1/26 Morphology and Words sFormation
Introduction to Morphology
Morphology is defined as the study of words, word formation, and the internal structure of words and how they are put together.
The discussion includes a lot of grammatical terminology that is essential for describing linguistic phenomena.
Understanding What a Word Is
The definition of a word is complex and various perspectives exist; the instructor emphasizes that initially, there are no wrong answers.
Responses given by students include:
A group of sounds that has meaning.
A unit defined by separation by spaces in written language.
A component of sentence structure.
The instructor highlights that none of these definitions are fully satisfactory, leading to further exploration of the concept.
The Blindfolded Scientist Problem
Introduces an analogy where six blindfolded scientists each touch different parts of an elephant and arrive at conflicting conclusions:
The trunk is considered a snake.
The tusk is labeled a spear.
The ear is described as a fan.
The tail is thought of as a rope.
The side is seen as a wall.
The leg is interpreted as a tree trunk.
This illustrates that our understanding can be limited by perspective, paralleling the varying definitions of a word.
Characteristics of Spoken Language
Words are not separated by spaces in spoken language; instead, they exist in a continuous flow of sounds.
Examples of cultural references like Captain Kirk from Star Trek demonstrate the unnaturalness of pauses between spoken words.
Discusses acoustic analysis through spectrograms, a visual representation of speech:
A spectrogram shows dark vertical lines indicating frequencies, where the darkness indicates amplitude or loudness.
It reveals that natural speech does not have gaps between words, challenging the orthographic approach to defining words.
Compound Words and English Orthography
English frequently utilizes compound words which may have spaces orthographically:
Examples include "ice cream," "whiteboard," and "motor vehicle liability insurance."
The stress pattern of compound words can help distinguish them:
Ice cream (stress on "ice") vs. blueberry (stress on "berry").
Comparison between English compounds and those in other languages (e.g., German) points out the absence of spaces.
Word Definitions and Perspectives
Different definitions explored:
Phonological Approach:
A word can be said in isolation.
Cannot be interrupted by pauses when spoken.
Semantic Approach:
Words represent individual concepts but can vary linguistically across cultures.
Issues arise with idiomatic expressions which convey single concepts with multiple words.
Contradictions in counting words based on language differences.
Syntactic Definition:
An independent unit of speech manipulable in grammatical contexts but requires further nuance.
Sources of New Words (Neologisms)
Neologism: A new word, often coined to reflect new ideas.
Various methods of generating neologisms include:
Coinage: Creation of entirely new words, such as "Kleenex" or "Teflon."
Successful coinages may become generic terms (e.g., “Xerox”).
Borrowing: Adopting words from other languages along with their concepts (e.g., "whiskey" from Gaelic).
Calque: Borrowing the structure without borrowing the phonology, like "skyscraper” from French.
Eponyms: Words derived from names or places (e.g., "sandwich" from the Earl of Sandwich).
Conversion: Changing the part of speech of a word (e.g., verb "to ink" from noun "ink").
Clipping: Shortening a longer word (e.g., "professor" to "prof").
Blends: Combining parts of two words to create a new word (e.g., "brunch" from "breakfast" and "lunch").
Conclusion
Discussed various mechanisms through which words enter the language, with a focus on the ongoing evolution of lexicon.
Next steps include delving into the concept of morphemes and further exploring additional methods of word formation.