English Linguistics Basics

English Linguistics - Basic Facts and Beyond

• Linguistics is the scientific study of language.
• Language is a human non-instinctive method for communicating ideas, emotions, and desires using voluntary produced symbols - auditory signals produced by the speech organs.
• Language families originate from a common ancestor. Proto-Indo-European language family includes Germanic languages like English, German, Dutch, Frisian, Low German, and Yiddish.
• Chinese and German speakers learning English can create a simplified version of English, called a pidgin. Their children may then use the pidgin as their native language, evolving into a creole language.
• The sign, according to Charles Sanders Peirce, is a concept with three forms:
  • Icon: a direct resemblance to the object (e.g., an icon for a dog)
  • Symbol: a conventional representation (e.g., a traffic signal)
  • Index: a sign showing a relationship between the elements linked (e.g., smoke as an index of fire)
• Ferdinand de Saussure's model of the linguistic sign: bilateral (signifier and signified), bidirectional (arrow) and inseparable. The relationship between the sound and its meaning is arbitrary.
• Ogden and Richards's semiotic triangle adds a referent to the center of the triangle, denoting the actual object. There's no direct connection between the signs and the referents, the meaning/concept needs to be coded first.

Structuralism: Fundamental Concepts

• Langue refers to the idealized, abstract language system of a speech community (e.g. dictionary). Parole is the concrete realization of language in individual use.
• Descriptivism focuses on describing the language as it is, while prescriptivism focuses on the correct forms.
• Syntagmatic relations are sequential relationships between elements in a sentence. Paradigmatic relations are the relationships between elements that can potentially replace each other.
• Diachronic analysis studies language change over time, while synchronic analysis studies language at a specific point in time.
• Karl Bühler's Organon Model illustrates how language functions. This model encompasses elements like expressive (speaker), representative (the world/object), and appellative (listener).

Phonetics and Phonology

• Phonetics studies the physical aspects of speech sounds (production, transmission, perception).
• Phonology studies the functional role of speech sounds within languages.
• Phonemes are the smallest units of sound that distinguish meaning in a language.
• Allophones are different ways of pronouncing a phoneme.
• Minimal pairs are words that differ in only one sound, identifying phonemes.
• Speech organs play a crucial role in speech production.

Syllables

• A syllable consists of an onset, nucleus (vowel), and coda (consonant).
• Minimum syllables have only a vowel (V).
• Typical syllables can have consonant clusters at the beginning (onset), and end (coda), as in "street" or the end of "texts".
• Vowels are produced without blocking the airflow, unlike consonants.
• Restriction of phoneme combination and position also apply.

Syntax

• Syntax studies the rules governing the relationships between words and phrases in sentences.
• Sentence constituents have a strong internal bond, and can be interchanged without harming grammatical correctness. Constituents are functionally analyzed (subject, object) and formally analyzed in terms of their internal structure (noun phrase, verb phrase, etc.).
• Endocentric phrases contain a head that determines the nature of the phrase.
• Exocentric phrases or phrases (e.g complex verb phrases where the verb is not the central element) do not have a readily identifiable central element.

Morphology

• Morphology studies the internal structure of words (morphemes).
• Morphemes are the smallest meaningful units in a language.
• Morphs are concrete realizations of morphemes.
• Allomorphs are different concrete realizations of a morpheme that have similar meanings.
• Phonological and morphological conditioning influence the selection of allomorphs.

Textlinguistics and Stylistics

• Textlinguistics examines texts as coherent units, emphasizing their internal structure and connections.
• Texture refers to the internal relations connecting parts of a text and makes the whole unit coherent.
• Cohesion (grammatical and lexical links) and coherence (overall meaningful connections) contribute to texture.
• Different text types and functions (narrative, expository, persuasive) have different stylistic characteristics.
• Communicative functions of texts, like expressing, informing, persuading, and instructing, form the base of the text type

Pragmatics

• Pragmatics examines language use in context.
• Literal meaning is independent of the speaker, whereas intended meaning is entirely speaker-dependent; meaning is affected by context.
• The speaker's communicative goals, shared knowledge, and social context all influence the intended meaning.
• Speech acts, like promises, apologies, and complaints, have a distinct illocutionary force.