Lingua inglese 2

LINGUA INGLESE 2, 2022-2023

6/7.10.2022 LINGUISTICS and GRAMMAR

Linguistics

the scientific study of language.

➔ synchronic vs diachronic

◆ theoretical vs applied

◆ microlinguistics vs macrolinguistics

◆

Grammar

the set of principles or rules by which a language, one communication system, works.

➔ It is the systematic description of the features of a language which comprise:

➔ phonology (sound);

◆ morphology (system of word formation);

◆ syntax (patterns of word arrangement);

◆ semantics (meaning).

◆

PRESCRIPTIVE VS DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMARS

The definition of principles depends on the view one adopts and on the purposes of the

➔ analysis.

Depending on the grammarian’s approach, a grammar can be:

◆ ● prescriptive (i.e., provide rules for correct usage)

● descriptive (i.e., describe how a language is actually used)

● generative (i.e., provide instructions for the production of an infinite number

of sentences in a language)

Prescriptive grammars dictate how people ‘should’ use the language.

➔ “A prescriptive grammar is essentially a manual that focuses on constructions where

◆ usage is divided, and lays down rules governing the socially correct use of language.”

(Crystal, David, How Language Works)

Descriptive grammar is a set of rules about language based on how it is actually used.

➔ In descriptive grammar there is no right or wrong language.

◆ ● “A descriptive grammar describes the form, meaning and use of grammatical

units and constructions in a language without making any evaluative

judgements about their standing in society” (Crystal, David, How Language

Works)

SOME EXAMPLES

Consider the following examples of conversational English:

➔ Who did you give it to?

I wish I was rich.

I expect to shortly welcome him here.

● How would you judge these grammatical choices? Are they correct or not?

NO, they aren’t.

Prescriptive grammar would argue that:

➔ ▪ whom should be used when the pronoun refers to a human and functions as the

◆ Object of the clause or as Complement > Whom did you give it to?

▪ were should be used to indicate the Subjunctive verb form > I wish I were rich.

◆ ▪ an infinitive should never be split > I expect to welcome him here shortly.

◆

A descriptive grammar describes what the speakers/writers of a language do actually say, and

➔ makes assessments about appropriacy or inappropriacy of language use in specific contexts.

Some choices are indeed appropriate in certain contexts and inappropriate in other

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LINGUA INGLESE 2, 2022-2023

MORE ON DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR

In order to describe a language, descriptive grammarians take variables such as the following

➔ into account:

▪ region (e.g. AmEng vs. BrEng)

◆ ▪ social group (e.g. educated vs. uneducated speakers)

◆ ▪ register of discourse (e.g. Field, Tenor, Mode)

◆ ▪ medium (spoken or written) ▪ genre ▪ attitude (degrees of formality)

◆ FIELD – TENOR – MODE

The context of situation consists of three components:

➔ FIELD

◆ ● Field refers to the social action taking place (what the participants in a

communicative event are engaged in) and the subject-matter of a text

(basically, what the text is about). The study of “valency patterns” will help

us explore Field.

TENOR

◆ ● Tenor refers to the roles and relationships – social, intellectual, etc. – between

the interactants engaged in a communicative event. It deals with and explains

degree(s) of formality, attitude and stance of the addresser to the message,

and speech roles. Linguistically, it can concern the use of polite expressions

and “modality”.

MODE

◆ ● Mode refers to the nature of the communication. It investigates the role

played by language, the channel of communication (e.g., spoken, written,

written to be spoken, written to be spoken as if not written, etc.), the

organization of the text, and the rhetorical mode.

LINGUISTIC CORPORA

A linguistic corpus is a collection of texts or text extracts that have been put together to be

➔ used as a sample of a language or language variety.

It consists of texts that have been produced in natural contexts (published books,

◆ ordinary conversations, letters, newspapers, lectures etc.), which means it mirrors

natural language.

A well-composed corpus can be used to answer questions about language use, such as:

➔ Does 'wicked' generally mean 'good' or 'bad'? Has this meaning changed over time?

◆ Does the use differ between different kinds of text? Do different (kinds of) speakers

◆ use the word in the same way?

