English Lexicology A General Survey of English

Introduction to Linguistics
(TEM-8)
What is Linguistics?
 Linguistics is the scientific study of language.
What does it mean?


What does scientific mean?
What does language mean?
Linguistics: the scientific study of language
the scientific study of languages
the scientific study of a language
Language = language in general, not a specific
language.
Linguistics: The core Areas

Phonetics: What are human speech sounds and how they are
produced?

Phonology: How do these sounds pattern systematically in
languages?

Morphology: What is the internal structure of words?

Syntax: How do words combine into sentences?

Semantics: How do words or sentences carry meaning?

Pragmatics: How is language used in context?
Linguistics: Applications
Some areas where the core areas are applied are

Psycholinguistics: how is language processed in our minds, and how do we
acquire language?

Historical linguistics: how do language change over time, and what are
common ancestors?

Sociolinguistics: how does language differ across sociological variables like
age, gender, region?

Neurolinguistics: what is language in our brains?

Typology: What are the differences and similarities between languages?

Computational linguistics: how can we make computers talk or simply
understand human language?
What does this sentence mean?
Who did the coach want to shoot at the end of the
game?
Hint: This sentence is multiply ambiguous.
Subject extraction
Object extraction
Prescriptive & descriptive approaches to
the linguistic study
Prescriptive grammar aims to lay down rules for correct
and standard behavior in using language.
Descriptive grammar aims to describe the language
people actually use.
Modern linguistics is descriptive
Performance vs. Competence
Noam Chomsky
Competence: native speakers' language
intuition (research target of generative
linguistics)
Performance: actual utterances (research
target of descriptive or functional
linguistics)
Langue and Parole
Saussure's distinction of langue and parole
is similar to Chomsky's distinction of
competence and performance.
Langue and competence both refers to the
ideal knowledge of a particular language.
Parole and performance both refers to the
actual utterances.
However, the difference between Saussure and
Chomsky is also obvious.
Saussure developed his contrast from a
sociological view (e.g. langue is the knowledge
of a particular language shared by all the
members of a speech community),
but Chomsky developed his contrast from a
biological view (e.g. Competence is the intuition
of each individual, which is a genetic
endowment).
What is language?
Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used
for human communication.
It is a system, including many different modules
(phonology, morphology, syntax & semantics)
It is arbitrary. No inherent sound-meaning paring.
The primary medium for all languages is sound;
therefore, language is mainly vocal.
Features of human languages
Human language is different from animal communication
systems.
(i) arbitrariness: no inherent/logical connection between
sounds and meanings.
(ii) productivity: a limited number of words can be used to
express almost everything.
(iii) duality (of patterning): language has the ability to
recombine small units in different orders.
(iv) displacement: language can be used to refer to things
which are present or not present, real or imagined objects in
the past, present, or future, or in far-away places.
(v) cultural transmission: language is passed on from one
generation to another generation.
Introduction to Linguistics
Chapter 2: Phonetics
Phonetics: the study of speech sounds

Although different languages contain different
sounds, the sounds of all the languages of the
world constitute a class of sounds that the human
vocal tract is able to make. All these sounds are
human speech sounds. The study of human speech
sounds is called phonetics.
Phonology: the study of sound patterns
This property is
called "duality
(in patterning)".
When you know a language you know the sounds
of that language, and you know how to combine
those sounds into words. For example, If you
know the sounds /p/, /a:/, /k/, you are able to
combine them to form the words park or carp, but
you know there is no sound pattern /a:pk/ or /a:kp/
in English.
The study of the way sounds form patterns is called
phonology. Phonology aims to discover how
speech sounds in a particular language form
patterns.
Three branches of phonetics
•Articulatory phonetics: the study of how the vocal
tract produces the sounds of language
•Auditory phonetics: the study of the perception of
speech sounds
•Acoustic phonetics: the study of the physical
properties of the speech sounds
Organs of speech


15

14

咽
腔

A. The pharyngeal cavity:
13 windpipe, 12
glottis/vocal cords, 11
pharyngeal cavity
B. The oral cavity:
1/2 lips, 3/4 teeth, 5 teeth
ridge(alveolus), 6 hard
palate,7 soft palate (velum),
14 uvula, 8 tip of tongue, 9
blade of tongue, 10 back of
tongue
C. Nasal cavity: 15
Vocal folds (cords)


The vocal folds, also
known commonly as
vocal cords, are composed
of two membranes
stretched horizontally
across the larynx.
A slow-motion animation
of the vocal folds
vibrating during speech
voiced vs. voiceless


Vibration of the vocal cords results in "voicing",
which is a feature of all vowels and some
consonants. Such consonants are voiced.
When the vocal cords are drawn wide open,
letting air go through the glottis without causing
vibration, the sounds produced in such a condition
are voiceless.
Three nasal consonants in English
bilabial nasal 双唇鼻音: /m/
alveolar nasal 齿龈鼻音: /n/
velar nasal 软腭鼻音: sink, sing, song
Orthographic representation of
speech sounds
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet):
A standardized and internationally accepted
system of phonetic transcription.
The basic principle of the IPA is using one
letter to represent one sound.
Classification of English sounds
English speech sounds:
 Vowels: Speech sounds which are produced
with no obstruction of the vocal tract, so no
turbulence or a total stopping of the air can be
perceived.
 Consonants: Speech sounds which are
produced by constricting or obstructing the
vocal tract at some place to modulate the flow
of air in the vocal tract.
Classification of English consonants


Manner of articulation （发音方式）
Place of articulation （发音部位）
Manner of articulation
Place of articulation
Classification of English vowels
Vowels can be divided by a number of factors:
The hightest position of the tongue: front, central, back
The openness of the mouth: open, semi-open, semi-close,
close
The shape of the lips: rounded, unrounded
The length of the vowels: long, short
The state of the larynx: tense (long vowels), lax (short
vowels)
IPA vowels
Introduction to Linguistics
Chapter 2: Phonology
Instructor: LIU Hongyong
Review questions


