Introduction
Introduction to Linguistics Categories
Introduction
LIN102H1F – Lecture 1
July 6th, 2021
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Introduction to Linguistics Categories
Introduction to Linguistics
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Introduction to Linguistics Categories
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Introduction to Linguistics Categories
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I Language is a systematic, conventional, method of communication
I Language is creative
I New words
I e.g., instagrammable, unfriend, noob … etc.
(cf., browser, spam, geek … in the 90’s)
I New utterances
I e.g., “I am taking LIN102 this summer with Kaz.”
I No limit to the length of a sentence
I e.g., This is the dog that chased the cat that killed the rat that
ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built.
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Introduction to Linguistics Categories
I Language is a systematic, conventional, method of communication
I The creativity is not random
I We cannot just add any type of words
I e.g., no novel prepositions such as in, at, for
I We can only combine words in certain ways
I 10 x 10 x 10 x 10… (3.6 mil!?)
I *the bit man dog the
Observation
a set of systematic constraints that limit the creativity of language (=
“mental grammar”)
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I Linguistics is the scientific study of the human capacity of language
+ The ability to generate an infinite set of expressions (from a finite set of rules)
I We investigate various aspects of this capacity by looking at different
phenomena
I phonetics: the articulation and perception of speech sounds
I phonology: the patterning of speech sounds
I morphology: word structure
I syntax: sentencce structure
I semantics: the interpretation of words and sentences
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I Linguistics is the scientific study of the human capacity of language
+ The ability to generate an infinite set of expressions (from a finite set of rules)
I We investigate various aspects of this capacity by looking at different
methods
I linguistic theory study of grammar as a system of knowledge (e.g.,
atoms, combinatorial principles)
I psycholinguistics: study of language processing
I acquisition: study of how langauge is acquired
I sociolinguistics: study of how language use is affected by social
factors/contexts
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“Linguistics shares with other sciences a concern to be objective, systematic, consistent ,
and explicit in its account of language. Like other sciences, it aims to collect data, test
hypothesis, devise models, and construct theories. Its subject matter, however, is
unique: at one extreme it overlaps with such “hard” sciences as physics and anatomyl at
the other, it involves such traditional “arts” subjects as philosophy and literacy criticism.
The field of linguistics includes both science and the humanities, and offers a breath of
coverage that, for many aspiring students of the subjecct, is the primary source of its
appeal.”
David Crystal (The Cambridge Encyclopeda of Language 1997)
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Introduction to Linguistics Categories
I In this class, our focus will be on sentence structure and meaning and we will
approach this from the perspective of:
I morphology
I syntax
I semantics
I linguistic theory
I psycholinguistics:
I acquisition:
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Phonetics
Phonology
Morphology
Syntax
Semantics
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Noam Chomsky
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Problematization of the capacity for language
Behaviourism
I ‘a system of habits that grows
cumulatively over time’
I imitation, repetition … etc.
I AA
AA
AA
Chomsky
I ‘growth and maturation (as a
better metaphor)’
I biological pre-programming for
the development of anatomical
characteristics etc.
I language is no different from
other aspects of human biology
An adult grammar is …
Faculty of language (a generic blueprint) + Experience/Environment (exposure)
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I Assumption: The capacity to map expressions to meaning ⇒ biological
I the object of study of linguistics is fundamentally biological
I Syntax : The system that maps between sound and meaning
+ It’s more than the study of sentence structure
Syntax
Phonology Semantics
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I One the aims of syntactic theory is to model the knowledge speakers have of their
syntax
I What are the possible and impossible sentences in a language?
I What are the building blocks and combinatorial principles that would predict
all and only these sentences?
I To study what is and what is not a possible sentence:
I elicitation interviews with native speakers
I laboratory/experimental settings
I A sentence is considered as …
I grammatical, if it is a well-formed sentence (The cat chases the dog)
I ungrammatical, if it is an ill-formed sentence (*The chased cat dog the)
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Introduction to Linguistics Categories
Linguistic competence
The subconscious knowledge you have about a language
Linguistic performance
The way spealers use the competence in actual production and compre-
hension
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Introduction to Linguistics Categories
(1) a. Several of the employees and myself wrote to the chairman…
b. Several of the employees and I wrote to the chairman…
(Parker et al. 1990)
(2) a. To whom were you talking yesterday?
b. To who were you talking yesterday?
c. Who were you talking to yesterday?
