INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTICS AND LANGUAGE STUDIES - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTICS AND LANGUAGE STUDIES

Part

ISlide2

Linguistic form„I find

it

helpful

to

think

of

linguistic

form

as

if

it

were

located

in

a

pane

of

glass

through

which

ideas

are

transmitted

from

speaker

to

listener

.

Under

ordinary

circumstances

language

users

are

not

conscious

of

the

glass

itself

, but

only

of

the

ideas

that

pass

through

it

.

The

form

of

language

is

transparent,

and

it

takes

a

special

act

of

will

to

focus

on

the

glass

and

not

the

ideas

.

Linguists

undergo

a

training

that

teaches

them

how to

focus

on

the

glass

…

the

experience

of

becoming

conscious

of

previously

unconscious

phenomena

is

one

of

the

principal

joys

of

linguistic

work

” (

Wallace

Chafe

1994:38)Slide3

Language studiesLinguists use a variety

of

methods

of

analyzing

language

in

order

to

find

how

we

acquire

it

, how

and

why

we

pronounce

it

the

way

we

do, how

we

string

words

together

to make

meaning

, how

we

understand

meaning

, how

and

why

we

are

effective

in

using

language

for

communication

in

some

situations

but

perhaps

not

in

others

, how

and

why

it

changes

,

why

languages

disappear

…Slide4

Linguistic terminology: meta-languageLinguistics

needs

a

language

to talk

about

language

,

i.e

.

it

needs

a meta-

language

Linguistics

shares

this

meta-

language

with

prescriptive

grammar

,

which

may

lead

to

the

idea

that

linguistics

is

about

correctness

in

language

use –

this

is

very

far

from

the

reality

of

linguistic

studiesSlide5

Exercise 1.1.1. Make a list of word classes

as

you

know

them

.

2.

Now

analyze

the

sentence:

‘

Criminologists

,

in

order

to

uncover

clues

not

visible

to

the

eye

, use

specialized

tools

,

such

as

luminal

, a

liquid

that

reacts

with

the

hemoglobin

in

blood

to

illuminate

previously

invisible

blood

stains

’,

3.

Assign

each

of

the

words

to a word

classSlide6

Content wordsNouns, verbs

,

adjectives

,

adverbs

Refer

to

something

in

our

experience

(

whether

real

or

imagined

)Slide7

Function wordsAllow us

to

connect

different

parts

of

phrases

,

clauses

and

sentences

,

or

to

convey

another

type

of

meaning

,

such

as

polarity

(‘

yes

’

or

‘no’

polarity

),

prepositions

,

prepositional

phrases

,

articles

,

discourse

markersSlide8

Exercise 1.2.Make a list of utterances

which

you

have

heard

or

have

used

yourself

which

you

consider

bad

usage

,

or

incorrect

language

.

Can

you

identify

why

you

consider

them

incorrect

?Slide9

Variability of languageLinguistic

work

is

about

describing

language

,

not

about

prescribing

what

people

should

do.

Language

is

constantly

changing

All

languages

and

dialects

are

equal

from

a

descriptive

linguistic

point

of

view

All

languages

and

dialects

have

the

necessary

resources

to

draw

upon

to

create

new

meanings

in

a

systematic

way

,

in

order

to

match

the

communicative

needs

of

the

community

which

speaks

the

language

or

dialectSlide10

Variability of languageFrom

a

social

perspective

,

there

are

differences

in

how

languages

and

dialects

are

perceived

Certain

ways

of

speaking

are

considered

more

appropriate

in

given

contexts

and

situations

,

and

people

attach

judgments

to

different

ways

of

speaking

which

in

some

settings

are

considered

as

not

appropriate

or

which

one

might

not

usually

encounter

in

a

given

situation

or

contextSlide11

Who are linguists?Persons who

speak

many

languages

?Slide12

How can linguistics help us?

