1036: 4P
Andrea Calabrese
LING 1030: The Diversity of Languages
Grammar
KNOWLEDGE OF LANGUAGE
Underlying all linguistic events is the knowledge that speakers and hearers have of a language. To elucidate the nature of this knowledge is the central aim of all linguistic research.
A sentence, when uttered, is only a stream of sound. That stream of sound, however, has associated with it a certain meaning.
a. Agni⁄ ile puro!hitam5 yajn$a!sya deva!m r5tvi⁄jam “Agni I honour, the priest of the house, the divine minister of sacrifice”
b. Herr Müller vivra’ a Taranto con i suoi colleghi austriaci “Mister M. will live in Taranto with his Austrian colleagues”
The Speech Chain
A sentence, when uttered, is only a stream of sound. That stream of sound, however, has associated with it a certain meaning.
In producing an utterance, a speaker converts a determined conceptual structure into a stream of sounds. In perceiving an utterance, a listener converts a stream of sounds into a conceptual structure.
! Long term memory: !CAT !! !! !! ! !! ! !! ! !! !CAT !! !Long term memory! !
!! !! !! !/kœt/! !! !! ! !! ! !! ! !! !/kœt/ ! ! ! !
!! !! !!Phonological !! !! ! !! ! !! ! !!Phonological! !! !! !Computation !! !! ! !! ! !! ! !Computation!
! !
!! !! !! ! [khœ?] !! !! ! !! ! !! ! !! ![khœ?] ! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! ! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !!! !! !! !Phonetic !! !! !! ! !! ! !! ! !![Auditory! !! !! !!computation !! !! ! !! ! !! ! !Representation]! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! ![Gestural !! !! !! ! !! ! !! ! !Auditory! !! !! !representation] !! !! ! !! ! !! ! !Computation! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! ! !! ! !! ! !! !!
! !
!! !! !! !! !!Muscolar !! !! !! ! !! ! !! ! !Auditory ! !! ! ! ! !! !! !! implementation !! !! ! !! ! !! ! !Conversion!
!! !! !! !! !! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !! !! ! !! ! !! ! !! ! !!
!
!! Conceptual structure ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !Conceptual structure! HOW DID YOU FIND IT AND….! ! ! ! ! ! !HOW DID YOU FIND IT AND….! ! !
! ! ! ! ! ! !
!Morpho-syntactic ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !Morpho-syntactic ! !computation! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !computation! ! !&! !Vocabulary Items ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !! !Insertion ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !/haU/+ /dId/ +/yu:/+/faInd/+/It/ /´nd/ ....!
! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !!
/haU/+ /dId/ +/yu:/+/faInd/+/It/ /´nd/ .... ! ! ! ! ! ! !Vocabulary Items! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !Identification!
! !
!Phonological ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !Phonological! !Computation !: ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !Computation:!
1) Palatalization of final /d/ before /y/ 1) Palatalization of final /d/ before /y/ 2) Vowel lengthening before voiced stops 2) Vowel lengthening before voiced stops 3) Flapping (t-->D/ V_V) 3) Flapping (t-->D/ V_V) 4) Vowel nasalisation before tautosyllabic nasal 4) Vowel nasalisation before tautosyllabic nasal 5) Nasal deletion 5) Nasal deletion 6) Other processes 6) Other processes ! !
![hawd�j´fa$:� $ᴅ�ᴅ´$d....] ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! [hawd�j´fa$:� $ᴅ�ᴅ´$d....]! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !! !Phonetic ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ![Auditory! !computation! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !Representation] ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !! ![Gestural representation] ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !Auditory Computation!
! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !! !Muscolar implementation ! ! ! ! ! ! !Auditory Conversion ! ! ! !! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
Speaker ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Listener !
Main problem of linguistics: To determine what sorts of information speaker memorize from
previous linguistic experience and what sorts of principles permit this finite body of memorized information to serve as the basis for the construction/perception of indefinitely many sentences.
Additional goal: To establish which aspects of the knowledge required in the
production/perception of language are provided by the innate linguistic competence -- i.e., the uniquely human capacity that allows human speakers to acquire a natural language--, and which aspects are instead learned, and thus stored in the their memories.
What is linguistics?
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Linguistics is the scientific study of human language.
Prescriptive grammar: prescribes language behaviors (What people “should” say) Descriptive grammar: describes language behaviors (What people do say)
Linguistics is descriptive
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Examples of prescriptive rules:
(1) "Don’t end you sentence with a preposition" a. They took away the support we relied on. ⇒ prescriptively bad b. They took away the support on which we relied. ⇒ prescriptively
good
(2) "Don’t split infinitives" a. I promise to never lie again. ⇒ prescriptively bad b. I promise never to lie again. ⇒ prescriptively good
Linguistics is descriptive
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A linguistic grammar is descriptive, not prescriptive!
Physicists do not tell planets how to move...
Chemists do not tell atoms how to combine...
Anthropologists do not tell people how to live...
etc.
Linguistics don’t tell people how to talk
Linguistics is descriptive
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What do we know when we know a language?
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Phonetics and phonology (sounds); Morphology (words); Syntax (sentences and phrases); Semantics (meaning);
WORDS
The stream of sounds involved in uttering a sentence can be understood only if the words of this language are known.
where one word ends and the next begins; evenwithoutanyspacesyoucanreadthissentence
It is self-evident that the knowledge of words must be stored in the memory of speakers: we are not born with this knowledge, but must learn them; i.e., commit them to memory one by one.
Words are commonly composed of smaller pieces, morphemes.
(3) viv-r-a� �he will live� collegh-i �colleagues� austriac-i �austrian� bell-issim-a �very beatiful� ri-conosc-ent-i �grateful�
What do we know when we know a language?
