Introduction to Language

Linguistics

scientific study of language, human capacity for lang unique, employ empirical data, observation, experiments to probe capacity

Characteristics of human vs. animal language

SHARED: 1) mode of communication, 2) have meaning, 3) useful function, DIFFERENT: 1) interchangeability (send + receive messages), 2) cultural transmission (not entirely inherited), 3) arbitrariness (form of signals not logically related to meaning, ex. table + mesa not related to object), 4) displacement (talk about things not in the present), 5) productivity + recursion (creation of new words/use words in new context, human lang infinitely creative), 6) reliance on context

Prescriptivism

prescribe “good,” “proper,” or “standard” language/how we ought to talk, invented based on soci conventions, taught to children + adults, words exist in authoritative reference works, ex. never say “ain’t”

Descriptivism

describe how people actually speak in real world regardless of edu, background, native lang, concerned w/ observable patterns, based on sci analysis/observation, rules exist in mind of speaker, linguists care about descriptive

Grammatical

follows regular pattern used by group of ppl

Ungrammatical

does not follow regular patterns used by group of ppl

Linguists believe…

All langs have a hist + grammar (= regular patterns and rules), not inherently bad to use any form of lang but some forms can be stigmatized, grammar which prescriptivists call “correct” has privileged place in soci, linguists should seek to understand the role of lang in soci

Phonetics

study of human speech sounds (physical properties of speech), look @ articulators + vocal tract structure shows how humans can produce full range of speech sounds, anatomy shows how + where sound happens, can scientifically study dialects, lang change, classes of sounds

Vocal tract anatomy

lips, teeth, tongue (tips, blade, body, root), alveolar ridge, hard palate, soft palate (velum), uvula, nasal cavity, pharynx (throat), epiglottis (flap of cartilage at top of larynx), larynx (air passage to lungs, holds glottis), glottis (vocal folds), trachea (windpipe connect larynx to bronchi of lungs), esophagus (connects pharynx to stomach)

Active articulators

move toward passive articulators to constrict/shape air moving out from lungs, ex. lip, tongue (tip, blade, body, root), glottis

Passive articulators

lie on top of vocal tract, upper lip, teeth, alveolar ridge, hard palate, soft palate (velum), uvula, pharyngeal wall

Describing consonants

speech sound produced by obstructing the flow of air in the vocal tract, typically by using articulators like the tongue, lips, or teeth

1. Voicing

2. Place of articulation

3. Nasality

4. Manner of articulation

26 in English

Voicing

what vocal folds are doing in larynx, voiced → vocal folds vibrate (closed), voiceless → vocal folds not vibrating (open), breathy (partially open), can tell by touching larynx + feeling for vibration

Nasality

nasal sound = open velum (air can pass thru to nasal cavity), oral sound = closed velum (air cannot pass thru to nasal cavity), natural state of velum = open, in English only /m/, /n/, and /ŋ/ ("ng") = nasal

Place of articulation

which passive articulators hit by active articulators, bilabial (lower lip + upper lip, ex. pat, bat), labiodental (lower lip + upper teeth, ex. find, vine), (inter)dental (tongue tip + upper teeth, ex. these, thin), alveolar (tongue tip + alveolar ridge, ex. tie, day), post-alveolar (tongue blade + behind alveolar ridge, ex. ship, chip), palatal (tongue body + palate, ex. you), velar (tongue body + velum, ex. guh), glottal (tongue body constricts further back, ex. uh oh), in other languages also: retroflex (tongue curls, tongue tip + post-alveolar ridge), uvular, pharyngeal (tongue root + pharyngeal wall)

Manner of articulation

type of constriction, stop (active + passive brought together for complete closure, airflow stops completely, ex. bat), nasal (airflow stops completely + vellum lowers, ex. nap), trill (active hits passive repeatedly → vibration, ex. perro), tap/flap (active quickly hits passive, ex. butter), affricative (combination of stop and fricative, ex. chair, judge), fricative (articulators brought close together creating turbulence, ex. fit), lateral fricative (turbulence around sides of tongue, ex. el), approximant (articulators narrow vocal tract but no significant turbulence, ex. yawn), lateral approximant (air flows around tongue but no significant turbulence, ex. lap)

