Introduction to Linguistics (TEM-8)

1. Introduction to Linguistics(TEM-8)

2. What is Linguistics?  Linguistics is the scientific study of language. What does it mean? • What does scientific mean? • What does language mean?

3. Linguistics: the scientific study of language the scientific study of languages the scientific study of a language Language = language in general, not a specific language.

4. Linguistics: The core Areas • Phonetics: What are human speech sounds and how they are produced? • Phonology: How do these sounds pattern systematically in languages? • Morphology: What is the internal structure of words? • Syntax: How do words combine into sentences? • Semantics: How do words or sentences carry meaning? • Pragmatics: How is language used in context?

5. Linguistics: Applications Some areas where the core areas are applied are • Psycholinguistics: how is language processed in our minds, and how do we acquire language? • Historical linguistics: how do language change over time, and what are common ancestors? • Sociolinguistics: how does language differ across sociological variables like age, gender, region? • Neurolinguistics: what is language in our brains? • Typology: What are the differences and similarities between languages? • Computational linguistics: how can we make computers talk or simply understand human language?

6. What does this sentence mean? Who did the coach want to shoot at the end of the game? Hint: This sentence is multiply ambiguous.

7. Subject extraction

8. Object extraction

9. Prescriptive & descriptive approaches to the linguistic studyPrescriptive grammar aims to lay down rules for correct and standard behavior in using language. Descriptive grammar aims to describe the language people actually use.Modern linguistics is descriptive

10. Performance vs. CompetenceNoam ChomskyCompetence: native speakers' language intuition (research target of generative linguistics)Performance: actual utterances (research target of descriptive or functional linguistics)

11. Langue and ParoleSaussure's distinction of langue and parole is similar to Chomsky's distinction of competence and performance. Langue and competence both refers to the ideal knowledge of a particular language. Parole and performance both refers to the actual utterances.

12. However, the difference between Saussure and Chomsky is also obvious. Saussure developed his contrast from a sociological view (e.g. langue is the knowledge of a particular language shared by all the members of a speech community), but Chomsky developed his contrast from a biological view (e.g. Competence is the intuition of each individual, which is a genetic endowment).

13. What is language? Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication. It is a system, including many different modules (phonology, morphology, syntax & semantics) It is arbitrary. No inherent sound-meaning paring. The primary medium for all languages is sound; therefore, language is mainly vocal.

14. Features of human languages Human language is different from animal communication systems. (i) arbitrariness: no inherent/logical connection between sounds and meanings. (ii) productivity: a limited number of words can be used to express almost everything. (iii) duality (of patterning): language has the ability to recombine small units in different orders. (iv) displacement: language can be used to refer to things which are present or not present, real or imagined objects in the past, present, or future, or in far-away places. (v) cultural transmission: language is passed on from one generation to another generation.

15. Introduction to LinguisticsChapter 2: Phonetics

16. Phonetics: the study of speech sounds • Although different languages contain different sounds, the sounds of all the languages of the world constitute a class of sounds that the human vocal tract is able to make. All these sounds are human speech sounds. The study of human speech sounds is called phonetics.

17. Phonology: the study of sound patterns This property is called "duality (in patterning)". When you know a language you know the sounds of that language, and you know how to combine those sounds into words. For example, If you know the sounds /p/, /a:/, /k/, you are able to combine them to form the words parkor carp, but you know there is no sound pattern /a:pk/ or /a:kp/ in English. The study of the way sounds form patterns is called phonology. Phonology aims to discover how speech sounds in a particular language form patterns.

18. Three branches of phonetics • Articulatory phonetics: the study of how the vocal tract produces the sounds of language • Auditory phonetics: the study of the perception of speech sounds • Acoustic phonetics: the study of the physical properties of the speech sounds

19. Organs of speech

20. A. The pharyngeal cavity: • 13 windpipe, 12 glottis/vocal cords, 11 pharyngeal cavity • B. The oral cavity: • 1/2 lips, 3/4 teeth, 5 teeth ridge(alveolus), 6 hard palate,7 soft palate (velum), 14 uvula, 8 tip of tongue, 9 blade of tongue, 10 back of tongue • C. Nasal cavity: 15 15 14 咽腔

21. Vocal folds (cords) • The vocal folds, also known commonly as vocal cords, are composed of two membranes stretched horizontally across the larynx. • A slow-motion animation of the vocal folds vibrating during speech

22. voiced vs. voiceless • Vibration of the vocal cords results in "voicing", which is a feature of all vowels and some consonants. Such consonants are voiced. • When the vocal cords are drawn wide open, letting air go through the glottis without causing vibration, the sounds produced in such a condition are voiceless.

23. Three nasal consonants in English bilabial nasal 双唇鼻音: /m/ alveolar nasal 齿龈鼻音: /n/ velar nasal 软腭鼻音: sink, sing, song

24. Orthographic representation of speech sounds IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet): A standardized and internationally accepted system of phonetic transcription. The basic principle of the IPA is using one letter to represent one sound.

