Name of University: The University of Trinidad and Tobago

Course code: LING2005

Name of Course: Introduction to Linguistics I

Title of Assignment: Language Study and Journal

Student Name: Adrienne Rocke

Student ID:

Name of Lecturer:

1
 Table of Contents

Introduction............................................................................................................................................3

Speaker Profile.......................................................................................................................................4

Conventional Orthography and Phonetic Transcription of Dialogue..............................................5

Morphological Analysis.........................................................................................................................6

Syntax Trees...........................................................................................................................................7

Journal 1...............................................................................................................................................10

Journal 2...............................................................................................................................................12

Journal 3...............................................................................................................................................13

Journal 4...............................................................................................................................................13

Journal 5...............................................................................................................................................13

References.............................................................................................................................................13

Appendix A...........................................................................................................................................15

2
 Introduction

The purpose of this study is to gain a greater understanding of language, its usage and

structure through a linguistic analysis of Trinidad and Tobago Standard English (TTSE) and

the Trinidad Creole (TC) Dialect. To facilitate this study, a three and a quarter minute long

recording was made of two native speakers of Trinidad and Tobago Standard English and

Trinidad Creole. The recording was then transcribed for the purpose of the analysis. Firstly,

five random lines of dialogue were selected and written in the conventional orthography, and

a phonetic transcription was made of the sentences using the International Phonetic Alphabet

(IPA). Secondly, a morphological and semantic analysis was done on ten Trinidad Creole

words. Thirdly, syntax trees were created for three sentences. Lastly, journal entries were

recorded to discuss the various facets of Linguistics examined in this course.

3
 Speaker Profile

This recording was taken at night during an informal phone-call between Speaker 1 and

Speaker 2. During this conversation, Speaker 1 is detailing a recent incident where an

additional cost was added to her husband’s phone bill. Speaker 1, then relates the situation to

a similar occurrence at her previous residence. Speaker 1 and Speaker 2 are sisters, they were

raised in Diamond, a village on the outskirts of San Fernando. They both attended

Barrackporre Junior Secondary and Barrackporre Senior Comprehensive in the 1990s.

Speaker 1 is 41 years of age, married with four children (1 biological daughter, 4 stepsons).

She worked as a nurse and currently resides in San Fernando. Speaker 2 is 45 years of age,

unmarried, owns a small business and currently resides in Couva.

4
 Conventional Orthography and Phonetic Transcription of Dialogue

So, wha hata happen now?

[soʊ] [wa] [hata] [hapɛn] [nɑʊ]

Well dey hata gi him back he money, dey hata gi him ah rebate.

[wɛl] [deɪ] [hata] [ɡɪ] [hɪm] [bak] [hi] [mɑʊni] [deɪ][hata] [gɪ] [hɪm] [a][ɹibeɪt]

So dey go jus minus minus minus an yuh still wouldn get back all yuh money.

[soʊ] [deɪ] [goʊ] [ʤᴧs] [mɑɪnᴧs] [mɑɪnᴧs] [mɑɪnᴧs] [an] [jʊ] [stɪl] [wʊdn] [gɛt] [bak] [ɔl]

[jʊ] [mɑʊni]

Yeah, I tell you I ha money to pay fuh any extra bill? You jus decide you goin an put on a bill

fuh me?

[jɛ] [ɑɪ] [tɛl] [ju] [ɑɪ] [ha] [mɑʊni] [tʊ] [peɪ] [fʊ] [ɛni] [ɛkstɹa] [bɪl] [ju] [ʤᴧs] [disɑɪd] [ju]

[goʊɪn] [an] [pʊt] [ɔɪn] [a] [bɪl] [fʊ] [mi]

Dat shoulda come out a he salary.

