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