NATURE OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE

LANGUAGE: DEFINITION

“Language is a symbol system based on pure or arbitrary conventions; infinitely extendable and modifiable according to the changing needs and conditions of the speakers” – Robins

“Language is a purely human and non-instinctive method of communicating ideas, emotions and desires by means of a system of voluntarily produced symbols” - Sapir

LANGUAGE: DEFINITION

“Language is a symbol system based on pure or arbitrary conventions; infinitely extendable and modifiable according to the changing needs and conditions of the speakers” – Robins

“Language is a purely human and non-instinctive method of communicating ideas, emotions and desires by means of a system of voluntarily produced symbols” - Sapir

LANGUAGE: NATURE

Language is Sound : This statement point out the primacy of the languages sounds over the other representations in writing which are regarded as secondary phenomenon of speech.

Language is Linear:Language is represented by using symbols for each sound and arrange them in a linear succession similar to the sounds production order.

LANGUAGE: NATURE

Language is Systematic : It is describable in terms of finite number of units that can combine only in a limited number of ways

Language is System of Systems: Each language has phonological (or sound) system and a grammatical system, which operates simultaneously.

Language is Meaningful: Through the acquisition of language that the child becomes an effective member of the community

LANGUAGE: NATURELanguage is Arbitrary : No direct connection between the nature of things or ideas language deals with and the linguistic units and combinations by which these things or ideas are expressed

Language is conventional : Language can be said to be conventional as a consequence of apparent agreement among speakers.

Language is a System of Contrasts :What makes single speaker’s

habit valid for the speech of a community is that language is a system of differences.

LANGUAGE: NATURE

Language is creative :Imaginative manipulation of the standard interlocking of the phonological, grammatical and lexical systems which extend our awareness.

Language is Unique : Each language is unique.

Languages are Similar: All languages have certain features in common which open the possibility of language learning.

FUNCTIONS OF LANGUAGE

FUNCTIONS OF LANGUAGE

FUNCTION

INFORMATIVE EXPRESSIVE DIRECTIVE

INFORMATIVE FUNCTION

The informative function affirms or denies propositions, as in science or the statement of a fact

This function is used to describe the world or reason about it.

These sentences have a truth value; that is, the sentences are either true or false.  Hence, they are important for logic.

The language which includes propaganda of all kinds and even deliberate information is said to informative in function

EXPRESSIVE FUNCTION

All expressive language may be analyzed into two component elements – it reports feelings or attitudes of the writer (or speaker), or of the subject, or evokes feelings in the reader (or listener)

Poetry and literature are among the best examples, but much of, perhaps most of, ordinary language discourse is the expression of emotions, feelings or attitudes.

Expressive discourse, qua expressive discourse, is best regarded as neither true or false.

DIRECTIVE FUNCTION

Used for the purpose of causing (or preventing) overt action

Most commonly found in commands and requests.

Directive language is not normally considered true or false.

Commands and requests can be interchanged by the suitable change in the tone of the voice or in the expression of the face

STRUCTURE OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE

LANGUAGE: STRUCTURE

No universally accepted model to study structure of English language.

There are variety of ways to study structure of language.

Study of Structure

Parts of Speech

Semantics

Syntax

Phonology

Morphology

Lexicography

STRUCTURE: COMPONENTS

MORPHOLOGYSYNTAXSEMANTICSGRAPHICPHONOLOGY

MORPHOLOGY(Greek ‘Morphos’= Shape or Form)

The study of the structure of wordsThe smallest units of meaning may be

whole simple words (e.g. man, run, big) or parts of complex words (e.g. un-, -faith- and -ful in unfaithful) which are called morphemes.

Morphology is studied to show how the meaning of a given morpheme, or its relation to the rest of the word, varies from one complex word to another.

MORPHOLOGY (Cont.)

Morphemes

Freestand alone as words which make sense

Bound(Prefix & Suffix)

Inflection

Derivation

MORPHOLOGY (Cont.)

Inflection.–A word is changed in its form to show

the internal grammar of a sentence. Examples would be plural forms of nouns (dog + s → dog-s) or past (imperfect) tenses of regular verbs (want + ed → want-ed).

–The words in question are inflected i.e. altered by adding a suffix.

–Inflectional morphology is much easier to recognize

MORPHOLOGY (Cont.)

Inflection.

Nouns Verbs Adjectives and adverbs

Addition of terminal s to show plural (one cat; two cats);

Addition of 's to show possession (Henry's cat).

Ending shows tense (wanted) or person ([she] wants).

Addition of -er → comparative (hotter; likelier);

Addition of -est → superlative (coldest; soonest).

MORPHOLOGY (Cont.)