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Morphology: the structure of words
how words are constructed of component parts; imbalance, imperfect, intrusive, insolent...
what order certain combinations must follow: Calvin-ist-ic, not *Calvin-ic-ist help-less-ness, not *help-ness-less
What do we know when we know a language?
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Phonetics: the study of speech sounds
how they are produced and perceived; physiology and acoustics
which constitute speech and which do not; [a], [m] vs. whistles, clucks, handclaps
which ones are in your language and which are not. [ç] and [y] are sounds of German but not English
(3) a. ich [iç] ‘I’ b. Füβe [fysə]‘feet’
What do we know when we know a language?
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Phonology: the function and patterning of speech sounds
which combinations are allowed, and which are not;
(4) spiff, blick, wug vs. fpisf, lickb, wgu
in which positions combinations are permitted;
(5) pterodactyl vs. captain
why some patterns show up over and over again.
(6) imbalance and imperfect
What do we know when we know a language?
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Syntax: the structure of sentences
how words combine to make sentences; John poked Mary /= Mary poked John
how to understand sentences we have never heard; The infinity issue, again
whether or not a sentence is well-formed: Colorless green ideas sleep furiously vs. Curious sleep ideas green colorless
What do we know when we know a language?
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...even if it is “meaningless”:
‘Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: All mimsy were the borogoves, And the mome raths outgrabe.
Jabberwocky, a poem by Lewis Carroll (From Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, 1872
Language as linguistic competence
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Language: the linguistics capacity; the cognitive system allowing humans to acquire and speak a language (any language)
Language: an instantiation of Language shaped by history (e.g. French, Swahili, Arabic)
Grammar as a model of linguistic competence (Language)
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We can’t see grammar, so how can we study it?
Corpora
Native speaker judgments
Language acquisition
Use these data to build models of linguistic
competence.
Linguists call this model A GRAMMAR.
Competence vs. performance
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When we are speaking, all kinds of things (linguistic and non-linguistic) might happen, that affect what we say:
(7) I told John that they ...
speaker is then interrupted by loud sound in other room, speaker then forgets what they wanted to say or speaker then accidentally inhales a fly, etc.
... and the sentence is never completed.
⇒ failures in performance can have various sources but it’s not something that a theory of Language must (or should) account for.
Competence vs. performance
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(8) a. Competence: what grammar would produce in a perfect world, with no physical obstructions
b. Performance: what grammar produces in reality, affected by various extralinguistic factors
Competence vs. performance
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An example: embedding
John likes apples. Mary hopes that John likes apples.
Bill knows that Mary hopes that John likes apples. Sue doubts that Bill knows that Mary hopes that John likes apples.
there is no longest possible sentence, as far as the grammar is concerned
But there is a limit to how long we can be talking or writing without falling asleep etc
Linguistics is not concerned with the external obstacles that can make you fall asleep or fry your brain after uttering 30 embedded clauses. We are interested in modeling the linguisticcompetence.
The basic findings of linguistics
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Generality: all languages have a grammar
Parity: all grammars are equal Universality: grammars share certain basic features
Mutability: grammars change over time
Inaccessability: grammatical knowledge is implicit
Generality: All languages have a grammar
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That is, all languages are systematic. The grammar of the language is the system of rules that establish what possible forms (sounds, words) it has, and how they relate to meaning.
Parity: All grammars are equal
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That is, no language is more ‘evolved’ or ‘primitive’ than any other language.
All languages are vehicles for the expression of the same thing: human thought.
Any child can learn any language they’re exposed to. All children learn their native language(s) in roughly the same amount of time.
Learning a language as an adult is different, and the perceived simplicity/complexity of a foreign language has a lot to do with how similar it is to your native language.
Parity: All grammars are equal
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The same is true of dialects of a language, even if nonstardard dialects are perceived to be ‘wrong’.
What do these sentences mean in Standard American English and African American English?
SAE She is late.
AAE She late. She be late. (Habitual BE)She is always late.
#She is always late right now.
Universality: Grammars are alike in basic ways
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Word meaning is arbitrary (symbolic), not iconic. All languages consist of several levels of discrete pieces (e.g. sounds, words). All grammars can produce an infinite number of sentences (creativity).
Mutability: Grammars change over time
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Hwæt! We Gardena in geardagum, þeodcyninga, þrym gefrunon, hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon.
Unnethe myghte they the statut holde In which that they were bounden unto me. Ye woot wel what I meene of this, pardee! As help me God, I laughe whan I thynke How pitously a-nyght I made hem swynke!
O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo? Denie thy Father and refuse thy name. Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.
Inaccessibility: Grammatical knowledge is subconscious
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Knowing a language doesn’t mean you know how it works.
school and supermarket are both nouns, and yet... I went to school. (fine) *I went to supermarket (BZZZZZZ)
school and work are both nouns, and yet... I’ve been to four schools today (OK) *I’ve been to four works today (???)
Past tense formation: slip, slipped: -ed pronounced as [t] buzz, buzzed -ed pronounced as [d] hunt, hunted -ed pronounced as [əd ]
Inaccessibility: more instances of knowledge you don’t know you have
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Interpretation of Pronouns:
(9) John said he had to leave. a. he=John b. he=someone else
(10) a. John wanted to introduce himself. b. John wanted Bill to introduce himself c. John promised Bill to introduce himself
What does it mean for language diversity?
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Human language takes different forms ⇒ languages
These forms are shaped by the linguistic environment of the language learner
However, the unique properties human language (e.g. creativity, displacement, inaccessibility etc.) are shared by all languages
This suggests that different human languages are only superficially different; their core properties are determined by a cognitive system that’s uniform in all humans.