Comprehensive Notes: Lexical vs Functional Words, Sentence Structure, Dialects, and English Language History
Lexical vs. Functional Words
Two broad classes of words in many analyses: lexical (content) words vs functional (structure) words.
Lexical words (content words) include adjectives and nouns, adverbs, and often verbs (the terms you can coin new words for).
Functional words (closed classes) include pronouns, determiners (e.g., the, and, a, some), quantifiers (many, most, few), demonstratives (this, that, these, those), prepositions (in, on, at, around, below, beneath, between), conjunctions (and, but, or), complementizers (that, for, if), and negation (not).
Important characteristics of closed classes:
They are not productive; languages rarely introduce new members (e.g., new pronouns are uncommon).
Changes to these classes are rare and typically signal major language change (e.g., historical transitions like Spanish from Latin, or shifts between Old and Middle English).
Prepositions can shift into other derivational morphologies over time, but overall these classes stay relatively stable.
When these pieces change, it signals significant linguistic shift.
Practical note: these are often the parts of speech that resist rapid metaphorical extension while lexical items readily expand to cover new concepts.
Sentences and Punctuation
A sentence involves more than just punctuation; punctuation marks are a reflection of speech and intonation, not the essence of language itself.
Punctuation helps reflect speech in writing and marks pauses and intonation; but the underlying language is organized by structure, not by punctuation alone.
Types of sentences:
Questions vs statements (general distinction).
Commands (imperatives) like stand up, sit down.
Emphatic constructions (e.g., emphasis through form or word order).
All languages have mechanisms to form questions; they are a universal feature of human language.
Writing vs speaking: writing is a semi-segmental representation of speech, not language itself.
Parts of a Sentence: Subject and Predicate
Two core parts of a sentence: subject and predicate.
Subject:
The thing that does the action (the agent) or what the sentence is about.
Example: "The boy" in "The boy ran to the store."
Predicate:
Comes from the Latin term predication; it is everything that is not the subject (the action or state).
Example: "ran to the store" in the sentence above.
Minimal sentence structure: in English, a sentence must have at least a subject and a predicate: e.g.,
The dog sleeps. (subject: The dog; predicate: sleeps)
Predicates can be complex and include objects:
Direct object: the thing receiving the action (e.g., "the ball" in "The boy kicks the ball").
Indirect object: beneficiary or recipient (e.g., "for her grandma" in "The girl baked cookies for her grandma").
The subject-verb relationship is central for identifying what a sentence is about and who performs the action.
Word Order and Meaning
Word order is crucial for meaning in many languages.
English is an SVO language: Subject–Verb–Object.
Example:
Other languages exhibit different canonical orders:
Japanese often aligns with SOV (Subject–Object–Verb).
Latin is flexible in some contexts but often shows mixed orders due to rich morphology.
Over time, word order in English became more restrictive in Modern English compared to Old English, which allowed more latitude.
Meaning is carried not only by word order but also by morphology, particles, and function words; lexical items can shift in meaning over time, while core structures stabilize.
Meaning and Core Vocabulary
Meaning in language is carried by both lexical items and their use in context.
Core vocabulary: the subset of words that remains relatively stable across time, often reflecting basic referents and body parts.
Examples and discussion:
Family terms tend to be relatively stable (e.g., mom, dad) though their historical etymology can be interesting (early sounds like ma, pa from infant production).
Body parts (e.g., nose, eye, foot) tend to be stable; you can trace these terms back through language history.
Color terms show interesting patterns:
Black and white are among the most common basic color terms across languages.
Orange as a color term often originated from a fruit term (orange fruit) rather than a primitive color term.
Some color terms are derived from dyes or other objects (e.g., purple from the purple mollusk dye).
The color term system can reflect historical borrowings and cultural contact.
Color term hierarchy and evolution illustrate how new terms can emerge from non-color sources and how cultural contact shapes vocabulary.
The stability of certain lexemes is often linked to their central role in everyday life and shared human experiences.
