Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Glossary 487
Bibliography 511
Credits 526
Index 529
Detailed Contents
Inside Front Cover Dialect Map of American English, Consonant Phonemes of American
English, Vowel Phonemes of American English
Inside Back Cover Brief Timeline for the History of the English Language
List of Symbols, Linguistic Conventions,
and Common Abbreviations xx
Preface to Instructors xxiii
Letter to Students xxxi
vii
viii Detailed Contents
English Consonants 68
Stops 69
Fricatives 70
Language Change at Work: Is /h/ Disappearing from English? 70
A Question to Discuss: Does English Have Initial or Final /Z/? 71
Affricates 71
Nasals 72
Liquids and Glides 72
Syllabic Consonants 73
English Vowels 73
Front Vowels 74
Back Vowels 75
Central Vowels 75
Diphthongs 75
Language Change at Work: The cot/caught and pin/pen Mergers 76
Natural Classes 77
Phonemes and Allophones 77
Sample Allophones 78
Minimal Pairs 80
Phonological Rules 80
Assimilation 81
Deletion 81
Language Change at Work: Is larynx Undergoing Metathesis? 82
Insertion 82
Metathesis 82
Syllables and Phonotactic Constraints 82
Perception of Sound 83
Special Focus: History of English Spelling 86
Should English Spelling Be Reformed? 88
Summary 89
Suggested Reading 89
Exercises 90
Summary 196
Suggested Reading 197
Exercises 197
Summary 232
Suggested Reading 233
Exercises 233
Summary 267
Suggested Reading 268
Exercises 268
Dialectology 351
xvi Detailed Contents
Glossary 487
Bibliography 511
Credits 526
Index 529
List of Symbols,
Linguistic Conventions,
and Common Abbreviations
†
For the transcription conventions for spoken conversation, see Exercise 8.7.
xx
List of Symbols, Linguistic Conventions, and Common Abbreviations xxi
Common Abbreviations
AAE African American English
ADJ adjective
ADJP adjective phrase
ADV adverb
ADVP adverb phrase
ASL American Sign Language
C consonant (in phonology)
C complement (in syntax)
COCA Corpus of Contemporary American English
CONJ conjunction
DET determiner
EMdE Early Modern English
ESL English as a Second Language
IPA International Phonetic Alphabet
ME Middle English
MICASE Michigan Corpus of Academic Spoken English
N noun
NP noun phrase
O object
OE Old English
OED Oxford English Dictionary
P preposition
PDE Present-Day English
PP prepositional phrase
PRED predicative
PRO pronoun
RP Received Pronunciation
S sentence (in syntax)
S subject (in syntax)
V vowel (in phonology)
V verb (in syntax)
VP verb phrase
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Preface to Instructors
How English Works: A Linguistic Introduction has proven to be a highly successful intro-
ductory language/linguistics textbook designed specially for English and education
majors. This engaging, accessible textbook provides extensive coverage of issues of par-
ticular interest to English majors and future English instructors, and it invites all students
to connect academic linguistics to the everyday use of the English language.
One of the principal challenges of an introductory course in English linguistics is
helping students see the material as relevant to their professional and personal lives. Lin-
guistics textbooks often present technical linguistics as if it were disconnected from what
students already know about language. Our goal with this book is to encourage students
to connect academic linguistics to the everyday use of the English language around them,
as well as to relevant social and educational questions. We provide students with the tools
to make these connections to explore their own questions about English, to understand
more fully the language they see and hear every day. The book also shows students how
English and the study of English are dynamic: it engages students with ongoing changes
in English, new insights in linguistics, and problems that remain to be solved. Students
thereby become active participants in the construction of linguistic knowledge. And the
book emphasizes for students why the study of English matters—not only for them as
students but also for them as parents, teachers, and citizens.
For example, students take a narrative walk among dialect areas in order to discover
how subtle shifts in vocabulary and pronunciation—and attitudes about them—are related
to isoglosses on maps. They see how the world of computer technology has employed
natural word-formation processes to create most of the needed high-tech vocabulary (e.g.,
blog, cyberspace, to google). They encounter the origins of prescriptive usage rules and
see their relationship to descriptive grammar. They explore the integral role of indirect
speech acts in dating rituals. They learn why some speakers are more fluently bilingual
than others and have the opportunity to consider the implications for educational policy.
Thus, in How English Works we apply the premise that by moving away from a more
esoteric study of language and by making connections between the study of linguistics
and the everyday use of language, students will:
■ be more interested in and care more about the material because it is relevant to
their lives outside the classroom;
■ learn the material more effectively because they can integrate it with what they
already know; and
■ apply and use the information beyond the class, and talk about the material with
others.
xxiii
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Schubert—Maker of Songs
Most masters who have left the world richer for having lived, were
born in poverty and knew the sorrows of privation, not so with Felix
Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809–1847), loved by the many who have
played his Songs Without Words, or who have heard Elman’s fingers
fly over his violin in the concerto, said to be the best writing ever
done for that instrument.
