Week 1: Introduction to Language

Chapter 1: The Origins of Language

Origins of language: The Physical adaptation source

 This hypothesis rests on the idea that humans can create speech because we have
the physical capabilities to do so. Over hundreds of thousands of years, humans have
evolved physical characteristics that allow us to create speech: the teeth, lips,
tongue, pharynx and larynx.
 The lips and tongue evolved incredibly sophisticated musculature, allowing us to
have very fine control over the movement of our oral cavity. As the capability for
speech sounds increased, so did the number of sounds being incorporated into the
language.
 This then means that the collection of sounds become more complex and can be
used in more settings, thereby expanding the language.

Origins of language: The natural sound source

 This is the theory that language came from natural exhalations of pain and copying
natural sounds in the immediate environment. The idea is that by using sounds
provided to us by nature and the natural sounds we make, hominids combined these
sounds, broadened the meaning of the sounds and eventually started
communicating with these sounds in an early version of what we call language.

Origins of language: Social interaction source

 It is common knowledge that humans are social animals and rely on the idea of
cooperation to survive. This is not a recent trait: it is what ensured our survival and
growth into the most dominant species on earth today. As social interaction is such
an intrinsic part of the human experience, linguistics and forensic anthropologists
believe that we may have learned language from rhythmically interacting with other
humans.

Origins of language: Genetic Source

 This is the hypothesis that carries the most weight with modern linguists due to DNA
sequencing. We know that humans acquire language naturally, just from being
exposed to it. There does not have to be explicit instruction: no parent has had to sit
 an 11-month-old infant down and explain that the English sentence structure is
subject-verb-object.
 The human brain is lateralised, meaning that specific functions of the brain are
divided into the separate hemispheres.
 The language centre of the brain for most healthy adults is in the left hemisphere.
This is also where one can find the motor cortex – the area of the brain responsible
for movement. These two areas of the brain are very close to each other.
 Thus the idea for making a tool to commicate became relative as they believe the
idea of creating tools sparked the idea for creating language.
 Thereby the need to develop tools lead to the creation of language. Where language
was a tool used by humans.

Origins of language: Divine source

 This is a hypothesis rooted in personal belief. Language is such an important part of

humanity that most religions have accounts for how humans came to possess these
skills.
 The Bible mentions giving the power of speech to Adam so he can name all the
animals. In Hinduism, The Creator Brahma’s wife, Sarasvati, gave the world language.
 This theory however became under scrutiny as an ancient study was done whereby
children were left alone to tend to sheep to test if language would just appear.
Instead, the children started to utter words that were more akin to the sheep
sounds.

Chapter 2: Animals and Human Language

Communication vs language
It is firstly important to understand the difference between communication and language.
Communication is the transmission of information that changes another creature’s
behaviour. For example, a dog growling and baring her teeth is her communicating that she
feels threatened and you need to retreat. Language, on the other hand, is a way in which
communication is achieved.

Animal communication vs Human language

Three main studies were conducted on apes Washoe, Matata and Kanzi, Koko the Gorilla
and all led to skepticism towards them learning language as they developed some
understanding of the language, they could never utter full sentences nor be coherent in
what they were saying.
Traits of human language

 Language is arbitrary; By the arbitrariness of language, we mean there is no inherent

or logical relation or similarity between any given feature of language and its
meaning.
 Language is systematic; Although the language is symbolic, yet its symbols are
arranged in a particular system. All languages have their system of arrangements.
Though symbols in each human language are finite; they can be arranged infinitely
we can produce an infinite set of sentences t a finite set “of symbols.
 Language is symbolic; The symbolism of language is a necessary consequence of the
feature of arbitrariness discussed above. A symbol stands for something else; it is
something that serves as a substitute. Language is a system of arbitrary symbols. For
concepts, things, ideas or objects.

Week 2: Phonetics and Phonology

Chapter 3: Phonetics

In this detailed explanation, we will explore specific aspects of Phonetics looking at: places
of articulation, manner of articulation, voiced and voiceless sounds, and vowels.

