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Full Summary of Linguistics, ISBN: 9780631230366 Linguistics
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Introduction to LinguisticsChapter 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 3, 14, 15, 17
Chapter 1: From Language to Linguistics
When do we know when sentences are good? Is it because we perhaps once heard this
sentence and still remember it as a ‘correct English sentence’?
Knowing a language for most language users means that they can understand and produce
it, but not necessarily that they can explain how the system works. For this reason we say
that this knowledge is abstract and unconscious.
Every language is used for general communication. All languages have structure, however
they can be quite diverse in structure.
Universal properties of structure (universals):
(1) All languages consist of small elements.
Spoken language: speech sounds
Sign language: hand shapes
From these small elements all larger units, words, or signs are built and combined to
make sentences.
Compositionality of language: a word on its own has a particular meaning but it is
at the same time composed of combinations of sounds that help distinguish
meaning.
(2) All spoken languages have vowels (klinker) and consonants (medeklinker).
(3) In all languages the users can express a negative statement, ask a question, issue
an order.
(4) All languages have words for BLACK and WHITE or DARK and LIGHT.
The message of the sentences may vary depending on the order in which the words are
presented. (The mom saved the child / The child saved the mom)
Recursion: A linguistic unit of a certain type contains another linguistic unit of that same
type. (A prepositional phrase forms part of another prepositional phrase)
E.g. The dog [of the man [with the hat [without a feather]]].
E.g. Sam assumes [that Peter knows [that Ahmed thinks [that he is a liar]]].
Another typical feature of natural, human language is that they are acquired (by children)
through interaction with their environment, and thus handed down from one generation to
the next.
Various kinds of animals also use a communication system or language for the purpose of
communicating with each other. However their system is rather limitless. They contain far
fewer elements, such as movements or sounds, than words in human language. But the
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,most important point is that in animal communication these elements cannot be combined
to produce news expressions. Their languages lack creativity, one of the characteristic
features of human language.
Also, in human language there is interaction; people adapt their use of language to that of
their conversation partners, who in turn react to what others say etc.
Bees (or other animals) dance their dances regardless of the response they get.
Thirdly, human language is spontaneous. There does not have to be a direct stimulus. A
bee will never just do their dance without a stimulus (flower). Human language is completely
independent of the here and now. Besides, bees can only tell the truth.
Finally, human language is largely arbitrary (willekeurig) as far as form and meaning are
concerned. For example, there is no relation whatsoever between the form of words like
NORTH, EAST, SOUTH and WEST.
There are a few exceptions to the rule of arbitrariness in human language, for example in
onomatopoeia; miaow for a cat, boing, sneezing etc. Sign language is also not always
arbitrary.
However in many forms of animal language - such as birdsong - the relation between form
and meaning is in fact also arbitrary. So it is not the case that the difference between
human and animal languages coincides (occur at same time) with that between arbitrary
and non-arbitrary elements.
Constructed languages are languages that have been consciously designed by humans. A
range of those have been developed in order to solve practical problems of international
communication, of bringing different nations of the world closer to each other.
In 2 respects they are quite different from natural languages. (1) Constructed languages do
not change over time, natural languages constantly do. (2) Natural languages are acquired
by children from birth and through direct interaction with their environment.
Computer languages are languages used for writing computer programs and for giving
instructions to computers. They have also not evolved slowly over time through natural
interaction between humans, but have been constructed by somebody for specific purpose.
The most noticeable feature of CL is that there is a fixed, one-to-one relation between form
and meaning. In natural language words and sentences can easily carry various different
meanings at the same time. Formal languages always have one meaning.
E.g. 3 + 4 x 5 = 23 → Outcome is always 23 and cannot be 35 as well.
Another type of language is that of non-verbal communication, language without words:
gestures, body position and facial expressions. Different cultures may have different rules of
meaning to some forms of such non-verbal communication.
