Introduction (1)
Introduction (1)
o Note:
➢ Only two slots with a room with 60 seating capacity
➢ We will be assigned more TAs
➢ Finalize it by the next week.
Office Hours
o Science is:
➢ Data
➢ Hypothesis
➢ Consequences
Linguistics as a Science: Yes-no question in English
2. John is talking to the boy who is tall . Is John talking to the boy who is tall ?
3. The boy who is tall is talking to John. Is the boy who is tall talking to John?
o Data -> systematic observation of the data -> hypothesis -> experiment/testing
on more data -> if disagreement, then reformulation of the hypothesis ->
experiment/testing on more data -> if agreement, then rule/principle, theory.
o 5 areas of competence
➢ Sounds
➢ How to put those sounds together
➢ Words
➢ How to put words together to make a
phrase/sentence
➢ Meaning
Human Language Competence and Linguistics
o Descriptive rule
➢ Root + plural suffix (s)
o Outcome
➢ Institutionalized
➢ *Institut(e)-al-ion-iz-ed
➢ *Institutet(e)-ion-iz-al-ed
➢ *Institut(e)-ion-al-ed-iz
o It’s ambiguous:
➢ Can be unbuttoned
➢ Cannot be buttoned
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Hierarchical structure: Two possible analysis
o Un-button-able has two valid structure
V -able un- V
button button
o The prefix un- can be attached to Adj (as in left structure) or Verb
(as in right structure).
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Languages are structured: Syntax
o Noun phrases in English:
➢ Two old men
*old two men
*men two old
*men old two
➢ Correct order: Numeral -> Adjective ->Noun
o Sentences in English
➢ JohnSub sawverb MaryObj
*JohnSub MaryObj sawverb
➢ Correct order: Subject -> Verb -> Object
Languages are structured: Syntax
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Ambiguity
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Ambiguity
o Don’t worry about the tree yet. Don’t take it as official either (They’re
for illustration). This is where we will be headed. 18
Phonetics and Phonology
o We have intuitions about the sounds in our language.
o We can divide the sounds into consonants and vowels, for example.
➢ Three different sounds in “put”; two are consonants and one is
vowel.
o Is the vowel in “put” the same as in “but”?
➢ No!
o Is the first vowel sound in “women” the same as in “fin”?
➢ Yes!
Languages are structured: Phonetics and Phonology
o But not all languages are so fussy. And some are more fussy! –Have
you notice my pronunciation of the word “Spring”?
Cross-linguistic facts
o An example from Hindi
➢ The object comes before the verb. English does not allow this word
order: (S)OV vs. (S)VO
o A linguist’s task
➢ to determine what the rules in the two languages are
such that a child learning English or Hindi learns that
language with equal ease.
Cross-linguistic facts: Universal Grammar (UG)
o How does a child learn a language (their native language) so easily and
so quickly without instruction?
o Noam Chomsky
➢ Human must have underlying principles that help them to acquire a
language easily and quickly.
➢ Humans are born with an innate ability to acquire languages and that
there are universal principles/rules that form the basis for language
acquisition across different cultures and languages.
o Reading
➢ O’Grady, Williams, et al. (2010). Phonetics, in Contemporary
Linguistics. 6th edition. Boston, New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s.
(required)