MINISTRY OF HIGHER EDUCATION

AND SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

UNIVERSITY OF BAGHDAD

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION FOR WOMEN

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH

AN INTRODUCTORY COURSE IN
GENERAL LINGUISTICS

BY

YASMIN HIKMET ABDUL HAMEED

Re-Printed by

Someone Wishing Best For You

NOVEMBER, 1998
400.7

Y29 Yasmin Hikmet Abdul Hameed

An Introductory course In General Linguistics

by Yasmin Hikmet Abdul Hameed. – Baghdad: University of

Baghdad, 1998.

128p. ; 28 cm.

1.languages – study and teaching

I. Title

321 / 1999

)‫المكتبة الوطنية (الفهرسة اثناء النشر‬

3111 ‫ لسنة‬123 ‫رقم االيداع في دار الكتب والوثائق في بغداد‬

‫ بغداد‬/ ‫مديرية دار الكتب للطباعة والنشر‬

 CHAPTER ONE

1. Introduction

In recent years, one of the fastest expanding fields of the study has
been general linguistics – the scientific study of language. It tries to
answer the basic questions: What is Language? and How does language
work?.

Linguistic science has developed very rapidly in the last fifty years.
Hundreds of books on the subject have been published. Courses in
linguistic science are very common in colleges and universities. Students
of language and literature are now required to take a variety of courses in
linguistics. Even students in such fields as sociology, education and
anthropology are advised to take courses in linguistics because of the
interrelationship that exists among these areas of study.

Linguistic science has also influenced foreign language textbooks.

No language book is considered to be of any value if it is not based on
some of the findings of modern linguistics.

In addition, no language teacher can escape linguistic science if he is

expected to do his job effectively and on scientific basis.

1.1. Linguistics as a Scientific Study of Language

General linguistics means the scientific study of language. As with

other branches of knowledge and scientific study, linguistics must be
studied in two ways:

1. In relation to other sciences outside itself, and

2. In the different branches within itself.

Moreover, linguistics performs two tasks:

1
 1. It is concerned with the study of particular languages as ends in
themselves, in order to be able to produce complete and accurate
descriptions of them.
2. It also studies languages as means to a further end, in order to be
able to obtain information about the nature of language in general.

1.1.1. Linguistics as a Science

Language is considered worthy of learned attention as a regular

body of facts and theory is built up around it. As an empirical science,
linguistics operates with publicly verified data obtained by means of
observation and experiment.

The aim of following a scientific procedure in studying language is to

present an analysis in such a way that every part of it can be tested and
verified not only by the linguist himself, but also by anyone else who
chooses to refer to it or to make a description of his own based on the
same principles. What is required in this respect is empirical evidence and
sound justifications to support one's findings or theories.

The purpose of linguistics is to examine the material and to make

general statements about its various elements that relate to regular rules.
It is also an empirical and practical science, since the material it deals
with can be observed with the senses. For example, speech can be heard,
the movement of the speech organs can be seen and felt or with the aid of
instruments; and writing can be seen and read.

Note: Linguistics may be said to be at the centre of all other branches of

knowledge as being the study of the tool (language) that they most
use to talk about their subject matters.

2
1.1.1.1. The Scientific Procedure followed in Studying Any
Science including Linguistics

A scientific study is one that is based on:

a) The systematic investigation of the data conducted with reference

to some general theory of language structure.
b) Direct object observations. Observation of events prier to the
setting up of a hypothesis which is then carefully investigated via
systematic description or experimentation and a theory developed.
This is a standard procedure in linguistics as in other sciences.
c) A scientific study is also concerned with the formulation of sound
theoretical principles and clear and consistent terminology.
d) In order to be acceptable, a theory must be:
 Exhaustive, i.e., one which accounts for all the facts (adequate
treatment of all the relevant material which should be
complete).
 Economical, i.e., one which is as simple and straightforward as
possible. In other words, a shorter statement or analysis
employing fewer terms is to be preferred to one which is longer
or more involved.
 Consistent, i.e., one in which there are no internal
contradictions. The material should show agreement between
its different parts.

As a result of applying these criteria, i.e., the steps of the scientific

procedure, a linguist is expected to achieve the greatest possible degree
objectivity in his description. This objectivity, to some extent, gives
linguistics the status of a science and leads us to expect that modern
linguistic studies will provide particular accurate information about
language structure.

3
 1.2. Macrolinguistics VS. Microlinguistics

Macrolingustics

Prelinguistics Metalinguistics

Phonetics Microlinguistics

Phonology Grammar Semantics

Macrolinguistics refers to the whole study of language. It is divided

into three main subfields including:

a) Prelinguistics: whose primary subject matter is phonetics. A term in the

1950 to refer to articulatory and acoustic phonetics as opposed to
phonology. Also, it is concerned with all types of human communcation
including the pre-linguistic phenomena such as miming, gestures and
other paralinguistic features and other problems of cultural behaviour.
b) Microlinguistics: which is a branch of Macrolinguistics referring to
what may be called the 'central core' of language study, i.e., the areas of
phonology, grammar and semantics.
c) Metalinguistics: whose subject matter is the relationship between
language and all extra-linguistic features or communicative behaviour
including sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, computational linguistics
and communication theory and other widely diverse fields of
macrolinguistics such as speech pathology, lexiography, historical
linguistics, etc.
4
 1.3. The Scope of Linguistics

General linguistics covers a wide range of topics and its boundaries

are difficult to define. A diagram in the shape of a wheel gives a rough
impression of the range covered. In the centre is phonetics – the study of
human speech sounds. A good knowledge of phonetics is essential for a
linguist. We must have knowledge of phonetics before studying
linguistics.

Phonology – the study of the sound systems of languages; Grammar

– the study of the language structure comprising: (a) morphology – the

5
study of the word structure and (b) syntax – the study of the sentence
structure; and Semantics – the study of meaning in a language, are the
bread and better of linguistics. In other words, they form the core of
linguistic study that deals with the internal structure of language.
Semantics is placed outside phonology and grammar, because of its
closer connection with the external world.

Around this central core are the various branches of linguistics,

which are being rapidly developed at the present time such as
sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, etc.

Adjacent to those branches, but outside the circle, are the disciplines
to which these branches of linguistics are most closely connected.

1.4. Linguistics and Other Disciplines

1.4.1. Psycholinguistics

This science is concerned with the influence of psychological matters

on language use and learning. It is the sub-field of linguistics whose goal
is to discover the psychological principles that underlie the ability of
humans to comprehend, produce and acquire language (e.g., the first
language acquisition). It is concerned with the study of human behaviour
and language. Its main interest is the relation between language and
thinking.

1.4.2. Sociolinguistics

It has attracted great interest in the recent years because of the way in
which its concerns relate to contemporary social problems. It is the
science concerned with the influence of social matters on language use
and learning (accent, dialect, behavior, morals and clothes). In other
words, it is a branch of linguistics which studies all aspects of the
relationship language and society. It deals with the study of such matters
6
as the linguistic identity of social groups (such as the language of
minority group like the language of immigrants), social attitudes to
language, formal and informal, standard and non-standard forms of
language, the patterns and needs of national language use, social varieties
and levels of language (the way language varies between people of
different regional, social and professional backgrounds, the difference
between male and female language and so on).

1.4.3. Philosophical Linguistics

A little-developed branch of linguistics which studies, on the one

hand, the role of language in relation to the understanding and
explanation of philosophical concepts and, on the other hand, the
philosophical status of linguistic theories, methods and observations, e.g.,
philosophical grammar (national grammar as opposed to descriptive
grammar) and in semantics, it studies things like the truth conditions and
linguistics, language and logic, etc.

1.4.4. Anthropological Linguistics

Anthropology is the science of beginning, developments, customs

and beliefs of Mankind. Anthropological Linguistics is a branch of
linguistics which studies language variation and use in relation to the
cultural patterns and beliefs of man as investigated using the theories and
methods of anthropology, e.g., it studies the way in which linguistic
features may identify a member of a community (usually primitive) with
a social, religious, occupational or kinship group.

1.4.5. Stylistics

Traditionally, stylistic analysis has been mainly concerned with

analysis of literary style or the language variety characteristic of a writer.
More recently, emphasis has been shifted to the linguistic description of

7
the utterance itself in terms of its components and characteristic
deviations from the standard language and other studies. In its most
general sense, stylistics refers to the application of linguistic techniques
to the study of particular kinds of language current within a given speech
community such as the language of science, of law, of religion, of
literature or the language of different social classes. There are many
different 'varieties' or 'styles' of language that we use in the appropriate
situations. Stylistics studies which variety of speech or writing is
appropriate to which situation and tries to develop our awareness and
control of these variations. It shows us what is going on in a particular
use of language.

1.4.6. Language Teaching

It concerns all educational theory and practice including instruction

in both the native language and the foreign language. Traditionally,
languages were taught by grammar-translation method and by reading
literature. Recently, there has been a trend towards increased and more
efficient modern language teaching. Contemporary methods concentrate
more on the practice of actual skills such as comprehension, conversation,
speaking, reading, etc. These days a great deal of attention is paid to the
communicative aspects in teaching.

1.4.7. Applied Linguistics

Applied linguistics refers to the application of linguistic

methodology, techniques of analysis and research findings to some non-
linguistic fields. Linguistics, in this sense, is thus very much a means to
some end, rather than an end in itself.

This term has been used mainly as a synonym with foreign language
teaching, but several other fields of application have emerged in recent
years. These include the linguistic analysis of language disorder (clinical
8
linguistics), the use of language in mother tongue education (Educational
Linguistics) and development in lexicography (the art and science of
dictionary making) and translation. There are many such fields and there
is still much work to be done.

1.4.8. Communication Engineering

A branch of linguistics which deals with the application of the

information theory to communication, i.e., the passing of messages from
a source to receiver via a channel.

1.4.9. Ethnolinguistics

The study of language in relation to culture-taking 'culture' in the

sense in which it is used in anthropology and more generally in the social
sciences (here culture presupposes society and society in turn depends on
culture).

1.4.10. Mathematical Linguistics

Refers to a number of applications of mathematical models and

procedures to linguistic studies. It begins with the counting of linguistic
units such as phonemes or vocabulary items.

1.4.11. Computational Linguistics

A branch of language studies which applies computer techniques to

linguistic and literary research, e.g., in word-frequency counts and other
fields requiring statistical analysis, such as machine translation and
speech recognition.

1.5. The Uses, Applications and Advantages of Linguistics

There are various applications and advantages that one could point
to concerning linguistic study:

9
 1.5.1. Machine Translation

It refers to the automatic production of a translation by computer or

similar machine. The machine programme must contain rules to analyze
the original text in the source language and to find grammatical and
lexical equivalents contained in its dictionary store, and to synthesis a
new version of the original text in the target language. Fully automatic
high-quality translation has proved a very difficult and expensive
operation, but research in this field has contributed to progress in
linguistic analysis.

1.5.2. Telecommunication in Its Many Forms

Phonetics is extremely important in the field of telephone

transmission. It costs money to send voices along wires, and if one can
cut down on the amount of voice which needs to be transmitted, there
would be a very great saving. The linguistic problem is therefore to
determine which features of speech are essential for acceptability and
which are not. Thus, many researches on this work are still going on.

1.5.3. Linguistic Information and Mechanical Techniques

Many applications of linguistic information to mechanical techniques

can be seen such as:

a. A new kind of 'visual-deaf-aid' could be produced using

information obtained from acoustic phonetics,
b. Another machine is called a 'sound spectrograph' which can
produce a picture of speech sounds, though this picture is very
complex and difficult to read. Thus, different sounds could be
produced as a series of easily recognizable shapes. Then, one can
turn speech directly into a kind of writing. One can speak into

11
 microphone and the picture of what one says comes on to the
screen. Deaf people once they had learnt this new 'alphabet' would
then be able to read the speech directly.

Note: It has been claimed that the pictures of speech produced by the
sound spectrograph contain information which will allow us, if
trained, to identify the speakers. It is claimed that it is possible to
pick out from ten sentences spoken by five people which sentences
were produced by the same people. Some courts in the USA have
accepted evidence based on information derived from these
pictures of speech (or voiceprints) on the analogy of fingerprints.

1.5.4. Linguistics and Speech Pathology

A rapidly developing relationship exists between linguistics and the

field of speech pathology. There are many kinds of language disorder
involving both the way in which we produce speech and the way in which
we receive and comprehend it.

Before any kind of therapy, there must be a clear picture of exactly

what the linguistic deficiency is, and how far removed it is from
normality. Is it a disorder of a phonetic, phonological, grammatical or
sematic nature or some combination of these?

Linguists do not attempt to do the therapists job. They simply try to

put at their disposal precise information about the linguistic state they are
trying to help their patients to achieve.

11
 1.5.5. The Advantages of Linguistics

Apart from the fields and applications of linguistics, one could make
a very long list of possible careers for those trained in linguistics who
have specialized in modern languages. These can be listed below:

a. Most of the branches of the Civil Service (esp. the Diplomatic

services).
b. The British Council and other bodies concerned with international
relations and exchange (public relations in general).
c. The tourist industry.
d. Public Administration (esp. in Education).
e. International Organizations (UNESCO)
f. Port authorities, commerce, banking and insurance.
g. Export industries and overseas companies.
h. Advertising.
i. Mass media concerns (broadcasting and journalism in particular).
j. Engineering, computing (the potential link between human language
and the notion of a programming language).
k. The hotel and catering industry.
l. The armed forces.
m. Telephone and telegraph organizations.
n. Professional translating and interpreting.
o. Travel agencies, libraries, large department stores, and of course, all
kinds of secretarial work.

There are jobs in all these fields for people with a good knowledge
of one or more modern foreign languages who have the ability to learn
foreign language.

12
 CHAPTER TWO

A Brief History of England and the English Language

Two thousand years ago, the country we now call England was
Britain-occupied by the Celtic race known Britons who spoke a Celtic
language that has survived in present-day Wales, parts of Scotland and
Ireland.

Britain was invaded and conquered by the Romans in AD 43 and

remained part of the Roman Empire until the decline of the State of Rome
in about AD 450. Very soon Britain was invaded again and conquered by
the Angles and Saxons. They drove out and killed the Britons, so that
Britain became the land of the Angles (Angle-land or England). The
language spoken was now Anglo-Saxon or Old English (an extremely
complicated grammatical language), but for many centuries, there were
different dialects in different parts of the country.

There were two further invasions of England: (a) The Danes came,
raided, settled and were finally absorbed into the English race. (b)
Another branch of those Danes (Northern of the Vikings) settled in
Nor(th)mandy and become French as the centuries passed by. It was those
Normans that last invaded England beating the English in 1066. Their
Duke became King William I of England. French became the official
language of the country and remained so far about 300 years after the
Norman conquest (until nearly the end of the 14th century).

With the Normans ruling England, there were three languages in the
country:

a. Most of the population of about two million people spoke their

own tongue or language (English) adding a few words from their
Norman overlords.

13
 b. Also, there were the Norman Nobles, the land owners, officials and
courtiers at that time who naturally spoke French.
c. There were a number of scholars as in all European countries who
could speak Latin.

On the basis of the above discussion, we may divide English into

three kinds: old, middle, and modern.

1. Before AD 450 Celtic

2. AD 450 to 1150 Old English (Anglo-Saxon)
3. AD 1150 to 1500 Middle English
4. AD 1500 onwards Modern English

2.1. Diachronic Vs. Synchronic Study of Language

The term diachronic is one of the main temporal dimensions of

linguistic investigation introduced by the Swiss linguist Ferdinand de
Saussure in which languages are studied from the point of view of their
historical development, e.g., the changes which have taken place between
Old and Modern English could be described in phonological, grammatical
and semantic terms. Linguistics is not to be viewed as a historical study
of language.

Comparative Philology is a branch of historical linguistic studies. It

deals with the comparison of the characteristics of different languages or
different states of a language through history. It compares the various
forms of related languages and attempts to reconstruct the mother
language from which they all developed. It starts with the discovery of
the similarities between Ancient Sanskrit and other languages of the Indo-
European family such as Classical Greek and Latin (the emphasis is on
language change through history).

14
 Synchronic (non-historical descriptive studies) was carried out in the
first half of the 20th century as a reaction to the historical studies which
were valid in the 18th and 19th century. Here languages are studied at a
given time, i.e., one describes a state of the language disregarding
whatever changes might be taking place.

It refers to an approach to linguistic studies in which the forms of

one or more languages are investigated at one particular stage of their
development. This is the approach followed by modern linguists.

A descriptive linguist is like a photographer who petrifies a group of

people in a certain position regardless of what went before and after the
taking of the picture.

The following diagram (introduced by De Sassure) represents the

diachronic and synchronic approaches to language study:

C Historical Diachronic

A B Synchronic

In this diagram, A – B is a synchronic static axis (at rest). It can be

intersected at any point with C – D the moving axis representing the
diachronic studies.

15
2.1.1. Languages Families

Historical studies of languages flourished in the 18th century in

Europe. These studies revealed certain similarities among the languages
studied in Greek, Latin, Sanskrit, etc. The comparative historical studies
of language began in 1786. The founder of these studies was 'Sir William
Jones'. The similarities were found in phonology, grammar and to some
extent in vocabulary as seen in the example below:

English Latin Greek Sanskrit

Ten Decem deka dasa
Two duo duo dva
Heart cordia kardia hrd

In the above example, initial and final /t/ in English corresponds to

the /d/ in other languages. The sound that occurs in some position in
words of one language appears in the same relative position in
semantically similar words of the other languages. Whereas these three
languages have preserved an original /d/, speakers of English through
history have changed the pronunciation of their /d/ into /t/. These findings
encouraged the historical linguist to group such languages together in
families. Such a grouping assumes that these related languages descended
from a parent language known as 'the proto-language' which covers
centuries underwent changes in its systems attributed to its diversification
into several dialects. So, these languages in their turn underwent similar
changes and other languages appeared.

The largest language family today is the Indo-European family of

languages of which English is one branch. It is called so, because it
includes languages spoken in India and Iran, like Sanskrit and the Indo-
Iranian languages, in addition to many European languages.

