Linguistic Domains in a Nutshell

(Source: An Introduction to Language by Victoria Fromkin and Robert Rodman, 6th Ed.) Part One: Introduction to Linguistics Every human knows at least one lan ua e, s!oken or si ned. "in uistics is the science o# lan ua e, includin the sounds, words, and rammar rules. $ords in lan ua es are #inite, but sentences are not. %t is this creative as!ect o# human lan ua e that sets it a!art #rom animal lan ua es, which are essentially res!onses to stimuli. &he rules o# a lan ua e, also called rammar, are learned as one ac'uires a lan ua e. &hese rules include phonology, the sound system, morphology, the structure o# words, syntax, the combination o# words into sentences, semantics, the ways in which sounds and meanin s are related, and the lexicon, or mental dictionary o# words. $hen you know a lan ua e, you know words in that lan ua e, i.e. sound units that are related to s!eci#ic meanin s. (owever, the sounds and meanin s o# words are arbitrary. For the most !art, there is no relationshi! between the way a word is !ronounced (or si ned) and its meanin . )nowin a lan ua e encom!asses this entire system, but this knowled e (called competence) is di##erent #rom behavior (called performance.) *ou may know a lan ua e, but you may also choose to not s!eak it. +lthou h you are not s!eakin the lan ua e, you still have the knowled e o# it. (owever, i# you don,t know a lan ua e, you cannot s!eak it at all. &here are two ty!es o# rammars: descri!tive and !rescri!tive. Descriptive grammars re!resent the unconscious knowled e o# a lan ua e. En lish s!eakers, #or e-am!le, know that .me likes a!!les. is incorrect and .% like a!!les. is correct, althou h the s!eaker may not be able to e-!lain why. /escri!tive rammars do not teach the rules o# a lan ua e, but rather describe rules that are already known. %n contrast, prescriptive grammars dictate what a s!eaker,s rammar should be and they include teachin rammars, which are written to hel! teach a #orei n lan ua e. &here are about 0,111 lan ua es in the world ri ht now ( ive or take a #ew thousand), and lin uists have discovered that these lan ua es are more alike than di##erent #rom each other. &here are universal conce!ts and !ro!erties that are shared by all lan ua es, and these !rinci!les are contained in the Universal Grammar, which #orms the basis o# all !ossible human lan ua es.

Part T o: !orphology and "yntax !orphemes are the minimal units o# words that have a meanin and cannot be subdivided #urther. &here are two main ty!es: #ree and bound. Free mor!hemes can occur alone and bound mor!hemes must occur with another mor!heme. +n e-am!le o# a #ree mor!heme is .bad., and an e-am!le o# a bound mor!heme is .ly.. %t is bound because althou h it has meanin , it cannot stand alone. %t must be attached to another mor!heme to !roduce a word.

Free mor!heme: bad 2ound mor!heme: ly $ord: badly $hen we talk about words, there are two rou!s: lexical (or content) and function (or rammatical) words. "e-ical words are called o!en class words and include nouns, verbs, ad3ectives and adverbs. 4ew words can re ularly be added to this rou!. Function words, or closed class words, are con3unctions, !re!ositions, articles and !ronouns5 and new words cannot be (or are very rarely) added to this class. #ffixes are o#ten the bound mor!heme. &his rou! includes prefixes$ suffixes$ infixes$ and circumfixes. 6re#i-es are added to the be innin o# another mor!heme, su##i-es are added to the end, in#i-es are inserted into other mor!hemes, and circum#i-es are attached to another mor!heme at the be innin and end. Followin are e-am!les o# each o# these: 6re#i-: re7 added to do !roduces redo Su##i-: 7or added to edit !roduces editor %n#i-: 7um7 added to fikas (stron ) !roduces fumikas (to be stron ) in 2ontoc 8ircum#i-: e7 and 7t to lieb (love) !roduces geliebt (loved) in 9erman &here are two cate ories o# a##i-es: derivational and inflectional. &he main di##erence between the two is that derivational a##i-es are added to mor!hemes to #orm new words that may or may not be the same !art o# s!eech and in#lectional a##i-es are added to the end o# an e-istin word #or !urely rammatical reasons. %n En lish there are only ei ht total in#lectional a##i-es: 7s 7in 7s 7,s 7er :rd !erson sin ular !resent she waits she waited she,s eatin she has eaten three a!!les "ori,s son you are taller you are the shortest !ro ressive !lural !ossessive com!arative

7ed !ast tense 7en !ast !artici!le

7est su!erlative

&he other ty!e o# bound mor!hemes are called bound roots. &hese are mor!hemes (and not a##i-es) that must be attached to another mor!heme and do not have a meanin o# their own. Some e-am!les are ceive in !erceive and mit in submit. %nglish !orphemes +. Free ;. <!en 8lass =. 8losed 8lass 2. 2ound ;. +##ia. /erivational

b. %n#lectional =. Root &here are si- ways to #orm new words. &ompounds are a combination o# words, acronyms are derived #rom the initials o# words, 'ac()formations are created #rom removin what is mistakenly considered to be an a##i-, a''reviations or clippings are shortenin lon er words, eponyms are created #rom !ro!er nouns (names), and 'lending is combinin !arts o# words into one. 8om!ound: doghouse +cronym: NBA (4ational 2asketball +ssociation) or scuba (sel#7contained underwater breathin a!!aratus) 2ack7#ormation: edit #rom editor +bbreviation: phone #rom telephone E!onym: sandwich #rom Earl of Sandwich 2lendin : smog #rom smoke and fog 9rammar is learned unconsciously at a youn a e. +sk any #ive year old, and he will tell you that .% eat. and .you eat,. but his .do eats.. 2ut a human,s syntactical knowled e oes #arther than what is rammatical and what is not. %t also accounts #or ambi uity, in which a sentence could have two meanin s, and enables us to determine rammatical relationshi!s such as sub3ect and direct ob3ect. +lthou h we may not consciously be able to de#ine the terms, we unconsciously know how to use them in sentences. Synta-, o# course, de!ends on le-ical cate ories (!arts o# s!eech.) *ou !robably learned that there are > main !arts o# s!eech in rammar school. "in uistics takes a di##erent a!!roach to these cate ories and se!arates words into mor!holo ical and syntactic rou!s. "in uistics analy?es words accordin to their a##i-es and the words that #ollow or !recede them. (o!e#ully, the #ollowin de#initions o# the !arts o# s!eech will make more sense and be o# more use than the old de#initions o# rammar school books. Open Class Nouns *er's #d+ectives #dver's ords @@@@@ A !lural endin s /et. +d3. @@@@@ (this is called a 4oun 6hrase) .do s. .the bi do . @@@@ A tense endin s .s!eaks. @@@@ A er B est .small. +d3. A ly .'uickly. ords a, an, the, this, that, these, @@@@ +d3. 4oun those, !ronouns, 'uantities .this blue book. #orms o# be, have, may, can, shall 46 @@@@ V6 .the irl is swimmin . +u-. @@@@ (this is called a Verb 6hrase) .have s!oken. /et. @@@@ 4oun .the smaller child. @@@@ +d3. or Verb or +dv. .'uickly ran.

Closed Class Determiners

#uxiliary *er's

Prepositions &on+unctions

at, in, on, under, over, o# and, but, or

@@@@ 46 (this is called a 6re!ositional 6hrase) .in the room. 4 or V or +d3. @@@@ 4 or V or +d3. .a!!les and oran es.

