LANGUAGE,CULTURE AND SOCIETY

LANGUAGE

 It is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication.

THE STUDY OF LANGUAGE

LINGUISTS

 Relate language scientifically

NON-LINGUISTS

 Relate to language with all kinds of myths.

 Example: Myth: Tower of Babel                                                                                  

THE ORIGIN OF LANGUAGE

 The divine source (monogenetic)                       

 The natural sound source (bow-                     pow/pooh-pooh)
 The social interaction source (yo-he-ho)
 The physical adaptation source (teeth, lips, mouth, larynx, pharynx) 
 The tool-making source (brain)
 The genetic source (innateness theory)

A DEFINITION OF LANGUAGE

Language as a system

 Each language contains two systems: PERIODICAL.

 SYSTEM OF SOUNDS
 certain sounds are used by speakers of a language and only certain combinations of those sounds are possible.
 SYSTEM OF MEANINGS
 English speakers know that toy and boy are words, but moy is not.

Language as arbitrary

 It means that we cannot predict exactly which specific feature we will find in a particular  language or with a
related language.

Language as a symbol

 Words are associated with objects , ideas, and actions by convention.

                                              USER                 WORD                                     THING

                             (symbol)                                (Referent)

The philosopher C.S Peirce recognized three types of signs:

 ICONIC (which resemble the things they represent)
 INDEXICAL (which point to or have a necessary connection with the things they represent)
 SYMBOLIC (which are only conventionally related to the thing they represent)

Language as human

 possessed only by human beings.

 No system of animal communication makes use of the duality features of sound and meaning.
 None can imitate how humans use language to refer to the past, speculate the future and tell lies.

Language as communication

 Language allows us to express communicative needs.

 A language allows its speakers to talk about anything within the realm of their knowledge.

GOALS OF STUDYING LANGUAGE

PRACTICAL PURPOSE

 We study languages to communicate.

THEORETICAL PURPOSE  The way the language system is used on
communication
 We study languages so that we can study the  Fluency 
theories of languages that cover phonology,
phonetics , syntax, morphology, semantics and SUB DISCIPLINE OF LINGUISTICS
pragmatics.
ANTHROPOLOGICAL LINGUISTICS
AESTHETICAL PURPOSE 
 The study of interrelationship between language
 We study a certain language so that we can enjoy and culture.
the literary works written in the language we
study. HISTORICAL LINGUISTICS

PHILOLOGICAL PURPOSE  The study of how language changes through time,

 We study a certain language so that we can
understand the culture of a nation or countries
using the language we study.
SOME BASIC DISTINCTIONS
the relationship language.
NEUROLINGUISTICS
 The study of the brain and how it functions in the
production, perception acquisition of language.

PRESCRIPTIVE LINGUISTICS(CONSTANT) PSYCHOLINGUISTIC

 Adhering to norms  The study of the interrelationship of language and

 Specific how grammar rules should be used cognitive language and the acquisition of language.
 Conservative approach

DESCRIPTIVE LINGUISTICS SOCIOLINGUISTIC

 Evolving and dynamic  The study of language to society or the study of

the way that language is used in society.
 Exact opposite of prescriptive linguistics
LINGUISTIC AND TEACHING
/CORPUS LINGUISTICS – database/

SYNCHRONIC  Languages are learned but must be taught

occasionally.
 Study of linguistics at a certain time.
NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION
DIACHRONIC
 Communication without speech.
 A study of linguistics from time to time 
BODY LANGUAGE (KINESICS)
 Comparison of old and modern English.
 Message conveyed by body movements.
FORMS
STRUCTURE OF LANGUAGE 
 Structure
 More on existing sound.
SUBSTANCE
PHONOLOGY
 Meaning Content
 Distinction between the system we invent and the  Sound system of a language
actual data  Component of a grammar that includes inventory
 The system is the theory and the database is the of sounds.
events in the real world.  (phonetic and phonetic units) and rules for their
COMPETENCE combination and pronunciation.
 Proficiency PHONETICS
 Owned by native speaker
 Related to skill  The study of linguistics speech how they are
 System of linguistics knowledge produced (articulatory phonetics)
 More on production of sound.
PERFORMANCE 
MORPHOLOGY

 Study of the structure of words

 BRANCHES OF MORPHOLOGY

DERIVATION  The UG does not have the actual rules of each

language but it has PRINCIPLE & PARAMETER.
 Lexical category changes as well as the meaning  The rules of language are derived from the
INFLECTION principles and parameters.