Non verbal communication is more limited than ordinary language. Gestures cannot be
broken down into smaller parts, and are thus not compositional. Combining gestures into a
message with a completely different meaning is generally not possible.
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,Also symbols that represent something are a form of language; such as traffic signs, signs
in the airport etc. There is no compositionality possible, and no interaction.
The term language is often used metaphorically, for anything used by humans to transmit
meaning. ‘Language of fashion’: how a person dresses themselves can send out a different
message.
SUMMARY FEATURES NATURAL, HUMAN LANGUAGES AND THEIR USE
● Languages have structure; utterances are formed according to certain rules.
● An important distinguishing property of languages is that of compositionality.
● Languages are acquired by children via interaction with their environment, and they
are transmitted from one generation to the next.
● Creativity is a property of the human language faculty.
● Human language use is a form of ‘acting together’ or interaction.
● Language use is not bound to the here and now, that is, language use does not have
to be directly linked to present experiences and circumstances.
● In language there is often an arbitrary relation between the form of the language
symbol and the meaning of that symbol.
● Many utterances have more than one meaning, but with the help of the context it is
usually possible to establish what the intended meaning is.
Spoken languages (vocal) vs. sign languages (visual)
A number of signs can be compared to the onomatopoeic words.
Sign languages are very comparable to other natural, human languages. For example, sign
languages have structure or grammar. Also, deaf children acquire their sign language in
interaction with other sign language users. And in sign language anything can be said,
asked, requested, etc. at any time, about anything.
The written form of language is based on its spoken form, and therefore a secondary form
of language. Writing makes it possible to store information without burdening our memory,
and enables a society to record its culture and history.
Complex vs. simple languages
In linguistics we are cautious about assuming that there is such a difference in complexity.
Every language has simple rules as well as difficult or complex rules.
In linguistics we always aim for maximum generalization; when writing linguistic rules, we
generally aim to formulate them in such a way that they will apply to as many cases as
possible. Also, the aim of linguistics is to make explicit the unconscious knowledge people
have of the language they speak. Linguists study how languages are organized as systems,
with a view to describing and explaining their grammars.
In descriptive grammar all forms of a language are accounted for, not just the standard
form. If a single individual native speaker of English were to say those jobs has got to be
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, done, this variant would not normally appear in a descriptive grammar of English. Since
quite large numbers of English speakers now use the construction with me insead of I, then
this needs to be described in such grammar. So it depends on the number of native
speakers who would use such ‘wrong grammar’.
Prescriptive grammars do not describe, but prescribe the rules for ‘correct usage’. (How
the language should be used.)
Languages change. When we describe a language from the perspective of change, we are
giving a diachronic description (historical grammar). The difference between a sentence
from the 15th century and a modern variant.
In contrast, a synchronic grammar describes the rules of grammar in order to help learners
of the language in question, at a particular moment in time. Pedagogical grammars
describe the rules of grammar in order to help learners of the language in question. Very
often, pedagogical grammars have a prescriptive character.
A grammar of language contains different subparts:
the construction of sentences in syntax
the meaning of sentences in semantics
the way language use is organized in interaction and longer texts in pragmatics
the sounds in phonetics and phonology
and word formation/ structure in morphology
Is animal/insect communication similar to a natural language?
● is it compositional?
● is it acquired by offspring?
● is it creative?
○ create something new based on the materials you have (i.e. being able to
turn around sentences)
○ being able to produce a new sentence you have never heard before, not
imitating
● is it interactive?
● is it bound to the here and now?
○ Does it need a stimulus to start communicating?
○ We can speak about yesterday, 10 years from now, things that don’t exist
etc.
● is there an arbitrary relation between form and meaning? (yes)
○ exception: onomatopoeia (miauw, bam, tick tack)
Defining a natural human language
Natural human language serves communication, but it might NOT have evolved for
communication only.
● Compositional: build up meaning from meanings of parts.
● Acquired by children, transmitted across generations, but changes from one
generation to
the next (diachronic changes).
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