Dispense complete esame Lingua inglese I Unisa Cordisco Mikaela, Dispense di Lingua Inglese

Scarica Dispense complete esame Lingua inglese I Unisa Cordisco Mikaela e più Dispense in PDF di Lingua Inglese solo su Docsity! Lezione 1:Introducing English Language change and variaton in English •Languages are subject to constant process of change which can take place: –suddenly (i.e. introduction of new words) –slowly (i.e. change of pronunciation from one generation to the next) –Great Vowel shift: a massive sound change affecting the long vowels of English during the fifteenth to eighteenth centuries. Basically, the long vowels shifted upwards; that is, a vowel that used to be pronounced in one place in the mouth would be pronounced in a different place, higher up in the mouth. •English is an influential and dynamic language. •Different varieties of English around the world. •Global Englishes: varieties of English developed in different cultural contexts. Sociolinguists prefer the notion of a ‘speech community’ rather than a ‘language’=>Languages: open and dynamic entries adapting to the history and culture of the s.c. in which they are in use. Speech Community:any group of people speaking the same language. Within its members→Variation user (variety, dialect..); Variaton use (genres, registers..) Main factors according to users: • geographical location • age • gender • occupation • socio-economic status • educational background • ethnic group Variation within the speech of one single person Variation between people Variation according to use→ language styles/registers (according to the occasion, medium used, topic under discussion, context and interlocutor). Ex: I should be grateful if you would make less noise. High/Formal Style vs Low/Informal Style Politeness→Appropriate use of language (knowing what to say and when to say). Ex: Kindly refrain from smoking. Differences between Spoken and Written Spoken More than one participant Inexplicit Repetitive Fragments Simple structure Concrete, common vocabulary Written Single writer Explicit Non-repetitive Full sentences Elaborate structure Abstract, less common vocabulary One is not better than the other, each is appropriate in certain circumstances. Linguistic levels of differences •Lexis, or vocabulary: lexical variation refers to the use of words that are specific to particular varieties of English; •Grammar, including particular word forms (morphology) and sentence structure (syntax); •Phonology, the sound systems of different varieties, including variation in the way particular sounds are pronounced, or ‘phonetically realised’. Dimensions of language variaton Different types of variaton: Synchronic variation=in terms of differences within one language in different places and among different groups at the same time Diachronic variation=from the historical perspective of change through time (Saussure 1912) Diatopic variation=dependent on geographical factors –English in the British Isles –English in America –English in the (former) Colonies –English around the world Diastratic variation=dependent on social factors- user’s variation Diaphasic variation=dependent on the function of the message and on the global context in which communication takes place–use variation –Different styles and registers –Different aims of communication:(English for General Purposes/English for Specific Purposes (ESP) –Restricted languages: Airspeak, Netspeak –Standard (RP pronunciation)/non-standard varieties (Coseriu 1973) Diamesic variation=dependent on the medium of communication -Spoken/written language -CMC (Computer-Mediated Communication) (Mioni 1983) We shall look especially at diatopic (regional/national variation) and diastratic (social variation) in England (Dialects and Standard) Lezione 2 The status of Present-day English ●Since the beginning of the 20° century English= varieties of British English ●Since the middle of the ‘80s new paradigm of studies and terminology: The Englishes paradigm: English is investigated in terms of: –Geographical location (American English, African English etc.) –Linguistic and ethnic association (Black English, Maori English) –Activities such as commerce, education, culture and technology (Airspeak, CMC) –Combinations of location and activity (British medical English, American legal English…) –Fusion of English with other languages (Spanglish, Indlish, Chinglish…) ●English is spoken by between 1500 and 2000 million people in a number of different countries The diaspora of English There are 3 main stages: Limitations with Kachru’s model •Based on geography and history, rather than the speakers’ use of English. •Grey area between Inner and Outer Circles as well as Outer and Expanding Circles. •The world’s bilingual or multilingual speakers are not taken into account. •Difficulty of using the model to define speakers in terms of their proficiency in English. •Does not account for the linguistic diversity within and between countries of a particular circle. •The term Inner Circle implies that speakers from ENL countries are central, and may thus be interpreted as superior. Pidgin •A simplified language derived from two or more languages is called a pidgin. •It is a contact language developed and used by people who do not share a common language in a given geographical area. •It is used in a limited way and the structure is very simplistic. •Since they serve a single simplistic purpose, they usually die out. Why pidgins •19° century •Slaves from Africa brought over to NorthAmerica •Work in the plantation •Separated and mixed up with people of other communities •Unable to communicate, they couldn’t escape •There is always a dominant language which contributes most of the vocabulary of the pidgin, this is called the superstrate language. The superstrate language from the Papua New Guinea Creole example above is English. The other minority languages that contribute to the pidgin are called the substrate languages. Causes •Contact between two or more groups with no common language •Often as a result of slavery or other population displacements •Great motivation for speakers to communicate (and often of dramatic social inequality), •Trade (originally, Lingua Franca and maritime jargon) Origin of the word: The word pidgin seems to have had its origin in the inability of 19th century Chinese to articulate the word business. It came out as bigeon or bidgin, and since it is a short step from B to P, it finally flattened out as pidgin. The superstrate language (the dominant variety, e.g. English), spoken by those with more power, is the source of most of a creole's vocabulary, while its substrate languages (the subordinate ones), spoken by the source populations, generate the syntax and phonology of the pidgin/creole. Creole If the pidgin is used long enough, it begins to evolve into a more articulate language with a more complex structure and richer vocabulary. •Once the pidgin has evolved and has acquired native speakers (the children learn the pidgin as their first language), it is then called a Creole. An example of this is the Creole above from Papua New Guinea, Tok Pisin, which has become a National language. Language Use: Standard vs Creole -Creole is used by most people for everyday, informal situations;it's the language most Jamaicans use at home and are most familiar with (and is closest to their hearts); it's also the language of most local popular