In what ways can English consonants be
classified?
In what ways can English vowels be classified?
Phonology vs. Phonetics


1. Phonetics: it is interested in all the speech
sounds used in all human languages:
phonetic features they possess, how they can
be classified, etc.
2. Phonology: it aims to discover how speech
sounds in a language form sound patterns.
The conclusions we reach about the
phonology of one language is very often
langauge specific.
Phone, Phoneme, and Allophone

1. Phone: a phonetic unit or a segment (a
consonant or a vowel). The speech sounds
we hear and produce are all phones.
pit:
spit:
leaf:
feel:
[ph]
[s]
[l]
[f]
[i]
[p]
[i:]
[i:]
[th]
[i]
[f]
[ł]
[th]
Phone, Phoneme, and Allophone

2. Phoneme: an abstract phonological unit of
distinctive value that is represented or realized by a
certain phone.
peak:
speak:
[ph]
[s]
[i:]
[p]
[kh]
[i:]
[kh]
There is a slight difference in the way [ph] and [p] are
pronounced, but such a phonetic difference does
not give rise to difference in meaning. so the
phoneme /p/ is realized by two different phones.
Phone, Phoneme, and Allophone

3. Allophones: the different phones which
can represent a phoneme in different
phonetic contexts.
pit:
spit:
leaf:
feel:
[ph]
[s]
[l]
[f]
[i]
[p]
[i:]
[i:]
[th]
[i]
[f]
[ł]
/p/
[th]
/l/
Complementary Distribution

If the two similar sounds are allophones of the
same phoneme, then they are said to be in
complementary distribution, which means they
cannot occur in the same phonetic environment.
dark / l /: at the end of a word
clear / l /: before a vowel
Some rules in phonology



1. Sequential rules
2. Assimilation rule
3. Deletion rule
Sequential rules
To find out all the phonemes of a language is only
part of the task of the phonologist. He also has to
find out in what way the phonemes can be
combined.
/k/ /b/ /l/
/i/
possible arrangements: /kilb/, /blik/, /kilb/, /klib/, etc.
impossible arrangements: /lbki/, /ilbk/, /bkil/, etc.

There are rules that govern the combination of sounds in a
particular language. These rules are called sequential rules.
Sequential rules
In English, if three consonants occur together at the
beginning of a word, the combination should obey
the following three rules:
1. the first phoneme should be: /s/
2. the second phoneme should be: /p/, /t/, /k/
3. the third phoneme should be: /l/, /r/, /w/
spring, strict, square, scream
sixths /siksθs/
CCCVCCCC
Assimilation rule

The assimilation rule assimilates one sound to
another by "copying" a feature of the
neighbouring phoneme, thus making the two
phones similar.
Cantonese
閊门 san mun --> sam mun
唔好 m hou --> m mou
今日 kam jat --> kam mat
Deletion rule

A sound segment may be deleted.

Examples: /g/ is deleted in ‘sign’ /sain/, but
retained in ‘signature’;

‘he is’ /hi iz/ in fast speech becomes /hiz/

'memory' /meməri/ becomes /memri/
segmental vs. suprasegmental
segmental features 音段特征
phonological features associated with consonants or
vowels

suprasegmental features 超音段特征
phonological features associated not with segments,
but with larger units such as syllalbe, word, and
sentence.

suprasegmental features



1. Stress: word stress and sentence stress
2. Tone
3. Intonation
stress

The location of stress in English distinguishes
meaning.
'increase (n.) vs. in'crease (v.)
'rebel (n.) vs. re'bel (v.)
'permit (n.) vs. per'mit (v.)
Tone



Tones are pitch variations. 不同的音高
Pitch variations can distinguish meaning just like
phonemes. The tone is a suprasegmental feature
associated with syllables.
Language with tones are called tone language.
Intonation
When pitch, stress and sound length are tied to the
sentence rather than the word in isolation, they
are collectively known as intonation.
Four basic intonation types of English, known as the
four tones:
1. the falling tone
2. the rising tone
That's not the book he wants.
3. the fall-rise tone
4. the rise-fall tone
Introduction to Linguistics
Chapter 3: Morphology
Instructor: LIU Hongyong
Morphology (形态学)

Morphology is the study of
 the internal structure of words（词的内部结构）
(morphological structure of words)
&

processes/rules of word formation （构词法）
(morphological processes of word-formation)
Internal structure of words and rules
for word formation
1. Internal structure
disapprove = dis + approve
2. Rules for word formation
disapprove
*approvedis
dis+V--> V
*V+dis-->V
Definition

Morphology: the study of the internal
structure of words, and the rules by which
words are formed.
Morpheme (语素）


The morpheme is the smallest meaningful unit of
language. (lexical and grammatical meaning)
A morpheme must have a meaning, and it is the
smallest unit of meaning (the smallest sound-meaning
union which cannot be further analyzed into smaller
units)
Morpheme vs. Phoneme

A phoneme is a phonological unit (normally a
sound) with contrastive value, which means
replacing one sound with the other in a word
can change the word's meaning.
/p/与/b/是不同的两个phoneme，
但是phoneme本身不具有意义。
因为如果将pit中的/p/换成/b/，那
pit: [p] [i] [t]
么pit就变成了bit，词的意义发生
bit: [b] [i] [t]
了根本性的改变。但是这并不是
说/p/或者/b/具有意义。
Morpheme vs. Syllable
The word lady can be divided into two syllables
(la.dy), but it consists of just one morpheme, because
a syllable has nothing to do with meaning.
The word disagreeable can be divided into five
syllables (dis.a.gree.a.ble), but it consists of only
three morphemes (dis+agree+able).
The word books contains only one syllable, but it
consists of two morphemes (book+s) (Notice: the
morpheme –s has a grammatical meaning [Plural])

Morpheme, Morph, Allomorph
books /-s/
pigs /-z/
boxes /-iz/
two different spelling forms， and three
different phonological forms, but these
different forms represent the same
grammatical meaning [Plural])
A morph is a physical form representing a certain morpheme in a
language.

