Freitag, 18. Januar 2008

Glossary

affix = a morpheme attached to a root to form a new word

allomorph = variant form of a morpheme (meaning same, sound can vary)

antonym = word pairs opposite in meaning

bahuvrihi or exocentric compounds = meaning can be guessed, AB is C (e.g. “laptop”)

circular definition = assumes a prior understanding of the term being defined

co-hyponym = e.g. „Sitzmöbel“ and „Ablagemöbel (under the hyperonym “Möbel”)

componential analysis = to analyze a word according to its semantic components [+/-]

compound = a word that consists of more than one element

Concordance = shows a word in the context of the text in which it is found (e.g. Google)

Corpus analysis = analysing words by doing concordances

database = organized collection of data

definition by nearest kind and specific differences = popular dictionary definition, e.g. “poodle” = “dog” (nearest kind) “with a haircut” (specific difference)

derivation = process of changing the meaning and/or lexical class of a lexeme by adding a morpheme (to only 1 root, otherwise it would be a compound)

determinants or modifier = in endocentric compounds:e.g. milkman (modifies the head)

determinatum or head = in endocentric compounds: e.g. milkman

dictionary = list of words with their definitions

document content = topics, objects, persons, events, …

document object = paragraphs, characters, lists, tables, graphics, …

document rendering = appearance/ layout

document structure = organized like a table, hierarchical and linear structure

dvandva or bicentric compounds = meaning is calculated according to the formula, AB is A and B (e.g. “whisky-soda”)

encyclopaedia = written compendium of knowledge

etymology = the origins of words

font = consists of a co-ordinated set of graphemes

generalisation = e.g. animal is a generalization of bird because every bird is an animal

grammatical morpheme or closed class morpheme or functional morpheme = mark syntagmatic relations of different kinds, within and between words. number is fixed

grapheme = the atomic unit in written language. Graphemes include letters, Chinese ideograms, numerals, punctuation marks, and other symbols.

hyperonym = a word whose extension includes the extension of the word of which it is a hyperonym

hyponym = a word whose extension is included within that of another word

inflection = modification or marking of a word so that it reflects grammatical information

inflection marker = free or bound morpheme that indicates the grammatical function of the marked word or sentence (e.g. the suffix -s in dogs is a plural marker)

IPA = International Phonetic Alphabet/Association

irregular inflection markers = may involve changes in the vowel and/or final consonant of the morpheme

KWIC concordance = Keyword In Context, most common concordance format

lemma = the canonical (authorized) form of a lexeme (z.B. der Stamm / Infinitiv eines Wortes oder einfach eine Nummer à der Lexikon-Eintrag, der sich am besten für das entsprechende Lexikon anbietet)

Level 1 Derivation or Stratum 1 = including stress-shift (e.g. celebrate à celebrity)

Level 2 Derivation or Stratum 2 = no stress-shift (e.g. happy à happiness)

lexical morpheme or open class morpheme or content morpheme = form the roots of simple words. new items can always be invented at any time.

lexicography = Practical lexicography is the art or craft of writing dictionaries. Theoretical lexicography is the scholarly discipline of analyzing and describing the semantic relationships within the lexicon (vocabulary) of a language.

meronomy = “part-whole-relationship” e.g. body (supraordinate) includes arms and legs (both subordinate)

meronym = see meronomy: arms and legs

morpheme = the smallest unit in a language which carries meaning

morphology = the study of the structure of word forms.

non-simplex word = including both derivations and compounds

opaque meaning = the meaning is not clear

orthography = set of symbols used to write a language, as well as the set of rules describing how to write these glyphs correctly, including spelling, punctuation, and capitalization

ostensive definition = “Definition by pointing” à conveys the meaning of a term by pointing out examples of what is defined by it

phoneme = the smallest unit in a language which distinguishes meaning

phonemic transcription = same as phonetic transcription

phonetic transcription = visual system of symbolization of the sounds in a language

phonology = describes the way sounds function

pragmatics = concerned with bridging the explanatory gap between sentence meaning and speaker’s meaning

prefix = an affix that precedes the morphemes to which it can attach

recursive definition = defines a word in terms of itself. has to avoid an infinite regress

regular inflection markers = suffixes attached to lexical morphemes

SAMPA = IPA written by computer keyboard (e.g. @ for schwa)

Sanskrit = a classical language of India

semantics = the study of meaning of (parts of) words, phrases, sentences, and texts

simple word = lexical morphemes form the roots of simple words

specialisation = e.g. bird is a specialization of animal because every bird is an animal

sublemma = subordinate dictionary entry?

suffix = an affix that follows the morphemes to which it can attach

superfix = e.g. produce (noun), produce (verb); (changing stress)

synonym = word pairs more or less same in meaning

syntagmatic relation = culturally determined pattern of association between pairs of lexical units

syntax = the study of the rules, or "patterned relations" that govern the way the words in a sentence come together
tatpurusa or endocentric compounds = 2nd part central item, AB is B (e.g. “milkman”)

taxonomy = the whole relation of hyperonyms and hyponyms etc.

thesaurus = a dictionary which lists words with similar, related, or opposite meanings
transparent meaning = the meaning is clear

word root = the core form of a word

zero affix = the word class changes but the orthography stays same (e.g. address)

zero derivation = the act of adding a zero affix

Donnerstag, 17. Januar 2008

Introduction to Linguistics - Lecture 1



Lecture One, 17th of October 2007

Introduction




1. Introduction
2. Learner's Diary
3. Tasks and Quizzes
4. Evaluation
5. References


1. Introduction

The first session was mainly an introduction and overview of the course and its concept. First of all was given an overview of the topics: Language History, Language in Society, Language and the Mind, Building Blocks of Language and Applying Linguistics.