music and Dub poetry. -Standard, on the other hand, is the language of education, high culture, government, the media and official/formal communications. It's also the native language of a small minority of Jamaicans (typically upper class and upper/traditional middle class). Where ELF is used most? •International business communication •Academic communication •Tourist communication •Specific workplaces – air traffic control, university information services (e.g. for Erasmus students) Lezione 3 EIL-English as an International Language •English is not useful simply because it allows one to communicate with people from the UK or the USA but with people from an increasingly wide range of places. •Statistically English is now more often used for encounters between non-native speakers than it is with native speakers. English as a global language •Because English is so widely spoken, it has often been referred to as a "world language," the lingua franca of the modern era. While English is not an official language in most countries, it is currently the language most often taught as a second language around the world. Some linguists believe that it is no longer the exclusive cultural sign of "native English speakers", but is rather a language that is absorbing aspects of cultures worldwide as it continues to grow. It is, by international treaty, the official language for aerial and maritime communications. English is an official language of the United Nations and many other international organizations, including the International Olympic Committee. •English is the language most often studied as a foreign language in the European Union (by 89% of schoolchildren), followed by French (32%), German (18%), and Spanish (8%). Among non-English speaking EU countries, a large percentage of the population claimed to be able to converse in English in the Netherlands (87%), Sweden (85%), Denmark (83%), Luxembourg (66%), Finland (60%), Slovenia (56%), Austria (53%), Belgium (52%), and Germany (51%).[42] Norway and Iceland also have a large majority of competent English-speakers. •Books, magazines, and newspapers written in English are available in many countries around the world. English is also the most commonly used language in the sciences. What is a global language? A language that develops a social role recognised in every country as an official language (second language) or as a foreign language. A language does not become a global language because of its structural properties. A language becomes a global language for one main reason: the political, economical and military power of its people. The need for a global language •Political bodies (from the 1950s in particular) •United Nations •International accademic world •Business community The dangers of a global language (CONS) •Linguistic power=People who speak it as a mother tongue could be in a privileged position. •Linguistic complacency=It could eliminate the motivation for adults to learn other languages. •Linguistic death=It could contribute to the disappearance of minority languages ancd cultures On the other hand…… (PROS). •Linguistic power=Language learning from early stages is encouraged. •Linguistic complacency=Growing awareness of the importance to learn more languages, particularly in the English speaking community. •Linguistic death=The processes of language loss are independent from the emergence of a global language. Intelligibility and identity can co-exist. •Local languages continue to represent local identities, as English is seen as the primary means of achieving a global presence. •English plays a central role in empowering the subjected and marginalized communities. What factors led to the emergence of English as the leading global language in today’s world? •POLITICS – The British Empire, a factor which carried over into the 20th century •ECONOMICS– The Industrial Revolution (the workshop of the world) led to Economic Imperialism •PRESS – Development of truly independent press (especially in the US, 450 newspapers by 1850). Today, a third of world’s newspapers are published in countries where English has a special status. Reuter started an agency in Aachen but soon moved to London. •ADVERTISING – Towards the end of the 19th century,mass production increased the flow of goods,consumers’ purchasing power grew, and new printing techniques displayed fresh possibilities. Especially in the US, publishers realized that advertising would allow them to reduce the prices of magazines. •BROADCASTING – English was the first language to be transmitted by radio. The first radio programme was transmitted from Pittsburgh in 1950, and, within 2 years, there were over 500 broadcasting stations licensed in the US. A dramatic expansion affected television 20 years later. •INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL AND SAFETY – The language of international travel and safety is English. In particular the language of International Maritime Use (Seaspeak) and International Aircraft Control (Airspeak) is English. •EDUCATION – ELT (English language teaching) business has become one the fastest-growing industries in the world. English is used as a communication language in most higher-education courses or conferences on number of subjects. RP, unlike prestige accents in other countries, is NOT the accent of any particular region, except historically: -Its origins were in the speech of London and the surrounding area. -It is impossible to tell from this pronunciation where an RP speaker comes from. Daniel Jones Daniel Jones (12 September 1881 – 4 December 1967) was a London-born British phonetician.In 1909, Jones wrote the short Pronunciation of English, a book he later radically revised. The resulting work, An Outline of English Phonetics, followed in 1918 and is the first truly comprehensive description of British Received Pronunciation, and indeed the first such description of the standard pronunciation of any language. English pronouncing dictionary (Daniel Jones)-Whose pronunciation is represented? •A pronouncing dictionary must base its recommendations on one or more models. A pronunciation model is a carefully chosen and defined accent of a language. In the first edition of this dictionary (1917), Daniel Jones described the type of pronunciation recorded as "that most usually heard in everyday speech in the families of Southern English persons whose menfolk have been educated at the great public boarding-schools". •Accordingly, he felt able to refer to his model as "Public School Pronunciation" (PSP). In later editions, e.g. that of 1937, he added the remark that boys in boarding-schools tend to lose their markedly local peculiarities, whereas this is not the case for those in day-schools. He had by 1926, however, abandoned the term PSP in favour of "Received Pronunciation" (RP). The type of speech he had in mind had for centuries been regarded as a kind of standard, having its base in the educated pronunciation of London and the Home Counties (the counties surrounding London). Its use was not restricted to this region, however, being characteristic by the nineteenth century of upper-class speech throughout the country. The Editor of the 14th Edition of this dictionary, A. C. Gimson, commented in 1977 "Such a definition of RP is hardly tenable today", and went on "If I have retained the traditional, though imprecise, term 'received pronunciation', it is