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Mr. McMicheal

Linguistics : scientific study of language

“Origine et étymologie des ESCANDE

Origine : Escande est un nom de famille basque, nom topographique, signifie petit chêne arbre
caractéristique de la propriété. »

Linguistics  etymology
mathematics  grammars
 semantics
 morphology (tics, tics, tics)
 phonology
 syntax (“Time on the bus arrived.” => “The bus arrived on time”)

Lecture 1 – an introduction to the course : why learn about language ?

t

TD 2 – Chapter 1 : Constituents
Sentence (≠ utterance (spoken sentence) :
begins with a capital letter + has punctuation + contain a verb +
has a meaning
A sentence must have a subject and a predicate + the predicate
must contain a verb

Constituent : A part of something that is bigger

Phrase: a group of words which has a meaning

Tests :
- Substitution test
- Wh? test
-
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Exercises chapter 1:
3- a) two rather dubious jokes b) Men from the Ministry

two rather dubious jokes Men from the Ministry

Rather dubious jokes from the Ministry

4- P = it
(a) John considered [visiting his aunt.]
What did John considered → [visiting his aunt.]
John considered that P = it
Not a constituent of the sentence John [considered [visiting his aunt.]]
because is a constituent of the predicat

P = it
(b) Mario simply gazed at [the bollard he had just demolished.]
What did Mario simply gazed at → [the bollard she had just demolished.]
Mario simply gazed at that

Not a constituent of the sentence because

is a constituent of another phrase within
the sentance

P = it
Mario simply gazed at [the bollard he had just demolished.]
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(c) Mario simply gazed at [the bollard] she had just demolished.
Mario simply gazed at it she had just demolished.  no
Mario simply gazed at that she had just demolished.  no
 Not a phrase = NOT A CONSTITUENT (of the sentence or of anything for that matter)

(d) [In the machine] a gremlin was playing

Where was a gremlin playing ? [In the machine]
There a gremlin was playing
It IS a constituent of the sentence

[In the machine] [a gremlin] [was playing]

(e) [In the machine the gremlin] was playing.

Where was playing ? [In the machine the gremlin]  no
There was playing  no
 Not a phrase = NOT A CONSTITUENT (of the sentence or of anything for that matter)

(f) Rory put [a silencer on the gun.]

What did Rory put ? [a silencer on the gun.]  no
Rory put it [a silencer on the gun.]  no
 Not a phrase = NOT A CONSTITUENT (of the sentence or of anything for that matter)
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(g) Sam managed to touch [the man with the umbrella.]

Who did Sam managed to touch ? [the man with the umbrella.]
Sam managed to touch it

Not a constituent of the sentence because

is a constituent of another phrase within
the sentence

Sam managed to touch [the man with the umbrella.]

Further exercises
1 p. 23
This story shows what [evil men] can do v. This story shows [what evil] men can do
They only sell [rotten [fruit and vegetable]] v.

They only sell [rotten fruit] and vegetable

[More interesting] meals would have been welcome. v. More [interesting meals] would have been welcome.

We need [an agreement between workers] [on overtime.] v.

We need [an agreement between [workers on overtime.]]

Bill asked [the man who he had seen.] v. Bill asked [the man] [who he had seen.]
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A sentence must have a subject and a predicate + the predicate must contain a verb

no [previous knowledge [of syntax]

[The new students] [are very worried]  “are [The new students] very worried ?”

1 p.42
(a) [I] [am accepting your invitation.]

Yes/No question : am I accepting your invitation?

(b) [The income received from fines] [can’t be taken into account.]

can’t The income received from fines be taken into account?

(c) [Grishkin and the man in brown] [are in league.]

Are Grishkin and the man in brown in league?

(d) [A gorilla swinging about in the trees above our heads] [interrupted this already lengthy story.]

Did A gorilla swinging about in the trees above our heads interrupt this already lengthy story?
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(e) [One day] [will be enough] [for this job.]

Will one day be enough for this job

One day will be enough for this job.
For this job one day will be enough – One day for this job will be enough

(f) [One day], [my boy], [all this] [will be yours.]

Will all this be yours one day, my boy?

One day, my boy, all this will be yours. – One day, my boy, all this will be yours.
my boy, One day, all this will be yours. – One day, all this will be yours my boy.

(g) [Next Sunday or the Sunday after that] [would be convenient dates.]