Classes of sounds

obstruents → noise made by obstructing air flow in vocal tract, ex. oral stops, fricatives, affricative, sonorants → air is able to resonate, ex. nasal stops, approximants (glides → sound moves smoothly into following word {w, j} + liquids → air partially blocked [rhotics {ɹ} + laterals {l}], vowels

International Phonetic Alphabet

shows voicing, place + manner of articulation, goals: universal + unambiguous (every sound = 1 symbol), 83 consonants + 28 vowels (no lang uses all)

Diacritics

get more specific in phonetics, 1) aspirated → voiceless stops are aspirated when @ beginning of word/stressed syllable, voiceless stops are unaspirated after [s], ex. [kʰat], [skɪp], 2) nasalized → vowels are nasalized before nasals, ex. can: [kãn], 3) velarized: [l] is “dark” at the of a word or syllable, ex. fall: [faɫ], 4) syllabic → sonorant consonants can make up entire syllable with no vowel, ex. n in button: [bʌʔn̩], m in rhythm: [rɪðʌm], 5) rhoticity: “r-colored” vowels, ex. [ɝ] = stressed; [ɚ] = unstressed; further: [fɝðɚ]

IPA transcription

broad (phonemic) → ignores many details, focuses on aspects of pronunciation that show how a word differs meaningfully from other words in the language, ex. [kom], narrow (phonetic) → captures as many details as possible, uses diacritics to show very subtle distinctions between sounds that do not necessarily change the meaning of a word, ex. [kʰoʊ̃m], watch for narrow: forms of “r,”(broad transcription can use [r] but narrow must use [ɹ], rhotacized vowels), tap [ɾ], forms of stop consonants (aspirated, glottal stop), syllabic consonants, vowel nasalization

Describing vowels

speech sound made with an unobstructed vocal tract

1. height

2. backness

3. rounding

4. tenseness

16 in English

Types of vowel sounds

monophthongs → 1 vowel sound, diphthongs → 2 vowel sounds, true diphthongs → NOT interchangeable w/ monophthongs (/aɪ/ ex. bite, /ɔɪ/ ex. boy, /aʊ/ ex. bout), interchangeable diphthongs → interchangeable w/ monophthongs ([eɪ] and [e], [oʊ] and [o])

Other vowel features

stressed vs. unstressed → in unstressed syllables sometimes vowels are reduced to [ə] (schwa), (ex. about [əbaʊt]), when plural or possessive [z] is added to some words [ɨ] is inserted, (ex. Rose’s [ɹoʊzɨz] contrast with Rosa’s [ɹoʊsəs]), length → long vs. short vowels: nobiin: [nog] “to go” vs. [no:g] “house”, geminate consonants: English (between words) [bʊkkes] “book case” vs. [bʊkes] “book ace”, tone (ex. Mandarin)

Height

tongue height in oral cavity, high: /i/ ex. beet, /I/ ex. bit, /u/ ex. boot, /ʊ/ ex. book, mid: /e/ ex. bait, /ə/ ex. buh, /o/ ex. boat, /ɛ/ ex. bet, /ʌ/ ex. bud, /ɔ/ ex. bought, low: /æ/ ex. bat, /a/ ex. bot

Backness

tongue advancement, front: /i/ ex. beet, /I/ ex. bit, /e/ ex. bait, /ɛ/ ex. bet, /æ/ ex. bat, central: /ə/ ex. buh, back: /u/ ex. boot, /ʊ/ ex. book, /o/ ex. boat, /ɔ/ ex. bought, /ʌ/ ex. bud, /a/ ex. bot

Roundness

rounding of the lips, unround: /i/ ex. beet, /I/ ex. bit, /e/ ex. bait, /ɛ/ ex. bet, /æ/ ex. bat, /ʌ/ ex. bud, /a/ ex. bot, round: /u/ ex. boot, /ʊ/ ex. book, /o/ ex. boat, /ɔ/ ex. bought, neutral: /ə/ ex. buh

Tenseness

stiffness of tongue root, stiff: /i/ ex. beet, /e/ ex. bait, /u/ ex. boot, /o/ ex. boat, lax: /I/ ex. bit, /ɛ/ ex. bet, /æ/ ex. bat, /ə/ ex. buh, /ʊ/ ex. book, /ʌ/ ex. bud, /ɔ/ ex. bought, /a/ ex. bot