because the label has such wide currency in books on present-day English and because it is a convenient name for an accent which remains generally acceptable and intelligible within Britain". The influence of non-standard and foreign accents and dialects of English (and of EIL), along with a general deterioration in standards in other modes of behavior, has been blamed for the perceived rise of "sloppiness” in pronunciation and disregard for 'proper grammar. British English •RP is a social pronunciation only possible when speaking Standard English •A regional accent can be used when speaking Standard English as well as when speaking a regional dialect. Lezione 5 Types of dictionary •Bilingual and monolingual dictionaries •Pronunciation dictionaries •Learner dictionaries (for non-native speakers) •On-line dictionaries What can I find in a dictionary? Examples,grammatical information, translation, pronunciation, idioms, specialist vocabulary, phrasal verbs, American English, cultural notes, related words, synonyms, definitions, antonyms, illustrations, cross references, abbreviations, compound nouns, collocations. What is a Collocations? It is the way words tend to occur or belong together. A collocation is two or more words that often go together. These combinations just sound "right" to native English speakers, who use them all the time. On the other hand, other combinations may be unnatural and just sound "wrong". Look at these examples: Natural English…. Unnatural English…. the fast train fast food a quick shower a quick meal the quick train quick food a fast shower a fast meal Common collocations •Make friends /not/ do friends •Do homework /not/ make homework •Total disaster /not/ complete disaster To Make and To Do Do—> 1. To perform, carry out, achieve (E.g. he did his homework; there’s a lot to do) 2. To produce, make (E.g. she was doing a painting) 3. To work at, study (E.g. He did Chemistry at University) Make—> 1.To construct, create, form (E.g. Make him a sweater) 2.To cause, to become or seem (E.g. Make him angry) 3.To compose, prepare (E.g. Make a film about Japan) 4.To execute, perform (E.g. Made a face, made a bow) Types of collocations There are different kinds of collocation, that is ways words co-occur together (chunking), considering the different combinations of parts of speech: Adjective + noun Plain chocolate Plain food Verb + adverb Live dangerously Drive carefully Noun + noun A cheque book A phone number Collocations are arbitrary: they are only decided by linguistic conventions • high/tall building, tall boy. • look at a person/a problem, gaze at a person. The role of collocations •Language collocations are mainly a matter of convention and they are not necessarily based on compatibility of meaning. •Words are not normally used in isolation and therefore there is no use in learning single words. •It is more efficient to learn the whole and break it into parts. It is more difficult to learn the parts and then put them together. Learning collocations will help: effective communication,,thinking more quickly, focusing attention on the larger structure of discourse, developing fluency based on the acquisition of a large store of fixed and semi-fixed, prefabricated chunks. Some tips •Choose a large dictionary rather than a concise one. You need one which is big enough to define words clearly. •There are over 600,000 words in the Oxford English Dictionary, most of them with different meanings. •Keep your dictionary at hand when you are studying. •Read the introductory pages and study pages to become familiar with the dictionary’s terminology. •Improve your vocabulary by reading widely. •If you haven't got your dictionary with you, note down words which you don't understand and look them up later. •Remember that there are different types of dictionaries to suit your needs. •Dictionaries prove to be a very important source of information on collocation, if used properly. •A good monolingual dictionary usually provides at least one or two expressions or sentences demonstrating the use of a word. •A dictionary is an important decoding tool, useful to find out the meaning of unknown words •It is also an encoding tool that will show the ways of combining words into meaningful chunks. Dictionary and terminology •Entry: Any of the items recorded in a dictionary (e.g. bear, bear up,bear witness). •Headword: A keyword placed at the beginning of a list of entries (e.g. bear) •Definitions: Concise statements of meaning/s of the headword and often of their entries. Different meanings are separated and arranged according to their frequency of use (e.g. Bear=a large, heavy, wild animal with thick fur and sharp teeth) •Usage notes: a more common expression •Idioms: words or phrases or expressions that are unusual either gramatically or there is a meaning that cannot be derived from the conjoined meanings of its elements Literal meaning: Before the bartender made the drink, he broke the ice with a spoon and dropped it into the glass. Idiomatic meaning: Before the conference began, the speaker broke the ice with a joke. •Compounds: Words which are formed from two or more words functioning as a single unit. Compounds may be written as unbroken single words like birthplace, with an hyphen (e.g. bitter- sweet),as two or more separated words (e.g. boarding card). Usually compounds spelt as single words are listed as headwords while those spelt with an hyphen or as separate words are usually listed alphabetically in the headword entry. •Synonim: a word that has the same meaning, or almost the same meaning of another word. Different dialects: 1)Autumn and Fall are synonyms, but the former is British English and the latter of texts included and the combination of different texts vary between different corpora and corpus types. •'General corpora' consist of general texts, texts that do not belong to a single text type, subject field, or register. An example of a general corpus is the British National Corpus. Some corpora contain texts that are sampled (chosen from) a particular variety of a language, for example, from a particular dialect or from a particular subject area. These corpora are sometimes called 'Sublanguage Corpora'. •Corpora can consist of texts in one language (or language variety) only or of texts in more than one language. If the texts are the same in all languages, e.i. translations, the corpus is called a Parallel Corpus. A Comparable Corpus is a collection of "similar" text. Examples of corpora •The British National Corpus (BNC) is a 100 million word collection of samples of written and spoken language from a wide range of sources, designed to represent a wide cross-section of British English, both spoken and written, from the late twentieth century. •The cobuild team (Collins Birmingham University International Language Database) is a 200 million word colllection and consists of a set of researchers working in the Sinclairian tradition and using the vast Bank of English corpus to produce reference works such as the COBUILD dictionary, English grammar, and grammar patterns books. Concordancer A concordancer is a computer program that automatically constructs a concordance. Concordancers are used in corpus linguistics to retrieve alphabetically or otherwise sorted lists of linguistic data from the corpus in question, which the corpus linguist then analyzes. Concordance lines •A corpus organises the texts