16
 The Indo-European family consists of eight main branches, as shown
in the diagram below:

Daughter Languages Proto language

Indo-European
(Descendants) (Parent Language

Greek Armenian

Latin
Albanian

Celtic Indo-Iranian
Sanskrit

Germanic Slavonic

It is the Germanic branch which concerns us here for English

descended from it. It is divided into three language groups. These are:
West Germanic, North Germanic and East Germanic. Each of these is
subdivided into other languages as the following diagram shows:

17
 Germanic

North West
Germanic Germanic

Danish Icelandic Dutch Flemish

Swedish Gutnish Frisian

Low German
Anglo Saxon
Norwegian

Old High
German

High German English

East
Germanic

Burgundian Vandal Gothic

18
2.2. The difference Between a Linguist and a Language Teacher

A linguist is not a language teacher. He is a person who studies

languages scientifically and empirically. He needs not to be fluent in
languages or speaks many languages (i.e., polyglottism or
multilingualism which refers to individuals, communities, manuscripts,
books, inscriptions and dictionaries using several languages). Rather, a
linguist must be able to talk about a language, how does it work and the
differences between one language and another. He must have an analytic
state of mind towards all kinds of things which take place in language. He
must have a wide experience of different types of languages. It is more
important for him to be able to analyse and explain linguistic phenomena
such as the Turkish vowel system, German verbs and Arabic parts of
speech. He is a skilled objective observer.

A linguist is likened to a musicologist who could analyse a piano

concerto by pointing out theme, variations, harmony, but he needs not
play the concerto himself. He leaves that to the concert pianist.

A linguist is not a language teacher, because teaching and learning a

foreign language is based on:

1. Teachers who are interested in methods of teaching a foreign

language which is not their native. So, teachers are not linguists,
but people belong to education.
2. As long as those teachers are not linguists even if they speak
several languages, they would not be qualified to be called
linguists, because they use rules of their own to teach the language.
This means they reflect themselves in their teaching - a process
based on subjective judgment.
3. Any process of analysing and describing a language should be
based on direct objective observation which these teachers lack.

19
2.3. The Differences Between a Linguist and a Literary Critic

A linguist is not a literary critic although both of them deal with

language in use, but at entirely different levels. Linguists are interested in
studying the kind of language used in literary texts, but this does not turn
them into critics. Dealing with language in use, linguists:

a. are concerned with describing the facts of the utterances to see

what patterns of sound, grammar and vocabulary are being used,
and in what proportions and to explain why one method of
expression has been chosen rather than another.
b. are not trying to evaluate the language in terms of aesthetic, moral
or other critical standards, and
c. tell us how the writer uses and manipulates the language to produce
an effect on the reader, whereas a critic is the one who tells us
whether one literary work is good or bad – the thing that requires
non-linguistic judgments. Studying an author's language requires
two distinct operations:
1. Evaluating their effect on the readers (the job of a literary critic).
2. Identifying and describing the prominent linguistic features of the
utterance (the job of a linguist).

2.4. Elocution Lessons are not Part of Linguistic Studies

The comparison is between elocution (the art or style of speaking

well especially in public) and phonetics, which is a prerequisite for
linguistic studies.

Both activities are closely connected with the nature of speech

sounds, their articulation and reception. Elocution, on the other hand,
studies speech sounds with the aim of improving their quality in the light
of some social and aesthetic standard. Phonetics, on the other hand,

21
investigates all sounds of human speech objectively whether they confirm
to any given social or personal standard or not. In other words, a
phonetician provides us with precise description and identification of the
speech sounds within a scientific frame, e.g., short /a/ in the word (bath)
which is heard in Northern dialects of England is not beautiful or ugly
from the view point of a phonetician. This is the job of someone
interested in elocution. A phonetician's job is to describe and identify this
sound scientifically.

21
 CHAPTER THREE
3.1. The History of Linguistics: Greek – Twentieth Century
3.1.1. Greeks
Before the 19th century, language in the western world was of
interest mainly to philosophers. It is significant that the Greek
philosophers Plato and Aristotle made major contributions to the study of
language. The Greek were more interested in the origin of language than
in analysing it. They had little systematic knowledge of other languages.
Plato was the first person to distinguish between nouns and verbs. In the
Hellenistic era (3rd century BC), grammarians in Alexandria (the centre of
academic activity at that time) dealt with grammatical matters as tense,
mood, case and aspect, i.e., they had special interests in the grammatical
categories of nouns and verbs. Also, texts of famous classical Greek
authors were studied.

3.1.2. Romans

The Romans copied the Greeks exactly in all aspects of linguistics.

Varro was called the most learned man of his time. He wrote a twenty
five volume work on the Latin Language under the heading Etymology,
Morphology and Syntax. The most famous Latin grammars are those by
Donatus (AD 400) and Priscian (AD 500) which were used as standard
textbooks as late as the Middle Ages. They followed the Greek and
introduced a similar speculative approach to language. In their description
of Latin, they use Greek terminology and categories with little change.

22
3.1.3. The Middle Ages and After

In the Middle Ages, a number of scholars known as speculative

grammarians made the most notable contribution to the study of
language. Their prime concern was to find the relationship between
words and the physical world of object. They believe that grammar is
universal, i.e., all grammars are basically the same and only differ
superficially. They were also interested in the origin of language, whether
or not all languages came from a single source. They believed that
Hebrew was Man's original language.

3.1.4. Sir William Jones (1786) and the 19 th C.

1786 was one of the most important dates in the history of

linguistics. An Englishman called Sir William Jones pointed out that
Sanskrit (the old Indian Language), Greek, Germanic, Latin and Celtic all
had structural similarities. He concluded that all these languages sprang
from one common source.

In the 19th C., linguists concentrated on writing detailed comparative

grammars comparing the different grammatical forms of the various
members of the Indo-European language family. They focused on written
records. The interest was in historical analysis and interpretation.

In the last quarter of the century, a group of scholars known as

Junggrammatiker (or Young grammarians / Neo grammarians) centered
near Leipzing. They investigated the sound change of many Indo-
European languages. They thought that sound laws are regular, i.e., they
admit no exceptions, i.e., within certain geographical limits and between
certain dates, a change of one sound into another in any language would
affect in the same way all words containing the sound in the same
phonetic environment of other sounds. But these changes cannot be

23
expected to affect all words at the same time. Some words may be subject
to the change while others may escape it or are affected by a different
change. Older scholars objected this view and pointed out numerous
exceptions to these so called laws.

3.1.5. The Twentieth Century and de Saussure (1857-1913)

De Saussure is the founder of modern structural linguistics and he

was a lecturer in Geneva University. His early work was in philology. In
the 19th C., linguists were more interested in historical linguistics
(diachronic linguistics). In the 20th C., the emphasis shifted to synchronic/
descriptive studies. De Saussure's central ideas concerning the study of
language were expressed in the form of pairs of concepts (dichotomies).
These can be illustrated as bellow:

3.1.5.1. Diachronic Vs. Synchronic

In a diachronic study, de Saussure sees language as a continually

changing medium. In a synchronic approach, he sees it as a living whole
existing as a state at a particular moment of time. In this view, it is always
necessary to carry out some degree of synchronic work before making a
diachronic study, i.e., before we can say how a language has changed
from state X to state Y, we need to know something about X and Y. In a
synchronic analysis, there is no need to refer to history. Saussure
illustrated this using an analogy with a game of chess: If we walk into a
room and while a chess game is being played, it is possible to assess the
state of the game by studying the position of the pieces on the board.

3.2.5.2. Langage Vs. Langue Vs. Parole

Languge is the faculty of speech present in all normal human beings

due to heredity-our ability to talk to each other. This faculty is composed

24
of two aspects: langue (language system) and parole (language
behaviour) the act of speaking:

Langue refers to the abstract knowledge of language (the totality of

language). It represents the generalized system of rules and word images
stored in the minds of individuals or native speakers.

Parole refers to the actual physical utterance. It is the realization of

langue in speech. It refers to the actual and concrete act of speaking on the
part of a person (a dynamic social activity) in a particular time and place.

Langage

Langue Parole
'Language System' 'Language Behaviour'

3.1.5.3. Significant Vs. Signifie

De Saussure recognized two sides to the study of meaning, but

emphasized that the relationship between the two is arbitrary. His labels
for the two sides are significant (= the thing that signifies / sound image)
and signifie (= the thing signified / concept).

De Saussure called the relationship between the two a "linguistic

Sign". The sign is the basic unit of communication within a community.
Language is seen as a system of signs.

Concept

Sound Image

25
3.1.5.4. Syntagmatic Vs. Paradigmatic

A sentence is a sequence of sings, and each sign contributing

something to the meaning of whole. When the signs are seen as a linear
sequence, the relationship between them is called syntagmatic. It
indicates the horizontal relationship between linguistic elements forming
linear sequences in the sentence, as in

Syntagmatic

She + can + go

Come + quickly

When a sign is seen as contrasting with other signs in the language,

the relationship is called paradigmatic or associative. It refers to the
vertical relationship between linguistic signs that might occupy the same
particular place in a given structure.

These two dimensions of structure can be applied to phonology,

vocabulary and any other aspect of language. Each word in a language is
in a paradigmatic relationship with a whole set of alternatives. The result
is a conception of language as a vast network of interrelated structures
and mutually defining entities – a linguistic system.

Syntagmatic

She + can + go
Paradigmatic

He + will + come

I + may + sit

You + might + see

26
 According to de Saussure, language is a system of relations. His aim
was that he wanted to define language as an object that can be studied
scientifically. He pointed out the structural nature of language, the fact
that its elements are essentially interlinked. He compared language to a
game of chess; it is the relationship of each chessman to other chessmen
which is the essence of the game, i.e., the role of each chessman is
entirely dependent on the position of the other chessmen on the board.

3.1.6. Bloomfield and the Americans

In America, linguistics developed far faster than in Britain. This was

due to the presence of numerous American-Indian languages which were
fast becoming extinct and scholars rushed to record them before it was
too late. The most famous anthropologists, sociologists and linguists were
F. Boas and Edward Sapir (whose book Language Written in 1921 is
still an excellent introduction to linguistics).

Leonard Bloomfield, who also wrote a book entitled Language,

initiated a new era in American Linguistics. He emphasized the scientific
study of language based on objective systematic observation of data. He
was not interested in the study of meaning, but in structure only. Thus,
trivial problems of analysis became major issues and linguistics lost touch
with other disciplines and became of little interest to anyone outside it.

3.1.7. Chomsky

In 1957, linguistics took a new turning when N. Chomsky published

a book called Syntactic Structures. It really revolutionized the study of
linguistics. He redefined the aims and functions of grammar. Also, he

27
 specified the new-type of grammar which is transformational (using
transformational rules in its description of language). In this grammar, he
added a semantic component saying that meaning should have the same
formal treatment as syntax.

3.2. The Branches of General Linguistics

General Linguistics

Historical Linguistics Comparative Linguistics

Descriptive Linguistics

Comparative Philology Typology

3.2.1. Historical Linguistics

It is the study of the developments of languages in the course of

time, of the ways in which languages change from one period to period
and of the causes and results of such changes both outside the languages
and within them.

3.2.2. Descriptive Linguistics

Descriptive linguistics is often regarded as the major part of

general linguistics. It is certainly the fundamental aspect of the study of
language. As its title suggests, it is concerned with the description and
analysis of the ways in which a language operates and is used by a given
set of speakers at a given time.
28
3.2.3. Comparative Linguistics

It deals with the comparison of two and more different languages

from one or more points of view, and more generally, with the theory and
techniques applicable to such comparisons. Comparative linguistics is
divided into:

a) Comparative Philology: a comparison made with a view to

inferring historical relationships among particular languages, and
b) Typology: a comparison based on resemblance of features between
different languages without any historical considerations being
involved. It studies the structural similarities between/among
languages regardless of their history in an attempt to establish a
satisfactory classification of languages. In addition, it studies the
classification of languages according to features of phonology,
grammar and lexis rather than historical development.

3.2.4. Contrastive Study of Language (Contrastive Analysis)

It is a method of linguistic analysis, which shows the differences

between two or more languages concerning the grammatical,
phonological or semantic level, i.e., it studies the dissimilarities of these
languages. It can also be used to identify the differences between units at
some levels of analysis in a particular language. For example, in
phonology, we see the contrast between English /p/ and /b/ or voiced vs.
voiceless. On the grammatical level, there is a difference between
inflectional ending and derivational, and on the semantic level, there is a
difference between various lexical relations.

29
 CHAPTER FOUR

Traditional Grammar Vs. Modern Structural Linguistics

First of all, we should say that by traditional grammar we mean the

Aristotelian orientation towards the nature of language as exemplified in
the work of ancient Greeks and Romans, the speculative work of the
Medieval and the prescriptive approach of the 18th century grammarians.
On the other hand, by linguistics we mean the empirical structural
approach to language as represented principally by American linguistics
during the period of the early 1940s and mid-1950s.

Modern structural linguistics can be said to begin with the

publication of Ferdinand de Saussure's lectures under the title of Course
in General Linguistics in 1916.

Behind de Saussure, stretching back over 2000 years lies the era of
traditional grammar. De Saussure was the first person to point out clearly
that language was a highly organized structure in which all the elements
are interdependent. From him, we date the era of 'structural linguistics'.

The term structural linguistics (in its general sense) refers to any
linguistic study of a language, which considers it as an independent
system of sound features, grammar and vocabulary in its own right. It is
sometimes misunderstood. In fact, it does not refer to a separate school or
branch of linguistics. Linguistics since de Saussure is structural, as
structural in this sense means the recognition that language is a patterned
system composed of interdependent elements rather than a collection of
unconnected individual items.

Misunderstanding is arisen as certain American linguists of the

1950s, who are sometimes called structuralists, gave all their attention to

31
the way items were arranged to form a total structure excluding all other
aspects of linguistics.

4.1. The Misconceptions of Traditional Grammarians

4.1.1. The Priority of the Written Language

Traditional grammarians tended to assume the spoken language is

inferior to and, in some sense, dependent upon the standard written
language. In opposition to this view, contemporary linguists maintain that
the spoken language is primary and that writing is essentially a means of
representing speech in another medium. The principle of the priority of
the spoken language over the written implies:

a) that speech is older and more widespread than writing. Speech goes
back to the origins of human society. Children often learn to speak
before they learn to write.
b) More important to linguistic analysis is the fact that all systems of
writing can be shown to be based upon units of the spoken language
rather than the reverse.
c) Linguistics does also study writing, but it is important to realize that
the written language is completely independent of the spoken
language from which it is originally derived. And any written activity
is a later and more sophisticated process than speech.
d) Speech is the primary medium of linguistic expression. We begin to
speak before we write. Most of us speak much more than we write in
everyday life. All natural languages were spoken before they were
written. There are many languages in the world today which have
never been written down. To base one's statement about language on
writing rather than speech leads to all kinds of confused thinking.

31
 In traditional grammar, the material presented mostly does not even
cover the whole range of the language's written form, but is restricted to
specific kinds of writing – the most formal style in particular. They
avoided anything relevant to informality and considered it 'slang' or 'bad
grammar' though the informality is in regular and widespread use by
educated people.

A language can be used in many levels of formality and it should be

one of the jobs of a grammar to take account of these differences and not
to select some levels as 'right' and exclude others as 'wrong'. For
example, we are all familiar with the 'rule' of English which tells us that
we should use 'whom' and not 'who' as a relative pronoun in a sentence
like The man ………. I saw was tall and dark. In fact, it is not a question
of 'whom' being correct usage, and 'who' being incorrect: each is correct
in certain circumstances and incorrect in others. The difference is
essentially one of formality: 'whom' in this context tends to be a more
formal way of making the point than 'who', which is more colloquial.

4.1.2. The Influence of Latin

Traditional grammarians tried to describe English in terms of

another language usually Latin, for Latin was regarded as superior and as
a model of description in Europe for centuries. One of the most common
examples in this respect is to say It is I instead of saying It is me or to say
that the 'noun' in English has five or six cases normally:

1. Nominative 'fish'
2. Vocative 'O fish'
3. Accusative 'fish'
4. Genitive 'of a fish'
5. Dative 'to/for a fish'
6. Ablative 'by/with/from a fish'

32
 In fact, they treat English as if it were Latin. But it is not since the
patterns of English grammar work differently from the patterns of Latin
grammar. There is no need to force six cases of the noun into English just
because it was so in Latin. English in fact has only two noun cases:

1. The genitive case (where we add an (-'s) as in 'cat's' or 'cats').

2. And the general case which is used everywhere 'cat' or 'cats'.

The general point to be made, therefore, is that in the description of

a language or some part of a language, we must not impose findings from
the description of some other language even if we have a strong
preference for this other language. English must be described in its own
terms and not through Latin terminology. It is a complex enough
language without trying to force the complexities of Latin into it.

4.1.3. Logic and Language

Traditional grammarians treat Latin as a kind of authority which one

can turn to when wondering what to do about English grammar.

There are other authorities of this kind such as the criterion of

'Logic'. For instance, concerning the way a language is constructed, one
may say 'English is a more logical language than French' or it is more
logical to say 'spoonfuls' than the other thing 'spoonsful', without basing
their descriptions of language structure on scientific facts and evidences.

In fact, human language is not a logical construct, though some

people think so. It is not even regular. It can change its form sometimes
over the years and it is full of irregularities. One can not apply reasoning
to language. We say for instance, 'big' – 'bigger', 'small' – 'smaller', but if
we adopt a logical criterion then we should say 'good - gooder' is a

33
correct form. Traditional grammarians say this is a matter of logic
without saying irregularities or exceptions or giving any language
description.

In short, it is best in language to avoid the word 'logic' and to use

instead the terms 'regular' and 'irregular' to show that there is always a
tendency for the irregular forms in a language to be made to conform to
the patterns of the regular ones a process referred to as 'analogy' (treating
irregular forms as if they were regular ones). This is apparent especially
in the speech of children saying 'mouses*' and 'seed*' for 'mice' and 'saw'.

4.1.4. The Complexity of Language

There is no 'most complex' language where complexity means

'difficult to learn'. Standards of difficulty are relative: a thing is more
difficult to do depending on how much practice we have had at doing it,
and how used we are to doing similar things. We should not, therefore,
say that one language is more complex or difficult to learn than another.
To say, for instance, that Chinese is an awfully difficult language to learn,
it may be true for a certain person, but we must be careful not to draw the
conclusion that it is so. If one speaks a language which is at all similar to
Chinese in its sounds, grammar and vocabulary, it will be a lot easier for
him to learn than for one who does not. We conclude, the greater the
grammatical and other differences one's own language and any other, the
more complex that language turns out to be.