[dat] [ʃʊda] [kᴧm] [ɑʊt] [a] [hi] [salaɹi]

5
 Morphological Analysis

Hata- (verb) have to or obligated to Sumn- (pronoun) a particular thing or

2 morphemes something
Root- have- free morpheme 2 morphemes
Root- to- free morpheme Root- some- free morpheme
Blend (Creole) Root- thing- free morpheme
Clipping- (Creole)

Dey- (pronoun) a collective group or they

1 morpheme Meh- (adjective) expressing ownership or
They- free morpheme my
2nd person plural (Creole) 1 morpheme
My- free morpheme
1st person singular (Creole)
Shoulda- (auxiliary verb) should have
2 morphemes
Root- should- free morpheme Doh- (auxiliary verb) do not; or to not do
Root- have- free morpheme something
Blend (Creole) 2 morphemes
Root- do- free morpheme
Root- not- free morpheme
Yuh- (pronoun) you or your Blend (Creole)
1 morpheme
You- free morpheme
2nd person singular (Creole) Allyuh- (pronoun) you or all of you
2nd person plural (Creole)
Blend (Creole)
Fuh- (preposition) intended to or for 2 morphemes
(Creole)
1 morpheme
For- free morpheme Bout- (preposition) the topic of or about
1 morpheme
Root- about- free morpheme
Clipping (Creole)

6
 Syntax Trees

So you gi me someting tuh pay for den

NP VP

Int Pro VP N PP

V Pro P VP

V P Adv

So you gi me somethin tuh pay for

den

S- NP VP

NP- Int Pro

VP- VP N PP

VP- V Pro

PP- P VP

VP- V P Adv

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 Yuh have to realize de number mix-up.

NP VP

Pro V PP

P V NP

Det N Adj

Yuh have to realize de number mix-up

S- NP VP

NP- Pro

VP- V PP

PP- P V NP

NP- Det N Adj

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 Dey hata gi him ah rebate

NP VP

Pro VP NP

Aux V Pro Det N

Dey hata gi him ah rebate

S- NP VP

NP- Pro

VP- VP NP

VP- Aux V

NP- Pro Det N

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 Journal 1

Unit 1 served as an introduction to Linguistics, which, by definition is “the

scientific study of languages… [in that] Linguistics applies the general methodology of

science to study language” (Sinha, 2005. p.1). This unit introduced the idea that language can

change over time and that many factors including socio-political changes can affect a

language and, in many cases may even lead to the creation of other languages including

regional dialects. For example, the Old English word ‘heofonum’ became the Modern

English Word ‘heaven’. In Trinidad and Tobago, the standard language is Trinidad and

Tobago Standard English (TTSE), our dialects include Trinidad Creole and Tobago Creole.

Although these dialects have an English base and structure, some words have changed due to

the incorporation of other regional dialects. However, all languages should be respected as

they represent a large part of any society’s culture. Some of the terminology used in this unit

included: Standard and Non-Standard language, Dialect, Vernacular, English Creole, First

Language, Second Language, Foreign Language.

In discussing language, we may ponder whether animals have language,

and if so, what makes it distinct from human language. According to Trask (2003) “human

language is arguably the single most remarkable characteristic that we have, the one that most

truly sets our species apart” Trask (2003) also notes however that “…recent work by

ethologists (people who study animal behaviour) has revealed that many animal signalling

systems are far more interesting than was once thought.” Humans have a variety of methods

of communicating, including speech and gestures. According to Hoff (2013, p.6), in most

cases, human language is rapid in its development. “[Children] move from understanding no

words at birth to recognizing their names by 6 months and understanding a few other words

by 8 to 10 months” (Hoff, 2013. p.6) Most children are usually able to articulate words by the

10
age of 1, “and by the end of the [second] year they have a productive vocabulary of 300

words and are producing word combinations.” (Fenson et al., 1994 as cited in Hoff, 2013).