in concordance lines using a special concordance software called concordancer. •A concordance line or string is a single line of text, often with words cut off at the beginning and at the end of the line. •The focus of the concordance line is the Key Word in Context (KWIC). Suggested uses: Lextutor • Generally, to check your intuition (i.e. if you think you know already). • To check whether a word is really used in a context that you think it is used in. • To check what is used with a given verb: – which preposition – Gerund (-ing) or that-clause • Main advantage: Quick and easy access. What can you learn by using a concordancer? How words combine - collocations: e.g. make fortune; do shopping; Recurrent semantic patterns: e.g. to comply with is usually followed by reference to people or organizations; Recurrent syntactic patterns – colligations: e.g. to like is usually followed by an –ing form :like dancing, singing; Pragmatic features: e.g. Register Textual features -use of words: e.g. some words may reocurr more in questions than in answers, or in titles more than in the body of a newspaper interview; e.g. to talk: Paul Mc Cartney talks about his new life. Lezione 6-7 Phonetics & Phonology Phonetics and Phonology are the areas of Linguistics that deal with the: study of the sound systemof a language(phonology) scientific study of speech processe(phonetic) Phonology is about patterns of sounds, especially different patterns of sounds in different languages, or within each language, different patterns of sounds in different positions in words etc. Phonology is the study of the sound system of languages. It is a huge area of language theory and it is difficult to do more on a general language course than have an outline knowledge of what it includes. A phoneme is the linguistic utterance of a single sound segment. A phoneme is the single sound also called segment.It is the smallest phonetic unit in a language that is capable of conveying a distinction in meaning, as the /r/ of rat and the /b/ of bat in English. Phonemes are usually enclosed in slanted brackets / /. Infact these are used when a sound is discussed phonologically. When the sound is articulated, the phonemes are enclosed in square brackets [ ].Graphemes are enclosed in < > Phonetics deals with the production of speech sounds by humans, often without prior knowledge of the language being spoken. It is the study of the way humans make, transmit and receive speech sounds. It is divided into three main branches: -articulatory phonetics is the study of the way the vocal organs are used to produce speech sounds. -acoustic phonetics is the study of physical properties of speech sounds. -auditory phonetics is the study of the way people perceive speech sounds. Consonants In phonetic consonants are classified considering: •place of articulation (what part of the mouth we use) •manner of articulation (how we use this part of the mouth) (Voicing) Voiced consonants are produced with the vocal cords drawn together, creating a vibration effect Unvoiced consonants are produced with the vocal cords spread apart, therefore there is no vibration of the vocal cords. The sound system Key: 1. tongue tip; 2. blade of the tongue; 3. front of the tongue; 4. centre of the tongue; 5. back of the tongue •Consonants are articulated with a closing movement or a complete closure of one of the vocal organs (lips, tongue,soft palate, throat) •Can be voiced (articulated with vibration of the vocal cords) or voiceless (no vibration, but pronunced with greater force) • Unlike vowels also make use of the nasal tract. Occlusive – plosives Bilabiali: le labbra si serrano o accostano l’una contro l’altra Big-pig-rig-fig-dig-wig is a minimal set •In natural speech production sounds occur in groups in fast succession so individual sounds are influenced by the sounds around the. •If /t/occurs before a vowel it is aspirated more than if it occurs before a /r/.Ex. Say: table and train. •In some varieties of English (American English, Cockney) [t] can have up to 6 different realisations, these are called phonetic variants or allophones. •In transcription they are represented by diacritic symbols added to the phonemic ones. •They do not involve any change of meaning but differences in accents. Allophones When we have a set of phones that are all versions of one phoneme we refer to them as allophones. An allophone is a phonetic variant of a phoneme in particular language. The liquid /r/ •A Palato-alveolar liquid •RP is a non-rhotic accent: only pre-vocalic /r/ is pronounced whereas post-vocalic /r/ is silent. E.g. red [red], car [ka:] and hard [ha:d]. •Linking-r: if a word ending in a silent /r/is followed by a vowel then the /r/is heard. E.g.The car is parked outside. •Intrusive-r: e.g. I saw (r) it last weekend •Many non-rhotic speakers often intrude an /r/ between vowel sounds within a word e.g. drawing [dro:rıŋ] British vs American AmE is a rhotic accent: the grapheme < r > is always pronounced either as pre-vocalic orpost- vocalic. Yod dropping: [j] after dental or alveolar consonants and followed by the phoneme /u:/. E.g. tune [tju:n] (BrE) vs. [tu:n] (AmE) In BrE the yod is absent only after palato-alveolar consonants (chew, juice) and after consonants followed by [r] and [l] like crew and flew. The flap or T-tapping •A flap is similar to a brief stop but with no release of air. •Intervocalic alveolar flapping is a phonological process found in many dialects of English, especially North American English. •AmE speakers often pronounce the word ‘butter’ in a way that is closer to ‘budder’or ‘latter’ like ‘ladder’. •In AmE post nasal /t/as in twenty [‘twentı] is elided [‘twenı] – elision of post nasal. Why do we need to study English phonetics and phonology? -To avoid a breakdown in communication -To avoid misunderstandings -To avoid annoying situations -In the world of work a good pronunciation can sometimes make a better impression than a perfect knowledge of grammar. Phonotactics Phonotactics is concerned with how sounds are distributed or where they can occur in a word (beginning, middle, end). Whenever several consonants occur together at the end of a word then the last one is frequently left out especially when the following word begins with a consonant. e.g. West Side /wes’aid/ Connected speech The process of producing one sound almost at the same time as the next is called co-articulation. Co-articulation effects can be of the following types: •Assimilation •Elision •Liaison Assimilation The most common assimilation form involves the movement of place of articulation of the alveolar stops /t/, /d/ and/n/ to a position closer to that of the following sound. For instance,in the phrase “ten cars”,the/n/ will usually be articulated in a velar position, /ˈteŋ ˈkɑ:z/so that the organs of speech are ready to produce the following velar sound /k/.Similarly,in “ten boys” the /n/ will be produced in a bilabial position, /ˈtemˈbɔɪz/to prepare for the articulation of the bilabial /b/ Progressive: the precedent sound modifies the following one. Regressive: the opposite. Elision Total elision of one or more sounds (in adjusting to the next sound) either within words or ad word boundaries •Correct /krekt/ In the case of preceding and following nasals, the /d/ sound in “you and me”, and “friendship” has disappeared. Liaison •Linking r (and intrusive r) •Other linking sounds /w/ “Have you ever” •/j/ “Yes I am” •/ŋ/ “thinking of ” Morphophonemic alternations •The morpheme –ed is realised as: -[ɪd] when the word ends in /t,d/ e.g. wanted [ɪd],hated [ɪd]; -[d] when the word ends in any voiced phoneme or vowel and semi vowel. e.g. Allowed [d]; -[t] when it ends in any voiceless phoneme. e.g. licked [lɪkt]. •When we consider the inflections –s (third person singular) and –ed (past form) we call morphophonemic alternations the different pronunciations they can have, according to different word spelling. Pronunciation of –s: -[ɪz]when the word ends in a fricative like bushes [ɪz]; -[z]when the word ends in voiced phoneme or vowel like boys [z] friends [z]; -[s] when it ends in any voiceless phoneme like bikes [s], cooks [s]. The vowel •There are 5 vowel symbols in written language and 20 vowel phonemes in most accents of English (12 single sounds and 8 diphthong sounds). •In order to write these phonemes extra symbols are necessary. •12 vowel sounds + 8 diphthongs in English versus 7 basic vowels in Italian. Vowel properties From a phonetic point of view vowels have the following features: -the vibration of the vocal cords (they are all voiced); -their distintive sounds depend on the shaping of the mouth; -no part of the mouth is closed; -none of the mouth organs come so close to generate friction. For consonants, we must consider four criteria: voicing, orality/nasality, place, and manner of articulation. For vowels, we need to consider only one criterion: place of articulation. All vowels are voiced and oral.In terms of their manner of articulation, all vowels are produced with open approximation. Instead of determining which articulators are used and where stricture occurs, we determine where the highest point of the tongue is during the production of the vowel sound. The position and tensity of the tongue alters the quality of thesound produced. Another determinig factor is the shape of the lips, which can be more or less spread (smiling) or more or less rounded (kissing). Long and short vowels It depends on whether the vowel is in a stressed or unstressed syllable. There are short and long vowel pairs such as /ɪ/ and /i:/ E.g. ship - sheep English vowels are tenser than Italian ones. The schwa /ə/ The most central vowel. The lips are neither rounded nor spread, the sound is neither open nor closed, neither front nor back, high or low, so all articulators involved are in a relaxed or neutral position. Schwa is the most common vowel sound in English, the unstressed vowel in many unstressed syllables: -like the 'a' in about -like the 'e' in taken -like the 'i' in pencil -like the 'o' in eloquent -like the 'u' in circus -like the 'y' in sibyl •3-syllable words with a full vowel on the first syllable and primary stress on the third syllable – Type strong+weak+strong (afternoon [ˌɑːftəˈnuːn], understand [ˌʌndəˈstænd]). Vocalic length •Vowel length is a characteristic of stressed syllables -Unstressed syllables have shorter vowels (often reduced to /ə/) •In connected speech we focus on stressed syllables rushing the less important ones. •In polysyllabic words with /r/ in unstressed the syllable preceding /r/ disappears /ˈdɪkʃənəri/ → /ˈdɪkʃənri/ Stress patterns •Italian is a syllable-timed language (syllables with similar length, articulated at regular intervals, basic unit of rhythm). •English is a stress-timed language (the time of an utterance depends on the number of stressed syllables, rather than the total number). Rhythmic shift in stress •A shift is stress happens (without changing meaning, e.g. protest) when a lexical item acting as adjective preceedes a noun in order to avoid two stressed syllables occurring in close succession: -He’s an OVER-paid exECutive -Most exECutives are over-PAID •Stress-timed rhythm prevails over normal rules of word stress. Sentence stress As in polysyllabic words we find primary and secondary stress, in sentences some words have stronger stress than others (usually those providing new or important information). Contrastive stress Sometimes we emphasise one word rather than another in order to make intended meaning clear. Pitch and intonation •Intonation is the variation of voice pitch in connected speech. •Tonality refers to the segmentation of longer stretches of connected speech into shorter meaningful chunks. •An intonation phrase is an utterance with its intonation pattern (tone) and a nucleus (punctuation roughly reflects the segmentation in chunks). •The nucleus is the syllable receiving the greatest prominence and carrying intonation movement (usually the last prominent lexical word in an intonation phrase). •Intonation plays an important role in grammar and discourse, influencing the meaning of large stretches of speech. •A tone may be rising or falling, or a combination of these - rising→questions and incomplete clauses - falling→statements - fall-rise→uncertainty and doubt - rise-fall→surprise and admiration, or strong emotions •Main functions of intonation are: -Attitudinal (feeling and attitudes; other prosodic and paralinguistic features) -Grammatical (segmentation in meaningful units) -Accentual (stress on nucleus indicating focus of information) -Discourse (connected to accentual): end-focus for new information. Foregrounding can take place also trough intonation. •Pitch and intonation may be difficult to acquire in a foreign language. Stress and word class in English •All major lexical items carry primary stress (have an accentable syllable). •Function words are normally unstressed (reduced) ‘John was ‘sure that the ‘keys were ‘on the ‘table. •The preposition ‘on’ which carries primary stress, is an exception to the rule in this case. •The accented syllables on lexical items and the unstressed function words set up a rhythmic pattern in English utterances. Functions of intonation: What does intonation do? •Illocutionary: marking speaker’s attitude and intended purpose of the utterance. -Asserting, pleading, insisting, inquiring, •Demarcative: marking phrase boundaries. -Related to syntactic analysis, identifying phrase boundaries •Highlighting: marking ‘new’ or ‘important’ information. -When a topic is first introduced into discourse, it is likely to be placed at the intonational centre of the phrase, to be thus highlighted to draw the listener’s attention. On subsequent mention, the item shifts out of intonational focus. It is now old information. Meaning and the shape of pitch accents The meaning of a pitch accent will be strongly affected by the context in which it appears.But some generalizations can be made about the meanings of basic accent types. Lezione 9-Cockney Geography of Cockney English London, the capital of England, is situated on the River Thames, approximately 50 miles north of the English Channel, in the south east section of the country. It is generally agreed, that to be a true Cockney, a person has to be born within hearing distance of the bells of St. Mary le Bow, Cheapside, in the City of London. This traditional working-class accent of the region is also associated with other suburbs in the eastern section of the city such as the East End, Stepney, Hackney, Shoreditch Poplar and Bow. Linguistic aspects Simultaneously an accent and a dialect (not only incorporates phonetic and phonological characteristics but also differs from Standard English in terms of a specific grammar, vocabulary and usage). Social aspects It corresponds, in