"u'categori,ation de#ines the restrictions on which syntactic cate ories (!arts o# s!eech) can or cannot occur within a le-ical item. &hese additional s!eci#ications o# words are included in our mental le-icon. Verbs are the most common cate ories that are subcate ori?ed. Verbs can either be transitive or intransitive. Transitive ver's take a direct ob3ect, while intransitive ver's take an indirect ob3ect (usually they need a !re!osition be#ore the noun). &ransitive verb: to eat %ntransitive: to slee! % ate an a!!le. (direct ob3ect) % was slee!in in the bed. (indirect ob3ect)

%ndividual nouns can also be subcate ori?ed. For e-am!le, the noun idea can be #ollowed by a 6re!ositional 6hrase or that and a sentence. 2ut the noun compassion can only be #ollowed by a 6re!ositional 6hrase and not a sentence. (Cn rammatical sentences are marked with asterisks.) the idea o# stricter laws the idea that stricter laws are necessary his com!assion #or the animals Dhis com!assion that the animals are hurt

Phrase structure rules describe how !hrases are #ormed and in what order. &hese rules de#ine the #ollowin : 4oun 6hrase (46) Verb 6hrase (V6) 6re!ositional 6hrase (66) Sentence (S) (/et.) (+d3.) 4oun (66) Verb (46) (66) 6re!. 46 46 V6

&he !arentheses indicate the cate ories are o!tional. Verbs don,t always have to be #ollowed by !re!ositional !hrases and nouns don,t always have to be !receded by ad3ectives. Passive "entences &he di##erence between the two sentences .Eary hired 2ill. and .2ill was hired by Eary. is that the #irst is active and the second is !assive. %n order to chan e an active sentence into a !assive one, the ob3ect o# the active must become the sub3ect o# the !assive. &he verb in the !assive sentence becomes a #orm o# .be. !lus the !artici!le #orm o# the main verb. +nd the sub3ect o# the active becomes the ob3ect o# the !assive !receded by the word .by.. #ctive Eary hired 2ill. Sub3ect A Verb A <b3ect Passive 2ill was hired by Eary. <b3ect A .be. A Verb A by A Sub3ect

Part Three: Phonetics and Phonology

&here are three ty!es o# the study o# the sounds o# lan ua e. #coustic Phonetics is the study o# the !hysical !ro!erties o# sounds. #uditory Phonetics is the study o# the way listeners !erceive sounds. #rticulatory Phonetics (the ty!e this lesson is concerned with) is the study o# how the vocal tracts !roduce the sounds. &he ortho ra!hy (s!ellin ) o# words in misleadin , es!ecially in En lish. <ne sound can be re!resented by several di##erent combinations o# letters. For e-am!le, all o# the #ollowin words contain the same vowel sound: he, believe, "ee, 8aesar, ke!, amoeba, loudl!, machine, !eo!le, and sea. &he #ollowin !oem illustrates this #act o# En lish humorously (note the !ronunciation o# the bold words): % take it you already (no o# tough and 'ough and cough and doughF Some may stumble, but not you, on hiccough, thorough, slough, and throughF So now you are ready, !erha!s, to learn o# less #amiliar tra!sF 2eware o# heard, a dread#ul ord, that looks like 'eard, but sounds like 'ird. +nd dead, it,s said like 'ed, not 'ead5 #or oodness, sake, don,t call it deedG $atch out #or meat and great and threat. (&hey rhyme with suite and straight and de't.) + moth is not a moth in mother, nor 'oth in 'other, 'roth in 'rother. +nd here is not a match #or there, nor dear and fear, #or 'ear and pear. +nd then there,s dose and rose and lose 7 3ust look them u! 7 and goose and choose +nd cor( and or( and card and ard and font and front and ord and s ord +nd do and go, then th art and cart, come, comeG %,ve hardly made a start. + dread#ul lan ua eF $hy man aliveG %,ve learned to talk it when % was #ive. +nd yet to write it, the more % tried, % hadn,t learned it at #i#ty7#ive. " Author #nknown &he discre!ancy between s!ellin and sounds led to the #ormation o# the International Phonetics #lpha'et (%6+.) &he symbols used in this al!habet can be used to re!resent all sounds o# all human lan ua es. &he #ollowin is the En lish 6honetic al!habet. *ou mi ht want to memori?e all o# these symbols, as most #orei n lan ua e dictionaries use the %6+. 6honetic +l!habet #or En lish 6ronunciation ! b # v I J K L t pill 'ill feel veal thi h thy shill a,ure till d dill n neal s ? H seal ,eal chill -ill hich gill N ring h heal l r 3 w i e lea# ree# you itch beet bait a3 3 a M but light boy bit bet #oot a e bar so#a

m mill

k (ill

u boot o boat O bat

aw co

Some s!eakers o# En lish !ronounce the words which and witch di##erently, but i# you !ronounce both words identically, 3ust use w #or both words. +nd the sounds BB and BMB are !ronounced the same, but the #ormer is used in stressed syllables, while the latter is used in unstressed syllables. &his list does not even be in to include all o# the !honetic symbols thou h. <ne other symbol is the lottal sto!, which is somewhat rare in En lish. Some lin uists in the Cnited States traditionally use di##erent symbols than the %6+ symbols. &hese are listed below. U.". K L H
C

IP# t d

&he !roduction o# any s!eech sound involves the movement o# air. +ir is !ushed throu h the lun s, laryn- (vocal #olds) and vocal tract (the oral and nasal cavities.) Sounds !roduced by usin air #rom the lun s are called pulmonic sounds. %# the air is !ushed out, it is called egressive. %# the air is sucked in, it is called ingressive. Sounds !roduced by in ressive airstreams are e3ectives, im!losives, and clicks. &hese sounds are common amon +#rican and +merican %ndian lan ua es. &he ma3ority o# lan ua es in the world use !ulmonic e ressive airstream mechanisms, and % will !resent only these ty!es o# sounds in this lesson. &onsonants 8onsonants are !roduced as air #rom the lun s is !ushed throu h the lottis (the o!enin between the vocal cords) and out the mouth. &hey are classi#ied accordin to voicin , as!iration, nasalBoral sounds, !laces o# articulation and manners o# articulation. *oicing is whether the vocal #olds vibrate or not. &he sound BsB is called voiceless because there is no vibration, and the sound B?B is called voiced because the vocal #olds do vibrate (you can #eel on your neck i# there is vibration.) <nly three sounds in En lish have as!iration, the sounds BbB, B!B and BtB. +n e-tra !u## o# air is !ushed out when these sounds be in a word or stressed syllable. (old a !iece o# !a!er close to your mouth when sayin the words !in and s!in. *ou should notice e-tra air when you say !in. +s!iration is indicated in writin with a su!erscri!t h, as in B!B. 4asal sounds are !roduced when the velum (the so#t !alate located in the back o# the roo# o# the mouth) is lowered and air is !assed throu h the nose and mouth. <ral sounds are !roduced when the velum is raised and air !asses only throu h the mouth. Places of #rticulation 2ilabial: li!s to ether "abiodental: lower li! a ainst #ront teeth %nterdental: ton ue between teeth +lveolar: ton ue near alveolar rid e on roo# o# mouth (in between teeth and hard !alate) 6alatal: ton ue on hard !alate Velar: ton ue near velum 9lottal: s!ace between vocal #olds &he #ollowin sound is not #ound in the En lish lan ua e, althou h it is common in lan ua es such as French and +rabic: Cvular: raise back o# ton ue to uvula (the a!!enda e han in down #rom the velum)

