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Linguistics

Definition, Nature and Scope of Linguistics

Linguistics is a growing and interesting area of study, having a direct hearing on fields as diverse
as education, anthropology, sociology, language teaching, cognitive psychology and
philosophy. What is linguistics? Fundamentally, it is concerned with the nature of language and
communication.

Some of the definitions of linguistics are as under:

1. “Linguistics observes language in action as a means for determining how language
has developed, how it functions today, and how it is currently evolving.” (G. Duffy)
2. “Linguistics is concerned with the nature of human language, how it is learned and
what part it plays in the life of the individual and the community.” (S. Pit Corder)
3. “Linguistics tries to answer two basic questions:
a. What is language?
b. How does language work.” (Jean Aitchison)
4. “The scientific study of human language is called linguistics”. (Victoria A.
Fromkin)
Linguistics is the scientific study of language. By this we mean language in general, not a
particular language. If we were concerned with studying an individual language, we would say
‘I’m studying French... or English,’ or whichever language we happen to be studying. But
linguistics does not study an individual language, it studies ‘language’ in general. That is,
linguistics, according to Robins (1985):
is concerned with human language as a universal and recognizable part of the human
behaviour and of the human faculties, perhaps one of the most essential to human life as
we know it, and one of the most far-reaching of human capabilities in relation to the
whole span of mankind’s achievements.
Does this not sound a little abstract? It is, because there is no way of studying ‘language’ without
referring to and taking examples from particular languages. However, even while doing so, the
emphasis of linguistics is different. Linguistics does not emphasise practical knowledge or
mastery of a particular language. Linguists may know only one language, or may know several,
or may even study a language they do not know at all. What they are trying to study are the ways
in which language is organised to fulfil human needs, as a system of communication. There is a
difference between a person who knows many languages (called a polyglot), and
a linguist,who studies general principles of language organisation and language behaviour,
often with reference to some actual language or languages. Any language can be taken up to
illustrate the principles of language organisation, because all languages reveal something of the
nature of language in general. (Of course, it may he of help to a linguist to know more languages

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so that differences and contrasts as well as similarities between the languages can also be
studied in a better way.) We can say that linguistics is learning about language rather than
learning a language. This distinction is often explained as the difference between learning how a
car works and learning how to drive a car. When we learn how to drive a car, we learn a set of
habits and do some practice—this is similar to learning how to speak a language. When we learn
how the car works, we open up its mechanism, study it and investigate the relationship of its
parts to one another. This is similar to what we do in a scientific study of language, or
linguistics: we investigate the mechanism of language, its parts and how all these parts fit
together to perform particular functions, and why they are arranged or organised in a certain
manner. Just as while driving a car, we are using its various components, while speaking a
language we are using the sounds, words, etc. of that language; behind these uses is the
mechanism which enables us to do so. We study language because it is important for us to
understand this mechanism.
Linguistics As A Science
Linguistics can he understood as a science in both general and specific terms. Generally, we use
the term ‘science’ for any knowledge that is based on clear, systematic and rational
understanding. Thus we often speak of the ‘science of politics’ or statecraft, or ‘the science of
cooking’. However, we also use the term ‘science’ for the systematic study of phenomena
enabling us to state some principles or theories regarding the phenomena; this study proceeds
by examination of publicly verifiable data obtained through observation of phenomena, and
experimentation; in other words, it is empirical and [Link] must also provide
explanation after adequate observation of data, which should be consistent, i.e. there should
be no contradictions between different parts of the explanation or statement;
and economical,i.e. a precise and non-redundant manner of statement is to be preferred.
Let us apply these criteria of science to linguistics. Linguistics studies language: language is a
phenomenon which is both objective and variable. Like natural phenomena in the physical
world, it has a concrete shape and occurrence. In the same way as a physicist or chemist takes
materials and measures their weights, densities etc. to determine their nature, the linguist
studies the components of language, e.g. observing the occurrence of speech-sounds, or the way
in which words begin or end. Language, like other phenomena, is objective because it is
observable with the senses, i.e., it can be heard with the ear, it can be seen when the vocal organs
are in movement, or when reading words on a page.
Observation leads to processes of classification and definition. In science, each observable
phenomenon is to be given a precise explanation. Its nature has to be described completely.
Thus, for example, the chemist classifies elements into metals and non-metals; a biologist
classifies living things into plants and animals. In the same way, linguistics observes the features
of language, classifies these features as being sound features of particular types, or words
belonging to particular classes on the basis of similarity or difference with other sounds and
words.
But while linguistics shares some of characteristics of empirical science, it is also a social science
because it studies language which is a form of social behaviour and exists in interaction between
human beings in society. Language is also linked to human mental processes. For these reasons,
it cannot be treated always as objective phenomena.

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In empirical sciences, the methods of observation and experimentation are known as inductive
procedures. This means that phenomena are observed and data is collected without any
preconceived idea or theory, and after the data is studied, some theory is formulated. This has
been the main tradition in the history of western science. But there is an opposing tradition the
tradition of rationalism, which holds that the mind forms certain concepts or ideas beforehand
in terms of which it interprets the data of observation and experience. According to this
tradition, the deductive procedure is employed in which we have a preliminary hypothesis or
theory in our minds which we then try to prove by applying it to the data. This procedure was
considered to be unscientific according to the empirical scientists because they felt that pre-
existent ideas can influence the kind of data we obtain i.e. we search only for those pieces of data
that fit our theory and disregard others and therefore it is not an objective method. On the other
hand, it has been observed by some thinkers (such as Popper) that no observation can be free of
some theory; it cannot be totally neutral.
We can, however, reconcile these two procedures. There are aspects of language which we can
observe quite easily and which offer concrete instances of objective and verifiable data. At the
same time, we need to create hypothesis to explain this data, so we may create tentative or
working hypothesis to explain this data, which we may accept, reject or modify as we proceed
further. With such an open attitude, we may collect more data. This alternation of inductive and
deductive procedures may help us to arrive at explanations which meet all the requirements of
science, i.e. they are exhaustive, consistent and concise.
Thus, linguistics is both an empirical science and a social science. In fact, it is a human
discipline since it is concerned with human language; so it is part of the study of humanities as
well. This includes the study of literature, and appreciation of the beauty and music of poetry. In
understanding language, humankind can understand itself. Moreover, since every branch of
knowledge uses language, linguistics is central to all areas of knowledge. In regard to linguistics,
the traditional distinctions of science, art and humanities are not relevant. As Lyonsputs it,
linguistics has natural links with a wide range of academic disciplines. To say that linguistics is a
science is not to deny that, by virtue of its subject matter, it is closely related to such eminently
human disciplines as philosophy and literary criticism.
Scope of Linguistics
Linguistics today is a subject of study, independent of other disciplines. Before the twentieth
century, the study of language was not regarded as a separate area of study in its own right. It
was considered to he a part of studying the history of language or the philosophy of language,
and this was known not as linguistics but as philosophy. So ‘Linguistics’ is a modern name which
defines a specific discipline, in which we study language not in relation to some other area such
as history or philosophy, but language as itself, as a self enclosed and autonomous system,
worthy of study in its own right. It was necessary at the beginning of the growth of modern
linguistics to define this autonomy of the subject, otherwise it would not have been possible to
study the language system with the depth and exhaustiveness which it requires. However, now
we acknowledge that while linguistics is a distinct area of study, it is also linked to other
disciplines and there are overlapping areas of concern.
The main concern of modern linguistics is to describe language, to study its nature and to
establish a theory of language. That is, it aims at studying the components of the language
system and to ultimately arrive at an explanatory statement on how the system works. In
modern linguistics, the activity of describing the language system is the most important and so

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modern linguistics is generally known as descriptive. But linguistics has other concerns as well,
which fall within its scope and these include historical and comparative study of language. These
differ from the descriptive approach in their emphasis; otherwise, these approaches also involve
description of language.
Levels of Linguistic Analysis
In studying language which is the subject-matter of linguistics, we mark or sub-divide the area
in order to study it in an analytical and systematic way. Language has a hierarchical structure.
This means that it is made up of units which are themselves made up of smaller units which are
made of still smaller units till we have the smallest indivisible unit, i.e. a single distinguishable
sound, called a phoneme. Or we can put it the other way round, and say that single sounds or
phonemes combine together to make larger units of sounds, these combine into a larger
meaningful unit called a morpheme; morphemes combine to form larger units of words, and
words combine to form a large unit or sentence and several sentences combine or interconnect
to make a unified piece of speech or writing, which we call a text or discourse. At each stage (or
level), there are certain rules that operate which permit the occurrence and combination of
smaller units. So we can say that rule of phonology determine the occurrence and combination
of particular phoneme, rules of word-formation cover the behaviour of particular morphemes;
rules of sentence-formation determine the combination and positioning of words in a sentence.
Each level is a system in its own right. It is important to remember that, because of the existence
of rules at each level, we can analyse each levelindependently of the other. This means that if
we study one level, e.g. phonology or the sound-system, we need not necessarily study another
level, say that of sentence-formation. We can study phonology on its own, and syntax on its own.
Although these levels are linked in that one is lower in the hierarchy and another is higher in the
hierarchy, and the higher level includes the lower, still each level is independent because it has
its own rules of operation that can be described, analysed and understood.
We can represent these levels in the following manner, with each level of analysis corresponding
to each level of the structure of the language:
Levels of Analysis Levels of Structure
Phonetics and Phonology SOUND
Letters (Graphology)
Morphology WORD FORMATION
Syntax SENTENCE-FORMATION
Semantics MEANINGS
Discourse CONNECTED SENTENCES
A careful look at the above diagram will show that the levels of language structure are not
completely separate from one another. In fact, there are important and vital linkages between
the levels. In earlier studies, it was supposed that phonology, the level of sound structure, had
no link whatsoever with semantics or the level of meaning structure. Now we know that links
between these levels are far more complex than we had earlier accepted. With regard to
discourse, we can see that it is made up of all the levels of language working together, while

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semantics incorporates analysis of meaning at the level of both words (word-meaning) and of
sentence-meaning.
However, we can study these links only after we describe and analyse structure at each level
separately. Thus Phonetics studies language at the level of sounds: How sounds are articulated
by the human speech mechanism and received by the auditory mechanism, how sounds can be
distinguished and characterised by the manner in which they are [Link] studies
the combination of sounds into organised units of speech, the formation of syllables and larger
units. It describes the sound system of a particular language and the combination and
distribution of sounds which occur in that language. Classification is made on the basis of the
concept of the phoneme, i.e. a distinctive, contrasted sound unit, e.g. /m/, / /, /p/. These
distinct sounds enter into combination with others. The rules of combination are different for
different languages.
Though phonology is considered to be the surface or superficial level of language (as it is
concrete and not abstract like meaning), there are some aspects of it such as tone which
contribute to the meaning of an utterance.
Morphology studies the patterns of formation of words by the combination of sounds into
minimal distinctive units of meaning called morphemes. A morpheme cannot be broken up
because if it is, it will no longer make sense, e.g. a morpheme ‘bat’ is made up of three sounds:
/b/ /æ/ and /t/. This combination makes up the single morpheme ‘bat’ and if broken up, it will
no longer carry the meaning of ‘bat’. Words can be made up of single morphemes such as ‘bat’ or
combinations of morphemes, e.g. ‘bats’ is made up of two morphemes: ‘bat’ + ‘s’. Morphology
deals with the rules of combination of morphemes to form words, as suffixes or prefixes are
attached to single morphemes to form words. It studies the changes that take place in the
structure of words, e.g. the morpheme ‘take’ changes to ‘took’ and ‘taken’––these changes
signify a change in tense.
The level of morphology is linked to phonology on the one hand and to semantics on the other.
It is clear in the above example of ‘take’ that the change to ‘took’ involves a change in one of the
sounds in this morpheme. It also involves a change in meaning: ‘take’ means the action ‘take’ +
time present and ‘took’ means the action ‘take’ + time past. So morphological changes often
involve changes at the levels of both sound and meaning.
Syntax is the level at which we study how words combine to form phrases, phrases combine to
form clauses and clauses join to make sentences. The study of syntax also involves the
description of the rules of positioning of elements in the sentence such as the nouns/noun
syntax phrases, verbs/verb phrases, adverbial phrases, etc. A sentence must be composed of
these elements arranged in a particular order. Syntax also attempts to describe how these
elements function in the sentence, i.e. what is their role in the sentence. For example, the word
‘boy’ is a noun. However, in each of the following sentences, it functions in different roles:
(a) The boy likes cricket
(b) The old man loved the boy.
In sentence (a), it functions as the subject of the sentence
In sentence (b), it functions as the object.

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A sentence should be both grammatical and meaningful. For example, a sentence like
‘Colourless green ideas sleep furiously’ is grammatically correct but it is not meaningful. Thus,
rules of syntax should be comprehensive enough to explain how sentences are constructed
which are both grammatical and meaningful.
Semantics deals with the level of meaning in language. It attempts to analyse the structure of
meaning in a language, e.g. how words similar or different are related; it attempts to show these
inter-relationships through forming ‘categories’. Semantics tries to give an account of both word
and sentence meaning, and attempts to analyse and define that which is considered to be
abstract. It may be easy to define the meanings of words such as ‘tree’ but not so easy to define
the meanings of words such as ‘love’ or similar abstract things. This is why semantics is one of
the less clearly definable areas of language study.
An extension of the study of meaning or semantics is pragmatics. Pragmatics deals with the
contextual aspects of meaning in particular situations. As distinct from the study of sentences,
pragmatics considersutterances, i.e. those sentences which are actually uttered by speakers of
a language.
Discourse is the study of chunks of language which are bigger than a single sentence. At this
level, we analyse inter-sentential links that form a connected or cohesive text. Cohesion is the
relation established in a sentence between it and the sentences preceding and following it, by the
use of connectives such as ‘and’, ‘though’, ‘also’, ‘but’ etc. and by the manner in which reference
is made to other parts of the text by devices such as repetition or by use of pronouns, definite
articles, etc. By studying the elements of cohesion we can understand how a piece of connected
language can have greater meaning that is more than the sum of the individual sentences it
contains.
In addition to these levels of linguistic analysis, we also study Graphology which is the study of
the writing system of a language and the conventions used in representing speech in writing, e.g.
the formation of letters Lexicology studies the manner in which lexical items (words) are
grouped together as in the compilation of dictionaries.
Linguists differ according to what they consider as included in the scope of linguistic studies.
Some consider the proper area of linguistics to be confined to the levels of phonology,
morphology and syntax. This can be called a Micro-linguistic perspective. However, some
take a broader, or macro-linguistic view which includes the other levels of analysis mentioned
above, as well as other aspects of language and its relationship with many areas of human
activity.
Branches of Linguistics
The core of linguistic studies is the study of language structure at different levels as discussed
above. In the growth of modern linguistics as an autonomous field of knowledge, it has been
necessary to emphasize this aspect of linguistics, since no other field of study describes language
structure systematically and completely.
However, there are many areas of human activity and knowledge in which language plays a part
and linguistics is useful in these areas. The study of language in relation to the many areas of
knowledge where it is relevant, has led to the growth of many branches of linguistics. Thus the
scope of linguistics has grown to include these branches.