Segmental

each individual sound, suprasegmental → above the segment, not limited to one sound, can apply to an entire phrase

Syllables

grouping of sounds, organized around peak in sonority (relative openness of vocal tract which corresponds w/ loudness of sound), alternate more and less sonorous sounds = stand out, hierarchy: (least sonorous) stops < affricates < fricatives < nasals < approximates < vowels (most sonorous), nucleus → most sonorant element of syllable, onset → lower sonority sounds before nucleus, coda → sounds following nucleus, rhyme → nucleus + coda

Stress

a prominence relation between syllables, first = TEXTbook, last = inSULT, penultimate = conFUsion, fixed stress→ language where stress is completely predictable (ex. Farsi), lexical stress → stress is unpredictable = every word has own pattern (ex. Russian), paradigmatic stress → stress patterns dep on which part of speech a word is (ex. English w/ INsult vs. inSULT), phrasal stress → emphasizes important part of phrase, intonation (distinguished from tone)

Phonology

how do individual sounds affect meaning, how do we know when to use which variant of a sound, how do speakers of a language perceive sounds as alike or different, sound = psychological phenomenon, more abstract in comparison to phonetics (human cognition)

Phonemic inventory

the set of phonemes (meaningful individual sounds) in a lang, small inventories: Hawaiian (13) vs. large inventories: !Xóõ (140+)

Syllable structure

rules about how syllables are put together, ex. in Hawaiian = 45 possible syllables bc all syllables must be CV or V (ex. H o n o l u l u = C V C V C V C V), compare English = complex onsets and codas (ex. “strengths”= [stɹƐŋθs] = CCCVCCC)

Phonotactics

rules about how “sounds touch” - what phonemes can go together, ex. (in English: 12,000 mathematical possibilities of combinations of sounds to begin a word but only 60 exist), in English words can’t begin with tl vs. /tlee/ “night” in Navajo, in Spanish words can’t being with sp vs. /spat/ “spot” in English

Phonetics vs. phonology

phonetics: how speech is produced; the physical processes involved in speech (articulatory, acoustic, auditory), phonology: how sounds are organized in a language; rules for combination and phonetic realization of sounds

Phonemes

abstract units which comprise meaningful sounds of a language, contrastive segments, native speakers perceive as distinct sounds, English phonemes = consonant + vowel charts

Minimal pair

two words which differ minimally (by only one sound in same position in a word) but which contrast in meaning, = contrastive distribution, cannot be predicted based on phonetic environment, contrast can occur in any part of a word: word-initial = /pɪt/ and /bɪt/, medial = /pɪt/ and /pat/, word-final = /pɪt/ and /pɪn/, also minimal triplets or quintuplets (beet, bit, bait, bet, bat), about sounds NOT spelling

Free variation

two sounds that don’t change meaning of a word (allophones of same phoneme), occur in same phonetic environment, are unpredictable, ex. basil = /bezəl/ OR /bæzəl/, NOT minimal pairs bc meaning doesn’t change (won’t tell anything about phonemic inventory)

Allophones

phonetic variants of phoneme result in non-meaningful distinctions, allo = others + phone = sound. “Other sounds,” must be phonetically related, written in [ ] (phonemes written in / /),

Vowel length

allophonic → English vowel length = not contrastive, ex [kek] means the same thing as [keːk], [biɹ] means the same thing as [biːɹ], NO minimal pairs in English for [e] and [eː] or [i] and [iː], sounds in these pairs = allophones of same phoneme, phonemic → Finnish vowel length = contrastive, ex. [te] means “you” but [teː] means “tea”, [e] and [eː] = different phonemes

Complementary distribution

Sounds = allophones of the same phoneme, don’t change meaning of a word, don’t occur in same phonetic environment, can be predicted based on phonetic environment, ex. /d/ and /ð/ in Castilian, disfrutar = /d/ (beginning of word/syllable), ciudad = /ð/ (after vowel)

Psychological reality

phonemes have “psychological” quality, [l] and [r] = different to English speaker, same to Korean speaker