2. Learner's Diary

Properties of signs



3. Tasks and Quizzes


Why is a portfolio important?
A portfolio can help to understand the weekly lessons and to have an easier access to in the internet. For other students a portfolio makes it possible to share information with the writer. In addition to this the writer gets to know important skills of modern media. It is important to reflect the lessons again afterwards.


What should a portfolio contain and how are these components defined?

A portfolio should contain a summary of the lecture, this is called a learner’s diary, where the main topics of the lecture are described and evaluated. Additionally, it should include a glossary to explain technical terms of every lecture and the answers which been given.


Why should a portfolio be on a website?

With a portfolio you can exchange information with other students and lecturers are able to observe your learning development. So this is the easiest way of access at any time.


How do you make a website?

You can create a website by uploading an html document onto an online server on the internet or you can go to the "hers" and upload your files there. This html document needs to have a certain form, otherwise it does not work.



Prepare reports for discussion on …


What are the following, and how old are they?


Indo-European

Indo-European is a family of languages having more speakers than any other language family. It is estimated that approximately half the world’s population speaks an Indo-European tongue as a first language. The Indo-European family is so named because at one time its individual members were prevalent mainly in an area between and including India and Europe, although not all languages spoken in this region were Indo-European. Today, however, the Indo-European languages have spread to every continent and a number of islands. It should be stressed that the term Indo-European describes language only and is not used scientifically in an ethnic or cultural sense. The languages classified as Indo-European are sufficiently similar to form one major linguistic division. The characteristics Indo-European languages share with respect to vocabulary and grammar have led many scholars to postulate that they are all descended from an original parent language, called Proto-Indo-European, which is believed to have been spoken some time before 4000 B.C., perhaps before 8000 B.C. or earlier. Since there are no written records of Proto-Indo-European, it apparently was in use before writing was known to its speakers.

(Encyclopedia information about Indo-European The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2001-2005, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

http://www.bartleby.com/65/in/IndoEuro.html, 22.10.2007)


Proto-Germanic

Proto-Germanic is the hypothetical common ancestor (proto-language) of all the Germanic languages, which include, among others, modern English, Dutch, German and Swedish. The Proto-Germanic language is not directly attested by any surviving texts, but has been reconstructed using the comparative method. However, a few surviving inscriptions in a runic script from Scandinavia dated to c. 200 are thought to represent a stage of Proto-Norse or Late Common Germanic immediately following the "Proto-Germanic" stage. Some loan-words from early Germanic which exist in neighbouring non-Germanic languages are believed to have been borrowed from Germanic during the Proto-Germanic phase.

(Wikipedia article "Proto-Germanic language".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-Germanic, 22.10.2007)


Old English

Language spoken and written in England before AD 1100. It belongs to the Anglo-Frisian group of Germanic languages. Four dialects are known: Northumbrian (in northern England and south-eastern Scotland), Mercian (central England), Kentish (southeastern England), and West Saxon (southern and southwestern England). Mercian and Northumbrian are often called the Anglian dialects. Most extant Old English writings are in the West Saxon dialect. The great epic poem of Old English is Beowulf; the first period of extensive literary activity occurred in the 9th century. Old English had three genders (masculine, feminine, neuter) for nouns and adjectives; nouns, pronouns, and adjectives were also inflected for case. Old English had a greater proportion of strong (irregular) verbs than does Modern English, and its vocabulary was more heavily Germanic.

(Britannica information about Old English Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2007 Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.
http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9056971/Old-English-language, 22.10.2007)


Middle English

Vernacular spoken and written in England c. 1100–1500, the descendant of Old English and the ancestor of Modern English. It can be divided into three periods: Early, Central, and Late. The Central period was marked by the borrowing of many Anglo-Norman words and the rise of the London dialect, used by such poets as John Gower and Geoffrey Chaucer in a 14th-century flowering of English literature. The dialects of Middle English are usually divided into four groups: Southern, East Midland, West Midland, and Northern.

(Britannica information about Middle English Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2007 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.

http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9052544/Middle-English-language, 22.10.2007)


Early Modern English

Early Modern English refers to the stage of the English language used from about the end of the Middle English period (the later half of the 1400s) to 1650. Thus, the first edition of the King James Bible and the works of William Shakespeare both belong to the late phase of Early Modern English, although the King James Bible intentionally keeps some archaisms that were not common even when it was published. Current readers of English are generally able to understand Early Modern English, though occasionally with difficulties arising from grammar changes, changes in the meanings of some words, and spelling differences. The standardization of English spelling falls within the Early Modern English period, and is influenced by conventions predating the Great Vowel Shift, explaining the archaic non-phonetic spelling of contemporary Modern English.

(Wikipedia article "Early Modern English".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_Modern_English, 22.11.2007)


Provide examples of similar words in each of these

What are the main differences between English and German?

First of all one main difference is probably, that there are 3 articles in German and that they have to change for every case. Also there is no visible difference between adverbs and adjectives and the syntax is different as well. The English syntax is very strict (always Subject, Predicate, Object), the German syntax is more variable. Moreover the German sound-to-spelling rules are more logical than the English, most of the times it is impossible to tell how a word is pronounced just by looking at its orthography.

4. Evaluation

Interesting topic, especially the history of the English language.



