LINGUISTICS, ‘AN INTRODUCTION TO LANGUAGE AND. COMMUNICATION Fifth Edition ‘Adrian Akmajian ard A, Demers Ann K, Farmer Robert M. Harnish, “The MIT Pros Cambridge, Massachusets London, England{2-21 Massachuts Instat of Technology [A egtas reser, No pr ofthis book may be reproduced in any frm by any ‘lecrnic or echasicel ems finding poeepying, econ. oil tion sorage and retrieval) wihow penisson in wring fron the publisher, This book was i Times New Koman i 3B2 by AScoTypeseters. Hong Kong. Prine and! Bound isthe United Sates of AEE, Lary of Congress Cataloging Publicsion Data Linguistics » Momphology ‘Chapter 3: Phonetics snd Phonemic Transcription (Chapter 4: Phonology Chapter §: Syntax (Chapter 7: Language Variation ‘Chapter 8: Language Change ‘The chapters cited do not depend crucially on the ones that have been skipped over; thus, we lave ensure! tat wail Core exists wit this edition, For a one-quarter course with an emphasis on psycholinguiscs, eogni- ‘uve seenee, or human communication, the following isa possible format: (Chapter 2; Morphology Chapter 5: Syntax Chapter 6: Semantics Chapter 9: Pragmatics Chapter 11: Language Aquisition in Children Chapter 12: Language and the Brain ‘Teachers working within the semester system (or teaching courses that run two quarters in the quarter sytem) will ind that tis edition can bewal quite comfortably within a. 14 or LS-week tem, Bor example, for 8 ‘e-semesterImgushes course onented toward Mexe LANA! opie, the follwing is powsible format Chapter 2: Morphology Chapter 3: Phonetics and Phonemic Transcription ‘Chapter 4: Phonology Chapter 5: Syntax Chapter 6: Semantics Chapter 7: Language Variation Chapter 8; Language Change ‘Chapter 9: Pragmatics Obviensly, teachers with thor interests will pick diffrent modes For example, fora course with a psycholinguistc, cognitive science, oF Fhumast communication orientation, te following ehoice of topics seems reasonable: Chapter 2: Morphology Chapter 5: Syntax. ‘Chapter 6: Semantics Chapter 0: Prasmaties Chapter 10; Psychology of Language Chapter 1° Language Acquisition in Children Chapter 12: Language and the Brain short, by varying the selection of chapters, subsections, and special “PICS. teachers fem diverse hackerounds and in diverse acaglemic depart- ‘ments wall be able to design an introduction 10 linguisties that is custom tnxale fox heir purpones. PART I THE STRUCTURE OF HUMAN LANGUAGEINTRODUCTION In this secon we will examine the stuctue of human language, and in doing so we will discover a system that is highly complex. Beginning stu- dens of ngusties are often surprise w fi! dat Inngust spied consier- hls tin fomulating theorist repent and acveunt for the cn (as well as the funetoning) of human language. What i there, afer al. 10 cexplit? Speaking one's native language is a natural an effodless task, corriod out with great speed and cars, Even young children ean do it with litle conscious effor, From this. itis commonly concluded that aside from a few rules of grammar and pronunciation there is nothing else 10 explain about human language. Ft it tums ont that thene i a great deal to explain. Wwe “sep 0 side" language and look at it as an objet to be studied! and deserbod anu! not merely used, we discover an exciong sphere of Numan knowledge ‘previously hidden from ws In beginning the study ofthe structural properties of human language, it is useful w note a common theme that runs throughout part T: the steuctural analysiy of hun language can be stated it kexts (1) ‘rete unis of various sons and (2) rules and principles that govern the ‘way these dserete units can be combined and ordered. In te sections on ‘morphology (chapter 23, phoneues (chapter 3), phonology (chapter 4), and syntax (chapter 5), we wal sense the significant dserete units that Tinpuists have pestulated in the study of these subareas of linguistics. In addition to isolating discrete units such as moxphemes, phonetic feacures. ‘and syntactic phrases, wo vil be discussing the mics and penciples by ‘which words are formed, sounds are combines! and varied, and syntactic units are structured andl ordered into larger phrases. i aiion w discussing the core areas of morphology, phonology, syntax, and semantics (chapter 6), we wall seuss tw subfields of Hingis:Pact ‘5 thar dav heavy on dose coe eas, namely, language vation {chp 7) an angvage cine (caper. nese chapters We ‘consider the wavs in which language varies across individual speakers: and dialect groups (regionally, socially, and cthnically) and how lan tegen vay and relate 4 cal other txvaly. Ths, having ol important structural units and rus fer combination in chapters 2-5, we wil then examine how sich nits and rues can vary along a numb of dincasions. ‘The SUbfelds sepecsemied in chapters 2-6 Tom the core of what has lasicallyboen known as serctural linguistics (a practic in the United ‘States from the 1930s to the 1950s), and they continue to form a central fait of ransformatinal/eneraive Ungustis, te Uranctical yerive swe adoot here. The later dates fen the publication of Noam Chomky's 1957 werk Symacic Smctures and has boe the dominant school of in fuss m the Une States sce that ume. It nas ao Game 10 be @ ‘einen seein Wester Boro and Tapa al fe teens ah ence in several Easem European counties as wel Assuming that the majority of our readers are native speakers of Engi, we have dawn te higuage data ase in this book alist exchisively fom English (ee A Linguistics Workbook. also published by the MIT Pres, fr exercises has en over 20 lnguages). We encourage {OU 10 tse Your mauve Imgusue judgments an evalua cur arguments and hyptheses, We mporant that yt fat hypo ine hi ean important aspoct of doing scientific investigations. We should aso ste thatthe gener aspects oF the lngusie Ianework we develop Here are proposed 0 hok! fe ll Ianguags, or at Teast fr lrge subset of an- ‘uages, and we encourage you to think about other languages you may Know as you stay dhe English examples What Is Linguisties? ‘The fied of linguistics. the scene study of aman natural language. i a growing and exciting area of study. with an important impact on fields as diverse as education, anthropology, sociology, laiguage teaching, cog- nitive psychology. philosophy, computer science. neuroseienee, and ari ficial imeligence, among others, Indeed, the last five fields cited, slong with linguistics, are the key components of the emerging field of cogni- tive scione, the study ofthe structure and furetoning of