Sometimes different morphs may represent the same morpheme;
i.e., a morpheme may take different forms. If so, they are called
allomorphs of that morpheme.
Complementary Distribution


Allomorphs are morphs in complementary distribution; i.e. they
are never found in identical contexts.
The choice of allomorph used in a given context is normally
based on the properties of the neighboring sounds.
Example: The third person singular verb suffix and the plural
nominal suffix –s in English
PLURAL
[s]
morph
[z]
morph
morpheme
[iz]
morph
Complementary Distribution
morpheme
negative morpheme inmorph1: im
impossible
[imp---]
bilabial
nasal
bilabial
stop
morph2: in
morph3: in
indecent
[ind---]
alveolar
nasal
alveolar
stop
incomplete
[iŋk---]
velar
nasal
velar
stop
Classification of Morphemes
Morphemes can be classified in various ways.
free
root
inflectional
or
or
or
bound
affix
derivational
Free and Bound Morphemes


We can divide reader into read and –er.
However, we cannot split read into smaller
morphemes. This means that the word read is
itself a single morpheme.
A morpheme which can stand alone as a word
is called a free morpheme. By contrast, -er has
to combine with other morphemes. So it is a
bound morpheme.
Root, stem & affix
nature + al = natural
Affixes: bound morphemes which
attach to roots or stems.
un + nature + al = unnatural
Stem: a root plus affixes
Root: the basic morpheme
which provides the central
meaning in a word
Complex Word
simple word
unnatural
natural
nature
naturalist
naturalistic
naturalism
Base
Linguists sometimes use the word
“Base” to mean any root or stem to
which an affix is attached. In this
example, nature, natural, and
unnaturally would all be considered
bases.
nature + al = natural
un + nature + al = unnatural
un + nature + al + ly = unnaturally
complex word
.
.
.
.
Stem/base
affix
Stem/base
affix
Root/base
nature
affix
-al
-ist
bound root morphemes
All mophemes are bound or free. Affixes are bound
morphemes. Root morphemes, can be bound or free.
-ceive:
receive;
perceive;
conceive;
deceive
-mit:
permit;
commit;
transmit;
admit;
remit;
submit
ceive was once a word in Latin ‘to take’, but in Modern
English, it is no longer a word, so it is not a free morpheme.
Root
Affix
Free
dog, cat, run,
school…
Bound
(per)ceive, (re)mit,
(homo)geneous,…
(friend)ship, re(do),
(sad)ly…
Example of bound root
Latin root viv-/vit- meaning “life” or “to live”.
revive
vitamin
vital
vivacious
vivid
re-vive: to live again, to bring back to life
vit-amin: life medicine
vit-al: full of life
viv-acious: full of life
viv-id: having the quality of life
Inflectional and Derivational Morphemes
Affixes can be divided into inflectional morphemes and derivational
morphemes. This reflects two major morphological (word
building) processes:
Inflection
Helps to ‘wrap’
lexical words for various
grammatical functions
Derivation
Helps to make new
lexical words
Inflectional Morphemes


Inflectional morphemes do not change
grammatical category of the base to which they
are attached. They do not change the meaning of
the base. They only carry relevant grammatical
information, e.g. plural. Thus, book and books are
both nouns referring to the same kind of entity.
The number of inflectional affixes is small and
fixed. NO new ones have been added since 1500.
Examples of Inflectional Affixes
Suffix
Stem
Function
Example
-s
N
plural
book-s
-s
V
3rd singular
present tense
sleep-s
-ed
V
past tense
walk-ed
-ing
V
progressive
walk-ing
-er
Adj
comparative
tall-er
-est
Adj
superlative
tall-est
Derivational Morphemes

Derivational morphemes form new words

either by changing the meaning of the base to which they
are attached
kind ~ unkind;
obey ~ disobey
accurate ~ inaccurate;
act ~ react
cigar ~ cigarette;
book ~ booklet
 or by changing the grammatical category (part of speech) of
the base
kind ~ kindly;
act ~ active ~ activity
able ~ enable;
damp ~ dampen
care ~ careful;
dark ~ darkness
Examples of Derivational Affixes
Prefix
Grammatical
category of
base
Grammatical
category of
output
Example
Suffix
Grammatical
category of
base
Grammatical
category of
output
Example
in-
Adj
Adj
inaccurate
-hood
N
N
child-hood
un-
Adj
Adj
unkind
-ship
N
N
leader-ship
un-
V
V
untie
-fy
N
V
beauti-fy
dis-
V
V
dis-like
-ic
N
Adj
poet-ic
dis-
Adj
Adj
dishonest
-less
N
Adj
power-less
re-
V
V
rewrite
-ful
N
Adj
care-ful
ex-
N
N
ex-wife
-al
V
N
refus-al
en-
N
V
encourage
-er
V
N
read-er
Sum: Inflection and Derivation


Derivational morphemes are used to create new lexical items
(lexemes).
Inflectional morphemes only contribute to the inflectional paradigm
of the lexemes, which lists all the word-forms of the lexeme.
Free
morpheme
free root (自由词根)
(自由)
bound root (粘着词根)
Bound
(粘着)
inflectional affixes (语法性词缀)
affixes
derivational affixes (词汇性词缀)
Summary




Words are composed of morphemes.
A morpheme is the smallest meaningful unit.
Morphemes can be classified into free morphemes
and bound morphemes, roots and affixes, inflectional
and derivational.
The concept of morpheme is important in explaining
word-formation processes. In English the most
central and productive word-formation processes are
compounding and affixation. Compounding refers to
the word-formation process of combining two free
morphemes, and affixation refers to the wordformation process of adding affixes to roots.
Major word-formation processes


