ED 021 215 24 AL 001 319 By- Smith Henry Lee, Jr.; Sustakoski, Henry J
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I DOCUMFNT RFSUMF ED 021 215 24 AL 001 319 By- Smith Henry Lee, Jr.; Sustakoski, Henry J. A LINGUISTIC APPROACH TO ENGLISH. VOLUME TWO. REVISED EDITION. State Univ. of New York, Buffalo. Dept. of Anthropology and Linguistics. Spans Agency- Office of Education (DHEW), Washington, D.C. Bureau of Research Report No- CRP-1856 Bureau No-BR-5-0668 Pub Date Feb 65 Note- 256p. EDRS Price MF-$1.00 HC-$10.32 Descriptor s-*ENGLISH, HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS, *INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIAL& *LINGUISTIC& PRONUNCIATION, SECONDARY GRADES, SEMANTICS, SPELLING, SYNTAX This high-school students' handbook on linguistics and the English language is the second of a two-volume series (see AL 001 318). This revised edition does not follow the order of table of contents in Volume I, but consists of the following units--(1) pronunciation and spelling, (2) syntax, (3) punctuation and suprasegmentals,and (4) meaning and usage. A glossary of linguistic termsconcludes this volume. (AMM) U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION & WELFARE OFFICE OF EDUCATION THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRODUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM THE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGINATING IT.POINTS OF VIEW OR OPINIONS STATED DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT OFFICIAL OFFICE OF EDUCATION POSITION OR POLICY. A LINGUISTIC APPROACH TO ENGLISH Revised Edition VOLUME TWO February 1965 ._,.........____ EDO 21215 IL 001 3 1 0 Prepared by the BUFFALO ENGLISH LINGUISTICS PROJECT Henry Lee Smith* Jr. Henry J. Sustakoski Principal Investigators Department of Anthropology and Linguistics State University of New York at Buffalo Buffalo* New York 14214 BOOK NUMBER NAME SCHOOL TEAC:IER A LINGUISTIC APPROACH TO ENGLISH Revised Edition, ; VOLUME TWO February 1965 Prepared by the BUFFALO ENGLISH LINGUISTICSPROJECT Henry.Lee Smith, Jr. Henry J. Sustakoski Principal Investigators Department of Anthropologyand Linguistics State University of New Yorkat Buffalo Buffalo, New York 14214 UNIT EIGHT PRMIUNCIATION AND SPELLING Introduction 8,1. The Nature of Writing Systems. Although the main topic of this text has been a single system of human communication -- language -- we have mentioned and briefly discussed two other types of communication which go hand in hand with language, These are paralanguage and kinesics. Together these three systems form what has been called the SPEECH PACKAGE. We can not, however, neglect a fourth very important human communica- tion system -- writing. In introducing this fourth communication system, we.must be careful to distinguish it from the systems in the Speech Package, for people often confuse writing and the speech Package, referring to them as though they were just parts of the same thing. How often do we hear and use the term "spoken language" versus "written language;" yet writing is not language in any sense of the term. It is, rather, a means of representing language by means of visual symbols. Some writing systems use visual symbols to represent the phonemes of the language, others represent larger units of 11inguistic form, such as morphemes -- the Chinese writing system does this, In no instance, however, does a writing system represent every linguistic signal of a language. .Writing comes as:close as it can to presenting a visual pic- ture of language, but it' never completely succeeds -- at least not in any known system of writing. 8.2. Graphemes. The individual written symbols which stand for linguistic units are called graphs, in, much the same way that the individual sounds of a language are called,phones:" meaningful combinations of these symbols are called graphemes, in muckthe same way that meaningful cam- binations of phones are called phonemes. Essentially the same factors are involved in defining the grapheme aS are involved in defining the phoheme,. Each'grapheme must contrast_with all other graphemes"; 'each grdpheme must consist of allographs in complementary distribution. The criteria of visual similarity and pattern congruity are not quite as important, however. The grapheme p in English, for instance, has the -sllographs 2 randt'pp, each used,in specific environments within a written 'form; The graphemep contrasts. with all the other graphemes of the English alphabet as well. In this Unit we'will discuss the g:aphemes of English and their allographs, pointing out the environmex s in which each allograph is used and the linguistic unit that.each grapheme stands for. VIII-2 The Writing System of Modern English 8.3. The Sources of the English Writing SyStem. The English writing system is a complex thing° Though the actual alphabetic symbols ultimately stem from the Phoenician alphabet through Greek and Latin adaptations, there is much more that must be said about the linguistic units that these alphabetic symbols refer to. , As. you know from your earlier study of the history of the English language,,there