human cognitive processes. In spite of the importance of the field ofinguistes, many people, even highly educated people, wall eit you that they have only a vague wea of what the fila is ahowt. Some heioue that a Tinguist is a. person whe speaks several languages fluently. Others believe that linguists are lan ‘guage experts who ean help you decide whether iis better to say “ts for "’s-me." Yer itis quito possible 1 bo a professional inguist (and an excellent one af that) without having taught a single language class, ‘without having* interpreted at the UN, and without speaking any more than one language, ‘What is linguistics. then? Fundamentally. the field i concemed with the nature of language and (linguistic) communication. I is apparent that People have heen fascmled with language and communication for thousands of years, yet in many ways we are only hoginning to under. stand the complex nature ofthis aspect of human life. IF we ask, What is the nature of language? or How does communication work? we quickly realize that these questions have no simple answers ark are much 100 broad 10 be answered ina direct way. Similarly, questions such as What is energy? or What is matter) cannot be answered in a simple fashion, ‘and muced the entre Held of piyses is am attempt w answer tiem. Line sis is no differen: the field as a whole represents sn serpy to break‘ora down the broad! questions about the nature of language and communi- can mo smaller, more manageable quesuons that we can hope 10 sngwer, and in se doing ctahich reaconale reali that we can Bull on in moving closer to answers to the larger questions. Unless we limit our sights im this way and. e€stnct ourselves 10 particular trameworks tor examining diferent aspects of language and commusicaton, we cannot hope to make progress in answering the broad questions that have fasci- nated people foe s0 long, As we will see. the Feld covers a surprisinay broad range of topics related Ianguage and communication, Pont Tf the text contine chapters dealing primily with the sirwe- tural components of ianguage. Chapter 2. "Morphology," is cancemed ‘wah the properties Of words and wont-building rules. Chapter 3, “Pho- ralice and Phonemic Transcription.” introduces the physiology involved in the produetion of speech sounds as well as phonemic and phonetic ‘wanseripton systems that are used 10 represent the sounds of English, Chapter 4. "Phonologs" surveys the organizational principles tha doter ‘mine the pattems the speech sounds ae subject to. Chapter 5, "Syntax, Drosemis a study of the structure of semonoes and phrases. Chapter 6, Semantics.” surveys dhe propeiticn of Tingutic uneaing. Chapter 7, “Language Variaion." deals with the wavs speakers and groups of speakers can differ from each other in terms of the various forms OF Tamguage at dey use. Chapter 8, Language Chatige,” examines how langmages change over Fin: and how langnages can he historically related. Having examined cerain structural properties of human language in part 1, we tum 10 functional propenies in part I. Chapter 8, «Prag. matics.” explores some of the snes involved in deserihing human eon ‘munication and proposes certain communication strategies that people use when they tik 10 each other, Chapter 10, "Psychology of Lan- fuaze.” examines how language is produced ad waderstood, Chapter "Language Acquistion in Children,” studies the stages involved in language aoquistion by humans with normal brain function and reviews the evidence for positing a genetically endowed "Language Acquisition Device.” Finally. chapter 12. "Language and the Brain," deais with how Tanguage is stored and processed in the brain ‘Yo tum now trom the particular to the general, what are some of the Perhaps the most important fundamental assumption is that human la guage al all Ives is rle- (or principle) governed. Every known language What Is Linguisios? has systematic rules governing pronunciation, win formation, and gram: ‘matical construction, Further. the way in which meanings are associated with phrases ofa language is characterized by regular rules. Finally, the tue of language to communicate is governed by important generalizations that can be expressed in rules. The ultimate aim in each chapter, there: fore, is 10 formulate rules w describe and account for the phenomena unit vonsideration. Tindce, chagrer 7, "Language Variation” slows that even so-called casual speach is govemed by systematic: regularities cexpeessible in rule, ‘At this point we must add an important quablication © what we have {vot suid. That i, we are using the terme rule and rule governed in the spocial way that ingusts we them, This usage is very different fram the Tayperson's understanding of dhe terms, In school most of ws were taught scale tues of To 10 sk in er speak and write “correctlv"—rules such as "Do not end a sentence with preposition,” oF "Don't say ain.” or "Never split an infinitive.” Ru Of is som are called preserppive rules; that i 1 say, they prescribe, oF ictate to the speaker, the way the language supposedly should be written for spoken in onder forthe speaker to appear comect or educated. Pre- Seriptive rules are really ules of style rater than rules of grammar In sharp contrast, when linguists speak of rules, they are not refering {o prescriptive rules fiom grammar books. Rather. linguists try 19 for imulate deseriptive rules when they analyze language, rules that describe the actual language of some group of speakers and not some hyposhetcal lngnage that speakers "showld” nee. Desergtive mies expres generale izations and regularities about various aspects of language. Thus, when ‘we say that language is rule-zoverne, we are really saying thatthe study of human language has revealed numerous generalizations about and regulates in the structure and function of language, Even though lan- guage is govemed by strict principles, speakers nonetheless control a system thats webownded in scope, which is © say that there i no Tint v0 the kinds of things that can be talked about. How language achieves this property of efablty (unboundedness in scope) is addressed in chapters 2 and 5, “Morphology” and “Syncax Another import background assumption that linguists make is that various human languages consttite a unified phenomenon; linguists assume that it is possible © study human language in general and that the stdy of particular anguages will reveal feaurs of language thal are universal, What do we man by universal features