Slides for chapter 1: A language like English

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Doyousayaxeorask?
RandyCohen,“TheEthicist,”NewYorkTimes,Jan28,2007
thestoryofaks:
whenusedfor‘ask,’isitasignalofsocialorintellectualinferiority?amarkerof
race?ageographicalvariant?
metathesis:theswitchingoftheorderoftwoadjacentsounds:bird<OE
bridde;(also:anapron>anapronEd>Nedanadder>anadder)
InOldEnglish,acsianprecedes9thc.ascian;
bothformsco-existthru19thc.,inEnglandandUS(notedinNEngl)
bymid-20thc.[aks]hadbecomemarkedasasouthernisminUS,
thenasAfricanAmericansmigratednorth,[aks]becameassociatedwith
AAVE/AAE
thetwoformsarelinguis8callyequalandhistoricallyrelated;andcuriously,
thenow-s]gma]zedformseemstheearlierone.
Whatdoesthistellusaboutlanguagechange?
Rela7onofsoundtomeaning:
thesoundsin/ask/and/aks/arearbitrarilyassociatedwiththeword–
there’snointrinsicconnec7onbetweensoundandmeaning
[butwhataboutonomatopoeia?]
Wordsandthepowertohurt:
namecalling
namingtaboos:whenu`eringanameexposesthepersonnamedtoharm:
inthemedievalromancetale,Percivalcan’tbenamedbecauseitwillgive
hisenemiespoweroverhim
familynametaboos:uncleX,aun]eY,grandma
whenu`eringanameexposesthespeakertoharm:
theScodshplay
Voldemort
namingthedeity/thedevil
BadWords:TheKing’sSpeechvideo
GeorgeWashingtondisapproves
ofsoldiersswearing.
Here'stheEthicist'sreplytothatle`eraboutaxe:
Wasyourbossbrusque?Yes.Uncouth?Perhaps.Unkempt?Ican'tsay;I've
neverseenher.Racist?Ican'tsaythateither,andneithercanyou.There'snot
enoughinforma]on.Using''ax''inplaceof''ask''issome]mesdoneincasual
conversa]onbysomeAfrican-Americans,butitisdonebyothergroupsas
well.Sincethejobcallsforchitchatwithstatus-consciousclients,yourboss
mighthavebeenemphasizingtheimportanceoffindingsomeone--ofany
ethnicity--whospeaksstandardEnglishwithsufficienteasetocatertothe
tastes,reinforcetheprejudicesandstrokethevanityofyoursnobbish
customers(perhapssomeonenamedJeeves).Itispossiblethatyourbosswas
makingacodedallusiontorace,butabsentotherindica]onsofracismonher
part,shedeservesthebenefitofthedoubt.
UPDATE:Theques]onerwastakenoffthesearchforreasonsunrelatedtothis
conversa]on.Thecompanyhired''agirlfromQueens,''white,withaslight
regionalaccentandnoextraordinaryverbalsophis]ca]on.
IntheEthicistcolumn,RandyCohenrefersto“‘agirlfromQueens,’white,witha
slightregionalaccentandnoextraordinaryverbalsophis]ca]on.”Doesthis
“stereotype”meananythingtoyou?
Whatabout“NewYorkvalues”?
Whatisanaccent?Whohasone?
Howmuchofaccentisreal,howmuch,perceived?
RosinaLippi-Greencallslanguagethebackdoortodiscrimina]on
Haveyoubeendiscriminatedagainstbecauseofsomeaspectofyour
language?
Wecan’tchangelanguagelikewecanchangeourclothes,yetwe(onen
unconsciously)adaptourlanguagetothespeechofthosearoundus,aprocess
calledaccommoda8on.
languageisasystem:aconven]onalsystemofsignsthatallowsforthecrea]ve
communica]onofmeaning
conven]onal–weagreeuponcertainthings(tacitlymoreonenthanovertly)
system–rule-governed
sign–asignifierwithnoinherentmeaning+asignified,‘referent’
langue/parole;competence/performance:
Saussuretherela]onsamongsignsaresystema]c;langue,theabstract
systemoflanguage,isthekeytounderstandingthissystema]city;parole,the
actualproduc]onofwordsandu`erances,theconcreteformoflanguage,
onenmasksthesesystema]crela]onships
Chomskymorphedtheseconceptsintocompetencev.performance;headds
theno]onofthe“idealna]vespeaker”–Chomskyandhisschoolwantto
studythementalrulesthatcompriseourcompetence,nottheaccidentsof
performancethatareaffectedbytoomanynonlinguis]cvariables(mood,
externalnoise,simpleerror)
Linguis7cCrea7vity:
ourabilitytointerpretsentenceswe’veneverheardorseenbefore;andto
producesentencesthathaveneverbeenproducedbefore.
