CONTENTS

Preface ·xxi
Preface to tile First Edition xxiii
List of Tecilnical A�previations xxv

one

LANGUAGE: A PR�VIEW I
A Creative System 1
2 Grammar and Linguistic Competence 4
2.1 Generality: All Languages Have a Grammar 5
2.2 Equality: All Grammars Are Equal 6
2.3 Changeability: Grammars Change Over Time 7
2.4 Universality: Grammars Are Alike in Basic Ways 8
2.5 Tacitness: Grammatical Knowledge Is Subconscious 9
2.6 Grammar 10
3 Biological Specialization for Language 11
Summing Up 12
Key Tenns 12
Sources 13
Recommended Reading 13
··

Questions 13

t wo

PHONETICS: THE SOUNDS OF LANGUAGE 15

Phonetic Transcrippon 16
i.1- Units of Representation 16
1.2 Segments 17
2 The Sound-Producing System 17
2.1 The Lungs 18
2.2 The Larynx 18
2.3 Glottal States 19
3 Sound Classes 20
3.1 Vowels, Consonants, and Glides 20
4 Consonant Articulation 22
4.1 The Tongue 23
4.2 Places of Articulation 23
r Manner:; of Articulation 24
viii CONTENTS

5.1 Oral versus Nasal Phones 24

5.2 Stops 24
5.3 Fricatives 25
5.4 Affricates 27
S.S Voice Lag and Aspiration 28
S.6 Liquids 30
5. 7 Syllabic Liquids and Nasals 31
Glides
5.8 31
6 Vowels 32
6.1 Simple Vowels and Diphthongs 32
6.2 Basic Parameters for Describing Vowels 33
6.3 Tense and Lax Vowels 34
7 Phonetic Transcription of American English Consonants and Vowels 3S
8 Suprasegmentals 37
8.1 Pitch: Tone and Intonation 37

42
8.2 Length 41

9 Articulatory Processes
Stress
8.3

43
9.1 Coarticulation
43
9.2 Processes and Efficiency 4S
9.3 Processes and Clarity 4S

1O
9.4 Types of Articulatory Processes 46
Other Vowels and Consonants 49
10.1 Vowels SO
10.2 Conso.nants SO
Summing Up 53
Key Terms 54
So11rces SS
Recommended Reading SS
Appendix: The International Phonetic Alphabet (condensed) 56
Questions S7
For tile Student Linguist: "Don't Worry abo11t Spelling" 59

three

63
1
PHONOLOGY: THE FUNCTlON AND PATTERNING OF SOUNDS
Segments in Contrast 64
1.1 Minimal Pairs 65
1.2 Language-Specific Contrasts 66 ·
2 Phonetically Conditioned Variation: Phonemes and Allophones 67
2.1 Complementary Distribution 67
2.2 Phonemes and Allophones 68
2.3 Classes and Generalization in Phonology 70
2.4 Canadian Raising 71

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 )
C O N TENTS ix
)

72
{
2.5 English Vowels and Glides
)
2.6 Language-Specific Patterns 73
3 Phonetic and Phonemic Transcription 75 )
4 Above the S egment: Syllables 76
_)
4.1 Defining the Syllable 76
4.2 Onset Constraints and Phonotactics 77 )
4.3 A ccid ental and Systematic Gaps 78
)
4.4 Setting Up Syllables 79
4.5 Syllabic Phonology 82 )
86
)
5 Features
5.1 Why We Use Features 87
5.2 The Feat ures of English 91 )
5.3 Representation and the Feature Hierarchy 93 _)
6 Derivations and Rule Ord ering 94
6.1 Derivations 94 ,)
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6.2 Rule Applic ation 95

