Basics of Linguistics: George Yule - The Study of Language

1. The Origin of Language

Charles Darvins: early humans developed a musical ability prior to language, to

“charm each other.” – speculation.

➢ We don’t know how language originated.

The ability to produce sounds is in a part of the Brain we share with all vertebrates.

Spoken language: developed between 100.000 and 50.000 years ago.

Written language: developed about 5.000 years ago.

There are no evidence relating to the speech that tells us how language was in the
early state.

1.1 The Divine Source (Göttlich)

Concept: language is God-given.

Biblical tradition: Adam gave every living creature its name.

Hindu tradition: Sarasvati, wife of Brahma brought the language to humanity.

Psammetichus: experiment with two babies isolated with goats: God-given language.

King James the Fourth of Scotland: isolated kids to find out the language of the
Garden of Eden.

Akbar the Great & real outcome: the isolated children produced no speech at all.
(Victor and Genie).

1.2 The Natural Sound Source

Concept: language is based on natural sounds.

>Human auditory system is already functioning before birth.

The Bow-Wow Theory: The early humans tried to imitate the sound to refer to an
object. Words that sound similar to the noises they describe are ex. of onomatopoeia.
Con: wouldn’t explain abstract concepts like the word ‘truth’.

The Pooh-Pooh Theory: speech developed from instinctive sounds in emotional

circumstances.
Con: expressions like ‘Ah!’ or ‘Ooh!’ are produced by inhaling while the normally
produced spoken language is produced by exhaling.
 1.3 The Social Interaction Source

Yo-He-Ho Theory: Sounds of a person involved in physical effort. (group of early

humans carrying a tree)
Social context: For the organization of groups communication is required.
Con: Animals also life in groups but they have not developed a capacity for speech.

1.4 The Physical Adaption Source

Theory: physical features the humans possess may have supported the speech
production.

Human rhythm of breathing is not tied to the rhythm of walking - allows articulations.

Human breathing while speaking: 90% exhalation & 10% inhalation

60.000 years ago: consonant-like sounds were possible.

35.000 years ago: features resemble modern humans.

Human teeth: upright and even in height & much smaller than those of apes.
>helpful for making sounds
Human lips: more intricate than those of other primates, high flexibility
>helpful for sounds like p, b & m (already attested in the first year)

Human mouth: relatively small, can be opened and closed rapidly

Human tongue: shorter, thicker and more muscular

Humans can close their airway through the nose to produce more air pressure.

>humans are capable of a wider range of shapes and thus a more powerful delivery
of sounds.

Human larynx (voice box containing vocal folds): in a lower position due to an upright
posture.
>this created a longer cavity called pharynx, which acts as a resonator. (increased
range and clarity)

1.5 The Tool-Making Source

Humans learned how to speak like they learned how to use tools.

Area that controls motor movements and articulary area are next to each other in the
brain.
>evolutionary connection between language-using and tool-using.

1.6 The Genetic Source

Even children who are born deaf become fluent sign language users.

The innateness hypothesis: language capacity is innate (genetically hard-wired)

 2. Animals and Human Language

2.1 Communication

Communicative signals: Intentional

Informative signals: unintentional

Using language: trying to communicate something intentionally

Glossolalia: produced like language but no intentional communication

2.2 6 Properties of Human Language

Reflexivity: using language to think and talk about language itself.

Displacement: talking about something that is not present in the immediate

environment.

Arbitrariness: in the human language the connection between the linguistic form of a
word and the object is arbitrary. (except for some onomatopoeic words)
Animals have a clear connection between the conveyed message and the signal.

Cultural Transmission: humans do not inherit their language. It is passed from one
generation to another. Animals produce signals instinctively.

Productivity: Humans can create new expressions (infinite number of possible

utterances). Animals are born with fixed references.

Duality: Human language has distinct sounds (physically limited) and distinct
meanings. We are capable of producing a large number of sound combinations that
are distinct in meaning.