By contrast, while research has shown that animals do have their methods

of communication and can, to a large extent understand and attach meaning to human speech,

they cannot replicate it. This was especially noted in the case of Non-Human Primates. This

has led some scientists to the conclusion that Broca's area which is “a critical brain region for

the production of human speech, particularly in motor aspects such as articulation and

fluency” (Barón Birchenall, 2016) is missing in Non-Human Primates. Despite this, attempts

have been made to teach animals human language. For example, a chimpanzee named “Nim

was raised in a human social environment and was exposed to a sign language outside his

home.” (Barón Birchenall, 2016) He too proved successful in retaining the signs taught,

however, “Nim’s maximum attained level of language development consisted in repeating

utterances made by others… (e.g., “hurry”, “me”, “Nim”)… and communicating almost

always in order to obtain a reward, rather than to convey information.” (Barón Birchenall,

2016) Roughly the same language development of a child at the age of 2.

This unit really taught me the importance of not making a very common

Trinidadian mistake. Too often we say to children “Learn to speak properly!” or “Use proper

English!” However, this statement is completely incorrect. There is no such thing as ‘Proper

English’ it is an archaic and false idea. Just as I would not try to force a foreign language

speaker to conform to my language and completely abandon their own, I should not try to

force my future students to develop the mind-set that their way of speaking is incorrect.

While it is true that Trinidad and Tobago Standard English is the language of ‘professional

world.’ Trinidad creole or Tobago Creole may be the language of my student’s hearts, and it

would be wrong to attempt to rid them of it. My classroom should be a comfortable space,

and I should teach my students to embrace the uniqueness of their language, while integrating

it with the standard varieties. That, is forward thinking.

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 Journal 2

Unit 2 covered the topics of Morphology and Semantics, according to

Aronoff & Fudeman (2022) “morphology refers to the mental system involved in word

formation or to the branch of linguistics that deals with words, their internal structure, and

how they are formed.” The smallest unit that a word can be broken down to is called a

morpheme. There are two types of morphemes: free morphemes, which can stand on their

own without any additions, and bound morphemes which must be attached to another word to

make sense. Affixes are bound morphemes; these are attached to the beginning or end of a

word to alter the meaning. There are four types of affixes: prefixes, infixes, and circumfixes.

Morphemes can also be derivational, meaning that they change the meaning of the word, or

inflectional (only suffixes) meaning that they change the function of the word. Another point

discussed was Semantics, which is “a subfield of linguistics that studies linguistic meaning

and how expressions convey meaning” (Dawson & Phelan, 2016, p. 416.) Within this, we

learned how some words are added to a language through the creation of Acronyms, Bends,

Clipping, Coinages, Conversions, and Eponyms. As well as how the meaning can change

through Compounding, Reduplication, Alternations, and Suppletion.

One aspect of this unit that I found interesting was ‘Eponyms.’ According

to Dawson & Phelan (2016), “Eponyms are words, (often places, inventions, activities, etc.)

that are names for persons somehow connected with them.” Eponyms are very prevalent in

the medical world, according to Ferguson & Thomas (2014) “Eponyms usually involve

honoring a prominent physician scientist who played a major role in the identification of the

disease” and most cases, they stick with these names as “it is often easier to remember a

disease by its eponym than by the more scientific pathologic description” (Ferguson &

Thomas, 2014.) Some of the common medical eponyms include: Parkinson’s disease (named

12
after James Parkinson), Alzheimer’s disease (named after Alois Alzheimer) and Crohn’s

disease (named after Burrill Crohn) (Ferguson & Thomas, 2014.). Eponyms also serve as an

integral part of other sciences. For example, in physics, commonly used terms include: joule

(named after James Prescott Joule), kelvin (named after William Thomson Kelvin), newton

(named after Sir Isaac Newton), hertz (named after Heinrich Rudolph Hertz), and pascal

(named after Blaise Pascal). (Popescu & Oprit-Maftei, 2003). Eponyms can be found in place

names, for example, Washington D.C. (named after George Washington) and District of

Columbia (named after Christopher Columbus) (Dawson & Phelan, 2016.) The interesting

thing about Eponyms, however, is that the use of a name does not necessarily mean that the

namesake receives any sort long-lasting or special recognition. While, as mentioned earlier,

eponyms are usually meant as a sign of honor, more often than not, as Eponyms become

deeper integrated into everyday language, the identity of the namesake is forgotten.

