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1
The lure of linguistics, and the glamour of grammar
Richard Hudson
Royal Grammar School, Guildford
May 2014
2
My main points
• ‘Language’ includes English as well as Foreign
• Linguistics is the science of language• Linguistics can be
– interesting– surprising– useful– difficult
3
English: me or I?
• Which would you say?1. You and I could do it together.
2. You and me could do it together.
• Why 2?– Bad grammar?
• “The two personal pronouns I and me are often used wrongly, ....” (Oxford Dictionaries)
• And what about between you and I?
– New grammar
4
Compare German and French
• Du und ich könnten es zusammen tun.– *!Dich und mich könnten es zusammen tun.
• Toi et moi nous pourrions le faire ensemble– *! Tu et je pourrions le faire ensemble.
• So maybe English is moving from German-like to French-like?– Because, like French, it’s lost ‘case’
5
Why?
• Everyone:– I did it (not: *Me did it)
• Me: Use I for subjects• You: Use I for subjects, except with and.• Why prefer the more complicated rule?• We don’t know.
6
Description or prescription?
• Why not proscribe me and prescribe I?– And proscribe French too?– Languages do change
• nor never none Shall mistress be of it• to: nor shall any ever be mistress of it.
• Better:– Describe what people actually say
• and what others think of it
– Try to understand: • why they say it• why other people object
Shakespeare
8
Verb paradigms: Latin
am+o mon+e+o trah+o
am+a+s mon+e+s trah+i+s
am+a+t mon+e+t trah+i+t
am+a+mus mon+e+mus trah+i+mus
am+a+tis mon+e+tis ??
am+a+nt mon+e+nt trah+u+nt
+a+ +e+ +i+
+o
+s
+t
+tis
+mus
+nt
trah+i+tis
9
And English: am + n’t = ?
I am I am+n’t are+n’t I?
you are you are+n’t are+n’t you?
she is she is+n’t is+n’t she?
we are we are+n’t are+n’t we?
you are you are+n’t are+n’t you?
they are they are+n’t are+n’t they?
+n’t
am
is
are
10
Why?
Maybe because of our logic?• e.g. hats:
– If sunny, then wear a sun hat– If cold, then wear a woolly hat– But: If both sunny and cold, then ....?
• e.g. language:– too big:They have too big a car. (not: too big car)– plural: They have cars (not: a cars).– But: too big + plural: They have ....?
11
The amn’t gap
• Similarly:– If after I, then: am– If before n’t, then: are– But: if both after I and before n’t, then ...?
• NB This is the frontier of research! – So we need
• good description• good arguments• good theory
12
Linguistics
• Description is the method– science, not correction
• Explanation is the goal– science, not mere collection
• Includes:– synchrony – a statistic snapshot of language – diachrony – how language changes through
time
13
Change: Etymology
• Etymology = study of historical links between words– fascinating!– e.g. Online Etymology Dictionary
• The Oxford English Dictionary– online– launched by linguists in the 19th century
• For example, take glamour.
16
A complex history
grammar
'writing skill'
learning
wizardry
gramarie
glamour
flashy appeal
'corruption'
mea
ns
17
Explanation: wanna
• Try these after He’s the man ...
• Why?– Because want to > wanna only where they
would normally be together– Compare:
• I want to meet him. > I wanna meet him.• I want him to win it. [not: I wanna him win it]
I want to meet. I wanna meet.I want to win it. I wanna win it.
18
So what?
• Linguistics studies language by– describing– explaining
• It studies written and spoken language.• It studies words and sentences.• It studies sounds, grammar and meaning.• It studies all languages
– and finds great diversity.
19
Diversity: mechanics
• How do you pronounce these?– Put the pizza/pasty in the oven.– I saw/see it.
• What’s going on?– We insert /r/ to separate vowels– when those vowels could historically be
separated by /r/.
• Compare Beja– my PhD language
20
Beja: /j/ insertion
• Spoken in the N-E Sudan, not written
tam+ta ‘she ate’ na+ta ‘she spent the night’
tam+an ‘I ate’ na+j+an ‘I spent the night
added to separate /a+a/
21
Diversity: organisation
• He likes it consists of– V - a verb likes – S - its subject he– O - its object it
• 6 orders are possible:
VSO likes he it VOS likes it he
SVO he likes it OVS it likes he
SOV he it likes OSV it he likes
22
Word order typology
• Languages can be classified by preferred word order
• All possibilities have been found• But some are very, very rare: O .. S• The most common is ....
– SOV (e.g. Latin, maybe German)– then SVO (e.g. English)– then VSO (e.g. Welsh)
23
Diversity: possible messages
• Accurate translation is impossible– because different languages permit different
messages
• e.g. English has gone contrasts with went– He has gone to lunch vs He went to lunch.– ‘present relevance’
• So languages without this contrast can’t express ‘He has gone to lunch’.
24
Verbs of motionTranslate into French (or Spanish):
He walked into the room• Not: Il a marché dans la chambre.
• But:
Il est entré dans la chambre (en marchant).
manner of movement
direction of movement
direction of movement
manner of movement
25
Linguistic relativity
• Different languages allow different messages.
• What effect does this have on the way we think?– Do we live in different mental worlds?– Or do we just communicate differently?
26
Applications of linguistics
• In IT:– predictive texting– Google translate
• Speech therapy• Dictionary and grammar writing• Language education
– English, e.g. phonics, grammar– Foreign, e.g. course books
27
The difficulty of linguistics
• Language is complex– Arguably, the most complex structure in the
universe!
• So we desperately need a good theory– But it’s hard to build a theory for such a
complex object
• But the challenge is rewarding.
28
The Linguistics Olympiad
• The UK Linguistics Olympiad is like the Maths Challenge and Olympiad– except that it’s all about language
• Three levels– the Advanced level selects winners for
• Round 2 (residential)• the UK team to the International Linguistics
Olympiad
• Here’s a sample problem.
30
Zooming in on Ulwa
-ni = "our (inc)"
-ma = "your (sing)"
-kana = "their"
-mana = "your (plur)"
'infix'suffix
31
What’s going on in Ulwa?
• Why does a ‘possessive’ affix – sometimes appear at the end of a word, – and sometimes in the middle?
• The suffix follows the first long syllable– VV: diimuih + kana = diikanamuih – VVC: gaad + ni = gaadni
• Otherwise it follows the second syllable– CVCV: bilam + kana = bilamkana
32
Why not try it out?
• Try the Linguistics Olympiad– See www.uklo.org for (a lot) more.
• Try Linguistics for your degree– on its own or with other subjects.
• Linguistics combines – the human interest of human language– the rigour of mathematics– the breadth of area studies– the usefulness of engineering– the challenge of sudoku and cross-word puzzles.