English 306A; Harris Intro.pps/pdf

English 306A; Harris Language properties Parity Universality Mutability Tacitness Displacement Duality Productivity (creativity)

English 306A; Harris Parity All languages are equal.

English 306A; Harris Universality All grammars share some basic properties. Words Nouns Verbs Sentences Assertions Questions Semantic roles Agents Patients Locations

English 306A; Harris Mutability Languages change.  cool  neat  groovy  far-out  radical  cool 

English 306A; Harris Tacitness A great deal of grammatical knowledge is tacit knowledge. [p] vs [p h ] vs [p ¬ ]

English 306A; Harris Charles Hockett’s ‘Design Features’ There is...a sense in which [productivity], displacement, and duality...can be regarded as the crucial, or nuclear, or central properties of human language.

English 306A; Harris Displacement Messages can refer to things remote in time and space, or both, from the site of the communication.

English 306A; Harris Duality of patterning At every level: elements and combinatorics Sounds combine into syllables and morphemes Morphemes combine into words Words combine into phrases and sentences Sentences combine into turns or paragraphs Turns combine into conversations Paragraphs combine into texts

English 306A; Harris Elements + combinatorics = Language

English 306A; Harris Language properties Parity Universality Mutability Tacitness Displacement Duality Productivity (creativity)

English 306A; Harris Signs Meaning conveyances Symbolic Iconic Indexical

English 306A; Harris Signs Meaning conveyances Symbolic Iconic Indexical

English 306A; Harris Signs Meaning conveyances Symbolic Iconic Indexical

English 306A; Harris Signs Meaning conveyances Symbolic Iconic Indexical

English 306A; Harris Mutability Historical linguistics Changes Linguistic study Reconstruction Language families Origins

English 306A; Harris History of English greaser far out dude outasite keen rilly You are here Homo Heidelbergensis 1

English 306A; Harris History of English greaser far out dude outasite keen rilly Aetalects! You are here Homo Heidelbergensis 1

English 306A; Harris History of English night cough knightname kneemayhaps

English 306A; Harris Early modern English I am no orator, as Brutus is; But, as you know me all, a plain blunt man, That love my friend; and that they know full well That gave me public leave to speak of him: For I have neither wit, nor words, nor worth, Action, nor utterance, nor the power of speech, To stir men's blood Julius Caesar, c1599 You are here Homo Heidelbergensis 1

English 306A; Harris Middle English (London) Whan that Aprill, with his shoures soote The droghte of March hath perced to the roote And bathed every veyne in swich licour, Of which vertu engendred is the flour;... Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages The Canterbury Tales, c1380 You are here Homo Heidelbergensis 1

English 306A; Harris Middle English (Northumberland) Si†en †e sege and †e assaut watz sesed at Troye, †e bor° brittened and brent to bronde and askez, †e tulk †at †e trammes of tresoun †er wro°t Watz tried for his tricherie, †e trewest on erthe The Green Knight, c1380 You are here Homo Heidelbergensis 1

English 306A; Harris Si†en †e sege and †e assaut watz sesed at Troye, †e bor° brittened and brent to bronde and askez, †e tulk †at †e trammes of tresoun †er wro°t Watz tried for his tricherie, †e trewest on erthe The Green Knight, c1380 Middle English (Northumberland) Regiolects! You are here Homo Heidelbergensis 1

English 306A; Harris Si†en †e sege and †e assaut watz sesed at Troye, †e bor° brittened and brent to bronde and askez, †e tulk †at †e trammes of tresoun †er wro°t Watz tried for his tricherie, †e trewest on erthe The Green Knight, c1380 Middle English (Northumberland) Regiolects! Sociolects! You are here Homo Heidelbergensis 1

English 306A; Harris Si†en †e sege and †e assaut watz sesed at Troye, †e bor° brittened and brent to bronde and askez, †e tulk †at †e trammes of tresoun †er wro°t Watz tried for his tricherie, †e trewest on erthe The Green Knight, c1380 Middle English (Northumberland) Sociolects! Ethnolects! Regiolects! You are here Homo Heidelbergensis 1

English 306A; Harris Language variation Idiolects!

English 306A; Harris Language variation Hey, who you callin’ an idiolect, dorkosaurus?

English 306A; Harris Language variation Different persons growing up in the same language are like different bushes trimmed and trained to take the shape of identical elephants. The anatomical details of twigs and branches will fulfill the elephantine form differently from bush to bush, but the overall outward results are alike.

English 306A; Harris Language variation Different persons growing up in the same language are like different bushes trimmed and trained to take the shape of identical elephants. The anatomical details of twigs and branches will fulfill the elephantine form differently from bush to bush, but the overall outward results are alike. W.V.O. Quine

English 306A; Harris Old English (aka Anglo-Saxon) Nu sculon herigean heofonrices weard, meotodes meahte, and his modge†anc, weorc wuldorfæder, swa he wundra gehwæs, ece drihten, or onstealde. Caedmon’s hymn, c670 You are here Homo Heidelbergensis 1

English 306A; Harris 1066

English 306A; Harris 1066 Substratum (under-level) Germanic (Angles, Saxons etc.) king, law, deer, cow, cock, piss, … Superstratum (over-level) Latinate (Norman French) monarch, justice, venison, beef, penis, urinate, …

English 306A; Harris 1066 Substratum (under-level) Germanic (Angles, Saxons etc.) king, law, deer, cow, cock, piss, … Superstratum (over-level) Latinate (Norman French) monarch, justice, venison, beef, penis, urinate, …

English 306A; Harris Mutability Language change Internal (isolation, fashion, prestige, …) External (trade, war, imperialism, …)