Similarly, we must not talk about some languages as if they were

'simple', 'crude' or 'primitive' languages. This often when we talk about
languages of tribes in Africa or South America which are said to be at a
very law level of cultural development. It does not mean that because a
tribe happens to be anthropologically 'primitive', its language is
linguistically 'primitive' too. The word 'primitive' implies 'being near the

34
bottom of a scale or standard of development of some kind'. Such a
standard may exist in comparative anthropology, but not in language. The
only realistic standard we ought to apply to a language is the language
itself. We can not measure one language against the yard-stick provided
by another. Languages always keep pace with the social development of
its users. Just because some tribes do not have as many words as English,
does not mean that it is 'more primitive' than English. It has no need of so
many words, because it has enough words for its own purposes. Its people
do not require the vast range of technical terms which English has. If such
a tribe, through some process of economic development, did begin to
come into contact with technical things, then new words would be coined
or borrowed, so that people could cope. So languages are not better or
worse only different.

4.1.5. Aesthetics and language

From the aesthetic view point, a language, word, structure, etc. is

said to be more 'beautiful', 'ugly', 'affected' and so on than another which
was a very common attitude in older times (when beauty was associated
with eloquence and the Classic). For example, in the Middle Ages
grammar (in a form of a textbook) was ''the art of speaking and writing
well''. In these days, aesthetic judgements about language concern
people's accent or ways of pronunciation although these are unrealistic
standards.

In fact, no one sound is better or more beautiful than another is: We

respond to other people's language in terms of our own social background
and familiarity with their speech. If we are from London, for instance,
then we will react to their speech in a very different way than if we are
not.

35
 If we insist on criticizing someone else's accent as 'affected' or 'ugly',
then we are simply trying to impose our own standards of beauty on
others (i.e. judging other people in terms of our own particular linguistic
preferences) forgetting that we probably sound just as odd to the people
we are criticizing.

4.1.6. History and Language

Traditional grammarians think that the true 'true' or 'correct' meaning

of a word is its oldest one. For instance, they say the real meaning of
'History' is 'investigation', because this was its meaning of (historia) in
Greek, or the real meaning of 'nice' is 'fastidious' as this was one of its
senses in Shakespeare's time. People even call a word 'meaningless' if it
no longer has a particular earlier meaning.

In modern linguistics, the meaning of a word is to be found by

studying the way in which the word is used in modern English – the kinds
of objects or ideas currently being referred to. The meanings a word may
have had years ago are irrelevant to this.

If we rely on history in discussing meaning, we shall never know the

real meaning of the words we use. In addition, if the oldest meaning of
the word is the correct one, then we can hardly stop with Shakespeare!
We must trace the meaning of the word (nice), for instance, back into Old
French (meant = 'silly') and thence to Latin (meant 'ignorant') and thence
to ancestor Latin having no clear meaning and even this is not the 'oldest'
language. The oldest language id lost forever, not written down and thus
without records.

We should treat each new linguistic generation, in its own terms.

One does not need past information to study the present state of a
language. And the reverse is also true.

36
4.1.7. The Best Authors

Traditional grammarians considered the usage of language of the

'best authors' as the most 'reliable' and 'correct' forms. Early dictionaries
did the same by including only those words that had been used by a
reputable author. Most of the quotations illustrating grammatical rules in
traditional grammar are taken from famous novelists or-non-fiction
writers. If we all speak like Shakespeare or Dickens, for instance, all the
time (as many grammar books would have us do), the result of applying
such a standard is to produce a description of a very restricted,
specialized literary English.

As we mentioned previously, we should treat each new linguistic

generation in its own terms. Thus, if we use the standard of 'best author',
it means that all change in language is for the worse and that the older
states of a language are superior to the more recent – which is not true.

4.1.8. Impression

Traditional grammarians were impressionistic, i.e., they depend on

their intuitions (on themselves) and considered themselves as authority
while in fact this is unsatisfactory, because grammarians must not depend
on their intuitions. Many textbooks are impressionistic at many points.
The rules being based on the author's own usage. While, it is extremely
difficult to write even a part of a grammar of a language based upon
oneself as the 'informant' (the source of information about what is going
on). In brief, traditional grammarians were prescriptive not descriptive,
i.e., they prescribe or give rules of their own to people saying what people
ought to say.

In the early part of the twentieth century, structural grammarians,

began to develop precise methods of description. The American

37
structuralists (also 'descriptivists') felt that the traditional theories of
grammar were intuitive. So, most structural grammarians want to make
linguistics as a completely objective science. Bloomfield sought to
describe present day English not as people think it "should be", but as "it
actually is". He was looking for methods of describing language that were
free of human error or subjective judgements. They described what
people (Native speakers) really say.

Another aspect of an impressionistic approach to linguistic

description is that the information, which appears in a grammar book, is
highly selective. Not traditional grammar is near complete, i.e., providing
a complete description of all the sentences of a language. They include
rules only these they want people to use.

A grammar should contain rules which account for all the structures
in current use, i.e., the exceptions as well as the regularities.

4.1.9. Definition

Traditional grammar is characterized by extreme vagueness of

definition, and a failure to be explicit about important issues. Often
crucial theoretical assumptions about the language or the grammar are
made, but not stated explicitly. In addition, many terms needed to talk
about language are badly defined.

The clearest example of badly defined terms is that of the parts of

speech. Parts of speech are supposed to tell us something about how the
grammar of a language works. However, the traditional definitions of
many of the parts of speech are usually most ungrammatical. The noun,
for example, is regularly defined as being 'the name of person, place or
thing'. But this definition tells us nothing about the grammar of nouns at
all. It only gives us what they mean. A grammatical definition of noun
must give us grammatical information. It should, for example, tell us
38
about the places and functions of nouns in sentences, how they inflect,
whether they follow or precede articles and prepositions, the types of
noun modification and so on. The above definition gives us non of this.
Moreover, the information that it does give, is so vague as to be useless.
Are abstracts nouns like 'friendship' included in this definition? Can one
reasonably say that 'friendship' is a thing? Thus, defining parts of speech
in terms of their meaning can lead to several problems when we begin
grammatical study.

4.1.10. Prescriptive Vs. Descriptive

The Traditional attitude to language is 'prescriptive' (they do not

describe what the speakers of language say). According to them,
grammarians were concerned to make rules about how people ought to
speak and write, in conformity with some standards they deal with or rely
heavily on. They were not concerned with how people actually did speak
and write.

This is really the central differences between the new and the old
attitude to language. Before one can prescribe rules about language, one
must first describe the observed facts about the language.

Modern linguists want to describe language in its own terms. They

do not describe it in terms of some non-linguistic standards of correctness
(such as Latin, aesthetic judgement, etc.). A linguist is aware that the
grammarians of a language do not make the rules of that language; they
cannot do this and they should not do it. They should restrict themselves
to codify what is already there – the usage of the people who speak the
language (the native speaker).

39
Notes:

A. Prescriptive Linguistics: An attitude to language studies, which

seeks to establish rules for correct usage. Modern linguistics is
descriptive in nature, i.e., it records actual usage. Prescriptive
grammars include such rules as:
1. "I" should be used after the verb "be", e.g., "It is I" instead of
saying "It is me".
2. "Whom" should be used as the relative pronoun in the object
function, e.g., "The man whom I saw" and so on.
3. Also they said, do not end the sentence with a preposition.

B. Descriptive Linguistics: describes the facts of linguistic usage as

they are and not how they ought to be. A linguist is interested in
what is said, not what he thinks ought to be said. He describes
language in all its aspects, but does not prescribe rules of
correctness. A linguistic study is said to be descriptive if it is as
objective as possible and based solely on observed facts.

41
 CHAPTER FIVE

An Introduction to Grammar: Historical Background

5.1. Traditional Grammar

Note: You should keep in mind the fact that the 'correct' approach to
grammar studies and human use of language has never been
established yet, because no single approach has remained entirely
unquestioned.

Traditional Grammar

The Greek The Romans The Middle Ages The Renaissance Vernacular English
Grammar

5.1.1. Ancient Greeks

For the Greeks, the earliest known motives for language study seem
to be philosophical rather than practical. Plato concentrated his
philosophical attention on the analysis of words and their meaning. He
concluded that a given word bears an 'inherent', 'natural' and 'logical'
relationship to the thing or concept for which it stands.

They believed that language had been given to humans as a divine

gift. They believed Greece was the place of the original civilization.
Thus, they considered all languages other than Greek as barbaric. Only
Greek was considered worthy of serious study.

41
 Aristotle, Plato's most gifted pupil, continued to investigate the
words and their meanings, but he also had several grammatical
contributions. He added a third word class, viz., the conjunction class. He
made notes on certain structural word features, e.g., noun possesses case
verb possesses tense. In addition, he provided the earliest definition of the
term 'word' describing it as "the smallest meaningful language unit".

After Aristotle, the next important work in grammar study is that of

the 'Stoics', around 300 BC. Their contributions can be summarized in the
following points:

1. The expanded Aristotle's three word classes to four, i.e., adding

'articles' to noun, verbs, and conjunctions.
2. They subdivided words in the noun class into proper and common
nouns.
3. They made detailed studies of tense and agreement in verbs and of
case in nouns concluding that nouns possess five cases:
nominative, accusative, dative, genitive and vocative.
4. They were also concerned with "the nature of language reveal inner
truths about human nature."

Dionesius Thrax (a Greek philosopher and grammarian, lived in

Alexandria in the first century BC.) expanded the word classes to eight,
adding prepositions, adverbs, participles and pronouns. He gave examples
and detailed definitions to each in his book Techne Grammatike.

5.1.2. Ancient Rome

Years later, when the centre of Western Civilization had shifted

from Greece to Rome, Greek learning came to influence every aspect of
the cultured Roman life including language.

42
 When Roman scholars wrote their first Latin grammars, they
patterned them after their earlier Greek Models. This was possible
because both languages were highly inflected languages with many
grammatical similarities.

Varro, one of the few original thinkers, added an additional case to

the noun in Latin 'the ablative' case not found in Greek. He was also
interested in 'analogy' and he pointed to the many irregularities of
language.

Quintilian, a Latin scholar, sided with the analogists. He stressed the

importance of including the study of grammar and rhetoric in the
education of the cultured Rome. He made some contributions in the study
of language, e.g., he studied the word etymology indicating that meaning
is more important than form in word development.

The two Latin Grammarians Donatus (AD 400), who wrote a book
on the parts of speech and another in which he summarized the basics of
Latin grammar, and Priscian (AD 500), who wrote eighteen volumes on
Latin grammar, relied heavily on Greek works especially those of Thrax,
and ignored Varro and Quintilian.

Note: The important difference between Greeks and Romans is that in

Greece there had been a monolingual society. The Greek scholars
studied grammar as part of their larger philosophical concern. The
educated Roman, on the other hand, studied the grammar of two
languages and for more practical reasons.

43
5.1.3. The Middle Ages [The Medieval Period AD 600-1400]

The medieval period is the largest in Western Europe's history

having lasted for approximately a thousand years in which scholarship
suffered a severe decline and during which few ideas were generated. It
was called the dark ages by the "Renaissance Scholars".

In the Middle Ages, the respect for learning died and no new ideas
emerged. However, within the last few years, linguistic research has
produced evidence that the situation was not really so bleak as had been
thought.

Among the medieval scholars was 'French Benedictine', who wrote a

treatise entitled De Grammatico in which he expressed considerable
interest in grammatical dictionaries. 'Peter of Spain', who was interested
in semantics too, studied the grammatical and semantic implications of
different meanings attributed to a single word or expression. 'Peter
Helias', who lived in the 12th C., stressed the importance of grammar
study.

One of the best of those vernacular grammars at that time was The
First Grammatical Treatise in the 12th C., which is also called The Old
Norse written by a unanimous writer. This work is especially interesting
to Modern linguists because many of its language techniques and its
detailed study of phonology of Icelandic were very much like these
developed by 19th and 20th C. historical and structural linguists.

5.1.4 The Renaissance (1400-17th C.)

It is impossible to assign exact dates of the Renaissance period, but

we can say it starts from around the late 1400s up to the 17 th C. After that
Dark Ages of the Medieval period, interest in scholarship and in culture
was renewed gradually.

44
 Among the Renaissance scholars, whose work has only recently
received the attention of the 20th C. linguists, was a 16th C. Spanish
Classical scholar named 'Francisco Sanchez'. He was a professor of Greek
and rhetoric. His book Minerva, written around 1587, was for many years
considered the standard work on Latin Grammar.

'Peter Ramus' was another Renaissance scholar, who wrote

grammars of Greek, Latin, and French. In his work Scholae, he stressed
consulting the current usage of native speakers as the best guide to usages
practices.

General Notes:

1. Until the early part of the 18th C., a great majority of European
scholarly works continued to be written in Latin.
2. Nevertheless, a few scholars had begun to write grammars of
European Vernacular Languages as early as the late Middle Ages,
the Renaissance and the 18th C. They realized that the vernacular
languages could no longer be ignored, since vast numbers of
people were speaking and writing in them.
3. Hence, grammarians took upon themselves the duty of writing
prescriptive grammars for particular languages. They made
themselves responsible for writing rules of 'correctness' (Latin
based).

5.1.5. The Development of Vernacular English Grammar

In the early 16th C., English explorers and colonists had extended the
influence of England's culture and language to the farthest regions of the
world. Then English had become a perfectly respectable and healthy
world language.

45
 English grammar study began during the late 17th C. and early 18th
C. One of the earliest of these studies was a large work written in Latin
by 'John Wallis' in 1653, who was not a language scholar but a
mathematician. He wrote his grammar rules as though English were Latin
(a prescriptive and authoritarian grammar).

Early in the 18th C., a few and very small and rather poor grammars
of the English were written; and until the middle of the 18 th C., the first
widely respected English dictionary and the first detailed vernacular
English grammar were published, Dr. Samuel Johnson's Dictionary of the
English Language in 1755; and bishop Robert Lowth's A Short
Introduction to English Grammar in 1762.

Note (1): Most of the definitions and rules of usage are based on the best
authors of the past and Latin (in Dr. J. Dictionary).

Note (2): 'Lowth' indicated that the most reliable grammatical 'authority'
was logic also rules of correctness must be based on the best
authors. His grammar was 'authoritarian' and 'prescriptive'.

A contemporary of Lowth was Joseph Priestly, who published

Rudiments of English Grammar in 1761. He spoke out against the
prescriptive' reliance on the authority of Latin.

Thirty years after Lowth came 'Lindy Murray', who published his
English Grammar in which he reinforced the prescriptive grammar rules
of Lowth. His book became the first widely used school text.

The 19th C. was the era of comparative and historical study of

languages more especially of the Indo-European languages. The interest
of the great majority of the 19th C. linguists in England and Europe was
focused on the existing work in historical and comparative linguistics.

46
 5.2. Structural Grammar of English

Introduction

The growth of Modern linguistics started from the end of the 18th C. to
the present day. Two main approaches to language study, one European, one
American, unite to form the modern subject of linguistics. The first arises
out of the aims and methods of 19th C. comparative philology, with its focus
on written records and its interest in historical analysis and interpretation.
The beginning of the 20th C. saw a sharp change of emphasis with the study
of the principles governing the structure of living language being introduced
by the Genevan linguist Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913). Saussure's
early work was in philology, but he is mainly remembered for his theoretical
ideas, as summarized in the Course in General Linguistics, which is widely
held to be the foundation of the modern subject.

The second approach arose from the interest of American

anthropologists who were concerned to establish good descriptions of the
American Indian languages and cultures before they disappeared.

Generally speaking, most of the structuralists had become extremely

critical of traditional grammar most of which they labeled 'misguided'
attacking it as meaning-dependent, subjective, prescriptive, intuitive- in
short, as unscientific.

5.2.1. American Structural Linguistics / The First Stage

The most significant work which made use of the new field-study
methods was that begun by a small group of American anthropologists
around the turn of the century. They wanted to bring Christianity to the
American-Indian tribes and translate the Bible into as many tribal
languages they could.

47
 However, there were no records to rely on. In addition, the Indian
tongues proved to be different from any of the languages familiar to
them. Therefore, field workers found themselves without guidelines.
Thus, they relied on methods of analyzing sounds recording hundreds of
sounds. Only then was it possible to device a tentative alphabet
transcribing the important sounds of a language.

Their work can be summarized as follows:

a) First, they had to identify the phonemes of a language.

b) Then, they had to find which sound sequence made up the words of
a language (to find out how these phonemes combine together into
meaningful units 'morphemes')
c) Last, the structure of the language's sentences had to be analyzed
and recorded. But, syntax was not really given its due significance.

Therefore, the most important contributions of structural linguists

were in the areas of phonology (sound structure) and morphology (word
structure). The pioneer in this field was Franz Boas (1858-1942) who
published the first volume of the Handbook of American Indian Languages
in 1911. He was a German-born anthropologist who spent most of his life
studying American-Indian cultures. He became the first professor of
anthropology at Columbia University in 1899. For many years, he
dominated the discipline in America. He was a very active and productive
field worker. He was spoken of by his colleagues in terms of 'genius'.

Linguistics, in fact, began in America as an off shoot of

anthropology. Ten years later (after the publication of Boas' book),
another anthropologically oriented book appeared, Language by Edward
Sapir (1884-1939). He was a German Jewish (poet, critic, musician, as
well as, trained Germanist). He was a student of Boas in which he
outlined the scientific procedure to be followed in linguistic studies. They

48
depended on speech to supply data. They wanted to describe most of the
American-Indian languages. They insisted that a command of the
language is an indispensable means of obtaining accurate and thorough
knowledge, because much information can be gained by listening to
conversations of the natives and taking part in their daily life.

Structuralism in America was an off spring of the field-workers. The

relation between Boas and Sapir was similar to that between Sapir and
Bloomfield. Both have books entitled Language. These two basic books
led to the study of Modern linguistics in America.

5.2.2. European Structural Linguistics / The First Stage

In Europe, there were three different things happening simultaneously:

1. The Missionaries

It was the work that was done by the missionaries who found
themselves in primitive regions all over the world, in India, Africa, etc.
They had to learn the language, in order to communicate with people.
They tried to develop a phonetic system, in order to record it and the
language of people whom they attached with. They produced excellent
studies about language depending on native speakers. Finally, the
discovery of phonemes and their shapes can be attributed to them.

2. De Saussure's Linguistics

De Saussure was the founder of modern structural linguistics. His

time witnessed the rapid rise of descriptive linguistics as opposed to
historical linguistics.

49
 3. The Neo-Traditional Grammarians
They represent the period from traditional grammar to structural
grammar. They follow the traditional concepts but came up with new
methods of collecting data. They refute the traditional view concerning
the insistence that Latin contains sort of universal rules and one should
return to Latin, in order to find these rules. This was the difference
between traditional grammar and Neo-traditional grammar, yet they have
the same concept. In addition, they began to base their rules and
descriptions on real data part of which was gathered from native speakers,
but much of it was taken from the works of great linguists.