3. Written Language

3.1 Writing

Definition: symbolic representation of language through graphic signs

First attempts: 20.000 years ago (cave drawings)
“cuneiform” on clay tablets: 5.000

Pictograms: pictures represent particular images (cave drawing, modern: Telephone)

>Language independent

Ideograms: abstract delivered form of a symbol (no “pictures)

Logograms: word writing (relationship between written form and object is arbitrary)
(e.g. cuneiform) large number of different symbols are required
 3.2 Phonographic Writing

Symbols are adopted to represent the sound of the words

The rebus principle: symbol for one entity is taken over as the symbol for the sound
of the spoken word >reduces the number of symbols needed

3.3 Syllabic Writing

One symbol is used to represent the pronunciation of one syllable

3.4 Alphabetic Writing

Symbols are used to represent single sound types

Alphabet: set of written symbols each one representing a single type of sound
Semitic alphabetic script: consonantal alphabet (basic source of most alphabets)

3.5 Written English

Frequent mismatch between forms of written English and the sounds of spoken
English (Identical sounds are written in various ways)

English orthography: a single phoneme is represented by more than one letter

Digraph: combination between two letters for a single sound (/ph/)

The pronunciation of spoken English has undergone substantial changes

>silent letters (e.g. k in knight)

4. The Sound of Language

4.1 Phonetics

International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA): analytic framework for the study of speech
Articulatory phonetics: study of how speech sounds are made
Acoustic phonetics: deals with physical properties of speech as sound waves
Auditory phonetics: deals with the perception via ear

4.2 Consonants

3 major aspects in the articulation of consonants:

- where is the airstream obstructed? (place of articulation)

- how is the airstream obstructed? (manner of articulation)
- are the vocal cords/folds vibrating? (voiced vs voiceless)
 4.3 Voiced and Voiceless Sounds

Consonant Sounds: air is pushed up through the trachea to the larynx where the
vocal folds are placed
Two basic positions of the vocal folds:
Spread apart = no obstruction = voiceless sound
Drawn together = air pushes them apart = vibration = voiced sound

4.4 Place of Articulation

Air passes through the larynx, enters the vocal tract, comes up the pharynx
(extended tube shape about 13 centimetres long) and pushed through the mouth
(oral) and/or the nose (nasal).

Speech is produced while breathing out and by using the tongue and other parts of
the mouth.

The location inside the mouth at which the constriction takes place is the place of
articulation.

Where is the obstruction?

1) bilabial (2 lips): bat, with, mind

2) labiodental (lower lip + upper teeth): vent, fan
3) dental= (on the teeth): thin, this / interdental (tongue tip between the teeth)
4) alveolar (tongue tip + alveolar ridge): tin, soap, lift
5) palatal (tongue body + hard palate): yet
6) velar (velum [soft palate] + back part of the tongue): cat, get
7) glottal (larynx): hat
 4.5 Manner of Articulation

How is the airstream obstructed?

- stops (=plosives) –the airstream from the lungs is stopped completely & then
suddenly released with an explosion: bet, dog

- fricatives –the airstream from the lungs escapes with friction through a narrow
opening: fume, sell

- affricates –a combination of a plosive & a fricative sound: a complete closure

in the oral cavity is gradually released & is followed by considerable friction:
jam, chess

- nasals –the mouth cavity is completely blocked & the air escapes through the
nasal cavity & the nostrils: moon, sing

- liquids – rise and curl tongue, let airflow escape round the sides

- glides – move tongue to or from a vowel

4.6 A Consonant Chart

Glottal Stop: symbol: [ʔ]
Space between the vocal folds is closed very briefly and then released (“Uh-uh”)
Flap: symbol: [ɾ]
Tongue is tapping the alveolar ridge briefly (“budder”)

4.7 Vowels

Vowels are produced with a relatively free air flow

They are all typically voiced

Mouth: front versus back and high versus low area

4.8 Diphthongs

Combination of two vowel sounds: vocal organs move from one vocalic position to
another [a] -> [i]
American and British diphthongs:

4.8 Subtle Individual Variation

Vowel sounds are notorious for varying: key element for recognizing accents

“Caugh and cot” experiment

5. The Sound Patterns of Language

5.1 Phonology

It is the description of the systems and patterns of speech sounds in a language

It is concerned with the abstract or mental aspect of the sounds
Various different spellings can have the same phonological representation

Phonology is about the underlying blueprint of each sound type

[t] sound in tar, star, writer, butter and eighth is represented the same way but can be
pronounced differently ( [k], [f], [b] )

5.2 Phonemes

Phonemes are meaning-distinguishing sounds in a language

Phoneme /t/ is a sound type which includes all different spoken versions of [t]
- Slash marks / / indicate a phoneme
- Square brackets [ ] indicate each physically produced segment
Contrastively function: fan /van – if the sound is changed, meaning is changed

Natural classes: distinguish each phoneme from the next

Phonemes in the same natural class tend to behave in the same way
If the feature is present: ( + )
If it is not present: ( - )
 5.3 Phones and Allophones

