Professional Documents
Culture Documents
muntu
= person
speech reception
SPEAKER
LISTENER
these sounds
[e.g.: Fremdwrter]
phoneme substitution
Bach, Porsche, Mercedes, Berlin
Scots: Loch
-2-
form (sounds)
sign
meaning (concept)
onomatopoeia
- knowledge of sentences/utterances:
into sentences
-3-
an infinite set of
linguistic knowledge, for the most part, is not conscious knowledge. This
knowledge represents a complex cognitive system.
What is Grammar?
sound patterns basic units of meaning rules to combine them to form new
(words/phrases)
sentences
-4-
mental grammar
internalised in the
speakers brains
2) prescriptive grammar:
- assumption: language change is corruption
"correct" forms to be used for speaking/writing
Ex. English grammarians in the 18/19th c.
Robert Lowth (1762) A short Introduction to English Grammar with
Critical Notes
(influenced by Latin grammars and personal preference)
prescribed several new rules for English
I don't have none
objective: not to describe the rules people know, but to tell them what rules
they should know PURISM
Ex. hopefully: 'I hope'
'with hope'
-5-
Note:
phonology
semantics
morphology
syntax
lexicon
Animal languages:
language exclusive to humans?
assumption: language = system of communication many species communicate!
argument:
humans:
speech sounds
animals:
imitating speech
carry no meaning
sounds
-6-
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
All human languages utilize a finite set of discrete sounds (or gestures)
that are combined to form meaningful elements or words, which
themselves form an infinite set of possible sentences.
6.
All grammars contain rules for the formation of words and sentences of a
similar kind.
-7-
7.
8.
Similar grammatical categories (for example, noun, verb) are found in all
languages.
9.
10.
11.
12.
-8-
competence
descriptive grammar
langue
linguistics
mental grammar
parole
performance
prescriptive grammar
(linguistic) sign
teaching grammar
universal grammar