The outstanding Neo-traditional grammarians are:

a) Otto Jespersen, who wrote:

1. A Modern English Grammar on Historical Principles, in 1909;
2. Language, Its Nature, Development and Origin, in 1922;
3. The Philosophy of Language, in 1924;
4. Growth and Structure of the English language, 1960; and
5. Essential of English Grammar, in 1964.
b) Curme, who wrote A Grammar of English Language, 2 Vols.,
1931 and Parts of Speech and Accidence, 2 Vols., 1935.
c) Zandvoort, who wrote A Handbook of English Grammar in 1957.
d) Henry Sweet (1845-1912), who was one of the leaders in the study
of phonetics and of old. Middle and modern English in Great
Britain in the second half of the 19th C. he was synchronic and
descriptive in his approach to language study. He also wrote New
English Grammar.
e) Daniel Jones, who wrote Outline of English Phonetics in 1914.
Furthermore, in 1917, he published his English Pronouncing
Dictionary. He was the leading British phonetician.
f) Cruisinger, who wrote A Grammar Book.

51
 5.2.3. The Second Stage of Structuralism in America

Both European and American approaches developed rapidly. In

America, the development of detailed procedures for the study of spoken
language also led to progress in phonetics and phonology and a special
attention was paid to morphology and syntax.

The goal of structural linguists was to describe English grammar

rigorously and objectively. Leaonard Bloomfield was the major developer
of the 20th C. structuralism in America. He published his Introduction to
the Study of Language in 1914 and later his famous book Language in
1933. This book dominated the linguistic thinking for over twenty years, in
which he presented many descriptive studies of grammar and phonology.

His theory is based on "rigorous discovery procedures." He and his

followers based their descriptions of the facts of English on actual
utterances which could be empirically verified. Ignoring references to
semantics, they concentrated on presenting accurate descriptions of the
sound, word and sentence structure of English. They considered the study
of meaning as the weak point in language study and Bloomfield himself
maintained that it is too early for this generation to deal with semantics.
Thus, according to them, the linguistic levels begin like this: phonology,
morphology and syntax.

Bloomfield presented a detailed outline of the principles of structural

language analysis. He stressed the importance of using empirical data. To
him, the grammarian's task was only to collect as much as language data
as possible. Then, he analysed and classified the data on the basis of
objective evidence to reach a conclusion. He maintained that a grammar
could be defined as a perfect, objective description of language and the
ultimate goal of a linguist was to find rules that led to such grammar.

51
 The Bloomfieldian approach came to be called 'structuralist',
because of the various kinds of technique it employed to identify and
classify features of sentence structure (the analysis of sentences into their
constituent parts).

It also represented the behaviourists' view in psychology, that

consists of the theory of stimulus and response; trial and error, reward and
punishment. To them, language was considered as a human behavior and
this theory was associated with language acquisition notably in the study
of meaning.

The greatest figure in this field was B. F. Skinner, who wrote Verbal
Behaviour in 1957. In the late 1950s, Chomsky criticized the
behaviourists adopting a mentalistic approach in linguistics.

Other linguists of structuralism in America are Z. Harris, who wrote

Methods in Structural Linguistics; Charles Fries, Lado, Hockett, Francis,
Stageberg, Paul Robert and Gleason. The great pioneers who wrote on
phonology were 'Trager and Simth', as well as 'Nida', who wrote on
morphology.

5.2.4. The Second Stage of Structuralism in Europe

There was a separate kind of structural linguistics in Europe not

influenced by behaviourism in America. The leading psychologist in this
field was 'Piaget'. Unlike the behaviourists, he had a better outlook of the
psychology of language, which was different in principle from
behaviourism. He provided a truthful account on how humans acquire and
use language.

In Europe, de Saussure's ideas were taken up by several groups of

scholars (especially in Switzerland, Denmark, Gechoslovakia and

52
France), and schools of thoughts emerged based on Saussurean principles.
The most notable of which are the following:

1. The Prague School:

The name was given to the views and methods of the linguistic Circle
of Prague and the scholars it influenced. It was founded in 1926 by Vilem
Mathesius (1882-1946), who was a professor of English at Caroline
University. They were not in line with behaviourism. Their main interest
laid in the phonological theory. The most important work was that of 'R.
Jakobson', which led to the distinction between phonetics and phonology.
Accordingly, speech sounds belonged to parole and phoneme to langue as
they applied de Saussure's theory to the phoneme concept. They believed
that a phoneme is a complex phonological unit realized by the sounds of
speech and such phoneme is composed by a number of separate distinctive
features which characterize it as a linguistic entity, e.g.,

+ bilabial + bilabial
/p/ + stop ; /b/ + stop
- voiced + voiced

The followers of this school were also interested in the analysis of

language as a system of functionally related units, as emphasis which
showed Saussurean influence.

2. The Copenhagen School

A group of linguists constituted the Copenhagen linguistic Circle in

the mid 1930s and developed an approach to linguistics known as
'Glossematics'. The leading theoretician of this school was Louis
Hjelmslev (1899-1965). Through the work of Hjelmslev, the school
developed a philosophical and logical basis for linguistic theory.

53
3. The Firthian School

It was called so according to J. R. Firth (1890-1960), a professor of

General linguistics in the University of London from 1944 to 1956. He was
a key figure in the development of British linguistics. It was also called the
London school. It was an opposition to Bloomfieldian linguistics in
America. It shares the basic insights of structuralism as originated by de
Saussure. Firth devoted much of his attention to phonology. He based his
work on that of the anthropologist B. Malinowski. He developed this theory
of 'context of situation' in semantics.

Little of Firth's teaching was published, but many of his ideas have
been developed by the Neo-Firthian group of scholars, whose main
theoretician is M. A. K. Halliday, a professor of General Linguistics at the
University of London from 1965 to 1970. Halliday (1925- ) has developed
a grammatical theory since the 1960s, known as systemic linguistics in
which grammar is seen as a network of 'system' of interrelated contrasts.

5.3. Chomsky and Transformational Grammar

Introduction
Between 1933 and 1957, linguistics had set itself the task of
perfecting 'rigorous discovery procedure,' i.e., finding a set of principles
which would enable the linguist to discover a grammar from a mass of
data collected from an informant (usually a native speaker).

In 1957, at the highest structuralism's influence on linguistic studies,

a young professor of Modern Language, Avram Noam Chomsky, at the
Massachusetts Institute of Linguistics and Technology, published a (108)
pages monograph entitled Syntactic Structures. This book challenged
many of the basic beliefs of linguistics in his theory of language structure
known as T.G.G. (Transformational Generative Grammar). Chomsky is
the student of the structuralist Z. Harris, who started as a structuralist and

54
ended as a transformationalist. He received his earliest training at
Bloomfieldian school of structural linguistics.

In that small book, Chomsky criticized the structuralist approach to

language study. He maintained that the entire structuralist theory had
been built upon wrong assumptions rejecting their method of taxonomic
linguistics (i.e., data-gathering techniques and classification of data) and
their belief in the adequacy of 'discovery procedure'.

Note: Taxonomic Linguistics is an approach to linguistic analysis and

description which looks at language phenomena with the primary
aim of listing and classifying them into groups, for example, part of
speech in grammar and types of consonants in phonetics.
Followers of T.G.G. have often criticized such taxonomic
description as lacking a systematic theoretical framework.

The publication of Syntactic Structures proved to be a turning point

in the 20th C. Linguistics. In this and subsequent publications, Chomsky
developed the conception of 'generative grammar', which departed
radically from the structuralism and behaviourism of the previous
decades. Chomsky's proposals were intended to discover the mental
realities underlying the way people use language. Thus, the influence of
the mentalism school is most marked in his work especially in his notion
of 'competence' and 'innateness' and in his general view concerning
language and mind indicating that "mental states and processes can
explain behavior." He introduced many of his early theories and concepts
in his Syntactic Structures and his well-known Review of B. F. Skinner's
Verbal Behaviour (1959). In this book, he criticized behaviourists as they
failed to offer a scientific explanation of how it is possible for a child at
the age of five or six to produce and understand large number of
sentences that he has not previously heard.

55
 Rejecting the structuralist's view, Chomsky emphasized that
utterances cannot be identified as 'grammatical' only on the basis of their
having been spoken and then collected by a linguistic field worker. An
adequate grammar should be able to explain rather "what the speaker
knows to be possible," i.e., to be able to produce and understand from
limited number of rules unlimited number of grammatical utterances even
those he has never beard before.

Chomsky insisted that a grammar theory to be adequate must be able

to explain native speaker's linguistic intuitions (i.e., a grammar knowledge
that every speaker has in his head). Unlike Chomsky, structuralists did not
believe in such words as 'mind', 'insight' and 'intuition'.

Note (1): We should avoid the mistake of viewing Chomsky's T.G.G. as

an extended structuralist theory although his grammar is like
theirs in being syntactically based but his goals are
fundamentally different.

Note (2): The work of Chomsky embodies a recognition of the strength of

traditional and structural work, but formalizes the descriptive
mechanisms of these studies and suggests means of correcting
the weaknesses of their methods.

5.3.1. Some General Notes and General Characteristics of T.G.G.

1. The transformational theory has undergone several stages of development:

a) From 1957 through 1964, the transformational-generative theory of

language focused primarily on syntax rather than on semantics.
Chomsky indicated that "a grammar model should be based on syntax
rather than on semantics. Syntax is an independent component of a
grammar system and one which is primary." This shows that the early
theory was concerned more with form than meaning. Thus, in 1957,

56
 transformationalists followed the linguistic ladder starting with syntax,
phonology and semantics. This means that syntax is central and we first
need sentences to express our ideas not sounds.
b) In 1965, Chomsky modified his theory as he published his book Aspects
of the Theory of Syntax (The Aspects Model) or (The Standard Theory).
It is the most influenced book of grammar in the second half of the 20 th
C. According to this model, the linguistic ladder started with semantics,
syntax and phonology. Still syntax is central and most important than the
others that are called 'interpretive'. For example, if we want to give a
talk, you first arrange the idea thinking of the rules of grammar taken
from the syntactic component such as NP (Det) + N + (PL). These
rules organize the idea, but we need meanings to arrange the idea
semantically. Therefore, we go up to the semantic component (so it is
interpretive). Finally, we have to apply the phonological rules of
language to be able to speak. Thus, we go down to the phonological
component taking pronunciation. So, it is interpretive too.
Semantics

Syntax (Heart)

Phonology

2. Chomsky's theory at the beginning was called transformational

grammar. Then, it was called generative grammar. It is pure
generative as it is a kind of grammar, which is specialized to change
one structure to another. Thus, if language is not transformational, it
will be a static language without life. The relationship between
language and life is that language satisfies human needs. So, language
without transforms is lifeless. As last, it was called transformational-
generative grammar (T.G.G.). It is structural, but in a new way. It is
57
 called transformational, because it depends on transformations. It is
called generative, because it generates all and only the possible
grammatical sentences.

3. Chomsky believes in the universality of human languages. He believes

that all human languages are but one and the same, i.e., languages share
the general linguistic features and levels like: phonology, morphology,
grammar and so on. They differ only in some specific points (language
specifics). The transformationalists have a theory which should be
applicable to all human languages. Chomsky believes that a linguistic
theory should be universal. Structural linguists, on the other hand, do
not believe in language universality although traditional grammarians
believe in it considering Latin as a model (a language containing
universal rules that can be applied to any language).

4. T.G.G. lays heavy emphasis on the native speaker and his intuition.
The native speaker is a major thing in T.G.G. The transformationalists
concentrate on the native speaker's knowledge and his linguistic
competence (i.e., the rules and word images stored in his mind).
According to them, the native speaker is the one who can decide
whether something is right or wrong by his intuition. The structuralists
also consider the native speaker as the source of information, but their
method of collecting data was based on observations and they take
information from the speech of the informant which represents
language behavior. Chomsky indicates that speakers use their
competence (abstract knowledge of language) to go far beyond the
limitations of any corpus by being able to create and recognize novel
sentences and to identify performance errors (in speech).

5. It is believed (according to T.G.G.) that a native speaker has in his

intuition what is called 'competence' and 'performance'. Competence

58
 is all native speaker's knowledge about his language which enables
him to understand and generate unlimited number of sentences even
those he has not heard before. This competence is stored in his mind
in the shape of rules and word images, and when he speaks, he uses
these rules unconsciously. Performance is the actual use of
competence in real situations. It is found in the form of speech and
writing. This parallels Saussure's concept of 'langue' and 'parole'.

6. Transformationalists believe in level mixing (i.e., linguistic levels)

which is very important in linguistic analysis, i.e., we can use one
level to explain things related to another level. In T.G.G., the
linguistic levels start with semantics, syntax and morphology. They
believed that one level must be applied to another, i.e., we must mix
all levels together. The structuralists, on the other hand, do not
believe in level mixing at all. They refuse it completely believing in
level separate. They believe in the order: phonology, morphology,
syntax giving priority to phonology, as speech is the source of
information to them.

7. The theory divides sentences into two types: (a) kernal, i.e., the
original sentence / the basic sentence pattern, a sentence which has
not received any change yet, as in "Zeki can open the box" and (b)
derived or transformed sentences that have received one or more
changes, as in, e.g.:

Zeki cannot open the box. (1 change Neg.)

Can't Zeki open the box? (2 changes Neg. + interr.)

Can't the box be open by Zeki? (3 changes Neg. + interr. + passive)

8. They believed that a language has a number of transformational rules.

This number is fixed. These finite rules generate infinite number of
acceptable sentences (transformed from basic ones). Some of these

59
 transformations are universal such as: negative and interrogative.
Some others are particular or not universal. Sometimes there are
universal rules, but they are applied on languages differently, e.g.,
passivization.

9. They differentiate between deep structure (DS) and surface structure

(SS). Deep structure is the abstract syntactic representation of a
sentence (also referred to as an underlying or base structure) – the
original form to which no change has happened yet. It goes with
competence in the mind.

Competence Deep Structure Kernal sentence

e.g., Zeki cut Zeki.

A surface structure of a sentence, on the other hand, is the final stage

in the syntactic representation of a sentence – the form which has
received one more changes. It goes with performance in speech or
writing:

Performance Surface structure Transformed sentence

e.g., Zeki cut himself. (Reflexivization transformation)

10. Structuralists cannot differentiate between sentences, which are

similar on the surface but have different deep structures. But
transformationalists can do this and analyse ambiguous sentences too:

e.g., (1) John is eager to please.

(2) John is easy to please.

Structuralists say these two sentences are alike as they focus on the
surface structure, but Chomsky in his Syntactic Structures shows the
difference between them referring to their deep structures saying: In
61
sentence (1), John pleases somebody, whereas in sentence (2) somebody
pleases John. Transformationalists also interpret ambiguous sentences
such as:

e.g., Ann whacked a man with an umbrella.

This sentence has two interpretations:

(a) Ann had an umbrella and she whacked a man with it.
(b) Ann whacked a man and the man happened to be carrying un
umbrella.

11. They believed that sentences are unlimited in number. Sentences of a

language must be well-formed, i.e., they must be syntactically and
semantically acceptable. Any sentence which is not well-formed must
be rejected. The native speaker is the one who decides the well-
formed sentences.

12. Transformational rules are either optional or obligatory. An obligatory

rule is that one which must be applied, otherwise the sentence is
sentence is not right or incorrect, e.g., the rule of reflexivization (Zeki
cut himself). An optional rule is that one which may or may not be
applied like negative or interrogative transformations.

13. Transformational rules have the property of 'recursiveness', i.e., the

capacity to be applied more than once in generating a given sentence.
In the following sentence, for example, the rule of relativization is
applied twice.

e.g., This is the dog than chased cat that killed the rat.

61
14. Transformations do four processes:

a) rearrangement / position change

b) Substitution / replacement

c) addition

d) deletion

These processes can be clarified in the examples below:

e.g., Ali has taken the keys. (Active)

The keys have been taken (by Ali). (Passive)

a) Rearrangement of the object (the keys) has become the

grammatical subject in the transformed sentence;
b) 'have' replaces 'has';
c) 'been' is added, and
d) 'Ali' is deletable, since deletion is optional or obligatory.

5.3.2. The post 'Aspect' Theory

Since the 1960s, several fresh theoretical approaches to grammatical

analysis have emerged, in addition to some modifications to the
transformational theory, most of which can be seen as a development of
Chomsky's proposals – or as a reaction against them. These are: Case
Grammar, Relational Grammar, X-bar Theory, Montague Grammar,
Generalized Phrase Structure Grammar, Functional Grammar, Realistic
Grammar and Network Grammar.

Note: The above mentioned theories and approaches are left for further
studies and our interest here is only in case grammar and
generative semantic theory.

62
 1. Case Grammar

It refers to an approach to grammatical analysis devised by the

American linguist Charles Fillmore (1929 - ) in the late 1960s, within the
general orientation of generative grammar. It focuses on the semantic
roles and relationships (or 'cases') played by elements of sentences
structure. It is primarily a reaction against the standard-Theory analysis of
sentences where notions such as (S, O, V and C) are neglected in favour
of analyses in terms of NP, VP, etc. The term 'case' is used because of the
similarity with several of the traditional meanings covered by this term.
The original proposal set up six cases (agentive, instrumental, dative,
factitive, locative and objective) and gave rules for their combination in
defining the use of verbs, e.g., a verb like 'open' can be used with an
'objective' and 'instrumental' case, e.g.,

The key opened the door.

(Instrumental) (Objective)

or with an additional agent, e.g., (The man opened the door.)

Moreover, a set of sentences such as (The key opened the door);

(The door was opened by/with a key); (The door opened); (The man
opened the door with a key); etc., illustrate the several stable semantic
roles despite the varying surface grammatical structures. Later other cases
were suggested (source, goal, counter-agent, etc.). The problem in
formalizing this conception of linguistic structure have remained very
great, and case grammar came to attract somewhat less interest in the
mid-1970s.

63
 2. Generative Semantics

Generative semantics is a school of thought within the generative

linguistic theory produced by several American linguists, primarily by
George Lakoff, James McCawley, Paul Postal and John Ross in the early
1970s. It views the semantic component of a grammar as being the
generative base from which syntactic structure can be derived. This puts
the approach in contrast with Chomsky in the standard theory. Thus,
according to them if you want to give a talk, you first arrange the idea
semantically in the mind. Then you need syntax to organize the idea
according to the rules of grammar (so it is interpretative). The final stage
is to apply the phonological rules of a language to be able to speak (as it
is interpretative too). Hence, semantics is the heart according to them.