of language?Chapter 1 So far we have wad the terms lnguace and human language without refering 10 any spcifie language. such as English or Chinese. Stents fave sometines peed by is gonial use od en Langage, i woul seem that ths use is rey foun cutie of finguistis-telated couse. Foreign language courses, alr all. deal with spec languages sich as French or Russian, Fase. pei human languages appeat on he su face 10 be so ilferent fom each other that it fie dificult to under stand ow linguists can speak of language as though it were a single ‘hing. Although is obvious that psi languages dif fom cach axe on te surface, if we lok closer we find that human languages are sures- ingly similar, For nstrce. ail known languages ae ata similar evel of cxompexity sna 388s iy my su Ui 3 piven srmge. All Lanpuges provide a means. for king questions. muking requests, making #8tons. and so on. And there is nothing that can be expressed m one language that cannot be expresed n any other. Obvi- culy, one language may have tome not found i another iggy, i itis always posible w invent teams 1 express What WE MEA yy, thing we can imagine or think. we can express in any human language ‘Tumning w one abstr propstics, ever de formal stustres of language axe similar all Insanges have sentences made up of smaller phrasal units, these units a turn being made up of woe, which are them- selves mae up of soquones of sounds. Af these features of human Jamguage re so cvs to ws tha we may fall ose how ups ts that languages share them, Wher linguist use the erm language, oF nar wal human language, hey are revealing tet bel that atthe abstract Jove, beneath tbe surface variation. languages are remarkably sina in firm and fanetion and confor to certain universal pincphks. In relaion 10 what we have just said about universal principles, we stould observe onee again bat est oF the iluraive examples this bok ae drawn fen the English languige. Te shoukl not mis you into supposing that what we say is relevant cnly to English. We will be ‘nsodocing fundamental concepts ofingwsis, and wo Bove that those fave tobe APDicable fo all languages. We hve chosen Engish examples so that you can Somteuaily chock our fatal clims and decide whether they are empirically well founded. Linguistics, perhaps more than any ‘lier sienes, provides an opportunity forthe student 0 participate in the research process. Especially in chante S. Serve" Wt ug be able to asess the accuracy f the evdenae that bears on hypaesis Whe Linas? and afer having felled the argumentation inthe chapter. ye ill he ina positon to cay ont similar reasoning processes inthe execs at teen. Finally. we ofr a bra obsersation aboat the genera nature of fn suis. To many linguists the ulimae sim ofingusies isnot simply to understand how language set is sacred and how it functions ‘We hope that a6 we cous @ winkstand nae bout uaa languags, wil conespodinely understand. mow about the noses of human thought in ths vi the sty of Tanage is umately the sty of the fuman ming, This goal perhaps test expres by Noam Chomsky in Fic bok Reflecionson Language (108, 3) Why end language? Thonn ats many pes ancien hy feng on ee do avd, of course, mean to disparage otbers or question their legtimacy. One ys fr easy stp be fae by ie eee agua in dss and want to dscove their order and arrangement, heroin in history or inthe Individual oF the ways in wich hey are used in thought in sence o in ar, er in norma social inrchange. One waco for studying Tanguane—aad for me personaly the most compelling teatoa—i tha iis trpting lo regard langage, {nthe waional prs es "a mror of mia." 1do net mean by this simpy ht the concepts expressed and disinewons developed in normal language use gve us ‘night mio the pattems of thought andthe weit o "common sense" consiructed by the human mind. More itiguing, ome at ast is the poss that by ying linge we may dscver brat pines thal gover is ite and us principles tht ae univer by bclgieal mse ad not mre histor ical accident, that derive fom mental characterises of th specie. A human lunguage is 2 sjsem oF remarkable cmplenty. 10 came to KNOW 8 BURN A suige Weald be an extraordinary intellectual achievement fra creature not spe ically designed to socomplsh this task. A normal ei acquires this knowledge fon mvely aight expontme and without specie ining He can then que Corley make us ofan inrcale sicire of spc les and guiding prin Pes umey his ough aoa fetings wo othe auusing fen ve Hess and sublepereepioes and judgmens. For the conscious mind, not spcally ‘signed forte purpose, ttomains a distant goal to rons and compres Wha the eM hie doe initely aed with minal tee. Th lone 2 Imimor of min in deep and sigan sense. I sa prt of human inl se, feted anew in each nvkual by operations tht He far beyond the reach fill or consciousness Bibiognphy Chomsky. N. 1975, Reflections on language. New York: Pantheon Books.Morphology: The Study of the Structure of Words 21 WORDS: SOME. RACKEROUND CONCEPTS We begin our study of human language by examining one of the most fundamental ants of linguistic structure; the word. Words play on inte ‘gral roje in the human ability to use language creatively. Far from being 4 static repository of memonzed information, a human vocabulary is & iymammie system, We cum ad words at will, We cin even expand their meanings into new domains How many words do we know? As it turns out, this is not an easy ‘question to answer, We all have the intuition that our vocabulary cannot bbe too enormous sinae we don't remombor having to learn a lot of words ‘Yet when we think about it, we realize that the world around us appeaes to be infinite in scope. How do we use a finite vocabulary to deal with the poteatially infinite sumber of situations we enveut would? We will learn thatthe number of sentences at our disposal is infinite (chapter 5), Our vocabulary also has an open-endedness that contibutes to our creative use of language ‘So again, how many words do we know? According to Pinker (1990.3) children just entering schoo! “command 13,000 words... typical high schoo! graduate knows about 60,000 words; 4 fiterate adull, perhaps tice that number.” This number (1 1000) may appear to be large, but think, for example, of all the people and all the places (sets, cits. ‘countries. et.) You can name. These names are all words you know. In sum, anyone Who has mastered a language has mastered an astonishingly lang lit of forts encaded in the form af worts ‘Tho Hit of word for any language (though not a complete list, as we will ee) is refered to as its lexicon.