Almen sproglig viden og metode (General linguistics) CLM, engelsk Introduction to the Study of the English Language tt

The position of English Where does it come from as a language? –Older forms of English Where has it gone? How has it come to be as it is? –Varieties of Modern English

Basque Finno- Ugrian West NorwegianFaroeseIcelandic Eastern Burgundian † Gothic † Northern East Danish Swedish Western Anglo- Frisian English Frisian Germanic IndoEuropean LowGerman Yiddisch Southern Middle High German HighGerman German DutchWest Flemish Plattdütsch Africaans Schwytzertütsch Italic Latin FrenchSpanish SlavicHellenic... … † Italian...

Old English (Caedmon’s Hymn, ca. 735) Nu scylun hergan hefaenricaes uard, Now shall-we praise heaven’s guardian, metudæs maecti end his modgidanc, The-Lord’s might and his mind, uerc uuldurfadur; sue he uundra gi-huaes, work of-the-wonderfather; such-as he of-wonders of-each, eci Dryctin, or astelidæ. eternal Master, the-beginning made. He aerist scop aelda barnum He first created men’s for-the-children heben til hrofe, haleg scepen. heaven for roof, holy creator. Tha middungeard, moncynnæs uard, Then mid-earth, mankind’s guardian, eci Dryctin, æfter tiadæ eternal Lord, after ornamented firum foldu, frea allmectig. for-men the-earth, ruler allmighty. Now let us praise the power, vision, and creation of God, for how he ordained the origin of every wonder. First He created heaven as a roof for the children of men. Then the Almighty ornamented the earth for mankind.

Middle English (The Chronicle of Robert of Gloucester, ab. 1375) Þ us com, lo, Engelond in-to Normandies hond: And Þ e Normans ne cou Þ e speke Þ o bote hor owe speche, And speke French as hii dude atom, and hor children dude also teche, So Þ at heiemen of Þ is lond, Þ at of hor blod come, Holde Þ alle Þ ulke speche Þ at hii of hom nome; Vor bote a man conne Frenss me tel Þ of him lute. Ac lowe men holde Þ to Engliss, and to hor owe speche ute. Ich wene Þ er ne be Þ in al Þ e world contreyes none Þ at ne holde Þ to hor owe speche, bot Engelond one. Ac wel me wot uor to conne bo Þ e wel it is, Vor Þ e more Þ at a mon can, Þ e more wur Þ e he is.

Middle English (The Chronicle of Robert of Gloucester, ab. 1375) Þ us com, lo, Engelond in-to Normandies hond: And Þ e Normans ne cou Þ e speke Þ o bote hor owe speche, And speke French as hii dude atom, and hor children dude also teche, So Þ at heiemen of Þ is lond, Þ at of hor blod come, Holde Þ alle Þ ulke speche Þ at hii of hom nome; Vor bote a man conne Frenss me tel Þ of him lute. Ac lowe men holde Þ to Engliss, and to hor owe speche ute. Ich wene Þ er ne be Þ in al Þ e world contreyes none Þ at ne holde Þ to hor owe speche, bot Engelond one. Ac wel me wot uor to conne bo Þ e wel it is, Vor Þ e more Þ at a mon can, Þ e more wur Þ e he is. Thus came England into the hands of Normandy; and the Normans knew only their own language and they spoke French as they did at home, and they taught it to their children, so that lords from this land that came of their blood all held to the language that they brought with them from home; for unless a man can speak French they pay little respect to him. But common people stick with English, and just to their own language. I think that there is no country in all this world that does not stick with its own language, except England. But it seems to me that it is good to know both, for the more a man knows, the worthier he is.

English one language? or many?

North America RSA India & SEA AUS NZ The Expansion of English as Official Language East Africa

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Map showing where Modern English is coming from (Loanwords)

Turkish Loanwords in English: yoghurt from yog- 'knead, churn', bosh 'nonsense' < bos, 'empty' Jannissary < yeni c, eri 'young soldiers' Pasha < pas,a 'roughly, Field Marshal' uhlan <oghlan 'boy, servant' huzzah! may be of Turkish origins. sultan bey roughly ’governor’

landscapeyachtdockBrooklyndeck brandy gasknapsackskippersketchdock Dutch Loanwords in English

Scandinavian loanwords in English law window ill loose live die take egg bread both they, them etc. etc. etc.

chapati cheroot coolie corundum curry ginger madras mandala mango mulligatawny orange pariah patchouli poon tatty vetiver Tamil Loanwords in English candy catamaran

avocado cacao cannibal canoe chipmunk chocolate chili hammock hominy hurricane maize moccasin moose papoose Native American Indian Loanwords in English pecan possum, potato skunk squaw succotash squash tamale (via Spanish) teepee terrapin tobacco toboggan tomahawk