25. Classification of English sounds English speech sounds: • Vowels: Speech sounds which are produced with no obstructionof the vocal tract, so no turbulence or a total stopping of the air can be perceived. • Consonants: Speech sounds which are produced by constricting or obstructing the vocal tract at some place to modulate the flow of air in the vocal tract.

26. Classification of English consonants • Manner of articulation （发音方式） • Place of articulation （发音部位）

27. Manner of articulation

28. Place of articulation

30. Vowels can be divided by a number of factors: The hightestpositionof the tongue: front, central, back The openness of the mouth: open, semi-open, semi-close, close The shapeof the lips: rounded, unrounded The length of the vowels: long, short Thestateof the larynx: tense (long vowels), lax (short vowels) Classification of English vowels

31. IPA vowels

32. Introduction to LinguisticsChapter 2: Phonology Instructor: LIU Hongyong

33. Review questions • In what ways can English consonants be classified? • In what ways can English vowels be classified?

34. Phonology vs. Phonetics • 1. Phonetics: it is interested in all the speech sounds used in all human languages: phonetic features they possess, how they can be classified, etc. • 2. Phonology: it aims to discover how speech sounds in a language form sound patterns. The conclusions we reach about the phonology of one language is very often langauge specific.

35. Phone, Phoneme, and Allophone • 1. Phone: a phonetic unit or a segment (a consonant or a vowel). The speech sounds we hear and produce are all phones. pit: [ph] [i] [th] spit: [s] [p] [i] [th] leaf: [l] [i:] [f] feel: [f] [i:] [ł]

36. Phone, Phoneme, and Allophone • 2. Phoneme: an abstract phonological unit of distinctive value that is represented or realized by a certain phone. peak: [ph] [i:] [kh] speak: [s] [p] [i:] [kh] There is a slight difference in the way [ph] and [p] are pronounced, but such a phonetic difference does not give rise to difference in meaning. so the phoneme /p/ is realized by two different phones.

37. Phone, Phoneme, and Allophone • 3. Allophones: the different phones which can represent a phoneme in different phonetic contexts. pit: [ph] [i] [th] spit: [s] [p] [i] [th] leaf: [l] [i:] [f] feel: [f] [i:] [ł] / p / / l /

38. Complementary Distribution • If the two similar sounds are allophones of the same phoneme, then they are said to be in complementary distribution, which means they cannot occur in the same phonetic environment. dark / l /: at the end of a word clear / l /: before a vowel

39. Some rules in phonology • 1. Sequential rules • 2. Assimilation rule • 3. Deletion rule

40. Sequential rules • To find out all the phonemes of a language is only part of the task of the phonologist. He also has to find out in what way the phonemes can be combined. /k/ /b/ /l/ /i/ possible arrangements: /kilb/, /blik/, /kilb/, /klib/, etc. impossible arrangements: /lbki/, /ilbk/, /bkil/, etc. There are rules that govern the combination of sounds in a particular language. These rules are calledsequential rules.

41. Sequential rules In English, if three consonants occur together at the beginning of a word, the combination should obey the following three rules: 1. the first phoneme should be: /s/ 2. the second phoneme should be: /p/, /t/, /k/ 3. the third phoneme should be: /l/, /r/, /w/ spring, strict, square, scream sixths /siksθs/ CCCVCCCC

42. Assimilation rule • The assimilation rule assimilates one sound to another by "copying" a feature of the neighbouring phoneme, thus making the two phones similar. Cantonese 閊门 san mun --> sam mun 唔好 m hou --> m mou 今日 kam jat --> kam mat

43. Deletion rule • A sound segment may be deleted. • Examples: /g/ is deleted in ‘sign’ /sain/, but retained in ‘signature’; • ‘he is’ /hi iz/ in fast speech becomes /hiz/ • 'memory' /meməri/ becomes /memri/

44. segmental vs. suprasegmental • segmental features 音段特征 phonological features associated with consonants or vowels • suprasegmental features 超音段特征 phonological features associated not with segments, but with larger units such as syllalbe, word, and sentence.

45. suprasegmental features • 1. Stress: word stress and sentence stress • 2. Tone • 3. Intonation

46. stress • The location of stress in English distinguishes meaning. 'increase (n.) vs. in'crease (v.) 'rebel (n.) vs. re'bel (v.) 'permit (n.) vs. per'mit (v.)

47. Tone • Tones are pitch variations. 不同的音高 • Pitch variations can distinguish meaning just like phonemes. The tone is a suprasegmental feature associated with syllables. • Language with tones are called tone language.

48. Intonation When pitch, stress and sound length are tied to the sentence rather than the word in isolation, they are collectively known as intonation. Four basic intonation types of English, known as the four tones: 1. the falling tone 2. the rising tone 3. the fall-rise tone 4. the rise-fall tone That's not the book he wants.

49. Introduction to LinguisticsChapter 3: Morphology Instructor: LIU Hongyong

50. Morphology (形态学) • Morphology is the study of • the internal structure of words（词的内部结构） (morphological structure of words) & • processes/rules of word formation（构词法） (morphological processes of word-formation)