Popular as are many works from the polished and fluent pen of
Mendelssohn, the oratorios Elijah and Saint Paul are noble for these
contain some of the most dramatic and inspired writing. In that work
which is typical of Mendelssohn and his personality, he showed more
characteristics of the older classical school than of the romantic. If he
had lived during the classical period he would have been a greater
composer, for he was romantic by influence and classic in taste.
Has not the Spring Song the shimmer of spring and the Spinning
Song the whir of the wheels? One can easily imagine the kindly touch
of a loving hand in Consolation, while the Hunting Song is alive and
going. This is the romantic music that became the model for
thousands of small pieces.
It in said frequently that if Mendelssohn had been less
conventional, his work would have been more forceful, because he
had much that was truly fine.
Mendelssohn lived among the most brilliant literary lights of his
day. His refinement was reflected in his music. He was petted by an
adoring father, mother and sisters, who gave him every opportunity
to study and compose, and he was much sought after socially. He
devoted much time to the study of languages, sketching in water
colors and traveling in Italy and Switzerland. His sister Fanny, whose
musical education was of the utmost assistance to her brother whom
she idolized, would have been famous but for her father’s prejudice
against women in professional life. She was a gifted composer and it
is claimed that she wrote many of her brother’s songs and some of
the Songs Without Words.
Her death was a mortal blow from which Mendelssohn never
recovered. Extremely sensitive, his affection for his family was most
intense and filled his life.
His grandfather was the eminent philosopher Moses Mendelssohn,
who being a Hebrew, was open to the sorrows caused by prejudice.
He was such a great man, however, that he succeeded in breaking
down barriers not only for himself, but for his race.
Abraham Mendelssohn was pleased to call himself, “First the son
of the famous Moses Mendelssohn, then the father of the eminent
Felix Mendelssohn.” His banking house in Berlin is still in the family.
The most noted musicians and artists were entertained in the
Mendelssohn home, and heard the compositions of the gifted young
man. In 1821 the boy was taken to Goethe’s home where he played
and improvised for the poet. He was delighted with him for his
musical talent, and because he had inherited the gift of conversation
and letters from his grandfather, of whom Goethe was very fond.
Young Mendelssohn never shocked the great old poet as did
Beethoven, for his manner was always correct.
In 1825 Mendelssohn went to Paris to Cherubini who was asked
whether his talent justified cultivation beyond the average stage. The
master was very enthusiastic, but his father would not leave him in
Paris, even in charge of the noted teacher. Returning to Berlin he
wrote the overture to Midsummer Night’s Dream (1826). It reflects
the dancing elves and the humor of Shakespeare, while the orchestra
has a delicate touch, similar to that shown by Berlioz at the same
period. Mendelssohn was only seventeen when he wrote it, with all
its finish and its flawless musical treatment. Much that he did at that
period shows his natural flow of genius. Music seemed to gush from
his soul like pure, fresh water from a spring, making one think of
cool fountains, sparkling with melody and clarity. These qualities are
also in the Fingal’s Cave or Hebrides overture, and he takes you on
his delightful trips in Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage. The way
these numbers reflect his impressions and the way he transmitted
them to others is typical of the Romantic School. The purity of his
musical form related him to the classical and gave inklings of the
Symphonic Tone Poem.
In his symphonies Mendelssohn also told tales of his travels, as in
the Italian Symphony, and in his Scotch Symphony in which he
made use of Scotch folk tunes. He also wrote much chamber music.
He left some piano concertos which may not attract the professionals
of today but are the joy of many piano students who play them
arranged for two pianos.
Mendelssohn tried operas but like many others failed to find a
good libretto. This was the trouble with one he produced in Berlin.
Added to this there were many intrigues and jealousies at the opera
house which turned him bitterly against that city.
However, he accomplished one of the greatest things ever done for
music. The works of Bach and Handel had been so neglected that
they were almost forgotten. He knew them well, and wanting others
to love them as he did, he assembled a great chorus and gave Bach’s
Passion according to Saint Matthew. This was the first performance
since Bach’s death, and it brought these works back to us. Imagine
Mendelssohn’s popularity and talent as a conductor to have been
able to do this at the age of twenty! Then he traveled again, and after
roaming through Italy, Switzerland and France, he went to London
where he created a stir as pianist, composer and conductor. Besides
his splendid education he had a winsome and attractive personality,
and his success was very great. He made, in all, nine visits to
England.
Having been brought up in the Christian faith, he married the
daughter of a French Protestant minister and had five children. They
went to live in Germany and becoming conductor of the Leipsic
Gewandhaus orchestra, he made the city the musical center of
Germany. He founded the Leipsic Conservatory of Music (1843),
where he gave his old teacher Moscheles an important post. This
conservatory is well known here for many American musicians of the
last generation were educated there.
Mendelssohn conducted many festivals and he always aroused new
interest in Bach, whom he presented at every opportunity.
His Saint Paul had success in Duesseldorf (1837), and during his
last visit to England (1846), he gave at the Birmingham festival
Elijah, second today in popularity only to Handel’s Messiah.