‘When we think about our naive Tanguage, the existence of words sexs ubvivts. Ae lk whew we Hea iliryspeaing Our naive Tae suage. we hear them utering wor. In reading a printed passage. we soe works on the B83 neatly separated by spaces. But now imagine yourself ina sation where everyone around yas speaking a frig language that you have just stated © sry. Sinddenly the existence of words no longer ems obvious. While listening w a ative speaker of French, or Navajo or Japanese, all you hear is a blur of sound, as you stain to recognize words you have lamed, Kenly the native apcakcr wow shor down a lite (the eternal complaint ofthe forciane!), ou woul be able to divide that blur of sound ino individual words. The physical reality of| speuu is ut for de mut pst te sig senna, wil breaks 4 ail between the won, Pinker (1995, 1514) mates, "Wo: [ative speakers} simply hallucinate word boundaries when we rach the edge of srt of sound that matches some enty 1 our metal dictionary. ‘Tho ability to analyze a continuous seam of sound (apaken language) into discrete unis (2, intividual words) is far foo wivil, and it con- stitutes a contra part of language comprehension (Se chapcr 10). When you have “mastered” a language, you ate able to scope individu ‘words without effet. This abity would not be possible if you dd not know and understand many properties associated with words What do we kaow when we know a word? To put it another way, what Aids infinaton hve we eae wh we Ran a won? Tunis at that the information encoded in 8 word is fay complex, and we wail soe that a word is associated with diferent kins of infomation. In dis- cussing these types of nformation, we wil fact be reernng to each oF the suild of inguisties that willbe eat within tis hook L. Phoneti| Phonological taformation. For every won we Know, We have Jeamed a pronunciation. Part of knowing the word sree is knowing ain sounds —more pocsly, a sora sequcnoe of sounds. Pets and phonology are the sick of linguists that stay the structure and systematic patterning of sound in human language (se chapters 3 and 4), 2. Lexical structure formation. For every word We have eared, we intel know something about its itera serceue. For example, our Inwitons fel us thatthe word sree cannot be broken down into. any meaningful parts, In contrast, the won ees seams to be made up of Wo parts: the word ree ps an addtional element, (kaows a the "pra ending). Morphology isthe sbfeX of linguists that studies the intemal sirvture of words and the relationships arson words 3. Syntactic information. For every word we learn, we learn how ic fis ito the overall structure of sentences sn which it can be used. Tor example, we know that the wort reads can be wel in a sentence ike ‘Mark reads the book, nd the word readable (related to the word read) tain be used in a sentence like The book & readable, We ary ne ken that rad is ealled a vesh or that read i calle an afetive: but we inwitively know, a5 native speakers, how 10 use those words in different Jamas oF sentences. yniae 1S che subheld of hngusties that studies the intemal stricture of sentences and the relationships among che intemal parts (ee chapter 5). 4. Semantic information. For virally every word we know, we have Feamed a meaning ot several meanings, For exampke, « Know dhe word Irother knew that it has a eonain meaning (ihe equivalent of male sibling”) In addition, we may or may not know certain extended mean- mgs of the word, as m John is so friendly and helpful e's @ regular Brother to me. Semantics is the subfield of linguistics that studies the nature of the meaning of individual words, and the meaning of works groupe! into pases an sentences (see chapter 6) 5. Pragmatic formation, For every word we leam, we know not any ite meaning oF mesmings ht als how 1a wii the ene! of seo ‘or conversation. For instance, the word brother can be used not only {0 refer 10 a male sibling but also as a conversational exclamation, a i "Oh brother! What a mess!” Income casos, words wom to have to but hho meaning as such. For example, the word Hello is used to greet, but it seems to have no meaning beyond that particular use. Pragmatics isthe subtekt of Tingustes that taies the wwe of words ¢ad planes an en ‘ences? in the actual context of dscousse (soe chapter 9) {a ation t0 being concerned with what we know when we know a Word, linguists are interested in developing hypotheses that constitute plusible representation: of this knowledge. At a staring point, one could ask if Webster's Il: New Riverside Dictionary isa good representa- lion of a speaker's knowledge of words. Do the dictionary entries repre- Sent what we know about words? For example, is the entry for the word ‘baker a good representation of what we know about that word? Consider the following ditionary entry for bake: bake (bak) v, baked, baking. 1-10 cook, esp. in an ovea, with dry heat to harden and cry m or as iL m an oven /bake pottery) —n, A socal gathering at which baked food is served. —bale'a nChapter 2 seen pair, can tell you that a gorker 1s “one who gorks.” Websters J, thee, ceazo: account fer the scope of what humans are able to do ia ere ating new words or analyzing existiog ones. Besides the types of information outlined bere—-information that we assume any native speaker must have leamed aboot a word in order 0 know it—there are other aspects of wonts that linguists seedy, which may fray nat he known 0 native speakers Foe example. wort anu their uses are subject to variation across groups of speakers. In. American English the word bonne: can be used to refer to a type of hat; in British Engl cam be abed 0 eee, as weil, w dhe hood OF a eur, Words und their uses are als subject to variation over time, For example, the English wont deer was once the general word meaning “asim.” but now itis wed fo refer only to a particular species of animal. These facts about ‘word variation and historical change may not be known to most native speakers cvee fr highly educated speabors, the history and dialootal variation of most words remain obscure—bu: such fix form the subject matter of other important subSeids of linguistics, namely, language variation and language change, which we wil explore in chapters 7 and . We have mza.chae words are associated with a wide range of informs tion and that each type of inforsiatioa fotmsa important area of study for a subieid of linguistics. In this chapter we will be concerned! with the subficid knowa as morphology. First we will introduce certain basie con 1 we will discuss how new wor are ere, cepts of woxptiology. Th and finally ill mosivate the postulaion of rule and principles of | word formation that will address the problems discussed above with re- spect 10 the inadequacies (shortcomings) of the dictionary as a epre- sentation ol speakers knowleage of words ‘aun Basic Questions of Morphology ‘Within the Feld of mowphnlngy. itis powsible to pose many questions about the nature of words, but among the more persistent questions have been the following: . What are words? ‘What are the basic building blocks in the formation of complex words? How is the meaning of a camplex wont related 19 the meaning of is pans? How are individual words of a language -eiated ( other” words of the + Famgwage? 