Core Lecture Linguistics Approaches to the word Summer

Core Lecture Linguistics Approaches to the word Summer Term 2004 http: //www. univie. ac. at/Anglistik/core 2

A word? tree Ceci n‘est pas un mot.

brilliant

[ æ l ] [ ækt l ] [ ækt l ] / ækt l / [ æktj l ]

GRAND LEG SEIZE OURS John From Boston Super leg! Touch mine! ? ? Jean de Paris Great Legacy! Sixteen Bears! ? ?

Classifying English vowels on textual/behavioural grounds

Classifying English vowels on textual/behavioural grounds

Classifying English vowels on textual/behavioural grounds line – linear serene – serenity explain – explanatory Front /a. I/ – /I/ /i: / - /e/ /e. I/ – /æ/ abundant – abound verbosity – verbose Back / / – /a / / / - / /

[pi: z] [pi: s] /s/ : /z/ [twəzaivn] It was Ivan [twəst m] It was Tom /w z/

i[n] Austria i[m] Poland i[ŋ] Kenya {in}

[phit] pit [phw t] pot [phw p ] pop [phw t] port [p, phw , ph , p ] /p/ [phit] pit [phit ] [ph ] [t, , t ] /t/ [kh k ] kick [kh , k ] /k/ fool [fu : ] [fu w] [fu l ] /fu l/ [s n] /n/ [s ] / / [ n] / n/ [ n t l rnt] / n/ [i k mp tnt] / n/ [ k] / nk/, / k/? What phoneme?

[d v]

evidence of I-language/competence

The mind as a computer (1) • Linguistic competence is a mental tool for translating meaning into sound and vice versa. (if you know what you want to say, your ‚competence‘ will compute a text automatically) • Problem: meaning is extremely difficult to define, to describe or even to measure in non-subjective terms

The mind as a computer (2) • Human memory is limited • Humans are creative when they speak and can deal with novelty • Humans can always distinguish utterances that are in their language from such that are not. • Assumption: language is like a logical production system

Logical Production Systems (Components) • Produce symbol strings (Theorems) • Contain: (a) Axioms (b) Production rules Axioms: #, & Production Rules: # ### ## & Theorems: #, &, ###, #&, &#, . . . No Theorems: *##, *&&, *##&

intended meaning interpretor/translator syntactic generator mental dictionary form x / meaning a form y / meaning b. . pronouncation/reception component articulators/ears utterance / text

S NP VP VP VGp NP VGp V Aux NP (Det) N Aux Tns Past S NP VP VGp V Det N NP Aux Tns Det N Past The people enjoy ed the show.

The Generative Assumption: lexicon entries = axioms surface strings = theorems What is the best production system? Hypothetical answer: The most economical one! Types of Phonological Rules A B / X Y /fu: l/ [fu: ] l / # [stop] [+aspirated] / V

EXERCISE:

/s/

/str/

/str/ - underspecified

kept as a regular verb

What about peeped then?

A classical solution Problem: circular and ad-hoc !!!

Lexical Phonology I bak+er, great+ness, home+less presid+ent, seren+ity, formid+able Free bases Bound bases No stress shifting Stress shifting No re-syllabication of liquids Re-syllabication of liquids Very productive Restricted productivity Semantically transparent Semantically opaque All kinds of roots Latinate roots

Lexical Phonology II home+less+ness tone ton+ic+ity tone ton+ic+ness home+less homelessity Stratum 0 Roots Stratum 1 Weird affixes, weird phonological processes Stratum 2 Natural affixes Words Postlexical Natural phonological processes, e. g. assimilations

Lexical Phonology III Strict Cyclicity Effect: Structure-changing cyclic rules apply in derived environments only (where a ‘derived environment’ is an environment created by either a morphological rule or a phonological rule on the same cycle). Elsewhere Condition: Rules A, B apply disjunctively to a form iff: (i) SDA is a proper subset of SDB; and (ii) SCA is distinct from SCB. In that case Rule A, applying first, blocks rule B.