Solving problems

1) list words → IPA, 2) one column per sound of interest (ex. pʰ vs p), 3) find patterns (ex. pot [pʰat] → #_a, spot [spat] → s_a, # = word boundary, 4) come up with rule referring to natural classes, /p/ → [pʰ] / #_, /pʰ/ at the beginning of a word and /p/ everywhere else, pʰ and p = allophones of same phoneme, phoneme distribution = unpredictable, allophone = predictable (by a rule)

Phonotactic constraints

rule/restriction on possible combinations of sounds, every language has its own set of permitted segmental sequences, rules cause sounds to undergo alternations via phonological rules

Phonological rules

how we navigate between underlying and surface forms, phonemic form → rules → phonetic form, observations become rule: 1) sound(s) affected by rule (ex. /n/), 2) environment where rule applies (ex. before a bilabial or velar stop), 3) result of the rule (ex. change in place of articulation), X → Y / A __ B (X becomes Y between A and B, / = “in the environment of”), (ex. /n/ → [m] / bilabial stop, /n/ → [ŋ] / velar stop, /n/ → [n] / everywhere else)

Natural class

a group of sounds in a language that share 1+ articulatory/auditory property to exclusion of all other sounds in that lang, to find: write description of target sounds + find similarities, ex. voiceless fricatives, alveolar stops, approximates, labial consonants, etc.

Assimilation (phonological rule)

sound becomes more like neighboring sound with respect to some phonetic property (generally place of articulation), local assimilation → sounds right next to each other (ex. alveolar stop assimilation: an alveolar stop assimilates to the place of articulation of following consonant), long-distance assimilation → sounds not right next to each other (ex. Finnish vowel harmony: vowels agree in backness)

Dissimilation (phonological rule)

a sound becomes less like its neighbor with respect to some property, often for ease of articulation or perception (ex. Latin purpura → medieval English purpure → “purple”)

Epenthesis (phonological rule)

a sound is inserted, sound isn’t present at the phonemic level/underlying representation (ex. English voiceless stop insertion = voiceless stop inserted between nasal consonant and voiceless fricative, word = strength, underlying representation = /stɹɛŋθ/, surface representation = [stɹɛŋkθ]

Deletion (phonological rule)

a sound gets eliminated, sound present at the phonemic level/underlying representation but not at surface (ex. English /h/ deletion in unstressed syllables, he handed her his hat)

Metathesis (phonological rule)

two sounds change places, generally happens for ease of pronunciation (ex. historical /ɹ/ metathesis, brid → bird)

Lenition (phonological rule)

sound becomes weaker, descends in hierarchy of obstruency (becomes more vowel-like), stops > flap > fricative > approximate (ex. American English flapping alveolar oral stop is realized as [ɾ] when after a stressed vowel + before an unstressed vowel, ex. writer → /ɹaɪtɚ/ → [ɹaɪɾɚ]

Fortition (phonological rule)

a sound becomes “stronger,” ascends in the hierarchy of obstruency (becomes more stop-like), stops > flap > fricative > approximate, ex. African American English, this → /ðɪs/ → [dɪs]

Dialect vs. accent

dialect → a variety of a language with
distinct lexical, phonological,
morphosyntactic, and pragmatic
features, accent → differences in phonetic
and/or phonological features

Dialect vs. language

dialect = linguistically similar, mutually intelligible, BUT not that simple - ex. China different dialects NOT mutually intelligible, Swedish/Norwegian/Danish different languages BUT mutually intelligible, Weinreich - “lang is a dialect with an army and a navy” = lang varieties influ by poli/nat boundaries

Linguist perspective on language variation

all varieties of langs = equally complex, regularly patterned, capable of serving as vehicles for expression of any message their speakers wish to communicate, ‘dialect’ carries no negative connotation for linguists + neutral label to describe/refer to any variety of a lang

Dialect contiuum

chain of dialects spoken in an area, speakers of adjacent dialects may understand each other while those at the ends may not, isogloss → boundary separating two different speech varieties/dialects/langs, often corresponds to physical boundaries