Affixation (Derivation)
Compounding


Endocentric compounds
Exocentric compounds
Affixation

Affixation involves adding affixes to a root
morpheme (or a stem) to
- derive a new word
(derivation: teach-er)
- to realize certain grammatical function
(inflection: boy-s)

An affix is a bound morpheme. There are four
types of affixes: prefix, suffix, infix, and
circumfix.
Compounding

Compounding is a word-formation process
consisting of combining two or more roots to form
a compound .
Spelling is not a reliable
criterion to determine the
compound status.
airmail
flowerpot
airline
girlfriend
air force
flower pot
air line
girl friend
air-conditioner
flower-pot
air-line
girl-friend
Endocentric Compounds
向心複合詞

Semantically, an endocentric compound indicates a sub-grouping
within the class of entities that the head denotes. Thus, a schoolboy is a
kind of boy,
a bedroom is a kind of room, and
a teapot is a kind of pot.
Head
心
The first root in each case functions as a modifier of the head
which specifies the meaning of the head more precisely.
Exocentric Compounds
異心複合詞


Compounds need not always contain a head. Such
compounds are called exocentric compounds.
The meaning of an exocentric compound is opaque. It is
impossible to work out what an exocentric compound
means from the sum of the meanings of its parts.
Examples of Exocentric
Compounds (English)
Pickpocket: it is not a pocket, but a person who picks things
out of other’s pocket illegally.
Blue collar: it is not a collar, but a person who wears bluecollared uniform at work.
Laptop: it is not the top of one’s lap, but rather the portable
computer.
Blockhead: it is neither a kind of block nor a kind of head
but rather an idiot.
Turncoat: it is not a kind of coat but a renegade.
Minor word-formation processes





Initialism and acronyms
Clipping
Blending
Back formation
Words from proper names
Clipping

Clipping involves the type of word-formation
device in which only part of the stem is retained.
The beginning may be retained as in lab (from
laboratory), the end as in phone (from telephone),
the middle as in flu (from influenza).
More examples of Clipping
dorm
demo
exam
fridge
(dormitory)
(demonstration)
(examination)
(refrigerator)
photo
memo
bus
maths
(photograph)
(memorandum)
(omnibus)
(mathematics)
bike
ad
gym
(bicycle)
(advertisement)
auto
copter
prof
(automobile)
(helicopter)
(professor)
(gymnasium)
Blending



A blend may be defined as a new lexeme built
from parts of two (or more) words or a word plus
a part of another word, for example, brunch
(breakfast + lunch); smog (smoke + mog).
Words formed in this way are called ‘blends’.
Blending = clipping + compounding.
More examples of blending
smoke + fog  smog
Oxford + Cambridge  Oxbridge
motor + hotel  motel
slang + language  slanguage
American + Indian  Amerind
slim + gynmastics  slimnastics
Back-formation
Which word is older? Which word do we have first?
donate
donation
edit
editor
ept
inept
daydream
daydreamer
Back-formation


Back-formation is the making of a new word from
an older word which is mistakenly thought to be
its derivative.
howword
can Iby
It involves the shortening of aBut
longer
judge which
is
cutting away an imagined/supposed
derivational
right?
suffix.
editoredit
edit + or  edit


The word edit is often cited as an example of
back-formation. In other words, edit is not the
source of editor, as dive is not the source of
diver, which is the expected derivational pattern;
rather, the opposite is the case.
Edit in the sense “to prepare for publication,” first
recorded in 1793, comes from editor, first
recorded in 1712 in the sense “one who edits.”
Diachronic evidence (历时证据):
editor: first recoded in 1712
edit: first recoded in 1793, almost a hundred years later.
More examples of back-formation
peddle
peddler
televise
 television
baby-sit
baby-sitter
housekeep
housekeeper
daydream
daydreamer
mass-produce
 mass-production
greed
greedy
ept
inept
vaccum-clean  vaccum-cleaner eavesdrop
donate
donation
typewrite
eavesdropper
typewriter
Words from Proper Names


Another minor word-formation process is the
creation of new words from proper names. The
transition from proper names to common nouns is
a gradual one.
Proper names



People’s name
Name of places
Book names
A good example: sandwich

It originates from John Montagu (1718-92),
Fourth Earl of Sandwich. He was so fond of
gambling that he would not leave the gambling
table to have a proper meal. He was said to eat
while playing. Later,
people used his name to refer to all similar food.
Introduction to Linguistics
Chapter 4: Syntax
Syntax
Syntax studies the organization of words into
phrases, and phrases into sentences.
sentence
sentence
phrase
Morhpeme
word
word
Orgnization principles:
Linear order & Hierarchical structure

There are two basic principles of sentence orgnization:
 linear word order （线性结构）
 hierarchical structure （非线性结构、纵向层级结构）
Hierarchical structure

Although linear order is an important principle of
sentence organization, sentences are more than
just ordered sequences of words.
We need more intelligent leaders.
more intelligent leaders
more intelligent leaders
The same linear order, but
different hierarchical structure;
therefore, different
interpretations (ambiguity)
Category （范畴）

Syntactic (word-level) category


word class; parts of speech
Phrasal (phrase) category
Syntactic categories
Verb (V)
attack, kill, kiss, read, love, minimize, quit...
Noun (N)
bath, concept, friend, girl, happiness, idea, key ...
Adjective (A)
active, beautiful, friendly, happy, lucky, interesting ..
Adverb (Adv)
again, always, actively,fairly, interestingly, never, very...
Preposition (P)
at, about, for, from, ,in, of, to, under...
Determiner (D)
a, an, the, this, that, these, those...
Pronoun (D)
I, me, we, us, you, he, him, she, her, it, they, them...
Auxiliary (I)
do, be, can, have, may, must, ought to, should, will...
These are the major ones but there are others.
D(determiner) :
articles, demonstrative pronouns, pronouns, quantifiers…
Phrase & Phrase Structure Rule

Syntactic categories are organized into larger
units called “phrases” according to the phrase
structure rule.
Phrase Structure Rule (短语结构规则):
- tells us how to construct phrases
- generate a tree
- predicts the ungrammaticality of other structures

Noun Phrase (NP)
NP → N+PP
students of linguitics
 NP → AP+N
very smart students

map of China
extremely important thing
NP
AP
NP
N
very smart
students
PP
of lingusitics
Preposition Phrase (PP)

PP→ P+DP
in
P
head
the book
DP
complement
NP
N’
N’
N
teachers
PP
PP
of English
from England
Introduction to Linguistics
Chapter 5: Semantics
Instructor: LIU Hongyong
What is semantics?
Semantics is the study of meaning.
 More specifically, semantics is the study
of the meaning of words and sentences in
particular.