Places of Articulation: Places of articulation refer to the points of constriction or closure in

the vocal tract where speech sounds are produced. Different speech sounds are created by
varying the place where the airflow is obstructed. The main places of articulation include:
1. Bilabial: Sounds are produced by bringing both lips together. Examples include /p/ as
in "pat" and /b/ as in "bat."
2. Labiodental: Sounds are formed by placing the bottom lip against the upper teeth.
An example is /f/ as in "fun."
3. Dental: Sounds are created by placing the tongue against the upper front teeth. An
example is /θ/ as in "think."
4. Alveolar: Sounds are produced by raising the tongue to the alveolar ridge, the bony
ridge behind the upper front teeth. Examples include /t/ as in "top" and /d/ as in
"dog."
5. Post-Alveolar: Sounds are formed by raising the tongue to a point just behind the
alveolar ridge. Examples include /ʃ/ as in "ship" and /ʒ/ as in "measure."
6. Palatal: Sounds are produced with the middle of the tongue raised towards the hard
palate. Examples include /j/ as in "yes" and /ʎ/ as in the "ll" sound in the Spanish
word "llama."
 7. Velar: Sounds are created by raising the back of the tongue towards the soft palate
or velum. Examples include /k/ as in "cat" and /g/ as in "go."
8. Glottal: Sounds are produced at the level of the glottis, the space between the vocal
cords. An example is /h/ as in "hat."

Manner of Articulation: Manner of articulation refers to the way in which speech sounds
are produced, considering the degree of constriction or closure in the vocal tract. The main
manners of articulation include:
1. Plosives (Stops): Sounds are formed by creating a complete closure in the vocal
tract, blocking the airflow, and then releasing it. Examples include /p/ as in "pat" and
/k/ as in "cat."
2. Fricatives: Sounds are produced by creating a narrow constriction in the vocal tract,
causing the airflow to pass through with audible friction. Examples include /f/ as in
"fun" and /s/ as in "sit."
3. Affricates: Sounds combine elements of both plosives and fricatives. They begin with
a complete closure and release into a narrow constriction. Examples include /tʃ/ as in
"church" and /dʒ/ as in "judge."
4. Nasals: Sounds are formed by lowering the velum, allowing the airflow to pass
through the nose while the oral passage remains closed. Examples include /m/ as in
"man" and /n/ as in "nose."
5. Liquids: Sounds involve a partial closure in the vocal tract, allowing the airflow to
pass relatively freely. Examples include /l/ as in "love" and /r/ as in "run."
6. Glides (Semi-vowels): Sounds are produced with a quick movement of the
articulators from a near-closure to a more open position. Examples include /j/ as in
"yes" and /w/ as in "wet."

Voiced and Voiceless Sounds: Sounds can be classified as either voiced or voiceless, based
on the vibration of the vocal cords during their production:
1. Voiced Sounds: Voiced sounds are produced with the vocal cords vibrating.
Examples include /b/ as in "bat" (voiced bilabial plosive) and /z/ as in "zip" (voiced
alveolar fricative).
2. Voiceless Sounds: Voiceless sounds are produced without vocal cord vibration.
Examples include /p/ as in "pat" (voiceless bilabial plosive) and /s/ as in "sit"
(voiceless alveolar fricative).

Vowels: Vowels are speech sounds produced without significant constriction or closure in
the vocal tract. They are characterised by the open configuration of the oral cavity and are
typically voiced. Vowels are essential building blocks of syllables and words and play a
crucial role in determining the rhythm and melody of speech. Vowels are classified based on
the position of the tongue and lips:
 1. Front Vowels: The tongue is positioned near the front of the mouth. Examples
include /i/ as in "bee" and /e/ as in "bed."
2. Central Vowels: The tongue is positioned in the central area of the mouth. An
example is /ə/ as in the first syllable of "about."
3. Back Vowels: The tongue is positioned near the back of the mouth. Examples include
/u/ as in "goose" and /ɑ/ as in "father."

Vowels can also be classified based on the height of the tongue:

1. High Vowels: The tongue is raised close to the roof of the mouth. Examples
include /i/ as in "see" and /u/ as in "blue."
2. Mid Vowels: The tongue is positioned in a mid-level position. Examples include /e/
as in "red" and /o/ as in "go."
3. Low Vowels: The tongue is in a low position. Examples include /æ/ as in "cat" and
/ɑ/ as in "father."