Slang vs. jargon

Slang → not synonymous with dialect, vernacular, or nonstandard, usually associated with vocabulary only (lexical), often short-lived, though not necessarily, in-group connotation, ex. “that’s fire,” jargon → lexicon associated with a particular sphere of activity (computer, legal, sports), ex. “IPA”

“Standard” vs. “Nonstandard” Varieties

stand varieties → socially/politically determined, considered “correct” way of speaking but nothing intrinsically correct about it, speakers are often accorded privileges, varieties that do not conform to this standard considered nonstandard dialects by linguists, nonstandard varieties (vernacular dialects) → “covert prestige” in certain communities (create solidarity w/in community, rather than following dominant norms of the society), non-linguists tend to consider them substandard but not true, standard is 100% arbitrary

Standard English

“General American English” → referring to pronunciation, doesn’t really exist but the closest in Midland region, no super salient features, formal standard English → does exist + generally refers to grammar, extremely prescriptive - usually preserved in texts, hypercorrection → when a form is mistakenly believed to be “more correct” but is actually inappropriate in the social context

Lexical variation

variation on the word/vocabulary level, ex. soda, coke, pop; water foundation, drinking fountain, bubbler

Phonological variation

variation on the sound/pronunciation level, ex. cot [a] vs. caught [ɔ] (same or different), not everyone who speaks American English produces all same contrasts, merger → collapse of a phonemic distinction by one sound becoming identical with another, ex. pin-pen mergerː /ɪ/ & /ɛ/ become one sound before nasals, ex. Mary/marry/merry merger (merger before intervocalic /ɹ/ → /eɪ/, /æ/, /ɛ/, ex. tense-lax neutralization (TLN), what were originally short lax vowels /æ ɛ ɪ ɔ ʌ/ merge w/ nearest tense vowels before intervocalic /ɹ/

Vowel shift

Chain shift → change in one vowel’s pronunciation can cause the entire vowel inventory to become unbalanced, crowding in one area + empty space in another, imbalance corrected by subsequent movement of other vowels = evens out the distribution

Morphosyntactic variation

variation on prefix/suffix and sentence levels ex. “done” as an auxiliary verb (southern dialects: she done already told you), ex. double modals (southern dialects: might could, might would, may can), ex. “right” can be an adverb (Appalachian English: right good meal)

Pragmatic variation

variation on cultural/conversational level, concerns conventions for language use, varies by culture, ex. “politeness” norms (cultural norms for balancing needs of autonomy and connection), direct requests vs. indirect requests, pronouns, titles, talk speed: American South vs. American North, conversational wait time

Idiolect

a variety of language spoken by an individual speaker of a language, your idiolect may vary according to various social factors, everyone has an accent/speaks a dialect

Variationist sociolinguistics

quantitative approach to studying why/how lang use varies, explore lang variation as systematic + socially meaningful, look at interaction of soci factors (ex. age, race, gender, edu) + ling variables (ex. phonetics/phonology, syntax, lexicon)

(Socio)linguistic variables

linguistic variable → ling feature w/ 2+ ways of being produced w/ no change in meaning of word/phrase, ex. r vs r-lessness, variant → particular realization of linguistic variable (surface representation), sociolinguistic variable → variant correlated w/ social (non-ling) factor, ex. geography, ethnicity, gender, soci class, ex. variable: (ING), variants: [ɪŋ] or [ɪn], ex. going/goin’, running/runnin’, variable: (2nd person plural pronoun), variants: you, youse, y’all, you guys, yinz

Speech communities

comms share lang variety + set of ling norms/expectations, soci networks w/in comms shape lang use (ex. connected to friends/fam)

Communities of practice

group comes together for shared purpose, vary by size + influ by soci factors (ex. age, gender, class, relig), ex. membership in GU clubs, lang course

Recent variationist studies

focus on soci meanings of ling variables, identities = fluid, ling features connected w/ styles + index certain identity characteristics in particular contexts (ex. jocks vs burnouts - students themselves self divided into soci categories), use/avoidance of speci ling feature creates stances in interactions that construct/emph some aspect of identity

Language discrimination

ex. speakers of AAE tend to face discrimination (ex. in housing, lack of MAE speakers understanding AAE speakers), variation between AAE + mainstream Amer English = systematic (ex. habitual “be,” absence of possessive “s”)