15 22 ‘Morholoey “These ae all lifiult questions, ond Finguiss staying morphology have not sie arrived a completely eaisfactary answors ta any of thom Once ‘we begin 10 construct plausible answers, we quickly discover that inter- esting-and subtle new problems arise, which leads us 10 revise those ‘We ean soo this process ofconstructing and refining geawere by looking at our first question, What are words? To bexin to answer, this auestion, ‘we note that the word brother is a complex pattern of sounds associated With a certain meaning ("male sibling”). There is no necessary reason sy ‘ie particular combination of sounds represented by dhe word Drother should mean what it does. In French, Tohono O'odhacn (a Native Amet- jean language of southern Arizona and nonhern Mexico), and Japanese, the sounds represented by the words ire, wemnag, and 072000, respec tively, shure dhe meaning “mle sibling.” Cleaply, i is uot dhe nature a the sound that dictates what the meaning ought to be: hence, the paring cof sound and meaning is said to be arbirary. Its tue that every language contains onomatopoeic words (ie, words whose sounds imitate or mimic sounds in the world about us: meow, bow-woN: splash, bang, ot, crash, 12). But uch words form a very limited subset ofthe words of any given Tanguage: foe thast majacty of wor the sound-meaning pairing arbitrary. Thus, a8 fist definition, we might say that a word is an arbi ‘rary pairing ofsound and meaning However, there are at least two reasons why this definvon 1s an- adequate, First, it does not distinguish words and phrases oF sentences, which are also (desivaively) arbitrary pairings of sound and ‘meaning. Second, a word such as itn a sentence such as 11 is snowing has ‘no meaning. The word 1s sumply a placcholder forthe subyect position of| the sonicacs. Thetefore, o6é all sound sequcnecs ars ‘words. and not all sound sequences that native speakers would identify as words have i: ‘meaning. We have intuitions about what is and is not a word in our native Tanguage, but as yet we do not have an adequate definition forthe term wont In the noxt section wo will considor initial answors to tho second aye tion on the tise What are the basic builing blocks in the formation of ‘complex. words? COMPLEX WORDS AND MORPHEMES thas long been recognized that words must e classed! into at least 160 categones: imple and comsiex A sizzaie word such as tree seems 10 be a is6 Chapter 2 the mature oF the sound that dictates what the meaning ought 10. be ‘hence, the pairing of sound and meaning is said to be arbitrary. Itis true that every language contains onomaropoetc words (ue., words, whose sounds imitate or mimic sounds i the world about ws! mcoss, bow wor, splash, bang, hoot, erash, ete. But such words form avery Tite subset of the words of any given language: for the vast majority of words the sounl-uncaning paiving iy aubitray. Thus, a a fast definition, we wight say that woe is an arbitrary pairing af cmand and mecming However, there are at least two reasons why this definition is inde- uate, First, it does not distinguish between words and phrases or sen- ences. which aro also (derivatively) acbiteary paitings of sound and meaning. Second, a wont such as iin a sentence such as 1115 sowing has ‘no meaning. The word is simply a placeholder forthe subjct position fof the sentence. Therefore, not all sound sequences are words, and) not all sounel sequences that native speakers would identify as words have ‘a meaning. We have intuitions about what is and is not a word in our native language, but as yet we do not have an adequate definition forthe tem word. In the next scetion we will consider initial answers to the second ques- tion on the list, What are the basic building blocks in the fonnation of complex words? COMPLEX WORDS AND MORPHEMES thas feng bccn recognized that words must be classed into at east wo catezories: simple and complex. A simple wor suchas sre seems 0 be a ‘minimal unit; there seems to be no way 10 analyze it, ot break it down, further, ino taming pars. On dae other and, the word ree is made up of two parts the now tree aod the pleat envting, spelled «in thie case, The following ists of English words reveal that the plural -s (0-21) can be attached to nouns quite generally o Noun Plural Form (+2) boy bovs mike rakes lip lis dog dogs bush bushes brother brothers ‘Morpbology Not every noun jn English fons iy plural in his fasion, for example te plural of child i children, nox ehlds. However, for nouns such those in (D, and others ofthis large clas, we can say that complex plural fms suchas irees) are made up of a simple noun (such as 1ee) fo owed by the phil nding. The has pts of comple weds 4s, dhe cifret building blocks that make it up—are call morphemtes Eich ofthe plural nouns fisted in (1) is made up of two morphemes: 2 base mompemes sich a: boy or rake. and apleral mospbeme, 3, which ie attached f the hase mospheme. The meaning of each plural fom liste in () is a combination, in some inuitve sense, of the meaning of the tse mowpheme and the mcaning ofthe plural xpos. In sone cases a momheme may not have an identifiable meaning. For example -eeive in the wont receive does not have an independent meaning, and Yel recognizable as a nit occurring in other Words (e.. perce, con-ceve de-ceve). In shor, we will say that morphemes age the minimal unis of word building ina language; they eamnot be broken down any futher into eeognizahle or meaning parts. ‘he process of distinguishing the mosphemes nthe continuous steam ‘of sound can sometimes ead to novsl moypheme analysis. One example of reanalysis involves