Meaning: The object of semantics
What is
meaning
?
How can you
know the
meaing of a
word?
Dictionary definition

If a word's meaning is its dictionary definition,
then understanding this meaning requires
understanding the meanings of the words used in
the definitions.
pride: the quality of being proud
proud: feeling or showing pride
Circularity:
循环定义
Different conceptions of meaning
The naming theory
 The conceptulist view
 Contextualism
 Behaviorism

The naming theory: definition


The naming theory（命名说） is one of the
oldest notions concerning meaning. According
to this theory, the linguistic forms or symbols,
in other words, the words used in a language,
are simply labels of the objects they stand for.
So words are just names or labels for things.
The physical object is the meaning of the name.
Problems with the naming theory



1. The theory seems applicable to nouns only.
2. There are nouns which denote things that do
not exist in the real world at all.
3. There are nouns that do not refer to physical
objects, but abstract notions.
The conceptualist view
According to the conceptualist view(概念论),
there is no direct link between a linguistic
form [a word, a phrase or a sentence] and
what it refers to.
The symbol or a word refers to “things” by
virtue of the concept associated with the
form in the speaker's mind; and the concept
is the meaning of the word.
Semantic triangle
1. 形式与意义直接相关，
用实线连接。意义通过
符号形式来表达，形式
THOUGHT/REFERENCE
是语义的载体。
(concept )
2. 意义是在各观事物的基
础上概括而成的，是客
观事物在头脑中的概括
反映，两者也有直接联
系，用实线连接。
SYMBOL/FORM
REFERENT 3. 形式和所指之间没有必
然的联系，故而两者间
用虚线连接，所以同一
事物可以用不同的形式
(Ogden and Richards 1923: The meaning of
meaning)
来表示。
The strong points of the conceptualist
view

概念论解决了指称论留下的难题：有的语言符
号形式有意义，而没有所指，例如 unicorn,
dragon, Santa Claus, etc.
The weak points of the conceptualist
view

Different people's mental image may be very
different from each other.
 for a student, the word 'lecture' will probably
be associated with an image of one person
standing in front of a blackboard and talking;
 for a teacher, the word 'lecture' will probably
be associated with an image of many
students sitting in rows facing forward.
The weak points of the conceptualist
view


Even so, both the student and the teacher
understand the word 'lecture' as meaning
more or less the same thing, despite the
difference in mental images.
It is hard to see how a word like this could
mean essentially the same thing for different
people if meanings were just mental image.
Contextualism: definition



Contextualism（语境论）holds the position
that meaning should be studied in terms of
situation, use, and context. According to this
view, one can derive meaning from observable
contexts.
"for a large class of cases, the meaning of a
word is its use in the language."
Language is always used in a certain context. It
is the context that determines the meaning of a
paritcular word.
Situational context VS. linguistic context
1. Situational context refers
to the particular
spatiotemporal situation
in which an utterance
occurs, the main
components of which
include, apart from the
place and time of the
utterance, the speaker
and the hearer, the
actions they are
performing at the time,
the various objects and
events exising in the
situation.
2. Linguistic context, some
times known as context, is
concerned with the
probability of a word’s
co-occurrence or
collocation with another
word, which forms part of
the ‘meaning” of the
word, and also concerned
with the part of text that
precedes and follows a
particular utterance.
Behaviorism: definition


According to this view, the meaning of a
language form is the “situation in which the
speaker utters it and the response it calls forth
in the hearer”. (Bloomfield 1933: 139)
Bloomfield（布龙菲尔德）：意义就是讲话人
的刺激和听话人的反应。（meaning as
speaker’s Stimulus and hearer’s Response）
Example: analyze the meaning of the sentence
“I’m Thirsty” from the behaviorist view
Jill
Jack
S________ r …… s ________ R
S = Jill saw an apple
r = Jill said “I’m Thirsty”
s = Jack heard Jill said “I’m thirsty”
R = Jack picks the apple for Jill
practical events
Jill
Jack
S________ r …… s ________ R
speech (words, phrase, sentences)
Meaning consists in the relationship between the
speech and the practical events
We catch the meaning of the speech of "r...s" by
observing the behavior (the prctical events).
Summary: different conceptions of
meaning

The naming theory


The conceptulist view


words→things
words→concepts→things
Contextualism & Behaviorism

stimuli→words→responses
Semantics
Lexical semantics
 word meaning
 Compositional semantics
 phrase/sentence meaning

Sense and Reference




Semantics is not concerned with the study of the external
world. Semantics is not able to cope with the study of how
language refers to the external world, either. [Notice the
weak points of the conceptualist view of meaning]
The primary focus of semantics is on the way how people
relate words to each other according to their "sense", rather
than their reference (referent).
A word's reference (referent) is the object it refers to.
A word's sense is the way the object is presented/identified.
Example:
the morning star vs. the evening star
different sense:
清晨出来的星星
the same reference
different sense:
傍晚出来的星星
Reference



Reference means what a linguistic form
refers to in a particular context in the real
world;
it deals with the relationship between the
linguistic element and the non-linguistic
world of experience.
指称意义：即表明词语跟语言外部世界的关
系的意义。
Major Sense Relations
 Synonymy
 Polysemy
 Homonymy
 Hyponymy
 Antonymy
Synonymy

