EXAM ONE: History of the English language.

Definition of Language

A system of human communication using words, written and spoken, in specific ways of combining them.

lingua

Latin word for language

Universal grammar

The natural principles and properties that refer to the grammars of all human languages.

universal grammar theory

Theory created by Noam Chomsky

a blue print that all linguistics follow in some way, shape, or form.

linguistic competence

what we KNOW about language.

linguistic performance

how you USE what you know about a language in speech and comprehension.

prescriptive grammar

Specific rules for using language and grammar.

descriptive grammar

how grammar is used in day to day life.

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

Is the idea that the language we speak determines how we think about the world.

Language does not determine reality. People can imagine new ideas or things before creating a name for them.

Why is the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis not true?

Morphology

The study of the internal structure of words and how they are formed.

free morpheme

Morphemes that constitute words by itself.
Example: boy or girl

bound morpheme

A morpheme that must be attached to other morphemes to create a word.
They are: Prefixes/suffixes.

derivational morpheme

Morpheme that makes a new part of speech.

Ex: appoint = verb
Appoint(ment) = noun

Inflectional morpheme

Suffixes added to words to show grammatical meaning.
(Possession, number, tense)

-s -s
-'s(s'). -ing
-er. -ed
-est. -en

8 inflectional morphemes

grammatical category

They form classes of words.

Ex: noun, verb, adjective, etc

It can change the words meaning or part of speech.
Ex: run and running
"I went for a run"
I was running yesterday"

How do suffixes change words?

Breaks down SENTENCES into parts

If morphology seeks to breakdown words into parts what does syntax do?

Syntax

The arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language.

Combines words into phrases.
Phrases into clauses.
&... Clauses into sentences

syntax's rules does what?

NO

Do phrases have verbs?

YES

Do Clauses have verbs?

Is possible to have words with same sound but different meaning.
Ex: Bear + Bare

It's possible to have words with same meaning but different sounds.
Ex: sofa + couch

the relationship between speech sounds and the meanings they represent

Morpheme

A term for the most basic unit of grammatical form.