Phoneme is the abstract unit or sound type (in mind)

Phones is the sound type produced in actual speech (in mouth)

Phones are described in square brackets

Allophones = set of phones which are versions of one phoneme
Phoneme /t/ can be pronounced in a number of physical different ways as phones
Aspiration in tar is stronger than in star

Difference between phonemes and allophones:

Substituting a phoneme results in a different meaning
Substituting an allophone results in a different pronunciation of the same word

Complementary distribution: different allophones of a sound type are used in different

places in words

[tH] pronunciation of the phoneme /t/ in tar but never after another consonant like star
| |
with aspiration without aspiration

Minimal pairs: two words are identical except for a contrast in one phoneme in the
same position: fan & van
Minimal set: a group of words that can only be differentiated by one phoneme in the
same position
 5.4 Phonotactics

Phonotactics are the permitted arrangements of sounds

Means the definite patterns in the types of sound combinations permitted in language
Lig or vig are possible acceptable words while [fsig] or [rnig] aren’t

5.5 Syllables

A syllable must contain a vowel or a vowel-like sound including diphthongs

Most common: consonant (C) before the vowel (V)
Basic Elements of a syllable:
1. onset (one or more consonants)
2. rhyme (vowel = nucleus + following consonants = coda)

Open syllables: onset and a nucleus but no coda: me, to or no

Closed syllables: coda is also present: up, cup, at or hat

Consonant clusters: more than one single consonant: /st/

Onset (CC): stop
Coda (CC): post

(CC) onset combinations in English phonotactics:

First consonant: s
Followed by liquids (/l/, /r/) or a glide (/w/)

(CCC) onset:
First consonant: s
Followed by one of the natural class of voiceless stops (/p/, /t/, /k/)
Plus a liquid (/l/, /r/) or a glide (/w/)
 5.6 Coarticulation Effects

Speech is not like carefully pronunciation in slow motion but fast and spontaneous

Assimilation: two sound segments occur in sequence and some aspect of one is
copied by the other: pronunciation gets quicker, easier and more efficient

“I have to go now.”: /t/ in to is voiceless so /v/ in have becomes also voiceless (/f/)

-> “I ‘hefta’ go now”

Nasalization: adding a nasal quality to a sound segment before a nasal sound

Represented with a small diacritic (~) called ‘tilde’

I can go -> I caŋo

/n/ -> /ŋ/
alveolar -> velar
( /æ/ -> /ə/ )

Elision: not pronouncing a sound segment that might be present in the deliberately
careful pronunciation of a word in isolation

he must be -> /hemusbe/

 6. Word Formation

6.1 Neologisms

Are new words, that may be in the process of entering common use, but that has not
yet been fully accepted into mainstream language

6.2 Etymology

Is the study of the origin and history of a word.

+
There are many different ways a word can enter a language

6.2 Borrowing

Is one of the most common sources of new words in English.

Borrowing is the taking over of words from other Languages.
Examples: dope (Dutch), piano (Italian), pretzel (German)
Sometimes a new sound comes along with new words.
Example: voiced fricative /ʒ/ in words like measure is borrowed from French
Other languages also borrow words from English.

Loan-translation (calque): special type of borrowing where a direct translation of the

elements of a word into the borrowing language is made.
Example: French grate-ciel is literally translated into scrape-sky
English loanword comes from the German Lehnwort

6.3 Compounding

Is the joining of two separate words to one single term.

Example: Lehn and Wort are combined to produce Lehnwort.
fast and food are combined to fast-food. (doorknob, fingerprint)
Compounding is very common in German and English but not in French or Spanish.

Blending: combining the beginning of one word with the end of another word.
Examples: smoke + fog = smog, breakfast + lunch = brunch
Sometimes the beginnings of both words are combined
Example: modulator / demodulator = modem

6.4 Clipping

Means reducing a word with more than one syllable to a shorter form.
Examples: gasoline -> gas, advertisement -> ad

Hypocorisms: longer word is reduced to one syllable and -y or -ie is added.