Would Next Sunday or the Sunday after that be convenient dates

(h) Regrettably, your dancing and colourful language are frightening the guests.
(i) The existence of stars of such extreme density that not even light can escape
them has not been doubted recently.
(j) The temptation to identify less than the whole of the relevant phrase crops
up in all constituent analysis.
(k) No one who accepted that invitation to visit the slaughterhouse found it
quite as enjoyable as you.
(l) A lengthy discussion about the unreliability and irrelevance of parental advice
followed.
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2 p.43
(1) [Refurbished [[citrus fruit] markets]]

(2) [New [central [fruit markets]]]

(3) [Animals [from [the zoo]

(4) [[Gas appliances] [from Italy]]

(5) [[[Home grown] vegetable] sales]

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3 p.43

(a) Students doing chemistry.

(b) Students doing chemistry in September.

(c) Students with long hair doing chemistry

(d) Several very noisy newspaper vendors.

(e) Ten fully automatic deluxe hair driers

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An extremely large hole in the road.

Her [sisters] and [brothers] came to the party

A simple sentence = a single verb

Chloé works [hard] “work” = intransitive verb

Chloé promised [Tim] [a book.] Ditransitive (give)

brough [a book] to/for Tim

Chloé shoots [arrow] “shoot” = transitive verb

Chloé put [her arrows] [on the table] complex transitive

Chloé made [Tim] [mad] = object predicative

[President of her fan club]

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Chloé is [a student] Intensive aka copular

is/feels [happy]

is [in the classroom]

Chloé looks [at her book] prep

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Lecture 2 – an introduction to the course : why learn about language ?

I) Hierarchical structure in language
Structures are:
- Divisible into constituents
- In different categories of constituents
- Specific arrangement of constituents
- Each constituent has a specifiable function

Constituent: another world for “part”

→ there is a larger structure – a “whole” – thus hierarchical
→ the parts are assembled in a coherent structure
→ the structure is ordered (not random)
→ each part is in a specific []

List of words: a, beside, old, Sam,

6! = 6 x 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1 = 720
→ Most random sequences

It cleft sentence :
Old Sam sunbathed [beside a stream]
It was [beside a stream] that old Sam sunbathed

Coordination
[Old Sam] and [Joe] sunbathed beside a stream.

II) Function 1: subject and predicate

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CM 3 – Investigating language
Investigating language
AN202 — lecture 2
Where did English come from and how do languages change?Once upon a
time…
Diachronic linguistics is the
study of older forms of the
language and how they
change over time
This woman is Boadicea, a Celtic queen who inflicted quite a lot of damage to the Roman Empire. Hold on,
what were the Romans doing in Britain? And where is
Asterix? And what has this got to do with English? Actually, not a lot. But a little bit all the same. In this
lecture we’ll be talking about the history of some English words
and structures, and some words date back to the Romans and the Celts, or Britons, the original inhabitants of
Britain. Let’s begin with a map… in a green island
with many iron and
tin mines…
Populated by Celts (in
various tribes) that spoke
an old form of Gaelic, and
Latin
We will start our trip through time (dia - chronos) in Roman Britannia, at about the time of Boadicea. The
island was populated by Celts and colonised since 43 AD by the
Romans. The second map shows B at the time the Romans left. Differently from France, the language of the
colonisers did not stick and transform into another language,
i.e. French. No, it was another language that became English.When did ‘English’
appear?
The island was known as Britannia and took the name of one of the Celtic tribes (possibly from a Celtic
word ‘pretani' meaning “painted or tattooed ones”The anglo-saxon invasions
The romans left Britain (410)
The Celts were invaded from
the north (Picts)
Invited in 449 to defend the
Celts, the Jutes, the Angles
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and the Saxons then