Lexical Phonology IV

Natural Phonology I Ants Salmon Lion Pretty Bread Spoon Through [ats] [sabud] [zad] [bidi] [but] [bud] [dru: ] [fru: ]

Natural Phonology II Evidence: • Language acquisition • Language loss • Pidginisation • Language Change • Language variation • Frequency • Implicational hierarchies

Natural Phonology III Processes (automatic, innate) i[m] Poland Rules (have to be learnt) serenity General assumption: phonology serves the purpose of making language pronounceable and perceivable. Processes and rules are signs, and can work better or not so well.

Iconicity Icons Images + - Indexes Symbols Diagrams communicative/cognitive function expression of social identity +

l l n m Bi-Uniqueness

Pressures on the phonological sign Perceptual: Articulatory: Principle of least effort [x] Ease of perception /y/ Semiotic Iconicity / Prominence / Bi-uniqueness

Phonological Process Types Fortitions Foregrounding Strengthening Lenition Backgrounding Weakening Parameters Prosodic Position, Style, Speed, Register, Class, Social Setting External Evidence Language Change, Language Acquisition, Language Loss

Consonantal Strength Stops – Fricatives – Nasals – Liquids – Glides Vocalic ‘Strength’ Colour I U Sonority A

Classifying Phonological Processes 1. /m lk/ [m k] 2. [f ] vs. [f l ] 3. /fa nd/ [fa n] 4. /b d/ [b d] 5. /si / [s i] 6. /t a ld/ vs. / t ldr n/ 7. /s ri n/ vs. /s ren t / 8. /m s j / [m j ]

The morphological sign Morphotactic level Morphosemantic level /ple / /d/ {play} {past} BETTER /set/ {set} {past} WORSE

sight – sighted BEST play – played keep – kept sing - sang put – put read - read WORST

Peter regretted Harriet‘s early departure. Peter regretted the fact that Harriet had departed early. Peter regretted Harriet having departed early. Peter regretted Harriet’s departing early.

heart-breaking (O P-ing) grief home made (Ad. P P-ed) soup predidential (O) adviser presidential (S) refusal industrial (Ad. P) worker criminal (p. O) lawyer marginal (Ad. P) note

John eats an apple The apple is for eating The apple which is for eating apple

carri+age marri+age orphan+age cour+age seren+ity seren+ade morphosemantic transparency

Tomatoes grow. John grows tomatoes. The growth of tomatoes. *John‘s growth of tomatoes. The growing of tomatoes. John’s growing of tomatoes. John rejected the offer. The rejection of the offer. John’s rejection of the offer. The acceleration of the process.

Compounding Pseudo-Compounding Derivation Conversion Blending Clipping Onomatopoeia DETERMINANT - DETERMINATE

Backformation writer burglar burgle butcher *butch typewriter proofreader proofread

CONVERSION N cheat catch save lie stand sleep work play dance kill roar kick V word chair table house floor head door eye plant bottle can picture

Nominalisations -ant/-ent: contestant, claimant, participant, consultant ; solvent, detergent, lubricant -ate: professorate, syndicate -ation: purification, organization, clonization, adaptation -dom: kingdom, Christendom, boredom -ee: appointee, employee, transferee -eer: privateer, pamphleteer -er: baker, gambler, mixer, transmitter, reminder, thriller, tongue twister -ery: robbery, carpentry, masonry, swannery -ism: communism, -ity: conformity, serenity, opacity -y : laddie, kiddy, daddy -ess: lioness, priestess, neighbouress, teacheress, authoress, patroness -ette: kitchenette, undergraduette, sailorette -hood: priesthood, childhood, knighthood, maidenhood, -ing: boxing, skiing, -ist: humanist, americanist, novelist, mnotorist, cyclist -th: length, width, strength

Verbalisations -ate: hyphenate, mutate, confiscate, demarcate, illustrate -en: darken, brighten, lighten, madden, flatten -ize: atomize, -ify: Chomskify

