1. The lure of linguistics, and the glamour of grammar Richard Hudson Royal Grammar School, Guildford May 2014 1

2. My main points ‘Language’ includes English as well as Foreign Linguistics is the science of language Linguistics can be –interesting –surprising –useful –difficult 2

3. English: me or I? Which would you say? 1.You and I could do it together. 2.You and me could do it together. Why 2? –Bad grammar? “The two personal pronouns I and me are often used wrongly,....” (Oxford Dictionaries)personal pronouns And what about between you and I? –New grammar 3

4. Compare German and French Du und ich könnten es zusammen tun. –*!Dich und mich könnten es zusammen tun. Toi et moi nous pourrions le faire ensemble –*! Tu et je pourrions le faire ensemble. So maybe English is moving from German-like to French-like? –Because, like French, it’s lost ‘case’ 4

5. Why? Everyone: –I did it (not: *Me did it) Me: Use I for subjects You: Use I for subjects, except with and. Why prefer the more complicated rule? We don’t know. 5

6. Description or prescription? Why not proscribe me and prescribe I? –And proscribe French too? –Languages do change nor never none Shall mistress be of it to: nor shall any ever be mistress of it. Better: –Describe what people actually say and what others think of it –Try to understand: why they say it why other people object Shakespeare 6

7. Description to explanation description theory Why?What? Now for another puzzle about English 7

8. Verb paradigms: Latin am+omon+e+otrah+o am+a+smon+e+strah+i+s am+a+tmon+e+ttrah+i+t am+a+musmon+e+mustrah+i+mus am+a+tismon+e+tis ?? am+a+ntmon+e+nttrah+u+nt +a+ +e++i+ +o +s +t +tis +mus +nt trah+i+tis 8

9. And English: am + n’t = ? I amI am+n’tare+n’t I? you areyou are+n’tare+n’t you? she isshe is+n’tis+n’t she? we arewe are+n’tare+n’t we? you areyou are+n’tare+n’t you? they arethey are+n’tare+n’t they? +n’t am is are 9

10. Why? Maybe because of our logic? e.g. hats: –If sunny, then wear a sun hat –If cold, then wear a woolly hat –But: If both sunny and cold, then....? e.g. language: –too big:They have too big a car. (not: too big car) –plural: They have cars (not: a cars). –But: too big + plural: They have....? 10

11. The amn’t gap Similarly: –If after I, then: am –If before n’t, then: are –But: if both after I and before n’t, then...? NB This is the frontier of research! –So we need good description good arguments good theory 11

12. Linguistics Description is the method –science, not correction Explanation is the goal –science, not mere collection Includes: –synchrony – a statistic snapshot of language –diachrony – how language changes through time 12

13. Change: Etymology Etymology = study of historical links between words –fascinating! –e.g. Online Etymology Dictionary The Oxford English Dictionary –online –launched by linguists in the 19 th century For example, take glamour. 13

14. The facts 14

15. What's gramarye? 15

16. A complex history grammar 'writing skill' learning wizardry gramarie glamour flashy appeal 'corruption' means 16

17. Explanation: wanna Try these after He’s the man... Why? –Because want to > wanna only where they would normally be together –Compare: I want to meet him. > I wanna meet him. I want him to win it. [not: I wanna him win it] I want to meet.I wanna meet. I want to win it.I wanna win it. 17

18. So what? Linguistics studies language by –describing –explaining It studies written and spoken language. It studies words and sentences. It studies sounds, grammar and meaning. It studies all languages –and finds great diversity. 18

19. Diversity: mechanics How do you pronounce these? –Put the pizza/pasty in the oven. –I saw/see it. What’s going on? –We insert /r/ to separate vowels –when those vowels could historically be separated by /r/. Compare Beja –my PhD language 19

20. Beja: /j/ insertion Spoken in the N-E Sudan, not written tam+ta ‘she ate’na+ta ‘she spent the night’ tam+an ‘I ate’na+j+an ‘I spent the night added to separate /a+a/ 20

21. Diversity: organisation He likes it consists of –V - a verb likes –S - its subject he –O - its object it 6 orders are possible: VSO likes he itVOS likes it he SVO he likes itOVS it likes he SOV he it likesOSV it he likes 21

22. Word order typology Languages can be classified by preferred word order All possibilities have been found But some are very, very rare: O.. S The most common is.... –SOV (e.g. Latin, maybe German) –then SVO (e.g. English) –then VSO (e.g. Welsh) 22

23. Diversity: possible messages Accurate translation is impossible –because different languages permit different messages e.g. English has gone contrasts with went –He has gone to lunch vs He went to lunch. –‘present relevance’ So languages without this contrast can’t express ‘He has gone to lunch’. 23

24. Verbs of motion Translate into French (or Spanish): He walked into the room Not: Il a marché dans la chambre. But: Il est entré dans la chambre (en marchant). manner of movement direction of movement manner of movement 24

25. Linguistic relativity Different languages allow different messages. What effect does this have on the way we think? –Do we live in different mental worlds? –Or do we just communicate differently? 25

26. Applications of linguistics In IT: –predictive texting –Google translate Speech therapy Dictionary and grammar writing Language education –English, e.g. phonics, grammar –Foreign, e.g. course books 26

27. The difficulty of linguistics Language is complex –Arguably, the most complex structure in the universe! So we desperately need a good theory –But it’s hard to build a theory for such a complex object But the challenge is rewarding. 27

28. The Linguistics Olympiad The UK Linguistics Olympiad is like the Maths Challenge and Olympiad –except that it’s all about language Three levels –the Advanced level selects winners for Round 2 (residential) the UK team to the International Linguistics Olympiad Here’s a sample problem. 28

29. Ulwa (Nicaragua) 29

30. Zooming in on Ulwa -ni = "our (inc)" -ma = "your (sing)" -kana = "their" -mana = "your (plur)" 'infix' suffix 30

31. What’s going on in Ulwa? Why does a ‘possessive’ affix –sometimes appear at the end of a word, –and sometimes in the middle? The suffix follows the first long syllable –VV: diimuih + kana = diikanamuih –VVC: gaad + ni = gaadni Otherwise it follows the second syllable –CVCV: bilam + kana = bilamkana 31

32. Why not try it out? Try the Linguistics Olympiad –See www.uklo.org for (a lot) more.www.uklo.org Try Linguistics for your degree –on its own or with other subjects. Linguistics combines –the human interest of human language –the rigour of mathematics –the breadth of area studies –the usefulness of engineering –the challenge of sudoku and cross-word puzzles. 32