A reference corpus (created to be a balanced sample of a language variety) can be used as

➔ the basis of comparison between a text/genre and standard language.

Specialized corpora can be used to examine or compare different language varieties, such as

➔ language from a particular area, covering a certain genre or text type, produced by particular

language users, etc.

Corpora can be

➔ synchronic (covering one time)

◆ diachronic (covering several time periods)

◆ consist of different media (written or spoken language)

◆ be composed of different languages.

◆

Annotated corpora have extra information added, usually linguistic information

➔ (part-of-speech, lemmata) or metadata (information about the material in the corpus,

speakers/authors, situation, extra-linguistic information).

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LINGUA INGLESE 2, 2022-2023

DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR AND

THE CORPUS

A Corpus-based grammar offers an analysis of “lexicogrammatical patterns”, that is, it brings together

➔ the study of grammar and vocabulary.

When people use language, they bring together their knowledge of word behaviour (lexis) with their

➔ knowledge of grammatical patterns. A view of language which brings together the study of English

syntax with the study of lexis/vocabulary is called lexicogrammar.

The Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English (Biber et al. 2002):

➔ • is based on a large corpus (40 million words)

◆ • offers real examples

◆ • deals with language variation with 4 core registers (academic prose; conversation; fiction

◆ writing; newspaper writing) from both American and British conversations and written texts

• covers preference and frequency

◆ • gives interpretations of frequency

◆

STYLE GUIDES

A style guide is a book or set of documents that gives a set of rules for writing and presenting a text

➔ that is going to be published.

Its main goal is to provide and maintain consistency and uniformity within a piece of text, as

◆ well as across a range of internal and external publishing platforms, both printed and digital.

For example, a style guide tells you when to use single and double quote marks, and when to

◆ use capital letters and when not to.

● It covers hundreds of things that can be expressed or formatted in more than one way.

CONSISTENCY: SOME EXAMPLES

1) The following is the sort of flawed sentence one sees and hears a lot these days: The staff is deciding

➔ how they want to vote.

Consistent: The staff are deciding how they want to vote.

◆ ● The preceding sentence would read even better as: The staff members are deciding

how they want to vote.

2) Take the phrase: nine o'clock in the morning.

➔ This can be expressed in the following ways: 9am. / 9 a m. / 9 a.m. / 9AM. / 9 A.M. / 9

◆ o’clock in the morning. / 0900 hours.

● These are all correct, but they are all different.

● And, if the phrase is expressed in different ways in the same piece of text, or in the

same publication, business or website, it will look unprofessional.

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LINGUA INGLESE 2, 2022-2023

GRAMMATICAL UNITS

MORPHEMES

A morpheme is the smallest grammatical unit of speech.

➔ Variants of a morpheme are called allomorphs.

➔ For example: the ending -s, indicating plural in “cats,” “dogs,” the -es in “dishes,” and the -en

◆ of “oxen” are all allomorphs of the plural morpheme.

• Derivational suffixes transform words into different parts of speech (e.g., -ful / -ness / -less / -ly).

➔ • Inflectional suffixes indicate aspects of the grammatical function of a word, such as a plural (e.g., -s /

➔ -es / -en) or possessive form (’s).

WORD CLASSES

PHRASES

A PHRASE is a group of words without a subject-verb component, used as a single part of speech.

➔ For each class of lexical word, there is a major phrase type with an example of that class as

◆ the head (obligatory word).

● NOUN PHRASES > e.g., two trees; the family next door; any valuable information

which you might retain

● VERB PHRASES > e.g., (he) has been doing; (you) are; (The most interesting book

I) have (ever) read

● ADJECTIVE PHRASES > e.g., guilty (of a serious crime); (I am) mad (about you);

(that’s) right

● ADVERB PHRASE > e.g., (Please listen) carefully; (See you) soon

● PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE* > e.g., (I am mad) about you; (he worked) in a shop

*all prepositional phrases contain a noun phrase known as prepositional complement

CLAUSES

A CLAUSE is a group of words containing a subject and verb.

➔ There are independent and dependent clauses.

◆

A VERB PHRASE is the key element of a clause.

➔ The valency of the verb controls the kinds of element that follow it.

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LINGUA INGLESE 2, 2022-2023

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