the altemation of the indie arile berween a an an. Consider the following words: 2 Sadler an educe ‘a napron a apron In an eae period of English the initial nin each ofthe nouns on the Jen was incorrectly interpreted a the final n ofthe indefinite article. A sil eaalyss may fe taking place again, hat the ether wry aon For example, have you hear (perhaps even said) something ke "That's a whole nother ballgame?” ‘Anothsr cxampis of reanalysis involves the Spanish worl tamale On encountering ths plural, English speakes—applving what they knew about English plural formation, in reverse—analyaed the singular as {amaie. The singular Spanish, in Zack, saat 1 wey interesting novel analysis comes from Swah ivoluing the Engsh-basod expression kipilf “alc cirle.” Ifyou pronounce the ‘Swahili 's ke the ee in English Keep and remember that cas do not {ive on the ight side ofthe road in every part of the were, you canChapter 2 termine why Ailefti means “tfc circle." An important characteris. tic of Sahil ie that it possesses a rich sot of prefix puis that are wsed With dlerent classes of nouns. One preix pair is ki- and vi, where ki is used in the singular and wi is used in the plural, You now have enough information to form the Swahili plural meaning “taf citeles.” Morphemes are categorized into two classes; free morphemes and ond soaplouiss, A fie worplew a sta alone ay at depict word in a phrase, such as the word tree in John satin the tree. hound ‘morpheme cannot stand alone but must be attached fo another mor Pheme—as, for example, the plural morpteme -s, which ean only occur herns toe more recently, with apple, grape, or some other fri). Certain bound mor- hemes are known as after (eg... others as ownd base morphemes (ean cram ) Mises aro refered to at prfter when thoy hed to the beginning of another moxpheme (lke re- in words such a8 redo, rewrite, rethink) and as suffices when they are attached to the end of fawother mipheme (ike ~ke ia woods sual as moderne, equi, cer tralzeh The morpheme to which an alfix is attached is the base (or sem) rmorpheme. A hase morpheme may be five [lke tee; ter is thus hoth & tree morpheme and a tree hase or bound (lke eran) A hasie clase Sion of Fnglish momhemes ie eummarized in Figore 22 Cerwin languages also have affixes known a5 inlxes, which are attached within another morpheme. For example, in Bonto Tgorot, a language wf the PRUEPPI2es. in infix ~in- in une fave he pos smpleted action (Sapir 1921). Taking the word kasu, meaning ‘one can insert the infix -in- immediately after te fist consonant ofa “wood, — FREE BOUND | INDEPENDENT ArIXES BOUND CONTRACTED 77 NaS FORMS prerixes Surin Rue 2 A Ise casifcation of Engish morphemss 9 Meepholory inf ~n-fits into the base morpheme kaye inthe internal "slot" k- ie ‘hence, kinayw), In addition, the inix -wm- is used in erin verb forms to Indicate turure tense; for example, -wm- can De acdea within @ morpheme seh ae tongan meaning “to colsirain » holiday "ta emats «wor form such as tamengao-ak, meaning "I will have a holiday” (ihe sulix -ak indicates the fist person “I"). Here. the infix -wm- fits into the base morphome tenga in the Enteral "slot" immediately following consonant (t sengao), Infxation is common in languages of Southeast Asia and the Philippines, and it is also found in some Native American languages. i must be noted. in eeard to figure 21. that not all bound morphemes are afites or bound bases. For exemple. in English eertain words have ‘oniracied ("shortened") Tonms. ‘The word will can occur either as wil in Senvonces such as They will go. oF in 9 contracted form, spelled in sentences such as They go, The form isa bound morpheme in that i ceannot occur as an independent word and must be attched to the pee ‘coding word or phrase (4s in they or The binds whe flew away'l retarn soon, respectively). Other contractions in English include ‘(the con: tracted form of 88 in The old car's not running anymore) ve (he con: tracted fom of Aave, as in dey ve gonejogging). i (ve Comacied form ‘of wold. a6 in 1d like to be rick). and several other contracted forms of auxiliary verbs. These contracted forms are all bound morphemes in the same sense a "To cum up, then. we have seen that words fll into two general clan simple and complex. Simple words are single fe morphemes that eannot be broken down further into recognizable or meaningful parts. Complex wads eaisist ot Grammatical Categories (Parts of Speech) ‘Hach word belongs to & grammatical category. For example, df is @ Un, compute is a verb famous is an adjective ae is a preposition, and (quickly ¢ an adverb, A word such as dajfadl shares various properties With the word dik For exampie, the plural six -£ ean be attached 10 och of these words, to form tho plural daffdite and disks, Ti is attaches to words lasifid as nowns and produees plural nouns. Though there are exceptions —for instance, iregular plurals (children and notChapter 2 lized in this fashion, whereas @ word such as famous cannot be, ‘Thus, there exists morphological evidence for distinguishing nouns from words belonging to other categories Morphological evidence also exists that differentiates the other cate- somes from one another. Verbs take the sux (as in bake-bakes,watk-walks, iis) in the prosent tense. "This is known as the "third person singular” form. bocause this isthe form of the verb that oceus when the subject af the sentence is third person singular. The following present tense verh forme illustrate this ° Singular Plural Ist person T walk We walk 2d perio You walk, You walk Sed person She walks. ‘They wat, He walks [Notice that the verb form remains the same in all eases, except when the kjot is thind person singular Verbs can also take the sux ~ing, as in Bake-baking, wall-walking, Aai-hiting,sing-inging, illustrated in sentences such at They are baking, Shel singing Adicetives ean usually take the sifies -er and -est fs in bie-bleger: DiREESE, ped-redderreddest, wiceswisor-visest), Some adjectives occur not with “Sor -est out with ine comparative Woras more and most ocaia-moee oswialmast boat) Adverbs share many of the properties of adjctives and are often formed HTOm adjectives by the addition ofthe sulk «ip. For example, the adjective quick con he converted into an adverb hy adding ly, to form (quickly (and similarly for pairs such as easy-easily ferocious-ferociousty ‘bvious-obviously). (Bat note that adverbs are not the only class of words that van ein in 4s. Adjectives cat tous