5. References

http://www.bartleby.com
http://en.wikipedia.org
http://www.britannica.com
http://wwwhomes.uni-bielefeld.de/~gibbon/Classes/Classes2007WS/ITL/index.html

Introduction to Linguistics - Lecture 2



Lecture Two, 24th October 2007

History and distribution of English



1. Introduction
2. Learner's Diary
3. Tasks and Quizzes
4. Evaluation
5. References


1. Introduction

Today's main subject which is the history of English, but with a focus on the developments that have lead from the Indo-European language to Middle English. There are different theories on the origin of the Indo-European language.


2. Learner's Diary

Who were the original human inhabitants of the British Isle?

It is not possible to identify the exact original human inhabitants of the British Isles. They had been inhabited by members of the homo erectus when the islands were still joined to continental Europe. The last ice age ended around 10,000 years ago, and hunter-gatherers spread to all parts of the islands by around 8,000 years ago. The culture an the living of these people are unknown, except for some archaeological findings.


Some Celtic vocabulary


Bannuc a bit bannock
binn basket, crib bin
brocc badger Brock the Badger
clugge bell clock
dry magician druid
luh lake loch, lough


Etymology, the history of words





Sound change

Grimm's Law
Deaspiration (fagus - beech, Buche)
*bh *dh *gh
*b *d *g
Devoicing (decem - ten)
*b *d *g
*p *t *k
Fricativisation (pitár, pater - father, Vater)
*p *t *k
*f *θ *h



High German Soundshift

Obstruent consonants
C V C
p: pf f Plant Pflanze
t: ts s Town Zaun
k: k (kx) x/ç


Great Vowel Shift



Steps of Great Vowel Shift:
1. /i/ and /u/ drop and become /əI/ and /əu/
2. /e/ and /o/ move up, becoming /i/and /u/
3. /a/ moves forward to /æ/
4. /ε/ becomes /e/ and /C / becomes /o/
5. /æ/ moves up to /ε
6. /e/ moves up to /i/
7. /ε/ moves up to /e/
8. /əI/ and /əu/ drop to /aI/ and /au/


Semantic change

Generalisation:
e.g. Schürze

Specialisation:
Meanings became specialised in different directions, e.g. Schürze à skirt and shirt

Metaphor:
A hidden meaning of any word, e.g. in poetry



3. Tasks and Quizzes


Where did the Celts originate?

The earliest known inhabitants of the British Isles were the Celts. There are two branches of Celtic, the Goidelic (West of Ireland, North- West Scotland) and the Brythonic Celtic (Wales and Breton). They originated in the area which today is to Southern Germany and the old Austrian Empire (Hungary, Bohemia). From there they spread all over North- Western Europe and finally the British Isles.


Name 3 Celtic town names in the area of modern Germany and give their meanings

- Remagen: rigo (celt.) rigs = king and magos (celt.) = fiedls meaning king's fields
- Worms: Borbetomagus (celt.), meaning Land of the Borbet
- Vienna: Vedunia (celt.) meaning forest brook

(Wikipedia article "german placename etymology".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_placename_etymology, 27.10.2007)


Where do the Celts live now?

Today the expression "Celtic" is often used in order to describe the people and their respective cultures and languages of several ethnic groups in the United Kingdom, Isle of Man, Republic of Ireland, France, Spain and northern Portugal.


What is their significance for English studies?

Historically


The Celts had a huge influence on the language spoken in Europe and they were traders so they had an influence on the markets as well. There are still words whose origin can be found in the Celtic vocabulary. Irish monks preserved English literature.


Currently


It is still possible to find Celtic settlements all over France and England and they can tell us a lot about what life was like in ancient times. Furthermore there are still Celtic words in the English language which we use everyday without even noticing and town names that have their origin in Celtic times. Irish children learn Irish at school again (cultural Identity). In general the Celtic language is endangered to die out. It is very important that linguists do their best to document the Celtic language.


Find examples for all of these concepts

Grimm' s Law, First Germanic Sound Shift

p to f - pater (Latin) to father (English)
d to t - decem (Latin) to ten (English)
g to k - gelu (Latin) to kalt (German)

(Wikipedia article " Grimm's law".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grimm's_law, 27.10.2007)


High German Sound Shift

p to f - sleep (English) to schlafen (German)
t to ss – eat (English) to essen (German)
t to ts – cat (English) to Katze (German)

(Wikipedia article "High German consonant shift".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_German_consonant_shift, 28.10.2007)


Great Vowel Shift

The Great Vowel Shift marking the separation of Middle and Modern English.

Middle English e: to Modern English i: (see)
Middle English a: to Modern English eı (name)

(Wikipedia article "Great Vowel Shift".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Vowel_Shift, 28.10.2007)


The semantic change changes the meaning of a word

- metaphor is a new interpretation of a word.
- generalisation means a extended way of the meaning of a word.
- specialisation is the opposite of generalisation, a word has only one or two meanings.


Find and list examples of these cases

Derivation

- adjective-to-noun: -ness (slow → slowness)
- adjective-to-verb: -ise (modern → modernise)
- noun-to-adjective: -al (recreation → recreational)
- noun-to-verb: -fy (glory → glorify)
- verb-to-adjective: -able (drink → drinkable)
- verb-to-noun: -ance (deliver → deliverance)

(Wikipedia article "derivation".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derivation_%28linguistics%29, 28.11.2007)


Compounding

- airport
- bathroom
- brainwash
- evergreen


Abbreviation

- lab (laboratory)
- e.g. (exempli gartia – for example)
- BYOB – bring your own booze
- 20*C+M+B*08 (christus mansion benedicat)


Sign-meaning similarities

- sound symbolism - miau (cat), muh (cow)
- onomatopoeia – bampf, twhip, boom, pow (language in comics)
- synaesthesia – cool green, heavy silence (rhetoric and literary terminology)



4. Evaluation

An interesting lesson, especially the history of the English words. Sometimes a little bit to fast to ascertain important and interesting facts.