,)
6.3 The Form and Notation of Rules 96
Representations 99
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7
7 . 1 Assimilation and the Feature Hierarchy 99
7.2 Autosegmental Principles 100
)
7.4 Processes, Rules, and Representations: A Last Word
7.3 Tonal Assimilation as a Representation 102
103 �
,)
Summing Up 103
Key Tenm 103
Sources 104 ,)
Recommended Reading 105
Appendix: Hints for Solving P/Jonology Problems 105 )
Questions 106 )
For the Student Linguist: "The Feature Presentation" 1 14
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four _)
._)
1
MORPHOLOGY: THE ANALYSIS OF WORD STRUCTURE 117
)
)
Words and Word Structure 118
1.1 Morphemes 118
1.2 Representing Word Structure 121

)
1.3 Some Common Morphological Phenomena 123
2 Derivation 128
_)
2.1 English Derivational Affixes 128

)
2.2 Derivation at Work 130
3 Compounding 133
)
3.1 P rop erties of Compounds 135

Compour1ds in Other Languages )

3.2 Types of Compounds 136
3.3 136
Oth er Types of Word Formation 138
)
4

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 j
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CONTENTS

7 �) 4.1 Conversion 138

'"
4.2 Clipping 139
) 4.3 Blends 139
71)
4.4 Backformation 139
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)
,
4.5 Acronyms 140
4.6 Onomatopoeia 140
71)
4. 7 Other Sources 141
b) 5 Inflection 141
') 5.1 Inflection versus Derivation 142
8"'
5.2 English Inflectional Affixes 144
9)
� )
6 Further Examples of Innection 145
6.1 Numb�r 145
9A
6.2 Noun Class 146
9.,)
)
6.3 Case 147
s
6.4 Person and Number Agreement 149
9'"
6.5 Tense 150
9.)
Summing Up 151
9) Key Tenns 151
10"
10:) Note
So1.1rces
152
152
10 )
Reco111111e11ded Reading 153
10? Appendix: How lo Identify Morphemes in Unfamiliar La11gC1ages 153
10s
)
QC1estions 155
10·. ) For the St1.1de11t Lingllist: "Bambiflcation" 160
10.'
105 )
10( ) five
114
) SYNTAX: THE ANALYSIS OF SENTENCE STRUCTURE 163
) 1 Categories and Structure 164
1.1 Word:Level Categories 164
1.2 Phrase Structure 167
1 .3 Sentences 172
1.4 Tests for Phrase Structure 174
1.5 x· Categories 1 75
21
Complement Options 1 77
23 )
2
2.1 Complement Op t ions for Verbs 177
28 )
2.2 Complement Options for Other Categories 179
28
) 2.3 Complement Clauses 180
30
3 Transformations 183
33 )
3.1 Inversion in Yes-No Questions 183
35
36 ) 3.2 Deep Structure and Surface Structure 185
3.3 Wh Movement 186
36 J
38 3.4 A More Detailed Look at Transformations 187
) 3.5 Constraints on Transformations 193
4 Universal Grammar and Parametric Va riation 194
)
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 CONTENTS xi

4.1 Variation in Syntactic Categories 195

4.2 Variation in Phrase Structure Rules 196
4.3 Variation in the Use of Transformations 198
5 Some Extensions 202
5.1 Coordination 202
5.2 Modifiers 204
5.3 Relative Clauses 206
6 Other Types of Syntactic Analysis 208
6.1 Passive Structures 208
6.2 Relational Analysis 209
6.3 Functional Analysis 212
Summing Up 213
Key Terms 213
Notes 214
Sources 215
Recommended Reading 216
Appendix: How to Build Tree Strnctures 216
Questions 220
For tile Student Linguist: "Backwards" 225

six

1
INTERFACES 229
Morphology and .Phonology 229
1.1 Morphophonemic Rules 230
1.2 Deriving Allomorphs 230
1.3 Conditioned Allomorphs 230
1.4 Conditioning by Morphological Class 233
1.5 Abstract Underlying Representations 234
2 Phonology and Syntax 235
2.1 English Stress 235
2.2 Embedded Compound Stress 236
3 Morphology and Syntax 237
Summing Up 241
Key Terms 241
Sources 242
Recommended Reading 242
Questions 242