 The meaning changes but not the lexical category. INPUT (primary linguistic data) 🡪UNIVERSAL GRAMMAR
🡪OUTPUT (a grammar  consisting of principles ,parameters
LEXICAL CATEGORY and lexicon)

 Parts of speech SAUSSURE AND LANGUAGE AS REPRESENTATION SYSTEM 

SYNTAX LANGUAGE (KNOWLEDGE)

 Rules of sentence formation  Abstract

 Component of the mental grammar  Totality of language
 Can be also summarized in tree like fashion (Clark  Shared by collective unconsciousness includes
1997) rules (grammar, syntax)

SEMANTICS PAROLE (FLUENCY)

 The study of the linguistics meaning or  Concrete

morphemes, words, phrases and sentence   Subset in use in writing/speaking.
 Focused on meaning  Utterances made & Use of language 
PRAGMATICS IDIOLECT

 Study on how context and situation affect  It deals with our own unique ways of utilizing the
meaning. use of language.
 SIGNIFIED (the mental concept)
LANGUAGE ,THOUGHT AND CULTURE
 SIGNIFIER (label)(sounds/letter) (the physical
UNIVERSAL GRAMMAR existence)
 SIGN (The object/thing)
CHOMSKY SAYS:

SAPIR-WHORF HYPOTHESIS   LINGUISTIC DETERMINISM

WHORFIAN HYPOTHESIS                        EDWARD         
LINGUISTIC RELATIVISM                           SAPIR
 Language coerces thought
 The limit of my language is the limit of my world.
 Peoples thought are determined by their language 
 Humans are at the mercy of the particular
language they speak.
THE SAPIR-WHORF HYPOTHESIS
TWO ASSOCIATED PRINCIPLE
 LINGUISTIC RELATIVITY
LINGUISTIC DETERMINISM
 Also called “strong determinism”
 Language may determine our thinking patterns,
the way we view and think  about the world.
LINGUISTIC RELATIVITY
 The less similar the languages, the more diverse
their conceptualization of the world. Different
languages view the world differently.

LANGUAGE AND SOCIETY

PRONUNCIATION 🡪 PHONOLOGICAL

GRAMMAR 🡪SYNTACTIC

VOCABULARY IDIOM 🡪 LEXICAL

IDIOLECT  a language is a collection of dialects

 everybody speaks at least one dialect of at least
 It is the language of an individual speaker with its one language
unique characteristics.  same meaning but different words.
DIALECT SEPARATE LANGUAGE
 mutually intelligible forms of a language that differ  mutually unintelligible dialect
in systematic ways.
DIALECT CONTINUUM
 dialects merge into each other.
DIALECT LEVELING
 refers to a movement toward greater uniformity
and less variation among dialects.
 Generally not occurring
 Dialect differences may be strengthening in urban
areas as different groups strive to maintain their
group identity and distinctness.
REGIONAL DIALECT
  a variety of a language spoken in a particular
area of a country.
PHONOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES
 Progressives 
 He came a-runnin’
SOCIAL DIALECTS
 Dialects can also stem from social
divisions.
SOCIAL DIVISION
 can lead to different social dialects
including gender, socioeconomic status,
religion, race and ethnicity, and country
of origin.
 Christians, Muslims, and Jews all speak
different varieties of Arabic in Baghdad
 In India, people often speak different
dialects based on social caste

 differences between accents – comes in a LANGUAGE AND GENDER 

variety of forms. Some speakers might be
 Symmetry and Asymmetry
difficult to place geographically, while others
who speak with a broader accent might use a 1.
number of localized pronunciation features.
 For example, Americans put stress on the first Generic  Horse
syllable of a polysyllabic word, and British speakers Female  Mare
put the stress on the second syllable in words like Male  Stallion
cigarette, applicable, formidable, laboratory Young  Foal (either sex)
Young Filly
LEXICAL DIFFERENCES
female 
 Regional may also differ lexically: Young male Col
 – British: lift 🡪 American: elevator 
 – British: pants 🡪 American: underpants 2.
  – Boston: tonic 🡪 Los Angeles: soda
Generic  Man 
 Los Angeles: freeway 🡪 New York: thruway 🡪
Female Woman
New Jersey: parkway 🡪 England: motorway
Male Man
DIALECT ATLASES Young  Child
Young female Girl
 Dialect maps and Dialect atlas plot dialect Young male Boy 
differences geographically.