5. References


http://www.wikipedia.org

http://wwwhomes.uni-bielefeld.de/~gibbon/Classes/Classes2007WS/ITL/index.html


Introduction to Linguistics - Lecture 3


Lecture Three, 31st of October 2007

History of English



1. Introduction
2. Learner's Diary
3. Tasks and Quizzes
4. Evaluation
5. References


1. Introduction

The lecture was about the history of the English language and the influence of other languages on the English language. It was influenced by several languages of the conquerors. It started in the 5th century when Germanic tribes settled down in the South and North of the country. So the language was affected by the Celtic dialects. In 1066 William the Conqueror and the Normans entered the island and the language of the upper class is influenced by this dialect. The Early Modern English is marked by the work of William Shakespeare. The Late Modern English is mostly influenced by foreign languages.



2. Learner's Diary

Influence of other languages to the English language



The evidence of East and North Germanic

East Germanic

The Gothic Bible also known as the Bible of Bishop Wulfila. Named after the Bishop Wulfila is a Christian Bible translated into the Gothic language around 500 AD. It contains manuscripts from the New and Old testament.


North Germanic

The Horns of Gallehus are two golden horns discovered in the Danish town Gallehus. Both were believed to date to the fifth century.


Old English

- About 600 – 1000 AD
- Germanic dialects


Spread of English around the world



Phonology of Speech


After the part history of the English language followed an introduction to the phonology of speech. Phonology examines the sound system of a language. The encoding is effected either by phonemes (acoustic encoding) or graphemes (visual encoding).


Sign Model

It refers on one hand to the internal structure and on the other hand to the external structure. The phonetic interpretation presents the pronunciation and the orthographic interpretation presents the spelling.


Representation of sound

The prosodic hierarchy consists of two parts, phonemes and syllables.

phonemes
- function: “smallest word-distinguishing segments”
- internal structure: “configuations of distinctive phonetic features”
- external structure (see syllables)
- rendering: “contextual variants”, “allophones”

syllables
- function: “word distinguishing phoneme configurations”
- internal structure: “configurations of sequential features (consonantal, vocalic; voiced, unvoiced; ...) and simultaneous features (tone, accent)
- external structure (word)
- rendering: a function of the rendering of phonemes







Basics of English Syllable Structure

Syllable occur in a structure. C stands for consonant, V for vowel.

CCCVVCCC e.g. the word straight

s (C) - t (C) - r (C) - a (V) - i (V) - g (C) - h (C) - t (C)



Phonemes: sounds in the dictionary

There are several ways of defining phonemes, depending on which of the four sign components is focussed.

the minimal word-distinguishing sound segment
The smallest unit of a syllable based on structure
Consists of distinctive features
Consists of a set of allophones


The IPA chart

IPA is an abbreviation for International Phonetic Alphabet.



3. Tasks and Quizzes


Find out what "Beowulf" is

Find out who or what “Beowulf” isA heroic poem considered the highest achievement of Old English literature and the earliest European vernacular epic. It deals with events of the early 6th century and was probably composed c. 700–750. It tells the story of the Scandinavian hero Beowulf, who gains fame as a young man by vanquishing the monster Grendel and Grendel's mother; later, as an aging king, he kills a dragon but dies soon after, honoured and lamented. Beowulf belongs metrically, stylistically, and thematically to the Germanic heroic tradition but shows a distinct Christian influence.

(Wikipedia article "Beowulf".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beowulf, 3.11.2007)


Find the text and a translation

Text:
http://www8.georgetown.edu/departments/medieval/labyrinth/library/oe/texts/a4.1.html
Translation:
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/beowulf.html



Figure out the vocabulary and the grammar of two or three lines, by comparing the text with the translation

London: the Roman settlement which is now London was called Londinum

Canterbury: The name Canterbury derives from the Old English Cantwarebyrig, meaning "fortress of the men of Kent". The bury element is a form of borough, which has cognates in words and place names in virtually every Indo-European and Semitic language, as well as others.

(Wikipedia article "Canterbury".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canterbury, 3.11.2007)


Kent: The name "Kent" predates the Jutish invaders, and relates to the much earlier Celtic Cantiaci tribe whose homeland it was.

(Wikipedia article "Kent".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent, 3.11.2007)


Middle English

- Canterbury Tales written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century


Modern English Dialects


The Spread of English



Colonial language spread



Check the main colonial periods of

Portuguese

The Portuguese Empire was the first Global empire in history and also the earliest and longest lived of the western european colonial empires (1415-1999)

(Wikipedia article "Portuguese Empire".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_empire, 5.11.2007)


Spanish

The Spanish ruled huge parts of South America, Canada and smaller parts of Africa between the 16th century und 1975. At its largest reach, roughly 1740-1790 Spain controlled about half of South America, more than a third of North America, and had significant holdings in the Pacific basin.