Language vs Dialect
Language vs dialect is a debated distinction; one famous quip captures it: a language is a dialect with an army and a navy.
Key ideas:
A language is a widely recognized, standardized form, often tied to national prestige, politics, and standardization efforts.
A dialect is a regional or social variety of a language, often anchored in geography, culture, or social groups.
There is no objective, intrinsic boundary separating language from dialect; the distinction is social and political as much as linguistic.
Factors that shape dialect differences:
Geography (regional variation, e.g., Appalachia, Scotland, etc.).
Social factors: class, race, gender, education, and peer groups.
Cultural factors: different communities may privilege different vocabularies or pronunciations.
The idea of a prestige or standard dialect: the variety deemed 'correct' or 'proper' in formal settings, often associated with education and power, yet all dialects are equally valid as languages at their own level.
The transition from prescriptive (rules about how to speak) to descriptive (how people actually speak) linguistics is part of the course of understanding language variation.
Dialect Diversity and Social Factors in English
In the United States (and elsewhere), dialects diverge along several axes:
Geographic regions (e.g., West Coast vs. Appalachia vs. urban centers).
Social class and educational background influencing access to standard forms.
Race and ethnicity contributing to varieties such as African American English, Hispanic English, White suburban English, etc.
Gender differences can influence speech in some contexts; in some cultures, gender-based language variation is more pronounced.
Language variation interacts with identity formation across adolescence and adulthood:
People internalize a peer-group dialect during adolescence (roughly ages 13–21). Your language often reflects this identity during this time.
As people grow older and form families and professional roles, they may switch to more formal registers in certain contexts (e.g., meetings with university presidents).
Registers of speech: individuals can switch between informal peer-group speech and more formal speech in different settings.
The idea that you speak like your parents is incomplete; rather, your vocabulary and style reflect your socialization, peer groups, and context-specific norms.
Identity, Peer Groups, and Language Development
Language development and identity are linked to social contexts and self-perception.
Adolescent identity formation (roughly ages 13–21) strongly shapes language use and dialect preferences.
Over time, exposure to broader social networks (education, work, family) can broaden linguistic repertoire beyond the peer-group dialect, while still maintaining an index of identity.
Plasticity of the brain: language learning and adaptation involve neural pathways that become more 'hard-wired' with age.
By about ages 22–23, and more so around 24–25, language learning becomes less plastic, making it harder to acquire new phonological or syntactic patterns.
A metaphor: neural pathways become trails that are difficult to change; early exposure fosters flexibility; later exposure requires greater effort.
Implications for second-language acquisition and recovery from brain injury (e.g., stroke): younger brains recover language more readily than older brains due to greater plasticity.
Diversity of English: Bible Translations as a Case Study
The Bible has been translated many times, providing good historical snapshots of English varieties across periods.
Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15) in modern English: reads as natural, conversational speech.
Example: "There was once a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, father, give me my share of the estate…"
This translation is modern, with typical contemporary vocabulary and syntax.
Historical observations from the lecture:
Early translations were often based on Latin Vulgate (Jerome) translations back into English, reflecting the Latin influence on English religious prose.
King James Bible (1611): a landmark work in English history and literature; used widely in churches; helps learners read standard, formal English of Early Modern English.
The King James Bible reflects early modern English spelling and syntax, with differences from contemporary usage (e.g., pronouns, archaisms).
Linguistic features in King James and earlier texts:
Spelling regularization began around the 15th century, but pronunciation shifted significantly later, contributing to a divergence between spelling and pronunciation (e.g., long vowels in the Great Vowel Shift).
The Great Vowel Shift (roughly 1400–1700) involved systematic changes in long vowels across English; it took about 200–300 years to complete, leading to a mismatch between spelling and contemporary pronunciation.
Early Modern English (as seen in the King James Bible) shows archaic spellings and pronunciations; readers often pronounce as spelled in modern contexts, but actual pronunciation differed.
The King James translation retains formal register, with vocabulary choices and idioms rooted in the historical context of 17th-century English.