When Mendelssohn returned to Leipsic, he showed traces of
overwork and the death of his sister coming at the same time, made
him unable to resist the strain. He died November 4, 1847, when only
38. His happy life shines through his music so full of beauty and
sunshine.
Schumann—The Supreme Poet
Franz Schubert.
After the Painting
by Bendemann.
Robert Schumann.
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy.
After the Painting
by F. V. Delacroix.
Frédéric Chopin.
(Romantic School.)
After a painting by
Lenbach.
Richard Wagner, the Wizard, called out of the past a vast company
of gods and goddesses, giants, knights and heroes, kings and queens.
He made them live for us with all their joys and sorrows, loves and
hates, in his great music dramas, for which he has been recognized as
one of the rare geniuses of the world.
Evoked by his music-magic they pass before us,—the gods and
heroes of Walhalla,—Wotan, Brünnhilde, valiant Siegfried, Pfafner
the giant who is turned into a dragon, Mime the dwarf, the Rhine
Maidens and the Valkyries; Parsifal the guileless youth who became
the Knight of the Holy Grail, and Lohengrin his son, the beautiful
knight who marries Elsa, a lady of rank of the Middle Ages.
We see the minnesingers Tannhäuser and Wolfram von
Eschenbach in one of their famous Minstrel Tournaments with the
hand of the lovely Elizabeth as a prize; we also meet the lovable
shoemaker-mastersinger Hans Sachs in Nüremberg, of the 16th
century, and David his merry apprentice, lovely Eva Pogner and the
charming knight Walter von Stolzing, and Beckmesser the clownish
mastersinger; then there are the imperious Irish Queen, Isolde and
Tristan, her lover, with Kurvenal his faithful servant. Wagner makes
not only the mythological persons relive but he brings back realistic
pictures of the everyday life and customs of the German people of the
Middle Ages.
Wagner had his idea of what opera should be and nothing short of
his ideal interested him. He kept to his purpose and accomplished
miraculous things whether he suffered or starved or was banished
from his country.
Richard was born at a time, favorable for hearing and knowing the
Viennese composers of the 18th and early 19th centuries, who had
increased the importance of the orchestra. He could hear too the
music of Schumann and Schubert, with all the new beauty and warm
feeling they radiated. This new depth appeared not only in the
orchestra but also in piano and vocal music. In Wagner’s time,
people felt deeply about everything,—science, philosophy, literature,
and especially politics; and many were the quarrels and discontents
among nations. Even our own country was torn by a cruel war.
Wagner listened to the works of Mozart and of Beethoven, whom
he admired immensely. He approved of Beethoven’s use of the
chorus in the Ninth Symphony, which had no little effect on his work
and ideals.
Among the people who most influenced Wagner was Gluck, who
first fought for sincerity and truth in opera drama. Gluck did not
have the advantage of the grown up orchestra and freer forms, yet
Gluck did so much to free opera that Wagner was fortunate indeed to
have come after him. Another great influence was Weber, who mixed
everyday story in a delightful play of fancy and picturesqueness.
Wagner, after hearing Weber’s Die Freischütz, was very much
impressed.
Meyerbeer, a contemporary, although rather artificial and always
working for effects, nevertheless showed Wagner the value of
gorgeous scenic productions. Wagner was fond of the stage, and
Meyerbeer’s big scenes sank into the mind of the young composer-
poet, who liked to be called a poet rather than a musician!
Musically, Franz Liszt was probably the greatest influence in
Wagner’s life and we often hear in Wagner’s works bits of melody
which remind us of Liszt.
It is not fair to say that he was great just because he followed
Gluck, Weber, and Mozart, for he brought music out of its old ruts
and was copied by hundreds of composers.
The hero of this chapter was born in Leipsic in 1813 and was the
youngest of nine children. His father died shortly after his birth and
his mother married an actor playwright named Geyer and they all
went to live in Dresden. His stepfather felt that Richard had musical
gifts and he proved a very kind and wise parent. He died when the
boy was only eight.
Richard must have been a most interesting little chap, for he
always did everything with what we would call “pep” and persistence.
He loved poetry and was devoted to the theatre. His stepfather had
always allowed him to go “back stage” at the playhouse, so the youth
became familiar with stage craft, which he used later in producing
his music dramas.
He read the Greek and German poets and dramatists at a very
early age. He was the first of the musical geniuses to be trained in the
arts before he started music. So we can picture a little chap, “stage-
struck,” studying when he should, seeing plays when he could, and
listening to the works of Weber and Beethoven which enchanted
him, and storing up ideas, but as yet showing no great leaning
toward music as a profession.
The family moved back to Leipsic in 1827 where he went to school
until he entered the university in 1831. He heard much orchestral
music and became so deeply charmed with Beethoven, that he copied
the Ninth Symphony from a score, to become familiar with it. The
Ninth Symphony with chorale takes about two hours to perform,
imagine how long it took to copy it! An instance of the wizard’s
energy and “stick-to-it-iveness”!