Key Concepts in Linguistics
Linguistics: Animals and Human Language
What is Communication?
Communication involves two types of signals: communicative signals and informative signals.
Informative signals are those not produced intentionally. Examples include:
- A sneeze
- Nervous behavior
- Non-matching socks (indicating disorganization)
Communicative signals are those that are intended to convey something.
What is Reflexivity?
The ability to reflect on language using language itself. In other words, to comment and to think actively about what we say and how we say it.
What is Displacement?
The ability to refer to things in the past and the future, and even other places.
What is Arbitrariness?
The ability to see a connection between signs and icons and transform them into sounds and words that correspond to objects in the world.
What is Productivity?
The ability to create new expressions and utterances by changing our linguistic resources to describe new objects and situations.
What is Cultural Transmission?
The process whereby a language is passed on from one generation to the next.
What is Duality?
The two levels of sounds and meaning. We have the physical level at which we can produce different sounds like [b], [n], and [i]. None mean anything on their own. On a different level, we can put them together so that they form a meaning, such as ‘bin’ or ‘nib’. This duality is one of the features of human language that gives us the capability to produce a large number of sound combinations which are distinct in meaning.
Linguistics: The Sounds of Language
What is Phonetics?
Phonetics is the general study of the characteristics of speech sounds. There are three main types:
- Articulatory phonetics: How sounds are made, or articulated.
- Acoustic phonetics: The physical properties of speech as sound waves in the air.
- Auditory phonetics: The perception, via the ears, of speech sounds.
Voiceless vs. Voiced Sounds
How a Voiceless Sound is Made
The vocal folds are spread apart, and the air from the lungs passes between them unimpeded. Examples: [s] and [f].
How a Voiced Sound is Made
The vocal folds are drawn together, and the air from the lungs repeatedly pushes them apart, creating a vibration effect. Examples: [z] and [v].
Places of Articulation
(Note: This section refers to a picture not included here.)
Terms referenced: Alveolar ridge, velum, palate, nasal cavity, pharynx, uvula, larynx, tongue.
Bilabials
Sounds formed using both upper and lower lips. Initial sounds in the words ‘pat’ [p], ‘bat’ [b], and ‘mat’ [m] are all bilabials. The sound in ‘walk’, ‘way’, and ‘world’ [w] can also be seen as bilabial.
Labiodentals
Sounds formed using upper teeth and lower lip. The sound in ‘fat’, ‘safe’, ‘cough’, ‘photo’ [f] is a voiceless labiodental. The sound in ‘vat’, ‘save’ [v] is voiced.
Dentals
Sounds formed with the tongue tip behind the upper front teeth. The sound in ‘thin’, ‘bath’, ‘three’, ‘teeth’ is the voiceless [θ]. The sound in ‘the’, ‘there’, ‘thus’, ‘then’, ‘feather’ is the voiced [ð].
Alveolars
Sounds formed with the front part of the tongue on the alveolar ridge. The initial sounds in ‘top’ [t] and ‘sit’ [s] are voiceless alveolars. The initial sounds in ‘dip’ [d], ‘zoo’ [z], and ‘nut’ [n] are voiced alveolars. Note that in words like ‘raise’, the final sound is voiced and should be represented by [z]. Other alveolar sounds are [l] as in ‘lap’, ‘lit’ and [r] in ‘right’, ‘write’.
Palatals
Sounds formed with the tongue and the palate, the part in the roof of your mouth right behind the alveolar ridge. The initial sound in ‘shout’ is voiceless [ʃ]. The initial sound in ‘child’ is voiceless [tʃ]. The word ‘church’ starts and ends with the voiceless [tʃ]. The middle consonant sound in ‘treasure’ and ‘pleasure’ is the voiced [ʒ]. ‘joke’, ‘gem’, ‘judge’, and ‘George’ represent the voiced [dʒ]. The sound in ‘you’ and ‘yet’ is the voiced [j].
