LIN 201 The Nature and Study of Language

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LIN 201 -- The Nature and Study of Language

• Pick up (1) a Course Information sheet and (2) a
  Student Information Sheet from the top of one of
  the two trash cases near the back entrances.

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LIN 201

• The Nature and Study of Language
• Fall 2005
• Lecturer Prof. W. Ritchie
• TA Ms. Ling Na
• Part I, Lecture 1

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Course packet checklist

• (1) Course Information
• (2) Student Information Sheet Please fill out
  the sheet and leave it on top of one of the trash
  cases -- not in it! -- at the back of the room as
  you leave at the end of class.

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Notetaker needed

• A notetaker is needed for LIN 201 pays 90 for
  the semester. To be eligible you must
• Have at least a 2.5 GPA
• Write legibly
• Contact Debbie Calo -- (44)3-5024 or
• The Notetaking Office -- (44)3-5734

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Agenda for today

• 1. Course Information
• 2. The place of language in human affairs
• 3. Linguistic knowledge
• 4. Two sentence rules

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Agenda

• 1. Course Information

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Keep in mind

• For this Wednesday
• Reading in FR and CR (see Course Information).
  Use reading questions (CR, pp. 17-18) if you
  wish. No need to write them up and hand them in.
• Go over the questions on the videotape Colorless
  Green Ideas (CR, 21-24) in preparation for
  viewing the tape on Wed. in Lec.

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Agenda

• 2. The place of language in human affairs.

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The Place of Language in Human Affairs

• Claim (FR) Language is central to human life.
• Evidence Your Living Without Language
  experiment.

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Agenda

• 3. Linguistic Knowledge (LK)

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LK

• What does your LK (of, e.g., English) include?
• How did you come to have that knowledge?

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Linguistic Knowledge

• Well show that your LK
• includes knowledge of
• words (a Lexicon) -- Lec, FR.
• Rules -- Lec, FR.
• is mostly unconscious ( tacit).
• is acquired largely without instruction.

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Lexicon (1)Form (sounds) Meaning (concept)

• hand
• house
• tree

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Lexicon (2)

• What you know Knowledge of a Lexicon consists
  in knowledge of a list of form-meaning
  relationships (that is, of lexical items).

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Lexicon (3)Form (sounds) Meaning (concept)

• blenny
• alembic
• scimitar

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Lexicon (4)Form (sounds) Meaning (concept)

• blenny
• alembic
• scimitar

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Summary Knowledge of Lexicon

• What you know A list . . . . .
• How you came to know it You learned these
  relationships by encountering them one-by-one and
  memorizing them. If youve never encountered a
  given lexical item, you wont know it.

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LK Rules (?)

• Hypothesis LK consists of a Lexicon alone.
  This hypothesis predicts that we cannot interpret
  or make judgments about linguistic forms that we
  have never previously encountered.

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Rules (1)

• How to Clintonize your investments.
• From The CBS Evening News, Nov. 8, 1992
• Meaning?

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Rules (2)

• Clintonize Clinton -ize
• What other Presidents names can you add -ize to?

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Rules (3) Creativity

• LK allows the understanding of words and
  sentences never encountered before. It is
  creative.
• Specific examples Clintonize, Reaganize , etc.

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Rules (4) LexiconForm (sounds) Meaning
(concept)

• hand
• house
• .
• Clinton

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Rules (5) A Rule of English

• The -ize Rule -ize can be added to a lexical
  item to give a new word.

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Rules (6)

• Claim It must be that linguistic knowledge
  includes rules as well as a lexicon ( Lexicon
  Rules) rather than just a Lexicon alone since we
  can interpret utterances weve never encountered
  before.
• Evidence (1) Linguistic knowledge is creative.
• Examples Clintonize, etc.

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Rules (7) Another kind of evidence for rules

• Clintonize Clinton -ize
• Are there Presidents names you cant add -ize
  to?

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Rules (8) Name -ize

• OK
• Clintonize
• Reaganize
• Nixonize
• Carterize
• Lincolnize

• not OK ()
• Bushize
• Fordize
• Adamsize
• Rooseveltize

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Rules (9) The -ize Rule revised

• The -ize Rule -ize can be added to an item in
  the lexicon if that item contains two syllables
  and ends in -n or -r. (Otherwise not.)

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Rules (10) Evidence for rules (2)

• Evidence (2) Linguistic knowledge is creative,
  but there are limits to that creativity.
• Examples Clintonize is OK, but Bushize,
  Eisenhowerize arent OK.

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Rules (11) Summary

• Claim The LexiconRules hypothesis is better
  than the Lexicon alone hypothesis.
• Evidence
• (1) Creativity (ex., Reaganize).
• (2) Limits to creativity (ex., Bushize).

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Rules (12) -- Knowledge of a rule What is known
how it is acquired

• What is known You know what forms the rule
  applies to and what forms it creates.
• How it was acquired You encountered many
  individual forms that exhibit the operation of
  the rule.

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LK Tacitness

• Claim Linguistic knowledge is tacit or
  unconscious.
• Evidence For the most part, its not possible
  to verbalize the rules we know we must discover
  them.
• Example The -ize Rule.

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LK Acquired with little instruction

• Claim LK is acquired largely without
  instruction.
• Evidence/Example The -ize Rule.

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LK to this point Summary

• includes knowledge of
• A list of Lexical items.
• Rules. Ev(1) creativity Ev(2)
  limits to creativity.
• is mostly unconscious (tacit).
• is acquired with little instruction.

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General Two kinds of knowledge

• Knowledge of lists (e.g., lexicon)
• Acquired one-by-one once acquired does not allow
  for creativity.
• Knowledge of rules
• Allows for creativity (production and
  understanding of new forms but within limits).

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Agenda

• 4. Two sentence rules

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Two Sentence Rules

• So far A rule that applies to lexical items (the
  -ize Rule).
• Now Two rules that apply to sentences.

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Sentence rule I (1)

• 1. John is studying linguistics.
• 2. John has studied linguistics.
• 3. John studies linguistics.
• 1a. Is John __ studying linguistics?
• 2a. Has John __ studied linguistics?
• 3a. Studies John __ linguistics?

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Sentence rule I (2)

• Aux(iliary) is, has, (but not studies).
• Rule of Aux Movement
• Move an Aux to the beginning of the sentence.

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Sentence Rule II (1)

• 1. John is studying linguistics.
• 1a. John is studying what?
• 1b. What is John __ studying __?
• 2. John has gone downtown.
• 2a. John has gone where?
• 2b. Where has John __ gone __?

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Sentence Rule II (2)

• wh-phrase what, where, which dog, .
• Rule of Wh-Movement
• Move a wh-phrase to the beginning of the sentence.

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Rules A Summary

• Two kinds of rules --
• 1. Rules that apply to lexical items (add things
  like -ize) the -ize Rule.
• 2. Rules that apply to sentences (move things
  around) Aux Movement, Wh Movement.

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Keep in mind

• For this Wednesday
• Reading in FR and CR (see Course Information).
• Go over questions on the videotape Colorless
  Green Ideas (CR, pp. 21-24).

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• Leave your filled-out Student Information Sheet
  on the trash cases at the back of the room as you
  leave.