(Wikipedia article "Spanish Empire".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_empire, 5.11.2007)


Dutch

The Dutch Empireis the name given to the various territories controlled by the Netherlands from the 17th to the 20th century. The Dutch followed Spain and Portugal in establishing a colonial global empire outside of continental Europe. Their skills in shipping and trading and the surge of nationalism and militarism accompanying the struggle for independence from Spain aided the venture. Alongside the British, the Dutch initially built up colonial possessions on the basis of indirect state capitalist corporate colonialism, with the Dutch East India Company dominant. Direct state intervention in the colonial enterprise came later. Dutch merchants and sailors also participated in the surge of exploration that unfolded in the 16th and 17th centuries, though the vast new territories revealed by Willem Barents, Henry Hudson and Abel Tasman in the Arctic and in Australasia/Oceania did not generally become permanent Dutch colonies.

(Wikipedia article "Dutch Empire".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_empire, 5.11.2007)


French

France had colonial possessions, in various forms, since the beginning of the 17th century until the 1960s. In the 19th and 20th centuries, its global colonial empire was the second largest in the world behind the British Empire. At its peak, between 1919 and 1939, the second French colonial empire extended over 12,347,000 km² (4,767,000 sq. miles) of land. Including metropolitan France, the total area of land under French sovereignty reached 12,898,000 km² (4,980,000 sq. miles) in the 1920s and 1930s, which is 8.6% of the world's land area.

(Wikipedia article "French colonial empire".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_colonial_empire, 5.11.2007)


English

Worldwide system of dependencies-colonies, protectorates, and other territories-that over a span of three centuries came under the British government. Territorial acquisition began in the early 17th century with a group of settlements in North America and West Indian, South Asian, and African trading posts founded by private individuals and trading companies. In the 18th century the British took Gibraltar, established colonies along the Atlantic seacoast of North America and in the Caribbean Sea, and began to add territory in India. With its victory in the French and Indian War (1763), the empire secured Canada and the eastern Mississippi Valley and gained supremacy in India. From the late 18th century it began to build power in Malaya and acquired the Cape of Good Hope, Ceylon (see Sri Lanka), and Malta. The British settled Australia in 1788 and subsequently New Zealand. Aden was secured in 1839, and Hong Kong in 1841. Britain went on to control the Suez Canal (1875–1956). In the 19th-century European partition of Africa, Britain acquired Nigeria, Egypt, the territories that would become British East Africa, and part of what would become the Union (later Republic) of South Africa. After World War I, Britain secured mandates to German East Africa, part of the Cameroons, part of Togo, German South-West Africa, Mesopotamia, Palestine, and part of the German Pacific islands. Britain gradually evolved a system of self-government for some colonies after the U.S. gained independence, as set forth in Lord Durham's report of 1839. Dominion status was given to Canada (1867), Australia (1901), New Zealand (1907), the Union of South Africa (1910), and the Irish Free State (1921). Britain declared war on Germany in 1914 on behalf of the entire empire; after World War I the dominions signed the peace treaties themselves and joined the League of Nations as independent states. In 1931 the Statute of Westminster recognized them as independent countries “within the British Empire,” referring to the “British Commonwealth of Nations,” and from 1949, the Commonwealth of Nations. The British Empire, therefore, developed into the Commonwealth in the mid-20th century, as former British dependencies obtained sovereignty but retained ties to the United Kingdom.

(Wikipedia article "British Empire".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Empire, 5.11.2007)



Migrations & the History of English


Vertical development
Indo-European
Celtic
-West to Britain
Germanic
-Saxon
-Viking
-Norman
Colonial
-North America
-Africa
-Asia
-Australia

Lateral development
Antiquity:
-Celtic
-Latin
Middle Ages:
-Norman French
Renaissance:
-Latin
-Greek
Colonial period:
-Arabic
-Hindi


Development of English

What are the most important stages?

The invasion of the Romans from 1st to 5th century, they brought the Latin language with them. The settlement of middle England by the Germanic Anglos and Saxons.
Invasion by the people from the North, the Norsemen (from the Norwegian area) and the Vikings (from the Danish area).
In 1066 William the Conqueror and the Normans conquered England and William became king. He brought with him a Norman dialect of French. The upper class's language and the language of the jurisdiction is gravely influenced by this dialect. The Renaissance which started in the 15th century in which people remembered the great works of the old Greek and Roman philosophers, artists and politicians. Because of that they also took a closer look on their language and used it again. Italian and French also came into fashion, as the first is spoken in the country the Romans came from and the letter is the language of the great philosophers like Voltaire.


What is the significance of Celtic / Latin?

Celtic is the first language that influenced the native people who were living In Britain. This language is the foundation of any other language or dialect that comes after it and changes the way people speak.
Latin influenced the English language on several occasions. Firstly during the time of their occupation of England from the 1st to the 5th century. That is the reason why so many English words are related to Latin ones especially words for things that the native Celts did not know about, like wine (lat. vinum). Latin never really lost its significance, as during the Renaissance period it came into fashion again and between the time of the Romans and the Renaissance Latin has been the official language of the church and the ruling classes. Services were only held in Latin and the kings wrote most of their documents, declarations of war or laws and treaties in Latin. Although Henry VIII. broke with the pope and the Catholic church in the 17th century and founded the Church of England, by that time there had been a large number words taken from the Latin vernacular which had melted into the English language.


Which major changes happened between

Old English and Middle English?
In Old English was spelled essentially as it was pronounced.


Middle English and Modern English?
The spelling of the words in Middle English has not changed drastically, but the pronunciation of the words has. This is one reason why the spelling and the pronunciation of Modern English do not correspond very well.


