Introduction to English linguistics and grammar (1001177ANR)
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Introduction to English linguistics and grammar summary (full)
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Introduction to English linguistics and grammar (1001177ANR)
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Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)
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Introduction to English linguistics and grammar (1001177ANR)
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PART 1 – INTRODUCTION
Chapter 1 – Linguistics, Language and English
PART 2 – THE SOUNDS AND PRONUNCIATION OF ENGLISH
Chapter 2 – Phonetics
Chapter 3 – Phonology
PART 3 – THE MORPHOLOGY OF ENGLISH
Chapter 4 – Morphemes, Morphs and Allomorphs
Chapter 5 – Words and Word Creation Processes
Chapter 6 – Lexical and Phrasal Classes
Chapter 7 – Nouns and Noun Phrases
Chapter 8 – Adjectives and Adjective Phrases
Chapter 9 – Adverbs and Adverb Phrases
Chapter 10 – Other Lexical Classes
,Chapter 1 – Linguistics, Language and English
This course = Introduction to the linguistic study of the English language
But what do we mean by: 1) linguistics, 2) language, and 3) English?
Linguistics is ...
The scientific study of language, including:
• its structure (grammar)
• its use
• its acquisition
• its development over time
Levels of linguistic analysis and linguistic disciplines:
Prescriptive grammar vs. Descriptive grammar
• Prescriptive grammar = how a language should be used, based on its rules
• Descriptive grammar = how a language is actually used by its speakers in everyday contexts
Theoretical linguistics vs. Applied linguistics
• Theoretical linguistics: phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics
• Applied linguistics: bilingualism, language teaching, second language acquisition, discourse analysis,
pragmatics, translation, ...
Language
[many definitions]
Natural vs. artificial languages:
• Natural languages = languages that arose historically as a byproduct by society
o Englis, Dutch, French, Ancient Aramaic, Gothic, British Sign Language, ...
• Artificial languages = languages that are consciously invented for a purpose
o programme languages, Esperanto, Python, Dothraki, C++, ...
Basic features of a natural language
1. Exclusively human
• Language = unique to the human species → we have the gene that allows us to speak languages (FOX2P)
• Other species can communicate, but lack the ability to learn and use language
o Communication ≠ language
,2. Primarily sonic & vocal
• Language is primarily sound based (speech)
o Speech involves vocal-auditory channel: sound waves produced by the vocal organs → transmitted
through air → picked up by auditory organs
• Every language started as a spoken language (= primarily sonic)
o Writing (script) is a secondary, derived manifestation of language + it’s a learned skill
3. Functional & meaningful
• Primary function of language → information function: communicate factual information, to convey messages
• Other non-communicative functions of language:
o Social function: convey social information (e.g. familiarity, respect, politeness)
o Identifying function: convey information about identity/personality/background
o Emotive function: express psychological emotions and physical sensations
o Aesthetic function: arouse aesthetic sensations by exploiting the sonic, rhythmic, melodic and
imaginative potential of speech (e.g. literature, poetry)
o Cognitive function: structure ideas and facilitate mental operations (e.g. making things clearer)
4. Open-ended & flexible
• Language can express an infinite number of new and different meanings by means of a finite set of speech signs
(Noam Chomsky)
o <> Animal communication: their systems are limited in number of forms and meanings they can express
• Language can express meanings that are not real → creativity in languages
o We can talk about facts, but also imagination “colourless green ideas sleep furiously”
• Recursion: you can keep adding things in a language
o “The girl laughed” → “The tall girl laughed”
5. Symbolic, Conventional, Arbitrary
• Speech sounds are symbols/signs which stand for something
o Letters combined make a word with a meaning
• Convention: the sound of this word stands for that meaning
• Arbitrary: the word “butterfly” is a random word chosen to represent that insect
o In other languages, they use other words for the same insect
o This is arbitrary and conventionalised
6. Structured, ruled-based complex, hierarchical
• The components of language must be structured to be meaningful
Horizontally: order of words
, Vertically: sounds which combine to make words
English
Different ways to describe what ‘English’ is:
• A system with its own lexical items, morphology, grammar, phonology…
• A product of its historical development
• One of 6500 natural human languages
o English is derived from other languages
o
• A Germanic language
• A global language
o Most widely spoken language as a second language
o Lingua franca = common language for communication in science, media, ...
English is not a uniform/monolithic entity but a hybrid of different speech varieties (dialects, registers)
• Regional dialects: British English, American English, Geordie, Cockney, ...
• Social dialects: Standard English, non-Standard English, working class English, middle class English, ...
• Ethnic dialects: African-American English, Jewish English
• Registers: formal English, informal English, legal English, academic English
→ These all differ to some extent (in pronunciation, vocabulary, morphology, syntax). But they all have more in
common that what distinguishes them: all perceived as instances of ‘the same language’: English
Variation in the English Language
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