64
 CHAPTER SIX
Language

Before answering the question 'What is language?', we should know

that there is both a 'functional side' to language, i.e., the jobs language
does in human society and there is a 'formal side', i.e., the way language
is structured.

6.1. Language: The Functional Side

Language is a part of culture. It is part of human behaviour.
Language is an acquired habit of systematic vocal activity representing
meanings coming from human experiences, i.e., it is an acquired vocal
system for communicating meaning. In other words, language is said to
be an oral controlled system used for communication by a single society.
This tells us that:

1. Language operates in a regular and systematic fashion.

2. Language is basically oral and that the oral symbols represent
meaning as they are related to real life situation and experiences.
3. Language is a controlled system.
4. Language has a social function, and that without it society would
probably not exist.
5. Language is the most fundamental means of human communication.
It is the primary object of the study of linguistics. It is the most
frequently used and the most highly developed form human
communication.

A Definition of Language From Different View Points

A. Anthropologists regard language as a form of cultural behaviour. The

American anthropologist linguist Edward Sapir (1884-1939), for
instance, defines language as "a purely human and non-instinctive

65
 method of communicating ideas, emotions, and desires by means of a
system of voluntary produced symbols." This implies that:
1. Language is a purely human activity, although some animals have
communication system which have certain analogies to human
language.
2. All human beings use language to interact with other members of the
same speech community.
3. Language is not only used as an instrument of communication, but
also as a means of individual expression.
4. Language is not instinctive. It has to be learnt as a system of arbitrary
symbols which are primarily vocal produced by the organs of speech
but, secondary by other systems such as writing.

B. Sociolinguists define language as an interaction between members of

social group.
C. Students of literature view language as an artistic medium.
D. Philosophers think that language is a means of interpreting human
experience.
E. Teachers say that language is a set of skills.

6.1.1. Language as an Act of Communication

Language as an act of communication is basically the transmission of

information of some kind – a 'message' from a source to a receiver (both
are human and the message is transmitted either vocally through the air or
graphically by marks on a surface usually a paper).

There are other forms of communication (not necessarily human)

such as the instinctive voices which animals of a given species use to
communicate with each other. This is communication, but not language;
since language is essentially a human phenomenon.

66
 There are other systems or methods of communication connected
with human beings which linguists do not consider as language. They are
simply other possibilities of human communication. For example, some
secret societies have a system of communication by touch or with their
mouths or other parts of their faces or any other senses (only the visual
and vocal/auditory senses are frequently used). The use of the senses of
taste, smell and touch are restricted as far as human communication is
concerned.

Note (1): The science that deals with the scientific study of the properties of
signaling systems whether natural or artificial is known as 'semiotics'.
In recent years, the study of semiotics has come to be applied to the
analysis of patterned human communication in all its sensory modes,
I.e., hearing, sight, taste, touch and smell and in all contexts (e.g.,
music, film, dance, politics, etc., as well as language). The extension
of the subject of the analysis of animal systems of communication is
known as 'Zoo semiotics'. Further, semiotics investigates the structure
of all possible sign systems and the roles these systems play in the way
we create and perceive meanings in socio-cultural behaviour.

Note (2): Examples of other human systems and facial expressions of

communication other than language are 'body language', (e.g.,
gestures), 'sign language', (e.g., railway signals and traffic lights).
Others are the languages of ants, bees, and birds.

Note (3): Esperanto is a language based on pre-existing natural languages

which was invented in the late 19th C. for the purpose of international
communication.

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6.1.2. language as an Oral Activity

The visual system is well-established in human beings. In addition,

all the facial expressions and bodily gestures, hand signals, winks, raised
eyebrows and so on communicate a great deal of information.

Despite its importance, the visual system of communication in

humans does not have by any means the same structure, as the vocal-there
is nothing really like grammar, for instance. Therefore, linguists do not
call it language. They restrict the term 'language' to a vocal system of
human communication.

Language is basically oral. The message is transmitted vocally

through the air from the speaker to the listener. The spoken language is
alive, while the written is a fossil. The spoken language always changes
by introducing new terms to it while the written language is something
artificial.

6.1.3. Language as a Controlled Act of Communication

Language should be controlled by the brain to give sense. Our speech

must be controlled. We must think before we speak and our language
should be based on rules that govern our speech telling us what is right
and what is wrong. Besides, we cannot breathe, snore or sneeze at our
will, but we can control our language. We can speak or nor at our will or
we can use certain words ant time we like.

There is a difference between information and communication. For

example, audible vocal noises such as a sneeze or a snore do not
communicate a message in the same sense as when we speak words or
sentences. A sneeze, for example, may inform us that there is a person
who has a cold. Words, on the other hand, are not tied down to our bodily

68
 state. Thus, uncontrolled vocal noises lacking any clear internal structure
or conventional meaning are not part of language.

Language is a system of systems. It has both a phonological system

and a grammatical system, each with its proper units and rules of
acceptable combination and order. Language is systematic because it can
be described in terms of a limited number of units that can combine only
in a limited number of ways.

6.1.3.1. Voice Quality

It is an idiosyncratic feature and it is excluded from language. It is a

relatively permanent feature of our speech and it is different from the rest
of our utterance. It only alters with age or physical change. It represents a
personal quality so it is not a language. Whenever we speak, we make
known our identity to the outside world. There are features of every one's
voice which allow others to recognize individuals without seeing them.
Normally, people can do nothing about their voice quality, nor do they
usually want to change it – unless they have some professional interest in
mimicry or acting.

Note: Mimics refers to people who deliberately imitate another's voice quality.

6.1.3.2. Accent and Dialect

Accent is not excluded from language. It is a more general

phenomenon, which refers to the totality of sonic features a person has
including his voice quality. It is usually restricted to the non-idiosyncratic
features of pronunciation, i.e., to those sounds which would also be used
by a number of other people and which inform us that someone comes
from a particular region or social group. Thus, voice quality tells us who
people are , accent where they are from.

69
Note (1): Idiosyncratic features of vocal communication are not to be
considered as language, since language is essentially a controlled
behaviour shared by all the people in a given speech community.
Language goes beyond the range of idiosyncrasy. Unless we all
share basically the same set of vocal conventions, we should not
be able to communicate with each other. Society does not permit
too many idiosyncrasies, too much originally in language.

Note (2): 'Accent' refers to a variety of language differing from the

standard, particularly in pronunciation, for instance, in the speech
of foreigners. The term 'dialect', on the other hand, refers to a
variety of a language, differing in pronunciation, grammar and
vocabulary from the standard language, which is in itself a
socially favoured dialect.

There are Three Types of Dialects:

Dialect

Regional Social Temporal

1. Regional Dialects: (Local or geographical) are spoken by the people

of a particular geographical area within a speech community, e.g.,
Cockney in London.
2. Social Dialects: (class dialects) are spoken by the members of a
particular group or stratum of a speech community, e.g., the dialect
of the Nobles in old English or the dialects of other social class, i.e.,
of the working class.
3. Temporal dialects: historical dialects od states of language represent
a variety of a language used at a particular stage in its historical
development, e.g., mid 19th C. British English.

71
Note: One dialect may dominate as the official or standard form of the
language and this is the variety which may come to be written down.

6.1.3.3. What is the Difference Between Dialect and language

Dialects are sub-divisions of languages. It is usually said that people

speak different languages when they do not understand each other. But,
many of the so-called dialects of Chinese (Mandarin, Cantonese,
Pekingese) are mutually unintelligible in their spoken forms. However,
they share the same written language, which is the main reason why one
talks of them as dialects of Chinese. And the opposite situation occurs:
Swedes, Norwegians, and Danes are generally able to understand each
other, but their separate histories, cultures, literature and political structure
make them being referred to as different languages.

6.1.3.4. The Difference Between Pidgin and Creole

Creole is a dialect of French, Spanish or English spoken by persons

of mixed European and African descent in North and South America and
West Indies.

All known languages are of equal complexity, as far as their

grammatical structure is concerned. The only exception of such
generalization is in respect of Pidgin language. It is a native language of
no one. It is formed by two speech communities attempting to
communicate each approximating to the more obvious and common
features of others' language. Pidgin languages are specialized ones, used
for trade or similar purposes by those who have no other common
language. They have simplified grammar and a highly restricted
vocabulary by comparison with the language or languages upon which
they are based. But they are used for very restricted purposes. Moreover,
when what originated as a 'pidgin' comes to be used as the mother tongue

71
of a speech community, it not only extends its vocabulary, but also
develops its own grammatical complexity, i.e., pidgins become creolized
when they become the mother tongues of communities.

6.2. Some Characteristics of Human Language

There is a number of properties which differentiate human language

from all other forms of signalling and which make it a unique type of
communication system:

1. Language is Sound: Language is basically oral, since the most

common experience most humans have of language is in speaking and
listening to it. This statement also implies that the sounds of a
language have primacy over their representation in writing. While the
writing systems of languages have their systematic aspects, the
linguist considers writing and other methods of representing language
secondly to the basic phenomenon of speech.
2. Language is Systematic: All human languages are systematic, and
each language has its own system. There must be a system to organize
whatever language or dialect. It is describable in terms of a finite
number of units that can combine only in a limited number of ways. It
refers to the number of permissible combinations, i.e., whatever the
number of symbols not all the number of possible combination of
sounds or grammatical units will occur, e.g., the word order SVO is a
permissible order in English, but not in Arabic where the order VSO is
permissible. Moreover, with the words 'table' and 'stable' it is possible
to add to each the suffix (-s) to give 'tables' and 'stables', but we
cannot add a prefix to 'stable' that would give a recognizable sequence
in English, nor can we add another suffix to each. On the phonological
level, for example, 'stab' is a possible combination in English, while
'stba' is not.

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3. Language is a system of systems: Languages have both a
phonological or a grammatical system, each with its proper units and
rules of possible combination and order. Units are not permitted to
combine for several reasons: phonological, grammatical, stylistic or
semantic. Language is a system of systems all of which operate
simultaneously, but we can distinguish, for the sake of analysis, the
units and combination rules proper to each. For example, there is no
such word as 'gstable' in English, also there is no grammatical rule by
which we can add another suffix to 'tables'.
4. Language is Meaningful: The sounds produced in speech are
connected with almost every fact of human life and communication.
There is, in fact, a relationship between the kinds of sounds speakers
of various languages make and their environment. It is through the
learning of language that a child becomes an active member of the
community. Moreover, the leaders in a society preserve and advance
their leadership through their ability to communicate with people via
the use of language.
5. Language is Linear: A fundamental feature of a spoken language is
that it is linear, since the sounds of language are produced by
successive movements of the speech organs. Speech is linear in terms
of time. We can represent language by using separate symbols for
each sound and arranging the symbols in a linear succession that
parallels the order in which the sounds are produced. For example, in
spoken language, linearity is realized in terms of time. Consequently,
when we say 'cup' for instance, first we pronounce /k/ then /Λ/ and
finally /p/, one follows the other. In writing, linearity is realized in
terms of space or distance, i.e., in writing 'cup' we start from left to
right, writing one letter after the other.

73
6. Language is Arbitrary: The forms of human language demonstrate a
property of arbitrariness, i.e., they do not, in any way, fit the objects
they denote. There is no natural connection between a linguistic form
and its meaning. They have arbitrary relationship with the objects they
are used to indicate. There is no intrinsic connection. For example,
between the word 'elephant' and the animal it symbolizes.

Thus, communication through speech alone between speakers of

different languages is impossible because there is no necessary
connection between the sounds that each language uses and the
message that is expressed, even if the message in both languages is
identical. There are different expressions for 'baby' or 'infant' in
English, and the other languages use different-sounding words to
express the same thing, e.g., Germans say 'kind' and Turkish say
'cojuk'. If there had to be a direct connection between the nature of the
things languages talks about and the expressions used to represent
them, there would only be one language.

Note: In English, 'onomatopoeic' words such as 'cuckoo', 'quack-quack',

'splash' and 'crash' are also referred to as 'echo words' or 'mimetic
words'. This indicates that a word intended to mimic a natural
sound, i.e., some words in a language have sounds which seem to
echo the sounds of objects or activities. In most languages, these
onomatopoeic words are relatively rare and the vast majority of
linguistic expressions are in fact arbitrary.

7. Language is Conventional: The use and formation of linguistic units

is so regular that these units almost seem to be employed according to
an agreement among the speakers. Language, therefore, can be said to
be conventional as a consequence of this apparent agreement.
Speakers in a given community, for example, use the same sort of

74
 expressions to name the same things, and the same sort of
constructions to deal with similar situations. It is this implicit
convention that constitutes and stabilizes linguistic system.

8. Language is a System of Contrasts: Language is a system of

differences to be observed. Individuals speak alike and in the same
language when they make the same number of phonetic and
grammatical distinctions as other speakers, for example, there is a
difference on the phonological level between /neim/ and /mein/. Thus,
the meaning is understandable. Moreover, between record /re'co:d/
and record /riko':d/, the stress tells that the former word is a 'noun'
and the latter is a 'verb'.

9. Language is Unique: Since languages are arbitrary and systematic

network of contrasts, each language must be considered unique. For
example, two languages may differ in the number of parts of speech
or may require quite different combinations of these parts, even
though the number is the same. For this reason, there are new patterns
to learn in the study of foreign languages.

10. Displacement: It is one of the properties of human language, which

animal communication is generally considered to lack. Most animals
can communicate about things in the immediate environment only,
i.e., they are restricted to the 'here' and 'now', e.g., a bird utters its
danger cry only when danger is present. It cannot give information
about something which is remote in time and place. But, human
language can communicate about things that are absent as easily as
about things that are present. This phenomenon is known as
'displacement'.

75
 It is this property which enables humans to recount events that
happened in the past, to talk about future plans and to create
imaginative events of myth and fiction.

11. Productivity/Creativity: It is a feature of all languages that new

utterances are continually being created. A child learning a language is
especially active in forming and producing utterances, which s/he has
never heard before. With adults, new situations arise or new objects
have to be described, so the language users manipulate their linguistic
resources to produce new expressions and new sentences. It is an
aspect of language, which is linked to the fact that the potential
number of utterances in any human language is finite. On the other
hand, by imaginative manipulation of the linguistic units, poets and
creative writers extend our awareness of possible relations among
things. In this way, they may be said to create a new world for us
through language.

12. Cultural Transmission: Brown eyes and dark hair are inherited from
the parents, but the parents' language is not inherited. A language is
acquired in a culture through contact with other speakers and not from
parental genes. For instance, an infant born to Arab parents, who live
in Iraq and speak Iraqi Baghdadi accent; which is brought up from its
birth by English speakers in England, may have the physical
characteristics inherited from its natural parents, but it will inevitably
speak English.

This process, whereby language is passed on from one generation

to the next, is described as 'cultural transmission'. While humans are
born with innate predisposition to acquire language, it is clear that
they are not born with the ability to produce utterances in a specific
language, such as English. Human infants growing up in isolation

76
 produce no instinctive language. Thus, cultural transmission of a
specific language is crucial in the human acquisition process.

13. Discreteness: The property of discreteness indicates that the sounds

used in language are meaningfully distinct. Each sound in a language
is treated as discrete. For example, the pronunciations of 'pack' and
'back' lead to a distinction in meaning which is due to the differences
between the /p/ and /b/ sound in English. Both sounds are bilabial
stops, but /p/ is a member of the class of voiceless stops, while /b/ is a
member of the class of voiced stops.

14. Duality: This property indicates that language is organized at two

levels simultaneously. In terms of speech production, there is the
physical level at which it is possible to produce individual sounds like
/t/, /æ/ and /k/. When these sounds are produced in a particular
combination as in /tæk/ (tack), we have another level producing a
meaning which is different from the meaning of the combinations 'act'
and 'cat' /ækt/, /kæt/. So, there are distinct sounds at one level and at
the other level, there are distinct meanings.

The duality of levels is one of the most economical features of

human language, since with limited sets of distinct sounds, it is
possible to produce a very large number of sound combinations, i.e.,
words, which are distinct in meaning.

77
6.3. The Structure of Language: The Formal Side

6.3.1. Expression and Content

A language can be regarded as having two planes: expression and

content. On the expression plane, linguistics deals with form or shape of
linguistic elements without necessarily taking their meaning into account.
From the point of view of form, for instance, 'Colourless green ideas sleep
furiously,' (a nonsense sentence made by Chomsky) is a well-formed
utterance. The content plane deals with semantics – the study of meaning.
Thus, from the view point of semantics, the above sentence is rejected,
since it is meaningless.

Note: The study of form is less complex than the study of meaning. So, the
expression plane of a language is usually analysed before the
content plane.

6.3.2. Levels of Analysis

On the expression plane, language can be split up into at least two

levels. Sounds are studied on one level, and the elements formed by
combinations of sounds on another.

Every language possesses basic sound units or 'phonemes'. The study

of these units is known as 'phonology'. A phoneme is meaningless by
itself., but groups of phonemes form larger, meaningful units. These
larger units are 'morphemes'. The study of morphemes and the way they
combine together into words is 'morphology'.

Words can be combined together to form phrases and sentences. The

study of this process is syntax. Morphology and syntax together make up
the level of grammar.

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 Levels of Analysis

Phonology

Morphology
Grammar
Syntax

6.3.3. Hierarchical Structure

The level of phonology is relatively straightforward. But on the level
of grammar, there are several types of units: morphemes, words, phrases,
clauses and sentences. These form a hierarchical structure, in which
smaller units combine to form successively larger units as seen in the
diagram below:

Sentence / Clause

My eldest brothers rapidly repaired sixteen broken windows.

NP VP NP

My eldest brothers rapidly repaired sixteen broken windows

My eldest brothers rapidly repaired sixteen broken windows

My old -est brother -s rapid -ly repair -ed six teen break --en window -s

79
 CHAPTER SEVEN
The Sounds of Language
In fact, the sounds of spoken English do not match up with the letters
of written English, e.g., 'island' /ail∂nd/. If the letters of alphabet cannot
represent the sounds we make, as seen in the above example, it would be
difficult to describe the sounds of a language like English. One solution is
to produce a separate, alphabet system with symbols representing sounds.
This set of symbols is called 'phonetic alphabet' and they are used to
represent both the consonants and vowels of English words.

7.1. Phonetics and Phonology: The Differences between Them

Phonetics means the scientific study of human speech sounds.

Phonology, on the other hand, refers to the study of the sound system of a
given language or it deals with the systematic study of speech sounds.
Thus, phonology is systematic while phonetics studies the physical
properties of sounds.