I can apply this unit to my teaching practice by remembering to be patient

with my students if they have issues understanding grammatical rules. For example, there are

many rules to follow in affixation, a topic that may seem simple. In my previous experiences,

the prefixes ‘in-’ and ‘im-’ were often used interchangeably by young students, while others

had issues changing the verb to its present tense. How so? The rules which apply for adding

the suffix ‘-ing’ can vary from dropping the ‘e’ (bake- baking, snore- snoring), to doubling

the last letter (tip- tipping, hit- hitting), to just adding ‘ing’ (walk- walking, cook- cooking).

There is also the issue of suppletion which in simple terms means that the root word changes

completely to facilitate the use of the word. For example, the past tense of ‘go’ is ‘went’, and

the past tense of ‘do’ is ‘did.’ Suppletion reaches its highest level of criminality when applied

to comparisons. For example, the comparative and superlative forms of ‘bad’ are ‘worse’ and

‘worst.' This is understandably confusing, yet, young students must squeeze all of these rules

into their developing minds. Therefore, I have to remember to be patient with my students.

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 Journal 3

In this unit Phonology and Phonetics were the topics of discussion.

According to According to Dawson & Phelan (2016) “Phonology is the study of how sounds

are organized Write your journal entry for Unit 3. For the research part of the journal

identify some of the phonological differences between TTSE and Trinidad Creole or

Tobago Creole.

Journal 4
Research any part of syntax

Journal 5

This course was exciting and extremely enjoyable. I studied both the

English language and English Literature at the CSEC level, and I love the English language. I

love the uniqueness, complexity, and absurdity of the language. Therefore, studying it in

depth was a dream come true. I never knew that there were so many ways to analyze a

language. This course also helped me to shed any remnants of the Anglo-centric view that

English is the penultimate language, every language is different and beautiful in its way.

Some of the highlights of this course included learning about the International Phonetic

Alphabet, and the references to Trinidad Creole.

The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is the most fascinating aspect of

linguistics. Learning about it was like unlocking a secret code that connected you to every

other language. Because the IPA is phonetic and uses one-to-one correspondence, it is used to

explain the pronunciation of any word in any language, even if the language has Non-Roman

characters. I would like to imagine that I would one day be so familiar with the IPA that I can

read and write letters using only this alphabet.

14
 I also appreciated the regular references made to Trinidad Creole. We are

molded into believing that our Creole languages and Dialects are unsuitable and

unprofessional, while American and British Standard varieties are deemed acceptable. As a

result, we try hard to adopt those varieties and scoff at those who use dialect in their everyday

speech. However, within this course, Trinidad Creole was treated like a real language. We

examined how regular language rules apply to it, and my language study was based on

analyzing Trinidad Creole. Our languages are a large part of our history and culture, so it was

nice to see them appreciated in this course.

LING2005 was one of the most refreshing courses that I have done since I

started UTT. For me, it bridged the gap between knowing language and understanding and

was delivered in such a way that I always left class knowing something new. My lecturer was

extremely patient and had such great comedic timing that it was near impossible to feel

bored. I have a lot of confidence that I will do well in this course and I would recommend it

to any student.

References

Anderson, J. B. (1996). The language of eponyms. Journal of the Royal College of

Physicians of London, 30(2), 174.

Aronoff, M., & Fudeman, K. (2022). What is morphology?. John Wiley & Sons.

Barón Birchenall, L. (2016). Animal communication and human language: An

overview. International Journal of Comparative Psychology, 29(1).

Dawson, H. C., & Phelan, M. (2016). Language Files: Materials for an Introduction to

Language and Linguistics (12th ed.). The Ohio State University Press:

Columbus.

15
Ferguson, R. P., & Thomas, D. (2014). Medical eponyms. Journal of Community Hospital

Internal Medicine Perspectives, 4(3), 25046.