Derivation.– Compound or complex words are made by

adding together elements without reference to the internal grammar of a sentence.

– The study of such words, "derived" from existing words or morphemes is derivational morphology.

– All compound and most complex words show derivational morphology. If a complex word does not show inflection it will show derivation

– A complex word may show both inflection and derivation e.g. deported or disposables 

MORPHOLOGY (Cont.)

Derivation.

Prefix Base of Word Suffix Complex Word

Bi cycl(e) ing Bicycling

Dis grace ful Disgraceful

In tolera(te) able Intolerable

Re vision ist Revisionist

Un, co operat(e) ive, ly Uncooperatively

MORPHOLOGY (Cont.)

Parts of Speech (Word Classes).–Words considered as wholes can be

categorized according to how they work within phrases, clauses or sentences. These categories, traditionally called parts of speech are now more usually known as word classes.

–Some classes of words are called closed because they contain a relatively small number of items to which no new words can normally be added.

MORPHOLOGY (Cont.)

Parts of Speech (Word Classes).–Other classes of word are constantly

being added to. Each contains a vast number of terms already. They are open to new words being introduced.

Closed Word Classes(Structural or Functional)

Determiner Pronoun Preposition Conjunction

A, the, any, my, those, which

She, them, who, that, himself

In, across, at, by, near, within

And, but, if, or, while, unless

MORPHOLOGY (Cont.)

Parts of Speech (Word Classes).

Open Word Classes(Lexical)

Noun Verb Adjective Adverb

Abstract fear, joy Transitive bite, steal Descriptive lazy, tall Manner reluctantly, keenly, easily, softly

Concrete: chair, mud

Intransitive live, cry Comparative lazier Time soon, often

Commonboy, town

Modalcan, will, may

Superlative:  tallest Place here, there

ProperFred, Hull

Auxiliary be, have, do

SYNTAX

In Linguistics, syntax is the set of rules,

principles, and processes that govern the

structure of sentences in a given language,

specifically word order. The term syntax is also

used to refer to the study of such principles and

processes.

It is the study of how words are combined

together to form sentences

SYNTAX: SENTENCE CLASSIFICATIONA Simple Sentence consists of a single

independent Clause with no dependent Clauses. A Compound sentence consists of multiple

independent clauses with no dependent clauses. These clauses are joined together using Conjunctions, punctuation, or both. (and, but, so, etc)

A Complex Sentence consists of one or more independent clauses with at least one dependent clause (That, if, whether, etc)

A compound-complex sentence consists of multiple independent clauses, at least one of which has at least one dependent clause. (Coord and subordinators)

SYNTAX: SENTENCE STRUCTURE

SENTENCE STRUCTURE

LINEAR ORDER HIERARCHICAL STRUCTURE

SYNTAX: LINEAR ORDERThe most obvious principle of sentence

organization is linear order : ‘the words in a sentence must occur in a particular sequence if the sentence is to convey the desired meaning’

The ordering of the words in sentences determines, in part, whether a sentence is grammatical or not, and what the sentence means

EXAMPLE: John glanced at Mary.Mary glanced at John (Different Meaning)John Mary glanced at. (Non-grammatical)

SYNTAX: LINEAR ORDER

One of the many rules of English requires that the grammatical subject of a sentence normally precedes the main verb, which in turn normally precedes its direct object.

She resembles him is English (where she is the subject and him is the object), but resembles she him and she him resembles are not.

SYNTAX: HIERARCHICAL STRUCTURE

Although linear order is an important principle of sentence organization, sentences are more than just ordered sequences of words; they have internal hierarchical structure as well.

Individual words in a sentence are organized into natural, semantically coherent groupings, which are themselves organized into larger groupings, the largest grouping of all being the sentence itself.

These groupings within a sentence are called constituents of that sentence

SYNTAX: HIERARCHY EXAMPLE

“Many executives eat at really fancy restaurants”

We can easily distinguish a number of meaningful groups of words in this sentence

–many executives–eat at really fancy restaurants

On the other hand, some groups of words in sentence do not naturally form meaningful units

–executives eat at–eat at really

CONSTITUENT

NON-CONSTITUENT

SYNTAX: HALLIDDAY’S HIERARCHY

The five grammatical units:

1. The Sentence: Composed by one or more Clauses.2. The Clause: Composed by one or more Phrases.3. The Phrase: Composed by one or more words.4. The word: Composed by one or more morphemes.5. The Morpheme: The smallest unit in form and meaning

• Smallest unit in form & meaning

Morphemes

• One or more morphemes

Word• One or

more Words

Phrase

• One or more Phrases

Clause• One or

more Clauses

Sentence

SEMANTICS

“Semantics” comes from the Greek ‘semantikos’ which means to show or give signs.

