Ch :3

THE LINGUISTIC
COMPONENTS OF
CA

Mayes F Shaker
 LINGUISTICS

Contrastive Analysis Macrolinguistics

Goal

Microlinguistics
Means

Framework

Levels Categories Models

 Contrastive Analysis

GOAL MEANS

Explanation of Description of
L2 learning the language

Psychology Linguistic
MICROLINGUISTICS:

It is a branch of linguistics that concerns itself

with the study of language systems in the
abstract, without regard to the meaning of
expressions.
The language is analysed without reference
to their social function.
 MACROLINGUISTICS:

 It is a field of study concerned with the

language in its broadest sense and
including cultural and behavioural
features associated with language.
 Macrolinguistics
It embraces different aspects of language.

 Semantics: the study of meaning, changes in

meaning and the principles that govern the relation ship
between sentences or words and their meanings.
 Sociolinguistics: a descriptive study of the effects
of any and all aspects of society on the way language is
used and the effects of language used on society.
 Ethnomethodology: It refers to the analysis
and interpretation of every spoken interaction.
 Macrolinguistics

 Discourse Analysis: It is concerned with how we

build up “meaning” in the larger communicative rather than
grammatical units, meaning in a text, paragraph,
conversation, etc rather than a single sentence.

 Speech-act Theory: an approach to the meaning of

language which stresses the use made of language, rather
than the literal meaning of the combined words. Emphasis
what we do with language rather than what we say.
 FRAMEWORK

Levels Categories Models

Phonology Unit Structural or
Taxonomic
Grammar Structure Transformational
Generative
Class
Lexis
Contrastive
System Generative
Case Grammar
 LEVELS OF LANGUAGE

i) This language (L) uses the sounds [e], [~], [t] etc.
ii) L has four words for 'cousin', depending on whether the cousin
is male or female or on your mother's or your father's side of the
family.
iii) L shows plurality of nouns in four different ways, each involving
addition of a consonant to the end of the noun in its singular form.
iv) To ask a question, take the finite verb (which is in initial position
in declarative sentences) and transpose it to sentence-final
position.
 LEVELS OF LANGUAGE
linguistic descriptions are approached observing the principle
of “division of labour “

Level of phonology
Level of lexis
Level of morphology
Level of syntax
Procedural Orientation:
Phonology Morphology Syntax
basic'
'closed system

Mixing Levels:
Nowadays mixing is sometimes necessary to account
for some fact of language.
Hetzron (1972), for example, in a paper entitled "Phonology in
Syntax",

Any CA involves two steps

TWO STEPS The stage of description

The stage of juxtaposition

for comparison
 CATEGORIES OF GRAMMAR

Linguistic descriptions are in terms of these

categories.

There are four categories : ( Halliday )

unit,
structure,
class and
system.
They are universal , that is they are
necessary and sufficient as a basis for the
description of any language.
 Category:
1- UNIT

The Units of grammar are:

Sentence – Clause – Phrase – Word - Morpheme

Large unit Smallest

Rank Scale
 UNIT

In CA usually single sentences are juxtaposed, But the

shortcoming is that sometime one word in L1 is equivalent to
a sentence in L2.
CA is concerned with the possibilities of maintaining 1:1
correspondence of units at ranks below sentence.
Example:
The pupil (who has fallen asleep) is Peter. (E) Interlingual
Rank
Der eingeschlafene Schuler ist Peter. (G)
Shift
Two clauses in English while one in German 2:1
 Category:
2- STRUCTURE

“A structure is an arrangement of elements

ordered in “places” (Halliday)
Four syntactic structures in a sentence: subject, predicate, complement,
adjunct
Example:
The cat( s) caught (P) a mouse (C) last night (A).
 Structure

 A Structure in the level of phonology:

contrast in word structure:
 [strit] [ekta]
 CCCVC VCCV
STRUCTURE

CA have traditionally focused on the category

structure: linear arrangement of clauses, phrases
and words
1)- My father, who plays chess, is very patient.
Clause
Mein Vater, der Schach spielt, ist sehr geduldig.

3)- Past participle: gespielt / played

Nouns plurals: Apfel-Apfel: / Apple-Apples
Word
 Category:
3- CLASS
 There are restrictions on which units can
operate at given places in structures.
Example:

V Londone tumano (R) : * In London is foggy (E)

London is foggy

…eine unter meinem Wagen schelafende Katze… : * a sleeping under my

car cat…

…A cat sleeping under

my car…
 class

 a certain group of words which can be

used in the same place in sentence. like
the class of verbs, or nouns
 Category:
3- SYSTEM

 Each language allows its speaker choices from sets

of elements which are not determined by the place
which the element occupies in the structure.

CHOICE: “The selection of one particular term at one

particular place on the chain in preference to another
term or other terms which are also possible at that
place” (paradigmatic)
 Systems operate over the domains of units:
systems of sentences, of clauses, of groups, of
words and of morphemes.

mood, transitivity, theme, and information

Example: systems at clause rank: “mood”

Indicative Imperat
ive
Declarative
Interrogative
  Language may differ, not in demanding different
structural exponents, but in offering different ranges of
options.