colonised Britain
7th c Englisc appears in texts
The Germanic tribes that invaded and colonised Britain spoke several varieties of West Germanic. It was
their languages, separated from the continent, that would evolve
into English. But to become so different from German, English was subjected to the influence of many
factors.
Notice the arrow towards the south going towards France. The Britons were pushed out of the green plains
to the mountains (Wales from saxon ‘weala’ = foreigners),
Scotland and Cornwall (Dumnonia). From Cornwall, they migrated to France, to Brittany, and settled there.
Le Pen is therefore the descendant of a migrant refugee…A look at the language in 9th c
Wæs þis ealond geo gewurþad mid þam
æþelstum ceastrum, twega wana þrittigum, þa þe
wæron mid weallum and torrum and geatum and
þam tumestum locum getimbrade, butan oþrum
læssen unrim ceastra.
Awesome, isn’t it? OK, let’s start a bit less brutally… but to do that, we will have to reverse our procedure.
Instead of going from the beginning, let's start at the end, i.e.
around about now19th c English
A description of England in the 6th c
In old times, the country had twenty-eight
noble cities and innumerable castles, all of
which were guarded by walls, towers, and
barred gates.
This description of England comes from one of the oldest written histories of Britain. It had to be translated
into a more modern version of English 3 times before reaching
this one.
You should have no problems with the vocabulary or with the letters. The meaning is clear. However, notice
the number of words that resemble French. Which are they?
Syntactically, we can see clearly both a SVO word order and a passive construction.
Let's go back a few centuries to see what an older version looked like.The same in the 16th c
In old times, the country had twenty-eight noble cities and
innumerable castles, all of which were guarded by walls,
towers, and, barred gates.
This Iland had in it sumtimes xxviii cities, beside
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an innumerable sort of castles whiche also wer

