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The lure of linguistics, and the glamour of grammar

The lure of linguistics, and the glamour of grammar. Richard Hudson Royal Grammar School, Guildford May 2014. My main points. ‘Language’ includes English as well as Foreign Linguistics is the science of language Linguistics can be i nteresting surprising useful difficult.

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The lure of linguistics, and the glamour of grammar

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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? • You and I could do it together. • You and me could do it together. • Why 2? • Bad grammar? • “The two personal pronounsI and me are often used wrongly, ....” (Oxford Dictionaries) • And what about between you and I? • New grammar

  4. Compare German and French • Du und ichkönnteneszusammentun. • *!Dich und michkönnteneszusammentun. • Toi et moi nous pourrions le faire ensemble • *! Tu et jepourrions 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 prescribeI? • 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

  7. Description to explanation description Why? What? theory Now for another puzzle about English

  8. Verb paradigms: Latin +o +s +t +mus +tis trah+i+tis +nt +a+ +e+ +i+

  9. And English: am + n’t= ? are am is +n’t

  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.

  14. The facts

  15. What's gramarye?

  16. A complex history flashy appeal wizardry learning 'writing skill' gramarie means 'corruption' grammar glamour

  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]

  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 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:

  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 lunchvsHe went to lunch. • ‘present relevance’ • So languages without this contrast can’t express ‘He has gone to lunch’.

  24. Verbs of motion manner of movement direction of movement Translate into French (or Spanish): He walked into the room • Not: Il a marchédans la chambre. • But: Il estentrédans la chambre (en marchant). manner of movement direction 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.

  29. Ulwa (Nicaragua)

  30. suffix 'infix' Zooming in on Ulwa -kana = "their" -ni = "our (inc)" -ma = "your (sing)" -mana = "your (plur)"

  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.

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