!anners of #rticulation Sto!: obstruct airstream com!letely Fricative: !artial obstruction with #riction +##ricate: sto! airstream, then release "i'uids: !artial obstruction, no #riction 9lides: little or no obstruction, must occur with a vowel *ou should !ractice sayin the sounds o# the En lish al!habet to see i# you can identi#y the !laces o# articulation in the mouth. &he sounds are described by voicin , !lace and then manner o# articulation, so the sound B3B would be called a voiced !alatal lide and the sound BsB would be called a voiceless alveolar #ricative. /ila'ial La'iodental Interdental #lveolar Palatal *elar Glottal "top 0oral1 Nasal 0stop1 2ricative ! b m # v I J t d n s ? K L H w lr w h k

N h

#ffricate

Glide Li3uid

For rows that have two consonants, the to! consonant is voiceless and the bottom consonant is voiced. 4asal sto!s are all voiced, as are li'uids. &he sound B3B is also voiced. %# sounds are in two !laces on the chart, that means they can be !ronounced either way. *o els Vowels are !roduced by a continuous airstream and all are voiced. &hey are classi#ied accordin to hei ht o# the ton ue, !art o# ton ue involved, and !osition o# the li!s. &he ton ue can be hi h, mid, or low5 and the !art o# the ton ue used can be #ront, central or back. <nly #our vowels are !roduced with rounded li!s and only #our vowels are considered tense instead o# la-. &he sound BaB would be written as a low back la- unrounded vowel. Eany lan ua es also have vowels called di!hthon s, a se'uence o# two sounds, vowel A lide. E-am!les in En lish include o! in boy and ow in cow. %n addition, vowels can be nasali?ed when they occur be#ore nasal consonants. + diacritic mark PQR is !laced over the vowel to show this. &he vowel sounds in bee and bean are considered di##erent because the sound in bean is nasali?ed. Part of Tongue

Front 8entral 2ack (i h Tongue 4eight Eid "ow i e O M u

o a

&he bold vowels are tense, and the italic vowels are rounded. En lish also includes the di!hthon s: Pa3R as in bite, PawR as in cow, and Po3R as in boy. For the com!lete %6+ chart with symbols #or the sounds o# every human lan ua e, !lease visit the %nternational 6honetic +ssociation,s website. +nd you,re lookin #or a way to ty!e En lish %6+ symbols online, !lease visit i!a.ty!eit.or !a+or &lasses of "ounds 0Distinctive 2eatures1 +ll o# the classes o# sounds described above can be !ut into more eneral classes that include the !atternin o# sounds in the world,s lan ua es. &ontinuant sounds indicate a continuous air#low, while non)continuant sounds indicate total obstruction o# the airstream. O'struent sounds do not allow air to esca!e throu h the nose, while sonorant sounds have a relatively #ree air#low throu h the mouth or nose. &he #ollowin table summari?es this in#ormation: O'struent "onorant &ontinuant #ricatives li'uids, lides, vowels Non)&ontinuant oral sto!s, a##ricates nasal sto!s

Major Class Features PA 8onsonantalR consonants P7 8onsonantalR vowels PASonorantR nasals, li'uids, lides, vowels P7 SonorantR sto!s, #ricatives, a##ricates (obstruents) PA +!!ro-imantR lides P3, wR P7 +!!ro-imantR everythin else Voice Features PA VoiceR voiced P7 VoiceR voiceless PA S!read 9lottisR as!irated P!, t, kR P7 S!read 9lottisR unas!irated

PA 8onstricted 9lottisR e3ectives, im!losives P7 8onstricted 9lottisR everythin else Manner Features PA 8ontinuantR #ricatives P#, v, s, ?, K, L, I, JR P7 8ontinuantR sto!s P!, b, t, d, k, , R PA 4asalR nasal consonants Pm, n, NR P7 4asalR all oral consonants PA "ateralR PlR P7 "ateralR PrR PA /elayed ReleaseR a##ricates PH, R P7 /elayed ReleaseR sto!s P!, b, t, d, k, , R PA StridentR SnoisyT #ricatives P#, v, s, ?, K, LR P7 StridentR PF, J, hR Place Features P"abialR involves li!s P#, v, !, b, wR P8oronalR alveolar rid e to !alate PI, J, s, ?, t, d, K, L, n, r, lR PA +nteriorR interdentals and true alveolars P7 +nteriorR retro#le- and !alatals PK, L, H, , 3R P/orsalR #rom velum back Pk, , NR P9lottalR in laryn- Ph, R Vowels (ei ht PU hi hR PU lowR 2ackness PU backR "i! Roundin PU roundR &enseness PU tenseR $hereas !honetics is the study o# sounds and is concerned with the !roduction, audition and !erce!tion o# o# s!eech sounds (called !hones), phonology describes the way sounds #unction within a iven lan ua e and o!erates at the level o# sound systems and abstract sound units. )nowin the sounds o# a lan ua e is only a small !art o# !honolo y. &his im!ortance is shown by the #act that you can chan e one word into another by sim!ly chan in one sound. 8onsider the di##erences between the words time and dime. &he words are identical e-ce!t #or the #irst sound. PtR and PdR can there#ore distin uish words, and are called contrasting sounds. &hey are distinctive sounds in En lish, and all distinctive sounds are classi#ied as phonemes. !inimal Pairs Einimal !airs are words with di##erent meanin s that have the same sounds e-ce!t #or one. &hese contrastin sounds can either be consonants or vowels. &he words !in and bin are minimal !airs because they are e-actly the same e-ce!t #or the #irst sound. &he words read and rude are also e-actly