Phonetics studies the defining characteristics of all human vocal

noise, and concentrates its attention on those sounds which occur in the
world's languages. It teaches people to recognize the different sounds
which occur in the spoken form of any language, and moreover to
produce them for themselves. It also trains people to describe the many
ways in which the tongue, lips and other vocal organs function in order to
produce those sounds.

Phonology aims to demonstrate the patterns of distinctive sound

found in a language. It is concerned with the range and function of sounds
in specific languages. It also deals with the rules, which can be written to
show the types of phonetic relationship that relate and contrast other
linguistic units.

81
 There are three branches of phonetics: (1) Articulatory, (2) Acoustic,
and (3) Auditory.

In Phonology, two branches od study are usually recognized. They

are as follows:

1. Segmental Phonology: It analyses speech into discrete segments

as phonemes (Vowels and Consonants).
2. Supra-segmental Phonology: It analyses those features which
extend over more than on segment, such as stress, intonation,
juncture and pitch.

Phonetics is general, descriptive and classificatory, whereas

phonology is particular (having a particular language or languages in
view) and functional, i.e., concerned with the working or functioning of
speech sounds in a language or languages. A symbol that represent a
phoneme will appear between two slashes, like /p/, a phonological
feature, while a symbol that represents a phonetic form will appear in
square brackets, like [p] a phonetic feature.

Phonology starts from abstract symbols, whereas phonetics starts

from actual symbols. It talks about the actual methods of articulation
which speech depends on to produce sounds.

Phonetics is essentially an empirical study. It is also a general one

that is not restricted to studying the sounds of anyone language or group
of languages; it studies the features of all human sounds, whichever
language they happen to occur in.

When we talk about the 'vowel system of English', 'the consonants of

German' or 'the intonation of Arabic', we are making phonological
statements. When we talk about 'bilabial consonants in general' our study
is going to be a primarily phonetic one.

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7.2. Phonetics

The science that studies the characteristics of human sound-making

especially those sounds used in speech, and provides methods for their
description, classification and transcription.

Phonetics

Articulatory Acoustic Auditory

1. Articulatory Phonetics: It is the study of the way speech sounds are

made (articulated) by the vocal organs.
2. Acoustic Phonetics: It studies the physical properties of the speech
sounds, as transmitted between mouth and ear (as sound waves in the
air).
3. Auditory Phonetics: It studies the perceptual response to speech
sounds, as mediated by ear, auditory nerve and brain.

7.2.1. Sounds are Classified in Terms of:

1. Voiced and Voiceless Sounds: This term refers to the classification

of speech sounds, referring to the auditory result of the vibration of
vocal cords. Sounds produced while the vocal cords are vibrating are
voiced sounds, e.g., [b, z, & i]. Those produced with no such
vibration are voiceless or unvoiced, e.g., [p, s, h]

We start with the air pushed by the lung up through the trachea
(windpipe) to the larynx. Inside the larynx are the vocal cords, which take
two basic positions:

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 (1) When the vocal cords are spread apart, the air from the lungs
passes between them unimpeded. Sounds produced in this way are
described as voiceless, e.g., fish /f---ʃ/.
(2) When the vocal cords are drawn together, the air from the lungs
repeatedly pushes them apart as it passes through, creating a
vibration. Sounds produced in this way are voiced, e.g., big /big/.

2. Place of Articulation; referring to where in the vocal apparatus a

sound is produced. When the air passes through the larynx, it comes
up and out through the mouth and/or the nose. Most consonant sounds
are produced by using the tongue and other parts of the mouth to
constrict the shape of the oral cavity, in some way, through which the
air is passing. The place of articulation of most consonants are:
1. Bilabials: These are sounds formed using both lips, e.g., [p] and
[b] and [m]. [p] is voiceless, [b] and [m] are voiced. [w] in 'way'
and 'world' is also bilabial.
2. Labiodentals: These are sounds formed with the upper teeth and
the lower lip, e.g., [f] and [v].
3. Dentals: Sounds produced with the tongue tip behind the upper
front teeth, e.g., [θ] and [ð].
- Interdental: a manner of pronunciation with the tongue tip
between the upper and lower teeth.
4. Alveolars: These sounds are produced with the front part of the
tongue on the alveolar ridge, e.g., [t], [ʃ] and [s] voiceless, z, d, 3,
voiced.
5. Alveo-palatals: These sounds are produced with the tongue at the
very front of the palate near the alveolar ridge, e.g., tʃ, dz.

Note: Only one sound is produced with the tongue in the middle of the
palate /j/, e.g., /ju:/ in you. This is called palatal.

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 6. Velars: Further back in the roof of the mouth, beyond the hard
palate there is a soft area called the soft palate or the velum.
Sounds produced with the back of the tongue against the velum are
called 'velars'; /k/ and /g/ also /ŋ/.
7. Glottals: The glottis is the space between the vocal cords in the
larynx. In the production of voiceless sounds, there is no usage of
the air passing out through the mouth. An obstruction or narrowing
causing friction but not vibration between the vocal cords. The
sound produced is [h].

Note: (Glottal stop) when the glottis is closed completely, very briefly and
then released. This sound occurs in many dialects of English, but
does not have a written form in the Roman alphabet. For example,
we can produce this sound if we try to say the words 'butter' and
'bottle' without producing the (-tt) sound in the middle. [?] is
glottal.

8. Uvular: Sounds made with the back of the tongue and the uvula,
e.g., (r).

3. Manner of Articulation: referring to how the speech sounds are

articulated. Such a description is necessary, if we wish to differentiate
between two sounds. For example, [t] and [s] having the same place of
articulation, i.e., 'alveolar' and both are voiceless, but they differ in
their manner of articulation, i.e., [t] is 'stop', whereas [s] is fricative:
1. Stops: It means producing the sound by some form of complete
'stopping' of the air stream and then letting it go abruptly (rough
sudden release of air), e.g., [p], [b], [t], [d], [k], [g], and [?].
2. Fricatives: involves almost blocking the air stream and having
the air push through the narrow opening. As the air is pushed
through, a type of friction is produced resulting sounds called
fricatives, e.g., [f], [v], [θ], [ð], [s], [z], [ʃ], and [ȝ].
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 'fish and those', begin and end with fricatives.
↓ ↓ ↓ ↓
/f/ /ʃ/ /ð/ /z/
3. Affricatives: These sounds are produced with a combination of
a stop and a fricative. The stop is released slowly with the result
that a fricative is heard, e.g., [tʃ] and [dȝ] in 'chop' and 'judge'.
4. Nasals: When the velum is lowered allowing the airflow to flow
out through the nose to produce [m], [n], and [ŋ], the sounds are
described as nasals. All of them are voiced.
5. Liquids: The [t] sound is liquid, i.e., it is produced by letting
the air stream flow around the sides of the tongue as it makes
contact with the alveolar ridge. Also, [r] is produced with the
tongue tip raised and curled behind the alveolar ridge.
6. Glides: These are sound like /w/ and /y/. They are glides or
semi vowels. They are transition sounds as the vocal organs
move towards or away from an articulation (on glide and off
glide), i.e., the production of an intermediate sound when the
speech organs pass from the position of one speech sound to the
position of another. They are usually produced with the tongue
moving, gliding to or from a position associated with a
neighboring vowel sound, e.g., the ice /ðiiais/.

Note: Consonants are mostly articulated with a closure or obstruction in

the vocal tract. Vowels are produced with a relatively free flow of air.

Note: In the description of vowels, we consider the way in which the

tongue influences the shape through which the airflow must pass.
So, we have front, central, back, high, mid and low. Rounded and
unrounded refer to the shape of the lips. Close, open refer to the
relative opening of the jaw.

85
 Chart of the English Vowels

unrounded rounded unrounded rounded unrounded rounded

Close i: u:
High
Open i u
Close ei ə ȝ əu
Mid
Open e Λ o
Close ᴂ o:
Low
Open a

Diphthongs: a combination of two vowel sounds, e.g., /oi/, /ei/, /ou/. In

the pronunciation of diphthongs, we move from one vocalic position to
another.

7.3. The Sound patterns of Language

Every individual has a physically different vocal tract, (in terms of

size and shape) when distinguishes him/her from the others. Thus, every
individual will pronounce sounds differently. For instance, there are
thousands of physically different ways of saying the simple word 'me'.
Moreover, each individual will not pronounce this word in a physically
identical manner on every occasion (when he is shouting, is suffering
from a cold, or is chewing gum).

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7.3.1. Phonology

Phonology is a branch of linguistics, which studies the sound

systems of languages. The aim of phonology is to demonstrate the
patterns of distinctive sound found in a language, and to make as general
statements as possible about the nature of sound systems in the languages
of the world. In other words, phonology is concerned with the range and
function of sounds in specific languages, and with the rules which can be
written to show the types of phonetic relationships that relate and contrast
words and other linguistic units:

1. Phonology is based on a theory of what every speaker of language

unconsciously knows about the sound patterns of that language,
i.e., the abstract system stored in his mind.
2. Phonology is concerned with the abstract or mental aspect of the
sounds in language rather than with the actual physical articulation
of speech sounds.
3. Phonology is concerned with the abstract set of sounds in a
language, which allows us to distinguish meaning in the actual
physical sounds we say and hear. For example, the distinction
between [t], [d], and [b] regardless of which individual vocal tract
is being used to pronounce them make the words 'tie' /tai/, 'buy'
/bai/ meaningfully distinct.

7.3.1.1. Phoneme

It is the smallest unit of phonology or the minimal unit in the sound

system of language. Each language can be shown to operate with a
relatively small number of phonemes. No two languages have the same
phonemic system. In short, it is a minimum significant sound unit, the
smallest unit of sound which can bring about a change of meaning.

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Note: Type and Token: Statistical terms used in various branches of
linguistics to denote an actual observed item such as a speech sound
or an utterance 'token' and the general class into which linguistic
analysis places it, e.g., (phoneme) 'type'. For example, /p/ is
described as a sound type (an abstract segment in phonology) and
all the spoken versions of /p/ are tokens (physical produced
segments in phonetics, like [p] and [ph]).

7.3.1.2. The Distinctive Features

It refers to a minimal contractive unit recognized by some linguists

as a means of explaining how the sound system of languages is
recognized. The phoneme is seen as a bundle of phonetic distinctive
features:

The English phoneme /p/, for example, can be seen as the result of the
combination of the features of [+ bilabial], [+ voiced] and [+ stop]. Other
phonemes will differ from /p/ in respect of at least one of these features.

7.3.1.3. Minimal Pairs and Sets

Minimal pairs: when two words are identical in form except for a
contrast in one phoneme occurring in the same position, they are
described as minimal pairs, e.g.:

Pit, Pin
Rock, Lock
Pit, bit

Minimal Sets: When a group of words are differentiated each one

from the others by changing one phoneme (always in the same position),
they are considered minimal sets.

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 e.g., (1) fit /fit/
feet /fi:t/
The minimal set is based on vowel
fat /fæt/ phonemes in the mid position.
fought /fo:t/
foot /fut/

e.g. (2) big /big/

pig /pig/ The minimal set is based on consonant
fig /fig/ phonemes in the initial position.
dig /dig/
wig /wig/

7.3.1.4. Phones and Allophones

For example, in English [t] and [th] are allophones of the same
phoneme /t/. /t/ and /d/ are distinct phonemes both alveolar stop, one is
voiced and the other voiceless.

This is my toe /thou/.

Compare
This is my dough /dou/.

Phones
The phonetic specifications of the sounds. They are the smallest
possible segments of sounds abstracted from the continuum of speech. /i:/
has two phones [ĩ:] and [i:]. The phones are the realizations of the
phoneme and the variants are referred to as allophones of the phoneme.

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Allophones

These are phonetic variants of phonemes (variations in

pronunciation). In Arabic, for instance, the phoneme /b/ has two
allophones [p] and [b], while in English, the phoneme /p/ has two
allophones [p] and [ph].

An allophone is a speech sound which is one of a number of variants

of a phoneme.

Note: The main difference between an 'allophone' and a 'phoneme' is that

substituting one phoneme for another will result in a word with a
different meaning, as well as, different pronunciation such as /big/
and /pig/, but substituting allophones only gives different
pronunciation of the same word such as [i:] in 'seen' where [ĩ:] is
nasalized and [i:] in 'seed' not nasalized. Both [ĩ:] and [i:] are
allophones of the same phoneme /i:/.

7.3.1.5. Assimilation
It is a phonetic process when two phonemes occur in sequence and
some aspects of one phoneme is taken or 'copied' by the other. For
example, any vowel becomes nasal wherever it immediately precedes a
nasal by such a process, as in:

Pin /pĩn/ [i] would be [ĩ]

Pan /păn/ [æ] would be [æ]
or when one phoneme resembles or becomes identical with a
neighbouring sound. Sit down /sidaun/, newspaper /s/ instead of /z/ as
affected by voiceless /p/.

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 7.3.1.6. Elision

Refers to the process of 'omission' of a sound segment which would

be present in the deliberate pronunciation of a word in isolation. For
example, the /d/ sound is commonly omitted in the pronunciation of
words like 'and' and 'friendship'.

Aspects /æspeks/
omission of /t/
He must be /hi: mɅs bi:/
Note: Not only consonants disappear but the process appears in vowels too,
e.g., in 'cabinet' /kæbinit/, in casual speech, middle vowel disappears /kæbnit/.

7.3.1.7. Prosodic Features

Phonology has always been mainly concerned with the study of a

language's vowels and consonants, but it not only deals with 'what one
says, but the way he say it'. The 'way' we say words and sentences refers
to the different melodies, rhythms and tones of voice we use when we
speak. Thus, the prosodic features (or supra-segmental) are those
variations in pitch, loudness, speed and rhythm which communicate
differences of meaning. The most complex of these involves the way
language uses tone, i.e., 'intonation'.

The prosodic variations communicate a wide range of meanings. For

instance, the difference between friendliness, surprise, shock or anger, or
the contrast between stating and questioning (He is in London ↓) falling
intonation; and (He is in London ↑) rising intonation.

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 The Supra-Segmental Sounds of English

Supra-Segmental Sounds

Stress Intonation Pause Juncture Rhythm

1. Stress: It is the force of breath with which sounds are pronounced.

The strength or weakness of the force is determined in relation to
other forces of breath in the utterance or utterances of a person.

Some linguists believe that there are four phonemic word stress
levels (in order of loudness):

(a) Primary stress-symbol: / /

(b) Secondary stress-symbol: / /
(c) Tertiary stress-symbol: / /
(d) Weak stress-symbol:
e.g., desert /dezt/ (n.), /diza:t/ (v.).

Our linguists believe that there are only three phonemic word stress
levels, i.e., primary, secondary and weak.

2. Intonation: It means the changes in the pitch (or music) of the voice
while producing speech. In English, there are four phonemic pitch
levels. These are given numbers and names:
4 ----- high
3 ----- high
2 ----- mid
1 ----- low mid
e.g., 2He goes 3home1, ↓ (falling intonation/statement)
2
Does he go 3home3? ↑ (raising intonation/question)

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3. Pause: It refers to the length of silence between parts of an utterance.
In English, there are two pause phonemes, i.e., 'short' and 'final'. The
symbols used for those phonemes are a single bar for the short pause
and a double bar for the final pause:
e.g., Go /he said/.

4. Juncture: It is really a very short pause; it is the space in speech

between sounds or words. In English, there is one juncture phoneme.
The symbol for juncture phoneme is /+/ (a plus sign).

e.g., a nice man / ∂+nais mæn/

an ice man /∂n+∂ismæn/

I scream /ai+skri:m/

Ice cream /ais + kri:m/

Putting this juncture in the wrong place may change the meaning of
an utterance or even turn it into an utterance that may not be understood.

5. Rhythm: It means the beat of language. In English, rhythm is stress-

timed. This means that the time between two primary stresses is the
same, i.e., if there are many words or syllables between the two
primary stresses, then these syllables will be pronounced fast: this is
the why native speakers of English jam their syllables. If, on the other
hand, there is only a small number of syllables between the primary
stresses, then syllables will be pronounced slowly and more clearly.
For example:
a. Can you see the doctor? All should be
b. Can you see the tall doctor? pronounced within
the same time period.
c. Can you see the tall and handsome doctor?

Note(1): A consonant cluster is a combination of two or more consonants.

Such clusters may occur in initial, medial, or final positions.

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 e.g., /pr/ 'prefer', (initial cluster with 2 consonants)

/str/ 'street', (initial cluster with 3 consonants)

/mpl/, 'complete' (medial cluster with 3 consonants)

/θs/ 'baths' (final cluster with 2 consonants)

Note (2): Complementary distribution refers to the mutual exclusiveness of

a pair of sounds in a certain phonetic environment. Thus, in
English, the two allophones of the phoneme /p/, /p h/ aspirate as in
the word (pin) and [p] non-aspirate as in the word (spin) are said
to be in complementary distribution, because only the non-
aspirate form [p] occurs after /s-/ and only the aspirate form [ph]
occurs at the beginning of a word.

Note (3): aspirate (= pronounced at the beginning of a word usually stop

consonants with a puff of breath).

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 CHAPTER EIGHT
Morphology and Syntax
8.1. The Meaning of Grammar

Grammar is part of any language. Just as there is no language

without sounds, so there is no language without grammar. It is that part of
language that represents the instruments by which we indicate structural
meaning. In the example below:

e.g., The cats saw the dog.

(a) The word 'the' is a grammatical word, because it has a grammatical

function.

(b) The sound /s/ in 'cats' is also essentially grammatical, because it

indicates number.

(c) 'cat' is the word that did the seeing and 'dog' was seen.

Thus, the word order in this sentence is a grammatical feature that

indicates meaning. The grammar of a language comprises two things, i.e.,
Morphology and Syntax.

Grammar

Morphology Syntax

Thus, what we mean by grammar is all the structure instruments that

indicate grammatical meaning. It is a way of describing the structure of
all the grammatical units and sentences which will account for all of the
grammatical sequences and rule out all the ungrammatical sequences.

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8.2. Morphology

It deals with the investigation of forms in language. Literally, it

means 'the study of form'. It was originally used in biology but since the
mid-19th century, it has also been used to describe the type of
investigation which analyzes all those basic elements which are in a
language.

It is a branch of grammar, which studies the structure of forms of

words, primarily through the use of the morpheme construct.

8.2.1. The Morpheme

It is the basic unit of the grammatical structure. It refers to the

minimal unit of meaning or grammatical function (i.e., the smallest
meaningful unit of a language), e.g., the re(1)open(2)ed(3), in the sentence
(The police reopened the investigation) consists of three morphemes, i.e.,
one minimal unit of meaning is 'open', another minimal unit of meaning
're', and a minimal unit of grammatical function '-ed' indicating past tense.