Inaddi]on,ourabilitytocreateaninfinitenumberofu`erancesfroma
fixedsetofgramma]calrules.(recursion)
Grammar:anambiguouswordwithatleasttwocurrentmeanings,
therulesofusage(politenessconven]ons)
andthelinguis]ccompetencethatallspeakerspossess:
alllanguageconstruc8onsthatconformtothesystema8crulesofa
languageandare,therefore,comprehensibletoanotherspeakerofthe
language.
Theexampleofmul]plenega]on:Idon’tgotnoneofthem.
Insteadofrightandwronginlanguage,weprefertothinkofgramma]cality/
acceptability.
Anu`erancemaybegramma]calbutnotacceptable.Examples?
Grammar,forlinguists,means
phonology:thesoundstructureofalanguage
morphology:thestructureofwords
syntax:thestructureofu`erances
seman]cs:howu`erancesmean.
pragma]csanddiscourseanalysis:howwemanagetocommunicatewith
language
stylis]cs:usually,literaryitbutcanincludeotherlanguageuses
sociolinguis]cs(alsodialectology):languageinitssocialsedng
Humanandanimalcommunica7on:
Welearngrammarwithoutdirectinstruc]on,aschildrenacquiringourlanguage;we
learnusagerulesinschool,aswell,buttheyaretheequivalentofe]que`eand
changeover]me.
languageissocial,requiringinput:humansacquirelanguageinspeech
communi]es
animalscommunicateinsetresponsestos]muli
humansexhibitdisplacement:wecanprojectforwardandbackwardin]me,and
thinkabstractly
humansalsoexhibitsepara]onaffect:dis]nguishingbetweenemo]onaland
factualcontentofmessages
weunderstandthatourlanguagehascombinableparts
humanlanguageisambiguous;animalcommunica]onisnot
wecantalkabouthowlanguageworks:metacogni]on(animalscan’tdistance
themselvesthewaywecan)
Languagechangesover7me:
itusedtobethoughtthatsomelanguagesdidn’tchange–Greek,for
example
andit’sfrequentlythoughtthatlanguagesshouldn’tchange,orthat
changeshouldbeslow,principled,anddirected
OldEnglishandModernEnglisharenotmutuallyintelligible
no]onoflanguagefamilies:dolanguages“descend”fromancestors?
howarelanguagesrelatedtooneanother?
howdoeslanguagechange?
Islanguagechangeprogressordecay?
somenewtermsthatearlier“experts”objectedto:
BenFranklindidn’tlikethenewverbsno8ce,advocate,progress;
FranklinwrotetoNoahWebstertogetthedic]onary-makertodosomethingabout
these
Coleridgeobjectedtotalented,onthegroundsthatthereisnoverb,totalent.
Other“new”19th-centurytermsthatcri]csdidn’tlike:icecream,scien8st,
telegram.
AmbroseBiercehatedrunabusinessandelectrocute
whataboutnewerterms:incen8vizeorthes]llnewer,incentasaverb?
Aretherenewwordsorphrasesthatyouobjectto?
Chooseyourownpronoun:
AndtheUniversityofTennesseePrideOfficesuggestsusinggender-neutral
pronouns:
Tennesseelawmakersreactangrilytothegender-neutralpronoun:
ratesoflanguagechangevary:
anertheNormaninvasion,Englishchangedrapidlythroughtheabsorp]on
ofFrenchvocabulary(buts]ll,thistookacoupleofhundredyearsto
happen).
languagesdonotchangetowardsomeul]mategoal:theydon’tbecome
simpler–evenwhensomepartofthelanguageseemstobecomemoreregular,
otherchangesleadtogreatercomplexity
somechangeistemporary—itdoesn’ts]ck
aresomechangesbe`erthanothers?
examplesof‘change’and‘varia7on’:
nucularfornuclear
De’troit>‘Detroit
mouse(musmusculus)>mouse(computerinputdevice)--what’sthe
plural?mice/mouses?
gay(inreftogenderorienta]on)fromneg.topos.;whatimpacthasthis
hadongay,‘merry’?
burglarappearsintheRenaissance,burgledatesfrom19thc.explain
Frenchfries>freedomfries
what’sthepluralofsyllabus?syllabi?syllabuses?
data?
media?
theno7onoflanguagedeath:didLa]ndieordiditsimplymorphintothe
romancelanguages?
WhathappenstoDurawhenitslastspeakersdie?
adtudestowardchange
languageasadap]veandsocial:itenableshumanstoliveingroups/results
fromhumanslivingingroups
Istheessen]alfunc]onoflanguagecommunica]on?
Whendoweuselanguagewithnointenttocommunicate?