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Like other sciences, linguistics has a ‘pure’ or ‘theoretical’ aspect which is concerned with the
building of theories about language and with description and analysis of particular levels of
language such as phonology and syntax without regard to any particular applications that these
may have. It also has an ‘applied’ aspect which is concerned with the application of that
knowledge in areas such as the learning and teaching of languages, or correction and
improvement of speech disorders, or in helping us to appreciate the use of language in
literature. Thus, ‘applied linguistics’ covers many of the branches of linguistics that explore the
practical application of the theories, concepts and analyses provided by linguists. All the
applications are first and foremost based on a thorough description of languages. As Pit Corder
writes:
Whether it is speech therapy, psychiatry, literary criticism, translation,... what all these
fields of application have in common is the necessity for descriptions of the various
languages involved.
Various branches of linguistics have grown because language is intimately related both to
the inner, world of man’s mind and to theouter world of society and social relationships. Each
of these aspects has led to the study of psycho-linguistics andsociolinguistics respectively.
(a) Psycholinguistics
Since language is a mental phenomenon, it is mental processes which are articulated in language
behaviour. Psycholinguistics studies these mental processes, processes of thought and concept
formation and their articulation in language, which reveal a great deal about the structures of
human psychology as well as of language. ‘Cognitive’ psychology is the area which explores how
meanings are understood by the human brain, how syntax and memory are linked, how
messages are ‘decoded’ and stored. Psycholinguistics also studies the influence of psychological
factors such as intelligence, motivation, anxiety etc. on the kind of language that is understood
and produced. For instance, in the case of errors made by a speaker, there may be psychological
reasons which influence comprehension or production that are responsible for the occurrence of
an error. Our perception of speech sounds or graphic symbols (in writing) is influenced by the
state of our mind. One kind of mental disability, for example, results in the mistakes made by
children in reading when they mistake one letter for another (Dyslexia). Psycholinguistics can
offer some insights and corrective measures for this condition.
Psycholinguistics is concerned with the learning of language at various stages: the early
acquisition of a first language by children and later stages in acquisition of first and other
languages. Psycholinguists attempt to answer questions such as whether the human brain has
an inborn language ability structured in such a way that certain grammatical and semantic
patterns are embedded in it, which can explain how all human beings are capable of learning a
language. This exploration may lead us to determining whether all the languages in the world
have some ‘universal’ grammar that lies in the mind of every human being and is transformed in
particular situations to produce different languages. Psycholinguistic studies in language
acquisition are very useful in the area of language teaching because they help teachers to
understand error production and individual differences among learners and thus devise
appropriate syllabi and materials for them.
One specialized area within psycholinguistics is neurolinguistics that studies the physiological
basis of language and language disorders such as aphasia, loss of memory, etc.

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Another relation of language with mind is that of logic. It was held by some ancient philosophers
that the human mind is rational and capable of thinking logically and, therefore, language too is
logically ordered and rational. Others held that, just as irrationality is present in the mind,
irregularity or anomaly is present in human language. Since then there has been a debate about
the nature of language and the relation between language and logic. One of the problems
discussed by philosophers of language is whether language can be an adequate medium for
philosophical inquiry. Since all our thoughts are known to us through language, we must
examine the kind of language we use when we approach philosophical issues and analysis.
(b) Sociolinguistics
The branch of linguistics that deals with the exploration of the relation between language and
society is known associolinguistics, and the sociology of language. Sociolinguistics is based on
the fact that language is not a single homogeneous entity, but has different forms in different
situations. The changes in language occur because of changes in social conditions, for example,
social class, gender, regional and cultural groups. A particular social group may speak a different
variety of a language from the rest of the community. This group becomes a speech community.
Variation in language may occur because the speakers belong to a different geographical region.
Taking the example of English, we find that it is not a single language but exists in the form of
several varieties. One kind of English is called R.P. (or Received Pronunciation). This kind of
English is used in the south west of England and particularly associated with the universities
of Oxford and Cambridge and the BBC. It is an educated and formal kind of English. But there
are other varieties of English, such as the English that is spoken in the north ofEngland,
in Yorkshire and Lancashire; inScotland (Scottish English); Wales (Welsh English), etc. A less
educated variety of English is that spoken by working class people in London often called
Cockney English. Then there are the varieties of English spoken by people of different countries
around the world, e.g. American English, and Australian English.
Sociolinguistics is the study of language variation and change––how varieties of language are
formed when the speakers belong to a geographical region, social class, social situation and
occupation, etc. Varieties of a language that are formed in various geographical regions involve a
change in the pronunciation as well as vocabulary. Such changes result in the formation of a
distinctly different variety of the language or a dialect. Sometimes these changes may be
present within the same geographical region due to the social differences between different
economic sections, e.g. working class and aristocracy. These changes result inclass-dialects.
In sociolinguistic studies, we consider the linguistic features of these dialects, e.g. syntax
variations such as ‘I’ve gotten it’ or ‘I ain’t seen nothing’ and lexical variations such as ‘lift’
(British English) to ‘elevator’ (American English). The study of the demarcation of dialect
boundaries across a region and of specific features of each dialect is called dialectology. One
dialect may be demarcated from another by listing a bundle of features which occur in a
particular region. The point at which a certain feature (of pronunciation or vocabulary) ceases to
be prevalent and gives way to another feature is a dialect boundary or ‘isogloss’. Dialects may
acquire some importance and prestige and evolve into distinct languages. This usually happens
when they are codified, e.g. in written and literary forms, and their grammar and lexicon is
standardized. Usually this happens when the dialect is given political and social importance.
That is why it is said ‘A language is a dialect with an army, and navy’. Sociolinguists chart the
evolution of such changes.

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Variation in language may also be due to the specific area of human activity in which language is
used. Again taking the example of English, this language is used in different fields—of law,
religion, science, sports etc. In each of these areas there is a specific vocabulary and manner of
use of English, which defines the legal language, the scientific language etc. This variety of
language according to its use, is calledregister. Sociolinguists examine the particular
characteristics of different registers, i.e. legal register, scientific register, etc., to see how these
differ. This kind of study is useful because it enables us to understand how language-use is tied
to a social context. The notion of register is important in showing that language use in
communication is not arbitrary or uncontrolled, but is governed by rules of situational and
contextual appropriateness.
The sociology of language includes the study of attitudes to language held by social groups, for
instance, they may consider some languages or dialects as more (or less) important. It includes
the planning of language education, e.g. which languages should he the medium of instruction,
which language should be taught as second language; and language policy, i.e. which languages
are legally and constitutionally recognised and what status they are given. The sociology of
language is thus linked with other aspects of our social world, the political, economic,
educational, etc.
(c) Anthropological Linguistics
The evolution of language in human society and its role in the formation of culture; is another
aspect of language society and culture, this is studied in anthropological linguistics. The
structure of language has a social and cultural basis in the same way as other customs,
conventions and codes such as those related to dress, food, etc. Each culture organises its
world its own way, giving names to objects, identifying areas of significance or value and
suppressing other areas. Language becomes a way of embodying the world view and beliefs of a
culture, and the things that culture holds sacred; for example, a culture in which family
relationships occupy the most significant position will have many kinship terms in their
language, with each relationship specified by a particular term. If you compare the kinship
terms in English such as grandfather, grandmother, uncle, aunt, etc. with kinship terms in
Urdu, you will find that there are many more such terms in Urdu specifying particular
relationships such as a paternal / maternal grand-father.
Similarly, terms specifying colours, emotions, natural phenomena, and so on are differently
organised in every culture, and reveal a great deal about that culture. The study of these specific
cultural elements is called the ethnography of a culture. A specific way of communication in a
culture is thus studied as the ethnography of communication.
Anthropological studies have explored the relation between language and culture. Language is
invented to communicate and express a culture. It also happens that this language then begins
to determine the way we think and see the world. Since this language is the means by which we
understand and think about the world, we cannot go beyond it and understand the world in any
other way. This is the view expressed by the linguist Whorf whose hypothesis is that we dissect
nature along the lines laid by our native language. There is still a debate about this, but it is true
that to some extent we are hound to see the world according to the terms specified by our own
language. These aspects of language and culture are still being discussed by anthropological
linguists, philosophers of language and ethnographers.
(d) Literary Stylistics

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The study of variation in language and the use of language in communication has also led to new
ways of studying literary texts and the nature of literary communication. If you consider again
the notion of register discussed above, you may realise that register is in fact a kind of language
that is considered appropriate for a particular subject matter, e.g. the style of a religious sermon,
the style of sports commentary. Similarly we may use this notion to describe the style of a
literary work. That is, we may describe its features at the levels of phonology, syntax, lexis, etc.
to distinguish it from other texts and to appreciate how it achieves some unique effects through
the use of language. This kind of study is calledliterary stylistics.
Literary writers use the system of language in their own way, i.e. they create a style. This is done
by deliberate choice (e.g. out of a whole range of words available, they choose one which would
be particularly effective), sometimes by deviation from or violation of the rules of grammar
(e.g. ‘he danced his did’ in Cummings’ poem). Poets and even prose writers may invert the
normal order of items in a sentence (e.g. ‘Home is the sailor...’) or create a pattern
by repetition of some items (e.g. the sound /f/ in ‘the furrow followed free’). By these and
other devices, they arc able to manipulate language so that it conveys some theme or meaning
with great force and effectiveness.
In literary stylistics, we read the text closely with attention to the features of language used in it,
identifying and listing the particular features under the heading of ‘lexis’, ‘grammar’, ‘phonology’
or ‘sound patterns’. When we have obtained a detailed account of all these features, we co-relate
them or bring them together in an interpretation of the text. That is, we try to link ‘what is
being said’ with ‘how it is being said,’ since it is through the latter that writers can fully express
the many complex ideas and feelings that they want to convey. Stylistic analysis also helps in a
better understanding of how metaphor, irony, paradox, ambiguity etc. operate in a literary text
as these are all effects achieved through language and through the building up of a coherent
linguistic structure.
Nature of Linguistics
Linguistics is not a difficult subject. There are several points which at times put the beginners
into trouble. These troubles are nothing, but the terminology. The beginners have to do with the
difference between the lay attitude towards language and the orientation of the specialist.
When the linguist distinguishes between language and writing, the beginner at the elementary
stage confuses the two. He feels that the “spoken language” and the “written language” are
nothing, but two different manifestations of something fundamentally the same.
He also thinks that writing is more important than speech, when the reverse is true. Man has
been speaking for millions of years but writing is a recent invention. Even today there are a,
large number of people who are illiterate. But there is perhaps no human community without
language.
We know from our experience that a child learns to speak his language at an earlier stage than
he learns to read and write. He gradually develops his vocabulary for saying things.
The relationship between writing and language is close. A child is to transfer the vocabulary
fitted to writing. Spoken words can be heard, but not seen. When they are composed of letters,
they can be seen, but not heard. The teacher helps the child to develop those abilities.

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In teaching English much of the time is taken for the problem of “correctness.” The linguist is
not particularly interested in such questions. In using language, he may be a purist or not, but
his ‘special concern is analyzing language. As an analyst of language, he is bound to observe and
record ‘incorrect’ forms as correct ones if the language with which he is working makes such
distinction.
The bond between language and literature is very close. The literary artist works in the medium
of language “just as the painter works in the medium of colours and the composer in that of
sounds.” Therefore the study of the language must not be confused.
There is a false notion of the relationship between language or grammar and logic. According to
this any usage which is not “logical” is wrong. For example “he don’t” is; illogical and “he does
not” is logical. From this point of view grammar and logic are close.
So far as linguistic is concerned the “logical” approach to languages is quite narrow. We do not
use language only to know the facts. We use it for lies as well as truth, for non-sense as well as
for sense, for persuasion a well as for instruction, for entertainment as well as for business, for
making war as well as for making love. “Language is as broad and deep as the whole fabric of
human existence.” Therefore, our approach to language should be comparably Catholic.
The following are some important natures of linguistics:
(i) Like human body, language is a complex system. A human body functions because of
different organs like the heart, lungs, brain etc.
Similarly the language system functions because of words, structures, sound etc.
These are the most important parts of a language. We cannot express ourselves by the help of
only one of the elements of language, i.e., sounds, words of structures. All these are inter-linked.
(ii) In language learning speech is the fundamental thing. Reading and writing are
secondary.
(iii) Language works through symbols, which are the words. For example, the word “pen” is
not a “pen,” it stands for a “pen.” Therefore the symbols used in a language must be
known to both the speaker, the listener, the reader and the writer.
(iv) Language is not an inherent biological function of man. It is acquired through learning.
(v) Language is learnt through practice and habit formation. Rules and definition of
grammar cannot help for the development of language of a child.
(vi) According to Ben Jonson, “speech is the instrument of society.” A society cannot b
thought of without language. Hence the important purpose of language is
communication.
(vii) Language does not remain in a vaccum. It exists in the speakers. It is related to the
culture of a particular society.
(viii) Language is flexible, changes from time to time go on in respect of speech sounds,
grammatical features, vocabulary etc. Therefore, in language teaching, we should not
be rigid.

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Principles and Major Concepts of Linguistics

Before dealing with the details of phonetics, it is important that we consider some major
concepts in linguistics. An idea of them helps us come to grips with more complex issues. One
must get a sound footing in these concepts and have a clear understanding. Mostly they are
described in pairs of terms denoting sets of distinctions, such as synchrony and diachrony; form
and substance; description and prescription; competence and performance, and so on.

Synchrony and Diachrony

The distinction synchrony and diachronyrefers to the difference in treating language from
different points of view. When we take a synchronic point of view, we are looking at a language
as we find it at a given period in time. The diachronic point of view, on the other hand, gives us
the historical angle; we look at a language over a period of time along with changes that
occurred in it. The principles that introduce this dichotomy enable us to obtain ‘particularly
accurate information about a language in its current usage’ (Wilkins). The synchronic linguistics
studies how a language works at a given time, regardless of its past history or future blueprint.
This has also been called descriptive linguistics.
Though the historical character of a language cannot be ignored, its present form being the
result of definite historical processes, changes and transformations, it is necessary for a
complete understanding of it to concentrate on the units of its structure at the present moment.
Some scholars donot see the two approaches apart : “It is a mistake to think of descriptive and
historical linguistics as two separate compartments, each bit of information belonging
exclusively in the one or in the other”.
However, on the whole the two areas are kept apart and one is studied to the exclusion of the
other. Synchronic statements make no reference to the previous stages in the language.
Linguistic studies in the nineteenth century were historical in character; they originated as part
of the general historical investigations into the origins and development of cultures and
communities, especially West Asia, Egypt, etc. Such philological researches viewed language at
different stages of its progress and attempted to understand relations among different
languages. Language families were discovered and genetic affinities identified. Diachronic
linguistics was a great discovery of the 19th century, ‘which developed so powerfully and
fruitfully from the 1820s to the 1880s. This discovery enabled linguists to explain modern
languages as a result of law-governed historical development. (Zhirmunsky)
On a closer look one realises that without a good synchronic (descriptive) work, valid historical
(diachronic) postulations are not possible; in other words, a good historical linguist needs to be
thorough descriptive scholar too.
Figure 2 shows that diachronic axis (x-y) has been considered as moving and the synchronic axis
(A-B) as static. It was the Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Sassure who first coined these terms and
established the distinctions. As the Russian linguist V.M. Zhirmunsky observes, ‘In de
Saussure’s conception, synchrony is language considered as a system of static oppositions
resting on a single temporal plane, a static two dimensional cross-section”.
The discoveries and theories of the synchronic studies offer particularly accurate information
about a language in its current usage. ‘The first of these principles distinguishes clearly between