8.2.1.1. Free and Bound Morphemes

Morphemes are of two distinct types: Free and Bound.

Morphemes

Free Bound

Free morphemes are morphemes with distinct meanings, e.g., 'open'

and 'tour'.

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 Bound morphemes, on the other hand, cannot normally stand alone
with a distinct meaning, but which are attached to another form, e.g., 're-',
'-ist', '-ed', and '-s' (bound morphemes are mainly affixes).

Generally speaking, free morphemes can be considered as the set of

separate English word forms.

The Stem
It refers to the basic word-form, which is used with other bound
morphemes (also referred to as 'the base morpheme'). In other words, it
refers to any part of a word seen as a unit to which an operation can be
applied, as when one adds an affix to a stem or that morpheme in a word
that has the basic principle meaning. For example, in 'unhappy', the base
form is 'happy' or 'unhappy' is the base of 'unhappiness'.

Note: Base morphemes are of two types: 'free base' and 'bound base' as
there are a number of English words in which the element which
seems to be the 'stem' is not in fact 'free morpheme'.

Bases

Free Bound

Most of the bases in English are 'free morphemes'. For example, the
word 'readability' has the free base 'read' (that can stand alone carrying
the principle meaning of the word) and other suffixes as '-abil-' and '-ity'
and 'dress' in 'undressed', is also the free base.

A bound base is that morpheme in a word which represents the stem,

but to which it is hard to attach to a precise meaning (it cannot stand
alone as a separate word with meaning), e.g.,'-ceive' in receive and '-peat'
in 'repeat'.

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 Free Morphemes

Lexical Morphemes Functional Morphemes

Note: Free morphemes are divided into two categories, i.e., the first
category is that set of ordinary 'nouns', 'adjectives', 'verbs', and
'adverbs', i.e., (the open class items), the words which carry the
'content' of messages we convey. These are called (lexical
morphemes), i.e., man, school, car, garden, etc. The other type of
free morphemes is called 'functional morphemes' including words
that have structural and functional importance in sentences as the
prepositions (in, on, at, etc.), conjunctions (and, if, or, also, as a
result, since, etc.), demonstratives (this, that, these, those),
pronouns (I, you, we …), articles (a, an, the) which are referred to
as 'closed system items'.
Bound Morphemes

Inflectional Derivational
Morphemes Morphemes

Note (1): Affixes which are 'bound morphemes' can be divided into two
types: (1) Inflectional (2) Derivational. Derivational morphemes
(affixes) are usually used to make new words in the language and
are often used to make words of a different grammatical category
from the stem (i.e., they change the part of speech of the word), e.g.,
when we add a derivational morpheme (-ure) to the verb (fail), it is
changed into a noun 'failure', while 'punish' (v.) + (-ment) would be
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 'punishment' (n.). Thus, the derivational morphemes combine with
words in an arbitrary manner and they do not close the word, i.e.,
you can add more than one to the end of the word. For example, the
word 'nationalization', 'nation' (n.), -national (adj.) –nationalize (v.)
–nationalization (n.). In short, they change an existing word into a
new word.

Note (2): Inflectional morphemes, on the other hand, are not used to
produce new words in English language, i.e., they do not change the
part of speech of the words to which they are attached. Rather, they
indicate aspects of the grammatical function of a word, for example,
they change the noun from singular to plural or the tense of the verb
from present to past (boy – boys; play - played). Inflectional
morphemes are (-ing, -s, -er, -est, -ed). They change the form of a
word, in order to express its relationship other words in a sentence.
All inflectional morphemes in English are suffixes and the use of one
closes off the word (i.e., no other can be used).

8.2.2. Morphological Description

On the following diagram and the previous discussion and explanation

of the types of morphemes, we can describe any given grammatical
construction (e.g., a sentence) in terms of morphemic analysis):

Morphemes

Free Bound

Lexical Functional Inflectional Derivational

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Thus, the sentence (The boy's wildness shocked the teacher) would be
analyzed as follows:

The (Functional) – boy (lexical) – (-'s) (inflectional) – wild (lexical) –

ness (derivational) – shock (lexical) –ed (inflectional) – the (functional) –
teacher (lexical) and –s (inflectional).

Note: There is no derivational relation between the noun 'law' and the
adjective (legal), nor between the noun 'mouth' and the adjective
'oral' since each is taken or borrowed from a distinct language,
i.e., 'law' is a result of borrowing into old English from old Norse
(Norwegian); whereas 'legal' is borrowed from Latin. Also, 'mouth'
is an old English form and 'oral' is borrowed from Latin. Thus, a
full description of English morphology will have to take account of
both: (1) historical influences (2) the effect of borrowed elements.

8.2.3. Morphs and Allomorphs

The morpheme is not a segment of the word at all, it has no position

in the word. When the word can be segmented into parts, these segments
are referred to as morphs. Thus, the word 'bigger' is segmented into two
morphs, which can be written as 'big' and 'er' and in a phonological
transcription as /big/ and /-r/. Each morph represents a particular
morpheme. Morphemes may be represented by morphs. For example, the
word 'went', which cannot be segmented into morphs, represents the
combination of the two morphemes {go} and {-ed}.

Morphs are the actual forms used to realize morphemes

(phonological realization of a morpheme). A particular morpheme, which
is an abstract element of form, may be represented in different
environment by several different morphs; e.g., the plural morpheme{-spl}
in English may occur as /s/, /z/ and /iz/. Morphs which are alternative
representations of the same morpheme are called 'allomorphs'.
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 An allomorph is a phonemically different from the morpheme with
the same meaning e.g., /s/, /z/, /iz/, (all mean more than one) are members
of the same plural morpheme.

Morphemes are realized in speech by discrete units (morphs). Most

morphemes are realized by a single morph. Others are realized by more
than one morph according to their position in a word or sentence. Such
alternative morphs are called allomorphs or morphemic variants.

For example, the morpheme {-spl} has three allomorphs (/-s/, /-z/, /-
iz/), and in the word 'boys' we have two morphs realizing a lexical
morpheme 'boy' and an inflectional morpheme (-s) plural. Another
example is the form 'cat' which is a single morph realizing a lexical
morpheme. The form 'cats' consists of two morphs, realizing a lexical
morpheme 'cat' and an inflectional morpheme (plural).

- Dishes /-iz/
- Covers /-z/
- Cats /-s/
- Sleep /0/
- Man ~ men /æ/ ˃ (into) /e/

In the above example, we see that the actual forms of the morphs
which result from the single morpheme {-spl} plural are different. Yet,
they are all allomorphs of the same morpheme {-spl}, i.e., one allomorph
of 'plural' is the zero 0 morph, the plural of 'sheep' is 'sheep' + 0. Thus,
'sheep + plural' is represented at the morpheme level and it is realized as
'sheep' at the morph level.

8.2.4. Conditioning: Phonological and Morphological

With the {-spl} morpheme, the addition of /-iz/, /z/ and /-s/ is
determined by the kind of sound immediately preceding the suffix. In this

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and similar cases when the phonological environment determines which
allomorph is used, we say that the selection of allomorphs is
'phonologically conditioned'. But the plural morpheme {-spl} has further
allomorph, i.e., /∂n/ of 'ox - oxen' and the /0/ (zero) suffix of 'sheep -
sheep'. These two are in complementary distribution with all the others
(in that they associate only with specific words and do not overlap in
positions where /-iz/, /-z/ and /-s/ are found). But the words they attach
themselves to have nothing to do with their phonological environment.
Thus, the use of /-∂n/ as the plural of 'ox' is determined by specific
morpheme 'ox'. Likewise, the occurrence of the plural 0 allomorph is only
in few words as 'deer', 'sheep' and 'ship' and so on which is determined by
the fact that these special morphemes require a 0 plural. In such cases,
when we can describe the environment that requires a certain allomorphs
only by identifying specific morphemes, we say that the selection of
allomorph is morphologically conditioned. We can describe by formula
these live allomorphs of {-spl}:

{-spl} = /-iz/~/-z/ ~ /-s/ ∞ /∂n/ ∞ /Ǿ/

Note: The ~ refers to phonological conditioning and the ∞ refers to

morphological conditioning.

8.2.5. Replacive Morph

It is the morph, which replaces another in the internal modification

of a word to indicate a grammatical feature. For example, in English
'goose' /gu:z/ becomes plural 'geese' /gi:z/, /i:/ can be considered as
perlacive morph, taking the place of /u:/ and indicating plurality. Thus,

/gi:z/ = /gu:z/ + /u: ˃ i/

Note: The symbol ' ˃ ' means 'into'.

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8.3. Definition of 'Word'

One of the most fundamental units of linguistic structure is the word.

In early stages of learning our native language as children, we utter single
words ('No', 'Mind!', 'Mammy'); and we must learn thousands more in
order to become fluent native speakers. Indeed, according to Miller and
Gildea (1987), we know approximately 80.000 words by age 17. The list
of words for any language, though not a complete list, is referred to as its
'lexicon'.

The word appears to be a universal concept even in primitive

cultures, informants seem able to identify words. Professor Charles F.
Hockett (1958) in his book A Course in Modern Linguistics defined a
word as '… any segment of a sentence bounded by successive points at
which pausing is possible'. The following sentence will illustrate this:

P
SinceP theP streetP lampP isP outP, IP mustP callP upP ourP councilmanP.

(In the above sentence, every segment between two P 's is a word.)

The best known definition of a word is that proposed by Leonard

Bloomfield who defined a word as 'a minimum free form', i.e., the
smallest form that can occur by itself indicating meaning. However, this
definition does not apply to all languages, nor to all word type.

What kinds of information have we learned when we learn a word?

In fact, a word is associated with different kinds of information:

1. Phonetic/Phonological Information: For every word we know,

we have learned a pronunciation. Part of knowing the word 'tree' is
knowing a certain sequence of sounds.

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 2. Morphological Information: For every word we have learned, we
intuitively know something about its internal structure. For
example, our intuitions tell us that the word 'tree' cannot be broken
down into any meaningful parts. In contrast, the word 'trees' seems
to be made up of two parts: The word 'tree' + {-spl} morpheme.
3. Syntactic Information: For every word we learn, we learn how it
fits into overall structure of sentences in which it can be used. For
example, we know that the word 'read' can be used in a sentence
like 'Mary reads a book'; whereas the word 'readable' can be used
in a sentence like 'The book is readable'. Native speakers
intuitively know how to use words in sentences.
4. Semantic Information: For every word we know, we have learned
a meaning or several meanings. For example, to know the word
'brother' is to know that it has a certain meaning (a male sibling).
5. Pragmatic Information: For every word we learn, we know not
only its meaning or meanings, but how to use it in the context of
discourse or conversation. For example, the word 'brother' can be
used not only to refer to a 'male sibling', but also as a
conversational exclamation in 'Oh brother! What a mess!'.

8.3.1. Words and Word Formation Processes

Anyone can very quickly understand a new word in his language and
cope with the use of different forms of that new word. For example, even
if you had never heard the term 'somp' before, you probably had no
difficulty understanding the meaning of the other new words, somps (n.),
somping (v.), sompist (n.) and sompism (n.).

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 The following are some processes of word-formation and some
examples currently in use, which are the results of those processes:

Processes of
Word-formation

Coinage Infixes

Borrowing Prefixes suffixes

Compounding Derivation

Blending Acronyms

Clipping
Back Formation Conversion

1. Coinage: It is one of the least common processes of word

formation in English. It refers to the invention of totally new terms.
Some words like 'aspirin', 'nylon' and a familiar recent example
'Kleenex' are originally words in trade names, which have quickly
become everyday words in the language.
2. Borrowing: It is one of the most common sources of new words in
English. It refers to the taking over of words from other languages.
Throughout its history, the English language has adopted a vast
number of loan-words from other languages, such as 'alcohol' from
(Arabic), 'boss' from (Dutch), 'piano' from (Italian), and 'yogurt'
from (Turkish). In addition, other languages also borrow terms
from English, as in the Japanese use of 'suupaamaaketto',

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 (supermarket) or Hangarrians talking about (sport) say 'klub' for
(club) and 'futbal' for (football).

Note: 'Loan-translation' or 'colque' is a special type of borrowing. It refers

to the direct translation of the elements of a word in the borrowing
language. For example, the English word 'superman' is thought to be
a loan translation of the German 'Über-mensch' where 'Über' in
German means (super) and 'mensch' means (man) in English.

3. Compounding: This process refers to the joining of two separate

words to produce a single form. This compounding process is very
common in German and English, but much less common in French
and Spanish. In English, compound words are such as 'bookcase',
'sunburn', 'wallpaper', 'textbook' and others.
4. Blending: This process indicates the combining of two separate
forms to produce a single new term by taking only the beginning of
one word and joining it to the end of the other word. For example,
referring to the combined effect of 'smoke' and 'fog' is the term
'smog' also 'motel' from (motor/hotel) and 'telecast' from
(television) and (broadcast).
5. Clipping: This process refers to the reduction of a word of more
than one syllable to a shorter form. For example, the reduction of
(gasoline) into 'gas' and the clipped forms of (advertisement) is
'ad.', (professor) 'prof', (laboratory) 'lab'.
6. Back-formation: It is a very specialized type of reduction process
where a word of one type (usually noun) is reduced to form another
word of different type (usually a verb). A good example of back-
formation is the noun 'television' which comes first into use and
then the verb 'televise' was created from it. Other examples are:
'edit' from (editor), 'emote' from (emotion), and 'opt' from (option).

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7. Conversion: This process refers to the change in the function of a
word as, for example, when a noun comes to be used as a verb
without any reduction. It is also referred to as 'category change' or
'function shift'. For instance, the nouns 'paper' and 'butter' are used
as verbs in the sentences (Have you buttered the toast?) and (He's
papering the bedroom walls).

In Modern English, this process is particularly productive and it

involves verbs becoming nouns as with 'guess', 'must' and 'spy' as the
sources of 'a guess', 'a must', and 'a spy'. Also, adjectives as 'dirty',
'empty' becoming verbs 'to dirty' and 'to empty', or nouns as 'a crazy'
from 'crazy' and 'a nasty' from 'nasty'. Other forms, adverbs can also
become verbs as in (They up the prices) from the adverb 'up' and
(They down the boxes of apples) from the adverb 'down'.

8. Acronyms: The process where some new words are formed from
the initial letters of a set of other words. These acronyms often
consist of capital letters, as in UNICEF (United Nation Children's
Fund), NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization). Some of these
acronyms can also lose their capitals to become everyday terms
such as 'radar' (radio detecting and ranging).
9. Derivation: It is the most common word-formation process in
Modern English (word formation of new English words). It is
accomplished by means of a large number of small 'bits' of the
English language which are not usually given separate listing in
dictionaries. These 'bits' are called 'affixes' as (un-) in (unhappy),
(-ful) in (joyful), (-ish) in (boyish) and (pre-) in (prejudge).
10. Prefixes and Suffixes: Prefixes are those affixes that are added to
the beginning of a word (e.g., 'un', 'pre-', and 'mis'). Suffixes, on the
other hand, are those affixes which are added to the end of the
word (e.g., '-ful', '-ism' and '-ish'). English words use either prefixes

117
 or suffixes, or both when formed by this derivational process.
Thus, 'misunderstand' has a prefix; 'understandable' has a suffix
and 'misunderstanding' has both. The word 'foolishness' has two
suffixes.
11. Infixes: It is a third type of affixes, which is not normally found
in English, but in other languages. It refers to an affix, which is
incorporated inside a word structure. For example, in 'Kamhmu' a
language spoken in South East Asia, the infix (-rn-) is added to
verbs to form corresponding nouns, as in 'to eat with spoon' 'hiip'
(v.) – 'hrniip' (n.) which means 'a spoon'.

Affixes

Prefixes Infixes Suffixes

8.3.1.1. Multiple Processes

It is also possible to trace the operation of more than one process at

work in the creation of a particular word. Examples of such processes can
be seen below:

(1) The word deli (a common American English expression)

(a) Borrowing from 'German' (delicatessen)
(b) Clipping from delicate
(2) The word 'snowballed' in the sentence (Problems with the project
have snowballed):

(1) compounding from 'snow' and 'ball' to form the noun

'snowballed'
Snowballed
(2) conversion-from a 'noun' to a 'verb' 'snowballed'
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'Waspish' attitudes: (ill tempered)

Acronyms from 'White Anglo Saxon Protestant' 'WASP'

which has lost its capital letters to become 'wasp'.

Waspish
Suffix (-ish) is added to it in the process of derivation.

8.4. Syntax

The word 'syntax' is derived from a Greek word meaning 'a setting
out together or arrangement'. It studies the ways in which words are
arranged together in order to make larger units.

The sentence is normally taken as the largest unit amenable to useful

linguistic analysis. Syntax deals with the study of the structure and
ordering of components within a sentence and the constituents of
sentences (a constituent is a word used to refer to a component part of a
sentence). For this reason, syntactic analysis of a sentence is sometimes
referred to as 'constituent analysis'.

Sentences are 'strings' of words (i.e., they are composed of words

strung together). A sentence is a 'structured string', i.e., is grammatical
and meaningful.

8.4.1. Structural Analysis

Linguists are interested in the syntactic devices used to link the

constituents together, and the ways in which the various parts relate to
one another. There are many approaches in this respect:

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 1. Basic Sentence Types: Every language has a limited number of
basic sentence types to which most sentences can be reduced. A
fundamental technique in syntactic analysis is to reduce a sentence
to one of these basic types by a process of successive substitution:

Mad Dogs Savagely Bite Innocent Strangers

Dogs Bite Strangers

Dogs Bite

This technique simplifies the sentence progressively. Such

substitutions continue until the sentence cannot be reduced any further.

2. Immediate Constituent Analysis (IC Analysis): It refers to a

method of analysing sentences or words by dividing them into their
component parts. Thus, the sentence (The book is good) may be
divided into two parts as follows:

The book is good.

The components resulting from this first division of a unit are

termed 'immediate constituents'. The immediate constituents themselves
may be further divided and when no further divisions can be made on the
same linguistic level, the resultant divisions are termed 'ultimate
constituents'. In the example given, the ultimate constituents are the
individual words:
111
 The book
3 is good.
2
1

On the word level, the 'ultimate constituents' are the individual

morphemes, as in:
Un happi ness un gentle man ly
(2) (3)
(1) (2)
(1)

3. Labelled and Bracketed Sentences: An alternative type of

diagram is designed to show how the constituents in sentence
structure can be marked off via labeled brackets. The first step is to
put brackets (one on each side) around each sentence, and then
more brackets around each combination of constituents, as in:

The dog followed the boy.

