>a^:i:>c ANmmODUCTION , TO THE STUDY OF LANGUAGE BY LEONARD BLOOMFIELD Ph. B., Assistant Professor of Compal'ative Philology and German in the University of Illinois ii^m^ NEW YORK HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2010 with funding from • University of Toronto http://www.archive.org/details/introductiontostOObloo TO a. &. ^. PEEFACE. Tliis little book is intended, as tlie title implies, for the general reader and for the student who is entering upon linguistic work. Jts purpose is the same, according- ly, as that of Whitney's Language and the Study of Lan- guage and TJie Life and Grouih of Language, books which fifty years ago represented the attainments of linguistic science and, owing to their author's clearness of view and conscientious discrimination between ascertained fact and mere surmise, contain little to which we cannot to- day subscribe. The great progress of our science in the last half-century is, I believe, nevertheless sufficient ex- cuse for my attempt to give a summary of what is now known about language. That the general reader needs such information as is here given was recognized by Whitney, who wrote, in the preface of his first-named book: 'It can hardly admit of question that at least so much knowledge of the na- ture, history, and classifications of language as is here presented ought to be included in every scheme of higher education.' While questions of a linguistic nature are everywhere a frequent subject of discussion, it is surpris- ing how little even educated people are in touch with the scientific study of language. I hope that my book will furnish a simple aid for those who choose to make up this deficiency in our scheme of general education Students whose vocation demands linguistic knowledge are subjected in our universities to a detached course or VI PREFACE two on details of the phonologic and morphologic history of such languages as Old English, Gothic, or Old French, — details which are meaningless and soon forgotten, if no instruction as to their concrete significance has pre- ceded. To this method of presentation is due, I think, the dislike which so many workers in related fields bear toward linguistic study. I hope that this essay may help to introduce students of philosophy, psychology, ethnol- ogy, philology, and other related subjects to a juster acquaintance with matters of language. In accordance with this twofold aim, I have limited myself to a presentation of the accepted doctrine, not even avoiding well-used standard examples. In a few places I have spoken of views that cannot claim more than probability, of hypotheses, and of problems yet to be solved, but I have done this explicitly and only be- cause I think it fitting to indicate the diiection in which our study is at present tending. Consequently the matter here presented is by no means my own, but rather the property of all students of language. It will be found in fuller form and with bibliographic support in the books mentioned in Chapter Ten, and these books I may there- fore name as my more immediate sources.^) It will be apparent, especially, that I depend for my psychology, general and linguistic, entirely on Wundt; I can only hope that I have not misrepresented his doctrine. The day is past when students of mental sciences could draw on their own fancy or on 'popular psychology' for their views of mental occurrence. L. B. 1) Of Sweet's Primer of Phonetics the first, and of Meillet's Introduction the second edition was used in compilation, but the later editions do not, I believe, differ materially as to any- thing here discussed. — CONTENTS. Psga CHAPTER I THE NATURE AND ORIGIN OF LANGUAGE. 1. Expressive movements 1 2. Gesture-language 4 3. Writing 7 4. Audible expressive movements 8 5. Development of language in the child 10 1'^ 6. The origin of language 7. Language constantly changing 16 8. Social character of language 17 CHAPTER n. THE PHYSICAL BASIS OF LANGUAGE. 1. Unconsciousness of speech-movements 18 2. Writing an imperfect analysis li> 3. The vocal chords 21 4. The velum 26 5. Oral articulation 27 6. Oral noise-articulations 28 7. Musical oral articulations 33 8. Infinite variety of possible sounds 38 9. Glides and mixtures of articulation 40 10. Syllables 4t 11. Stress 43 12. Pitch 61 ^"^ 13. Duration » 14. Limitation of articulations in each dialect 53 15. Automatic variations 54 Vni CONTENTS Page CHAPTER m. THE MENTIL BASIS OF LANGUAGE. 1. The place of language in our mental life 56 2. Total experiences 56 3. The analysis of total experiences 59 4. The naming of objects 63 5. The development of abstract words 65 6. Psychologic composition of the word 66 7. Grammatical categories 67 8. Psychologic character of the linguistic forms ... ,69 9. Psychologic motives of utterance . 70 10. Interpretation of the linguistic phenomena 71 CHAPTER IV. THE FORMS OF LANGUAGE. 