English today

What are the main English dialects in Britain?

Scottish, South and South- Western dialect, Eastern dialect, Western- and Eastern Central dialect and Lower North dialect.

Where is English spoken today as a native language?

USA, Canada, Great Britain and the British Isles, Ireland, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago.

Why is English spoken all round the world?
English is probably spoken all around the world because in colonial times Britain ruled about ¼ of the whole world and brought (or maybe forced) their language to (on) the people they conquered. English still remains the official language in most of these countries, especially in the African ones, as there are many different dialects spoken in each country and English is the universal language everybody learns at school. I probably has also got something to do with the role the English speaking countries USA and Great Britain played during several wars. They won most of the wars in the 29th and 21st century thy participated in and the brought freedom and peace to some people who lived under oppressive governments, by that they also spread their language all over the world. Moreover most words that have to do with computers or IT technology are English, because Microsoft dominates the world market and Microsoft is an American company. The internet, which was also developed on the basis of the English language (html is based on English) has had a major influence on the everyday lives of basically everybody around the world.


Check Google for works by Jennifer Jenkins - what do you find?

HORSE TRADE
Jennifer Jenkins
(Blueline)

I.
I was one of those little girls that wanted a pony,
not because I became mesmerized by Liz Taylor or
needed a Flicka friend, but because ponies had long hair,
all down the neck and out the back. That's how they came
and went, with not a thought of stalling to tape their bangs.
They see through fringe to check for limits and find
no God in the eyes or Devil in the mouth.

II.
Have a pony, chilled gold to fit full inside my dainty grip.
The opening seemed to bridle my nibbling lips.
The guys fisted their Shlitz while we girls buried
our aperitif beers under our hair until the males malted
our way, then we'd whip our pony tails, rim our collarbones
and grin for auction.

III.
I'm full and past bolting. Reined and ridden and snorting still.
Don't brush against me, I command within steam.
I've nodded and neighed, nostrils
are full of foal that hooves for breath.
Broken, I stirrup and rear my spindly child,
her mane as wet as mine.

(
http://poetry.about.com/library/bl0701ibpchm.htm, 5.11.2007)



Definition of phoneme
Phonemes are the smallest part of speech that carries meaning and distinguish one word from another.

Definition of syllable
Syllables are phoneme configuration which distinguishes words.



Find examples of 5 not-too-short words

transcribe them and divide them into syllables

civilized ci - vi - lized sɪvəlajzd
industry in - dus - try ındəstri
criminal cri - mi - nal krɪmənəl
problem pro - blem prəblem
development de - vel - op - ment dɪveləpment


Make a list of 5 spelling rules

- ck may only be used after a single vowel that does not say its name at the end of a syllable
or root word.
- If a word ends in a consonant plus y, change the y to and i, before adding any ending, except
ing.
- ous at the end of a word often means full of.
-
double l, f, and s after a single short vowel at the end of a word.
- Drop the final e from a root word before adding an ending beginning with a vowel, but keep it
before a consonant.

(
http://www.amity.org.uk/Training/Spelling%20Rules/Spelling%20Rules.htm, 5.11.2007)


Make a list of 5 main spelling problems

- swallowed syllables, three syllables pronounced as two syllables.
- silent letters
- homophones, words which sound the same.
- same sound, different spelling
- unusual letter combinations

(
http://esl.about.com/library/weekly/aaspellinga.htm, 5.11.2007)


Pronunciation

List the consonants of German which do not occur in English

The consonants /ç/, /X/ and ß

List the consonants of English which do not occur in German

The consonants /θ/ and /ð/

List the vowels of German which do not occur in English

The vowels /o/, /ø/, /y/, /oə/ and /ү/

List the vowels of English which do not occur in German

The vowels /з/ and /æ/


Spelling

List the characters of German which do not occur in English

The characters ä, ö, ü, ß

List the characters of English which do not occur in German

All occur in German

List 5 English graphemes containing more than one character

ea - tea, beauty, meat
oi - oil, boil
kn - knight
sh - ship
ck - clock

List 5 German graphemes containing more than one character

ch - Mädchen, Eiche
ie - Fliege, siegen
sch - schlafen
pf - Pflug, pfeifen
au – Klaue



4. Evaluation

Mr. Gibbon spent lots of time with the history, not so much with phonology. This topic was more difficult than the history of English language. It is a little bit difficult to follow, because often the lecture ends in the middle of a topic.



5. References


http://wwwhomes.uni-bielefeld.de/~gibbon/Classes/Classes2007WS/ITL/index.html
http://www8.georgetown.edu/departments/medieval/labyrinth/library/oe/texts/a4.1.html
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/beowulf.html
http://poetry.about.com/library/bl0701ibpchm.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Empire
http://www.amity.org.uk/Training/Spelling%20Rules/Spelling%20Rules.htm
http://esl.about.com/library/weekly/aaspellinga.htm

Introduction to Linguistics - Lecture 4



Lecture Four, 7th of November 2007

Phonology and orthography




1. Introduction
2. Learner's Diary
3. Tasks and Quizzes
4. Evaluation
5. References


1. Introduction

Today Mr. Gibbon gave an introduction to phonetics and the world of speech sounds.


2. Learner's Diary

Words, stems and morphemes are signs. Divided in the conceptual and the real world.





There are three linguistics domains of phonetics

- Articulatory phonetics (mouth) describe how the organs produce an individual sound
- Acoustic phonetics (air) describe the analysis of the physical properties of the sound waves in the air, duration, intensity and frequency.
- Auditory phonetics (ear) describe what happen with the sound after the reception.