Chapter 4: Phonology

Phonology is a subfield of linguistics that focuses on the study of speech sounds (phonemes)
in language. It explores the systematic organisation, distribution, and patterns of these
sounds within a particular language or across languages. Phonology is concerned with the
abstract mental representations of speech sounds in the minds of speakers and listeners
and how these representations interact to convey meaning.
In phonology, researchers analyse the following aspects:

Phonemes and Natural Classes:

In phonology, phonemes are the basic units of sound that distinguish meaning in a language.
They represent the mental abstract representations of speech sounds in a particular
language.
Phonemes can be grouped into natural classes based on shared features, such as place or
manner of articulation. For example, in English:

 /p/ and /b/ are phonemes that differ in voicing (/p/ is voiceless, and /b/ is voiced).
They belong to the natural class of bilabial stops.
  /t/ and /d/ are phonemes that differ in voicing (/t/ is voiceless, and /d/ is voiced).
They belong to the natural class of alveolar stops.

Phones and Allophones:

Phones are the actual physical realisations of phonemes in speech. Allophones are variants
of a phoneme that do not change the meaning of a word but occur in different contexts.
Complementary distribution occurs when two allophones of the same phoneme are found
in distinct environments and never in the same environment. For example:

 In English, the aspirated /pʰ/ in "pat" and the unaspirated /p/ in "spat" are
allophones of the phoneme /p/. They never occur in the same environment, as the
aspiration only occurs at the beginning of a stressed syllable.
 Another example is the flap /ɾ/ in American English, occurring in words like "latter,"
and the alveolar tap /t/ occurring in words like "butter." Both are allophones of the
phoneme /t/ in complementary distribution.

Minimal Pairs and Minimal Sets:

Minimal pairs are pairs of words that differ by only one phoneme in the same position, and
changing that phoneme changes the meaning. For example:

 "Pat" /pæt/ and "bat" /bæt/ are minimal pairs because changing /p/ to /b/ changes
the meaning.
Minimal sets are sets of words that have the same phonemes in all positions except for one,
where they differ by a single phoneme. For example:

 "Pat" /pæt/, "bat" /bæt/, "mat" /mæt/, and "hat" /hæt/ form a minimal set, as they
share the same initial and final phonemes but differ in the middle phoneme.

Phonotactics:
Phonotactics is the study of the allowed combinations and patterns of speech sounds within
a language. It examines the constraints on the sequence of sounds in syllables, words, and
phrases. Different languages have specific phonotactic rules governing which sounds can
appear together. For example:

 In English, a common syllable structure is (C)V(C), where C represents a consonant

and V represents a vowel. Examples include "cat," "desk," and "split."
Syllables and Consonant Clusters:
Syllables are units of speech that consist of a vowel or vowel-like sound (nucleus) and
optionally one or more consonants before (onset) and/or after (coda) the vowel. For
example:

 "Cat" has one syllable: /kæt/

 "Split" has two syllables: /splɪt/
Consonant clusters are sequences of two or more consonant sounds occurring together in a
syllable. The phonotactic rules of a language determine which clusters are permitted. For
example:

 "Play" has a consonant cluster in the onset: /pleɪ/

 "Strength" has a consonant cluster in the coda: /strɛŋθ/

Coarticulation Effects:
Coarticulation refers to the influence of one speech sound on another in connected speech.
It occurs due to the articulatory process of preparing the mouth for the upcoming sound
while producing the current one. Common coarticulation effects include:
1.Assimilation: When a speech sound becomes similar to a neighboring sound. For example:

 "Ten pins" pronounced as "tem pins" due to nasal assimilation.

2.Nasalization: When a non-nasal sound is produced with nasal airflow due to the influence
of a neighboring nasal sound. For example:

 The vowel /æ/ in "hand" becomes nasalized when followed by the nasal /n/ in
connected speech.
3.Elision: When a speech sound is omitted or dropped in connected speech. For example:

 "Library" pronounced as "li-bry" with the /r/ elided.

4.Normal Speech: In connected speech, certain phonetic processes, like assimilation and
elision, are common and natural due to the coarticulatory nature of speech production.
 Week 3 Word Formation
Chapter 5: Word Formations

Word formation in linguistics refers to the process of creating new words in a language. It
involves different methods like adding prefixes or suffixes, combining existing words,
shortening words, borrowing from other languages, and more.
These processes help expand the vocabulary of a language, adapt to new concepts, and
express ideas in different ways. Word formation plays a crucial role in the dynamic nature of
language and allows speakers to communicate effectively and creatively.