well and strongly fensyd with walles, turettes,
gates, and bullwarkes.
Some differences between the 19th c text and this one can be noticed: island is spelt with no ’s’ b/c the s was
added to conform to so-called French etymology. In reality
it was borrowed long before. Notice the latin numerals, the use of ‘fence’, derived from French ‘defence’, a
synonym of ‘guard’, the use of ‘turrets’, small towers, and
bulwarks has been added (MidE from Dutch bole+work = tree trunk, work) bole from ON. This English, by
the way, is Shakespeare’s…
In terms of syntax, it is very close to what we had in the previous 19th c version.The same in the 14th c
This Iland had in it sumtimes xxviii cities, beside an
innumerable sort of castles whiche also wer well and strongly
fensyd with walles, turettes, gates, and bullwarkes.
The kingdom of Bretayne was somtymes i-hight
wiþ eiȝte and twenty noble citees, wiþ oute welle
many castelles þat were wiþ walles, wiþ toures,
wiþ ȝates, wiþ barres, stalworþliche i-buld.
Who speaks German? The “8 and 20” word order should be familiar. The spelling is going to cause some
problems. There are 2 letters which you are not familiar with :
thorn and yogh. They represent ‘th’ and ‘g’ (initial) or ‘y’ (internal). Notice that ‘g’ is present as a letter too.
Each letter represents a sound, i.e. there are no silent letters.
The ‘i-‘ is a perfective marker, a special past participle. The -liche ending is the mark of an adverb, and has
become -ly in ‘strongly’. Apart from some vocabulary and
spelling, the word order is practically the same. Indeed, syntax changes much more slowly than meaning or
sound. This is Middle English.Back to the 9th c
The kingdom of Bretayne was somtymes i-hight wiþ eiȝte and
twenty noble citees, wiþ oute welle many castelles þat were wiþ
walles, wiþ toures, wiþ ȝates, wiþ barres, stalworþliche i-buld.
Wæs þis ealond geo gewurþad mid þam æþelstum
ceastrum, twega wana þrittigum, þa þe wæron mid
weallum and torrum and geatum and þam
tumestum locum getimbrade, butan oþrum læssen
unrim ceastra.
This is OE. Here we seem to have another language. But what makes it so different? We are familiar with
the letter thorn, and now a new one: ash. Can we recognise
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some words from the previous text? Was, were, walls, tower, gate? What had happened to change the
vocabulary so drastically? Here's a literal translationWæs þis ealond geo gewurþad mid þam æþelstum
ceastrum, twega wana þrittigum, þa þe wæron mid
weallum and torrum and geatum and þam
tumestum locum getimbrade, butan oþrum læssen
unrim ceastra.
was this island once made splendid with the
noblest cities, two less than thirty, which were with
walls and towers and gates and the firmest bars
built, besides other lesser innumerable towns
The verbs are not all in their usual place e.g. was, built. The order of sentences constituents was VSO or
SOV. In fact, the usual order was SVO but with many variants
due to the fact that OE was a heavily inflected language and had cases like Latin, or German and Russian
today. The number 28 is also very strange: 30-2=28. But
especially words such as city (can you see ceastrum, a Latin word that gave chester?), noble, island, bars,
built, are nearly unrecognisable (unless you say them). The
-um ending was the Dative case ending, the Direct Object function. So What happened? Between the 2
versions of this text was the Norman invasion.The battle of Hastings 1066
A bit of the Bayeux tapestry depicting the battle and the subsequent death of Harold. The duke of
Normandy, Willem (and not Guillaume!) became king of England, and
French, Norman French, became the official language of England for the next 400 years. The language had a
notable effect on English vocabulary and syntax. So, how
do languages change?How do languages change?
Language contact
Regular sound changes
Transmission errors
neologisms and new variant forms
In this part of the lectures and year of study, we will only look at how other languages have influenced the
English vocabulary. D Huber will talk to you about sound
changes. Transmission is about how children learn L1 and misinterpret or re-analyse words and structures.
And we like to invent words or change the meaning of old
ones eg internet or ‘trop’ in French. Here is a diachronic chart of contact languages on EnglishLanguage
contact
What’s interesting too, is that it divides English into 3 periods: OE, ME and ModE. The texts we saw earlier
reflect these periods.Some words from 4th c
Celtic
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Dun
Ass
Brock
Latin
scola - school
weall - wall
stræt - street
planta - plant
pund - pound
munuc - monk etc
Yes, from Celtic, that’s about all… the Gaelic languages spoken still (Scotland, Wales and Ireland) have
given other words over the centuries. But the input from Celtic is
not more than 2 dozen often dialectal words. For the moment, this is not English.Some words from A.S.
a literal translation
Þu ure faeder þe aert on heofonum,
You our father that is in heaven
si þin nama gehalgod;
is your name holy-made
to become þin rice,
to come your kingdom,
gewurfle þin willa eorðan swa swa on heofonum;
do your will on-earth as as in heaven
urne gedaelighwamlican hlaf syle us to daeg;
our daily loaf (bread) give us to day
ond forgyf us ure gyltas,
and forgive us our guilts (sins),
Here is a prayer, the pater noster, in OE. Notice the influence of the missionaries from Rome (Augustine)
from 597. There are quite a few words which are recognisable
and still used today. Crystal estimates that a third of the words on any written page in English are of AS
origin (English Language p.173).The viking invasions and settlement
Egg
Window
Give
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Take
They, them, their
Steak
Knife
Want
Skull
The viking or danish settlement of Britain began in 787 and lasted 250 years. There are an estimated 1,800
words of N Germanic origin in English. Not many, but some
are very important!The Norman French influence
Porc, beef, bacon, fry, sauce, supper, roast,
pudding
Noble, royal, manor, government, sir, traitor
Cathedral, saint, religion, prayer, virgin
Accuse, prison, jail, crime, justice, warrant
Adventure, city, gay, ocean, grammar…
Many words from Norman French reflect the dominant status of the invaders. Thus, there are words for food
(normal, you will say, but look for yourselves why meat had
special words), words for administration and politics, for religion, for law and legal matters.Renaissance
Latin & Greek, French, Italian, Portuguese…
Climax, contradictory, emancipate, system
Anatomy, pioneer, detail, moustache, duel
Balcony, concerto, rocket, volcano
Alligator, cannibal, mosquito, potato, tobacco
Bazaar, coffee, sofa, landscape, yacht
The renaissance period corresponds to two big changes in British society. The first concerns the beginning
of a more scientific approach to the world (as opposed to
religious) and increased intellectual influence from other European countries. The second is due to contact
with other countries and languages with the exploration and
colonisation of the so-called New World.The colonial empire
Boss, cookie
Racoon, totem, Mississippi
Espresso, mafia, pizza, spaghetti
Rodeo, ranch, canyon, tornado, marijuana
Shampoo, pyjama, boomerang, trek
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The empire started in N America and since there were many languages in contact, there were many
borrowings. Then the colonies included India, Australia and S Africa,
among others…English is a global language
English reflects the world
The language of invaders
Influenced by other
invaders (Latin, Danes,
French)
Influenced by invading other
countries
Migration is part and parcel
of English!References used
Bacquet, Paul. Le vocabulaire anglais. 2nd ed. 1982
Crystal, David. The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of
the English Language. 3rd ed. 2018
Crystal, David. The English Language: a guided
tour of the language. 2nd ed. 2002
Smith, Jeremy. An Historical Study of English:
function, form and change. 1996
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Phonology