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descriptions of the language in its contemporary form and descriptions of its historical
development’ (Wilkins)
Form and Substance
This destinction refers to the system, on the one hand, that is devised, arid the actual data which
is used or worked upon. The system explains the data, it is a theoretical construct. Phonemes
/b/, /d/, /g/ exemplify this. The actual sounds produced in certain distinctive manner that
differentiates each from the other comprise the substance. These are accounted for by the
concept of phoneme.
Sounds produced by the human speech organs can be said to comprise the substance(phonic
substance) or content. Its shaping into different functional configurations can be
called forms or expressions. Thus the same substance is realized in different forms. Drink
(content) is used as both noun and verb. Form can be analysed without taking into account the
meaning. Butsemantics, a branch of linguistics, deals only with the content or the substance.
Form can be studied from different angles : phonological, morphological, grammatical,
syntactical, etc.
Saussure had used the terms ‘Significant’ for the external form of a linguistic element,
and signific for the meaning or content aspect of it. This duality is an essential attribute of any
human activity and highly relevant to linguistic study as well.
Competence and Performance
The famous American linguist Noam Chomsky first used these terms to specifically refer to a
person’s intuitive knowledge of the rules and structure of his language as a native speaker (he
called itcompetence), and his actual use of these (which he termed performance). Scholars of
the earlier period were aware of this basic distinction but Chomsky precisely pointed out the
inherent ability or knowledge in a native speaker of the structure of his language. It refers to the
ability of the native speaker to ‘understand and produce utterances which he may never find the
opportunity either to understand or to produce’. Competence is the tacit knowledge of the
language, performance the use of the language in concrete situations. ‘Sentence’ is a concept
that belongs to the theory of competence, while ‘utterance’ belongs to performance.
The native speaker of a language possesses an ‘internalised set of rules’ which is at the base of
his ability to understand and speak. The actual utterances are only evidence of this competence.
While reading a new book he comes across right from the start new expressions and sentences
which he had never read before; but he doesnot find any difficulty in understanding them. Each
sentence is a new construction but since he had mastered the rules of the language any number
of new constructions is easily understood. As Ronald Wardaugh says, ‘The ability the reader has
to understand novel sentences derives from his competence in English’. His competence also
makes him reject the ungrammatical constructions, consider the sentence ‘flying planes can be
dangerous’ as ambiguous, and utterances like I, well, have seen the captain, well, but it was
raining, and ah, I had no raincoat, what a bad memory I have ...,as indicating that the speaker
has wandered off. Competence also makes him recognise an expression as command, request,
politeness, rough order and so on.
Performance is what actually a speaker says. It is the substance, the actual manifestation of his
competence. One can understand a speaker’s competence by studying his performance. In

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learning a new language also it is wiser to develop the basic competence rather than memorise
pieces of sentences and phrases, as the latter activity is not a true language behaviour.
Chomsky characterised generative grammar of a language as an explicit description of the ‘ideal
speaker-hearer’s intrinsic competence’.
The competence-performance distinction also helps us understand that there is no limit to the
actual production of sentence, it is possible to produce an infinitely long sentence, but
underlying the performance is the ability of the native speakers which is limited and can be
described in terms of a set of principles.
Langue and Parole
The major contribution of Ferdinand de Saussure to linguistics can be summed up as providing
the basic groundwork of fundamental concepts; his definition of the ‘linguistic sign’; his
explanation of the distinction between concrete and abstract linguistic units; distinction
between descriptive (synchronic) and historical (diachronic), study of language, and so on. He
was under the influence of the new scientific temperament and followed the principles of
Durkheim who said that ‘we have social facts that can be studied scientifically when we consider
them from an aspect that is independent of their individual manifestations’. This attitude helped
the shaping of the structuralist approach.
De Saussure put forward the concepts of La langue, La Parole and Le Language.
Le langage denotes a host of heterogenous traits that a speaker possesses, such as his ability to
produce speech acquired through heredity, his inherent ability to speak and the external factors
that trigger and stimulate speech. It encompasses such factors as physical, physiological and
psychological. Most significantly, it belongs to both the individual and society. Speech occupies a
less important place in Le Langage. The latter’ is, therefore, of greater interest to the
anthropologist and the biologist.
La langue is more directly indicative of ability to produce speech, a kind of ‘institutionalized
element’ of the community’s collective consciousness. Every member of the community shares
it, and because of this they are in a position to understand each other. Through langue they
share the common properties of speech. ‘If one took away what was idiosyncratic or
innovational, langue would remain. Langue,by definition, is stable and systematic, society
conveys the regularities of langue to the child so that he becomes able to function as a member
of the speech community (Wilkins).
La langue is a collective pattern which exists as ‘a sum of impressions deposited in the brain of
each individual.., like a dictionary of which identical copies have been distributed to each
individual... it exists in each individual, yet it is common to all’.
La langue is a repository of signs which each speaker has received from the other speakers of
the community. It is passive. It is a set of conventions received by us all, ready-made from the
community.
La Parole : By contrast la parole is active and denotes the actual speech act of the individual.
We can better understand it by considering each act of speaking as a unique event. It is unique
because it reflects the unstable, changeable relationship between the language, the precise
contextual elements triggering particular utterances, and personal factors. Thus each particular
speech act is characterised by the personality, nature and several other external forces governing

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both the production and reception of a speech act. There is a great deal that is particular,
individual, personal and idiosyncratic aboutla parole as opposed to la langue which emphasizes
speech as the common act of behaviour, ‘given that there is a good deal that is idiosyncratic or
not fully institutionalised, parole cannot be stable and systematic’ (Wilkins : 34). Parole gives
the data from which statements about langue are made; parole is not collective but individual,
momentary and heterogenous.
As Francis P. Dinneen points out “when we hear la parole of another community, we perceive
the noises made, but not the social fact of language. We cannot connect the sounds produced
and the social facts with which the other speech associates the sounds. When we hear la
parole within our own community we perceive the sounds as associated with social facts,
according to a set of rules. These rules, which can be called the convention, or grammar, of the
language are habits that education has imposed on us. They have the property of being general
throughout the community. That is why all the speakers can understand each other.
The main points of distinction between La Langue and La Parole can be summed up as follows.

La Langue La Parole

1. It is stable and It is mobile and personal.

institutionalised.

2. It is passive. It is active.

3. It is a social fact and It is individual and

general for the idiosyncratic.
community.

4. It contains the negative It doesnot put any such

limits on what a speaker limits.
must say.

5. It is sum of properties It contains infinite

shared by all speakers of number of individual
a community. properties.

6. A scientific study can It is not amenable to

only be based on La scientific study.
langue

7. It is an abstraction. It is concrete manifestat-

ion.

8. It is a collective It is not a collective

instrument. instrument.

9. It is a set of conventions It is diverse and

and habits handed down variegated.
to next generation
readymade.

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10. It is language as a It is language in actual

speaker is expected to use.
use.

11. It is not subject to social It is susceptible to social

and individual pressure. and other pressure.

12. It is fixed. It is free.

13. It is a potential form of It is an actualised form of

language. language.

Syntagmatic and Paradigmatic

Ferdinand de Saussure saw the linguistic sign at once as static and dynamic or developing. The
pairing of terms, synchrony-diachrony; form-substance; langue-parole as sets of contrasting
relations amply demostrates this concept. The idea is to highlight and demonstrate two
dominant properties of a linguistic sign, one linear and the other arbitrary. La langue is thus
more stable and predictably organised than laparole which displays freedom and dynamism
which is not rule-governed, therefore unpredictable.
Similarly, de Saussure put forward the concepts of syntagmatic and what he at that time called
‘associative relations’.
In Syntagmatic relations the syntagme is seen as any ‘combination of discrete successive units
of which there arc at least two, with no limit on the possible number’. These segments range
from the smallest construction units, i.e. phonemes, to phrases, and so on. The relations binding
the successive units are called relation in praesentia. Thus the word read is a succession of
phonemes /r/, /i:/, /d/; re-read asuccession of bound morpheme and a free morphemes.
For Saussure sentence is the most obvious example of a syntagme. It is a combination of other
linguistic units. They demonstrate chain relationship. The unit acquires its significance by its
position of occurrence vis-a-vis other elements preceding and following it. We shall take an
example.
She will come tomorrow. We see elements occurring in a linear order in this sentence : the
pronoun + auxiliary + main verb + adverb. This ordering of the words cannot be charged.
Syntagmatic relations function on the horizontal emphasizing the relational criteria a identifying
or defining lingusitic categories or units. The concept of syntagmatic relations underlines the
structural potential of any item, under examination.
Paradigmatic
The paradigmatic relationships are contrastive or choice relationships. Words that have
something in common, are; associated in the memory, resulting in groups marked by diverse
relations. For example, the English word learning will unconsciously call to mind a host of
other words––study, knowledge, discipline, etc. All these words are related in some way.
This kind of relationship is called associative or paradigmatic relationship. Here the co-
ordinations are outside discourse and are not supported by linearity. They are relations in

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absentia, and are vertical type relations. Their seat is in the brain; they are a part of the inner
storehouse that makes up language of each speaker.” (Saussure)
We can visualize a word as the centre of a constellation around which spring other words. These
relations are unpredictable. Associations that are called up in one person may not occur in the
mind of another. Since it is psychological, it is also subject to individual vagaries and governed
by the specific factors governing the individual’s speech behaviour, Paradigmatic relations are
unpredictable, free, dynamic and idiosyncratic, comparable to la parole.
It was the Danish linguist Lois Hjelmslev who suggested the term ‘paradigmatic’ for de
Saussure’s’ ‘assocative relations’.

The Nature of Language and Linguistics

Language is God’s special gift to mankind. Without language human civilization, as we now
know it, would have remained an impossibility. Language is ubiquitous. It is present
everywhere––in our thoughts and dreams, prayers and meditations, relations and
communication. Besides being a means of communication, and storehouse of knowledge, it is an
instrument of thinking as well as a source of delight (e.g. singing).
It transfers knowledge from one person to another and from one generation to another.
Language is also the maker or unmaker of human relationships. It is the use of language that
‘Italics a life bitter or sweet. Without language man would have remained only a dumb animal. It
is our ability to communicate through words that makes us different from animals. Because of
its omnipresence, language is often taken for granted.
Definition of Language
Since linguistics is the study of language, it is imperative for linguist to know what language is.
Language is a very complex human phenomenon; all attempts to define it have proved
inadequate. In a nut-shell, language is an ‘organised noise’ used in actual social situations. That
is why it has also been defined as ‘contextualised systematic sound‘.
In order to understand a term like life, one has to talk of the properties or characteristics of
living beings (e.g. motion, reproduction, respiration, growth, power of self-healing, excretion,
nutrition, mortality, etc. etc.). Similarly, the term language can be understood better in terms
of its properties or characteristics. Some linguists, however, have been trying to define language
in their own ways even though all these definitions have been far from satisfactory. Here are
some of these definitions:
1. Language is a symbol system based on pure or arbitrary conventions... infinitely
extendable and modifiable according to the changing needs and conditions of the
speakers.
(Robins)
According to this definition, language is a symbol system. Every languages selects some symbols
for its selected sounds. The English sound /k/ for example has the symbol k for it. These
symbols form the alphabet of the language and join in different combinations to form
meaningful words.

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The system talked of here is purely arbitrary in the sense that there is no one to one
correspondence between the structure of a word and the thing it stands for. The
combination p.e.n., for example stands, in English, for an instrument used for writing. Why
could it not be e.p.n. or n.e.p.? Well, it could also be e.p.n. or n.e.p. and there is nothing
sacrosanct about the combination p.e.n. except that it has now become a convention—a
convention that cannot be easily changed.
As stated here, language conventions are not easily changed, yet it is not impossible to do so.
Language is infinitely modifiable and extendable. Words go on changing meanings and new
words continue to be added to language with the changing needs of the community using it.
2. Language is a purely human and non-instinctive method of communicating ideas,
emotions and desires by means of a system of voluntarily produced symbols.
(Sapir)
There are two terms in this definition that call for discussion: human and non-instinctive.
Language, as Sapir rightly said, is human. Only humans possess language and all normal
humans uniformly possess it. Animals do have a communication system but it is not a developed
system. That is why language is said to be species-specific andspecies-uniform.
Also, language does not pass from a parent to a child. In this sense it is non-instinctive. A child
has to learn language and he/she learns the language of the society he/she is placed in.
3. Language is the institution whereby humans communicate and interact with each other by
means of habitually used oral-auditory arbitrary symbols.
(Hall)
This definition rightly gives more prominence to the fact that language is primarily speech
produced by oral-auditory symbols. A speaker produces some string of oral sounds that get
conveyed through the air to the speaker who, through his hearing organs, receives the sound
waves and conveys these to the brain that interprets these symbols to arrive at a meaning.
4. A language is a set (finite or infinite) of sentences, each finite in length and constructed
out of a finite set of elements.
(Noam Chomsky)
Chomsky meant to convey that each sentence has a structure. Human brain is competent
enough to construct different sentences from out of the limited set of sounds/symbols belonging
to a particular language. Human brain is so productive that a child can at any time produce a
sentence that has never been said or heard earlier.
5. A language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication.
(Wardaugh)
6. A language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols by means of which a social group
cooperates.
(Bloch and Trager)

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Both the definitions 5 and 6 above prominently point out that language is asystem. Sounds join
to form words according to a system. The letters k, n, i, t join to form a meaningful
‘word knit,whereas combinations like n-k-i-t, t.k.n.i. or i.n.k.t. do not form any meaningful or
sensible combinations. Although initially the formation of words, as said earlier, is only
arbitrary, convention makes them parts of a system. Words too join to form sentences according
to some system. A sentence like:Cricket is a game of glorious uncertaintiesis acceptable
but one cannot accept a string of words like: a game is of cricket uncertainties glorious. It is in
this sense that language is said to be a system of systems.
7. Language is undoubtedly a kind of means of communication among human beings. It
consists primarily of vocal sounds. It is articulatory, systematic, symbolic and arbitrary.
(Derbyshire)
Derbyshire, while accepting that language is the property of human beings and that it is
primarily speech, brings out the point that it is an important means of communication amongst
humans. Before the start of civilization, man might have used the language of signs but it must
have had a very limited scope. Language is a fully developed means of communication with the
civilized man who can convey and receive millions of messages across the universe. An entire
civilization depends on language only. Think of a world without language—man would only
continue to be a denizen of the forest and the caves. Language has changed the entire gamut of
human relations and made it possible for human beings to grow into a human community on
this planet.
Some More Definitions
8. Language is a system of conventional spoken or written symbols by means of which
human beings, as members of a social group and participants in its culture,
communicate.
(Encyclopaedia Britannica)
9. Languages are the principal systems of communication used by particular groups of
human beings within the particular society (linguistic community) of which they are
members.
(Lyons)
Anthropologists regard language as a form of cultural behaviour, sociologists as an interaction
between members of social, city, students of literature as an artistic medium, philosophers as a
means of interpreting human experience, language teachers as a set of skills. Truly, language is
such a complex phenomenon that to define it in terms of a single level as knowledge, behaviour,
skill, habit, an event or an object, solve the problem of its definition. None of the above
definitions are perfect. Each of them just hints at certain characteristics of language. Hence
instead of defining language, it would he worthwhile to stand its Major characteristics.
Characteristics of Language
1) Language is a Means of Communication:
Language is a very important means of communication between humans. A can communicate
his or her ideas, emotions, beliefs or feelings to B as they share a common code that makes up

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the language. No doubt, there are many other means of communication used by humans e.g.
gestures, nods, winks, flags, smiles, horns, short-hand, Braille alphabet, mathematical symbols,
Morse code, sirens, sketches, maps, acting, miming, dancing etc. But all these systems of
communication are extremely limited or they too, in turn, depend upon language only. They are
not so flexible, comprehensive, perfect and extensive as language is. Language is so important a
form of communication between humans that it is difficult to think of a society withoutlanguage.
It gives shape to people’s thoughts and guides and controls their entire activity. It is a carrier of
civilization and culture as human thoughts and philosophy are conveyed from one generation to
the other through the medium of language. Language is ubiquitous in the sense that it is present
everywhere in all activities. It is as important as the air we breathe and is the most valuable
possession of man.
Animals too have their system of communication but their communication is limited to a very
small number of messages, e.g. hunger, fear, and anger. In the case of humans, the situation is
entirely different. Human beings can send an infinite number of messages to their fellow beings.
It is through language that they store knowledge, transfer it to the next generation and yoke the
present, past and the future together.
2) Language is Arbitrary:
Language is arbitrary in the sense that there is no inherent relation between the words of a
language and their meanings or the ideas conveyed by them (except in the case of hieroglyphics
where a picture of an object may represent the object). There is no reason why a female adult
human being be called a woman in English, aurat in Urdu,Zen in Persian
and Femine in French. Selection of these words in the languages mentioned here is purely
arbitrary, an accident of history. It is just like christening a new born baby who may be
christened John or James. But once a child is given some name in a purely arbitrary manner;
this name gets associated with the child for his entire life and it becomes an important,
established convention. The situation in the case of the language is a similar one. The choice of a
word selected to mean a particular thing or idea is purely arbitrary but once a word is selected
for a particular referent, it comes to stay as such.
It may be noted that had language not been arbitrary, there would have been only one language
in the world.
3) Language is a System of Systems:
Language is not an amorphous, a disorganised or a chaotic combination of sounds. Any brick
may be used anywhere in a building, but it is not so with sounds or graphic symbols standing for
the sounds of a language. Sounds are arranged in certain fixed or established, systematic order
to form meaningful units or words. Similarly, words are also arranged in a particular system to
frame acceptable meaningful sentences. These systems operate at two levels: phonological and
syntactical.
At the phonological level, for example, sounds of a language appear only in some fixed
combinations. There is no word, for example, that starts with bz–, lr– or zl– combination. There
is no word that begins with a /ŋ/ sound or ends in a /h/ sound. Similarly words too combine to
form sentences according to certain conventions (i.e. grammatical or structural rules) of the
language. The sentence “The hunter shot the tiger with a gun” is acceptable but the sentence