the same e-ce!t #or the vowel sound. &he e-am!les #rom above, time and dime, are also minimal !airs. %n e##ect, words with one contrastive sound are minimal !airs. +nother #eature o# minimal !airs is overla!!in distribution. Sounds that occur in !honetic environments that are identical are said to be in overla!!in distribution. &he sounds o# PnR #rom !in and bin are in overla!!in distribution because they occur in both words. &he same is true #or three and throu h. &he sounds o# PIrR is in overla!!in distribution because they occur in both words as well. 2ree *ariation Some words in En lish are !ronounced di##erently by di##erent s!eakers. &his is most noticeable amon +merican En lish s!eakers and 2ritish En lish s!eakers, as well as dialectal di##erences. &his is evidenced in the ways neither, #or e-am!le, can be !ronounced. +merican En lish !ronunciation is PniJMrR, while 2ritish En lish !ronunciation is Pna3JMrR. Phones and #llophones Phonemes are not !hysical sounds. &hey are abstract mental re!resentations o# the !honolo ical units o# a lan ua e. Phones are considered to be any sin le s!eech sound o# which !honemes are made. 6honemes are a #amily o# !hones re arded as a sin le sound and re!resented by the same symbol. &he di##erent !hones that are the reali?ation o# a !honeme are called allophones o# that !honeme. &he use o# allo!hones is not random, but rule7 overned. 4o one is tau ht these rules as they are learned subconsciously when the native lan ua e is ac'uired. &o distin uish between a !honeme and its allo!hones, % will use slashes BB to enclose !honemes and brackets PR to enclose allo!hones or !hones. For e-am!le, PiR and PiVR are allo!hones o# the !honeme BiB5 PR and PRV are allo!hones o# the !honeme BB. &omplementary Distri'ution %# two sounds are allo!hones o# the same !honeme, they are said to be in com!lementary distribution. &hese sounds cannot occur in minimal !airs and they cannot chan e the meanin o# otherwise identical words. %# you interchan e the sounds, you will only chan e the !ronunciation o# the words, not the meanin . 4ative s!eakers o# the lan ua e re ard the two allo!hones as variations o# the same sound. &o hear this, start to say the word cool (your li!s should be !ursed in antici!ation o# BuB sound), but then say kill instead (with your li!s still !ursed.) *our !ronunciation o# kill should sound stran e because cool and kill are !ronounced with di##erent allo!hones o# the !honeme BkB. 4asali?ed vowels are allo!hones o# the same !honeme in En lish. &ake, #or e-am!le, the sounds in bad and ban. &he !honeme is BOB, however the allo!hones are POR and POVR. *et in French, nasali?ed vowels are not allo!hones o# the same !honemes. &hey are se!arate !honemes. &he words beau PboR and bon PboVR are not in com!lementary distribution because they are minimal !airs and have contrastin sounds. 8han in the sounds chan es the meanin o# the words. &his is 3ust one e-am!le o# di##erences between lan ua es. Phonological 5ules +ssimilation: sounds become more like nei hborin sounds, allowin #or ease o# articulation or !ronunciation5 such as vowels are nasali?ed be#ore nasal consonants 7 (armony: non7ad3acent vowels become more similar by sharin a #eature or set o# #eatures (common in Finnish) 7 9emination: sound becomes identical to an ad3acent sound 7 Re ressive +ssimilation: sound on le#t is the tar et, and sound on ri ht is the tri er

/issimilation: sounds become less like nei hborin sounds5 these rules are 'uite rare, but one e-am!le in En lish is P##IR becomin P##tR (B#B and BIB are both #ricatives, but BtB is a sto!) E!enthesis: insertion o# a sound, e. . "atin .homre. became S!anish .hombre. 7 6rothesis: insertion o# vowel sound at be innin o# word 7 +na!ty-is: vowel sound with !redictable 'uality is inserted word7internally 7 6ara o e: insertion o# vowel sound at end o# word 7 E-crescence: consonant sound inserted between other consonants (also called sto!7intrusion) /eletion: deletion o# a sound5 e. . French word7#inal consonants are deleted when the ne-t word be ins with a consonant (but are retained when the #ollowin word be ins with a vowel) 7 +!haeresis: vowel sound deleted at be innin o# word 7 Synco!e: vowel sound is deleted word7internally 7 +!oco!e: vowel sound deleted at end o# word Eetathesis: reorderin o# !honemes5 in some dialects o# En lish, the word asked is !ronounced POksR5 children,s s!eech shows many cases o# metathesis such as aminal #or animal "enition: consonant chan es to a weaker manner o# articulation5 voiced sto! becomes a #ricative, #ricative becomes a lide, etc. 6alatali?ation: sound becomes !alatal when ad3acent to a #ront vowel 8om!ensatory "en thenin : sound becomes lon as a result o# sound loss, e. . "atin .octo. became %talian .otto. #ssimilation in %nglish +n interestin observation o# assimilation rules is evidenced in the #ormation o# !lurals and the !ast tense in En lish. $hen !lurali?in nouns, the last letter is !ronounced as either PsR, P?R, or PM?R. $hen #ormin !ast tenses o# verbs, the 7ed endin is !ronounced as either PtR, PdR, PMdR. %# you were to sort words into three columns, you would be able to tell why certain words are #ollowed by certain sounds: Plural nouns BsB B?B BM?B cats dads churches ti!s bibs kisses lau hs do s 3ud es Past Tense BtB BdB BMdB kissed loved !atted washed 3o ed waded cou hed teased seeded

(o!e#ully, you can determine which consonants !roduce which sounds. %n the nouns, BsB is added a#ter voiceless consonants, and B?B is added a#ter voiced consonants. BM?B is added a#ter sibilants. For the verbs, BtB is added a#ter voiceless consonants, and BdB is added a#ter voiced consonants. BMdB is added a#ter alveolar sto!s. &he reat thin about this is that no one ever tau ht you this in school. 2ut thanks to lin uistics, you now know why there are di##erent sounds (because o# assimiliation rules, the consonants become more like their nei hborin consonants.)

6riting 5ules + eneral !honolo ical rule is + W 2 B / @@ E (said: + becomes 2 when it occurs between / and E) <ther symbols in rule writin include: 8 X any obstruent, V X any vowel, Y X nothin , Z X word

boundary, ( ) X o!tional, and [ \ X eitherBor. + deletion rule is + W Y B E @@ (+ is deleted when it occurs a#ter E) and an insertion rule is Y W + B E @@ (+ is inserted when it occurs a#ter E). +l!ha notation is used to colla!se similar assimilation rules into one. 8 W P] voiceR B @@ P] voiceR (+n obstruent becomes voiced when it occurs be#ore a voiced obstruent +4/ an obstruent becomes voiceless when it occurs be#ore a voiceless obstruent.) Similarly, it can be used #or dissimilation rules too. 8 W P7] voiceR B @@ P] voiceR (+n obstruent becomes voiced when it occurs be#ore a voiceless obstruent +4/ an obstruent becomes voiceless when it occurs be#ore a voiced obstruent.) 9emination rules are written as 8;8= W 8=8= (#or e-am!le, !d W dd) "ylla'le "tructure &here are three !eaks to a syllable: nucleus (vowel), onset (consonant be#ore nucleus) and coda (consonant a#ter nucleus.) &he onset and coda are both o!tional, meanin that a syllable could contain a vowel and nothin else. &he nucleus is re'uired in every syllable by de#inition. &he order o# the !eaks is always onset 7 nucleus 7 coda. +ll lan ua es !ermit o!en syllables (8onsonant A Vowel), but not all lan ua es allow closed syllables (8onsonant A Vowel A 8onsonant). "an ua es that only allow o!en syllables are called 8V lan ua es. %n addition to not allowin codas, some 8V lan ua es also have constraints on the number o# consonants allowed in the onset. &he sonority !ro#ile dictates that sonority must rise to the nucleus and #all to the coda in every lan ua e. &he sonority scale (#rom most to least sonorous) is vowels 7 lides 7 li'uids 7 nasals 7 obstruents. Sonority must rise in the onset, but the sounds cannot be ad3acent to or share a !lace o# articulation (e-ce!t PsR in En lish) nor can there be more than two consonants in the onset. &his e-!lains why En lish allows some consonant combinations, but not others. For e-am!le, !rice P!ra3sR is a well7#ormed syllable and word because the sonority rises in the onset (!, an obstruent, is less sonorous than r, a li'uid)5 however, r!ice Pr!a3sR is not a syllable in En lish because the sonority does not rise in the onset. &he Ea-imality 8ondition states that onsets are as lar e as !ossible u! to the well7#ormedness rules o# a lan ua e. <nsets are always !re#erred over codas when syllabi#yin words. &here are also constraints that state the ma-imum number o# consonants between two vowels is #our5 onsets and codas have two consonants ma-imally5 and onsets and codas can be bi er only at the ed es o# words.