English 306A; Harris Internal (isolation, fashion, prestige, …) External (trade, war, imperialism, …) Phonological Morphological Lexical Syntactic Semantic Mutability Language change

English 306A; Harris What changes Modern English dog Middle English hound

English 306A; Harris What changes: radial networks

English 306A; Harris Radial networks A network with a defining centre (usually called “the prototype” of the network)

English 306A; Harris Changes in a semantic radial network hyponym / hypernym shifts Modern English dog … poodle hound spaniel … Toy, French, … Grey, Blood, … Springer, Cocker, … Middle English hound … dog poodle spaniel … Mastiff, Basset, … Toy, French, … Springer, Cocker, …

English 306A; Harris Middle English hound … dog poodle spaniel … Mastiff, Basset, … Toy, French, … Springer, Cocker, … hyponym and hypernym hyponym hypernymhyponym hypernym

English 306A; Harris Modern English dog … poodle hound spaniel … Toy, French, … Grey, Blood, … Springer, Cocker, … hyponym hypernym hyponym hypernym hyponym and hypernym

English 306A; Harris Modern English dog … poodle hound spaniel … Toy, French, … Grey, Blood, … Springer, Cocker, … Middle English hound … dog poodle spaniel … Mastiff, Basset, … Toy, French, … Springer, Cocker, … Changes in a semantic radial network hyponym / hypernym shifts

English 306A; Harris Modern English dog … poodle hound spaniel … Toy, French, … Grey, Blood, … Springer, Cocker, … Middle English hound … dog poodle spaniel … Mastiff, Basset, … Toy, French, … Springer, Cocker, … Changes in a semantic radial network hyponym / hypernym shifts

English 306A; Harris Modern English dog … poodle hound spaniel … Toy, French, … Grey, Blood, … Springer, Cocker, … Middle English hound … dog poodle spaniel … Mastiff, Basset, … Toy, French, … Springer, Cocker, … Changes in a semantic radial network hyponym / hypernym shifts

English 306A; Harris Shrinkage of a semantic radial network polysemy —> monosemy Mete 1.a. Any comestible. b. Solid comestibles. 2. Edible portions of fruits, nuts, eggs, …. 3. Animal flesh for food. 4. A meal. Meat

English 306A; Harris Mete 1.a. Any comestible. b. Solid comestibles. 2. Edible portions of fruits, nuts, eggs, …. 3. Animal flesh for food. 4. A meal. Meat ‘many-meaning’ —> ‘single-meaning’ Shrinkage of a semantic radial network polysemy —> monosemy

English 306A; Harris Mutability Subtotal History of English Periods Events Pressures to change Internal/external Aeta-, regio-, socio-, ethno-lects Objects of change Individual elements Radial networks

English 306A; Harris Objects of change Individual elements Radial networks Language families Indo-European Pre-Indo-European Origins Lexical theories Language theories Writing systems Concept-to-sound migration Origins and varieties of languages

English 306A; Harris Philology Looking at texts for noteworthy signifier/signified linkages Contrast and compare

English 306A; Harris Philology Language families English father mother brother sister king milk meat German Vater Mutter Bruder Schwester König Milch Fleisch

English 306A; Harris Language families You are here Homo Heidelbergensis 1

English 306A; Harris Grimm’s law Proto-Germanic You are here Homo Heidelbergensis 1

English 306A; Harris Grimm’s law Proto-Germanic You are here Homo Heidelbergensis 1 hypothetical, reconstructed language

English 306A; Harris Grimm’s law Germanic family You are here Homo Heidelbergensis 1

English 306A; Harris Language families GermanicIndicItalic Families Philo- logical evidence You are here Homo Heidelbergensis 1

English 306A; Harris Proto-Indo-European (*PIE) GermanicIndicItalic Families Philo- logical evidence You are here Homo Heidelbergensis 1

English 306A; Harris Indo-European GermanicIndicItalic Families Philo- logical evidence You are here Homo Heidelbergensis 1

English 306A; Harris Indo-European family

English 306A; Harris Indo-European family

English 306A; Harris Bow-wow theory Language arose from onomatopoeia Making noises to represent elements in the environment: animals, rain, expulsive gas, … You are here Homo Heidelbergensis 1

English 306A; Harris Pooh-pooh theory (AKA the ouch theory) Language arose from spontaneous emotional noises Sighs, moans, cries, ejections of surprise, fear, delight, … You are here Homo Heidelbergensis 1

English 306A; Harris Yo-he-ho theory Language arose in muscular and rhythmic efforts accompanying group work Gathering, distributing, distance-pursuit of prey, … You are here Homo Heidelbergensis 1

English 306A; Harris Bow-wow-pooh-pooh-yo-he-ho theories Lexical theories Index-to-icon-to-symbol theories Not mutually exclusive (Only Yo-he-ho includes rhythm, sequence, structure)

English 306A; Harris Bow-wow-pooh-pooh-yo-he-ho theories Onomasiological migration theories Index-to-icon-to-symbol

English 306A; Harris Neuron-packing “theory” Neural-density, big-bang theory Non-lexical Non-social

English 306A; Harris Throwing madonna theory Nursing (left-side) Motor/linguistic sequencing Structural Non-lexical Piggy-backing theory You are here Homo Heidelbergensis 1

English 306A; Harris Yadda-yadda-yadda theory Language is verbal grooming human tribes too big, social bonds too intricate, to manage them physically Social theory, non-lexical You are here Homo Heidelbergensis 1

English 306A; Harris Historical linguistics Languages change over time external (war, imperialism, trade, …) internal (fashion, prestige, isolation, …) Categorical changes radial networks (phonological, lexical, …) Genealogical relationships language families reconstructed proto-languages Language origins lots of guesses, no clear solutions Lexical and non-lexical variants