are essenially three mpin periods that may be marked off in the development of the language° The first ii the period of Old English, beginning on the mainland of Western Europe and continuing in Great Britain after the invasion of that island by the Ang10-Saxon people. The second major epoch is the period of the Norman Invasion and MiddleEngliSh, bes. ginning in 1065 A.D. and continuing up to approximately-4500. The third' major period is the period of modern English and the consolidation of Great Britain as a single political and social entity. These three major'periods of English history and development of the. English language are mirrored in our writing ,system. When Old English came to be written -- probably roughly around 700 A.D, -- specific alphabetiO' symbols from the'Latift alphabet wem adapted forsuse in re- presenting specific'phoftemes in Old English. As writing,spread in the Old EnglishLspeaking area and as it became part of, the pattern of educated life, problems drOde: Different .dialects of Old EngliSh used-aifferen't phOnemes in what were essentially .thesame words. Susch phonemic differences were not so great, however, that the speaker of one 4aleet could not understand the speaker of another. The differences were-,about of the same type as we find in a southern dialect pronunciation and a Northeastern dialect pronunciation today.. The problem that arose in Old English times concerned the Sp.elling of such mutually understandatile-yet.phonemi.cally different WOrds, Since the principle Of the'uriting system was to represent ei.ch phOneme'bya written symbol, Such identical words would be spelled differently.in different dialects, It would-Jac as though the North,easterner spelled houde as haws while the Southerner spelled .it hews.When applied to the totality of such similar-yet-different words, the net result ould be a diffft,lng system for eachdialect, The Old .English scribds_solved this problem in a very simple manner -- probably so siMple that they thqmselves were not consCious of what they were doing in many cases, instead.'of4using a single written symbol to stand for each phoneme of the language, they soon began to use a single symbol for each equation of phonemes from dialect to dialect.The /aw/-/ew/ equation would be written in a single manner, which might bc pronounced /awl or jewrdepending.upon the dialect of the reader.In short, Old English scribes began to write morphophonically, not phonemically. To this day this is the principle of the English writing system-- indeed, it is the principle of almost all alphabetic writing systems throughout the world.Our alphabetic symbols do not stand for phone-mes; they stand for morphophones, . sot After the Norma'n French invasfon of England in 1066 under William the Conquerbr, English and French existed side by sideas official lan- guages,French, however, was the preferred language of public life, and many native English speakers became bilingual in order to function properly and acceptably in English society.As the years and centuries moved on, however, the English language itself became changed. 'Not only' did the phonemic system of Old English undergo changes, but eompletenew vo- cabulary items were borrmed whole-cloth by the thousands fromNorman Fi'ench, -By the 1500'sIspoken English wouldno longer have been recogniz- able.to the English-speaker of the 100Q's..-The new. language -- which essentially it was-- was Middle English.Basically native English in sound and'syntax, it was fifty.percentor more Norman French morphemically. Since, writing7 - was.wellwentrertched by the timeso the French invaSion, the new No'rman French morphemicitems became, of course, not .only part of the spoken language, butalso part of the writing system.However, the system used to write these, borrowed.morphemes andthe words formed from the.m.was not thesame.as had. been used. for writing.native English words. The.writing_.,sy.stem used for theseIntt'S.-waS' tlirrIfingsystem of French, which Was in some. importantrespects:quite-different from that used in Old English'.xative English 1,:ords,.however., continued to be written in the Old system.By 15002 then, we had not only a new hybrid language, but alsoa hybrid writing system part native aiglish, part Norman French, During this same time 'p'eriod French ceased being the official educated language.Writers such as Chaucer helped displace French and bring about a rep_irn to..use of Eaglishas: the standard national language on all level S of'. society.At the..same: time, ties. with. the French mainland were politiCally weakened, and by thp..1600's Englandwas again, as it had been. ifi Saxon times;a self-sufficient social entity. °. Düring the periOd of Britain's nationalamergence and gradual colonial spread, the language also continuedto change.As it changed and as more writers continued to comp.ose:in th6 writiag sS7stem also Changed, By the 1700's a third spelling.system :had developed; .rt successfully attempted to establish specific morphophonic values-foxeadh a'lPhabetic symbol.This system of spelling is still theone in use-today with only a feW minor changes, To sum up the.