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“the tiger shot a gun with hunter the” is not acceptable as the word order in the latter sentence
does not conform to the established language conventions.
Language is thus called a system of systems as it operates at the two levels discussed above. This
property of language is also termed duality by some linguists. This makes language a very
complex phenomenon. Every human child has to master the conventions of the language he or
she learns before being able to successfully communicate with other members of the social
group in which he or she is placed.
4) Language is Primarily Vocal:
Language is primarily made up of vocal sounds only produced by a physiological articulatory
mechanism in the human body. In the beginning, it must have appeared as vocal sounds only.
Writing must have come much later, as an intelligent attempt to represent vocal sounds. Writing
is only the graphic representation of the sounds of the language. There are a number of
languages which continue to exist, even today, in the spoken form only. They do not have a
written form. A child learns to speak first; writing comes much later. Also, during his life time, a
man speaks much more than he writes. The total quantum of speech is much larger than the
total quantum of written materials.
It is because of these reasons that some linguists say that speech is primary, writing is
secondary. Writing did have one advantage over speech—it could be preserved in books or
records. But, with the invention of magnetic tapes or audio-cassettes, it has lost that advantage
too. The age-old proverb ‘pen is mightier than the sword’ does not hold much ground when one
finds that the spoken words, at the beck and call of a really good orator, can do much more than
a pen. Just think of Mark Antony’s speech in ‘Julius Caesar’ that inspired the whole mob into
action and spurred them on to a mood of frenzy to burn and kill the enemies of Julius Caesar. A
number of modern gadgets like the telephone, the tape recorder, the Dictaphone, etc. only go to
prove the primacy of speech over writing.
5) Language is a Social Phenomenon:
Language is a set of conventional communicative signals used by humans for communication in
a community. Language in this sense is a possession of a social group, comprising an
indispensable set of rules which permits its members to relate to each other, to interact with
each other, to co-operate with each other; it is a social institution. Language exists in society; it
is a means of nourishing and developing culture and establishing human relations. It is as a
member of society that a human being acquires a language. We are not born with an instinct to
learn a particular language––English, Russian, Chinese or French. We learn a language as
member of the society using that language, or because we want to understand that society, or to
be understood by that speech-community. If a language is not used in any society, it dies out.
Language is thus a social event. It can fully be described only if we know all about the people
who are involved in it, their personalities, their beliefs, attitudes, knowledge of the world,
relationship to each other, their social status, what activity they are engaged in, what they are
talking about, what has gone before linguistically and non-linguistically, what happens after,
what they are and a host of other facts about them and the situation they are placed in.

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6) Language is Non-instinctive, Conventional:

No language was created in a day out of a mutually agreed upon formula by a group of humans.
Language is the outcome of evolution and convention. Each generation transmits this
convention on to the next. Like all human institutions languages also change and die, grow and
expand. Every language then is a convention in a community. It is non-instinctive because it is
acquired by human beings. No body gets a language in heritage; he acquires it, and everybody
has been provided with an innate ability to acquire language. Animals inherit their system of
communication by heredity, humans do not.
7) Language is Systematic:
Although language is symbolic, yet its symbols are arranged in a particular system. All languages
have their system of arrangements. Though symbols in each human language are finite, they can
be arranged infinitely; that is to say, we can produce an infinite set of sentence by a finite set of
symbols.
Every language is a system of systems. All languages have phonological and grammatical
systems, and within a system there are several sub-systems. For example, within the
grammatical system we have morphological and syntactic systems, and within these two sub-
systems we have several other systems such as those of plural, of mood, of aspect, of tense, etc.
8) Language is unique, creative, complex and modifiable:
Language is a unique phenomenon of the earth. Other planets do not seem to have any
language, although this fact may be invalidated if we happen to discover a talking generation on
any other planet. But so far there is no evidence of the presence of language on the moon. Each
language is unique in its own sense. By this we do not mean that languages do not have any
similarities or universals. Despite their common features and language, universals, each
language has its peculiarities and distinct features.
Language has creativity and productivity. The structural elements of human language can be
combined to produce new utterances, which neither the speaker nor his hearers may ever have
made or heard before any, listener, yet which both sides understand without difficulty.
Language changes according to the needs of society. Old English is different from modern
English; so is old Urdu different form modern Urdu.
9) Duality:
The language that human beings use consists of two sub-systems - sound and meaning. A finite
set of sound units can be grouped and re-gourd into units of meaning. These can be grouped
and re-grouped to generate furtherfunctional constituents of the higher hierarchical order. We
can produce sentences through this process of combining units of a different order. Animal calls
donot show such duality, they are unitary.
10) Productivity:
A speaker may say something that he has never said before and be understood without difficulty.
Man uses the limited linguistic, resources in order to produce completely novel ideas and
utterances. Fairy tales, animal fables, narratives about alien unheard of happenings in distant
galaxies or nonexistent worlds are perfectly understood by the listeners.

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11) Displacement:
One can talk about situations, places and objects far removed from one’s present surroundings
and time. We often talk about events that happened long time ago and at a distant place ;
bombing incident in Ireland’sLondonderry twelve years’ back, for instance; or the sinking of the
Spanish Armada in the sixteenth century. Bees, of course, perform dances about the source of
nectar that is also removed from the place of dance (beehive). But they cannot convey what
happened in the previous season through their dance features. Human beings, however, can
narrate events in which they were not involved.
12) Language is Both Linguistic and Communicative Competence:
A language is an abstract set of psychological principles and sociological consideration that
constitute a person’s competence as a speaker in a given situation. “These psychological
principles make available to him an unlimited number of sentences he can draw upon in
concrete; situations and provide him with the ability to understand and create entirely new
sentences. Hence language is not just a verbal behaviour; it is a system of rules establishing
correlations between meanings and sound sequences. It is a set of principles that a speaker
masters; it is not anything that he does. In brief, a language is a code which is different from the
act of encoding; it is a speaker’s linguistic competence rather than his linguistic performance.
But mere linguistic or communicative competence is not enough for communication; it has to be
coupled with communicative competence. This is the view of the sociolinguists who stress the
use of language according to the occasion and context, the speaker and the listener, the
profession and the social status of the speaker and the listener. That language is the result of
social interaction established truth.
13) Language is Human and Structurally Complex:
No species other than humans has been endowed with language. Animals cannot acquire human
language because of its complex structure and their physical inadequacies. Animals do not have
the type of brain which the human beings possess and their articulatory organs are also very
much different from those of the human beings. Furthermore any system of animals
communication does not make use of the quality of features, that is, of concurrent systems of
sound and meaning. Human language is open-ended, extendable and modifiable whereas the
animal language is not. The difference between human and animal system of communication is
explained below.
Human and Animal Communication
Language is primarily human. It is humans alone that possess language and use it for
communication. Language is, in that sense,species-specific––it is specific only to one set of
species. Also, all human beings uniformly possess language. It is only a few deaf (and therefore
dumb) persons who cannot speak. Thus language is species-uniform to that extent. Animals
also have their own system of communication but communication between them is extremely
limited. It is limited to a very small number of messages. Animal communication differs from
human communication in the following ways:
(a) Language can convey a large number, rather an infinite set, of messages whereas the number
of messages conveyed through the communication system of animals is very limited. Animals,
for example, are able to convey to their fellow animals if they are hungry or afraid. A bee, by its
dance, is able to convey the distance or the direction of the source of nectar but it cannot convey

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how good or had this honey is. Similarly a bee cannot tell another bee that the source of honey is
ten metres to the left of a point fifteen metres to the right. Language can thus convey messages
along several directions whereas, in the case of bees, messages are differentiated along two
dimensions only, i.e., direction and distance. Some monkeys, it is known, can produce a number
of (not more than 9 to 10) sounds to express fear, aggression, anger, love etc. but these messages
too are extremely limited in number.
(b) Language makes use of clearly distinguishable discrete, separately identifiable symbols while
animal communication systems are often continuous or non-discrete.
One can clearly distinguish between /k/, /æ/ and /t/ in the word cat but one cannot identify
different discrete symbols in the long humming sound that a bee produces or the caw-caw of a
crow.
(c) Animal communication systems are closed systems that permit of no change, modification
or addition. A bee’s dance or a cock’s crow is today the same that it was two hundred years ago.
It is not so in the case of language. Language is changing, growing every day and new words
continue to be added to it in the course of time. Words like sputnik, laser, video, software etc.
did not, for example, exist anywhere in English language three hundred years ago. Language is
thus open ended, modifiable and extendable.
(d) Human language is far more structurally complex than animal communication. English (RP
Variety), for example, has 44 sounds that join in different groups to form thousands of words.
These words can be arranged into millions of sets to frame different sentences. Each sentence
has its own internal structure. There is no such structural complexity in a lamb’s bleating or a
monkey’s cry.
(e) Human language is non-instinctive in the sense that every human child has
to learnlanguage from his elders or peers in society. This process of learning plays an
important part in the acquisition of language. On the other hand, bees acquire their skill in
dancing as humans acquire the skill to walk. Bees are sometimes seen to make hexagonal hives.
They do not learn any geometry. Their knowledge is inherited, inbuilt. It is not so in the case of
human beings who have to learna language.
(f) Another important property possessed by human language is called Displacement.A
human being, for example, can talk about the past, the present or the future, of an event that
happened nearby or thousands of miles away. An animal cannot do that. When a dog produces a
certain sound, it generally refers to the present. A dog cannot tell his master that a thief had
visited his premises the previous night or the previous Sunday. It cannot tell him that a piece of
meat is lying 200 metres away on the left bank of a river flowing by the village. When a cat mews
at the arrival of its master, it is expressing its present feeling only. It cannot refer to an event
that took place two hours ago in the park. It is this property of displacement which enables
humans to create fiction and describe the past as well as the possible future events.
Why Study Language?
Having outlined the various characteristics of language, one may like to ask: why study or learn
language at all? An answer to this question can be easily derived from a consideration of the
situation this world was in before language came into being. One can easily imagine that man
must then have been a denizen of the forest very much like anyone of the other animals, viz.
horse, cow, tiger, elephant, and dog. The entire human progress, in fact everything that

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distinguishes humans from animals, depends on language only. Language is, today, a medium of
literature, science and technology, computers and cultural exchanges between social groups, and
the most powerful, convenient and permanent means of communication in the world. It is
ubiquitous, present everywhere in all human activities, thoughts, dreams, prayers, meditations
and relations. It is only through language that knowledge and culture are stored and passed on
from generation to generation. Thus all human civilization and knowledge is only possible
through language.
Some Misconception about Language
Having discussed the major characteristics of language, it would be proper to hint at some major
misconceptions which ate cherished by otherwise well-informed people. These misconceptions
arise because of improper and inadequate reflection on the nature and structure of language.
For some people, language is so familiar an object that it is not worthy of reflection and
investigation. For others, reflection about language would only mean the vaguely understood
statements made in a grammar class which they attended sometime in their schools or colleges.
For the linguist, however, both these views are unacceptable. He regards the study of language
as essential and exciting. He wants to study language to find out what it is like, what its parts or
units or elements or components are like, and bow they are combined together. He is interested
in discovering its structure. He speculates about language then he analyzes and describes it. If
need be he compares it with other languages, and discovers its core grammar.
More than this the linguist raises very many pertinent and valid questions to be answered by
researchers in the future. He raise the questions such as those listed here. Does every linguist
analyse a language into the same number and kind of parts? What is the relationship of one
analysis to another when there is mole than one way of analyzing a language? Out of the existing
analysis and descriptions which is the better one? How is a language learnt? What is the
difference between the first language acquisition and the second language learning? Why is
second language learning difficult? Can the knowledge of one language help a person in
acquiring the knowledge of the other language? How, why and to what extent does the learner’s
knowledge of the mother tongue interfere with the learning of a second language? Are there
sonic people who do not know even a single language? What happens to a child when he is
brought up in isolation? Is there a particular age at which children start the process of learning a
language and another by which they complete it? Why can’t animals imitate human language?
Winn is the difference between human language and animal system of communication? What
are the similarities and dis-similarities between one language and another? Are there some
language universals among the languages of the world? By which they complete it? Why can’t
animals imitate human language? What is the difference between human language and animal
system of communication? What are the similarities and dis-similarities between one language
and another? Are there some language universals among the languages of the world?
A linguist tries to ask these and similar other questions. It is not incumbent upon him to find out
satisfactory answers to all the questions. It is a contribution of no little value to raise questions
that arc valid and important. In all sciences, raising questions is more important then sun-
plying answers to the questions previously raised. This is how scientific inquiry progresses. If a
question is raised today, some future linguist will find out not only its answer but also the ways
and means to analyse and study languages scientifically, ask valid questions and raise new
controversies.

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There are misconceptions of yet graver magnitude than those mentioned in the preceding
paragraphs. The common ones are, that written form is more prestigious than the spoken form;
that literary language is the only language; that one language is superior to another; that
traditional alphabet is adequate; that the job of a linguist is not to describe hut. to prescribe the
grammatical rules to preserve the purity of a language that children learn language merely by
imitation; that language is an instinctive and inherited property of man; that there is little in
common between the languages of the world; that there are no language universals at all; that
no two languages have any similarities; that the purity of a language should somehow be
preserved and that historical forms of usage are to be preferred and remembered whereas
contemporary usage should be ignored as unworthy of attention. Even wore is the
misconception that only a historical treatment of language is the right treatment and that a
language should riot be studied isolating it as it were, at a particular stage or point of time, and
that what one school of linguists se the absolute and the only truth and what the other says is a
falsehood and heresy. Some other misconceptions are that all languages can he analyzed as one
would analyze European languages such as Latin and French; that Greek and Latin are ideal
languages; that sounds a particular language are in themselves easy or difficult; and that
languages are static. The earlier a student of language removes such misconception, the easier it
is for him to acquire wholesome and scientific attitude towards language.