Adjectivisations -able: -ary : -ate: -ed: -en: -ese: -esque: -fold : -ful : -ic: -ine: -ive: -like: -wise: lovable, laudable, readable, marriageable elementary, complementary, revisonary, evolutionary passionate, affectionate palefaced, five-fingered, forked, wretched wooden, golden, flaxen, linen Japanese arabesque, Kafkaesque, Garboesque twofold, . manifold careful, rightful, shameful, hasteful, merciful atomic, barbaric masculine, alpine, crystalline productive childlike examwise

serene - serenade wide - width (to) kill - (the) kill impress - impression bear - birth boat – boatswain / b sn/ waist, coat – waistcoat / wesk t/ sit – sitting (of an exam) bind – bond blitz – blitzlike kosher – kosherize Christ – Christmas moon, day – Monday Berlusconi – anti-Berlusconi mock, bird – mockingbird straw, berry – strawberry beat – (a) beating

denotation – connotation sentence meaning – utterance meaning – reference meaning – concept meaning – use meaning – truth lexical meaning – utterance meaning. . . meaning – text – speaker – listener – world

My sister would kill me (=be very angry with me) if she heard me say that. Lack of romance can kill a marriage. The doctor gave her some tablets to kill the pain. The two of them killed a bottle in one evening. We were killing ourselves laughing.

Logical approaches to meaning Snow is white is true, iff snow is white. John is a bachelor is true, if John is not married John is a bachelor is false, if John is not an adult. John is a bachelor is false, if John is not male.

+MALE + ADULT – MALE man woman stallion mare ram hue bull cow boy girl colt filly lamb calf

woman girl man boy + concrete + animate + human + adult – male + concrete + animate + human – adult – male + concrete + animate + human + adult + male + concrete + animate + human – adult + male

conceptual level / mentalese ? ? semantic level / logical forms GRAMMAR SURFACE FORMS

Mind frog World

Mind /fr g/ [fr g] World

Mind ? /fr g/ ? World

Mind /tri: / TREE ? World

signans observer signatum

? ? ? observer /tri: /

Optimality Theory

Language as a Darwinian System ¨ Replicators: NEURAL CELL ASSEMBLIES that acquire their identities from the way in which they are linked up with one another. They ‘represent’ linguistic elements from phonemes over words to syntactic constituents or concepts. They govern linguistic BEHAVIOUR and produce cultural artefacts, i. e. TEXTS. BRAINS come equipped with a propensity to make sense of their environment, including crucially texts. When they do so the neural networks of which they consist SELF-ORGANISE INTO structures that contain COPIES of the Cell Assemblies which originally produced the texts. Thereby the former have replicated. ¨ Imperfect Copying Fidelity inherent in the special type of replication. ¨ Differential Replication: Ease of production, ease of perception, learnability, usefulness. . . legions of well established factors ¨ External Limits on Sustainability: obvious limits on memory.

The G(enerate) -T(est) -R(egenerate) Cycle in cognitive development - - evaluation BRAIN feed back on + + decreases increases chance to regenerate assumes STATES generate EFFECTS on ENVIRON MENT STATES with a high chance of regeneration count as STABLE.

Replication in Neural Networks ORIGINAL COPY E A C D C A B D E B

Auditory Impressions Articulatory Gestures Tongue: [corona towards alveoles] [+voicing] Vocal folds: [+voice] [+strident] Airstream: [+egressive] [+consonantal] . . . /z/ Phone-Meme {was} {zoo} {-es} {busy} {. . . }

Devoicing of [z] in it was Tom: Vocal folds: [-voicing] [-voiced] Tongue: [corona towards alveoles] [+strident] Stricture: [close approximant] [+voiced] Airstream: [+egressive] [+consonantal] Vocal folds: [+voicing] [+continuant] /w/ /t/ /z/ /s/ {w z} {t m}

Know then your PARTS, avoid your SELF to scan, The least objective judge of MAN is MAN.