DIALECT AREAS 3. For decades, pubs have been Man’s best friend. He could
take his wife, his girlfriend, but not his children. But now
 Can be seen by concentrations of linguistic that’s all about to change.
differences.
- (News at 10, ITV , 3 January, 1995, on changes in the laws
ISOGLOSSES regarding children in licensed drinking bars)

 The lines drawn on these maps to separate the 4. Police girl wins sex bias case by a split verdict 
areas.
A policewoman who allegedly threatened to kill her chief
 When you cross an isogloss, you are going from
constable and have the legs of a senior officer broken won
one dialect area to another
a controversial sex discrimination case yesterday... The 34-
 Bundles of isoglosses can define a regional dialect.
year-old officer, who said her high-flying career was ruined
SYNTACTIC DIFFERENCES  by bullying male colleagues, now expects to receive up to
£250,000 in compensation..
 Appalachian English has several syntactic
differences from Standard English 1. Woman 🡪 Miss / Mrs / Ms 
 Double modals Man 🡪  Mr
 You should go home.
 He might could do it. 
  Double objects   UNMARKED AND MARKED TERMS
 I caught a fish. 
 Unmarked Marked 
Waiter Waitress
Host Hostess  dinner lady (a woman who serves meals to
Acto actress schoolchildren) 
r  lollipop lady (a woman who helps school children
to cross roads) 
Doctor Lady doctor  charlady (a domestic cleaner)
Surgeon Woman surgeon  madam is also used to refer to a brothel keeper 
Nurse Male nurse  Spinster and old maid suggest someone old, grey,
Professor  Woman professor  ugly, and unable to ‘get a man’
  marked: bachelor girl, bachelorette

 SEMATIC DEROGATION

Gentlemen  Lord/lady  SEMANTIC DEROGATION

Master  Mistress   Identifying the terms portraying sexism
Sir  Madam   Eliminating the sexism term in the paragraph
Bachelor  Spinster or old maid

Grammatical and Lexical Word Classes

Tag Questions - added to the end of a  positive or Possessive Pronoun - ownersh
negative Statement. Consider the behavior of tag questions with
Declarative and Imperative - turned in a form of imperatives
question
Turn a statement in a question. Noun
Auxillary verb or Modal  Word Class - part of speech 
If there's no Auxiliary or Modal - use Do, Does, or - divided into two
Did Lexical
Noun
Rules in Tag Question: Verb
Let's - Shall Preposition
Aren't I - I am not Conjunction
Won't - Polite requests tag Auxiliary Verb
Commands - Will/Would Noun - world's largest word classes in English
Mustn't - with Must
Have - Haven't or Don't Two Subclasses of Noun
Name of People - pronouns Countable
This/That - It
These/Those - They Can be pluralized by adding the plural morpheme (s,
There + a form of be - There ies, )
Indefinite Pronoun - They Mass Noun or non-countable nouns
Used to - didn't 
Subject of the Sentence:
Format: Abstract- can't touch
*Statement + Tag Question Concrete- can touch
*Positive + Negative Adjectives:
*Imperatives -Used as in connection with a noun or noun equivalent
*Gives advice, instructions -Describing words
*Request or command -Modifiers - words that change the meaning of a
statement
( noun phrase - act as an adjective)
Reflexives- must agree with the subject.
Self/Selves Forms of Adjectives:
Imperatives - Yourself Comparative
Possessive pronoun co-indexed with the subject can - two objects are being compared
occur Superlative
- one object is being compared with many people and avoid repetition. Pronoun used to replace the
Example: noun in the sentence.
Big - Bigger - Biggest
Scared - scarier - scariest The pronouns my, our, your, his, her, its, and their are
possessive determiners that do not replace the whole noun
Comparable paradigm phrases. Like all determiners, possessive determiners come
Expanded Paradigm in the beginning of a noun phrase.
EX: Love - Lovelier - Loveliest
Example: I use my camera to take a photo of you and your
-Modifies a noun, intensifies it English test.

Adjective-forming suffixes are present 3 CASES OF PRONOUN

SUBJECT PRONOUNS- are those pronouns that perform
Two main function of Adjectives the action in a sentence (used as subject).
1. Premodifier
2. Compliment POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS- a pronoun that is used to
ADVERB  express ownership or possession (express ownership).