Part 2our: "emantics and Pragmatics "emantics "e-ical semantics is concerned with the meanin s o# words and the meanin o# relationshi!s amon words, while !hrasal semantics is concerned with the meanin o# syntactic units lar er than the word. 6ra matics is the study o# how conte-t a##ects meanin , such as how sentences are inter!reted in certain situations. Semantic !ro!erties are the com!onents o# meanin s o# words. For e-am!le, the semantic !ro!erty .human. can be #ound in many words such as !arent, doctor, baby, !ro#essor, widow, and aunt. <ther semantic !ro!erties include animate ob3ects, male, #emale, countable items and non7countable items.

The )nyms (omonyms: di##erent words that are !ronounced the same, but may or may not be s!elled the same (to, two, and too) 6olysemous: word that has multi!le meanin s that are related conce!tually or historically (bear can mean to tolerate or to carry or to su!!ort) (omo ra!h: di##erent words that are s!elled identically and !ossibly !ronounced the same5 i# they are !ronounced the same, they are also homonyms (!en can mean writin utensil or ca e) (eteronym: homo ra!hs that are !ronounced di##erently (dove the bird and dove the !ast tense o# dive) Synonym: words that mean the same but sound di##erent (couch and so#a) +ntonym: words that are o!!osite in meanin Complementar! pairs$ alive and dead %radable pairs$ bi and small (no absolute scale) (y!onym: set o# related words (red, white, yellow, blue are all hy!onyms o# .color.) Eetonym: word used in !lace o# another to convey the same meanin (3ock used #or athlete, $ashin ton used #or +merican overnment, crown used #or monarcy) Retronym: e-!ressions that are no lon er redundant (silent movie used to be redundant because a lon time a o, all movies were silent, but this is no lon er true or redundant) Thematic 5oles &hematic roles are the semantic relationshi!s between the verbs and noun !hrases o# sentences. &he #ollowin chart shows the thematic roles in relationshi! to verbs o# sentences: Thematic 5ole + ent &heme "ocation 9oal Source %nstrument E-!eriencer 8ausative 6ossessor Reci!ient Description the one who !er#orms an action the !erson or thin that under oes an action the !lace where an action takes !lace the !lace to which an action is directed the !lace #rom which an action ori inates the means by which an action is !er#ormed one who !erceives somethin a natural #orce that causes a chan e one who has somethin one who receives somethin %xample &aria ran Eary called 'ohn %t rains in Spain 6ut the cat on the porch (e #lew #rom Chicago to "+ (e cuts his hair with scissors She heard 2ob !lay the !iano (he wind destroyed the house &he tail of the cat ot cau ht % ave it to the girl

"entential !eaning &he meanin o# sentences is built #rom the meanin o# noun !hrases and verbs. Sentences contain truth conditions i# the circumstances in the sentence are true. 6ara!hrases are two sentences with the

same truth conditions, des!ite subtle di##erences in structure and em!hasis. &he ball was kicked by the boy is a !ara!hrase o# the sentence the boy kicked the ball, but they have the same truth conditions 7 that a boy kicked a ball. Sometimes the truth o# one sentence entails or im!lies the truth o# another sentence. &his is called entailment and the o!!osite o# this is called contradiction, where one sentence im!lies the #alseness o# another. )e was assassinated entails that he is dead. )e was assassinated contradicts with the statement he is alive. Pragmatics 6ra matics is the inter!retation o# lin uistic meanin in conte-t. "in uistic conte-t is discourse that !recedes a sentence to be inter!reted and situational conte-t is knowled e about the world. %n the #ollowin sentences, the kids have eaten alread! and surprisingl!* the! are hungr!, the lin uistic conte-t hel!s to inter!ret the second sentence de!endin on what the #irst sentence says. &he situational conte-t hel!s to inter!ret the second sentence because it is common knowled e that humans are not usually hun ry a#ter eatin . !axims of &onversation 9rice,s ma-ims #or conversation are conventions o# s!eech such as the maxim of 3uantity that states a s!eaker should be as in#ormative as is re'uired and neither more nor less. &he maxim of relevance essentially states a s!eaker should stay on the to!ic, and the maxim of manner states the s!eaker should be brie# and orderly, and avoid ambi uity. &he #ourth ma-im, the maxim of 3uality, states that a s!eaker should not lie or make any unsu!!orted claims. Performative "entences %n these ty!es o# sentences, the s!eaker is the sub3ect who, by utterin the sentence, is accom!lishin some additional action, such as darin , resi nin , or nominatin . &hese sentences are all a##irmative, declarative and in the !resent tense. +n in#ormal test to see whether a sentence is !er#ormative or not is to insert the words I hereb! be#ore the verb. I hereb! challenge !ou to a match or I hereb! fine !ou +,-- are both !er#ormative, but I hereb! know that girl is not. <ther !er#ormative verbs are bet, !romise, !ronounce, be'ueath, swear, testi#y, and dismiss. Presuppositions &hese are im!licit assum!tions re'uired to make a sentence meanin #ul. Sentences that contain !resu!!ositions are not allowed in court because acce!tin the validity o# the statement mean acce!tin the !resu!!ositions as well. )ave !ou stopped stealing cars. is not admissible in court because no matter how the de#endant answers, the !resu!!osition that he steals cars already will be acknowled ed. )ave !ou stopped smoking. im!lies that you smoke already, and ould !ou like another piece. im!lies that you,ve already had one !iece. Deixis /ei-is is re#erence to a !erson, ob3ect, or event which relies on the situational conte-t. First and second !erson !ronouns such as my, mine, you, your, yours, we, ours and us are always deictic because their re#erence is entirely de!endent on conte-t. /emonstrative articles like this, that, these and those and e-!ressions o# time and !lace are always deictic as well. %n order to understand what s!eci#ic times or !laces such e-!ressions re#er to, we also need to know when or where the utterance was said. %# someone says .%,m over hereG. you would need to know who .%. re#erred to, as well as where .here. is. /ei-is marks one o# the boundaries o# semantics and !ra matics.

Part 2ive: Neurolinguistics &he human brain consists o# ;1 billion nerve cells (neurons) and billions o# #ibers that connect them. &hese neurons or ray matter #orm the cortex, the sur#ace o# the brain, and the connectin #ibers or white matter #orm the interior o# the brain. &he brain is divided into two hemis!heres, the le#t and ri ht cerebral hemis!heres. &hese hemis!heres are connected by the corpus callosum. %n eneral, the le#t hemis!here o# the brain controls the ri ht side o# the body and vice versa.