Working

with

multiple

perspectives

concerning

the

nature

of

language

and

how

it

works

in

different

contexts

can

provide

an

understanding

which

can

help

us

be

more

successful

in

using

our

first

language

in

a

range

of

situationSlide13

LinguisticsA scientific study

of

language

Different

theoretical

perspectivesSlide14

Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913):founder of modern

linguisticsSlide15

18th and 19th c. linguistics1) historical

and

comparative

studies

:

history

of

language

,

relationships

among

languages

,

regularities

in

language

change

;

2)

also

:

grammars

of

different

languages

,

describing

their

pronunciations

,

rules

for

forming

words

and

sentences

, to

aid

those

wishing

to

learn

another

language

or

for

translation

of

documents

and

literary

textsSlide16

Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913)Cours de linguistique

générale

(1913)

Synchronic

approach

:

focuses

on

describing

language

at

any

point

in

time as

it

exists

as a system

Language

: system

of

signs

,

which

consist

of

two

parts

:

signified

and

signifierSlide17

SignSignifiedSignifier

CATSlide18

Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913)The relationship

between

a

signified

and

its

signifier

–

arbitrary

The

relationship

between

a

signified

and

its

signifier

–

not

fixed

:

differences

in

how

we

carve

up

experience

in

different

languages

(

e.g

.

words

for a

mother’s

sister

and

a

father’s

sister

in

Arabic

and

English);

differences

across

time

in

relationships

between

signifieds

and

signifiers

:

e.g

.

meat

in

17th c.

meant

‘

food

’)

Signs

are

not

stable

in

terms

of

the

relationship

between

signified

and

signifierSlide19

Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913)If language

is

not

a

fixed

nomenclature

for

pre-existing

concepts

, how do

we

use

it

to

mean

anything

?

Language

is

a set

of

signs

which

are:

a)

members

of

a system

B)

defined

by

their

relationships

to

each

other

(

e.g

. pat

and

bat)Slide20

Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913)Elements of

language

stand

in

relationship

to

each

other

in

two

important

ways

:

1)

syntagmatic

:

the

ways

in

which

they

string

together

; a set

of

smaller

structural

units

combined

according

to

appropriate

rules

(

e.g

.

the

little

girl

)

2)

paradigmatic

:

constitute

choices

,

so

that

only

one

linguistic

item

may

be

present

at a time

in

a

given

position

(

e.g

. Lat. N.

amicus

, G.

amici

, D.

amico

, A.

amicum

…)Slide21

Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913)Linguistics – a study

of

the

system

of

a

language

in

order

to

articulate

the

elements

which

distinguish

one

functional

form

from

another

Langue

–

the

abstract

system

Parole –

the

actual

use

of

language

by

individual

speakersSlide22

Discussion questionWhen we

learn

another

language

,

we

sometimes

discover

words

and

phrases

that

do

not

have

an

exact

counterpart

in

our

own

language

.

Discuss

Saussure’s

notion

that

there

is

no

signified

without

a

signifier

,

especially

in

terms

of

translating

terms

for more

abstract

notions

.

How

can

this

be

applied

to

legal

translation

?Slide23

Noam Chomsky (1928)Slide24

Noam Chomsky (1928)In Chomsky’s

view

:

structuralist

analysis

was

adequate

for

descriptions

of

phenemes

,

morphemes

,

and

clause

constituents

(

e.g

.

noun

phrases

,

verb

phrases

etc

.) but

it

was

not

robust

enough

to

account

for

syntax

,

especially

the

ability

of

syntax

to

generate

an

infinite

number

of

sentencesSlide25

Noam Chomsky (1928)For Chomsky

,

actual

language

use,

or

performance

,

was

only

the

tip

of

the

iceberg

of

linguistic

competence

,

or

the

underlying

mental

processes

which

we

carry

out

in

our

production

of

languageSlide26

Noam Chomsky (1928)We

have

a

repository

of

the

rules

by

which

our

language

organizes

linguistic

elements

into

well-formed

strings

;

We

have

syntactic

expertise

in

terms

of

a set

of

finite

rules

which

allows

us

to

generate

an

infinite

number

of

sentences

,

many

of

which

we

have

never

heard

beforeSlide27

Noam Chomsky (1928)Syntactic

theories

attempt

to make transparent

the

mental

knowledge

by

modeling

it

,

and

in

many

cases

showing

how

language

might

be

generated

by

a

computer

if

programmed

to

have

the

same

kind

of

rule-based

knowledge

Chomsky’s

mentalist

syntactic

theory

–

contemporary

to

the

growth

of

computer

technology

,

which

added

a

dimension

to

the

study

of

syntax

: a

desire

to

be

able

to

replicate

the

ability

of

humans

to

produce

languageSlide28

Noam Chomsky (1928)This

desire

calls

for a

theory

of

language

which

is

precise

and

explicit

:

formulas

and

definitions

in

the

style

of

mathematics

to

describe

and

model

linguistic

competence

Such

theories

–

formal

(

contrasted

with

functional

)