System number
System of case

Singular Singular,
Nominative,
vs. Plural, Common
accusative,
Plural (E) Dual (A) and
genitive,
Genitive
instrumental,
(E)
prepositional
and dative
(R)
 Model

 A theoretical framework for description of language.

 In description phase we should use the same model.

 Two linguists, can produce different analyses of the

same language data if they use different models in their
analysis.
 take took

1.Based on an item - and - process IP

teik//=//tƱk+ )/ /Ʊ/ei/(
 past = present+ diphthong /eI/ replaced by the
vowel Ʊ

 2.Bsed on item - and – arrangement IA

-tƱk /=/t-k/+/-Ʊ//
Past=root+/Ʊ/inserted to mark past tense
 Four main models

Structural or Taxonomic

Transformational Generative

Contrastive Generative

Case grammar
 1- Structuralist Model

 developed and elaborated by Bloomfield and Harris.

 Immediate constituent (IC ) is the analytic technique =

any grammatical construction which can be reduced to pairs of
constituent.
 e.g.
i) Disgraceful disgrace + ful
ABC AB + C Unit
ii) Ungraceful un + graceful
ABC A+BC
 The same procedure applies to larger
constructions : phrases or sentences

e.g
 i) Nice old woman
A + B C Structure
 ii) Very old woman
A B + C
  John is the nicest boy who speaks French.

It has two Ics ,the main clause and the dependent clause
 In such analysis no reference is made to the meaning
of the constructions. Definitions are based on
distribution: what goes with what.

.e.g
N ii) Adv Adj N i) Adv Adj
rather nice girl rather nice girl

A construction A non-construction
Adj + N Adv + N
The weaknesses in the structural model :
She is a beautiful dancer.
This sentence contains an ambiguity which can not be
accounted for by IC.
The identity of the position or distribution is no guarantee of
identity of function. Structural models confine themselves to
observations about surface structure.

a) John is easy to please = It is easy to please John.

John stands in an Object-Verb relation to please
b)John is eager to please = *It is eager to please John.
John is in a Subject-Verb relation to please.
 Fries (1952) (a structuralist), defines grammar as “the
devices of form and arrangement”.
Arrangement: relative order of elements in constructions.

Formal devices operating at the level of grammar

are of three kinds:
1.Morphological markers like affixes
2.Function words Articles, preposition, conjunction
3.Suprasegmental Stress and intonation

In CA, we are likely to discover that L1 renders a certain

meaning by one device, while L2 conveys the same meaning
by another device.
 eg.
She gave the cat a rat.
S + V + IO + DO
In English direct object nouns are differentiated from
indirect objects by the later coming before the
former.

 Sie gab der Katze eine Ratte.

S + V + IO + DO
 German exploits morphology to achieve the same
ends.
So there are three different ways for talking about how pairs
of language can differ:

1.Level shifts
2.Rank shifts
3.Medium shifts
 2- Transformational –generative grammar

 T-GG elaborated by Chomsky

 Syntactic Structure(1957)
 Aspects of the Theory of Syntax(1965)

 The most important feature of this grammar:

 Recognizing two levels of deep and surface structure
 The two levels are related by transformations

 Reason for using T-GG in CA

 Explicitness: An explicit rule must be formulated for each step in
deriving Surface from deep structures.
 Universal Base Hypothesis: Deep structure are Universal

 Transformations as Formal Universal

English German
DS: I have an apple +The apple is red DS: Ich habe einen apfel. Der apfel ist rot

a. Relativisation a. Relativisation
I have an apple which is red
b. whiz- deletion b. dist deletion
I have an apple red
c. adjective shifting c. adjective shifting
I have a red apple .SS Ich habe einen roten Apfel. SS
 Explanation for sentential ambiguities :
It provides for the two languages identical, means for explaining
the nature of sentential ambiguities.

 The two different readings are derived from two different deep
structures.

 The industrious Chinese dominate the economy of Asia.

 1- The Chinese who are industrious: restrictive
 2- the Chinese, who are industrous: nonrestrictive
 Reference to deep structure can explain different
surface-structure possibilities between languages.

 German
Der ganzen Nachmittag unter dem Wagen Schlafende Hund

 English
 The dog sleeping under the car
 The sleeping dog under the car

 So in TG we explain the difference between two languages through

difference in application of TRANSFORMATIONS on deep
structures.
 Types of differences in rule application:

 1.One of the languages applies the rule, whereas the other

doesn't .

S1 S2 S1 S2

I know it+ they see him Ich weiß es + Sie sehen ihn

1- Embed S2 in S1
I know that they see him Ich weiß, daß Sie sehen ihn

2 O-V permutation in S2
 Types of differences in rule application:

 2. In L1, the rules is obligatory ,but in L2 it’s optional (or vice

versa)
 Optional: The grammar generates equally correct sentences
irrespective of wheather the transformation is applied.
That was the film (which) I saw
Das war the Film, DEN ich gesehen habe
*Das war the Film, ich gesehen habe
Object Relative Pronoun insertion
Thank you