> part of speech that modifies another verb, a verb, or an
adjective.
> Often recognized by the suffix - ly
 ( >Common -ly adverbs example: Accidentally, Badly,
Accusingly, Beautifully)
OBJECT PRONOUNS- takes the place of the noun
that receive the action (used as an object of verbs or
preposition)
•Singular -refers to the word single.

>An adverb that modifies another adverb is called
Intensifier.
  Example of intensifier: Very, too, totally
Subclass of Adverbs
• Plural- referring not only to one only person or thing but
two, three or more.
• First person- the narrator talks about themselves and is
usually the main character

>Adverbs seen in most gradable (and some non
gradable)
adjectives. Examples: proudly, stupidly, weirdly,
hungrily, 
> Pre-modifier (intensifier)
> Prepositional phrases ( can be replaced by an adverb)
•Second person. it is called the narrator talks the reader
directly, whether it is singular or plural because you, your,
yours is for all Singular
•Third person- the narrator talks about the other
peopleExample sentences: 

1.   They cooked chicken at yesterday's party.

> Adverbial Phrase - phrase that behave adverbially
> Prepositional phrases can be replaced by an
2.   He plays badminton in our academy.
adverb,though they will not be as specific as using
prepositions.
>Common -ly adverbs Pronouns 
 Example: Accidentally, Badly, Accusingly, Beautifully Substitute for more complex nouns
Possessive determiners
Kinds of Adverb Shows the possession
> Adverb of Manner • examples:
• Answer the question what My, our, your, his
> Adverb of Place - before the noun 
• Answer the question where
> Adverb of Time 3 cases of Pronouns:
• Answer the question when -Subject Pronoun - perform the action
M+P+T -Object Pronoun
> Adverb of Frequency -Possessive Pronoun
• How often
> Adverb of Degree Determiners:
• Degree or Extent -Modify noun,
• Answer how much or what us the degree -Usually placed before the Descriptive noun.

PRONOUN functions syntactically in similar ways to Rules:

the noun class because they can be subjects, objects -Determiners come before the noun
and complements. This makes sense because their role -Come before an adjective
is to substitute for more complex nouns and noun -Optional before the plural nouns
phrases in order to make the language more efficient -Used before the singular noun
Types: 4.Prepositon of Spatial Relationship
Articles
• A and An (Singular) - Indefinite  explain where one object is in relation to
• The ( Singular and Plural) – Definite another.

EXAMPLE:
Demonstrative
- Demonstrate to something specific  beneath
Singular:  beside
This    between
That
REMEMBER:  
Plural:
These  The preposition is always followed by a
Those noun phrase.
 The adverb stands alone.
Quantifiers- gives information about the quantity
Countable - many, several  Time - discuss specific time period
Uncountable- much  Example: At, On
Countable and Uncountable - most, a lot  Place - describing the position of a place or
thing in relat
Preposition: Example: In (Enclosed space)
 Latin: prae- prefix (pre- prefix) ("before") On (Surface)
and Latin:  ponere ("to put").
 used before a noun, pronoun, or a noun phrase  Direction - express a movement or a motion
to show direction, time, place and spatial  Example: Through ( one position to the next
relationship. Up ( Low to high)

Types of Preposition:
1.Preposition of Time  Spatial -  Above - position of an object
   allows you to discuss a specific time periods.

EXAMPLE:  Preposition is followed by a noun

 In 
 On  Conjunction - connectors
 At 
 By
 Till  Types:
 For

2.Preposition of Place  Coordinating Conjunction

 -  consists of a small, three word set.
  refer a place for something or someone is  Example:
located. For
And
EXAMPLE: Nor
But
 l-above / on top of / on Or
 l-under / below / underneath / beneath Yet
 l-behind / in front of So
3.Preposition of Direction
   express a movement toward something and  Allow us to create specific relationship
appear with the verb of motion.  Subordinating
 Dependent clause
EXAMPLE:  Object or complement - makes the sentence
 above clear
 across
 along  Auxillary Verbs
 among

 Verbs that are attach with verbs For questions: Aux. Verb + Subject + Main Verb +
 For emphasis: Subject + Aux. Verb + Main Complement
Verb + Complement For negation: Just add the word not