Semantics is the study of meaning of a language.

The study of semantics includes the study of how meaning is constructed, interpreted, clarified, obscured, illustrated, simplified negotiated, contradicted and paraphrased.

SEMANTICS

An understanding of semantics is essential to the study of language acquisition and of language change (how meanings alter over time).

It is important for understanding language in social contexts, as these are likely to affect meaning, and for understanding varieties of English and effects of style.

It is concerned with the conceptual meaning and not the associative meaning

SEMANTICS: ROLE

Semantics in language determines the relationship between signifiers and what they signify

Signifiers have multiple levels of meaning:

– Denotation. It refers to a strictly literal understanding, and the object referred to is known as the denotata

– Connotation. Various cultural or emotional meanings attached to a word provide one or more deeper levels of meaning. These subjective meanings are known as connotations

SEMANTICS: ROLE

Brown Bear

Denotation

a large omnivorous mammal

Connotation

Fear/ Panic for a Camper

PHONOLOGY

Phonology is the study of how sounds are organized and used in natural languages

Phonology is the study of the way sounds function in languages, including phonemes, syllable structure, stress, accent, intonation, and which sounds are distinctive units within a language; The way sounds function within a given language.

PHONOLOGY : BRANCHES

1.Segmental Phonology :- It analyses speech into

discrete segments, such as phonemes.

2.Supra-segmental Phonology :- It analyses those

features which extend over more than one segment such

as intonation , stress.

3.Diachronic Phonology :- It studies the patterns of

sound system through the history of language.

4.Synchronic Phonology :- It studies the patterns of

sound regardless of the process of historical change

PHONOLOGY : PHONES

Phone is the smallest , perceptible , discrete segment of

sound in the steam of speech i.e. the minimal unit of speech.

Phones are the physical realization of phonemes.

The speech is segmented and each of the segment is

called phone.

Phone are grouped into phonemes through phonemic

analysis.

Phone is enclosed within square bracket i.e. [ p ]

PHONOLOGY : PHONEMES

Phoneme is the smallest , distinctive and

segmental unit of sound i.e. minimal distinctive unit in

the sound system of a language

Phones are the physical realization of phonemes.

Phoneme is enclosed within slants i.e / p /.

PHONOLOGY : ALLOPHONES

Allophone is a variant of a phoneme. The

allophone are very similar to each other ; they do not

change the meaning of a word and they don’t occur in

the same phonetic environment.

PHONOLOGY : SYLLABLES

A syllable is a unit of sound composed of :-

– A central peak of sonority (usually a vowel), and – The consonants that cluster around this central peak

A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of

speech sounds. For example, the word water is composed

of two syllables: ‘wa’ and ‘ter’. A syllable is typically made

up of a syllable nuclear (most often a vowel) with optional

initial and final margins (typically, consonants)

PHONOLOGY : SYLLABLES

A syllable is a unit of sound composed of :-

– A central peak of sonority (usually a vowel), and – The consonants that cluster around this central peak

A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of

speech sounds. For example, the word water is composed

of two syllables: ‘wa’ and ‘ter’. A syllable is typically made

up of a syllable nuclear (most often a vowel) with optional

initial and final margins (typically, consonants)

LEXICOGRAPHY

Lexicography is developing as a branch of applied linguistics and there has been a widely felt need of professionalizing lexicographic work

Lexicography is defined as the editing, compiling, writing or making of a dictionary and includes the principles and practices of dictionary making.

LEXICOGRAPHY: TYPES

PRACTICAL LEXICOGRAPHY.The art or craft of compiling, writing and

editing dictionariesTHEORETICAL LEXICOGRAPHY.

The scholarly discipline of analyzing and describing the semantic, syntactic and paradigmatic relationships within the lexicon (vocabulary) of a language. It is concerned with developing theories of dictionary components and structures linking the data in dictionaries

PRACTICAL LEXICOGRAPHY: SCOPE

Shaping the intended users Selecting and organizing the components of

the dictionary Selecting words and affixes for

systemization as entriesSelecting collocations, phrases and

examples Defining words Organizing definitions Specifying pronunciations of words

THEORETICAL LEXICOGRAPHY: SCOPE

Dictionary criticism - Evaluating the quality of one or more dictionaries

Dictionary history - Tracing the traditions of a type of dictionary  in a particular country or language

Dictionary typology - Classifying the various genres of reference works (ex: monolingual versus bilingual dictionary)

THEORETICAL LEXICOGRAPHY: SCOPE

Dictionary structure - Formatting the various ways in which the information is presented in a dictionary

Dictionary use - Observing the reference acts and skills of dictionary users

Dictionary IT - Applying computer aids to the process of dictionary compilation