The following are a list of different processes that are used in word formations:

1. Compounding: Compounding is the process of combining two or more words to create a

new word with a distinct meaning. The resulting compound word often expresses a concept
that is not easily conveyed by its individual components. Compound words can be written as
separate words, hyphenated, or combined into one word. Examples include:

 Toothpaste: "Tooth" + "paste"

 Blackboard: "Black" + "board"
 Lifeguard: "Life" + "guard"

2. Coinage: Coinage is the creation of new words without relying on existing linguistic
elements. These words are often invented to name new products, technologies, or
concepts. Examples include:

 Kleenex: A brand name for facial tissue.

 Google: A search engine company.
 Xerox: Originally a brand name but now commonly used as a verb for photocopying.

3. Derivation: Derivation involves adding prefixes or suffixes to existing words, modifying
their meaning or grammatical function. Prefixes are added before the base word, while
suffixes are added after. Examples include:

 Unhappy: "Un-" (prefix) + "happy" (root)

 Happiness: "Happy" (root) + "-ness" (suffix)
 Friendship: "Friend" (root) + "-ship" (suffix)
4. Conversion: Conversion, also known as zero derivation, is a word formation process
where a word changes its syntactic category without any affixation. The word's form
remains unchanged. Examples include:

 Email: "Email" (noun) → "to email" (verb)

 Text: "Text" (noun) → "to text" (verb)
 Dance: "Dance" (noun) → "to dance" (verb)

5. Blending: Blending involves combining parts of two or more words to create a new word
with a blended meaning. The new word often retains the initial and final sounds of the
original words. Examples include:

 Brunch: "Breakfast" + "lunch"

 Infomercial: "Information" + "commercial"
 Smog: "Smoke" + "fog"

6. Abbreviation: Abbreviation is the shortening of a word or phrase, often the initial letters
or syllables, to create a more concise form. Examples include:

 ASAP: "As Soon As Possible"

 TV: "Television"
 CEO: "Chief Executive Officer"

7. Clipping: Clipping involves shortening a word by removing one or more syllables. The
resulting clipped word is often informal and colloquial. Examples include:

 Info: "Information"
 Bike: "Bicycle"
 Lab: "Laboratory"

8. Acronyms: Acronyms are formed by taking the initial letters of a phrase and creating a
new word that is pronounced as a whole. Examples include:

 NASA: "National Aeronautics and Space Administration"

 NATO: "North Atlantic Treaty Organization"
 FBI: "Federal Bureau of Investigation"
9. Backformation: Backformation involves creating a new word by removing what appears
to be an affix from an existing word, even though the affix is not historically valid. Examples
include:

 Edit: Backformed from "Editor"

 Televise: Backformed from "Television"
 Donate: Backformed from "Donation"

10. Eponyms: Eponyms are words derived from proper names, typically referring to a
person who invented something, discovered something, or inspired the word's creation.
Examples include:

 Sandwich: Named after John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich.

 Fahrenheit: Named after physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit.
 Tesla: Named after inventor and engineer Nikola Tesla.

11. Loan Words: Loan words are borrowed from one language and incorporated into
another with little or no translation. Examples include:

 Pizza: Borrowed from Italian.

 Sushi: Borrowed from Japanese.
 Café: Borrowed from French.

12. Multiple Processes: Word formation can involve multiple processes, where a single
word is created using several methods simultaneously or sequentially. For example:

 Automobile: "Auto-" (prefix) + "mobile" (root)

 Photoshop: "Photo-" (prefix) + "shop" (clipping)

13. Lexicography: Lexicography is the compilation and study of dictionaries, where words
are organized, defined, and described in a systematic manner. Lexicographers analyse word
formation processes to document and understand the vocabulary of a language.

In summary, word formation in linguistics encompasses a diverse range of processes, each

contributing to the evolution and expansion of language. These methods create new words,
provide concise forms for communication, and adapt language to new concepts,
technologies, and social contexts.
 Week 4: Morphology
Chapter 6: Morphology

Morphology
Morphology is a fundamental branch of linguistics that examines the structure, formation,
and relationships of words in a language. It involves analysing the smallest units of meaning
in a language, known as morphemes, and understanding how they combine to create words
with different forms and meanings. Let's break down the key terminology, provide
examples, and touch upon tools used in the study of morphology:

Let’s begin with the basis of morphology, the morpheme:

Morpheme: A morpheme is the smallest meaningful unit in language. It can be a word on its
own or a part of a word that carries specific meaning. For example:

 "Unhappiness" consists of three morphemes: "un-" (negation prefix), "happy" (root

word), and "-ness" (noun-forming suffix).
 "Dogs" is composed of two morphemes: "dog" (root) and "-s" (plural marker).

