Review of the coursePreparation for final

Communication of thoughts and feelings through a system of arbitrary signals, such as voice sounds, gestures, or written symbols.

What is language?

Linguistic Knowledge vs. Linguistic Performance (competence) There’s a distinction between

◦ What you know about “correct” and “incorrect” language

◦ Your ability to always produce “correct” sentences.

Animal Languages(?)A linguistic analysis

Design feature 1:Semanticity: In human language the elements of the message have specific and fixed relation to real-world situations.A message must be understood in the same way by different receivers.

Design features of language

Design feature 2:Displacement/freedom from stimulus: In human language it is possible to talk about events remote in time and place.

Design feature 3: Productivity: In human language, new messages can be produced from the elements of familiar messages; there is no fixed set of possible messages

Design features of language

Design feature 4:Dual articulation/duality of patterning: In human language, sounds can go together to make up words, words can go together to make up sentences. (In sign language, there is something similar.)

Design feature 5: Discreteness: Human language uses a small set of discrete contrastive elements.

Design features of language

Language and the brain

Insights from Neurolinguistics

What is a hemisphere, and what is modularity/localization?

Who are Paul Broca and Carl Wernicke, and what did they find out?

What is Aphasia? What is the relationship between brain

development and language development? Who is Noam Chomsky, and what is his theory? What is the critical age hypothesis? Who is Genie and what does her case prove?

Anatomy of the brain

Neurological term for disorders that follow brain lesions caused by, for example, strokes.◦ Only on left side

Broca’s Aphasia◦ labored speech, word-finding pauses, disturbed

word order, difficulties with function word ‘to’, ‘if’ Wernicke’s Aphasia

◦ fluently with good intonation & pronunciation but lexical errors: “Jargon aphasia”

What is Aphasia?

MorphologyThe study of the structure of words

Morphemes◦ The most elemental unit of a word

Morphology◦Study of the internal structure; rules of word

formation

What are the building blocks in the formation of complex words?

believable unbelievable

desirable undesirable

happy unhappy

dressed undressed

Prefixes are added to the beginning Suffixes are added to the end

One morpheme act Two morphemes act + ive Three morphemes act + ive+ate Four morphemes de + act+

ive+ate More than four:

Anti+dis+establish+ment+ari+an+ism

Prefixes & Suffixes

What’s a root morpheme?

Root morphemes vs. Affix morphemes

Note: -roots tend to be free andlexical-affixes tend to be bound andgrammatical

Identify the roots in the following words.  kingdom _________________________ interplanetary

_________________________ dimensional

_________________________ margins

_________________________

practice

Overview of all discussed distinctions

free

Morphemes

lexical-bound roots

bound

lexical (root)grammatical

derivational inflectional-eight suffixes

prefixesex:-un

suffixesex: -ness

For each of the following bound morphemes, determine whether it is derivational or inflectional and give two words in which it appears:

example: -able: derivational bound morphemeeat-able; cod(e)-able   –ish _____________ _____________ _____________ –en _____________ _____________ _____________ ab– _____________ _____________ _____________ –ed

practice

Affixing◦ Adding affixes◦ Reducing Affixes (Backformation)◦ A new word created by removing an affix from an

already existing word, as vacuum clean from vacuum cleaner,

Functional shift Coined words Acronyms Borrowing Blending

Word creation in English (Neologism)

SyntaxAn overview

Phrasal category Form FunctionNP Headed by a noun Subject of sentenceVP Headed by a verb Predicate of sentence

Phrases

NP

det adj NThe friendly person

V

VP

det N

NP

asked a question

Diagramming a Sentence

NP

det adj NThe friendly person

V

VP

det N

NP

asked a question

S

Meaning (1)A big sale of stereos (2) a sale of big stereos

Big stereo sale Big stereo sale

Linear vs. Hierarchical structure

SemanticsThe meaning of language

Synonyms Antonyms Homonyms (homophones) Hyponymy

◦ scarlet, vermilion, carmine, and crimson are all hyponyms of red (their hypernym), which is, in turn, a hyponym of color.

Lexical Relationships (cohesive links)

Give two semantic properties for each of the following words. Use correct notation.

(10) a) prostitute

______________________________________ b) sailor

______________________________________ c) mountain

______________________________________

practice

Denotation and Connotation  Denotation refers to the literal meaning of a word, the "dictionary definition."¨ For example, if you look up the word snake in a dictionary, you will discover that one of its denotative meanings is "any of numerous scaly, legless, sometimes venomous reptiles¡Khaving a long, tapering, cylindrical body and found in most tropical and temperate regions."

Connotation, on the other hand, refers to the associations that are connected to a certain word or the emotional suggestions related to that word. The connotative meanings of a word exist together with the denotative meanings. The connotations for the word snake could include evil or danger.

connotation and denotation

Phonetics: The Sounds of Language

How are phonemes produced? Consonants are produced by obstructing the

flow of air as it passes from the lungs through the vocal tract.

When we describe a consonant, one of the features we use is its place of articulation.

The other feature is the manner of articulation.

Consonants and their phonetic description

Place of articulation of English Consonants

Place of Articulation Consonant

Bilabial [p] [b] [m]

Labiodental [f] [v]

Interdental [θ] [ð]

Alveolar [t] [d] [n] [s] [z] [l] [r]

Palatal [ʃ] [ʒ] [tʃ] [dʒ]

Velar [k] [g] [ŋ]

Glottal [h]

Voiced and voiceless sounds◦ When the vocal cords are apart when speaking,

air flows freely through the glottis. Sounds produced in this way are voiceless.

◦ If the vocal cords are together, the airstream forces its way through and causes them to vibrate

Try it out: put your hand toyour throat and produce a [z]sound as in “buzz”. Now do thesame with [s] as in “bus”.

Manner of Articulation

Affricates are produced by a stop which is followed immediately by gradual release of air. Stop + fricative = affricate◦ There are only two: [tʃ] and [dʒ]

Liquids◦ During the production of the sounds [l] and [r], there is no

real obstruction of the airflow that causes friction. Hence, these sounds are not stops, fricatives or affricates. They are called liquids

Glides◦ Are not causing significant obstruction and are always

followed by vowels.◦ [j] and [w]

Affricates,Liquids, and Glides

Vowel Qualities The placement of the body of the

tongue:◦ Vertical: high – mid – low◦ Horizontal: front – central – back

The shape of the lips: ◦ Rounded – Unrounded

The degree of the vocal tract contraction:◦ Tense – Lax

Vowels

Write the phonetic symbol for the final sound

opposite __knee __ Phetkasem __ chips __welcome __ugly __

practice