extralinguistic terms, to an urban variety used by lower-class speakers in east London,traditionally those who are born within earshot of the Bow Bells. The Cockney accent is generally considered one of the broadest of the British accents and is heavily stigmatized. The area and its colourful characters and accents have often become the foundation for British "soap operas" and other television specials (East Enders). From received pronunciation to cockney:the English continuum and its social relevance UPPER CLASSES=Acrolect MIDDLE CLASSES=Mesolect LOWER CLASSES=Basilect It traditionally refers only to specific regions and speakers within the city. While many Londoners may speak what is referred to as "popular London" (Wells 1982b) they do not necessarily speak Cockney. The popular Londoner accent can be distinguished from Cockney in a number of ways, and can also be found outside of the capital, unlike the true Cockney accent. The most striking phonological features of Cockney are: ●r is pronounced only when followed immediately by a vowel-sound. So, no r is pronounced in flowers. (Some New England accents and Southern U.S. accents have this same feature) ●Dropped ‘h’ at beginning of words (Voiceless glottal fricative): h is usually omitted; in self- conscious speech it's articulated very strongly. Examples: house = ‘ouse; hammer = ‘ammer; hello = ’allo ●Vocalization of dark /l/, It is also transcribed as a semivowel [w] by some linguists (e.g. miwk for milk) ● TH fronting Another very well known characteristic of Cockney is th fronting which involves the replacement of the dental fricatives, /θ/ and /ð/ by labiodentals [f] and [v] respectively. -Voiceless th is often, but not always, pronounced as f (breath, etc.). -Voiced th is likewise often but not always pronounced as v (breathe, etc.). Examples: thin = fin; brother = bruvver; three = free; bath = barf ●The long vowels are all diphthongs. Notice especially the difference between force etc. (spelled with r followed by a consonant, though the r is not pronounced) and poor etc. (spelled with r not followed by a consonant, though again the r is not pronounced). ●Monophthongization This affects the lexical set ‘mouth’ vowel. ●Glottal stop /t/ becomes [ʔ] (the ‘t’ sound is not pronounced in intervocalic or final positions (or after a vowel). there are some words where the omission of ‘t’ has become very accepted. Examples: Gatwick = Ga’wick; Scotland = Sco'land. Grammatical features: •Use of me instead of my, for example, “It's me book you got 'ere". •Use of ain't instead of isn't, am not, are not, has not, and have not •Use of double negatives, for example "I didn't see nothing.“ •Use of the invariable tag question “innit”.A derivative of "is it not", or more directly "isn't it". Often used at the end of a statement or word to give it emphasis (Me: Where ARE you? You: Still at work, innit.), and simultaneously invite agreement or to question a positive when making a statement, for example, “Good day today innit?” “cool, innit“). Lexical features Cockney is characterized by its own special vocabulary and usage: •Cheers = ‘hello/goodbye’ and ‘thanks’ •Mate = a social class word used to be used as a means of address exclusively by men of men, but is nowadays often used by women to women and by women to men. -“cheers mate” and traditionally by its own development of "rhyming slang”. •/j/-dropping as in [‘nu…z] for news •the diphthongal realisation of /i…/ and final /I/ as in [‘mëI] for me and [‘sItëI] for city Phonetically EE differs from Cockney in usually not being characterized by, for example: –h-dropping ('and on 'eart) –TH fronting (I fink) /t/-glottalling and glottal replacement This is a process which replaces [t] with [/] when it occurs in other than syllable initial position. The rule can be expressed as follows: substitute [/] for [t] when both preceded by a vowel or /l/ or /n/ and followed by end of word or a consonant other than /r/. In fact [t] is rarely preceded by /l/ in Cockney or EE because, as we shall see /l/ in preconsonantal position is usually replaced by a vowel. Examples: bit [bI?], football [fú/bòú], belt [beú/], bent [ben/] but not in: twenty [twen/i], water [wò…/ë] (All possible in Cockney). Vocalisation Like Cockney (and other English accents) EE exhibits l- vocalisation. The rule is:an /l/ sound occurring at the end of a word or before a consonant is replaced with a vowel sound (realised as a back, closeish rounded vowel) RP: clear /l/ vs dark /¬/ (e.g.: leaf vs apple or little) [o] symbolises a sound very like what most speakers of English produce for dark / ¬ /. Indeed, both Coggle and Rosewarne use [w] to symbolise the sound. Examples: milk=[mIúk], mill=[mIú] u… / ú / ò… (pool = pull = Paul = [pòú]) Yod Dropping Yod-dropping is the elision of the sound [j]. Where? In environments where RP has an alveolar stop plus yod: e.g. [ tu:n ] for `tune´, [ du:k ] for `duke´ or [nu: ] for `new´. Versions of `absolutely´: next to /æbsëlu:tli /, the main pronunciation of British English, one finds/æbs*lju:tli/ as the alternative form. Especially after / l / and / s / in a stressed syllable, we now find: e.g. `salute´ and `suitable´ [ sëlëu:t ] and [ sëu:tëboú ]. Diphthong shift Fleece vowel: [i…] to [ëi] e.g. beet [bëi/] [‘mëI] for me and [‘sItëI] for city Face vowel: [eI] to [aI] e.g. bait [baI/] Price vowel: [aI] to [âI] e.g.I [âI] or bite [bâI/] Syntactic, morpho-syntactic and pragmatic features of EE •‘was’ used with plural subject (e.g. We was walking down the street. – Coggle,1993,34) •‘ain’t’ as negative is/am/have ( e.g. I ain’t well. - Coggle,1993,34) •Multiple negation (e.g. ‘‘Lucy hasn’t got no money.’’ Coggle,1993,67) •Adjective forms which function as adverbs (e.g. ‘She sang real sweet.’ – Coggle,1993,68) •More frequent use of tags: ‘ righ’ ’ or ‘ inni’ ’ (e.g. ‘‘Nice day, inni’?’’ – Coggle 1993, 66) EE is a kind of RP? •Estuary English is in a way like RP, because unlike Cockney, it is being associated with standard grammar and usage EE is a kind of Cockney? •EE bears certain similarities to Cockney, especially in phonetics, however it differs from Cockney in usually not being characterized by, for example: –h-dropping ('and , 'eart) –TH fronting (I fink) –monophthongal realization of the MOUTH vowel EE Social Spread •Well established in business circles •Particularly in: –the city, civil service, local government –media, advertising –medical and teaching professions •Students from different social classes tend to adjust to others accents (mostly EE) •Classless speech •Spoken by broad mass (in south) Famous Estuary Speakers Tony Blair (ex- Prime Minister of the United Kingdom) Jamie Shea (Director of Policy Planning, NATO) Especially young people adopt features of EE The Role Of The Media Radio and television use EE more often: familiar and accessible for everyone •Radio => hardly any RP accent is heard •Less used in newspapers A chronological summary •The 1980's: a claim that a new variety of English has arisen, Estuary English •The 1990's: the name enters popular usage. The existence of EE is taken as a fact. •The 2000's: scholarly accounts based on substantial research appear. They show that EE as previously defined does not exist. Lezione 11 English Morphology Morphology is the branch of grammar which studies the structure of words. A morpheme is a minimal unit of meaning or grammatical function that is the central concern of morphology. •EX. the teacher restructured the final exam •re- (minimal unit of meaning standing for again) •-structur (minimal unit of meaning) •-ed (minimal unit of grammatical function) Morphemes are commonly classified into: •free morphemes – morphemes which can stand by themselves as separate words, e.g. structure, like, go, work, friend etc.