Velars
Sounds made with the back of the tongue and the back of the roof of the mouth (the velum). The sound in ‘kid’, ‘kick’, ‘cook’, ‘cold’, ‘car’, ‘coke’ is the voiceless velar represented by [k]. The sound in ‘go’, ‘gun’, ‘give’, ‘bag’, ‘mug’, ‘plague’ is the voiced velar represented by [g]. If the velum is lowered, forcing the air to pass through the nasal cavity, the voiced velar nasal [ŋ] is produced. It is found in ‘sing’, ‘sung’, ‘tongue’.
Glottals
The sound produced by letting air pass through the glottis without any obstruction in the mouth. The sound in ‘who’, ‘house’, ‘have’, ‘happy’ is a voiceless glottal represented by [h].
Manners of Articulation
Stops (Plosives)
Sounds produced by completely stopping the airflow and then releasing it abruptly. [p], [b], [t], [d], [k], [g] are all stops.
Fricatives
Sounds produced by almost blocking the airflow and forcing the air through a narrow opening, creating friction. [f], [v], [θ], [ð], [s], [z], [ʃ], [ʒ], [h] are fricatives.
Affricates
Sounds produced by a combination of a stop followed immediately by a fricative. [tʃ] and [dʒ] are affricates.
Nasals
Sounds produced by lowering the velum and letting air flow through the nasal cavity. [m], [n], [ŋ] are nasals.
Liquids
Sounds produced by letting air flow around the sides of the tongue. [l], [r] are liquids.
Glides
Sounds produced with the tongue in motion, creating a vowel-like sound. [w], [j] are glides.
Vowels
Vowels are produced with airflow that is relatively free. Different vowel sounds are produced by changing the tongue’s position and height, and depending on whether the vowel is made at the front, central, or back of the mouth.
Front Vowels
- [i] as in ‘bead’, ‘beef’, ‘key’, ‘me’
- [ɪ] as in ‘bid’, ‘myth’, ‘women’
- [ɛ] as in ‘bed’, ‘dead’, ‘said’
- [æ] as in ‘bad’, ‘laugh’, ‘wrap’
Central Vowels
- [ə] as in ‘above’, ‘oven’, ‘support’
- [ʌ] as in ‘butt’, ‘blood’, ‘dove’, ‘tough’
Back Vowels
- [u] as in ‘boo’, ‘move’, ‘two’, ‘you’
- [ʊ] as in ‘book’, ‘could’, ‘put’
- [ɔ] as in ‘born’, ‘caught’, ‘fall’, ‘raw’
- [ɑ] as in ‘Bob’, ‘cot’, ‘swan’
Diphthongs
Diphthongs are produced by moving vocal organs from one vowel position to another.
- [aɪ] as in ‘buy’, ‘eye’, ‘I’, ‘my’, ‘pie’, ‘sigh’
- [aʊ] as in ‘bough’, ‘doubt’, ‘cow’
- [eɪ] as in ‘bait’, ‘eight’, ‘great’, ‘late’, ‘say’
- [oʊ] as in ‘boat’, ‘home’, ‘throw’, ‘toe’
- [ɔɪ] as in ‘boy’, ‘noise’
Linguistics: Word Formation
What is Etymology?
The study of the origin and history of a word. From Greek étymon ‘original form’ + logia ‘study of’.
What is Coinage?
The invention of totally new terms for new events or subjects in the language. Most typical are invented trade names for commercial products that become general terms (usually written without capital letters). Examples: aspirin, nylon, vaseline, zipper, kleenex, teflon, xerox. ‘To google’ is an example of coinage.
New words based on a person’s name or place are called eponyms. Examples: hoover, sandwich, quisling, jeans (from Genoa, Italy).
What is Borrowing?
Words borrowed from other languages. Examples: Croissant (French), Lilac (Persian), Tattoo (Tahitian), Ombudsman (Swedish).
Calque
A special type of borrowing where a term is directly translated into the borrowing language. Example: ‘Skyscraper’ has been borrowed into the following calques: German: Wolkenkratzer. French: gratte-ciel. Dutch: wolkenkrabber.
What is Compounding?
When two separate words are combined to form a new word. Examples: bookcase, textbook, sunburn, fingerprint.
What is Blending?
The combination of parts of two separate words to form a new word with a combined meaning. Examples: Chocoholic (chocolate + alcoholic), Brunch (breakfast + lunch), Swenglish (Swedish + English).