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“[…] the term grammar is used in a special way within linguistics. To a linguist,
a grammar is not a book, nor is it concerned with just the form of words
and sentences. Rather, it is the intricate network of knowledge that underlies
our ability to use language.” (O’Grady & Archibald p.6)
“Parity” = All grammars are equal
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Prescriptive grammar
The existence of certain “correct” forms that all educate peopleshould
use in speaking and writing
Descriptive grammar
Faithful to the way languages are actually used by speakers
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Introduction to Linguistics Categories
Categories
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I Simplified assumption: Words are elements manipulated by syntax
I Syntax takes individual words and combines them to form phrases and
sentences
I Not all word combinations are grammatical
I *The cat the dog
I *The chased a small
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Introduction to Linguistics Categories
Categories
Nouns
Verbs
Adjectives
Adverbs
Prepositions
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a
Nouns pens, phones, a laptop, an address, water, fish, love, truth
a
Verbs write, submit, address, walked, ate
a
Adjectives blue, serious, bright, afraid, anxious, hopeful
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Adverbs
Prepositions
quietly, seriously, well, always, sometimes, very
in, on, of, at, to, for, with
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Meaning
Nouns: a person, place or thing
Verbs: describe an action
Betrayal hurts.
Deforestation is an environmental problem.
Nancy and Steve are in love.
It is raining.
I think that John is in the kitchen.
A picture of Mary
I want very much for you to win the prize.
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Categories
Meaning
Distribution
Modifier
Co-
occurrence
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Distribution
+ Where they can or can’t occur
Nouns occur after determiners in English
Nouns occur after adjectives in English
e.g., the betrayal, the deforestation of the Amazon basin
the collison of the car
e.g., a high cost, extensive deforestation,
the poor condition of the car
Words that do not follow these distributions 6= nouns
e.g., *the ate, *extensive happy, *the poor through
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I Distributional evidence is language-specific
I Different languages assign words with similar meanings to different categories
I Need to take into account cross-linguistic differences in morphology & syntax
English
a. the train
b. the blue train
c. *the train blue
d. *the blue
Spanish
a. el tren
b. *el azul tren
c. el tren azul
d. el azul
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I An important sourcce of distributional evidence for assigning a category is
morphology (⇒ the forms of words)
I We see smaller units than words
I hospital, hospitalize, hospitalized
I establish, establishment, disestablish, disestablishment, antidisestablishment,
antidisestablishmentarianism
I Words are not the smallest meaningful unit in language
I Words may be complex – they can be built from smaller units
Morpheme
the smallest unit that conveys either a meaning or a grammatical property
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I Some morphemes are semantically meaningful
I -s: dog → dogs (plurality)
I -er : speak → speaker (‘one who does X’)
I Others do not convey any clear meaning, but they indicate a grammatical property
I e.g, ‘subject-verb agreement’ (e.g., 3rd person singular present -s)
I She reads the newspaper
I They/I/You read/(*reads) the newspaper
I Morphemes are selective about what they can attach to (including categories)
I Plural -s can be found with nouns, but with prepositions or adjectives etc.
I e.g., dogs, friends, betrayals, collisions, *fors, *bigs
I Progressive -ing can appear with verbs
I e.g., I am taking a linguistics course, *betrayaling, *quietlying
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I Not all words in a given category follow these generalizations
I Only nouns can occur with plural -s in English ; all nouns can occur with it
Count nouns : desk, desks; lecture, lectures
Mass nouns : furniture, *furnitures; water, *waters
I Verbs that express a state of being cannot occur with progressive -ing
e.g., *She is knowing the answer
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Modifiers
+ What kind of modifiers can you have?
Nouns: Adjectives (e.g., red books)
Verbs: Adverbs (e.g., stop suddenly)
Adjectives: Degree words (e.g., very red)
Adverbs: Degree words (e.g., very loudly)
Prepositions: Intensifiers (e.g., right in the middle)
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Co-occurrence
+ Two things cannot appear in the same space together
books
the books, these books
*the these books, *these the books
her books
her red books
*the her books, *the her books
But… multiple words of the same category may be found next to one another
e.g., the big red book, very badly
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Introduction to Linguistics Categories
Categories
Meaning
Distribution
Modifier
Co-
occurrence
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Introduction to Linguistics
Categories