ENGL 4100 / 5190 History of the English Language
Algeo, Chapter 1: Language and the English Language.
“How the English language changed from being the speech of a few small tribes to
becoming the major language of the Earth … is the subject of this book.” (1)
“To be human is to use language.” (1)
“A language is a system of conventional vocal signs by means of which human
beings communicate.” (2)
Duality of patterning
Meaningful units vs. meaningless units:
Adam vs. a, d, a, m.
Lexis and grammatical system vs. phonology (2)
Lexis as unpredictable; grammar as general rules (3) – but there is some system in
the vocabulary, e.g., collocations
Analytic languages vs. synthetic languages (4)
“A language that depends heavily on the use of inflections … is said to be
synthetic.” (Latin, Russian)
“A language like English whose grammar depends heavily on the use of word order
and function words … is said to be analytic.”
Virum canis mordet.
Man (object) dog (subject)
Dog bites man.
Signs
“signs are what the system organizes” (5). A sign stands for something else.
The smallest linguistic sign is the morpheme “a meaningful form that cannot be divide
into smaller meaningful parts”
free morphemes: apple, act, scare
bound morphemes: can only occur as part of a word: apples, re-act-iv-at-ion, scared,
scared-ish.
Note that the bound morphemes are affixes: prefixes or suffixes.
But “ish”?
Language as vocal: its signs are oral-aural (6)
One-dimensional (follows sequentially in time), can be heard, unlike gestures.
Superior to gestures.
Writing and speech
Speech is primary; writing secondary. (6)
(Implications? Assumptions?)
Speech uses length, juncture, stress,
and pitch to convey meaning.
Gladly, the cross I’d bear / Gladly, the cross-eyed bear.
It also uses gestures and tones, but these are not language but paralanguage (8)
Language as conventional (8)
Language as arbitrary (8-9). Examples?
The supposed naturalness of language (9).
Language Change (10)
1. Words and sounds affect neighboring words and sounds (syntagmatic change):
sandwich
2. Affected by association (associative or paradigmatic change):
starboard/lardboard>larboard > port
3. The influence of new events and social change in the world: Googling, Wiki
Common misperceptions about language (10)
From purity to corruption
Language variation (11)
diachronic vs. synchronic
Synchronic
dialects (including idiolects) and registers
Correctness (12)
Examples of “incorrect” use of language?
“acceptability is related to some group of people whose response it reflects”
Language as human (13)
The origins of language: pooh-pooh, bow-wow, etc.
Innate language ability (14)
Do animals have language? (14)
Sarah, Lana, and Washoe. “candy + drink” = watermelon.
Project Nim: http://www.npr.org/2011/07/20/138467156/project-nim-a-chimpsvery-human-very-sad-life.
Language as communication (15)
Is thought independent of language? Does thought precede language?
The Whorf hypothesis: that language influences the way we think about the world
and how we perceive the world.
Do the color terms of a language influence the way its speakers see color? Or terms
for snow how you perceive snow?
Language is an open system (16): I can make up new things with it
Language use is displaced: I can talk about things not present to me; I can talk
about language itself
Language is not just utilitarian: I can joke in it, I can play with it
Why study the history of English?