(a free morpheme is also called STEM) •bound morphemes – morphemes which cannot normally stand alone but need to be attached to other forms,e.g. re-, -ed, -s, -ing etc. Free morphemes •lexical morphemes: –red, house, colour, kitchen, etc. •functional morphemes: –to, near, because, since, as, for, etc. What is the difference between these two sets of complex words Fast-er Sing-ing Open-ed Car-s Write-s Big-gest These affixes do not change the word class, but rather contribute to meeting grammatical constraints.These are called inflectional morphemes. Treat-ment Rude-ness Un-kind Fam-ous Use-less Help-ful Ir-regular Red-dish Fair-ly These affixes do not necessarily change the class of the word, but this is normally the case, e.g. fame (n.)> famous (adj.) •Furthermore, the semantic element is notably higher. •These morphemes are called derivational morphemes. Derivation with –ful and –less Which words can be derived by adding the following suffixes -ful/less Only -ful Only -less Care Use Cheer Colour Help Taste Hope Tact Fate Spoon Delight Bag Play Cup Friend Age Cease Child Defence End Effort Penny Bound morphemes •Derivational morphemes are affixes (prefixes or suffixes) that are added to words to form new words (e.g., possible / im-possible / im-possibil-ity). •Inflectional morphemes are suffixes as in -Sally’s daughters – or – I wanted it – they provide grammatical information about gender, number, person, case, degree, and verb form. They are not used to change the grammatical category of a word. Neologism Invention of new terms: happens in rapidly changing cultures; speedy dissemination of information (mass media, internet, etc.). Word formation processes •Coinage The invention of totally new terms.Often a brand name becomes the name for the item or process associated with the brand name(GOOGLE). •Eponyms New words based on the name of a person/place •volt [Alessandro Volta, Italian] •watt [James Watt, Scot scientist] •Compounding A compound noun is made up of more than one word and functions as a noun.They are often written as two words (e.g. bank account, tin opener, answering machine etc.).Usually the main stress is on the first part of the compound (e.g. alarm clock, tea bag, bus stop, etc.) but they can be written also as a unique word:skateboard, whitewash. Compound words come into 3 different forms: - One word: stepson, airport - Separate words unified by the hyphen:left-handed, mother-in-law - Two or more words separated by a blank space: high school, flower shop. Combining two words to create a single word compounds – independent words that can occur by themselves. In general, the meaning of a compound noun is a specialization of the meaning of its head. The modifier limits the meaning of the head. This is most obvious in descriptive compounds, in which the modifier is used in an attributive or appositional manner. These are called Endocentric compounds: the whole meaning can be figured out by an analysis of its parts or "morphemes". Ex.:"car-wash"= semantically transparent Exocentric compounds:the whole meaning cannot be established by an analysis of parts. Ex.:"hogwash"=semantically opaque. The most difficult category of compound words is the adj+n combination:black tie,black box,green tea. In spoken English compound words carry stress on the first word:black box,blackbird,bus stop. •Reduction Any time you cut parts of one or more than one word you ‘reduce’ or ‘abbreviate’ it(pc,b&b) •Blending Blending consists of taking the beginning of the first word and the end of the second word to make a new word. Examples: motel (motor hotel) brunch (breakfast & lunch). •Clipping The shortening of a polysillabic word. facsimile = fax advertisement = ad brother= bro A word of more than one syllable (polysillabic) is reduced to a shorter form. You may cut the first part (aphaeresis) •Bus (omnibus) or the last which is more frequent (apocope)•fax (facsimile) •Abbreviation •Acronyms The most creative device ‘especially in special languages’.They are formed from the initial letters of a set of other words.They are usually pronounced as single words (e.g. NATO, PIN, etc.) or as a set of letters (e.g. CD, VIP, etc.) What generally happens is that acronyms substitute the group of words they stand for and generally we may even forget where they come from. (ERASMUS) = European Region Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students Acronyms are generally pronounced as if they were one word and one might think that they are born before the words they stand for…sometimes they are really perfect! •Backformation A word of one type (usually a noun) is reduced to a word of a different type (usually a verb) through widespread use. ›to donate from donation ›to opt from option Other examples: ›pronunciate (< pronunciation), resurrect (< resurrection), enthuse (< enthusiasm) •Hypocorism: from a longer word we form a single syllable word and add –y or –ie. (e.g. television=telly, vegetable= veggie, moving picture=movie) •Derivation •Conversion (functional shift) It is a change in the function of a word. Usually from noun to verb e.g. butter – have you buttered your toast? Or verb to noun, or verb to adjective: Phrasal verbs: to print out – a printout (noun) to take over – a take over (noun) •Borrowing (calque) Taking over words from other languages •Examples from Italian ›pasta,piano •Loan translation or calque: ›If there is a direct translation of the elements of a word into the borrowing language ›un grattacielo (– a skyscraper) •Latin:interim, memorandum, agenda,p.m. and a.m.,sponsor,etc. •Greek:pneumonia, panorama, psychoanalysis, psychology, python •French:bureau, café, chauffeur, coup d'état, abattoir, attaché, á la carte •Sanskrit:chakra, cashmere, mahatma, nirvana, musk •Turkish:yogurt. Onomatopoeia Creating words from the sounds they represent •buzz, hiss, sizzle, cuckoo, crash, bang, hush, ticktack, etc. Lezione 12 Syntax In linguistics, "syntax" refers to the rules that govern the ways in which words combine to form phrases, clauses, and sentences. Word order The term ‘word order’ is used to refer to the order of elements in a sentence. -Affirmative sentences: subject+verb+object+other information (someboby stole my car) -Questions: auxiliary verb+subject+main verb+ other information (Did you speak to him?) Inversion Inversion happens when we reverse (invert) the normal word order of a structure, most commonly the subject-verb word order.For example, a statement has the subject (s) before the verb (v), but to make question word order, we invert the subject and the verb, with an auxiliary (aux) or modal verb (m) before the subject (s): •[S]She [V]sings. •[AUX]Does [S]she [V]sing? INVERSION ALSO HAPPENS IN OTHER SITUATIONS. Negative adverbs •In formal styles, when we use an adverb with negative meaning (e.g. never, seldom, rarely, scarcely, hardly) in front position for emphasis, we invert the subject (s) and auxiliary (aux)/modal verb: •Never [AUX]have [S]we witnessed such cruel behaviour by one child to another. (or We have never witnessed…) Expressions beginning with