Synonymy refers to the sameness or close
similarity of meaning. Words that are close in
meaning are called synonyms.
Types of Synonyms
1. Dialectal
2. Stylistic (formal vs. informal)
3. Emotive
4. Collocational
Source of synonyms

Why are there so many synonyms in English?
 The primary reason for this has to do with the heavy
borrowing from other languages, especially from French
and Latin.
English
French
Latin
ask
time
begin
question
age
commence
interrogate
epoch
buy
purchase
9. The words “kids, child, offspring” are examples of
_____.
A. dialectal synonyms B. stylistic synonyms
C. emotive synonyms D. collocational synonyms
Emotive meaning
Negative
There are 2,000 vagrants in the city.
Neutral
There are 2,000 people with no fixed
addresses in the city.
Positive
There are 2,000 homeless in the city.
All three of these expressions refer to the
same people, but they will invoke
different emotive associations in the
readers’ mind: a ‘vagrant’ is a public
nuisance, while a homeless person is
a worthy object of pity and charity.
Evaluative Meaning


Snarl words are marked derog. (=derogatory).
Purr words are marked apprec.(=appreciatory).
snarl words purr words snarl words purr words
stupid
innocent
notorious
famous
cunning
clever
politician
statesman
skinny
slender
complacency
confident
miserly
thrifty
nosy
curious
die
pass away
fat
plump
Polysemy: definition
Polysemy is the phenomenon where the same one
word may have more than one meaning. Such
a word is called a polysemous word.
face: the front of the head
a surface of a thing
a person's countenance
a person
primary meaning & derived meaning




At the time when the word was created, it was
endowed with only one meaning.
This first meaning is the primary meaning.
With the development of the language, more and
more meanings become associated with the word.
These later meanings are called derived meaning,
as they are derived from the primary meaning.
Example: face
a person
(Derived
Meaning)
We can get the derived
meanings by extension,
narrowing, analogy,
transfer, etc.
self-respect
outward
appearance
(Derived
Meaning)
the front of
the head
(Derived
Meaning)
(Primary
Meaning)
countenance
(Derived
Meaning)
the surface of
a thing
(Derived
Meaning)
Homonymy (同形/同音不同义)
Homonymy refers to the phenomenon that words
having different meanings have the same form,
i.e., different words are identical in sound or
spelling, or in both. Such words are called
homonyms.
lie: make an untrue statement.
lie: put oneself in a resting position.
Types of homonymy
Perfect homonyms (complete homohyms)
 Homographs
 Homophones

Perfect homonyms

Perfect homonyms: words identical in both sound and
spelling, but different in meaning
lie: vi.
lie: vi.
bank: n.
bank: n.
bear: n.
bear: vt.
Homographs

Homographs: words identical only in spelling but
different in sound and meaning.
bow: vi. to bend one’s head as a greeting
bow: n. the device used for shooting arrows
sow: n. female pig
sow: vi. to scatter seeds
perfect: v. /- ’-/
perfect: adj. /’- -/
Homophones

Homophones: words identical only in sound but
different in spelling and meaning.
son
sun
deer
dear
pair
pear
stationary
stationery
right
write
Hyponymy(词义之间的) 下义关系

Hyponymy is the sense relationship that relates
words hierarchically. The underlying observation
is that some words have a more general meaning,
while others have a more specific meaning, while
referring to the same entity.
We are not going to have any food today.
We are not going to have any vegetables today.
FOOD
MEAT
VEGETABLE
They are subordinate terms. They are
hyponyms of the superordinate term
FOOD.
superordinate
FOOD
FRUIT
MEAT
VEGETABLE
They are subordinate terms. They are
hyponyms of the superordinate term
MEAT.
BEEF
PORK
MUTTON
CABBAGE
APPLE
PEACH
CELERY
SPINACH
ORANGE
Reading from the bottom of the
hierarchy, ORANGE is a ‘kind of’ fruit,
which is a kind of food.
Antonymy (反义关系)



Antonymy is a relationship of ‘meaning
opposition’ that may hold between two words.
Antonyms can be defined as words which are
opposite in meaning.
Major types of antonyms：



Gradable antonyms
Contradictory or complementary antonyms
Converse antonyms
Gradable antonyms

Gradable antonyms include pairs like the following:
beautiful
expensive
fast
hot
long
rich
wide
ugly
cheap
slow
cold
short
poor
narrow
These pairs are called
gradable antonyms because
they do not represent a
more/less relation. The words
can be the end-points of a
continuum (连续体).
Since they are gradable, they
allow comparison.
Contradictory (complementary)
antonyms

Contradictory antonyms include pairs like the
following:
asleep
dead
on
remember
win
true
awake
alive
off
forget
lose
false
These pairs are called contradictory
antonyms because they represent an
either/or relation.
If you permit some behavior, then it is
not forbidden.
Since they are not gradable, they do
not allow comparison.
Converse antonyms (逆行)

The following are examples of converse antonyms：
lend
husband
above
before
behind
buy
give
parent
speak
borrow
wife
below
after
in front of
sell
receive
child
listen
Lend is the converse of borrow and
vice versa; i.e. the substitution of one
member for the other does not change
the meaning of a sentence if it is
accompanied by the change of subject
and object.
John lent Mary five dollars.
Mary borrowed five dollars from John.
Contradictory antonyms
vs. Converse antonyms
Converse antonyms are relational
antonyms.
The bridge is above the river.
The river is below the bridge.
This behavior is allowed.
This behavior is not prohibited.
Contradictory antonyms are either/or
antonym.
Mary is John’s wife.
?？Mary is not John’s husband.
I allow you to introduce Mary.
*You forbidden me to introduce Mary.
John is Mary’s husband.
I don’t forbidden you to introduce
Mary.
Analysis of meaning
 Componential
analysis
 Predication analysis
Componential Analysis