&he auditory cortex receives and inter!rets auditory stimuli, while the visual cortex receives and inter!rets visual stimuli. &he angular gyrus converts the auditory stimuli to visual stimuli and vice versa. &he motor cortex si nals the muscles to move when we want to talk and is directed by 2roca,s area. &he nerve #iber connectin $ernicke,s and 2roca,s area is called the arcuate fasciculus. Laterali,ation re#ers to any co nitive #unctions that are locali?ed to one side o# the brain or the other. "an ua e is said to be laterali?ed and !rocessed in the le#t hemis!here o# the brain. 6aul 2roca #irst related lan ua e to the le#t side o# the brain when he noted that dama e to the #ront !art o# the le#t hemis!here (now called /roca7s area) resulted in a loss o# s!eech, while dama e to the ri ht side did not. (e determined this throu h auto!sies o# !atients who had ac'uired lan ua e de#icits #ollowin brain in3uries. + lan ua e disorder that #ollows a brain lesion is called aphasia, and !atients with dama e to 2roca,s area have slow and labored s!eech, loss o# #unction words, and !oor word order, yet ood com!rehension. 8arl $ernicke also used studies o# auto!sies to describe another ty!e o# a!hasia that resulted #rom lesions in the back !ortion o# the le#t hemis!here (now called 6ernic(e7s area.) Cnlike 2roca,s !atients, $ernicke,s s!oke #luently and with ood !ronunciation, but with many le-ical errors and a di##iculty in com!rehension. 2roca,s and $ernicke,s area are the two main re ions o# the corte- o# the brain related to lan ua e !rocessin . +!hasics can su##er #rom anomia$ +argon aphasia$ and ac3uired dyslexia. +nomia is commonly re#erred to as .ti! o# the ton ue. !henomenon and many a!hasics e-!erience word #indin di##iculty on a re ular basis. ^ar on a!hasia results in the substitution o# one word or sound #or another. Some

a!hasics may substitute similar words #or each other, such as table #or chair, or they may substitute com!letely unrelated words, such as chair #or en ine. <thers may !ronounce table as sable, substitutin an s sound #or a t sound. +!hasics who became dysle-ic a#ter brain dama e are called ac'uired dysle-ics. $hen readin aloud words !rinted on cards, the !atients !roduced the #ollowin substitutions: "timuli +ct South (eal 5esponse One 6lay East 6ain 5esponse T o 6lay $est Eedicine

&he substitution o# !honolo ically similar words, such as !ool and tool, also !rovides evidence that a human,s mental le-icon is or ani?ed by both !honolo y and semantics. 2roca,s a!hasics and some ac'uired dysle-ics are unable to read #unction words, and when !resented with them on the cards, the !atients say no, as shown in the #ollowin e-am!le: "timuli One $itch (our $ood 5esponse $itch &ime $ood "timuli T o 5esponse $hich noG <ur noG $ould noG

&he !atient,s errors su est our mental dictionary is #urther or ani?ed into !arts consistin o# ma3or content words (#irst stimuli) and rammatical words (second stimuli.) %n addition, s!lit7brain !atients (those who have had their cor!us callosum severed) !rovide evidence #or lan ua e laterali?ation. %# an ob3ect is !laced in the le#t hand o# s!lit7brain !atient whose vision is cut o##, the !erson cannot name the ob3ect, but will know how to use it. &he in#ormation is sent to the ri ht side o# the brain, but cannot be relayed to the le#t side #or lin uistic namin . (owever, i# the ob3ect is !laced in the !erson,s ri ht hand, the !erson can immediately name it because the in#ormation is sent directly to the le#t hemis!here. Dichotic listening is another e-!erimental techni'ue, usin auditory si nals. Sub3ects hear a di##erent sound in each ear, such as boy in the le#t ear and irl in the ri ht ear or water rushin in the le#t ear and a horn honkin in the ri ht ear. $hen asked to state what they heard in each ear, sub3ects are more #re'uently correct in re!ortin lin uistic stimuli in the ri ht ear ( irl) and nonverbal stimuli in the le#t ear (water rushin .) &his is because the le#t side o# the brain is s!eciali?ed #or lan ua e and a word heard in the ri ht ear will trans#er directly to the le#t side o# the body because o# the contralaterali?ation o# the brain. Furthermore, the ri ht side o# the brain is s!eciali?ed #or nonverbal stimuli, such as music and environmental sounds, and a noise heard in the le#t ear will trans#er directly to the ri ht side o# the brain.

Part "ix: &hild Language #c3uisition and "econd Language #c3uisition "in uistic com!etence develo!s in sta es, #rom babblin to one word to two word, then tele ra!hic s!eech. 2abblin is now considered the earliest #orm o# lan ua e ac'uisition because in#ants will

!roduce sounds based on what lan ua e in!ut they receive. <ne word sentences (holo!hrastic s!eech) are enerally monosyllabic in consonant7vowel clusters. /urin two word sta e, there are no syntactic or mor!holo ical markers, no in#lections #or !lural or !ast tense, and !ronouns are rare, but the intonation contour e-tends over the whole utterance. &ele ra!hic s!eech lacks #unction words and only carries the o!en class content words, so that the sentences sound like a tele ram. Three theories &he three theories o# lan ua e ac'uisition: imitation$ reinforcement and analogy, do not e-!lain very well how children ac'uire lan ua e. %mitation does not work because children !roduce sentences never heard be#ore, such as .cat stand u! table.. Even when they try to imitate adult s!eech, children cannot enerate the same sentences because o# their limited rammar. +nd children who are unable to s!eak still learn and understand the lan ua e, so that when they overcome their s!eech im!airment they immediately be in s!eakin the lan ua e. Rein#orcement also does not work because it actually seldomly occurs and when it does, the rein#orcement is correctin !ronunciation or truth#ulness, and not rammar. + sentence such as .a!!les are !ur!le. would be corrected more o#ten because it is not true, as com!ared to a sentence such as .a!!les is red. re ardless o# the rammar. +nalo y also cannot e-!lain lan ua e ac'uisition. +nalo y involves the #ormation o# sentences or !hrases by usin other sentences as sam!les. %# a child hears the sentence, .% !ainted a red barn,. he can say, by analo y, .% !ainted a blue barn.. *et i# he hears the sentence, .% !ainted a barn red,. he cannot say .% saw a barn red.. &he analo y did not work this time, and this is not a sentence o# En lish. #c3uisitions 6honolo y: + child,s error in !ronunciation is not random, but rule7 overned. &y!ical !honolo ical rules include: consonant cluster sim!li#ication (s!oon becomes !oon), devoicin o# #inal consonants (do becomes dok), voicin o# initial consonants (truck becomes druck), and consonant harmony (do y becomes o y, or bi becomes i .) Eor!holo y: +n over enerali?ation o# constructed rules is shown when children treat irre ular verbs and nouns as re ular. %nstead o# went as the !ast tense o# o, children use goed because the re ular verbs add an 7ed endin to #orm the !ast tense. Similarly, children use ooses as the !lural o# oose instead o# eese, because re ular nouns add an 7s in the !lural. &he 8Innateness 4ypothesis8 o# child lan ua e ac'uisition, !ro!osed by 4oam 8homsky, states that the human s!ecies is !rewired to ac'uire lan ua e, and that the kind o# lan ua e is also determined. Eany #actors have led to this hy!othesis such as the ease and ra!idity o# lan ua e ac'uisition des!ite im!overished in!ut as well as the uni#ormity o# lan ua es. +ll children will learn a lan ua e, and children will also learn more than one lan ua e i# they are e-!osed to it. 8hildren #ollow the same eneral sta es when learnin a lan ua e, althou h the lin uistic in!ut is widely varied. &he poverty of the stimulus states that children seem to learn or know the as!ects o# rammar #or which they receive no in#ormation. %n addition, children do not !roduce sentences that could not be sentences in some human lan ua e. &he !rinci!les o# Cniversal 9rammar underlie the s!eci#ic rammars o# all lan ua es and determine the class o# lan ua es that can be ac'uired unconsciously without instruction. %t is the enetically determined #aculty o# the le#t hemis!here, and there is little doubt that the brain is s!ecially e'ui!!ed #or ac'uisition o# human lan ua e.