not •We also invert the subject and verb after not + a prepositional phrase or a clause in initial position: •Not for a moment did I think I would be offered the job, so I was amazed when I got it. Here and there •Inversion can happen after here, and after there when it is as an adverb of place. After here and there, we can use a main verb without an auxiliary verb or modal verb: •Here comes the bus! •Here’s your coffee. •She looked out and there was Pamela, walking along arm in arm with Goldie. Form and function of constituents Forms Sentences:declarative, interrogative, imperative, exclamatory Clauses:main, dependent Phrases:noun phrase, verb phrase, adjective phrase, adverb phrase, prepositional phrase Word classes:noun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, etc. Functions Subject Predicator Complement (subject and object) Object (direct and indirect) Adverbial Noun phrases can contain one or more words. His recent book on global capitalism was a big success. his recent = pre-modifier book = headword on global capitalism = post-modifier Complex noun phrases can include subordinate clauses. • The woman I told you about yesterday is coming now. •In formal style we usually put a preposition before the relative pronoun and we use whom/which instead of who/which. –The office to which Graham took us was filled with books •In less formal style we usually put the preposition at the end of the relative clause. –The office that Graham took us to was filled with books Lezione 13 Semantics The study of meaning is called semantics and semantics is a branch of linguistics. Meaning is connected to language via: •the lexicon •grammar Also important is: •what we do with language Grammar and meaning Although they are often distinct from each other, they come together in the category of tense. Tense is the grammaticalization of time.While time is an aspect of physics and psychology, tense is the way we express time in grammar. Only some languages build the time distinctions into the grammar. Tens is any of the forms of a verb that may be used to show the time of the action or state expressed by the verb. Time is a universal concept with three divisions: present, past and future. How many tenses do we have in English? Only two—> present and past There is no future tense. The future tense is expressed by present forms of the verbs that carry different meanings. For example: • I’m buying a new car • I’m going to buy a new car. • I will buy a new car. • I travel to Rome with the 8 o’clock train tomorrow. Now look at the forms of the verb. Each main verb in English language has six different forms. e.g. Go: 1. Go = Base form 2. go = general present 3. goes = 3rd person singular 4. went = past 5. going = present participle 6. gone = past participle All the above six forms refer either to present time or to past time. There is no form of the verb which can refer to future time. Then how can we say that there is future tense? There is no future tense, rather we show future aspect with certain auxiliary verbs or with the help of present tense. Conceptual versus associative Conceptual meaning refers to the essential components of meaning in relation to the literal use of a word (also called denotation). Associative meaning is a set of subjective, cultural and/or emotional associations in addition to the literal meaning of a word. It’s an emotional association with a word (also called connotation). Semantics is mainly concerned with the conceptual meaning of words and less concerned with its associative meaning.It is often useful to avoid words with strong connotations when striving to achieve a neutral point of view. A desire for more positive connotations is one of the main reasons for using euphemisms. A euphemism is an expression intended by the speaker to be less offensive, disturbing, or troubling to the listener than the word or phrase it replaces, or in the case of doublespeak to make it less troublesome for the speaker. Differenciating meaning The kinds of nouns which can be subjects of the verb sleep must have specific semantic features. •A very general feature can be ‘animate being’ (+ animate) or +human, -human, +male, -male. •They represent the basic features in differenciating the meaning of each word. Differenciating meaning, according to semantic features, is not always easy, especially if we try to distinguish words such as advice, warning, etc. Semantic roles Instead of considering a word like a container of meaning we can look at the role it performes in a sentence. My sister rang the bell with her elbow agent theme instrument An agent of an action can be human or non-human. (e.g. the cat rang the bell, the wind blew the ball away, curiosity killed the cat). The meaning of a sentence depends on at least 2 things. –The meaning of the words in the sentence –The grammatical structure of the sentence. Lexical semantics It is the study of word meanings.It deals not only with meanings of individual words, but also with the way in which the meanings of different words are related. Lexical meanings –Sense relations: (synonymy, antonymy, hyponymy…) –Component features: (bachelor = [+male, -married]) Synonymy Synonymy means that two or more words have the same meaning. •begin/start •below/beneath/underneath Words do not have meaning in isolation.Beware that even when words in isolation have the same meaning, they most often have different associations or collocations. Antonymy Antonyms are words which have opposite meaning. •The water is neither hot nor cold. •The table is neither clean nor dirty. Gradable antonyms (e.g. hot/cold – tepid, warm, cool) Non-gradable antonyms (e.g. true/false, dead/alive) Reverses (e.g. tie/untie, lock/unlock) –When a word doesn’t mean the opposite, but the reverse. Unlock doesn’t mean ‘not lock’ but the ‘reverse of lock.’ Hyponymy Hyponymy indicates a relationship of inclusion between words. •Vehicle is the superordinate term. Car is an hyponym of vehicle. Van, car, lorry, bus, etc. are co- hyponyms. Homonymy 1. I’m just off to the bank to deposit a cheque. 2. The bank was steep and overgrown. Bank 1 e 2 are homonyms. They have the same form but different meanings. Polysemy Polysemy is the property that a word has to express multiple meanings. •They met at the foot of the mountain. •He hurt his foot. •There’s a diagram at the foot of the page. Metonymy A type of relation between words based simply on a close connection in everyday experience. •Container-content relationship (can/juice) •Whole-part relationship (car/wheels) •Representative-symbolic relationship (king-crown) •E.g. He drank the whole bottle. Collocations •We know which words tend to occur with other words. •Some collocations are joined pairs: –salt and pepper –husband and wife –knife and fork Lezione 14 HOW THE WAY IN WHICH WORDS ARE PUT TOGETHER CREATES MEANING One of the things that semantics looks at, and is based on, is how the meaning of speech is not just derived from the meanings of the individual words all put together. The meaning of the sentence depends on an understanding of the context and the speaker's intent. Meaning doesn’t just depend on linguistic knowledge of words but also on the context of use.One of the aspects of how meaning works in language which is studied most in semantics is ambiguity. A sentence is ambiguous when it has two or more possible meanings, but how does ambiguity arise in language?