Componential Analysis is a way proposed by
the structural semanticists to analyze word
meaning. The approach is based upon the
belief that the meaning of a word can be
decomposed into meaning components, called
semantic features（语义特征）.
Componential Analysis
The analysis of word meaning is often seen as a process of
breaking down the sense of a word into its minimal
components, which are known as semantic features or
sense components.
man
woman
child
[+human]
[+human]
[+human]
[+adult]
[+adult]
[-adult]
[+male]
[-male]
[+/-male]
Componential Analysis
man
woman
[+human]
[+human]
[+adult]
[+adult]
[+male]
[-male]
boy
Man: [+human, +adult, +male]
Woman: [+human, +adult, -male]
Boy: [???]
Girl: [???]
girl
We can use three
semantic features to define
four words
Predication Analysis

Predication analysis is a way proposed by
G. Leech to analyze the sentence
meaning. In this framework, the basic
unit is called predication（述谓结构）,
which is the abstraction of the meaning of
a sentence.
Examples
(1) Tome smokes.
(2) Tom is smoking.
(3) Tom has been smoking.
(4) Tom, smoke.
(5) Does Tom smoke?
(6) Tome does not smoke.
Predication
SMOKE
(TOM)
predicate 谓词
argument 论元
Introduction to Linguistics
Chapter 6: Pragmatics
Instructor: LIU Hongyong
Pragmatics
To fully understand the meaning of a sentence, we
must understand the context in which it is used.
Pragmatics is concerned with how people use
language within a context and how they use
language in particular ways.
This chapter examines how factors such as time,
place, and the social relationship between speaker
and hearer affect the ways in which language is
used to perform different functions.
Origin and development of pragmatics
Development in linguistics
(1) Saussure: 语言学所要研究的是“语言”（langue），而
不是“言语”（parole），因为语言是一个手一定规则制
约的体系，而言语则不是，只有语言才能经得起严谨的、
科学的分析，而言语则不能。
(2) Chomsky: 以句法为中心，把语言的意义排除在语言研究
之外。
(3) The rise of semantics.
(4) The rise of Contextualism: Malinowsky, Firth, Halliday
Pragmatics vs. semantics
Semantics: The meaning of language was considered
as something intrinsic , and inherent, i.e., a
property attached to language itself. Therefore,
meanings of words and sentences are studied
independent of language use.
Pragmatics: It would be impossible to give an
adequate description of meaning if the context of
language use is left unconsidered. Therefore,
context is taken into consideration.

Both semantics and pragmatics study the meaning
of a linguistic form. However, they are different.
What essentially distinguishes them is whether the
context is considered.

If it is not considered, the study is in the area of
semantics; if it is considered, the study is in the
area of pragmatics.
Importance of Context

Context determines the speaker’s use of
language and also the hearer’s interpretation
of what is said to him.
“My bag is heavy”
1. Sentence meaning: BAG (BE HEAVY)
2. Possible pragmatic meanings:


An indirect, polite request, asking the hearer
to help him carry the bag. (When?)
A declining of someone’s request for help.
(When？)
More examples
Try to think of contexts in which the following
sentences can be used for other intentions or
purposes than just stating facts.
(1) The room is messy.
(2) Oh, it is raining.
(3) The music of the movie is good.
(4) You have been keeping my notes for a whole
week now.
What is a speech act?


Just as people can perform physical acts, such as
hitting a baseball, they can perform mental acts,
such as imagining hitting a baseball. People can
also perform another kind of act simply by using
language; these are called speech acts.
We use language to do a lot of things.
Some common speech acts
Speech Act
Function
Assertion
conveys information
Question
elicits information
Request
(more or less politely) elicits action
Order
demands action
Promise
commits the speaker to an action
Threat
commits the speaker to an action that
the hearer does not want
Sentence types

Certain speech acts are so central to communication
that we have special sentence types to mark them.
Sentence Type
Declarative
Interrogative
Imperative
Example
He is cooking in the kitchen.
Is he cooking in the kitchen?
Cook the chicken!
Sentence types

Certain speech acts are so central to communication that we
have special sentence types to mark them.
Sentence Type
declarative
interrogative
imperative
Speech Act
assertion
question
order or request
Notice that interrogative sentences typically express questions,
but this association does not always hold.
Speech act theory
1. John Austin’s model of speech acts

Speech act theory: a philosophical
explanation of the nature of linguistic
communication. It aims to answer this
question: “What do we do when using
language?”
The model of three speech acts: according to this
model, a speaker might be performing three acts
simultaneously when speaking: locutionary,
illocutionary and perlocutionary



Locutionary act: act of uttering words, phrases,
clauses
Illocutionary act: the act of expressing the
speaker’s intention
Perlocutionary act: the act performed by or
resulting fro saying something, the consequence
of the utterance
Principles of conversation

The philosopher Paul Grice formulated a Cooperative
Principle, which he believed underlies language use,
according to which we must make sure that what we say
in conversation satisfy the purposes of the conversation.

Grice argued that there are a number of conversational
rules, or maxims, that regulate conversation in the spirit
of the Cooperative Principle.
Four maxims




The maxim of quantity
Make your contribution as informative as required. No
more and no less.
The maxim of quality
Do not say what you believe to be false and do not say
what you lack evidence for.
The maxim of relation
Be relevant
The maxim of manner
Avoid obscurity, ambiguity. Be brief and orderly.
Introduction to Linguistics
Chapter 7: Language Change
Introduction

All languages change through time, but how
they change, what drives these changes, and
what kinds of changes we can expect are not
obvious.

By comparing different languages, different
dialects of the same language, or different
historical stages of a particular language, we
can discover the history of languages.
Introduction

Historical linguistics is concerned with language
change. It is interested in what kinds of changes
occur (and why), and equally important, what
kinds of changes don’t occur (and why not).