seven

SEMANTICS: THE ANALYSIS OF MEANING 245

1 The Nature of Meaning 245
1 . 1 Semantic Relations among Words 246
xii CONTENTS

1.2 Semantic Relations Involving Sentences 248

1.3 What Is Meaning? 249
2 The Conceptual System 252
2 . 1 Fuzzy Concepts 252
2.2 Metaphor 254
2.3 The Lexicalization of Concepts 255
2.4 The Grammaticization of Concepts 258
3 Syntax and Sentence Interpretation 260
3.1 Structural Ambiguity 260
3.2 Thematic Roles 262
3.3 The Interpretation of Pronouns 267
4 Other Factors in Sentence Interpretation 270
4 . 1 The Role of Beliefs and Attitudes 271
4.2 Setting 272
4.3 Discourse 273
4.4 Conversational Strategies 275
Summing Up 277
Key Tenns 278
Sources 278
Recommended Reading 279
Questions 280
For the Student Linguist: "Elvis's Biggest Fan Cleans Out Bank-
Accomplice Launders tile Dough" 285

eight
HISTORICAL LINGUISTICS: THE STUDY OF
LANGUAGE CHANGE 289
l The Nature of Language Change 289
1.1 Systematicity of Language Change 290
1.2 Causes of Language Change 291
.
2 Sound Change 293
2.1 Sequential Change 294
2.2 Segmental Change 301
2.3 Auditorily Based Change 301
2.4 Phonetic versus Phonological Change 302
2.5 Explaining Phonological Shift 304
2.6 Sound Change and Rule Ordering 305
3 Morphological Change 306
3.1 Addition of Affixes 306
3.2 Loss of Affixes 307
3.3 From Synthetic to Analytic to Synthetic 309
3.4 Analogy 309
3.5 Reanalysis 310
 )
C O NTENTS xiii

4 Syntactic Change 311 )

4.1 Word Order 311
314 J
)
4.2 Inversion in the History of English
5 Lexical and Semantic Change 314
5.1 Addition of Lexical Items 314
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)
5.2 Loss of Lexical Items 318
5 . 3 Semantic Change 318
)
6 The Spread of Change 320
6.1 Diffusion through the Language 320
6.2 Spread through the Population 322 )
)
7 Language Reconstruction 323
7 . 1 Comparative Reconstruction 323
7.2 Techniques of Reconstruction 325 ,)
7.3 Internal Reconstruction 330
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7.4 The Discovery of Inda-European 331
7.5 Reconstruction and Typology 334
)
8 Language Change and Naturalness 335

)
Summing Up 337
Key Terms 337
338
)
Notes
I Sources 338
Recommmded Reading 339 )
)
Questions 340

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nine

THE CLASSIFICATION OF LANGUAGES 347

1 Some Preliminaries 347 )
1.1 Dialect and Language 347 _)
1.2 Types of Classification 348
2 Typological Classification 349 )
2.1 Phonology 350 _)
2.2 Morphology 355
2.3 Syntax 357 )
2.4 Explaining Universals 361 )
[ 3 Genetic Classification 364
3.1 The Inda-European Family 365 )
3.2 Some Other Families 369 )
3.3 North, Central, and South America 378
381
)
3.4 Language Phyla
Sw11mi11g Up 383 )
383
)
Key Terms
Sources 383
Reco111111e11ded Reading 384 )
385
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Questiom

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xiv C O N T E N TS

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ten

PSYCHOLINGUISTICS: THE STUDY OF LANGUAGE "'f

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1
PROCESSING 389
) Methods of Psycholinguistic Research 389
) 1 . 1 Slips of the Tongue 390
1 .2 Experimental Methods: Words in the Mind 391
.. ) 1.3 Experimental Methods: Sentence Processing 394
) 1 .4 Brain Activity: Event-Related Potentials 396
2 Language Processing and Linguistics 398
.) 2.1 Phonetics and Phonology 398
) 2.2 Morphological Processing 401
2.3 Syntax 403
) 3 Putting It All Together: Psycholinguistic Modeling 407
) Summing Up 409
Key Terms 410
j Sources 410
_) Recommended Reading 412
Questions 412
_)
.J eleven

