative Change

Words can be affected by other words that are not immediately present but with which they are associated

Language as Convention: Language Change

Starboard = RightLadeboard = LeftLadeboard Larboard Port

Language as Convention : Language Change

Social Change

Language changes because of the influence of events in the world

New technology: google

New forms of behavior: suicide bomber, sexting

Contact with new people and cultures

Language as Convention : The Notion of Linguistic Corruption

Language as Convention : Language Variation

Language exists in many varietiesHistorical or diachronic variationContemporary or synchronic variation– Dialects – mutually intelligible forms of language

associated with particular regions or groups– Dialect: Language associated with a certain place,

social level, ethnic group, sex, age– Registers – Variations according to participants,

settings, and topics– Register: Variety of language used for a certain

purpose: sermon, restaurant, telephone, postcard

Language as Convention : Registers

Formality scale

This diagram is from Quirk et al (1985), who use the term attitude rather than style or register

Formality scale Very formal, Frozen, Rigid

← FORMAL Neutral INFORMAL → Very informal,

Casual, Familiar

Language as Convention : Registers

Joos (1961) cited in WikipediaFrozen: Printed unchanging language such as bible quotations; often contains archaisms. Formal: One-way participation, no interruption. Technical vocabulary; "Fussy semantics" or exact definitions are important. Includes introductions between strangers. (This is the standard for work, school, and business.)Consultative: Two-way participation. Background information is provided — prior knowledge is not assumed. "Backchannel behaviour" such as "uh huh", "I see", etc. is common. Interruptions allowed. (Formal Register used in conversations.)Casual: In-group friends and acquaintances. No background information provided. Ellipsis and slang common. Interruptions common. (Language used in conversation with friends.)Intimate: Non-public. Intonation more important than wording or grammar. Private vocabulary. (Language between lovers (and twins).)

Dialects and registers provide options

Alternate ways to communicate depending on the circumstances

Language as Convention : Correctness and Acceptability

Correctness: Idea that some form of English is pure or correct.

Language isn’t so clean cut

Acceptability: Degree to which users will judge an expression to be OK, or will not notice anything out of the ordinary

How acceptable? To whom?

Language as Convention : Correctness and Acceptability

If I were in your shoes…

If I was in your shoes…

If we was in your shoes…

ate– et– εt

Language as Human

Gestures may have preceded language

Ability to learn language is innate

Children below 9 can learn a new language better than their native language

Children of about 5 have mastered comprehension of most grammatical forms of a language (but still continue to improve)

Language as Human: Animals in the wild, do they communicate?

Informative behavior vs. Communicative behavior

Do you intend an action to inform?

Alarm cries are signaling behavior but not intentionally communicative

Do animals display deceptive behavior?

Innate, involuntary, limited in number

Language as Human

Conditioning vs. Intentionality

Clever Hans

Some birds can mimic human sounds

Language as Human

Closest human relatives are apes

Teaching apes to talk has been a complete failure

Problem is anatomical

Alternatives to speech include signing and “writing”

Apes are capable of forming paired associates: linking an object with an arbitrary symbol (Holzman, 1997)

Language as Human

Sarah: used plastic tokens to communicate

Lana typed messages

Washoe used Ameslan

Kanzi used lexagrams

Is this real communication?

Language as Communication

Relationship between language and thought

Language is clothing for thought and thought is quite independent of the language used to express it

Thought is merely suppressed language, and when we are thinking, we are just talking under our breath

Language as Communication

Whorf hypothesis

The language we speak influences the way we think about the world and the way we perceive it

Sorting colored chips into piles– Usually make as many piles as basic color terms in

your language

Australian Bushman give directions by NWSE

Other Characteristics of Language

Open: you can make up new combinations of words that no one has made before

Displaced: you can talk about things that are not present; abstract, lie,

Entertaining: it is not just utilitarian, you can joke, tell stories, etc.

Why Study the History of English?

To understand how things are, it is often helpful … to know how they got that way (p. 18)

Many of the irregularities of English are remnants of earlier regular patterns

Clarify literature written in earlier periods

Keats description of sculptured effigies on tombs:The sculptur’d dead, on each side, seemed to

freeze

Emprison’d in black, purgatorial rails.

Exercises