Languages change in all aspects o the grammar:
the phonology, morphology, syntax, and
semantics.
Sound change

Sound changes tend to be systematic; it is
possible to see a regular pattern of
pronunciation changes throughout the
history of the English language.
Example: knight [nait]

Modern English spelling contains many “silent
letters,” which are actually just remnant indicators of
earlier pronunciations. To anyone leaning English, the
presence of such letters can be quite troublesome.
(i) Word-initial velar stop consonants [k] and [g] were
lost when they occurred before the nasal [n]:
Middle English
Modern English
gnawn
gnaw
knixt
knight
Morphological and syntactic change




1. Change in “agreement” rule
2. Change in negation rule
3. Process of simplification
4. Loss of inflection
(Refer to the examples on P.96-97)
Changes in the meaning





1. Widening of meaning
2. Narrowing of meaning
3. Meaning shift
a. elevate
b. degrade
Some recent trends
1. Moving towards greater informality
2. The influence of American English
3. The influence of science and technology
a. space travel
b. computer and internet language
c. ecology
Causes of language change
1. The rapid development of science and technology
2. Social and political changes and political needs
3. The way children acquire the language
4. Economy of memory
Introduction to Linguistics
Chapter 8: Language and Society
Definition

Sociolinguistics is the sub-field of
linguistics that studies the relation
between language and society, between
the uses of language and the social
structures in which the users of language
live.
Speech Community and
Speech Variety
Speech Community

The social group that is singled out for any
special study is called the speech community.
In sociolinguistics, it refers to the a group of
people who have the opportunity to interact
with each other and who share not just a
single language with its related varieties, but
also attitudes toward linguistic norms.
Speech Variety
Speech variety, or language variety, refers to
any distinguishable form of speech used by a
speaker or a group of speakers.
9. The distinctive features of a speech variety may be
all the following EXCEPT
A. lexical
B. syntactic
C. phonological
D. psycholinguistic
Two approaches to
sociolinguistic studies
1.Macro-Sociolinguistics
2.Micro-Sociolinguistics
Varieties of language
Dialects: varieties related to the user
Registers: varieties related to the use
Dialectal varieties
1. Regional dialects

A regional dialect is a linguistic variety
used by people living in the same
geographical region.
2. Sociolect

Sociolect, or social-class dialect, refers to the
linguistic variety characteristic of a particular
social class.
3. Language and gender



The language used by men and women
have some special features of their own.
Question:
In what ways is language used by women
different from that by men?
4. Language and age

In many communities the language used
by the old generation differs from that
used by the younger generation in certain
ways.
5. Idiolect

Idiolect is a personal dialect of an individual
speaker that combines elements regarding
regional, social, gender, and age variations.
In other words, an individual speaker’s
regional and social background, his gender
and age jointly determine the way he talks.
And the language he uses, which bears
distinctive features of his own, is his idiolect.
6. Ethnic dialect

An ethnic dialect is a social dialect of a
language spoken by a less privileged
population that has experienced some
form of social isolation such as racial
discrimination or segregation.
Register (语域)
What is Register?


Register (语域) refers to the type pf
language which is selected as appropriate
to the type of situation.
Three variables to determine the register:



Field of discourse
Tenor of discourse
Mode of discourse
Field of discourse

Field of discourse (话语范围) refers to
what is going on. It is concerned with the
purpose and topic of communication. It
answers “Why” and “about what”.
Tenor of discourse

Tenor of discourse (话语基调) refers to
the role of relationship in the situation in
question: who are the participants in the
communication groups and in what
relationship they stand to each other. “To
whom”.

What is the relation between the speaker and
the listener?
4. Mode of discourse


Mode of discourse (话语方式) mainly
refers to the means of communication.
“How”.
Spoken or written?
Degree of formality
1. General idea


Language used on different occasions
differs in the degree of formality, which is
determined by the social variables.
Stylistic varieties
Stylistic varieties

Five degrees of formality






Frozen
Formal
Consultative
Casual
Intimate
Different styles can be analyzed at three levels:
syntactic, lexical and phonological
Variation at the lexical level
More formal
offspring
reply
tolerate
Less formal
children
answer
put up with
9. The words “kids, child, offspring” are examples of
_____.
A. dialectal synonyms
B. stylistic synonyms
C. emotive synonyms
D. collocational synonyms
Pidgin and Creole
Pidgin


Definition: A pidgin is a special
language variety that mixes or blends
languages and it is used by people who
speak different languages for restricted
purposes such as trading.
Features: limited vocabulary and very
reduced grammatical structure
Creole


Definition: When a pidgin has become the
primary language of a speech community, and
is acquired by the children of that speech
community as their native language, it is said
to have become a Creole.
Features: the structure of the original pidgin
is expanded, the vocabulary vastly enriched,
new syntactic-semantic concepts developed.
9. A special language variety that mixes languages
and is used by speakers of different language for
purpose of trading is called ____.
A. dialect
C. pidgin
B. idiolect
D. register
Introduction to Linguistics
Chapter 9: Language and Culture
What Is Culture?

In a broad sense, culture means the total
way of life of a people including the
patterns of belief, customs, objects,
institutions, techniques, and language that
characterizes the life of the human
community.
What Is Culture?

In a narrow sense, culture may refer to local or
specific practice, beliefs or customs, which can be
mostly found in folk culture, enterprise culture or
food culture etc.
Types of culture


1. Material cultural: concrete, substantial
and observable
2. Spiritual culture: the products of mind
(ideologies, beliefs, values, and concepts of
time and space, for example), abstract,
ambiguous, and hidden
The relationship between
language and culture
Sapir-Whorf
Hypothesis


It is a hypothesis concerning the relationship
between language and thought, proposed by
Whorf, under the influence of Sapir, his teacher.
According to this hypothesis, the structure of
the language people habitually use influences the
ways they think and behave. That is to say,
different languages offer people different ways of
express the world around, they think and speak
differently. This hypothesis is also called
“Linguistic relativity.”

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