&he 8&ritical #ge 4ypothesis8 su ests that there is a critical a e #or lan ua e ac'uisition without the need #or s!ecial teachin or learnin . /urin this critical !eriod, lan ua e learnin !roceeds 'uickly and easily. +#ter this !eriod, the ac'uisition o# rammar is di##icult, and #or some !eo!le, never #ully achieved. 8ases o# children reared in social isolation have been used #or testin the critical a e hy!othesis. 4one o# the children who had little human contact were able to s!eak any lan ua e once reintroduced into society. Even the children who received lin uistic in!ut a#ter bein reintroduced to society were unable to #ully develo! lan ua e skills. &hese cases o# isolated children, and o# dea# children, show that humans cannot #ully ac'uire any lan ua e to which they are e-!osed unless they are within the critical a e. 2eyond this a e, humans are unable to ac'uire much o# syntaand in#lectional mor!holo y. +t least #or humans, this critical a e does not !ertain to all o# lan ua e, but to s!eci#ic !arts o# the rammar. "econd Language #c3uisition Teaching !ethods %rammar"translation$ the student memori?es words, in#lected words, and syntactic rules and uses them to translate #rom native to tar et lan ua e and vice versa5 most commonly used method in schools because it does not re'uire teacher to be #luent5 however, least e##ective method o# teachin /irect method$ the native lan ua e is not used at all in the classroom, and the student must learn the new lan ua e without #ormal instruction5 based on theories o# #irst lan ua e ac'uisition Audio"lingual$ heavy use o# dialo s and audio, based on the assum!tion that lan ua e learnin is ac'uired mainly throu h imitation, re!etition, and rein#orcement5 in#luenced by !sycholo y Natural Approach$ em!hasis on vocabulary and not rammar5 #ocus on meanin , not #orm5 use o# authentic materials instead o# te-tbook Silent a!$ teachers remain !assive observers while students learn, which is a !rocess o# !ersonal rowth5 no rammatical e-!lanation or modelin by the teacher (otal 0h!sical 1esponse$ students !lay active role as listener and !er#ormer, must res!ond to im!erative drills with !hysical action Suggestopedia$ students always remain com#ortable and rela-ed and learn throu h memori?ation o# meanin #ul te-ts, althou h the oal is understandin Communit! Language Learning$ materials are develo!ed as course !ro resses and teacher understands what students need and want to learn5 learnin involves the whole !erson and lan ua e is seen as more than 3ust communication Communit! Language (eaching$ incor!orates all com!onents o# lan ua e and hel!s students with various learnin styles5 use o# communication7based activities with authentic materials, needs o# learner are taken into consideration when !lannin to!ics and ob3ectives 2our s(ill areas &he #our skill areas o# learnin a #orei n lan ua e need to be addressed consistently and continually. 9ood lesson !lans incor!orate all #our: Listening$ "pea(ing$ 5eading 0and *oca'ulary1$ and 6riting 0and Grammar1. 4ative s!eakers do not learn the skill areas se!arately, nor do they use them se!arately, so they shouldn_t be tau ht se!arately. (owever, it is easy to #all into the tra! o# teachin about the lan ua e, instead o# actually teachin the lan ua e. Eost te-tbooks resort to teachin rammar and vocabulary lists and nothin more.

Part "even: "ociolinguistics + dialect is a variety o# lan ua e that is systematically di##erent #rom other varieties o# the same lan ua e. &he dialects o# a sin le lan ua e are mutually intelli ible, but when the s!eakers can no

lon er understand each other, the dialects become lan ua es. 9eo ra!hical re ions are also considered when dialects become lan ua es. Swedish, 4orwe ian, and /anish are all considered se!arate lan ua es because o# re ular di##erences in rammar and the countries in which they are s!oken, yet Swedes, 4orwe ians, and /anes can all understand one another. (indi and Crdu are considered mutually intelli ible lan ua es when s!oken, yet the writin systems are di##erent. <n the other hand, Eandarin and 8antonese are mutually unintelli ible lan ua es when s!oken, yet the writin systems are the same. + dialect is considered standard i# it is used by the u!!er class, !olitical leaders, in literature and is tau ht in schools as the correct #orm o# the lan ua e. <vert !resti e re#ers to this dominant dialect. + non7standard dialect is associated with covert !resti e and is an ethnic or re ional dialect o# a lan ua e. &hese non7standard dialects are 3ust as lin uistically so!histicated as the standard dialect, and 3ud ments to the in#eriority o# them are based on social or racist 3ud ments. +#rican7+merican En lish contains many re ular di##erences o# the standard dialect. &hese di##erences are the same as the di##erences amon many o# the world,s dialects. 6honolo ical di##erences include r and l deletion o# words like !oor (!a) and all (awe.) 8onsonant cluster sim!li#ication also occurs (!assed !ronounced like !ass), as well as a loss o# interdental #ricatives. Syntactic di##erences include the double ne ative and the loss o# and habitual use o# the verb .be.. )e late means he is late now, but he be late means he is always late. + lingua franca is a ma3or lan ua e used in an area where s!eakers o# more than one lan ua e live that !ermits communication and commerce amon them. En lish is called the lin ua #ranca o# the whole world, while French used to be the lin ua #ranca o# di!lomacy. + pidgin is a rudimentary lan ua e o# #ew le-ical items and less com!le- rammatical rules based on another lan ua e. 4o one learns a !id in as a native lan ua e, but children do learn creoles as a #irst lan ua e. &reoles are de#ined as !id ins that are ado!ted by a community as its native ton ue. 2esides dialects, s!eakers may use di##erent styles or re isters (such as contractions) de!endin on the conte-t. "lang may also be used in s!eech, but is not o#ten used in #ormal situations or writin . -argon re#ers to the uni'ue vocabulary !ertainin to a certain area, such as com!uters or medicine. $ords or e-!ressions re#errin to certain acts that are #orbidden or #rowned u!on are considered ta'oo. &hese taboo words !roduce euphemisms, words or !hrases that re!lace the e-!ressions that are bein avoided. &he use o# words may indicate a society,s attitude toward se-, bodily #unctions or reli ious belie#s, and they may also re#lect racism or se-ism in a society. "an ua e itsel# is not racist or se-ist, but the society may be. Such insultin words may rein#orce biased views, and chan es in society may be re#lected in the chan es in lan ua e.