Hoff, E. (2013). Language development. Cengage Learning

Popescu, F., & Oprit-Maftei, C. (2003). Eponyms in Physics. Melanges de terminologie et

semantique. 208-224.

Sinha, M. P. (2005). Modern linguistics. Atlantic Publishers & Dist.

Trask, R. L. (2003). Language: the basics. Routledge.

Appendix A

Transcript of recorded dialogue between Speaker A and Speaker B

Speaker 1: He come to repair de internet, but he and and am, he gone an’ am add anoder
account, he find he wasn gettin tru wit de account dat we have so he create anoder account

Speaker 2: mmm

Speaker 1: So Ricky say well he find he payin’ more money all de time, so he say “buh how
come I payin’ so much ah money?” Nex ting yuh know is because when he call de am, de de
company, is because de man went an he jus add anoder bill because he wasn gettin tru wit de
account.

Speaker 2: So… wha hata happen now?

Speaker 1: Well dey hata gi him back he money. Dey hata gi him ah rebate

Speaker: Or hor

Speaker 1: So yuh know wha dey go do, dey go put de exe de excess on de… yuh know dey
ain givin yuh back no money

Speaker 2: uh uh

16
Speaker 1: So dey go jus minus minus minus an yuh still wouldn get back all yuh money

Speaker 2: Yuh know

Speaker 1: Dees people is someting else yes.

Speaker 2: Papa yo, imagine dat. So you gi me someting tuh pay for den?

Speaker 1: Yeah, I tell you I ha money to pay fuh any extra bill? You jus decide you goin an
put on ah bill fuh me?
Speaker 2: mm hmm

Speaker 1: Dat shoulda come out ah he salary.

Speaker 2: Yeah, huh

Speaker 1: Imagine if he didn go an do he investigation, yuh see how yuh woulda, he woulda
jus be payin, like ah payin’ fuh fuh

Speaker 2: Dais like me in Penal, in Dookie Street dey.

Speaker 1: Yeah

Speaker 2: It take when I done leave dey fuh two years an more, bout three years eh, an den
when I leave dey is fuh somebody else to come dey, an I tellin dem people dem my light bill,
sumn wrong wit it.
Speaker 1: Yeah

Speaker 2: Fuh somebody else tuh come dey afta that

Speaker 1: Afta

Speaker 2: Tuh say, “ay this bill, sumn wrong”

Speaker 1: Someting eh right wit it

Speaker 2: Yuh have to realize de number mix-up.

Speaker 1: Hmm, an dey so nasty, dey ent say well leh meh gi yuh back some money, or or,
I’m sorry for de mistake dat ah make, nutin. Dey so, dey so nasty.

Speaker 2: Yeah, afta dat. Building sell everyting an I

Speaker 1: “Well, well, wa we go do?” Wha yuh go

Speaker 2: An I used tuh tell dees people, ah say “how my bill how my bill was, wha buh
wha I doin whole tuh pay dis bill, two someting two someting”

Speaker 1: An you doh be home.

Speaker 2: Mmmhmm

17
Speaker 1: Hmm. Yuh tink it easy?

Speaker 2: When de girl come dey an she ting, and she was ah workin person too. An she tell
dem she say ay allyuh dis could neva be inno, wha I usin so?

Speaker 1: Yeah

Speaker 2: An she tell dem, “Allyuh hata check dis meter ting.” Yeah. De girl meet me quite
in Nandlal and tell me dat inno, who was livin dey.

Speaker 1: Yeah

Speaker 2: She remain, de noisy people nah.

Speaker 1: Yeah

Speaker 2: Dem did remain fuh a while an she tell me, she say remember yuh always talking
bout yuh bill, anoder girl come, an yuh bill was really mix up. I wah know how de school bill
comin lo lo lower dan mine Sherma.

Speaker 1: Yeah

Seaker 2: Hm

Speaker 1: Hm

18