Art N V Art N
NP NP
VP
S

With this procedure, the different constituents of the sentence

are shown on the word level, [the], at the phrase level [the boy], and
at the sentence level [the dog followed the boy]. We can also label
each constituent with grammatical terms: S, NP, N, VP, V, Art, etc.

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4. Tree Diagram: A complex sentence can be represented most
clearly by a tree diagram – so called, because its branches resemble
the branches of a tree. It is also known as 'phrase marker', as seen
in the diagram below:
S

NP VP

Adj N Adv. V NP

Adj N

Mad dogs savagely bite innocent strangers

5. Rewrite Rules: An alternative way of expressing the information

found on a tree-diagram is by means of 'rewrite rules'. A rewrite
rule is a replacement rule, in which the symbol to the left of an
arrow is replaced by an expanded from written to the right of the
arrow:
e.g., S NP + VP

' ' means replace the symbol S by NP + VP

NP VP (on the tree-diagram)

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8.4.2. Transformational Grammar

A transformational grammar can be defined as a grammar which

converts deep structure into surface structures by means of
transformations.

8.4.2.1. Components of a Transformational Grammar (1957)

Chomsky has modified many details in his grammar since the

publication of Syntactic Structures (1957). A later version appeared in
(1965), but modifications are still being made.

In (1957), the grammar is viewed as being in three parts:

1. Phrase structure component (PS)

2. Transformational component (TEL)
3. Morphophonemic Component (MPH)

A sentence (being generated) is processing through each of the

components moving from deep to surface structure.

PS TEL MPH
OUTPUT
Component Component Component

a) The phrase structure component generates the structure, which

underlies a kernel sentence by means of rewrite rules. Here we
have a small number of rules called phrase structure rules (PSR)
which generate structures as:
S NP + VP

Art (Adj) N
NP
PN (Prper N)

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In addition, we have lexical rules, which indicate the words to be used for
constituents such as N, for example:

N {boy, girl, dog ….}

b) The transformational component contains rules, which can alter the

kernel in various ways (these rules generate the surface structure).
e.g., Ali broke the window. (Active)
The window was broken by Ali. (Passive)

c) The morphophonemic component converts the output of the

transformational component into a phonemic transcription. They
change the surface structure into the final form of a sentence.

8.4.2.2. Components of a Transformational Grammar (1965)

Chomsky's 'Markll' grammar in Aspects of the Theory of Syntax

(1965) indicates a new semantic component to deal with meaning. This is
attached at deep structure level.

The phrase structure component is modified and renamed the 'base'

component. The morphophonemic component is renamed the
phonological component.

Base TET PHON Phonetic

Component Component Component Transcription

Semantic
Component

Semantic Interpretation

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General Notes

1. The structures realizing sentence elements are composed of units,

which can be referred to as 'parts of speech' or 'word class'. These are
of two types:
a. Open Class Items (Form Classes): Nouns, verbs, adjectives and
adverbs are open class items. They are the real, basic and concrete
parts of speech. An open class item is one whose membership is in
principle indefinite or unlimited, i.e., new items are constantly
being created. They have the same grammatical properties and
structural possibilities as other members of the class.
b. Closed System Items: These refer to a class whose membership is
fixed or limited, i.e., they cannot normally be expanded by the
creation of additional members. Thus, new items are not regularly
added as in the case with 'open class item' without the system
being changed. The members of this class display an
interdependence of meaning and use. Closed-system items are:
prepositions, articles, conjunctions, pronouns, demonstratives,
interjection (or exclamation) and enumerators.

2. Assertion and Non-assertion: Sentences can be classified in terms

of assertion and non-assertion. Assertion involves both positive and
declarative (i.e., sentence type or verb forms used in expression of
statements, e.g., Ali is rich). Non-assertion has a sub-system either
negative or interrogative. We have, therefore, an interrelated
system in which the relationship may be diagramed as follows:

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 Assertion Positive and Declarative (e.g., Ali is here)

Sentence

Non-Assertion Interrogative Positive (Is Ali here?)

Negative (Isn't Ali here?)

Negative (Ali isn't here.)

3. Grammatical Categories: In the field of grammar, categorization

refers to the establishment of a set of classificatory units or
properties used in the description of language. More specifically, it
refers to the defining properties of the grammatical units and parts
of speech. The categories of nouns, for example, include number,
gender, case and person (mainly pronouns) (also countability).
These of the verbs are tense, aspect, voice and mood.

8.4.3. The Grammatical Categories of Nouns

1. Number: The grammatical category distinguishing between singular

and plural. In many languages, verb forms show agreement (concord)
with number and person of the subject.

2. Person: Most languages, including English, distinguish three 'persons':

First person, used by a speaker to refer to himself (e.g., I, we); Second
person, to refer to the addressee (e.g., you); and Third person, to refer
to people or things other than the speaker or addressee (e.g., he, she,
it, they).

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3. Gender: Grammatical gender does not play an important role in
English grammar although pronominal (of pronouns) distinctions are
made, usually on the basis of natural gender between 'he, she, and it'.
The traditional names of grammatical genders are: masculine,
feminine and neuter (not found in English). In many languages (also
English), grammatical gender (represented in the use of pronouns in
English) does not often coincide with natural gender (a biological
rather than a linguistic classification), e.g., a car, ship, or airplane may
be referred to as 'she', a baby may be referred to as 'it'. Natural gender
occasionally plays a role in the form of nouns, e.g., 'actor, actress' but
many can apply to both sexes, e.g., 'doctor'.

4. Case: It is a grammatical category of nouns indicating its relationship

to other words in a sentence. In modern English, only one case is
inflectionally marked in nouns, i.e., the possessive, e.g., The man's
book. Pronouns have more forms which could be described as
'subjective' and 'objective' and two possessive forms, e.g.,

(I, me, my , mine)

Subj. Obj. Possessive

8.4.4. The Grammatical Categories of Verbs

1. Tense: It refers primarily to the way the grammar marks the time at
which the action denoted by the verb took place. In English, we can
distinguish two basic tenses 'past' and 'present' and several ways of
indicating the future.

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2. Aspect: It refers primarily to the way the grammar marks the duration
or type of temporal activity denoted by the verb. In English, we have
two aspects: (1) Perfective, referring to the completion of an action
and (2) Progressive, indicating the duration and continuity of action
rather than completion.
She has written a letter to Huda. (Completion of activity)
Compare
She is writing a letter to Huda. (Continuity of activity)

3. Voice: It is a category used in the grammatical description of

sentence or clause structure, primarily with reference to verbs, to
express the way sentences may alter the relationship between the
subject and object of a verb without changing the meaning of the
sentence. The main distinction is between 'active' and 'passive'.

The dog bite the cat. (Active)

Compare
The cat was bitten by the dog. (Passive)

4. Mood: It is a term used in the theoretical and descriptive study of

sentence type, and especially of the verbs they contain. Mood refers
to a set of syntactic and semantic contrasts signaled by alternative
verb forms, e.g., Indicative Vs. Subjective and Imperative (Ali is
clever, If I were a king, Go home) successively. Semantically, a wide
range of meaning is involved especially indicating the speaker's
attitude to what he is saying, e.g., 'uncertainly', 'possibility',
'obligation', etc. English mainly uses 'model' auxiliaries to indicate
such moods.

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 CHAPTER NINE
Semantics and Pragmatics
Semantics and pragmatics are concerned with aspects of meaning in
language. Generally, semantics deals with the description of word and
sentence meaning. Pragmatics is concerned with the characterization of
speaker meaning. It studies the factors, which govern a language user's
choice of utterance. Pragmatics is applied to the study of language from
the point of view of the users, especially of the choices they make, the
constraints they encounter in using language in social interaction, and the
effects their use of language has on the other participants in an act of
communication. For instance, people must not tell jokes at funerals (there
is no law, in fact, which says that, but it is generally not done). Also,
there are norms of formality and politeness, which everyone has
intuitively assimilated. How to talk to older people, for example, people
of the opposite sex or people of special rank and so on.

9.1. Denotation And Connotation

When linguists investigate the meaning of words in a language, they
are normally interested in characterizing the denotative (also called
conceptual) meaning and less concerned with the connotative (also called
the associative or stylistic) meaning of words.

Denotation (designation/literal or cognitive meaning) is that aspect

of meaning of a particular word or group of words, which is based on a
clear reference to a given section of the observable 'external world' and
on some kind of conventionalisation. Moreover, it covers those basic,
essential components of meaning which are conveyed by the literal use of
a word (i.e., dictionary definition). For example, some of the basic
components of a word like 'needle' in English might include 'thin, sharp,

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steel, instrument'. These components would be part of the denotative
meaning of 'needle'. However, we may have 'associations' or connotations
attached to a word like 'needle' which led us to think 'painful' whenever
we encounter the word. This association is not treated as part of the
denotative meaning of 'needle'. Another example is the word 'adolescent',
which sometimes refers merely to 'a person of a certain age', but it often
implies, as well, that the person referred to is (awkward, immature,
obstinate, and moody). These are the emotional overtones or connotations
of 'adolescent'. It refers to that aspect of meaning of a particular word or
group of words which is based on the feelings and ideas, it arouses in the
minds of speakers (or writers) and hearers (or readers).

9.2. Semantic Field

Here, we would talk about how a semantic approach helps us to
understand something about the nature of language.

For example, the 'oddness' of the following sentences is not derived

from their syntactic structure which is acceptable (NP + V + NP). They
are well-structured sentences. They are syntactically good but
semantically odd (meaningless):

e.g., 1. *The hamburger ate the man.

2. *My cat studied linguistics.

3. *The table was listening to some music.

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 9.3. Semantic Features
It is a procedure that is used as a means of analyzing meaning. Features
such as [+ animate]; [- animate]; [+ human]; [- human]; [+ male] [- male],
for example, can be treated as the basic features involved in differentiating
the meanings of each word in the language from every other word.

If you were asked to give the crucial distinguishing features of the

meanings of this set of English words (table, cow, girl, woman, boy,
man), you could do so by means of the following diagram:

Table Cow Girl Woman Boy Man

Animate - + + + + +
Human - - + + + +
Male - - - - + +
Adult - + - + - +

Note (1): From a feature analysis like this, you can:

a. Say that at least part of the basic meaning of the word 'boy', for
instance, in English involves the components (+ human; + male; -
adult).
b. Also characterize that feature which crucially required in a noun in
order for it to appear as the subject of the verb, supplementing the
systematic analysis with semantic the features:
The ----------- is reading a book.

Noun [+ human] a crucial feature

Note (2): This approach gives us the ability to predict what nouns would
make the above sentence semantically odd. These are nouns as 'table',
'river', 'lion', etc., because they all have the feature [- human].

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9.3.1. Problems relevant to Semantic Features
Problems relevant to Semantic Features can be outlined as follows:

1. For many words in a language, it may not be so easy to come up

with neat-components of meaning, e.g., 'advice' or 'threat'.
2. Part of the problem seems to be that the approach involves a view
of words in a language as some sort of 'containers', carrying
meaning-components. Of course, this is not the only way in which
we can think of the meaning of words in our language.

9.4. Lexical Relations

This term refers to a procedure of characterizing the meaning of a

word not in terms of its component features, but in terms of its
relationship to other words. For example, we can say that the meaning of
'conceal' is the same as 'hide', or give the meaning of 'shallow' as the
opposite of 'deep', or the meaning of 'daffodil' as 'It is a kind of flower'.

Note: This procedure has also been used in the semantic description of
languages.

9.4.1. Types of Lexical Relations

1. Synonymy: Synonyms are two or more forms, with very closely

related meanings, which are often, but not always, inter-
substitutable in sentences. Examples of synonyms are the pairs:
broad – wide; hide – conceal; almost – nearly; liberty–freedom, etc.

Note: It should be noted that the idea of 'sameness' of meaning used in

discussing synonyms is not necessarily 'total sameness'. There are
many occasions when one word is appropriate in a sentence, but
its synonym would be odd. For example, whereas the word

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 'answer' fits in this sentence 'Layla has only one answer correct on
the test', its near-synonymy 'reply', would sound odd.

2. Antonyms: Antonyms are two forms with opposite meanings. For

example, the pairs 'quick - slow'; 'big - small'; 'long - short'; 'old -
young'; 'alive - dead', etc.

Note: Antonyms are usually divided into two types:

(a) Gradable Antonyms: These can be used in comparative

constructions 'big - small'; 'bigger than – smaller than'; and the
negative of one member of the pair does not necessarily imply the
other. For example, if you say 'that dog is not old', you do not
have to mean 'that dog is young'.
(b) Non-Gradable Antonyms (or complementary pairs): In this type
comparative constructions are not normally used (e.g., 'deader'
or 'more dead' sound strange). Also, the negative of one member
does imply the other. For example, (That person is not dead)
does indeed mean (That person is alive).

3. Hyponymy: It refers to the meaning of one form when it is

included in the meaning of another. Some typical example pairs
are: 'daffodil – flower'; 'dog - animal'; 'poodle - dog'; carrot –
vegetable. The concept of 'inclusion' involved here is the idea that
if any object is a 'daffodil'; it is necessarily a 'flower'. So, the
meaning of 'flower' is included in the meaning of 'daffodil' or
'daffodil' is a hyponymy of 'flower'.

Note (1): When we consider hyponymous relations, we are essentially

looking at the meaning of words in some type of hierarchical
relation. See the diagram below:

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 Living Things

Creature Plant

Animal Insect Vegetable Flower Tree

Horse Dog Snake Cockroach Ant Carrot Daffodil

Asp Banyan Pine

Note (2): 'Co-hyponyms' refer to two or more terms sharing the same
super-ordinate term. For example, 'horse' and 'dog' are co-
hyponyms and the super-ordinate term is 'animal'.

Animal (Super-ordinate)

Horse Dog

Co-hyponyms

Note (3): The relation of hyponymy captures the idea of 'is a kind' as
when you give the meaning of a word by saying an 'asp' is 'a
kind of snake'. In general, people know about the meaning
of a word in their languages as a hyponym of another term
only. Thus, you may know nothing about the meaning of
'asp' other than it is a 'kind of snake'.

4. Homophony: When two or more different written forms have the

same pronunciation, they are described as homophones. For
example, 'meet - meat'; 'flower - flour'; 'sew - so', etc.

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 5. Homonymy: It is used when one form (written or spoken) has two
or more unrelated meanings. Some examples of the homonyms
involve 'bank' (of river) – 'bank' (financial institution); 'pupil' (at
school) – 'pupil' (in the eye).
6. Polysemy: This refers to one form (written or spoken) having
multiple meanings, which are all related by extension. For
example, the word 'head' is used to refer to the object on top of
your body, on top of a company or department, and on top of other
things, and 'foot' of person, of bed, of mountain.

Note: You have to notice the distinction between 'homonymy' and

'polysemy', which is not always clear. However, one indication of
the distinction can be found in the typical dictionary entry of
words. If a word has multiple meanings (polysemic), then there
will be a single entry, with a numbered list of the different
meanings of the word. If two words are treated as homonyms, they
will have two separate entries. (See the words 'head' example of
polysemy and 'bank' example of homonymy in your dictionary).

9.5. Lexical and Grammatical meaning

Lexical meaning involves individual lexical items that have

'content' (e.g., read, escape, zoo, etc.). Grammatical meaning refers
mainly to the meaning of grammatical items such as (did, which, the, -
ed). It also indicates the meaning of sentence type such as 'interrogative',
'negative', 'positive' or 'imperative'. In the sentence 'Did you read about
the lion which escaped from the zoo?', the question mark is part of the
grammatical meaning. Grammatical meaning may also cover notions
such as 'subject' and 'object'.

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 Because of its complexity, grammatical meaning is extremely
difficult to study, but the study of lexical items is more manageable.

9.6. Collocation and Set

When a linguist studies the internal relationship of a lexical item, he

must concentrate only on its relationship with the other items within the
language.

He can begin to build up a grid of relationship by studying items,

which frequently occur with it (syntagmatic relationships) and items
which can replace it (paradigmatic relations).

When studying the structure of vocabulary, collocation referred to

the syntagmatic relationship of lexical items (derived from Latin
'colloco' means 'to be in the same place with'). 'Set' refers to
paradigmatic relationships.

Collocation can be defined as the association of a lexical item with

other lexical items. 'Apple', for example, collocates with (is found with)
words such as (eat, rosy, juicy). 'Red' collocates with (rose, blood). 'Sea'
collocates with (rough, cruel, blue). 'Mountain' collocates with words
such as (climb, steep, peak).

The mountaineer climbed to the top of the steep mountain peak

Collocation (Syntagmatic)

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 A lexical set is a group of lexical items from a similar class, which
seem to belong together. Each item in a set is defined by its place in
relation to the other members of the set. 'Adolescent', for example, is the
stage of growth between 'child' and 'adult'. 'Cool' is the temperature
between 'cold' and 'warm'.

Baby Cold

Toddler Cool
SET

(Paradigmatic) Child warm

Adolescent Hot

Adult

127
 Selected Bibliography

Aitchison, Jean (1972) General Linguistics. London: ST. Paul's House.

Allen, J.S. and S. Pit Corder (1975) Papers in Applied Linguistics, Vol. 2,
Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Bolinger, D. L., (1986) Aspects of language. New York: Harcourt Brace

Jovanovich.

Crystal, David (1985) What is Linguistics? (3rd ed.) Great Britain: Edward Arnold.

------------------ (1985) A Dictionary of Phonetics and Linguistics. Oxford: Basil

Blackwell.

------------------ (1987) The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language. Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press.

Dinneen, F. P. (1967) An Introduction to General Linguistics, New York: Holt,

Rinehart & Winston.

Elgin, S. H. (1975) What is Linguistics? New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.

Hartman, R. R. K. and Stork, F. C. (1972) A Dictionary of language and

linguistics. London: Applied Science Publishers.

Leech, G.N. (1971) Semantics, Harmondsworth: Penguin.

Lyons, John (1968) Introduction to Theoretical Linguistics. London: Cambridge

University Press.

--------------- (1977) Semantics, 2 vols, London: Cambridge University Press.

-------------- (1981) language and Linguistics. London: Cambridge University

Press.

Nasr, Raja T. (1980) The Essential of Linguistic Science, London: Longman

Group Press Ltd.

Robins, R. H. (1964) General Linguistics: An Introductory Survey, New York:

Longman Group Ltd.

Smith, N. V. & Wilson D. (1979) Modern Linguistics. The Results of the

Chomeskyan Revolution, Harmondsworth: Penguin.

Wilkins, D. A. (1972) Linguistics in Language Teaching. London: Arnold.

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