Articulatory phonetics

This picture of midsaggital section of the head explains the articulatory phonetic




The articulatory organs

- Lungs
- Vocal cords in the larynx (Adam's apple)


and their positions

- Uvula → with back of tongue
- Pharynx → with velum (nasals)
- Velum → soft palate (contact with tongue: velars)
- Palate → hard palate (with tongue)
- Alveolar ridge
- Upper teeth → with tongue, with lower lip
- Upper lip → with lower lip, perhaps with tongue


The sound consists of two levels

Phonemic transcription

Is the general pronunciation representation in the lexicon to distinguish between different words.


Phonetic transcription

Is the detailed representation of speech pronunciation which is based on three components.

- articulatory phonetics (about speech production)
- acoustic phonetics (about speech wave transmission)
- auditory phonetics (about speech perception)


Acoustic phonetics

The Source-Filter Model explains the acoustic phonetics and shows how speech sounds are produced. It consists of sound sources (vocal cords) and sound filters (vocal tract).



Sources

Resonant source (larynx) harmonic source
Noise sources constrictions in the speech organs to produce fricative sounds


Filters

Convert sounds in acoustic signals

Pharyngeal filter: area of the pharynx which is part of the neck and the

Nasal filter: area of the nasal cavity; produces nasal vowels and consonants

Oral filter: filtering and removing sounds



Speech waveform

The x- axis describes the time and the y - axis the amplitude. The example is the word tiger.




Phonetic software Praat

With this software Now acoustic phonetics can be done on a laptop or desktop PC. Other software are e.g. Audacity, WaveSurfer or Transcriber.


Auditory phonetics

Auditory phonetics describe how sound are received by the listener. The anatomy of the ear is a very important part to understand the processing of the sound. The ear can be divided in three parts:

- outer ear (microphone)
- middle ear (amplifier)
- inner ear (spectral transform)




3. Tasks and Quizzes

Take a look at models of the ear: summarise the functions of the outer ear, the middle ear, the inner ear

Outer ear

The outer ear includes the auricle, the auditory canal and the eardrum. It funnels sounds from the surrounding environment into the hearing system. The auricle helps to gather the sound waves, and the auditory canal then directs them to the eardrum.


Middle ear

The middle ear is an air-filled cavity which contains the smallest bones in the human body - the malleus, incus and stapes. These are connected to the eardrum on one side, and on the other side to a thin membrane-covered opening on the wall of the inner ear. The middle ear is also connected to the throat via the Eustachian tube which keeps the air pressure in the middle ear equal to that of the surrounding environment.

Inner ear

In the inner ear the auditory input is processed by the cochlea, while information affecting balance is processed by the semicircular canals. Along the entire length of the fluid filled cochlea there are tiny hair cells. These hair cells are bent when the fluid is displaced by sound waves passed on by the middle ear bones. This triggers a chemical response which activates the corresponding nerve endings. These then transmit the message to the area of the brain in charge of interpreting auditory input.

(http://www.phonak.com/consumer/hearing/howwehear/function.htm, 10.11.2007)



4. Evaluation

The lesson was interesting, but full of information. Most of them not really difficult but from time to time a little bit to fast. The Praat - software is wuite interesting and for a change practical work.



5. References

http://www.phonak.com/consumer/hearing/howwehear/function.htm
http://wwwhomes.uni-bielefeld.de/~gibbon/Classes/Classes2007WS/ITL/index.html

Introduction to Linguistics - Lecture 5



Lecture Five, 14th of November 2007

Sounds in Speech and Revision


1. Introduction
2. Learner's Diary
3. Tasks and Quizzes
4. Evaluation
5. References


1. Introduction

Content of the lecture was a revision of the previous lectures, especially phonetics and phonology.


2. Learner' Diary

It is possible to describe sound of speech in two ways

- Phonetics (Study of Speech Sounds)
- Phonology (Function and Patterning of Sounds)

The system to produce a sound is parted in three components:

- Lungs
- Vocal cords in the larynx (Adam ´s apple)
- Vocal tract: oral and nasal cavities


Phonology

Phonology is a subfield of linguistics which studies the sound system of a specific language, it encodes the words. Important terms are phonemes and allophones.


Parts of Phonetics

- Articulatory domain: IPA, Source - Filter Model
- Acoustic domain: Speech Waveform
- Auditory domain: Anatomy of the ear


3. Tasks and Quizzes


No tasks and homework, very obliging.


4. Evaluation


The revision of the last session was good, the best thing was, that there is no homework.


5. References


http://wwwhomes.uni-bielefeld.de/~gibbon/Classes/Classes2007WS/ITL/index.html



Introduction to Linguistics - Lecture 6


Lecture Six, 21st of November 2007

Morphology - word construction



1. Introduction
2. Learner's Diary
3. Tasks and Quizzes
4. Evaluation
5. References


1. Introduction

The topic of the lesson were the morphology studies, the internal structure of words and about an other topic of Mr. Trippel's presentation, words and their parts.


2. Learner's Diary

Morphology describes the anatomy of a word. Therefore it is necessary to describe the word word.


A word is

- the smallest unit of a sentence.
- a string of letters separated by a space.
- a string of speech sounds separated by a pause.
- one or more morphemes which can stand alone.

- words make up sentences, which is referred to as syntax
- pronunciation with speech sounds - phonemes
- meaningful (sub)structure of words - morphology


Morphology


Morphology is the study of the formation of words, morpheme are the smallest units of a language that carry meaning. A word can be comprised of one or more morpheme.