Because

of

the

interest

in

underlying

mental

structures

rather

than

on

actual

performance

,

Chomsky’s

theory

focuses

on

idealized

utterances

,

or

instances

of

language

which

are

considered

to

be

well-formed

according

to

syntactic

rules

,

rather

than

on

real

language

in

useSlide29

Noam Chomsky (1928)Chomsky

later

moved

from

the

terms

competence

and

performance

to

using

the

terms

I-

language

and

E-

language

(

Chomsky

1986)

I-

language

:

internal

set

of

linguistic

rules

E-

language

:

external

language

,

often

incomplete

Humans

have

an

innate

faculty

for

acquiring

the

idealized

I-

languageSlide30

Michael Halliday (1925)Slide31

Michael Halliday (1925)Systemic functional

linguistics

Influenced

by

J.R.

Firth

,

who

drew

attention

to

the

relationship

between

meaning

and

context

,

including

the

surrounding

co-text

that

a

piece

of

language

participates

in

;

this

co-text

lends

meaning

to

words

: ‘You

shall

know

a word

by

the

company

it

keeps

’

Halliday

: a

systemic

framework

of

functional

choices

Language

– a system

of

choices

at

different

levels

,

and

each

choice

provides

an

aspect

of

meaningSlide32

Michael Halliday (1925)Clauses function

to

create

meaning

at

the

same time

in

three

ways

1)

interpersonally

:

by

establishing

and

maintaining

relationships

between

people

;

2)

ideationally

:

by

constructing

the

world

,

whether

real

,

invented

,

or

abstract

,

and

3)

textually

:

organizing

the

interpersonal

and

the

ideational

into

coherent

textsSlide33

Michael Halliday (1925)Functional

choices

:

Mood

:

imperative,

indicative

:

declarative

,

interrogativeSlide34

Michael Halliday (1925)Register=

linguistic

choices

made

in

a

situational

context

:

1)

lexico-grammatical

;

2)

field

(

subject

matter

),

3) mode

(

written

or

spoken

),

and

4)

tenor

(

relationship

between

interlocutors

:

symmetrical

, as

between

friends

,

or

asymmetrical

, as

between

employer

and

employee

)Slide35

Exercise 1.3.Analyze the

following

texts

in

terms

of

field

, mode

and

tenor.

Explain

your

choices

1.

Keep

out

!

2.

Watcha

doin

’?

Wanna

get

a

burger

or

somethin

’?

3. I am

writing

to

enquire

about

the

position

in

sales

advertised

in

the

Saturday

August 12

edition

of

The

Times

.Slide36

Exercise 1.3.Shadows covered

t

he

wide

areas

of

European

life

in

the

fourteenth

and

fifteenth

centuries

.

The

vigorous

expansion

into

bordeing

areas

that

had

marked

European

history

since

the

eleventh

century

came

to

an

end

.

The

Christian West

fought

to

halt

the

expansion

of

the

Muslim

Turks

.

Plague

,

famine

,

and

recurrent

wars

decimated

populations

and

snuffed

out

their

former

prosperity

.

The

papacy

and

feudal

government

struggled

against

mounting

institutional

chaos

.

Powerful

mystical

and

heretical

movements

and

new

critical

currents

in

Scholasticism

rocked

the

established

religious

and

philosophical

equilibrium

of

the

thirteenth

century

. Slide37

Exercise 1.4. Attribute each of the

following

to

either

F. de

Saussure

, N.

Chomsky

,

or

M.

Halliday

1. ‘

If

we

could

embrace

the

sum

of

word-

images

in

the

minds

of

all

individuals

,

we

could

identify

the

social

bond

that

constitutes

language

.

It

is

a

storehouse

filled

by

the

members

of

a

given

community

through

their

active

use

of

speaking

, a

grammatical

system

that

has

a

potential

existence

in

each

brain

,

or

,

specifically

,

in

the

brains

of

a

group

of

individuals

. For

language

is

not

complete

in

any

speaker

;

it

exists

perfectly

only

within

a

collectivity

.’