What is Clipping?
When a word of more than one syllable is reduced. Examples: ad (advertisement), flu (influenza), bra (brassiere).
Hypocorisms
A particular type of clipping where a longer word is reduced to a single syllable, and then -y or -ie is added to the end. Examples: movie (moving pictures), telly (television), Barbie (barbecue).
What is Backformation?
When a word of one form, usually a noun, is reduced to form a word of another type, usually a verb. Examples: donate (from donation), enthuse (from enthusiasm), edit (from editor), burgle (from burglar).
What is Conversion?
When a word changes its grammatical function (e.g., noun to verb) without any change in form. Examples: ‘bottle’ (noun to verb), ‘butter’ (noun to verb), ‘chair’ (noun to verb), ‘impact’ (noun to verb), ’empty’ (adjective to verb).
What are Acronyms?
Acronyms are words formed from the initial letters of a set of other words. Examples: CD (compact disk), VCR (video cassette recorder), LASER (light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation), SCUBA (self-contained underwater breathing apparatus), ZIP (zone improvement plan), ATM (automatic teller machine).
What is Derivation?
When small linguistic units, called affixes, are added to a word. There are three main types:
- Prefixes: Added before the base word. Examples: mis-, un-, pre-.
- Suffixes: Added after the base word. Examples: -less, -full, -ish, -ness (e.g., ‘foolishness’ has two suffixes: -ish and -ness).
- Infixes: Added in the middle of the base word (rare in English, often used in expletives). Examples: -f*cking-, -bloody-, -goddam-.
Linguistics: Language and the Brain
What is Neurolinguistics?
The study of the relationship between the brain and language.
Language Areas in the Brain
Key areas include:
- Broca’s Area: Broca found that language was located in the left hemisphere and that damage to this area created difficulty in producing speech.
- Wernicke’s Area: Damage here causes difficulties in understanding language.
- The Motor Cortex: Controls the articulatory muscles of the face, jaw, tongue, and larynx.
- The Arcuate Fasciculus: Nerve fibers that form a crucial connection between Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas.
What is the Localization View?
It is suggested that the brain activity involved in hearing a word, understanding it, and then saying it follows a definite pattern. The word is heard and comprehended via Wernicke’s area, then transferred via the arcuate fasciculus to Broca’s area, from where signals are sent to the motor cortex to produce speech.
Language Errors
Tip of the Tongue
Shows that we generally have an accurate phonological outline of the word, can often retrieve the initial sound, and usually know the number of syllables. It suggests that our word storage may be partially organized on the basis of phonological information and that some words are more easily retrieved than others.
Malapropism
When we make mistakes such as saying ‘transcendental medication’ instead of ‘transcendental meditation’. We know the word but don’t get it quite right.
Slip of the Tongue (Spoonerisms)
(Named after William Spooner) is when sounds or syllables are transposed between words, such as saying ‘dog of bag food’, ‘black bloxes’, or ‘you have hissed all my mystery lectures’. It is suggested that these slips are errors made by the brain when it tries to organize linguistic messages.
Slips of the Ear
When we mishear something. Example: hearing ‘great ape’ instead of ‘gray tape’.
Aphasia
A language disorder resulting from brain damage, where individuals experience difficulties with language production or comprehension.
Broca’s Aphasia
Characterized by distorted articulation and slow, effortful speech. Speech often consists mainly of lexical morphemes and is agrammatic (lacking grammatical structure).
Wernicke’s Aphasia
Often characterized by fluent speech that is difficult to make sense of. Example: ‘I can’t talk all of the things I do, and part of the pari I can go alright, but I can’t tell from the other people.’ It can also involve difficulties finding certain words (anomia).
Conduction Aphasia
Characterized by mispronunciation of words. Examples: ‘vaysse’ instead of ‘base’, ‘fosh’ instead of ‘wash’.
What is Dichotic Listening?
Auditory input from the right ear is processed primarily by the left hemisphere, and input from the left ear is processed primarily by the right hemisphere. This gives an advantage to linguistic input coming through the right ear, as it is processed directly by the left hemisphere (where language centers are typically located).