10/16/2012

How do we approach the scientific study of language?

Introduction to English Language and Linguistics I

Properties of Human Language

synchronic vs. diachronic

= to describe the state of a language at a particular point = to document linguistic change through time

synchronic

PDE hound =

a dog kept for hunting

diachronic

synchronic

OE hund =

a dog, generally

How do we approach the scientific study of language?

descriptive vs. prescriptive
= to give a neutral description of the actual language use = to formulate rules for correct language use

How do we approach the scientific study of language?

introspective vs. empirical
= based on our intuition/ tacit knowledge about language = based on authentic data

Im not saying him was a battyman, but him left hand on me face a bit too long if you know what I is saying.

1) That monkey is eating the banana. 2) *By is eaten monkey banana that the being. 3) *That monkey is ate the banana.

descriptive: deviates from the standard prescriptive: incorrect grammar, slang words,

Language
= a system of arbitrary vocal signs or symbols by means of which humans communicate intentionally
goes back to Ferdinand de Saussure, the founder of modern linguistics

Ferdinand de Saussure (1857 1913)

Cours de linguistique gnrale (1916) focus on synchronic approach language = closed system consisting of linguistic signs

10/16/2012

Language as a system

Language as a system

Wheres /p/? langue = the abstract language system which is shared by all members of the speech community parole = concrete language use
Linguists should be interested in langue, not in parole!

Wheres St. Pauls?

Language as a system
System:
consists of units (sounds, words, sentences, ) and their relationships relations are ordered, have a structure ( Structuralism) e.g. /p/
is produced with both lips ( /k/) the airstream is blocked for a short =me ( /m/) the vocal cords do not vibrate ( /b/)

Language as a system
units and relationships syntagmatic relationships

He

loved

bananas

like

crazy

paradigmatic relationships

I The unicorn

liked

linguistics

so

much

hated

pedestrians

very

passionately

Arbitrary vocal signs

Arbitrary vocal signs

signified (concept) signified = mental concept object in the real world concept = big bird-thing with the leathery wings

/trdaktl/

sound = /trdaktl/ vs. /rn/

signifier (sound)

10/16/2012

Arbitrary vocal signs

Properties of the linguistic sign: reciprocal
> the two parts are inseparably linked together

Arbitrary vocal signs

But what about onomatopoeic words, e.g. English bow-wow for a barking dog? These are motivated by animal sounds, and thus not completely arbitrary?

arbitrary
> no motivation between signifier and signified

bird-thing could be named Ron we agree to say Pterodactyl /bawa/

Relationship is motivated by the sound, but still arbitrary (German wau-wau, French ouah ouah, . . .) We need a more detailed classification of linguistic and nonlinguistic signs!

conventional
> based on convention or an agreement between the speakers of a speech community

Charles Peirces theory of signs

signs

Language
= a system of arbitrary vocal signs or symbols by means of which humans communicate intentionally
Is language an entirely human ability?

symbols
based on convention

icons
based on similarity

indices
based on cause-effect

thistle Scotland

smiling face onomatopoeia

rain

Language
two different interpretations of language

is used for human communication language = system of a speech community in order to use language it must be in our mind language = mental system

10/16/2012

Two different interpretations

Two different interpretations

Saussure
langue - parole abstract linguistic system shared by all members of a speech community all concrete utterances of the speakers in a speech community

vs.
system - use system

Chomsky
competence - performance the entire (unconcious) mental knowledge an ideal native speaker has what we actually produce; only partly reflects our mental competence

use

Ferdinand de Saussure language as the system of a speech community = structural view

Noam Chomsky language as a mental system = mental view

performance parole

BUT

competence langue

Properties of human language

Displacement Reflexivity Arbitriness

Displacement

Human Language
Duality Cultural Transmission Productivity

= the ability to talk about things and events not present in the immediate environment

Displacement

Arbitrariness
= linguistic form has not natural or iconic relationship with the mental concept

Woof!

go way

play with me

10/16/2012

Productivity
= humans are continually creating new expressions and novel utterances by manipulating their linguistic resources to describe new objects and situations eagle snake snake, above

Cultural Transmission
= language is passed on from one generation to the next

eagle

snake

flying snake eagle-snake

rraup

chutter

*chutter-rraup ?

Genie Wiley language acquisition

birdsong acquisition

Duality
= human language is organized at two levels simultaneously, namely meaning-distinguishing and meaning-bearing units English: 43 distinct sounds = limited infinite number of possible combinations: /g/ // /d/ /d/ // /g/ ... *Wob! *Ow!

Reflexivity
= ability to reflect on language Excerpt from The Restaurant at the End of the Universe:
One of the major problems encountered in time travel is not that of becoming your own father or mother . . . The major problem is simply one of grammar, and the main work to consult in this matter is Dr. Dan Streetmentioner's Time Traveler's Handbook of 1001 Tense Formations. It will tell you, for instance, how to describe something that was about to happen to you in the past before you avoided it by time-jumping forward two days in order to avoid it. The event will be described differently according to whether you are talking about it from the standpoint of your own natural time, from a time in the further future, or a time in the further past and is further complicated by the possibility of conducting conversations while you are actually traveling from one time to another with the intention of becoming your own mother or father. Most readers get as far as the Future Semiconditionally Modified Subinverted Plagal Past Subjunctive Intentional before giving up; and in fact in later additions of the book all pages beyond this point have been left blank to save on printing costs.

Reflexivity
= ability to reflect on language
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy skips lightly over this tangle of academic abstraction, pausing only to note that the term "Future Perfect" has been abandoned since it was discovered not to be. To resume: The Restaurant at the End of the Universe is one of the most extraordinary ventures in the history of catering. It is built on the fragmented remains of an eventually ruined planet which is (wioll haven be) enclosed in a vast time bubble and projected forward in time to the precise moment of the End of the Universe. This is, many would say, impossible. In it, guests take (willan on-take) their places at table and eat (willan on-eat) sumptous meals while watching (willing watchen) the whole of creation explode around them. This, many would say, is equally impossible. You can arrive (mayan arrivan on-when) for any sitting you like without prior (late fore-when) reservation because you can book retrospectively, as it were, when you return to your own time (you can have on-book haventa forewhen presooning returningwenta retrohome).

Readings and other resources

Kortmann, Bernd (2005): Linguistics: Essentials. Berlin: Cornelsen, pp. 11 21. Yule, George (2010): The Study of Language. New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 1015. Steven Pinker: Linguistics as a Window to Understanding the Brain http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-B_ONJIEcE