(Australian and British English)
Examples: breakfast -> brekky, television -> telly, Australian -> Aussie

Backformation: word of one type (noun) is reduced to a word of another type (verb)
Examples: television -> televise, donation -> donate, mixture -> mix
 6.5 Conversion

Is a change in the function of a word. A noun comes to be used as a verb without any
reduction. (aka: category change or functional shift)
Examples: Have you buttered the toast?, They’re vacationing in Florida.
Possible from noun to verb (glue it together)
From verb to noun (This is the handout)
And from verb to adjective (see-through material)

6.6 Coinage

Is the invention and general use of totally new terms. (not very common in English)
Typical sources are trade names: aspirin, nylon, vaseline, teflon
Eponyms: new word based on the name of a person or a place: sandwich, jeans
Acronyms: new word from the initial letters of a set of words: compact disc = CD

6.7 Derivation

Is the most common word formation process which is accomplished by a large

number of small bits of the English language the affixes.
Examples: un-, mis-, pre-, -ful, -less, -ish, -ism, -ness
Prefixes are added to the beginning of the word: un-, mis-
Suffixes are added to the end: -less, -ish
Infixes: affix that is incorporated inside another word: Unfuckingbeliveable!

6.8 Multiple Processes

Occur when more than one process is at work in the creation of a new word.
Example: deli in English. Borrowed from German (Delikatessen) and then clipped.

7. Morphology

Means the study of forms und is concerned with the basic elements used in a
language which are technically known as morphemes.

7.1 Morphemes

The minimal units of meaning or grammatical function are called morphemes.

Free morphemes: can stand by themselves as single words (dress in undressed)
Bound morphemes: cannot normally stand alone (un & ed in undressed)
All affixes are bound morphemes
The free morphemes in their basic word form are called stems
Some stems cannot stand alone (-peat in repeat) they are called bound stems

Free morphemes fall into two categories:

Morphemes that carry the content are called lexical morphemes (girl, break, never)
they are an open category as there can be new words added.
The other type are functional morphemes (a, the, and, because, on, me) they are a
closed category

Bound morphemes can also be divided in two categories:

Derivational morphemes are used to make new words or to make words a different
grammatical category of the stem (-ment in encouragement). (suffixes or prefixes)
Inflectional morphemes are used to indicate the grammatical function of a word

7.2 Morphological Description

Derivational morpheme: can change the grammatical category of a word

Inflectional morpheme: never changes the grammatical category of a word

Derivational suffix and inflectional suffix always appear in order

First the derivational and then the inflectional
 7.3 Morphs, Allomorphs and Special Cases

Like phones for phonemes, morphs are the actual forms used to realize morphemes.
The inflectional morpheme “plural” is realized in three forms. These are allomorphs.

Words like the plural sheep of sheep and men of man are special cases.
They are not formed with the suffix -s like cats of cat.
So there is a “zero-morph” added to the singular sheep
Irregular forms like men are treated as separate lexical morphemes.

8. Grammar

8.1 English Grammar

English has strict rules for combining word phrases.

e.g. *boys the lucky is incorrect which is being indicated by an asterisk *

The article the must go before the adjective lucky which must go before the noun
boys.

Grammar can be defined as the process of describing the structure of phases and
sentences.

8.2 Traditional Grammar

The grammatical categories of words come from traditional grammar which has its
origins in languages like Greek or Latin.
The Parts of Speech: different word classes

Nouns: word used to refer to people (boy), objects (backpack), creatures (dog),
places (school), qualities (roughness), phenomena (earthquake), and abstract ideas
(love). Proper nouns begin with a capital letter.

Articles: used with nouns to form noun phrases (a, an, the)

Adjectives: used to provide more information about objects

Verbs: used to refer to various kinds of actions

Adverbs: used with verbs to give information about actions, states, and events
(slowly, yesterday).

Prepositions: used with nouns in phrases to give information about time, place and
other connections (at, in, on, near, with, without).

Pronouns: used in place of noun phrases (she, herself, they, it, you).

Conjunctions: used to make connections and indicate relationships between events

(and, but, because, when)

(Interjections): only in spoken language (oh, ouch)

Familiar symbols:

Bilabial consonants: (both lips): voiceless: [p]

voiced: [b], [m], [w]

Labiodentals: (upper front teeth and lower lip): voiceless: [f]

voiced: [v]

Alveolar sounds: (front of the tongue): voiceless: [t], [d], [s], [z], [r], [l], [n], [t], [s]
voiced: [d], [z], [r], [l], [n]

Unfamiliar Symbols:

Th: voiceless: theta: [θ] (thin)

voiced: eth: [ð] (thus)

Dentals = teeth are involved

Interdentals = tongue tip between teeth

Palatals:

Voiceless: sh: [ ʃ ] (shout)

ch: [ tʃ ] (child)

Voiced: gsch: [ ʒ ] (rouge)