Older English stages used in other translations:
Old English (West Saxon dialect, around January AD): highly different from modern English and more difficult for modern readers.
Middle English (circa 1380, Southeast Midland dialect, under John Wycliffe): shows substantial changes; still quite challenging for contemporary readers without textual aids.
The lecture notes that Middle English marks a big transition: roughly 700–750 years ago, moving toward modern English but with noticeable differences.
Scots language:
Scots is not simply English with a Scottish accent; it is a distinct language lineage with roots outside Norman French influence on English.
It preserves certain features that English has lost and demonstrates the broader spectrum of English-language varieties.
Practical implications of these translations and histories:
Translation is not merely lexical substitution; it involves cultural references, historical context, and cultural assumptions that may be lost in translation.
Translators must navigate register, idiom, and cultural cues to render texts intelligible across time and audience.
The evolution of English spelling and pronunciation complicates reading and pronunciation across periods, making historical texts challenging without a textual apparatus (indexes, glossaries, annotations).
The Great Vowel Shift and Spelling Regularization
The Great Vowel Shift affected long vowels in Early Modern English, altering pronunciation substantially over several centuries.
Spelling became more regularized around the 15th century, but pronunciation continued to change after that, creating a disconnect between spelling and actual speech later on.
By the time we reach texts like the King James Bible (1611), spelling reflects an earlier state of pronunciation than contemporary speech, contributing to the classic ‘archaic’ flavor of the text.
Example consequences:
Words that look familiar may have had different pronunciations in the period of translation; modern readers often read with modern pronunciation unless guided by scholarly resources.
The two trends (regularized spelling vs. shifting pronunciation) produce a historical gap that scholars must bridge when studying Old/Middle/ Early Modern English.
Middle English and Old English: Language Continuity and Change
Old English (West Saxon dialect, circa AD 800–1100): a language substantially different from modern English; much of it is not immediately intelligible without study.
Middle English (circa 1380, Southeastern Midland dialect): a transitional stage with significant changes in vocabulary, grammar, and syntax; reading requires some glosses or parallel texts.
Modern English (post-15th century onward): increasingly standardized spelling and grammar; more restricted word order (especially in the case of SVO) and greater uniformity across dialects in formal domains.
The Scots variety illustrates how regional varieties can diverge from English features and form distinct linguistic identities.
Practical Takeaways for Studying Language Variation
Language vs Dialect is context-driven and influenced by social factors (power, prestige, education) as much as linguistic structure.
Dialectal variation arises from geography, social class, race, gender, and cultural identity, and is reinforced by peer groups and life stage.
Language change is gradual and often signals broader cultural and social shifts; major changes in syntax, morphology, or lexicon tend to occur over generations.
Understanding historical texts requires awareness of historical spelling, pronunciation, and cultural references; translations into modern English can obscure or alter nuances.
Core vocabulary tends to be stable, offering anchors for tracing linguistic history; lexical shifts (e.g., color terms, body parts) illuminate cultural and contact-driven changes.
Quick Reference: Key Terms and Examples
Subject: the entity that performs the action (e.g., The boy in "The boy ran to the store").
Predicate: the action or state, excluding the subject (e.g., "ran to the store").
Direct object: the thing affected by the action (e.g., "the ball" in "kick the ball").
Indirect object: recipient/beneficiary (e.g., "for her grandma" in "baked cookies for her grandma").
SVO: English canonical word order (Subject–Verb–Object). Example: .
Core vocabulary: lexemes that remain relatively stable over time (e.g., basic body parts, family terms).
Great Vowel Shift: systematic long-vowel changes in English over ~200–300 years (roughly 1400–1700).
West Saxon, Middle English, Early Modern English: stages of English history with distinct phonology, syntax, and vocabulary.
King James Bible (1611): landmark English translation; reflects Early Modern English; important for spelling, register, and literary heritage.
Language vs dialect (the army and navy idea): social-political dimensions shape what is considered a language vs a dialect.
If you want to discuss any section in more detail or add more examples, tell me which part you’d like expanded for exam prep.