Descriptive grammar term 1

Dorota Klimek-Jankowska

What does your linguistic knowledge of English include?

LEXICON

Does your linguistic knowledge of English include only lexicon?

CLINTONIZE

Have you ever encountered this word before?

Is it a noun or a verb?

Do you agree that it means: acting in a Clinton-like fashion? How do you know what this word may mean if it was not in your lexicon earlier?

Language is creative. It consists not only of lexical items but of linguistic rules as well.

We have an unconscious knowledge that the morpheme –ize attaches to nouns to form verbs

Clintonize

Reagonize

Nixonize

Linconize

*Bushize

*Fordize

*Adamsize

*Rooseveltize

-ize can be added to a noun if this noun consists of two syllables and ends with ‘n’, otherwise not.

Conclusion: We all had a strong intuition that only the first group of words is acceptable in English, but we did not know why.

It means that linguistic knowledge is tacit, unconscious, we have problems verbalizing linguistic rules, we have to discover them

The goal of this DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMARcourse is:

to help you reach the awareness of rules and mechanisms which underlie

SPEECH PRODUCTION (phonetic and phonological rules of ENGLISH)

Subdysciplines of linguistics:Phonetics – the study of human speech sounds, the study of production, perception and analysis of sounds

Phonology – the study of how sounds interact within larger units

Morphology – the study of the structure of words

Syntax – the study of how words combine to form sentences

Semantics – the study of meanings of words and sentences

Pragmatics – the study of meanings of utterances.

Isn’t it too cold in here? (a request)

Why are humans adapted for speech production?

Which organs help us speak?

TEETH (evenly space and even in hight – to form a barrier)

LIPS (muscular and mobile)

TONGUE (muscular and mobile – it enables vowel production)

LARYNX (responsible for swelling and air-flow)

LUNGS (breathing in is faster than breathing out)

BRAIN (specialised hemispheres)

What is the relation between sounds and spelling in English?How many letters and how many sounds in:

1) Bill 2) tree 3) bitter The relationship between English spelling and sounds is not one-to-oneThe same letter does not always represent the same sound: cough, thoughSome letters are silent in pronunciation

psychology, knight, sward, doubt, wouldThe same sound is not always represented by the same letters:

/i:/: key, bee

Because letters of English do not always represent sounds, we need a separate alphabet to be able to talk about sounds of English without misunderstandings

The International Phonetic Alphabet (the IPA)

- allows sounds of English to be written down- in this alphabet the relation between sounds

and letters is one-to-one- In this course we will be concerned only with

sounds of English- (on the blackboard: vowels, consonants)

Let us start with PHONETICS of English

Articulatory phonetics: how we produce sounds, concerned with organs of speechAcoustic phonetics: studies the properties of sound waves which form a physical link between a speaker and a hearerAuditory phonetics: studies the way humans perceive sounds by the auditory system

In this course we will deal with ARTICULATORY PHONETICS!!!!

Upper and lower lips

Upper and lower teeth

ROOF OF THE MOUTH:

The alveolar ridge

The hard palate

The soft palate (velum)

UVULA

Organs of speech

PHARYNX LARYNX: vocal cords - glottis

Epiglottisesophagus

THE TONGUE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ARTICULATOR:IT IS A COMPLEX MUSCLE:

TipBlade – lies below the alveolar ridgeFront of the tongue – lies below the hard palateBack of the tongue – lies below the soft palate Root of the tongue – opposite the back wall of the pharynx

Vocal track: the space between our lips and vocal cordsActive articulators:tongue, lips, soft palate, lower jaw, uvula, pharynx, vocal cords, glottisPassive articulators:teeth, alveolar ridge, hard palate, upper jaw

Speech production:

Three stages of speech production: initiation, phonation, articulationWhen we drive we use petrol, what makes speaking possible?Which organ supplies the airstream when we speak English?Do we breathe in or breathe out when we speak English?When the lungs contract, they push the air out – they create the outgoing airstream

All sounds of English are produced with the PULMONIC initiationPulmonic initiation: the airstream is created in the lungsThere are languages in which sounds may be produced with the velaric initiation: clicksGlottalic initiation: the airstream is initiated in the glottis: surpriseSounds may be egressive (outflowing) when we exhale or ingressive (inflowing) when we inhaleAll English sounds are egressive

STAGE I: INITIATION OF THE AIRSTREAM

STAGE II: PHONATION

When the airstream is initiated in the lungs, it flows through the trachea to larynx. Vocal cords form the GLOTTIS which issituated inside the larynx.This is where the airstream turns into VOICE– (vocal cords)States of vocal cords - handout

To identify voiced and voiceless sounds

put your thumb on your larynx, say ssssszzzz

voiceless sounds: vocal cords are open, they don’t vibrate,

voiced sounds: vocal cords are close together, the passing air sets them in motion, they vibrate

Glottal stop: complete closure of the vocal cords: clock, button

STAGE 3: ARTICULATION

After the air passes through the larynx, it can be modified by the movement of different articulators like lips and tonguefor exampleWe describe articulation by means of two parameters:Place and manner or articulationAssignment:Read chapter 1 including the section aboutDifferent places of articulationinvolved in the production of sounds

Which place of articulation is involved in the production of:

/p,b,m/

BILABIAL (both lips create an obstruction to the airstream)

/f,v/

LABIODENTAL (the lower lip and the upper teeth come tohether)

/, /

INTERDENTAL (the tip of the tongue is placed between the upper and lower front teeth)

/t, d, n, s, z, l/

ALVEOLAR (the tip of the tongue touches the alveolar ridge)

/, Ʒ, t, dƷ/

PALATO-ALVEOLAR OR POST-ALVEOLAR OR ALVEALO-PALATAL (the blade of the tongue is placed at the junction of the alveolar ridge and the hard palate.

/r/

RETROFLEX (the tip of the tongue is curled back to the post-alveolar area)

/j/

PALATAL (the front of the tongue articulates against the hard palate)

/k, g, ŋ/

VELAR (the back of the tongue articulates with the velum – soft palate)

/h/ and ?-glottal stop/

GLOTTAL

/w/

(two places of articulation)- labial – lips are rounded and- velar – the back of the tongue moves closer

to the velum (soft palate)- /w/ has a LABIO-VELAR place of articulation