From the Morpheme we can further break these morphemes into groups based on their
attribute which can be seen as the following:
1.Free Morpheme: A morpheme that can stand alone as a word and convey meaning.

 Example: "book," "run."

2.Bound Morpheme: A morpheme that cannot function as a word by itself and must be
attached to other morphemes.

 Example: "-ed" (past tense marker), "-ing" (present participle marker).

3.Affix: A bound morpheme that is attached to a root or stem to modify its meaning. Affixes
include prefixes (added before the root), suffixes (added after the root), and infixes (added
within the root).

 Example: "Dislike": "dis-" (prefix) + "like" (root). "Careless": "care" (root) + "-less"
(suffix).
Now that we have the morphemes properly categorised we can further look at how these
morphemes change each other when they become attached using bound morphemes, we
call these inflectional or derivational morphemes:
1.Inflectional Morphology: The grammatical changes that a word undergoes to convey
different grammatical features such as tense, number, gender, case, and so on. Example:

 "Walks" (present tense, third person singular) vs. "Walked" (past tense).
2.Derivational Morphology: The process of adding affixes to a root to create new words or
words with altered meanings. Example:

 "Kind" (root) + "-ness" (suffix) → "Kindness."

So now that we have the morphemes settled, we can start looking at larger groups of
meaning, namely, lexemes:
1.Lexeme: The abstract form of a word that represents its core meaning. It includes all the
inflected forms and variations of the word.

 Example: The lexeme "run" includes "runs," "ran," "running," etc.

So, with this information we can look at languages and how they are structured, depending
on their structure we can see if it is an analytic or synthetic language, each variaty has a
different method of using morphemes to change the meaning of words.
1.Analytic Language: A language with a low morpheme-to-word ratio, relying heavily on
word order and context for conveying meaning.

 Example: English.
2.Synthetic Language: A language with a high morpheme-to-word ratio, where meaning is
often conveyed through inflections and affixes.

 Example: Latin.
 Chapter 8: Syntax

Syntax in Linguistics
Syntax is the branch of linguistics that examines the arrangement and structure of words
within sentences, elucidating how grammar rules determine the formation of coherent and
meaningful utterances.
When looking at sentences that are representing the same idea whilst using different
structures. Linguists would say that these sentences have different surface structures: the
way that the different syntactic elements are arranged differs between the two sentences.

“Casper was being annoyed by Timmy”

“Timmy was annoying Casper”

Both State the same meaning (deep structure) but are said in a different way (surface
structure)

Structural Ambiguity
Structural ambiguity is where the sentence is grammatically correct but could be interpreted
in two different ways. This occurs when a sentence has multiple possible interpretations due
to its syntax.
For instance, "I saw the man with the telescope" can mean either "I used a telescope to see
the man" or "The man had a telescope."

Syntactical Analysis
This is where we break down the sentence away from the words in question into their
fundamental tools. We categorise aspects of the sentence into its basics and understand
how sentences form using symbols that link together under phrase structure rules.
Phrase Structure Rules
These are grammatical rules that dictate how words combine to form phrases and
sentences.
For example, the rule "NP -> Det + N" generates noun phrases like "the cat" or "a book."
The following are the rules set out for each phrase structure, remember while a phrase
structure must have some aspects some things can be added as additional or extra to that
phrase structure:

S {NP + VP}
VP {V}
NP {N}
PP {P + NP}

Tree Diagrams Showing Phrase Structure

Tree diagrams visually represent the hierarchical structure of a sentence, with branches
denoting different components like phrases and words. For "The cat chased the mouse," the
tree would show how the words form noun and verb phrases.
Please watch the video above and the videos below on how to organise and develop these
tree diagrams.
Movement Rules
These rules explain how words or phrases can be moved within a sentence to create
questions, passives, or other constructions.
In "She sings beautifully," moving "beautifully" to the beginning forms "Beautifully, she
sings."

Recursion
Recursion refers to the ability to embed linguistic elements within themselves, creating
complex structures.
For instance, in "The cat that chased the mouse that ate the cheese,"
the clause "that chased the mouse that ate the cheese" is embedded within another clause.

Complementary Phrases
These are phrases that work together to complete the meaning of a sentence.
For example, in "He is playing the piano," "playing the piano" is a verb phrase that
complements "He" to convey the action being performed.