witess dey ma i Eig lonelist man.) Prepositions have 20 positive morphological evidence for their lasstbeation. ‘The question now aries, Are those categories (part of spccch classes) found in all languages, or justin English? ‘The answer is by no means simple. However, linguists generally assume that certain “major” eate- Morphology fgories—in paticula, nouns and verbs—exist in most, if not all, guages. (Evidence exis, though, that in the lexicon of some of the [Native American languages of the Northwest, the noun/verb distinetion is instantiated jn a very abstract fashion.) By and large, the grammatical properties of « given partot-speech class are quite specie to a given language or small group of languages. For example, the property particular t nouns of taking 4 plural sux, which defines English nouns, obviously cannot be used as a general de fining property for nouns across languages. Although some other ‘an guagor have 4 plural sus for nouns (note, og, German Frau "woman" vs. Fraven “women”), other languages have no special allix for indicat ing @ plural form for nouns. For example, in Japanese a noun tke hom 1s In ‘ther languages the plural form for nouns is derived by a process known 4 replication, in which a specific part of the singular form is reduph ated (repeated) to consiruet the plural form. For example, in ‘Tohono 9 fe find pene such av dnibud “chaie™-dadaibud *chsive" awyn “horse” -kakawyu “horses,” gogs "dog"-gogogs “dogs,” in which the Bist consonant + vowel sequence of the singular form is repeated at the beginning of the word to constust the plural for, Honey single ax 10 indicate plurality in these eases. We see, then, that in some languages there is no morphological indication of plutal form for nouns; ‘in other languages the plural ts mogphologtcally indicates by an atx or hy redupieation (among ober ways) Th chor, i terme of ane imitive notions we ean probably say that nouns exist in many languages; but it ‘must be kept in ming that the specie grammatical properties associated ones own vary aeoes int ‘book, huwks" eat be aval with either singulat ot pla nea ‘Thoush it may be true that most if not all, languages share the cate- ‘gories noun and verb (and possibly a few others), itis also clear that ‘ther categories are found in Some languages but not others. For exam- Pl, Tapanacs hae a elise af Round momphamae known se parcces. which fate attached to noun phrases to indicate grammatical function. In 4 Jap. fanese sentence sich as Join-ga hon-o sonda “John read the book(s) the stot that John functions a2 the subject of the sentence particle (ihe “doer” of the setion), and the particle ~ indieates that fin “book, books” fonetions a6 the abject (that which “undergoes” the action) ofthe veils yond “res.” Engst as sy such patiies wide subject oe object: instead. such grammatical functions are indicated most often byChapter 2 word omer ‘The spe of an Faglish sentonoe typically precedes the verb and the objet typially follows it, asin John read the book ‘Convery. Engi has prammancalealgones not found in Japanese. For example, English has @ dass of words known as articles, including the le so-called definite acl) and a (he so-called indie ale, as in he book ora ook. Aces are nt foun in Japanese, the example sentence Zohn hor yonda illusuates. The noun on is followed by the particle - (indicating is object function), bu itis accompanied by no imomemes equivalent 10 the English aries. This is not to say that Japanese speakers cannot express te dierence in meaning beeen he book (definite ana spec) and 2 hook Kininite ant nenspife) In Japanese this diflereee is determined by the context (both linguistic and nonlinguistc) of the sentene. For example, if a ertain book has been nso in previous dour, speakers of Japanese interet oh Ihon-o vonda as meaning "Jn eal the book” rather than “Joka boo “To sum up, whother or no al languages share cenaln parof speech iteggrioe, wn rovertoloe expect fel gre wrele within any ven language that share significant grammatical properties. To account for tose smarts, we hypothesize that words sharing significant prop- ccs all tolong t the same category. Such categories are taitionaly labeled nour, verb, and soon, hat we must remain open othe posibiity that a given language may have a grammatical eategory not found in ‘thes. The existe of pastospeel categories shows thatthe Tesco ofa language inet simply ong. randoo Fst. Rather. its stutured into special subgroups of worts (he various grammatical categories). Open ver Closed Claes Words In discussions about words, a distinction is sometimes made between ‘open-class words and closed class words (sometimes refered to as content words and function wurds, scspectively). Taampcs of opeurlass worls include the English words brother. run tall quickiv, The open-clss words are those belonging to the major purtof-speech clases (nouns, verbs, agjecives, and adverbs), whic in any language tend w be quite large faut “open-ended” That i, sn vmnfiiet number af new warts am ‘reated and added to these classes (recall garkigrker). Tn contrast, closed-class words are those belonging to grammatical, or Function, clases (such as antoks, demonstratives, quantifier, conjune tions, and prepositions), which in any language tend to include a small Morphology umber of fixed elements. Function woes in English include conjunc tions fand, oF), articles (the, a), demonstratves (chs, that), quantifiers (all, most, some, few), aut prepositions (0, from, at, with). To take one specific case, consider the word and. The essential feature ofthe word and is that it functions grammatically 10 eonjoin words and phrases, as seen in the combination of noun phrases the woman and the man. Any change in membership of such a class happens only very slowly (over centuries) ‘and in small increments, Thus, a speaker of English may well encounter ddovens of pew nouns and verbs during the coming year; bu it is extremely unlikely that the Englisit langwage will acquire a new anile (or lose a irent one) in the coming yeur (or even in the speaker’ fee) ‘One familiar varity of language in which the distinction between ‘open-class words and closed-class words is important is known a rele- graphic speech (ot telegraphic language). The tern telegraphic derives fiom the kind of language used in telegrams, where considerations of space (and money) force one to be as tse as possible: HAVING WON- DERFUL TIME; HOTEL GREAT, RETURNING FLIGHT 256, SEND MONEY: STOP. Generally