- try = attempt to do something
- try + “in the past” = tried
- try + “at the moment” = trying


Distinction

A simple word consists of only one morpheme. (boy, man, radio, book, paper) A complex word contains more than one morpheme (computer, boys, radio-recorder,
bookshelf, magnetize) In addition there is a differentiation between free morphemes and bound morphemes. A free morpheme can occur as a simple word, e.g. boy, radio, man. A bound morpheme can only occur in connection with other morphemes, e.g. -s, -ion, un-, -ize. Allomorphs are variant forms of a morpheme, e.g. the -s at the end of a plural word.



The English word

English words consist of a stem and an inflection. The stem carries a lexical meaning and the inflection a grammatical meaning.

A stem has lexical meaning, e.g. table, chair, wonderful, happiness. An inflection has grammatical meaning and relates a word to its syntactic context and relates a word to its semantic context.


Inflexions of English words are

suffixes (or stem vowel changes):
- person
- number
- case

inflexions in other languages may be
- prefixes (many African languages)
- suffixes (as in English and German)
- circumfixes (German)
- superfixes (stress languages; tone languages)
- infix: affix which is inserted within a root (linking two words into a compound)
- circumfix: affix that is placed around a morpheme; only occurs in German

Stems of English words are

simple (roots, lexical morphemes)

complex, i.e. at least one of the following:

derivations (a stem and a derivational affix, e.g.)
- red+ish = reddish
- beauty + ful = beautiful

Compounds (a stem plus another stem, e.g.)
- armchair
- whisky-soda
- red-head

both synthetic compounds (a derivation plus a stem, e.g.)
- bus-driver
- steam-roller




Definitions of words and their parts (abstract)




Some simplex and complex words

simplex:
- oh, ah, eh, oo, I, err, owe, ewe
- pa, ma, far, car, star
complex:

derivations (based on one root):
- unable, impossible, happiness, temerity
- temerity, antidisestablishmentarianism

compounds (based on more than one root/stem):
- endocentric: jam-jar, honeypot, harddisk, bus-stop
- bicentric: whisky-soda, gentleman-farmer
- exocentric: red-head, redskin, blue-stocking



Roots and affixes are morphemes

Morphemes are smallest meaningful parts of words

Two types of morphemes


lexical morpheme (content morpheme, root):
- open set: girl, boy, car, box, spoon, grass, sky

grammatical morpheme (structural morpheme):
- closed set
free: prepositions, conjunctions, auxiliary verbs
bound: affixes, suffixes (in word formation and inflection


Morphemes and allomorphs


Morphemes are realised in different contexts by
- allomorphs
- variant pronunciations

Examples
Nouns: cats, dogs, horses, oxen, men, women, children
Verbs: hits, bids, hisses, buzzes, itches




3. Tasks and Quizzes


Find at least 20 simple words

ball, stone, tree, money, ball, nut, fruit, blood, head, pillow, book, bottle, rose, flower, word, face, oven, fish, water, ring


Find at least 20 complex words

ice-cream, bathroom, disappearance, enforcement, bookstore, attention, separation, breakfast, possibility, laptop, boyfriend, football, characteristics, afternoon, picture, opportunist, compromise, architecture, symphony, criminal

Which of them are similar?

bathroom, bookstore, afternoon, laptop

Can you describe the similarity?

consist of two words

Can you find a relation between some of your simple words and complex words?

Some of the simple words are part of a complex word, e.g. ball in football


Make a list of 20 free morphemes

boy, mouth, ball, cat, ship, beauty, social, pencil, frost, love, clock, door, friend, cream, power, sister, father, folder, shoe, tie


Find bound morphemes

-s, -ion, -ize, un-, de-, anti-, -ed, im-, -ful, -ing,


Complete the sentences

Every word contains a base.
A morpheme that is also a word is called a free morpheme.
A morpheme that needs a root to make up a word is called a bound morpheme.
An affix in front of a base is called a prefix behind a base it is called a suffix.
Both, simple words and complex words can be the base for a more complex word.
Every root,(suffix, prefix) is a (base, suffix), but not every (base, suffix) is a root,(suffix, prefix)


Find other compounds in English with a head that is a

noun - football, bookstore, ice-cold

verb - highlight, cold-blooded

adjectives - slowcoach, free time


Find other compounds in English with a modifier that is a

noun – asparagus bed, violin bow

verb – go-ahead, try-on

adjectives – green card, hot dog

prepositions – outside, inside, downstairs


Select of the following parts of speech 3 each and derive as many words as possible from them!

Verbs
fight fighting, fight back, rooster fight, pillow fight, fighter, fight bomber
believe believer, believes, make-believe, believing, believable,
sleep sleeper, sleeping, sleep-in, sleepiness, sleep disturbance, sleepy

Nouns
child childish, childhood, children, childbirth, child care, childless, childishness, childlike, child minder, child prodigy
construct construction, constructional, constructive, constructor,
home homeless, homemade, homeliness, homelike, homely, homemaker,
homeward,

Adjectives
smooth smoothie, smoothness, smooth-tongued, smooth away
flat flat, flat-rate, flatbread, flat out, B flat, flatlet, flatly, flatness, flatten

4. Evaluation

The lesson today was easy to understand, a little bit difficult was the fact, that there were two presentations.


5. References


http://wwwhomes.uni-bielefeld.de/~gibbon/Classes/Classes2007WS/ITL/index.html