Phonetics - The Study of Speech Sounds

Phonetics has been defined as the science of speech sounds. It is a branch of linguistics and
deals with the sounds produced by human beings in their speech behaviour. In speaking trial
listening a complex of activities is involved : there is the production of speech which is the result
of simultaneous activities of several body organs.
These activities are aimed at creating disturbances in the air. The inhaled air acts as source of
energy setting the outside air vibrating so that the sound thus generated is carried along to the
ears of the listener. The auditory process is set in motion which is again a complicated process
involving auditory organs; perception of speech segments which involves discarding the non-
significant features from the significant or distinctive features and perceiving only those
that are meaningful. ‘Even a single speech sound combines a large number ofdistinctive
features which provide the information on which an auditor bases recognition of the sound’
(Tiffany-Carrell). It is like retrieving a small visual image from a crowd of intricate details. But
the brain can quickly decode the incoming signals that have been encoded by the speakers.
‘Physical energy in the form of sensory nerve impulses reaches the brain’, the brain circuitry is
understood to organise them into percepts which are the basis of recognition. Obviously, a
complex of multiple factors in the form of the listeners’ interest, his social background,
intellectual level, pas! experience and other parameters play an active and significant role in
the perception level, and the interpretation is made accordingly.
We thus observe that speech act encompasses intricate movements and activities that occur on
different planes, some of them simultaneously and at incredible speed. We ate so used
to speaking in a natural effortless manner, that we hardly give attention to the complex nature of
speech production and speech perception.
Branches of Linguistics
Phonetics has three major branches:

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1) Articulatory Phonetics
2) Auditory Phonetics
3) Acoustic Phonetics
Articulatory phonetics is also known as physiological phonetics; and auditory phonetics is
known by the name perceptual phonetics.
Articulatory Phonetics
This branch of phonetics recognises that there is speech producing mechanism in human beings.
‘The ‘apparatus’ that produces speech sounds is situated within the human body. However, it
must be clear that there is no separate ‘apparatus’ exclusively used for generating speech
sounds. Speech is, infact, an overlaid functionin that human beings utilize in a special way
organs which are part of the respiratory and digestive system. Man uses those organs for
speaking which already serve other biological needs. Thus lips, teeth, tongue, hard palate, soft
palate, trachea, lungs - all these organs used in speech production have different basic biological
functions. In the process of cultural evolution, man devised ways of utilizing these organs and
parts thereof (such as the tip, blade, front, centre, back of the tongue alongwith the
corresponding areas or points in the roof of mouth or hard palate) for verbal communication.
Besides( these the airstream that goes in and out of the lungs forms the basis of speech; that is,
speech is based en the outgoing airstream. Articulatory phonetics studies how the outgoing
airstream is regulated along the vocal tract to form various speech sounds.
Auditory Phonetics
This branch of phonetics studies how speech sounds are heard and perceived. This galls for a
close study of the psychology of perception on the one hand, and the mechanism of the neuro-
muscular circuitry on the other.
Hearing is a very intricate process; it implies ‘interpreting the physical description of actual or
proposed signals in terms of the auditory sensations which the signals would create if impressed
upon the ear’ (French). Acoustic signals generate a ‘complex chain of physical disturbances
within the auditory system’. The brain receives signal about these physical disturbances; in the
brain are caused other disturbances - physical counterparts of the sensations. It is necessary to
establish correlation between the auditory signals and their interpretation in terms of the
disturbances in the brain. It is a challenging task, one can say that not much headway has been
made in unravelling the complex pattern of the course charted by the speech signals through the
auditory system into the neuro-muscular processes. However, we can divide the whole process
into three stages:
i) the physical aspect of die auditory system
ii) recognition of the essential characteristics of hearing.
iii) interpreting auditory sensations, their attributes and their relation to the signals.
The physical aspect of die auditory system involves a detailed description of the external, middle
and inner ear (also known as Cochlea), and the auditory receptive centres of tic bran, the neural
network. This also takes into account ‘translating acoustic signals into auditory sensations’
which begins with the transfer of pressure variation of sound waves to the fluids in the inner

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ear. The inner ear analyses these vibrations and encodes them into ‘neural pulses of
elctrochemical activity’. The inner ear is connected to the auditory receptive centres by the
auditory nerve which carries these pulses. The auditory centres are correspondingly stimulated.
But there is a difference between the liaises and the actual sensations in the neural centres that
ate thus generated.
The basic characteristics of healing include such features as loudness, absolute sensitivity,
frequency tones, ‘masking’ or the elimination of the subjective traces of one of the two or more
sounds; that the ear is exposed to, pitch etc. Interpreting, the auditory sensations into their
physical signals poses serious problems. The auditory sensations do lint offer a featly, palpable
pattern that can satisfactorily be described Sound signals may be composed of a variety of
components - horn bits of ‘transients’ to sounds of longer duration; from single unit tones to
multiple segment complexes; Bonn ones having a constant pattern to continually changing
frequencies. It is not necessary that the auditory sensation would reflect the identical
occurrences of these sound signals. In the complex sound patterns, their ‘separate components
may retain the identity in the resulting sensation’ or may produce an entirely new sensation.
Signals of varying frequencies may produce a study pattern of sensations or separate sensations.
Composition of the human brain plays a crucial role in this regard. It poses difficulties in the
way of interpretation. Many signals are highly complex and can only be described in
mathematical terms. However, such descriptions do not have any relevance to phonetics and
must, therefore, be ignored.
Acoustic Phonetics
Acoustic phonetics is the study of the physical properties of speech sounds such as frequency
and amplitude in their transmission. Acoustic phoneticians analyse the speech waves with the
help of instruments, attempt to describe the physical properties of the stream of sound issues
forth from the mouth of a speaker.
It is in the field of acoustic phonetics that the most sulking developments have taken place since
the Second World War. Complex sound waves produced in speech can be analysed into their
component frequencies and relative amplitudes. Considerable progress has also been made
in speech-synthesis. Acoustic analysis has confirmed (if confirmation was needed) that speech is
not made up of a sequence of discrete sounds. The articulatory features of rounding of voice, of
nasality, of obstruction and of friction can also be identified acoustically. Acoustic phonetics
achieved a good deal of success in matters of the study of the n vowels, but regarding consonants
it has not reached final conclusions.
Articulators
We shall now consider the organs which are used in articulation. All speech organs are known
as articulators. They are broadly divided into two categories :
a) Mobile or active articulators
b) Fixed or passive articulators
We have already noted that there is perceptibly significant mobility in the laryngeal and
pharyngeal regions. In fact, the whole of sub-laryngeal area is active in speech production.
However, there are more noticeable movements in the larynx and areas immediately above it.
The throat forms a crucial factor in determining resonance. The length of the pharyngeal

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resonator can be changed by muscular actions which raise and lower the larynx. Among the
mobile or active articulators the centrally important one is the tongue. It is extremely flexible
and mobile. The other two mobile articulators are the lower jaw (mandible) which can move
both vertically and horizontally to change the phonetic qualities of sounds, and the lips; they can
be rounded or spread, brought closer to the upper teeth or simply held neutrally.
The fixed or passive articulators are include the roof of the mouth. This is dome-shaped, hard
and bony. It is known as the hard palate. The hard palate and the teeth play a necessary,
although passive role in articulation. The bony palate forms the anterior part of the roof of
mouth, separating the oral cavity from the nasal passage. The hard palate terminates in the soft
palate which is muscular. This is also called velum or velum palatinum whichforms the
posterior section of the roof of the mouth, separating the mouth cavity from nasopharynx. The
velum can be lowered or raised for opening or closing thenasopharyngeal passage. We shall see
this in detail in the section dealing with nasal sounds.
The upper teeth also participate in articulatory process, with the active articulators coming into
contact with them to form various constrictions, thus modifying the airstream and producing
different speech sounds.
We shall now separately consider in detail each one of these articulators. First let us look at the
active articulators.
Active Articulators
The main role of the active articulators is to actively interfere with the outgoing airstream and
modify it to produce various types of speech sounds. This is done either by approximating
(forming a constriction) or coming into full contact with the passive articulators (forming
complete stoppage). We have seen the functioning of the larynx, glottis and vocal cords in earlier
sections. Now we shall take a look at the oropharyngeal articulators that are situated in the
mouth.
Tongue
The most active of articulators is the tongue. It shows an amazing range of adjustments and
movements mainly because it is made of two groups of muscles, intrinsic ones are fibres of
the longitudinal, transverse andverticalis lingual musceles. These muscles are within the
tongue and mainly responsible for changes in its shape. They blend with the extrinsic
muscles which originate outside of the tongue. Their function determines the position and
movement of the tongue. ‘The tongue is an organ of taste, and used for chewing and swallowing
activities... On the basis of its great flexibility and motility, the secondary function of articulation
has been super-imposed’. (G.E. Arnold)
It has been divided into the following major parts on the surface along its length.
i) apex or tip
ii) blade
iii) front
iv) back or dorsum
v) root

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The sides of the tongue can also be used in speech, these are known as margin. For lateral
sounds the sides are raised enough for the airstream to create turbulence and escape
continuously. The tip can be raised and curled backwards letting the passing airstream to vibrate
it. This produces retroflex sounds of various types.
Lower lip: The lower lip is a mobile articulator which can be used for many oral configurations.
With the upper lip it can form various degrees of rounding that produce different vowels. It can
bring about complete oral occlusion with the upper lip which produces bilabial sounds, plosives
and in many languages fricatives also. When the lower lip comes into contact with upper teeth,
we hear fricative sounds (labio-dental).
Passive Articulators
Passive or immobile articulators cannot be moved about, but perform a v cry crucial role in
speech production. The mobile organs approximate them, i.e. come close enough to affect the
shape of the outgoing column of air, or form a complete closure by coming into full contact with
them.
These organs are mostly located in the upper part of the mouth, beginning in front with the
upper lip, upper teeth, the gum ridge oralveolum, hard palate, the soft palate, just behind the
hard palate and the back wall of the throat (pharynx).
Upper lip : Though upper lip is not a rigid organ and can be moved, in speech production it is
not used as a mobile articulator; rather the lower lip reaches up to create various constrictions
with it. Therefore, it has been classified as a passive articulator.
Upper teeth: The row of upper teeth functions as the passive articulator. Tongue-tip and blade
as well as the lower lip form constriction with them. The active organs can do so either with the
edges of the teeth or the back of them. Dental class of sounds is produced in this manner. Upper
teeth are also involved in the production of the fricative sounds, called labio-dentals in which
the lower lip approximates them to form a slit through which the air escapes creating friction
noise.
Gum ridge: Just behind the upper teeth is located alveolar or gum ridge. The mobile speech
organs - various parts of the tongue reach it to form either a narrow stricture or a complete
closure. Hindi /d/ and /t/ and their aspirated counterparts are dental stops. But English /0/
in thin and /ð/ in thisare fricatives.
Hard Palate: Behind the alveolum or gum ridge begins the hard palate which forms the major
part of the oral arch or roof of the mouth. We already possess an idea of its formation. It is made
of the horizontal plates of bone which terminate in the soft palate. ‘Some part of both the hard
and the soft palates serves as a point of contact or near-contact for the tongue in the production
of a number of speech sounds’. It can be divided into parts or areas where the tongue makes
contact. Phonetic quality is changed according to the point at which the hard palate is
approximated by the tongue. These sounds are recognised as palatal. These are further
classified according to which part of the tongue comes into contact with the precise palatal area.
For example, we can produce palato-alveolar sounds by bringing the tip of the tongue to touch
the extreme front of the hard palate or the place lying between the gum-ridge and the
[Link]-palatal area lies further back of the region just mentioned; palatal the slope of the
hard palate and domal is the dome of it. Classification is largely a matter of convenience and

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practical need of the particular language. Not all the languages or dialects make use of all the
classification criteria. What is suggested here is that precise classifications are possible.
Soft Palate: This is recognised as the fixed articulator though it can he moved, being a soft and
flexible organ. The principal action of soft place consists of opening the naso-pharyngeal cavity
by lowering itself. When it is lowered, the oral passage is closed off and the outgoing airstream
passes through the nose, sounds produced in this manner are identified as nasals. /m/, /n/, /h/
and the nasalised vowels are of this type. For opening the oral passage and allowing the air a
free passage through it, the soft palate is raised. Soft palate thus acts as a valve. The back of the
tongue or derssum makes contact with the velum to produce either frictional sounds or stops.
These stops are known as velar stops /k/, /g/. Retroflex sounds can also be produced by
bringing the underside of the tongue tip to touch the velum.
Uvula
The soft palate terminates into a piece of flesh which dangles over the pharyngeal passage. This
is called uvula. It is a ‘small flexible appendage hanging down from the posterior edge of the
velum, (Gleason). It can be vibrated by the outgoing breath-stream, to produce uvular
sound, particularly uvular trills. Some languages use these sounds as phonemes.
Pharynx: The posterior wall of the pharynx is used for producing speech. In the front are the
base of the tongue, the palate, and the two openings leading to the nasal and oral passages. This
area can be divided into three parts : the hypopharynx behind the tongue;
the mesopharynx, behind the velum, andnasopharynx behind the nose. In
themesopharynx area are to be found the crossing of the alimentary and respiratory canals. The
pharynx serves as a resonator for the voice. Widening of the pharynx promotes resonance and
makes the tones full, dark, strong and resonant; narrowing tends to make them thin, sharp,
dampened, and throaty’ (Arnold). Besides, the root of the tongue can also be made to come into
contact with the pharyngeal wall and produce certain types of fricatives and stops. Below are
discussed certain processes of speech production. These are generally used by languages all over
the world.
Labiabialization
This is a process in which the lips play an active part in various ways. They come together to
form various stages or degrees of rounding which is a crucial factor inproducing back vowels
/u/, /o/, / /, as in shoe, shore, and .a. The two lips are joined together for the pronunciation of
the plosive sounds /p/, /b/; and the voiced nasal continuant /m/. The lower lip is raised
approximate the edge of the upper teeth for the fricatives /f/, /v/. For the semi-vowel /w/ again
there is a noticeable lip-rounding. Bilabial fricatives are not uncommon. In the African language
Tshiluba this is used. Even a bilabial trill is heard in some languages.
Polatalization: In palatalization the tongue approximates the hard palate leaving only a narrow
space through which the airstream passes producing friction noise; or the tongue may form
complete occlusion and then gradually withdraw, creating a turbulence of air due to the breath-
stream escaping through the space slowly being allowed to form. This is how the sound
in jar/dзa:/ and chair /tòe∂/ is pronounced.
Velarization: Velar sounds are produced by this process. The back of the tongue either
approximates or forms total occlusion for articulating certain types of stop and fricative sounds.

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The velar sounds are /k/ and /g/ in English. /h/ is a velar nasal heard in such words as king,
sing, inquest andconquer.
Glottalization: The space between the vocal cords is called glottis. If the vocal cords are brought
together taut and released with a ‘popping’ action, the resultant sound will be heard as a ‘glottal
stop’, symbolised as /?/. We
create a glottal closure when we have to lift something heavy. In this act adequate pressure of air
is, built up in sub- laryngeal region to provide enough strength. Immediately after doing the
work a heavy amount of breath is forcefully released, accompanied by a glottal sound. In rapid
conversation often this is used in the form of ‘catch’ in the throat. The Cockney speech of
London contains quite a generous share of this sound takes place of certain dropped sounds, for
example, in butter pronouncedbu’er /b^?/ or letter /le?ә/. Glottal stops are phonemic in some
languages. Glottal fricatives are used in Scottish language and its regional dialects. These are
symbolised as [h] and [h]. In English /h/ as used in house, he, her, horse is a glottal fricative.
The Scottish word loch‘lake’ contains the glottal fricative.
Nasalisation : This is a process whereby we produce nasal sounds or nasalised vowels. In
articulating these sounds, the soft palate is lowered to close off the oral passage and direct the
airstream through nasal cavity. In another case, the air is allowed to go into both the oral and
the nasal cavities, but the active articulators check it in the mouth. For /m/ two lips come
together to form a closure, and channelise the air flow, through the nose. Similarly, for /n/ the
tip of the tongue comes into contact with the back of the upper teeth and forms a closure.
‘Although the vocal tract is blocked at one point, the breath-stream flows outward through what
has been called a secondary apertureconsisting of the nasal airway. Acoustically, the physical
conditions which impart the perceived nasal quality to these sounds are sometimes referred to
as cul de sacresonance, where a relatively small cavity, the nasal resonator, is coupled to a large
cavity, the oropharyngeal cavity (Tiffany-Carrell). Nasals are also classed
as resonantsor continuants.
Voicing : It is an articulatory process in which the vocal flaps are set in vibration by the outgoing
column of air. During voicing, the vocal cords are brought close enough to hold them taut and
the airstream vibrates them in rapid succession. There is as a result, quick opening and closing
of these vocal cords several times a second. Sounds can be produced without the vibration of the
vocal cords. Such sounds are called unvoicedor voiceless sounds; sounds produced with the
cords in vibration are called voiced sounds. How can one ascertain whether a sound is voiced or
not? There are simple methods to do so. If we cup our ears and pronounce a voiced sound we
can hear a ‘buzzing’ noise, from the time we actually get ready for it. /z/ in zoo and /dз/
in judge orjam are voiced sounds. Another simple method is to put a finger on the front of the
voice box or ‘adams apple’ and say these sounds - a distinct sensation of noise can be felt which
is missing when we pronounce an unvoiced sound. In English we produce /g/, /b/, /d/, /dз/,
/v/, /z/, /з/, /ð/, /m/, /n/, /h/, /l/, /w/, /r/ and all the vowels with voicing. These are voiced
sounds. The voiceless sounds are /k/, /p/, /t/, /tò/, /f/, /s/, /ò/, /q/.
Frequency of the vocal cords vibration is also related to the low and high tones, pitch level and
voice amplitude, but we shall consider this in a later section. We must bear in mind at this stage
that voicing or vibration of the vocal cords has a crucial function in speech production. It forms
a basic factor in the fundamental classification of speech sounds into two functional categories,
the voiced and the voiceless ones.