Language as a means communication A model of communication Language and languages –Language system and language use The creativity of language The constraints of the Code –Information packaging –Grammaticality and meaningfulness

Channel A model of communication (After Roman Jakobson) Context Code Message Though t Interpretation SenderReceiver

Production and Interpretation To communicate a thought by means of language, the sender must draw on three sources of information: his knowledge of the context of situation his knowledge of the language that serves as code his knowledge of how to encode the message, given context and code To interpret a message coded in a language, the receiver must also draw on three sources of information: his knowledge of the context of situation his knowledge of the language that serves as code his knowledge of how to decode the message, given context and code

Language and Languages ”(Human) languages can differ from each other without limit and in unpredictable ways” Martin Joos, American linguist (1959) Human languages are essentially the same The Language Instinct – Steven Pinker (Booktitle, 1995) Read it! Features characteristic of all (and only) human languages The ability to tell lies The ability to speak about situations distant in space and time ……

Language system and language use Langue et parole – Ferdinand de Saussure (1916) Competence and performance – Noam Chomsky (1965) Langue is an abstract system of signs – parole is the system in use Language is an innate system of knowledge - performance is putting that knowledge to use

The creativity of language ’Everything can be said – and everything can be understood’ The ’double articulation’ of language The principle of semantic compositionality More characteristic features of human language:

Double articulation English has 45 phonemes, i.e. distinct spech sounds; among them, in random order: /t//k//h//i//æ//n/ /Ɔ/ /s//z//đ/ ….. /Ə//Ə/

Double articulation /đ æt/t/ /sæt/t/ But it often only takes one phoneme to distinguish between words: /k æt/t/ /hæt/t/ ’cat’ ’sat’ ’that’ ’hat’ /t//k//h//i//æ//n/ /Ɔ/ /s//z//đ/ ….. /Ə//Ə/

Double articulation /đ æt/ /sæt/ /k æt/ /hæt/ ’cat’ ’sat’ ’that’ ’hat’ First articulation: the level of phonemes Second articulation: the level of words /t//k//h//i//æ//n/ /Ɔ/ /s//z//đ/ ….. /Ə//Ə/

Semantic composition hatcatsatthatonthe

Semantic composition hatcatsatthatonthe thatcatsatonthehat The meaning of a sentence is computed from the meanings of the words it contains the rules by which it is composed *cat sat the that on hat

The Constraints of the Code on Communication The organization of content (’meaning’): Information structure The organization of expression (’form’): Grammar

Describing a situation… What’s going on here?

… like this He swam across the river

Information packaging agent: he did something means: by using the river act: type ’swimming’ manner: by swimming result: he came to be at the other side direction: from one bank to the other

He swam across the river Information packaging agent: means: act: manner: result: direction: Han svømmede over floden Il a traversé le fleuve à la nage He crossed the river by swimming ? Han krydsede floden ved at svømme

Grammaticality and information packaging He swam the river agent: means: act: manner: result: direction: *Han svømmede floden The grammar of English allows more ways to package infomation than the grammar of Danish

Grammaticality and meaningfulness Hun må kunne tale engelsk *She must could speak English Hun kunne tale engelsk She could speak English ??? Min skrivemaskine kan tale engelsk ??? My typewriter can speak English ? Min computer kan tale engelsk ? My computer can speak English A well-formed sentence is both grammatical and meaningful This is a matter of difference between the grammars of Danish and English This is as odd a thing to say in English as in Danish This is as questionable in Danish as in English

The components of language study Sound Meaning Grammar Lexicon Morphology Syntax Pragmatics Semantics Phonetics Phonology

Politiken, Oh Danmark, EN HÅRD NEGL En 32-årig mand er stadig i livsfare efter at være blevet stukket ihjel uden for sin lejlighed i aftes. (TV-Avisen) MEN ALDRIG OM SØNDAGEN Ekstra hjælp lørdage – vi søger 2 personer, der ken- der hinanden hver anden lørdag. (Annonce i Ugeposten Helsinge) LIGE NOGET FOR EN KONSERVATOR Han er udstoppelig på kon- traangreb. (Berlingske Tidende) JO – FOR IKKE AT SIGE UMULIGT Er det ikke en forældet ind- stilling at give arbejdet alt og familien resten. (Nyhederne i TV2) DE SKU JO GERNE FØLE SIG HJEMME To voldsramte kvinder har i årevis levet med bank, hash- misbrug og overgreb på fa- milien. Krisecentret gav dem håb og et spark frem- ad. (Grønlandsposten) Semantisk Syntaktisk Leksikalsk - fonologisk Logisk Pragmatisk - Idiomatisk Linguistic intuitions

That’s all for now !