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Summary Introduction to English Linguistics and Grammar
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- Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)
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Linguistics, language & English —————- Linguistics: can be defined as the scientific study of language, include its structure, use,
acquisition and development over time
1. LANGUAGE
- Language: the words, their pronunciation, and the methods of combining them used and
understood by a considerable community and established by long usage (other def. in course)
- The object of linguistics can be defined as human language: language (for linguistics) is purely
human phenomenon, other species communicate but miss the essential flexibility, open-
mindedness and creativity of human language
- Language has no limits, W. Von Humboldt (18th century) stated that: ‘language makes infinite
use of finite means’
—> e.g. John is crazy > Mark thinks that John is crazy > Peter says that marks thinks that John is
crazy > Mary thinks that Peter says that Mark thinks that John is crazy > …
- Features (design-) which provide for such flexibility are distinctive of human language: language
is primarily sonic and vocal, is functional and meaningful, is symbolic arbitrary and
conventionalized and also structured
a) sound
- Is the basic substance of human language
- Primary manifestation is speech, which involves vocal-auditory channel (mouth-to-ear)
- Speech consists of sound waves produced by vocal organs of the speaker and transmitted
through air to the ears of a hearer
- Non-sound based languages exist as well (e.g. sign language) and are equal to sonic languages
but only develop when development of speech is somehow deficient. This means vision-based
manifestations are not as primary as sound-based manifestations
- Writing is also derived from spoken language to overcome some of the limitations of the vocal-
auditory channel, which are temporary/volatile. Writing is merely a way of recording oral
language in a visual form with the purpose of storing it for the future
- Speech, in contrast to writing is a natural skill, speech is spontaneous but writing and reading
aren’t, it has to be learned and studied
b) functional and meaningful
- Sounds of speech have no other function than to signal meanings from 1 individual to another,
in contrast to other bodily noises humans produce (e.g. yawning, crying,…) which have
biological function
- Language is used to communicate factual information such as facts, opinions,…
- Another important function of language is signal social meanings, using language to establish a
social relationship (e.g. Hey, how are you today-I’m fine thanks,…) = phatic communication
- Language can also be used to express emotive meanings (e.g. joy, happiness), physical
sensations (e.g. well-being, nausea,…). Linguistic expressions of emotion/sensation can be
, conventional words and phrases (e.g. My God!, Great!, Fuck!,…) or semi-linguistic sound
strings (e.g. ouch, wow, yippee,…) = interjections
c) identifying function
- the way we speak, the specific sounds, words and constructions we choose all signal
information about our geographical, social, ethnic, political, religious and/or cultural ID
d) aesthetic function
- Nursery rhymes, poetry, songs, lyrics,… mainly serve to arouse an aesthetic sensation by
exploiting sonic, rhythmic and melodic potential of language
- Language use is often of secondary importance (e.g. words as be-bop-a-loo-la,…)
e) cognitive function
- Cognition = thinking
- We can use language to organize our thoughts and facilitate thinking (e.g. speaking out loud,
writing things down,..) when planning a project, solving a problem, trying to memorize smt,…
f) arbitrariness, symbolic and conventional
- The units of language (sounds, words and sentences) are meaningful but there is no direct link
between linguistic units and what they mean
- F. de Saussure pointed out that human languages are sign/symbols (signifiants Fds, referends in
English) which signify things or concept in the ‘real’ non linguistic world (signifiés Fds, referents
in English), the link between the linguistic sign and its meaning is arbitrary: linguistic signs bear
no natural resemblance to its meaning (e.g. word ‘dog’ does not look like what it refers to, its
meaning is purely a matter of convention) and are different in every language but their meaning
stays the same (e.g. dog, chien, perro,…). Fds called this principle ‘l’arbitraire du signe’
g) structured
- The units of language must be organised in specific ways in order to be meaningful
- Asterisk is used to indicate that the expression is non-existent, incorrect, ungrammatical,…
- A question mark before a sentence or word either means that the grammaticality of the
following item is uncertain or is grammatical in non-standard varieties of English
—> e.g. d+o+g, g+o+d but *o+d+g, *o+g+d, *d+g+o
2. GRAMMAR
- Cover term for the levels of linguistic analysis
a) phonetics
- Study and classification of speech sounds, including their production, transmission and
reception (= phonetic level)
,b) phonology
- Study of the system of meaningful sound segments (phonemes) of a given language and the
prosodic phenomena which extend over more than 1 sound segment (e.g. pitch, stress, …)
c) morphology
- Study of the smallest meaning-bearing units of language (morphemes) and their formation into
words (= morphological level)
d) syntax
- Study of the organization of words into phrases, phrases into clauses and of clauses into
sentences (= phrasal, clausal and sentential levels + syntactic level of analysis)
e) discourse analysis
- Study of the structure of continuous and coherent units of language larger than a sentence (=
discourse level)
f) lexis & semantics
- Are the study of the meaning and the referential properties of words and expressions (=
lexicon-semantic level)
g) pragmatics
- Study of the intended and perceived meanings if linguistic forms in actual contexts of use (=
pragmatic level)
3. ENGLISH
- Can be categorized in different ways and from different perspectives, including a historical (or
diachronic) and geographical perspective
a) historical characterization
- English is a member of the wester branch of the Germanic family of languages
- Germanic is a branch of the Indo-European (or Indo-Germanic) language family
- In terms of its phonology and grammar the closest relative if English is Frisian, in terms of
vocabulary, classification is not so clear
- Lexicon of English = between 1 and 2 million words (only 30% are indigenous Germanic words)
1) Anglo-Saxon or Old English period (±500-1150 AD)
2) The Middle English period (±1150-1450)
3) The Early Modern English period (±1450-1800)
4) The Modern English period (±1800-present)
b) geographical characterization
- From the 17th century onwards English spread around the globe
, - ± 1600: nr of native English speaker was estimated around 6 million (95% lived within British
isles)
- ± 2000: nr of native English speaker has grown exponentially, ±400 million (80% live outside
British Isles)
- Presently, English is the official language in 75 countries (e.g. UK, USA, Canada,…) and has an
unofficial but prominent position in many more states (e.g. Kenya, Tanzania,…) approximately
an additional 400 million people are estimated to speak English as a 2nd language and
500-1000 million people learn English as a foreign language, English is also lingua franca in
domains such as academia and science,….
- Many regional variants (/dialects), the 2 major ones: British (Br.E) and American English (Am.E),
within these 2 major dialects, further regional, ethnic and social variation can be distinguished
—> e.g. regional dialects: Br.E., Am.E., Australian English,…
social dialects: Working Class English, Upper Class English, …
ethnic dialects: Black English, Jewish English, …
- Dialects differ in pronunciation, vocabulary and/or grammar
—> e.g. pronunciation: can’t = /kɑːnt/ (Br.E.) vs /kænt/ (Am.E.)
spelling: colour (Br.E.) vs color (Am.E)
vocabulary: flat (Br.E.) vs apartment (Am.E.)
grammar: I’ve just seen him (Br.E.) vs I just saw him (Am.E.)
- English (or any other language) is not a monolithic, homogeneous phenomenon, English is a
cover term for many different varieties
- RP is contemporary standard British English and serves as standard for general communication
in administration, the media and education
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