sneaking. in telegraphic forms of Janguage the open-class words are retained, whereas the closed-lass ‘words are omitted wherever possible. Telegraphic forms of language are not limited to telegrams and postcards but ean also be observed in early stages of child language, in the speech of people with cen brain dis- ‘orders known as aphasic brain syndromes, i clsified advertising, in certain styles of poetry. in newspaper headlines, and generally in any we ‘of language where messages must be reduced 10 the essentials ‘The morpheme elasifications discuss in this sccton are summarized im igure 2.2. Note, mneidentaly, that almnes cOUKE ASO De clase as belonging to "closed classes.” For example, the clases of prefs and ‘suffixes also consist of a small number of fixed elements, augmented or changed only vey slowly ove time, Both are somtimes grouped together ‘and refered t a grammatical morphonics. Teas been customary £0 wie the temm closed class 10 refer to function words (rather than 1 bound affixes), however, and we adopt that usage in figure 23, NEOLOGISMS: HOW ARE NEW WORS CREATED How can our finite vocabulary be expanded and altered to deal with our potentially infinite world? Fist, now words can be added, anv the mean ing of already existing words can be changed. Second, new words canChapter 2 i i ? i Morphology center a language throwgh the operation of word formation mies. (The part of language study that deals with word formation rues is also called derivationalmonpholosy.) Creating New Words and Changing the Meaning of Words Creating New Words (Neolagisms) Speakers continually create now words using the prooesses listed below. Under the right conditions these can be adopted by the lamer linguistic community and bacome part of the language. Coined Words Entirely new, previously nonexistent words Keep entering ‘a Tanguage. This offen happeas when speakers invent (or coin} new ‘words. (In tems of the two components of words (sound and meaning), spsakers coin a new word by inventing a new sound soquence and pair- ing i wath a new meaning.) Hor example, adolescent slang has g3ven us wont such as geek and diveeb, ‘Aeroayms The words radar and laser are acronyms: cach of the letiers ‘word. For example, radar drives from radio detecting and ranging, and laser derives from light amplification (by) stimulated emission (of) radi- fon, 148 amportant 9 ow that even though such words are ongially rote ae seeneyene, qakere quickly fieget euch evigine and the ara rym become new independent words, The world of computers offs ‘wealth of acronyms, Here are just a fewe @ Acronym Source URL (pronounced “carl") —_unitorm resource locator GUI (pronounced "gooey") graphical user interface OS tpronounced “doss") isk gperaing >9S:eu SCSI (pronounced "skwr7y") small computer system jntertaen Tocal grea network grapes merehange Format st one OF the abbreviauon: or shortening, ‘Acronym formation as processte that are inereesingly common in American sovity (and peshape Inlemationally) as a means of word formation.Chapter 2 Alphabetic Abbreviatons For many speakers of American English. one: jw abbrevialions such 4s CD. ER. ain PC have envoy veploved longer words, such as compact disc (or cerificate of deposit, emergency room. and personal compucer (ot policaly correct. respectively, in most styles of speech; Unrough tins process new. previously nonexistent words have come into use. Characteristic of these alphabetic abbreviations (or Inialisms) is that each of their letersi individually pronounced (hey contrast with acronyms im this respect Computer inspired alphabetic abbreviations now number in the thousands. Hore are some well-Anown (and perhaps aot so well known) examples: o ADbreviution Sou wow World Wide Web 1 jnformation Jechnology nui. dyperen: markup Janguage oor “shjoelgrented programming HDL. ‘hardware description Janguage Ho npuvoutput » + Brotocsl FTP file _ transfer protocoile transfer program Clippings “Clipped” abbreviations such 6 prof for professor. fis or facsimile. and photo op for photographic opportunity are now in common ‘use. There ar also orthographic abbreviations such as Dr. (doctor). Mr. (onister. Az (Arizona), and MB (megabyte), where the spelling of 4 word has been shortened but its pronunciation is not (necessarily) altered, Blends Now words can also be formed fom existing ones by various Blending processes: for example. motel (from motor hotel, infomercial (Geom information and commercial). eduainment (fom education and entertainment, brunch (Krom breakfast and lunch), cafetoriwn (om afer wn) eudiovuen, Moraaguce (Go. Monica (Lewinsky; sd Watergate), netiquete (rom network etiquette, rashware (fom trash and sofware), and bt (fom binary and dig. nique for creating new words. namely, using specie brand names of Morsiaiogy Heenes. a brand name for Tail tissue. has come to denote facil tisue in goneral, Xerox is the name of the earporation that produces a wel. known photocopying machine, and much to the dismay of the company, the term arnt hae joe ite specific hrand-name conmniston and has come to be used to describe the process of photocopying in general (xeroxed a Feuer). Hence, in casual speech we can commit the grave sin of talking shout buying a Canon xerox machine Proper Nouns Not infequently, @ ait, quality, act, of some behavior associied with a person becomes ydensied with that persons name, Iypically his ar her lst mame for example, Anoker (rm the prosiites who followed the troops of General George Hooker) and guillotine (an instrument of execution named after is inventor. Dr, Joseph Guill) Thossands of such words are now part of E many cases the Word remains and the connection tothe person has been ost Bouowings: Dicer Yet auother way 10 expand our vocabulary is to “borrow” words from olber lanzuases. Soeakers of English aggressively borrow words from other languages. We have kindergarten (German). crotssant (French). aloha (Hawanan}-and sushi Japanese), among many thors We have sven orrawer! worl that woos themenne harrow The Aztee language contributed many words to Spanish, which have now hocome part of English, The following AZee words are Known t© most [English speakers living in the United States 7 avocado guava saguaro cocoa! macho taco chocolate maize tamate coyote rmasquite tequila ‘enchilada Mexico tomato guacamole ocelot ‘And these Artee words wl be familiar 10 many English speakers tving fn tho couthwstorn part of tho United States: o holla ocotilo horeh pozole