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Manner of Articulation
The manner or way in which the outgoing air-stream is interfered with determines themanner
of articulation. A sound can be described in this light. The airstream may completely be stopped
and released with force producing a plosive or stop sound. The occlusion may occur anywhere
between larynx and the two lips; or the passage of air may be constricted enough for it to
produce audible friction. The sound thus produced is called fricative. According to the manner
of articulation sounds are classified into smaller classes as stops, fricatives, affricates, nasals,
laterals, trills or flaps and semivowels. These constitute the larger class of consonants. For the
complete description both the point/place and manner of articulation are taken into
consideration.
Fortis and Lenis
In producing speech sounds a great deal of muscular energy is involved. Some of the sounds
need greater energy than others. Voiceless sounds are the examples of sound pronounced with
greater energy. The dichotomy signifies grouping of sounds according to the degree of muscular
tension. ‘The former tend to be voiceless, the latter voiced, but considerable contextual
modification of these qualities are possible, especially as a result of accentual features’ (L.F.
Brasnalian). English /p/, /t/, and /k/ are the examples of sounds pronounced with greater effort
and breath. ‘In German fortisarticulation such as t, k, f are distinctly voiceless, in American
English, on the other hand, especially between vowels, these sounds are commonly voiced
throughout their duration’.
In lenis, the muscular, energy is markedly decreased and so also breath. Mostly voiced sounds
are lenis such as /b/, /d/, /z/, /v/, /з/, etc.
Voiced and Voiceless Sounds
We have already noted the voicing mechanism. The division of speech sounds into the voiced
and the voiceless ones is of great importance in phonetics. The beginners should familiarise
themselves with the vibrations felt during the production of voiced sounds.
Description of Speech Sounds
Speech Sounds are divided into two main groups: (1) consonants, and (2) vowels.
Consonants:
A description of consonants, according to A.C. Gimson, must provide answers to the following
questions:
(i) Is the air-stream set in motion by the lungs or by some other means? (pulmonic or
non-pulmonic).
(ii) Is the air-stream forced outwards or sucked inwards? (egressive or ingressive)
(iii) Do the vocal cords vibrate or not? (voiced or voiceless).
(iv) Is the soft palate raised or lowered? Or, does the air pass through the oral cavity
(mouth) or the nasal cavity (nose)?
(v) At what point or points and between what organs does the closure or narrowing take
place? (Place of articulation).

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(vi) What is the type of closure or narrowing at the point of articulation? (Manner of
articulation).
Thus the description of a consonant will include five kinds of information : (1) the nature of the
air-stream mechanism; (2) the state of the glottis; (3) the position of soft palate (velum); (4) the
articulators involved; and (5) the nature of the ‘stricture’.
The Nature of the Air-stream [Link] speech sounds and all normal English
sounds are made with an egressive pulmonic air-stream, e.g., the air pushed out of the lungs.
The State of Glottis. A consonant may be voiced or voice-less, depending upon whether the
vocal cords remain wide apart (voice-less) or in a state of vibration (voiced).
The Position of the Soft Palate. While describing consonants we have to mention whether
they are oral sounds (produced with soft palate raised, thus blocking the nasal passage of air) or
nasal sounds (produced with the soft palate lowered).
The Articulators Involved. In the description of consonants, we have also to discuss the
various articulators involved. The articulators are active (the lower lip and the tongue) and
passive (the upper lip, the upper teeth, the roof of the mouth divided into the teeth-ridge, the
hard palate, and the soft palate, and the back wall of the throat pharynx). In the production of a
consonant the active articulator is moved towards the passive articulator. The chief points of
articulation are bilabial, labiodental, dental, alveolar, post-alveolar, palato-alveolar, retroflex,
palatal, velar, uvular, and glottal. In the case of some consonantal sounds, there can be a
secondary place of articulation in addition to the primary. Thus, in the so-called dark /l/, in
addition to the partial alveolar contact, there is an essential raising of the back of the tongue
towards the velum (velarization); or, again some post-alveolar articulator of ‘r’ (r) as in red are
accompanied by slight lip-rounding (labialization). We can classify consonants according to the
place of articulation.
The Nature of Stricture. By the nature of stricture we mean the manner of articulation. This
stricture of obstruction made by the organs may be total, intermittent, partial, or may merely
constitute a narrowing sufficient to cause friction.
When the stricture is that of a complete closure, the active and passive articulators make a firm
contact with each other, and prevent the passage of air between them. For instance, in the
production of /p/ as inpin and /b/ as in bin, the lips make a total closure.
The stricture may be such that air passes between the active and passive articulators
intermittently. Such a stricture is called intermittent closure, and involves the vibration of the
active articulator against the passive. The Scottish /r/ as in rat is an example. The intermittent
closure may be of such a short duration that the active articulator strikes against the passive
articulator once only. The English /r/ in the word very is an example; the tip of the tongue
(active articulator) makes one tap against the teeth-ridge (passive articulator).
In the partial stricture, the air passes between the active and passive articulators continuously,
but with some difficulty. The sounds thus produced are clear /1/ and dark /1/
in late, and hill, the clear and the dark ‘1’ respectively.
And lastly, the stricture may be such that the air, while passing between the active and passive
articulators, produces audible friction. /f, v, q, ð, s, z, f, з, h/ in English are examples of this kind
of stricture. Or the air may pass without friction. Examples are /w/ in wet, /j/ in yes and flap

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/r/ as in butter. A stricture which involves audible friction, can be called a stricture of close
approximation, whereas one which involves no such friction can be called a stricture of open
approximation.
If we are to describe some of the consonant sounds in terms of the points discussed in the
preceding paragraphs, we shall do that in the following manner (we shall not make any
reference to the air-stream mechanism since we have already mentioned that all English sounds
are made with a pulmonic egressive air-stream):
1. /p/ in the English word pack.
(i) The vocal cords are held apart and the sound is voiceless:
(ii) The soft palate is raised and the nasal passage is closed.
(iii) The active articulator is the lower lip.
(iv) The passive articulator is the upper lip.
(v) There is a stricture of complete closure.
2. /b/ in the English word back.
(i) The vocal cords vibrate, and the sound produced is voiced.
(ii) The soft palate is raised and the nasal passage is closed.
(iii) The active articulator is the lower lip.
(iv) The passive articulator is the upper lip.
(v) There is a stricture of complete closure.
3. /g/ in the English word god.
(i) The vocal cords vibrate, and the sound produced is voiced.
(ii) The soft palate is raised and the nasal passive is closed.
(iii) The active articulator is the back of the tongue.
(iv) The passive articulator is the soft palate.
(v) There is a stricture of complete closure; the back of the tongue makes a complete
closure with the soft palate.
4. /t/ in the English words cat.
(i) The vocal cords are wide apart, and the sound is voiceless.
(ii) The soft palate is raised and the nasal passage is closed.
(iii) The active articulator is the tip of the tongue.
(iv) The passive articulator is the teeth ridge.
(v) There is a stricture of complete closure. The tip of the tongue makes a firm contact with
the teeth ridge.

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5. /m/ in the English word man.

(i) The vocal cords vibrate and the sound is voiced.
(ii) The soft palate is lowered and the air passes through the nose.
(iii) The active articulator is the lower lip.
(iv) The passive articulator is the upper lip.
(v) There is a stricture of complete oral closure.
6. /v/ in the English word van.
(i) The vocal cords vibrate and the sound is voiced.
(ii) The soft palate is raised and the nasal passage is closed.
(iii) The active articulator is the lower lip.
(iv) The passive articulators are the upper front teeth.
(v) The stricture is one of close approximation. (The lower lip is brought very near the
upper front teeth. The air passes between them with audible friction.)
7. /j/ in the English word yet.
(i) The vocal cords vibrate and the sound is voiced.
(ii) The soft palate is raised.
(iii) The active articulator is the front of the tongue.
(iv) The passive articulator is the hard palate.
(v) There is a stricture of open approximation. The front of the tongue is brought near the
hard palate but the space between them is sufficient for the air to pass without any
audible friction.
Hence the kind of stricture involved in the articulation of various sounds is as follows :
a) plosive : complete closure,
b) affricate : complete closure and slow release,
c) nasal : complete oral closure,
d) fricate : close approximation,
e) lateral : complete closure in the centre of the vocal tract and the air passes along the
side(s) of the tongue,
f) vowel : open approximation,
g) semi-vowel : open approximation,
h) frictionless continuant : open approximation.
Classification of Consonants

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Consonantal sounds are classified on the basis of (i) voicing, (ii) place of articulation, and (iii)
manner of articulation.
(i) Voicing. On the basis of voicing, sound can be classified into voiced and voiceless sounds.
The voiced sounds in English are /b, d, g, v. ð, z, dз, m, n, ŋ, l, r, w, j/.
All the vocoids and semi-vowels are voiced sounds, whereas among the consonants some are
voiced and some voiceless. If the vocal cards vibrate when a sound is produced, it is said to be
voiceless.
(ii) The Place of Articulation. Consonants are divided as given in the following table on the
basis of the articulatory points at which the articulators actually touch, or are at their closest.
The Classification of English Consonants according to the place of Articulation.

Classification Articulators Examples

Bilabial Upper lip and lower lip /p b m w/

Dental Teeth and tip of tongue /q ð/

Labio-dentel Lower lip and upper teeth /f v/

Alveolar alveolar (teeth) ridge and /t d s z r k b/

tip and blade of tongue

Post-alveolar Hard palate and tip of /r/

tongue

Palato- Hard palate—alveolar and /f/z/ò/dз/

aveloar tip, blade and front of
tongue

Palatal Hard palate and front of /j/

tongue

Velar Soft palate and back of /k g ŋ/

tongue

Glottal Glottis (vocal cords) /h/

The Manner of Articulation

According to the manner of articulation, which describes the type of obstruction caused by the
narrowing or closure of the articulators, the consonants can be divided into stops. affricates,
fricatives, nasals, rolls, laterals, and semi-vowels or frictionless continuants. We shall discuss
these one by one.
(1) Stop. In the production of a stop, the oral and nasal passages arc closed simultaneously.
The active and passive articulators come in contact with each other forming a stricture of
complete closure and preventing the air from escaping through the mouth. The soft palate is
raised and thus the nasal passage is also blocked. (This is also known as velic closure). The air
behind the oral closure is compressed, and when the active articulator is removed from contact

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with passive one, the air escapes with an explosion. Stops are also known as mutes. explosives.
plosives or occlusives. /p/ in patand /b/ in hat are the examples of stops.
(2) Affricate. If the stop is not held for any appreciable time and released slowly, we get an
affricate rather than a plosive, e.g. /tò/ inchair and /dз/ in jail.
(3) Nasal. In a nasal contoid, the breath stream is interrupted at some point in the oral cavity
or at the lips, while being allowed to enter the nose and create resonance there. Thus a nasal is
produced by a stricture of complete oral closure. The soft palate is lowered and the air passes
through the nose. All nasal sounds are voiced. Examples /m, n, v/ in English.
(4) Trill (or Rolled Consonants). In theproduction of a trill, the active articulator taps
several times against the passive articulator. The stricture involved can be called a stricture of
intermittent closure. Scottish /r/, for example in red, in which the tip of the tongue strikes
against the teeth ridge a number of times, is called a trilled consonant.
(5) Flap. For a flap the active articulator strikes the passive articulation once only. For example
the /r/ in the English word very, in which the tip of the tongue strikes against teeth ridge only
once.
(6) Lateral. Laterals are produced by a stricture of complete closure in the centre of the vocal
tract, but the air passes out every one or both side of the tongue. For example, /I/ in late.
(7) Fricative. In the production of a fricative consonant the stricture is one of close
approximation. The active articulator and the passive articulator are so close to each other that
passage between them is very narrow and the air passes through it with audible friction.
Examples are /f/ in face, /v/ in vain /q/ in think, /ð/ in them, /s/ in sail, /z/in zero, /ò/
in ship, /з/ in measure, /h/ inhat.
(8) Frictionless Continuant. In the production of a frictionless continuant the stricture is
that of open approximation. For example in the production of /r/ in red, read, real,
ready, the active articulator (tip of the tongue) is brought just behind the passive articulator
(alveolar ridge) so that there is plenty of space between the two articulators, and the air passes
between them without friction; and hence the term “frictionless continuant.”
Gimson includes the English /r/ in words like red and read among the frictionless continuants,
but the English (r) also occurs as a fricative as in try, cry, ray, pray, grow, very, sorry.
Jones includes it in the list of fricatives and Gimson in the list of frictionless continuants.
(9) Semi-vowel. A semi-vowel is a vowel glide functioning as a consonant i.e., as the C
element in syllable structure. In terms of articulation semi-vowels are like vowels, but they don’t
behave like vowels. Semi-vowels are never stable; they can never be pronounced by themselves.
They are sounds in transition. Examples are /j/ in yet and /w/ in wet. These are also called
semiconsonants too.
(10) Fortis and Lenis. When we have voiceless/voiced pair, the two sounds are also
distinguished by the degree of breath force and muscular effort involved in the articulations.
e.g., is comparatively strong orfortis, and z is comparatively weaker lenis.
We summarize the classification of the consonants in English on the basis of the manner of
articulation in the following table.

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Name of the Structure Involved Examples

Class

Stop Complete closure /p b t d k g/

Affricate Closure, then slow /t ò dз/

separation
Narrowing, resulting audible
frication friction /f v q ð s z ò
з/

Nasal Complete clsoure in mouth, /m n ŋ/

air escapes through nose

Rolled Rapid intermittent closure /r/

Lateral Closure in the centre /l/

of mouth, air escapes over
the sides of tongue

Frictionless Slight narrowing, not enough /r/

Continuant to cause friction

Semi- Slight narrowing, not /w j/

vowels/ enough to cause friction.
Semi-
consonants

Vowels
Vowels may be defined with an open approximation without any obstruction, partial or
complete, in the air passage. They are referred to as vocoids in phonetics. They can be described
in terms of three variables:
(1) height of tongue
(2) part of the tongue which is raised orlowered
(3) lip-rounding.
In order to describe the vowels, we usually draw three points in the horizontal-axes:front,
central and back, referring to the part of the tongue which is the highest. So we have
i) front vowels, during the production of which the front of the tongue is raised towards
the hard palate. For example, /i, i:, e. æ/ in English as in sit, seat, set,
and sat respectively.
ii) back vowels, during the production of which the back of the tongue is raised towards
the soft palate. For example /a:, , :, u, u:/ in English as in cart, cot, caught,
book and toolrespectively.

