BBUAT/ DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH

ADVANCED LINGUISTICS (M1) BY Dr. MEBARKI.

Lecture one/ Language: Structure and Variation

Language Structure and Use

All languages have structure. All human languages use a finite set of sounds that are combined to
form meaningful elements or words, which themselves form an infinite set of possible sentences. Every
spoken language also divides these discrete sound segments—phonemes—such as /t/, /m/, or /e/ into a class
of vowels and a class of consonants. All grammars contain rules for the formation of words, and sentences
of definite types, kind, and similar grammatical categories (for example, nouns and verbs) are found in all
languages. Every language has a way of referring to past time; the ability to negate; and ways to form
questions, issue commands, and so on. Although human languages are specific to their places of use and
origin (for example, languages of seafaring cultures have more specific words for oceanic phenomena than
do languages of desert tribes), semantic universals, such as “male” or “female,” are found in every language
in the world.

Language is Dynamic

Languages change over time. Pronunciation (phonology) changes—across 400 years, for example,
Shakespeare’s plays often feature scene-ending couplets whose words may have rhymed in his day but do
not in modern translations. We recognize that pronunciation in English has altered over time, because the
spelling of some words is archaic: We no longer pronounce the /k/ in knight or the /w/ in write. Semantics
change over time, and words disappear, such as the archaic English words bilbo, costermonger, fluey, and
shew. Words expand their meanings, as with geek and mouse. New words appear, such as nannycam and
freeware. Some languages change more than others.

Language is Complex

Without question, using language is one of the most complex of human activities, providing the
human race with a psychological tool unmatched in power and flexibility. It is normal for humans no matter
their native language to be able to communicate a wide range of concepts, both concrete and abstract. All
languages are equally complex, capable of expressing a wide range of ideas and expandable to include new
words for new concepts. Language is arbitrary, meaning that we cannot guess the meaning of a word from
its sound (except for a few words such as buzz)—there is no inherent reason to link the sound and meaning
of a word. Moreover, language is open-ended—an infinite set of sentences can be produced in any language.
Even though language is complicated, every healthy child—regardless of racial, geographical, social, or
economic heritage—is capable of learning any language to which he or she is exposed.

Phonology: The Sound Patterns of Language

Phonology is the study of the sound system of a language. Phonetics is the science of the production,
reception, analysis, transcription, and classification of speech sounds, and also, “the relation of speech
sounds to the total language process” (Heilman, 2002, p. 4).

-Phonemes Phonemes are the individual sounds in a language, the distinctive units that “make a difference”
when sounds distinguish words. For example, in English the initial consonant sounds /p/ and /b/ are the only
difference between the words park and bark and thus are phonemes. However, if phonemic variations do not
distinguish words, they are considered variations of one phoneme rather than completely different
phonemes

Phonemes can be described in terms of their characteristic point of articulation (tip, front, or back of the
tongue), the manner of articulation (the way the airstream is obstructed), and whether the vocal cords
vibrate or not (voiced versus voiceless sounds). Not all languages distinguish between voiced and voiceless
sounds.

-Stress: Besides phonemes, characteristics of language sounds include stress, pitch/tone, and intonation.
Stress, the amount of volume a speaker gives to a particular sound, operates at two levels: word and
sentence. Stress is a property of syllables—stressed syllables are longer and louder than unstressed
syllables. Incorrect stress can alter the meanings of words. Stress can further be used at the sentence level to
vary emphasis.

-Pitch and Rhythm: Another sound quality is important in oral speech. Pitch at the word or sentence level
is a phonological component of language that plays a key role in determining meaning. Pitch interacts with
word stress to produce prosody, the underlying rhythm of the language.

-Intonation Patterns: The use of pitch to modify sentence meaning is called intonation. Each language has
a distinctive sound flow across the sentence. The English pattern is characterized by accented and
unaccented syllables, the same patterns found in English poetry

Morphology

The Words of Language Morphology is the study of the meaning units in a language. In some cases
in English, individual words constitute these basic meaning units (e.g., chase). However, many words can be
broken down into smaller segments—morphemes—that still retain meaning.
-Morphemes, small units that cannot be further subdivided, are the basic building blocks of meaning.
Morphemes can be represented by a single sound. Morphemes can be a single syllable or two or more
syllables. A morpheme may also have alternate phonetic forms: The regular plural -s can be pronounced
either /z/ (bags), /s/ (cats), or /iz/ (bushes). Morphemes can be free ( can stand alone) or bound( only in
conjunctions with others.

Word-Formation Processes English has historically been a language that has borrowed extensively from
other languages or coined new words from extant terms. Studying how new words are formed—largely
from existing morphemes—helps English learners understand morphemes.
Words can be formed through different processes such as: clipping, acronyms, blending, etc.

Syntax: The Sentence Patterns of Language

Syntax refers to the rules that govern the formation of phrases and sentences. The words in a
language have semantic properties that entail their use in sentences in some ways and not in others. In
English, for example, the position of the word in a sentence is an important part of the overall meaning.
Whereas syntax refers to the internally constructed rules that make sentences, grammar looks at whether a
sentence conforms to some standard.
Besides grammaticality and word order, speakers’ syntactic knowledge helps them understand three other
sentence features. Double meaning, or ambiguity. On the other hand, sentences can have different structures
but mean the same thing.

Semantics: The Meanings of Language

Semantics is the study of the meanings of individual words and of larger units such as phrases and
sentences. Speakers of a language learn the “agreed-on” meanings of words and phrases in their language;
these meanings must be shared, or communication becomes impossible.
Some words carry a high degree of stability and conformity in the ways they are used (slap as a verb, for
example, must involve the hand or some other flat object—“He slapped me with his ball” is not
semantically meaningful). Other words carry multiple meanings (e.g., can)