Part %ight: 4istorical Linguistics "an ua es that evolve #rom a common source are enetically related. &hese lan ua es were once dialects o# the same lan ua e. Earlier #orms o# 9ermanic lan ua es, such as 9erman, En lish, and Swedish were dialects o# 6roto79ermanic, while earlier #orms o# Romance lan ua es, such as

S!anish, French, and %talian were dialects o# "atin. Furthermore, earlier #orms o# 6roto79ermanic and "atin were once dialects o# %ndo7Euro!ean. "in uistic chan es like sound shi#t is #ound in the history o# all lan ua es, as evidenced by the re ular sound corres!ondences that e-ist between di##erent sta es o# the same lan ua e, di##erent dialects, and di##erent lan ua es. $ords, mor!hemes, and !honemes may be altered, added or lost. &he meanin o# words may broaden, narrow or shi#t. 4ew words may be introduced into a lan ua e by borrowin , or by coina e, blends and acronyms. &he le-icon may also shrink as older words become obsolete. 8han e comes about as a result o# the restructurin o# rammar by children learnin the lan ua e. 9rammars seem to become sim!le and re ular, but these sim!li#ications may be com!ensated #or by more com!le-ities. Sound chan es can occur because o# assimilation, a !rocess o# ease o# articulation. Some rammatical chan es are analogic changes, enerali?ations that lead to more re ularity, such as swee!ed instead o# swe!t. &he study o# lin uistic chan e is called historical and com!arative lin uistics. "in uists identi#y re ular sound corres!ondences usin the com!arative method amon the co nates (words that develo!ed #rom the same ancestral lan ua e) o# related lan ua es. &hey can restructure an earlier !rotolan ua e and this allows lin uists to determine the history o# a lan ua e #amily. Old %nglish$ !iddle %nglish$ !odern %nglish <ld En lish `aa7;166 8E 2eowul# Eiddle En lish ;1667;011 8E 8anterbury &ales Eodern En lish ;0117!resent Shakes!eare 0honological change$ 2etween ;`11 and ;611 8E, the 9reat Vowel Shi#t took !lace. &he seven lon vowels o# Eiddle En lish underwent chan es. &he hi h vowels PiR and PuR became the di!hthon s Pa3R and PawR. &he lon vowels increased ton ue hei ht and shi#ted u!ward, and PaR was #ronted. Eany o# the s!ellin inconsistencies o# En lish are because o# the 9reat Vowel Shi#t. <ur s!ellin system still re#lects the way words were !ronounced be#ore the shi#t took !lace. &orphological change$ Eany %ndo7Euro!ean lan ua es had e-tensive case endin s that overned word order, but these are no lon er #ound in Romance lan ua es or En lish. +lthou h !ronouns still show a trace o# the case system (he vs. him), En lish uses !re!ositions to show the case. %nstead o# the dative case (indirect ob3ects), En lish usually the words to or for. %nstead o# the enitive case, En lish uses the word of or 2s a#ter a noun to show !ossession. <ther cases include the nominative (sub3ect !ronouns), accusative (direct ob3ects), and vocative. S!ntactic change$ 2ecause o# the lack o# the case system, word order has become more ri id and strict in Eodern En lish. 4ow it is strictly Sub3ect 7 Verb 7 <b3ect order. Orthographic change$ 8onsonant clusters have become sim!li#ied, such as hla# becomin loa# and hnecca becomin neck. (owever, some o# these clusters are still written, but are no lon er !ronounced, such as naw, write, and dumb.

Le3ical change$ <ld En lish borrowed !lace names #rom 8eltic, army, reli ious and educational words #rom "atin, and everyday words #rom Scandinavian. +n le and Sa-on (9erman dialects) #orm the basis o# <ld En lish !honolo y, mor!holo y, synta- and le-icon. Eiddle En lish borrowed many words #rom French in the areas o# overnment, law, reli ion, literature and education because o# the 4orman 8on'uest in ;166 8E. Eodern En lish borrowed words #rom "atin and 9reek because o# the in#luence o# the classics, with much scienti#ic terminolo y. For more in#ormation, read the (istory o# En lish !a e.

Part Nine: &lassification of Languages Indo)%uropean #amily o# lan ua es

%talic ("atin) o Romance 8atalan French %talian <ccitan (6rovenbal) 6ortu uese Rhaeto7Romansch Romanian S!anish 9ermanic o 4orth 9ermanic /anish Faroese %celandic 4orwe ian Swedish o East 9ermanic 9othic (e-tinct) o $est 9ermanic +#rikaans /utch En lish Flemish Frisian 9erman *iddish Slavic o $estern 8?ech 6olish Slovak Sorbian o Eastern

2elarusian Russian Ckrainian Southern 2ul arian 8roatian Eacedonian <ld 8hurch Slavonic Serbian Slovene

2altic
o o o

"atvian "ithuanian <ld 6russian (e-tinct)

8eltic 2rythonic 2reton 8ornish (e-tinct) 9aulish (e-tinct) $elsh o 9oidelic %rish Ean- 9aelic (e-tinct) Scots 9aelic (ellenic (9reek) +lbanian +rmenian +natolian (e-tinct) &ocharian (e-tinct) %ndo7%ranian o %ndo7+ryan (%ndic) +ssamese 2en ali 2ihari 9u3arati (indi7Crdu Earathi 6un3abi Romani Sanskrit Sindhi Sin halese o %ranian +vestan 2alochi Farsi (6ersian) )urdish 6ashtu (+# han)
o

So dian

Uralic (or Finno7C ric) is the other ma3or #amily o# lan ua es s!oken on the Euro!ean continent. Finnish, Estonian and (un arian are e-am!les. #fro)#siatic lan ua es are s!oken in 4orthern +#rica and the Eiddle East. &hey include 2erber, E y!tian, <motic and 8ushitic lan ua es (Somali, %ra'w) as well as the modern Semitic lan ua es o# (ebrew, +rabic and +mharic, in addition to lan ua es s!oken in biblical times, such as +ramaic, +kkadian, 2abylonian, 8anaanite, and 6hoenician. &he #ltaic lan ua es are classi#ied as ^a!anese and )orean, thou h some lin uists se!arate these lan ua es into their own rou!s. "ino)Ti'etan lan ua es include Eandarin, (akka, $u, 2urmese, &ibetan, and all o# the 8hinese .dialects.. #ustro)tai lan ua es include %ndonesian, ^avanese and &hai5 while the #siatic rou! includes Vietnamese. &he Dravidian lan ua es o# &amil and &elu u are s!oken in southeastern %ndia and Sri "anka. &he &aucasian lan ua e #amily consists o# `1 di##erent lan ua es, and is divided into 8artvelian (south 8aucasian), 4orth7$est 8aucasian and 4orth7East 8aucasian lan ua e rou!s. Some lan ua es are 9eor ian, Ee relian, 8hechen, %n ush +varian, "e? ian and /ar in. &hese lan ua es are mostly s!oken in 9eor ia, &urkey, Syria, %ran, ^ordan and !arts o# the Russian #ederation. &he Niger)&ongo #amily includes most o# the +#rican lan ua es. +bout ;,011 lan ua es belon to this rou!, includin the 2antu lan ua es o# Swahili, &swana, chosa, dulu, )ikuyu, and Shona. <ther lan ua es are Ewe, Eina, *oruba, % bo, $olo#, )ordo#anian and Ful#ulde. <ther +#rican lan ua e rou!s are Nilo)"aharan, which includes =11 lan ua es s!oken in 8entral and Eastern +#rica5 and 9hoisan, the click lan ua es o# southern +#rica. &he )hoisan rou! only contains about :1 lan ua es, most o# which are s!oken in 4amibia and 2otswana. &he #ustronesian #amily also contains about a11 lan ua es, s!oken all over the lobe. (awaiian, Eaori, &a alo , and Ealay are all re!resentatives o# this lan ua e #amily. Eany lan ua es are, or were, s!oken in 4orth and South +merica by the native !eo!les be#ore the Euro!ean con'uests. )nowled e o# these lan ua es is limited, and because many o# the lan ua es are a!!roachin e-tinction, lin uists have little ho!e o# achievin a com!lete understandin o# the #merindian lan ua e #amilies.