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iii) central vowels, during the production of which the central part of the tongue (the
part between the front and the back) is raised. For example, /ә, ә:, Λ/ in English as
inabout, earth and but respectively.
To describe the vowel sound we mention whether it is open or close, half-close or half-open,
front or back or central, long or short, whether the tongue is tense or lax while the vowel is being
pronounced, and whether lips are spread, neutral, open rounded, or close rounded. All English
vowels are voiced. So, for every vowel, we must state that it is voiced:
Diphthongs
From the point of view of their quality, vowel sounds are of two types : monophthong and
diphthong. Monophthongs are pure vowels and diphthongs are gliding vowels. ‘A vowel that
does not change in quality’ may be called a monophthong; and a vowel sound with a continually
changing quality may be called a diphthong.
A pure vowel is one for which the organs of speech remain in a given position for an appreciable
period of time. A diphthong is a vowel sound consisting of a deliberate, [Link] glide,
the organs of speech starting in the position of one vowel and immediately moving in the
direction of another vowel. A diphthong, moreover, consists of a single syllabic––that is, the
vowel-glide most be performed with a single impulse of the breath; if there is more than
one impulse of breath, the ear perceives two separate syllables...
––Peter MacCarthy, English Pronunciation.
A diphthong, thus, always occupies one syllabic. If two adjacent vowels form the nuclei of two
successive syllables, they are not a diphthong. For example the vowels in bay, boy, and buy are
diphthongs, but the vowels in doing are two different vowels since they belong to two different
syllables.
One end of the diphthong is generally more prominent than the other. Diphthongs are termed
‘decrescendo’ of FALLING if the first element is louder or more prominent than the second, and
‘crescendo’ or RISING if the second element is louder or more prominent than the first. All the
English diphthongs are falling diphthongs, because in them the first clement is louder or more
prominent than the second clement.
Diphthongs are represented in phonetic transcription by a sequence of two letters, the first
showing the position of the organs of speech at the beginning of the glide, the second their
position at the end. In the case of the ‘closing’ diphthongs the second letter indicates the
point toward which glide (movement) is made.
Phonetic Transcription
Phonetic transcription is a device in which we use several symbols in such a way that one symbol
always represents one sound. It is also known as phonetic notation, it is an ‘attempt on paper, a
record of the sounds that speakers make.’ By looking at an English word in its written form one
cannot be sure of its pronunciation, whereas by looking at it in phonetic transcription one can
be. Most of our phonetic transcriptions are phonemictranscriptions, that is, each symbol
represents a phoneme, a distinct sound unit in language. A pair of square brackets [ ] indicates a
phonetic transcription: Phonemic transcriptions are enclosed within slant bars / /.
The Usefulness of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)

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The IPA gives us a uniform international medium of studying and transcribing the sounds of all
the languages of the world. Many languages in the world have no orthographic (written) form at
all. It has been made possible to study such languages with this alphabet. In other words, the
IPA is ‘a precise and universal’ means (i.e. valid for all languages) of writing down the spoken
forms of utterances as they are spoken without reference to their orthographic representation,
grammatical status, or meaning.
As regards English, the IPA helps us in establishing and maintaining international intelligibility
and uniformity in the pronunciation of English. With the help of the IPA we can easily teach the
pronunciation of English or of any other language. The IPA has contributed a lot in the teaching
and description of language. The teachers and learners of English can improve, and standardize
their pronunciation and can overcome the confusion created by the spellings with the help of the
international phonetic alphabet.

Phonology - The Pronunciation of English

“Phonology is essentially the description of the systems and patterns of speech sounds
in a language”. (George Yule)
“Phonology is the subfield of linguistics that studies the structure and systematic
patterning of sounds in human language”. Adrain Akmajian)
According to Bloomfield, phonology is the organizantion of sounds patterns. In order to fulfil
the communicative functions, languages their material, the vocal noises, into recurrent bits and
pieces arranged in patterns. It is the study of this formal organisation language which known as
phonology.
What is sound? How and where is it produced from? How is it received by the ears? How and
why is one sound different from the other? ––questions like these are the subject-matter of
Phonology
Difference between Phonetics and Phonology
The difference between phonetics and phonology is that of generality and particularity. Whereas
phonetics is the science of speech sounds, their production, transmission and reception and the
signs to represent them in general with no particular reference to any one phonology is the study
of vocal sounds and sound changes, phonemes and their variants, in a particular language. If
phonetics can be likened to a world, phonology this is a country. Phonetics is one and the same
for all the languages of the world, but the phonology of one language will differ from the
phonology of another.
According to John Lyons, “Phonetics differs from phonology… in that it considers speech sounds
independently of their paradinmatic opposition and syntagmatic combinations in particular
languages,” and that phonology is the level at which the linguist describes the sounds of a
particular language (NewHorizons in Linguistics).
The subject-matter of phonology is the selected phonetic material from the total resources
available to human beings from phonetics. The human vocal system can produce a very large
number of different speech sounds. Members of a particular speech community speaking that
particular language, however, use only a limited number of these sounds. Every language makes

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its own selection of sounds and organizes them into characteristics patterns. This selection of
sounds and their arrangement into patterns phonology of the language.
To quote Robins, “Phonetics and phonology are both concerned with the same subject-matter or
aspect of language, speech sounds, as the audible result of articulation, but they are concerned
with them from different points of view. Phonetics is general (that is, concerned with speech
sounds as such without reference to their function in a particular languages), descriptive and
classificatory, phonology is particular (having a particular language or languages in view) and
functional (concerned with working or functioning of speech in a language or languages).
Phonology has in fact been called functional phonetics”.(General linguistics)
English Vowels
Vowels are continuous sounds: what distinguishes one sound from the ether is the shape of the
oral cavity changing to form resonance chamber. The airstream expelled from the lungs acquires
a distinct quality, but at no point does it meet any obstruction. Mostly tongue is the crucial
factor in creating resonance chambers. It can move from a state of total passivity to the highest
point in the mouth close to its roof. This highly flexible organ is capable of positioning itself to
various degrees of height.
Three major criteria for the articulatory description of vowels are identified, namely,
i) Tongue-height (the relative height of the tongue in the mouth). Tongue-advancement
(the relative position of the tongue in the mouth).
ii) Tongue-advancement (the relative position of the tongue in the mouth).
iii) Lip-rounding (the relative shape of the lips).
As has been mentioned, the tongue can position itself at degrees of height and change the vowel
sounds. In pronouncing /i:/ the front of the tongue assumes the maximum high position, being
raised toward the hard palate to make the closest approximation to it. For /u:/ the back of the
tongue is raised toward the back of the mouth or the soft palate. It also moves forward in the
front for front vowels and is withdrawn for the back vowels.
In English, we can recognise twelve pure vowels and eight diphthongs or vowel glides. They are
contrasted below to emphasize their phonemic nature.
Pure vowels
i – i: as in bit – beat
e–æ as in tell – tap
æ– as in bash – box
o–u as in toll – tool
u – u: as in full - fool
∂–^ as in hurt – hut
Diphthongs
ei as in eight

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al as in fight
i as in toy

әu as in so
au as in foul

iә as in fear
uә as in poor

eә as in fare
Since vowel-length in English is phonemic, that is, they contrast, the long and short vowels have
been treated as different phonemes. Examples of the long and short vowel contrasts are
full fool /ful/ /fu:l/
fill feel /fil/ /fi:l/
fell fail /fel/ /feil/
Vowel-length is also determined by phonetic environment : voicing or its absence in the
consonants coming in immediate proximity is responsible for making a vowel long or short. The
long vowel /i:/ varies in length in such words as bit and bid, the latter showing a greater length
than the former due to Id/ phoneme which is a devoiced consonant. In a word like bee /bi:/ it is
longer than in /bid/. These variations are allophonic.
Front Vowels
Four pure front vowels in English can be identified /i:/, /i/, /e/ and /æ/. Since the front of the
tongue assumes various degrees of height inside the mouth these vowels are termed front
vowels. However, what we can broadly establish are four ranges and not precice points, as it is
difficult to give exact description of the vowels in terms of articulation process. A look at
the cardinal vowel quadrilateral will clarify this point. The range of /i:/ for example, stretches
from the highest extreme to the point close to /e/. Allophonic variations of this sort are not
taken serious note of. This is true of all the other vowels too. A detailed description of the vowels
is given below.
/i:/
For articulating this vowel the front of the tongue rises to the hard palate, sometimes close
enough to be heard as a fricative sound. It is pronounced with the lips spread and pulled back,
the lower jaw is raised a little. The muscles of the tongue are tensed, so it is also called a tense
vowel. It is syllabic and shows a high level of sonority. It occurs in all the three positions in a
word as shown below :
Initial Medial Final
even people tea
eat measle flee
Variations in its pronunciation can be perceived as changes in length and diphthongizations.

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/i/
The back of the front of the tongue is raised toward the hard palate to assume the height
between /i/ and /e/ positions. The lips are spread and drawn back as in /i:/ but they are lax. It is
non-diphthongal and short, and contrasts with the long vowel /i:/ as in sit - seat /sit-si:t/.
Words like busy, women andhear contain this vowel. It is seen to occur in all the three word
positions.
Initial Medial Final
it bit city
ill mist dirty
Notable among its variations is the relative level of muscle tenseness before a velar nasal like /n/
which is seen in sing /sih/. We can compare the word with sin to see the point. Prof. Gimson
observes; ‘A. trend towards /∂/ in unaccented syllables traditionally with /i/ is becoming
increasingly noticeable among RP speakers of the middle and younger generation’, as in

easily /-әli/

useless /-lәs/

preface /-әs/
/e/
For pronouncing this vowel the front of the tongue is raised in the direction of the hard palate
between high-mid and low-mid positions, The lips are drawn back, and the lower jaw is
somewhat dropped. /el is described as high-mid-unrounded vowel.
Initial Medial Final
elm let they
enter get stay
/e/
During the articulation of this vowel the tongue position is lower than it is for /e/. The root of
the tongue is drawnback a little. The lips are spread and the lower jaw dropped. It is described
as front lower-mid unroundedvowel. We hear it in words get, set, tell, fell.
/æ/
It is a low front vowel. The lips open to become unrounded. The font of the tongue is at a
position lower than for /e/ and somewhat retracted too. Of all the front vowels it is the most
open. We can hear it in band, lank, rag and tap. It is described as low front unrounded vowel.
Initial Medial Final
at fat ––
ass man ––

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Back Vowels
All English back vowels are articulated with the back of the tongue drawn back and raised by
degrees. Lip-rounding varies according to the position of the tongue. There are five back vowels
in English : /u:/; /u/; / :/; / /; /a/.
/u:/
In pronouncing it, the part at the front of the centre /of the tongue is retracted slightly and
raised to a place that corresponds to the position for the high front /i:/. It is a long vowel, and
there is a noticeable tension of muscles in the tongue. The lips are pursed up and pushed
forward a bit. The opening gives this sound resonance. There is also to be noted a slight
protrusion of the lower jaw. We can describe it as high back rounded vowel. We can identify it
in these words :rouge, root, tool, shoe, food, do, etc.
The most noticeable allophonic variation of this vowel is in the form of centralized vowel.
So room could become [ru:әm] andcoo [kuә] accompanied by less prominent lip-rounding.
/u/
In terms of tongue movement, this sound is similar to /u:/. It shows a symmetrical
correspondence with the high-mid front /i/. The lips are rounded, and the lower jawsomewhat
raised. Its position is above high-mid. It has not been found in the initial position. It is
called back above highmid-rounded vowel. We hear it in could, would, look, push, put, etc.
/ :/
For articulating it, the back of the tongue is raised towards; soft palate, between high-mid and
low-mid positions. he lips are less rounded than for /u/. We can describe it asback between low-
mid and high-mid [Link] of its occurrence are cord, fault,half. R.P. speakers tend to
round /C:/ approaching /o/ in quality.
Initial Medial Final
ought nought law
oggle bought saw
/ /
The back of the tongue is raised above the low back position. One can notice a fair degree of lip-
rounding and Ole lower jaw lax and dropped. It doesnot occur finally. American pronunciation
makes it more open, and unrounded; so pot /pCt/ tends to sound like /pat/.
Initial Medial Final
ox box ––
all fox ––
/a/
It is a low back vowel, the lowest of the back vowels. The tongue leaves a fairly open oral cavity.
This is the only back vowel that is completely unrounded, and occurs in such words as laugh,
car, march, calm, alarm.

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In some regional variant forms, hardly any distinction is made between /a/ and /æ/. Inplastic,
transfer, elastic, Atlantic, gymnastic,both /a/ and /æ/ are used.

Central Vowels : /^/, /ә/, /ә:/.

In the cardinal vowel system three cent: al vowels have been identified; /^/, /∂/ and /∂:/. In
articulating these vowels, the central part of the tongue is raised towards a point in the roof of
the mouth that lies between the hard palate and the soft palate or velum. These are unrounded
vowels, but sometimes slight roundedness of the lips may occur. The lower jaw is dropped
noticeably.
/^/
In pronouncing this vowel, the centre of the tongue rises toward hard palate halfway between
low and low-arid positions. It is described as the central unrounded vowel between
open and half open position. We hear it in the following words, up, sup,submit, done, come,
flood.
/∂/
For pronouncing /∂/, the centre of the tongue rises in the direction of the hard palate to a point
between hard and soft palates. The lips remain neutral and the lower jaw is dropped. The
symbol for it is called ‘schwa’, pronounced /òwa:/. We can hear it in these words - about, the,
sir, her, fir, etc.

/ә/
In pronouncing this sound the tongue is raised toward the hard palate to a position between
half-close and half-open positions. The lips are neutral. It is called a central unrounded vowel
between high-mid and low-mid position. We can hear it in bird, church, earth, journey,
courage.
Initial Medial Final
earn bird sir
earth birth her
When it is followed by a voiced consonant, it is longer than when followed by a voiceless one.
Diphthongs
Diphthongs (consisting of two vowels) are also called vowel-gides suggesting the manner in
which the tongue assumes position for the pronunciation of one vowel, and glides towards
another, producing vowel clusters. Diphthongs are syllabic like vowels. They ‘donot have a single
position of articulation and cannot be retained for long’(Krishnaswainy). These sequences of
vowels are composed of two vocalic elements, the first vowel being called the first element, and
the second vowel the second element. The first element is usually longer and carries the stress.
In RP the following diphthongs are identified :
/ei/, /ail/, / i/, /∂u/, /au/

/iә/, /uә/, /eә/, /iu/, / ә/

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/ei/
In pronouncing it the front of the tongue assumes the position for the articulation of /e/, just
.below the front high-mid positionand glides in the direction of front high position about the
high-mid point as shown in the figure. But the tongue height is not as high as for [i] when
position for the second element is taken. This diphthong occurs initially, medially and finally as
shown below.
Initial Medial Final
eight late say
aim rail day
It is longer when in a word final position and before a voiced consonant. Thus it is longer
in aid than in ace. When the first element is lengthened it is called falling diphthong.
/ai/
The tongue assumes position at a point low front, and glides toward the high front position /i:/,
something like a: i:. The oral cavity is open and the lower jaw dropped. The lips change their
position from the neutral to the spread position. The resonance shifts quickly to [i]. We hear it
insight, fight, island, fine.
Initial Medial Final
either height lie
ice mind by
/ i/
In pronouncing this diphthong the tongue moves from the back high-mid position to a high
front point. The second clement is, however, lower than the high front vowel /i/. Initially the
lower jaw is dropped but is raised for articulating the second element.
Initial Medial Final
oil boil toy
oyster foil ploy
Some American phoneticians report that a central [∂] is substituted for the first element,
followed by an [r] in Southern Indiana region. In New York and New Orleans it becomes [∂i].
/∂u/

The tongue assumes the position for pronouncing the first element /ә/ which is a central vowel.
From this point it glides back to a high point. But the second element is not as high as the back
high vowel /u/. The lips are perceptibly rounded for it. We hear it in all the three positions in a
word.
Initial Medial Final
own fold so

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oar wrote go
Variations observed in its articulation may range from a fronted [^] to rounded [o]. Among the
Indian speakers the back high-mid [o] is generally substituted for the vowel-glide with full stress
and lengthening of the vowel.
/au/
Here the tongue is placed at low back vowel position and moved towards the high back region.
The second element is placed not as high as /u/ but below that point. The lips are neutral for the
first element, but become rounded for the second. Examples of its occurrence in all the three
positions are given below.
Initial Medial Final
out sound cow
oust bout how
In some varieties a perceptible weakening of the second element is found. So, the weakening of
[u] in now and how leads to such variant forms as [na :]; [haә:] or [na:], [ha: ].