1. The inarticulate outcry 73 2. Primary interjections 73 3. Secondary interjections 75 4. The arbitrary value of non-interjectional utterances . 77 5. The classifying nature of linguistic expression .... 82 6. Expression of the three types of utterance 90 7. The parts of utterances 92 8. The word: phonetic character 97 9. The word: semantic character 103 10. Word-classes 108 11. The sentence .. 110 CHAPTER V MORPHOLOGY. 1 The significance of morphologic phenomena .... 120 2. Morphologic classification by syntactic use (Parts of speech) 120 5. Classification by congruence 127 4. Phonetic-semantic classes IHl 6. Classes on a partially phonetic basis 136 6. Difference between morphologic classification and non- linguistic association 139 7. Classes by composition 140 CONTENTS IX Page 8. Derivation and inflection 140 9. The semantic nature of inflection: the commonest cate- gories 141 10. The semantic nature of derivation 150 11. The phonetic character of the morphologic processes . 151 12. Word-composition: semantic value 159 13. Word-composition not a phonetic process 16'2 14. Simple word: compound: phrase 165 CHAPTER YI. SliNTAX. 1. The field of syntax 167- 2. The discursive relations 168 3. The emotional relations 170 4. Material relations 171 5. Syntactic categories 174 6. The expression of syntactic relations: moduhition in the sentence 176 7. Cross-referring constructions 178 8. Congruence 180 9. Government 182 10. Word-order 186 11. Set phrases: the transition from syntax to style. 188- 12. The complex sentence 190 CHAPTER Vn. INTERNAL CHANGE IN LANGUAGE. 1. Language constantly changing 195 2. Causes of the instability of language 195 3. Change in articulation . 202 4. Analogic change . 221 6. Semantic change . , .... 237 6. The ultimate conditions of change in language . • ,251 CHAPTER Vni. EXTERNAL CHANGE OF LANGUAGES. 1. Language never uniform . 259 2. Increase of uniformity . 262 . X CONTENTS ' Page 3. Decrease of uniformity does not offset the increase. 263 4, Inferences from historic conditions 265 6. The process of differentiation 273 6. Deduction of internal history from related forms . 274 7. Interaction of dialects and languages . , . , . 280 8. Standard languages 288 CHAPTER IX. THE TEACHING OF LANGUAGES. 1. The purpose of foreign language instruction . , , • , 292 2. Character of the instruction . 293 3. Age of the pupil 295 4. Equipment of the teacher 297 5. Drill in pronunciation . 299 6. Method of presenting semantic material . 300 7. Grammatical information 30-2 8. Texts 304 9. References 305 CHAPTER X. THE STUDY OF LANGUAGE. 1. The origin of linguistic science . 307 2. How to study linguistics . 313 3. Relation of linguistics to other scie^ices 319 INDICES. 1 Authors, etc 326 2. Languages 327 3. Subject* 331 CHAPTER I. THE NATURE AND ORIGIN OF LANGUAGE. 1, Expressive moyements. In the animal world every mental process is accompanied by a corresponding phys- ical process. Some of these physical processes are express- ive movements. Investigation has shown that the express- ive movements are most directly co-ordinated with the emotional element that is present in every mental process. In man as well as in the lower animals it is primarily the intensity of the emotional element which appears in the expressive movements. Everyday observation recog- nizes the intensity of emotion of monkeys, dogs, or birds and even of such distant forms as the ant or the fly. In man and in the animals nearer to man a mild emotion is accompanied on the physical side by a hurrying of pulse-beat and respiration. If the emotion is more violent, the expressive movements extend, successively, to the facial muscles, then to the hands and arms, and finally to the legs and feet, embracing a set of actions well known to common observation. As the violence of the emotion increases, these movements also grow more ener- getic. When a certain extreme, however, is reached, the mental turmoil suddenly ceases and, in exact correspond- ence with this, there is a stopping of all the physical manifestations: the muscles grow slack, the leo;s often refusing support, and heart-beat and respiration may tem- porarily or even permanently stop. Bloomfield, Study of Language 1 2 THE NATURE AND ORIGIN OF LANGUAGE While the expressive movements are thus chiefly de- pendent on the intensity of emotion, some of them, espe- cially in the monkey and in man, have come secondarily to indicate also the qiiality of the emotion. The quality of the emotion shows itself in the play of the facial muscles. The various facial expressions are probably mechanized forms of what were once instinctive efforts at dealing with experiences of taste. The familiar 'sweet' or pleasurable expression brings any substance that may be in the mouth as much as possible into contact with the tip of the tongue, which is most sensitive to sweet tastes.