(De

Saussure

, Ferdinand (1959)

Course

in

General

Linguistics

. New York:

McGraw-Hill

, 13-14)Slide38

Exercise 1.4. Attribute each of the

following

to

either

F. de

Saussure

, N.

Chomsky

,

or

M.

Halliday

2. ‘

It

seems

clear

that

we

must

regard

linguistic

competence

–

knowledge

of

a

language

– as

an

abstract

system

underlying

behavior

, a system

constituted

by

rules

that

interact

to

determine

the

form

and

intrisic

meaning

of

a

potentially

infinite

number

of

sentences

’

(

Chomsky

,

Noam

(2006)

Language

and

Mind

. 3rd

ed

.

Cambridge

University Press)Slide39

Exercise 1.4. Attribute each of the

following

to

either

F. de

Saussure

, N.

Chomsky

,

or

M.

Halliday

3. ‘

Every

text

–

that

is

,

everything

that

is

said

or

written

–

unfolds

in

some

context

of

use;

furthermore

,

it

is

the

uses

of

language

that

,

over

tens

of

thousands

of

generatons

,

have

shaped

the

system.

Language

has

evolved

to

satisfy

human

needs

;

and

the

way

it

is

organized

is

functional

with

respect

to

these

needs

.’

(

Halliday

, M.A.K. (1985)

An

Introduction

to

Functional

Grammar

. London: Edward

Arnold

, xiii.)Slide40

Exercise 1.4. Attribute each of the

following

to

either

F. de

Saussure

, N.

Chomsky

,

or

M.

Halliday

4. ‘

Linguistic

theory

is

concerned

primarily

with

an

ideal

speaker-hearer

,

in

a

completely

homogeneous

speech

community

,

who

knows

its

language

perfectly

and

is

unaffected

by

such

grammatically

irrelevant

conditions

as

memory

limitations

,

distractions

,

shifts

of

attention

and

interest

,

errors

(

random

or

characteristic

)

in

applying

his

knowledge

of

the

language

in

actual

performance

’.

(

Chomsky

,

Noam

(1965)

Aspects

of

the

Theory

of

Syntax

.

Cambridge

, MA: MIT Press, p. 3)Slide41

Exercise 1.4. Attribute each of the

following

to

either

F. de

Saussure

, N.

Chomsky

,

or

M.

Halliday

5. ‘

Language

is

a system

of

interdependent

terms

in

which

the

value

of

each

term

results

solely

from

the

simultaneous

presence

of

the

others

…To

determine

what

a

five-franc

piece

is

worth

one must

know

: 1)

that

it

can

be

exchanged

for a

fixed

quantity

of

a

different

thing

,

e.g

.

bread

;

and

2)

that

it

can

be

compared

with

a

similar

value

of

the

same system,

e.g

. a one-

franc

piece

,

or

with

coins

of

another

system (a

dollar

,

etc

.). In

the

same

way

a word

can

be

exchanged

for

something

dissimilar

,

an

idea

;

besides

,

it

can

be

compared

with

something

of

the

same nature,

another

word.

Its

value

is

therefore

not

fixed

so

long

as one

simply

states

that

it

can

be

‘

exchanged

’ for a

given

concept

’

(De

Saussure

, F. (1959)

Course

in

General

Linguistics

. New York:

McGraw-Hill

, p. 114-115)Slide42

Exercise 1.4. Attribute each of the

following

to

either

F. de

Saussure

, N.

Chomsky

,

or

M.

Halliday

‘

Spoken

and

written

language

,

then

,

tend

to display

different

KINDS

of

complexity

;

each

of

them

is

more complex

in

its

own

way

.

Written

language

tends

to

be

lexically

dense

but

grammatically

simple

;

spoken

language

tends

to

be

grammatically

intricate

but

lexically

sparse

’… ‘

The

value

of

having

some

explicit

knowledge

of

the

grammar

of

written

language

is

that

you

can

use

this

knowledge

,

not

only

to

analyze

the

texts

, but as a

critical

resource

for

asking

questions

about

them

’.

(

Halliday

, M.A.K. (1987)

Spoken

and

written

modes

of

meaning

. In

Horowitt

, R. &

Samuels

, S.J. (

eds

)

Comprehending

Oral

and

Written

Language

.

Orlando

, FL:

Academic

Press, 66.)