An Introduction to Linguistics and the Study of English

Mirella Agorni

• Publisher: EDUCatt Università Cattolica
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN:
  9788867809301
• eBook ISBN:
  9788867809448
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Linguistics
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

An Introduction to Linguistics and the Study of English

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

This chapter deals with the first aspects of the English language we are going to analyse, and will concentrate on that sub-discipline of linguistics which has been defined morphology. Morphology studies the structure of words and the ways in which new words can be created.

All languages consist of words, which can be considered the most accessible linguistic units. Yet one can learn thousands of words in a language and still be unable to use that language: this is a common experience for anyone who has tried to communicate in a foreign country by using only a dictionary. For example, in translation we can very easily see that it is not possible to move words automatically from a language into another. Sometimes, in order to translate a word, one needs to use several words together, or even several sentences, in another language. This means that it is not always easy to define words as separate entities.

Normally the written conventions of a language help us define words: for example, single words are typically separated from each other by a space. However, there are cases in which such a distinction is not so straightforward. Consider the case of compound words, such as World War, a word which is made up of two different entities. Yet, most speakers perceive it as a single unit.

Furthermore, there are verbs (multi-word or phrasal verbs) which consist of more than one element. For example, give in (surrender); look after (tender); put up with (tolerate). Although these verbs consist of more than one word, they function as a single unit in terms of meaning.

Another interesting case is that of idioms; that is small groups of words whose meaning does not depend on individual units. Idioms have a fixed meaning, which must be learned. For example, the proof is in the pudding. This idiom does not literally mean that you have to look for evidence into a pudding... but means that you cannot be sure that you have succeeded until you have examined the result of your efforts. The meaning of this expression depends on the whole phrase, or sentence, which tends to be frozen in form, as you cannot separate any single item. Also, it is not possible to shift the position of each word or change any other element: for example, you cannot say the proof is in the cake. As a consequence, idioms must be considered single units of meaning.

A typical feature of words is that they also have a mobility which distinct parts of words do not have. E.g.: She’s beautiful! It is possible to rearrange the sentence by shifting the position of the word beautiful: Beautiful, she is! Similarly, we can place additional words between existing words: She is just beautiful! However, single words cannot be interrupted: *Beauty ful she is. Even when we deal with combinations such as world war, this principle will often still apply:

There were fe ars that there would be another

*World terrible War. (terrible World War).

Many words of the type which has just been discussed have both an abstract form and an actual spoken or written form. For example, pan is an abstract form for both pan singular and pans plural. The abstract form for pan is the entry you would find in a dictionary, and in linguistic terms it is defined as lexeme. A lexeme is a word considered an abstract unit in the vocabulary of a language. Lexemes are indicated by means of small capitals: PAN.

Let us consider the way in which dictionary entries are organised. For example, if we look up the word band in a dictionary, we will see that it has three different meanings:

1. A group of people engaged in a cooperative pursuit, such as a musical group or a band of thieves.

2. A strap or belt intended to carry a tension load.

3. A frequency interval.

The three meanings a...

Table of contents

• CONTENTS
• CHAPTER 1
• CHAPTER 2
• CHAPTER 3
• CHAPTER 4
• CHAPTER 5
• CHAPTER 6
• CHAPTER 7
• CHAPTER 8
• EXERCISES
• KEY
• APPENDIX
• INDEX