.) BRAIN AND LANGUAGE

1
4.15
.) The Human Brain / 415
416
.J 1 . 1 The Cerebral Cortex
1.2 The Cerebral Hemispheres 416
) 1.3 The Lobes of the Cortex 419
,_) 2 Investigating the Brain 420
2.1 Autopsy Studies 420
J 2.2 Images of the Living Brain 421
.) 2.3 Learning from Hemispheric Connections and Disconnections 423
3 Aphasia 424
) 3 . 1 Nonfluent Aphasia 425
427
.) 3.2 Fluent Aphasia
4 Acquired Dyslexia and Dysgraphia 428
) 4.1 Reading and Writing Disturbances in Aphasia 429
) 4.2 Acquired Dyslexia as the Dominant Language Deficit 429
5 Linguistic Theory and Aphasia 430
) 5 . 1 Features, Rules, and Underlying Forms 430
) 5.2 Agrarnmatism 431
5.3 Function Words 431
J
5.5 Agrammatism in Other· Languages
5.4 The Loss of Syntactic Competence 432
432
), 6 Where ls Language? 433
) Summing Up 434
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 CONTENTS xv

Key Terms 434

Sources 435
Recommended Reading 435
Questions 435

tw e l v e

437
1
LANGUAGE ACQUISITlON: THE EMERGENCE OF A GRAMMAR
The Study of Language Acquisition 437
1.1 Methods 438
2 Phonological Development 439
2.1 Babbling 440
2.2 The Developmental Order 441
2.3 Early Phonetic Processes 442
2.4 Production versus Perception 444
3 Morphological Development 444
3.1 A Developmental Sequence 445
3.2 Allomorphic Rules 447
3.3 Word Formation Rules 448
4 Syntactic Development 448
4.1 The One-Word Stage 449
4.2 The Two-Word Stage 449
4.3 The Telegraphic Stage 450
4.4 Later Development 452
i·
5 Semantic Development 454
I 5.1 The Acquisition of Word Meaning 455
5.2 Spatial and Dimensional Terms 457
5.3 The Interpretation of Sentence Structure 458
6 Determinants of Language Acquisition 460
6.1 The Role of Imitation and Correction 460
6.2 The Role of Adult Speech 462
6.3 The Role of Cognitive Development 464
6.4 The Role of Inborn Knowledge 465
6.5 Is There a Critical Period? 467
Summing Up 468
Key Terms 468
Sources 469
Recommended Reading 471
Questions 471

t h i rt e e n

475
1
SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
The Study of Second Language Acquisition 476
1.1 The Role of the First Language 476
xvi CONTENTS

1 .2 The Role of the Second Language 477

1.3 The Nature of an Interlanguage 478
1 . 4 The Final State 479
1 . 5 Variation in Performance 481
2 Inter�anguage Grammars 482
2. 1 L2 Phonology 483
2.2 L2 Syntax 488
2.3 L2 Morphology 492
3 Factors Affecting SLA 494
3.1 Age 494
3.2 Individual Differences 496
3.3 The Good Language Learner 498
4 The L2 Classroom 499
4.1 Modified Input 499
4.2 Modified Interaction 500
4.3 Focus on Form 500
4.4 Bilingual Education 501
Summing Up 503
Key Terms 504
Sources 504
Recommended Rending 505
Appendix: L2 Pedagogy 505
Questions 506

fourt een
LANGUAGE IN SOCIAL CONTEXTS 509
1 Fundamental Concepts 509
2 Social Differentiation of Language 511
2.1 Social Stratification 511
2.2 Other Ways of Studying Social Differentiation 512
2.3 Social Differentiation of �nglish 514
2.4 Language and Gender 517
2.5 Euphemism 520
2.6 Slang 521
2. 7 Jargon and Argot 523
2.8 Politics and Language 525
3 Regional Differentiation of Lan guage 527
3 . 1 Methods 527
3.2 English in North America 529
4 Mixed Languages 531
4.1 Pidgins 532
4.2 Creoles 533
5 Speech Situations 536
5 .1 Register 538
 )
CONTENTS xvii )
)
5.2 Forms of Address 540
5.3 Discourse and Text 542 )
S11111ming Up S44 )
Key Ter111s S4S
Sources S46 )
Recommended Reading S47
)
Questions S48
For the Student Linguist: "Wilen Language Goes Bad" S49 �
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fifteen
WHITING AND LANGUAGE 553 )
,)
1 Types of Writing SS3

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1 . 1 Logographic Writing 554
1.2 Phonographic Writing S54
2
)
The History of Writing SSS

)
2 .1 Prewri ting S5S
2.2 Pictograms SS6

.)
3 The Evolution of Writing SS7
3 . 1 Rebuses and the Emergence of Writing SS8
3.2 Towards Syllabic Writing SS9 )
3.3 Another Middle Eastern Writing System: Hieroglyphics S60
3.4 The Emergence of Alphabets S61
)
3.S Other Developments, East and West S64 J
4 Some Non-European Writing Systems
_)
S67

)
-!.1 Chinese Writing S67
4.2 Japanese Writing S69

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4.3 Korean Writing S71

_)
4.4 American Scripts S72
4.S Some African Scripts 574

)
4.6 Some Indian Scripts S7S
5 English Orthography S76
5.1 Irregularities S76 .)
S.2 Obstacles to Reforrn
)
578
6 Writing and Reading S81
Su111111ing Up S82 )
)
Key Terms S83
Sources S83
Recommended Reading S84 )
_)
Questions SSS

sixteen J

587
)
Al'it:'llAL
)
\.OMi'lllJNIL\TION
Nonvocal Communication
)
SSS

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 )

) xviii CONTENTS
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2 Communication Structure: The Study of Signs 589
) 2.1 Signs 589
) 2.2 Types of Signs 591
2.3 Sign Structure 593
) 2.4 A View of Animal Communication 596
) 3 The Bees 597
3.1 The System 597
) 3.2 Bees and Humans 599
) 4 The Birds 600
4.1 Bird Vocalization 600
) 4.2 Birds and Humans 602
) 5 Nonhuman Primates 603
5 . 1 Some Functions of Nonhuman Primate Communication 605
) 5.2 Prosimian Communication 605
) 5.3 Monkeys 606
5.4 Gibbons, Orangutans, and Chimpanzees 608
) 6 Testing Nonhuman Primates for Linguistic Ability 609
.J 6.1 Some Experiments 610
6.2 Nonsigning Experiments 611
_)- 6.3 The Clever Hans Controversy 612
J 6.4 The Great Ape Debate 613
6.5 Implications 616
) 7 Comparing Communication Systems: Design Features 617
) 7 .1 The Features 617
S11mmi11g Up 621
) Key Terms 621
) Picture Credits 622
Sources 622
) Recommended Reading 623
) Questions 624

)
seve n tee n
)
) COMPUTATIONAL LINGUISTICS 627
1 Computational Phonetics and Phonology
)
629
1 . 1 The Talking Machine: Speech Synthesis 629
) 1.2 Speech Recognition or Speech Analysis 633
2 Computational Morphology
l.)
634
2.1 Morphological Processes 634
) 2.2 Some Problems in Computational Morphology 637
3 Computational Syntax
)
' 638

644
3.1 Natural Language AI')�lysis 639
) 3.2 Natural Language Generation
4 Computational Lexicology
)
646

I· )
5 Computational Semantics 650
 C O N TENTS xix

5 . 1 Pragmatics 653
6 Practical Applications of Computational Linguistics 654
6.1 Indexing and Concordances 654
6.2 Information Access and Retrieval 656
6.3 Machine Translation 656
6.4 Speech Recognition 658
6.5 Speech Synthesis 659
S11mming Up 660
Key Terms 660

Q11estions
Recommended Reading 661
661
For tile Student Ling11ist: "011e Second" 663

Glossary 666
Language Index 694
Index 698