/iә/
The tongue takes the position of high front vowel /i/ and glides for the central vowel position
/ә/. It is notable here that the second element in this diphthong is stronger. We hear it in such
words as near, period, [Link] occurs in all the three positions in a word as shown below.
Initial Medial Final
ear weird fear
Ian period steer

/uә/
In pronouncing this diphthong the tongue assumes the position of high back rounded vowel
and moves in the direction of the central vowel. There is some lip-rounding, but the lips become
neutral for the second element. In the weakly accented syllables the second element may be
prominent, We hear it in such words as valuable, cure, etc. It doesnot occur in the initial
position.
Medial Final
during poor
fluent tour

Sometimes /uә/ is preceded by /j/. The normal tongue glide in such case is from /j/ to a high
back rounded /u/ and then to the central /ә/. But this is shortened to /ρ:/ pureand sure sound
like /pj :/ and /òρ/.

/eә/

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During the pronunciation of this diphthong the tongue assumes the position for the high-mid
front vowel and moves towards the position of central unrounded vowel. The lips are neutral.
Examples are air, their,mare, dare, hare, etc.
Initial Medial Final
heir scarce chair
aeon chaired pair
/iu/
For the articulation of this diphthong the tongue moves from high position to high back one. It
is a rising diphthong, with the second element showing greater syllabic prominence. According
to sonic conventions the first element is symbolised [j].
Examples are yew, cure, new, due, etc.
Initial Medial Final
yule mule you
use beauty Hugh
English Consonants
On the basis of the articulatory process, consonant phonemes in English are divided according
to i) the manner of articulation into plosive/stops; nasals, fricatives, laterals, and approximants;
and according to ii) the points/ places of articulation into bilabials, labio-dentals, dentals,
alveolars, post-alveolars, palato-alveolars, palatals, velars and glottals. Points of articulation are
situated along the upper margin of the oral cavity, and manner of articulation indicates different
ways of interfering with the passing air-stream.
Stops
/p/ pay poor pebble apt ape
/b/ bog buy able abbot rub
/t/ take tie attack settle set
/d/ date die addition meddle made
/k/ cog kite ankle tinkle arc
/g/ gay guy angle mingle log
Fricatives
/f/ fast few after shift sniff
/v/ vast view aver average halve
/q/ thin through athwart Athertn myth
/ð/ then that within without bathe

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/s/ sigh sight hissing message kiss

/z/ zoo zeal resist muzzle buzz
/ò/ shoe shy fishing bashful brash
/з/ measure leisure rouge
/h/ hay hose blah! ah!
Affricates
/tò/ chin chew itching latches hatch
/dз/ jar gym judges badge
Nasals
/m/ man muse lump ample sharn
/n/ nose news ant land tan
/h/ single angle king
Lateral
/l/ lip lamp alter malt mall
Approximants
/w/ way whose cow
/y/ yule yew
/r/ ray raw merrily rarely borrows
Stops
This class of consonant phonemes is marked by the complete closure (or occlusion) of the vocal
tract, creating the air pressure behind the closure and sudden release of the air. The sudden
release of air results in the phonetic effect of plosion.
We can locate three stages in the articulation of the stops.
1) creation of the occlusion or closure (described as fore glide).
2) a brief hold in this position.
3) release of the hold (described as off-glide or after glide).
During the third stage litany active articulators may make movements, depending on the sound
immediately following the stop. Features that may accompany these sounds are as follows
a)Voicing, which occurs during stage 2 of the plosive articulation producing a voiced consonant
b) Aspiration in. which voiceless stops are accompanied by a strong breath when these sounds
occur initially, or they are stressed and occur medially. Voiceless stop sounds
are fortis, articulated with greater energy. Its opposite lenis are those sounds that carry weak
muscular energy. Normally, voiced sounds are lenis.

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STOP, bilabial /p/, /b/

The two lips come into firm contact to create an oral closure, behind which the air-stream is
stopped, the closure is released to produce the effect of bilabial stop phonemes. Vocal cords are
set in vibration for /b/, but for /pi they are not vibrated. /p/ is aspirated when it occurs initially
and is fortis. Examples of its occurrence in all the throe positions arc as follows.
Initial Medial Final
/p/ pat apple lap
possible apply sip
/p/ is described as voiceless bilabial plosive/stop consonant. /b/ is described as a voiced
bilabial plosive/stop consonant. We hear /b/ in the following words in all the three positions.
Initial Medial Final
/b/ bleat rabbit lamb
bask absent tub
In the final position it is devoiced as in cuband nib. It is in this position unreleased in words
like absent and obtain.
Alveolar
/t/, /d/
During the pronunciation of these sounds the tip or the blade of the tongue establishes firm
contact with the alveolar ridge and the air pressure is built up behind the closure formed in this
way. For /d/, the vocal cords continue to vibrate as long as the contact is maintained. The period
of contact is known as ‘consonant occlusion’. For /t/ the vocal cords donot vibrate. /d/ is voiced
and /t/ a voiceless consonant which makes the reamer lenis and the latter frotis. We can
now describe /d/ as voiced alveolar stop and/t/ as voiceless alveolar stop.
Initial Medial Final
/d/ done addition sad
describe meddle lid
/t/ tap retain hut
table metal fat
/t/ is palatalized when followed by /j/ or an affricate as can be seen in such sequences asbet
you; didn’t you /bet òju:/; /didntòju:/.
/d/ tends to become post-alveolar when it is followed by /r/. This phoneme also occurs as the
past tense formation. Its voicing is affected by the sound preceding it. When it follows a voiced
sound it remains voiced but when a voiceless sound precedes it, its voice quality is considerably
weakened, as the following examples illustrate.
robbed /r bd/ asked /a:skt/

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Velar /k/, /g/

In pronouncing these sounds, the back or dorsum of the tongue is raised and brought in contact
with the velum (hence ‘velar’). Thus a complete velopharyngeal closure is made. Sudden release
of the dorsum produces these sounds. Both /k/ and /g/ are described as dorso-velar plosive or
stop. /g/ is voiced and /k/ voiceless. Following are the examples of these sounds occurring in all
the three positions.
Initial Medial Final
/k/ cab fact back
cup pact sack
/g/ gap baggage big
grill luggage lag

Table
Lips Alveolar Ridge Velum
p t k voiceless
b d g vocied
System of plosives
Fricatives
Fricatives are articulated by narrowing the passage of air so as to create audible friction. The
active articulator comes so close to the passive articulator that a, constriction is created narrow
enough for the air to force through. Complete stoppage is not made.
Four pairs of phonemes in this category have been identified, each a voiceless or voiced sound;
/f-v; q-ð; s-z; ò- з/, and a glottal voiceless fricative /h/. As we have noted in an earlier section,
fricatives are grouped with some other sounds to be commonly called continuants, because the
friction noise created can be prolonged. Strindency is strongly marked in some fricatives, in
others it is weak.
Table
Teeth Teeth Alveolar Palato Glottal
+ lip + tongue ridge Alveolar
feel /f/ thigh /q/ seal /s/ shell /s/ hall/h/ voiceless
veal /v/ thy /ð/ zeal /z/ leasure /з/ voiced

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Articulatory Position for Fricatives

Labio-dental fricatives /f/, /v/
For pronouncing this sound the lower lip is raised in close approximation to lower edge of the
upper teeth. The nasal passage is closed off by raising the velum. The air is allowed to pass
through the slit left open between the lower lip and the upper teeth. Therefore, these sounds are
called labiodental fricatives. In articulating /f/ the vocal cords donot vibrate, making it
voiceless, while in pronouncing /v/ they do, making /v/ a voiced fricative.
Initial Medial Final
/f/ form often sniff
frail laughter brief
/v/ vale evening dove
visit evade give
Dental /q/, /ð/
For articulating these sounds the tip of the tongue is placed on or near the edge of the upper
teeth. The air squeezes through the gap thus formed. /q/ is voiceless and /ð/ voiced. /q/ is
described as voiceless dental fricative, /ð/ as voiced dental fricative /q/ isfortis and /ð/ is lenis.
Initial Medial Final
/q/ three lethal bath
thrice Gothic cloth
/ð/ then leather seethe
though father clothe
Alveolar /s/, /z/
During the pronunciation of these phonemes, the oral passage is opened by lifting the soft palate
and closing off thenasal cavity. The tip of the tongue and the blade is raised to approximate the
alveolar ridge. While the sides of the tongue make contact with the upper teeth, a narrow
channel is formed in the mid line of the tongue. Because of the size of the channel, /s/ phoneme
is called a narrow channel fricative, and /z/ is called broad channel fricative. The groove-
shaped channel allows the air to pass between the tongue front and the anterior alveoli in,
producing the audible friction. /s/ is a voiceless fricative and fortis, /z/ is voiced and lenis.
These are also called sibilant and spirants. Lip position is determined by the vowel adjacent to
[Link] is pronounced with the lips, spread, while soup has noticeable lip-rounding. So also
with zeal and zoo.
Initial Medial Final
/s/ sell task less
soul listen loss
/z/ zeal bosom maze

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zest hesitate haze

Palato-alveolar /ò/, /з/
Both /ò/ and /з/ are identified as palato-alveolar fricatives (or sibilants or spirants). The
nasal passage is shut off by raising the soft palate. The tongue-tip and blade are brought into
contact with the teeth ridge. At the same time the front of the tongue comes closer to the ‘hard
palate’. The passing breath-stream squeezes out through the gap between the tip and blade of the
tongue and the teeth ridge, on the one hand, and between the tongue and the hard palate on the
other. /ò/ is a voiceless palato-alveolar fricative and /з/ is a voiced palato-alveolar fricative.
Initial Medial Final
/ò/ sham admission lush
shop nation mash
/з/ genre decision rouge
gigolo measure garage
In certain cases pronunciation of [ò] varies from [s] to [ò] in the medial and final positions
:
sexual, appreciate, assume, issue, tissue
Similarly, pronunciation of /з/ also varies from [z] to [з] as in gymnasium, axiom, version,
rouge, barage, garage, etc.
Glottal /h/
For articulating this phoneme the glottis is constricted. The outgoing air sets the vocal cords in
vibration. The friction noise is greater in the vocal tract than in the glottis. How prominent is
this fricative depends on the ‘articulatory position for the following speech sounds’ (Tiffany-
Carrell). This is also viewed as the voiceless onset of a vowel. We can describe it as a voiceless
glottal [Link] is heard in these words, hat, behind, hall, heel, etc.
/h/ is essentially voiceless, but it may become voiced in some words as behind, greyhound,
anyhow, and so on. The voiced sound is symbolised /h/.
Affricates /tò/, /dз/
These phonemes are also-classified as stop sounds by some phoneticians. These are
combinations of the articulatory processes for stop and fricative. The front of the tongue is
raised to make full contact against the rear part of the gum ridge. The sides of the tongue are
raised to touch the side upper teeth. The air stream is stopped behind the occlusion formed in
this manner. However, the affrication quality is produced by the manner in which the closure is
released : the front of the tongue is withdrawn in the direction of the hard palate. Air pressure is
released through the gap between the withdrawing tongue front and the hard palate, and the
sides of the tongue and the upper teeth. This friction is of shorter duration than the one we hear
in fricatives.

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/tò/ is described as voiceless palato-alveolar affricate, and /dз/ as voiced palato-alveolar

affricate. We hear these in ‘church and judge. The following examples show their occurrence in
all the three positions.
Initial Medial Final
/tò/ chill matchless snatch
choice kitchen ditch
/dз/ jail majority hedge
jar majesty judge
Individual pronunciation varies in such words as educate, guardian, grandeur, verdure,
obituary, christian, etc. In these instances [d] and [t] alternate with [dз] and [tò].
Nasals /m/, /n/, /h/
These sounds are not strictly placed in the consonant category, but rather on the boundary
between contoid and vocoid (Hockett). They are produced exactly like stops, except that the
nasal passage is open. For producing these sounds the air stream is directed through the nasal
passage, which is opened by lowering the soft palate. In the mouth also stoppage is formed by
bringing the tongue in contact with the passive articulator. Nasal consonants are described in
terms of the place or point of articulation.
Bilabial /m/
Both the lips join to form oral closure while the soft palate is lowered to open the nasal passage.
Resonance of the nasal passage is increased by adding the oral resonator also in this manner.
The vocal cords are set in vibration leading to the voicing of the sound. It can be continued
without interruption by allowing the air to flow through the nasal passage while the mouth is
still closed. It is both syllabic and non-syllabic. /m/ is described as the bilabial voiced nasal.
Initial Medical Final
/m/ male Humpty slim
mother attempt time
/m/ is symbolic in such words as rhythm and. Gandfais,n.
Alveolar /n/
During the pronunciation of this phoneme, the tongue is raised, its blade and apex making
occlusion against the alveolar ridge. The sides are in contact with the upper teeth and gum ridge
(alveolum). Vocal cords are in vibration and the outgoing breath resonates simultaneously the
nasal cavity as well as the phalyngo-oral passage. Lip-position is determined by the vowels that
follow. Innoose the lips are rounded, but for need they are spread and neutral. It is described
asvoiced alveolar nasal consonant.

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Examples of its occurrence in all the three positions are given below
Initial Medial Final
/n/ news and open
nip send on
The syllabic function of this nasal can be seen in these words, cotton, mutton, sudden, fasten, In
such sequences as spick and spanand Jack and Jill, [spikn spaæn] and [dзækn dзil], /n/ tends
to become syllabic due to the assimilatory changes occurring. Velars /k/ and /g/ affect its
phonetic quality, making it velarised as in inquest and conquer.
Velar /h/
This nasal shares with other two nasal phonemes part of the articulatory movements in that the
nasal passage is opened by lowering the velum and allowing the air to enter it. The dorsum or
the back of tongue joins the velum (soft palate) to form a stoppage. The lip position depends on
the preceding vowel. It is a voiced sound, the vocal cords are vibrated by the outgoing breath
stream. It is described as the voiced velar nasal. /h/ doesnot occur initially but is heard in the
medial and final positions as shown below:
Medial Final
/h/ singer king
longest hang
Lateral /l/
This sound is produced by holding the tip of the tongue against the central, part of the alveolar
ridge. The sides are kept open either on one side or both. This is called thesecondary oral
aperture, though which the air-stream escapes without friction. Vocal cords are set in vibration
and the nasal passage is shut off by raising the soft palate. /l/ is described as the voiced alveolar
lateral.
Initial Medial Final
/l/ leaf below fool
load hold till
The prominent allophone of this phoneme, the dark [l] occurs in such words as little, tiddle,
mettle, bottle. This phonetically variant form is produced by retracting and raising the back of
the tongue towards the soft palate, while the tip is held against the alveolum. Dental phonemes
/q/, /ð/ following the lateral makes it dental, as in healthy, stealthy. Although it is voiced, a
voiceless plosive /p/ and /k/ make it voiceless, as inclear, plain. /I/ is palatalized when it comes
before a semi vowel /j/ or a vowel as incontemplation, William. In words like battle, brittle,
settle it is syllabic.
Approximants /r/, /w/, /j/
In terms of articulatory description, these are vowel-like sounds. The passage of the air is
constricted by the active articulators in the oral cavity. It occupies a consonantal position in a
syllabic structure. /r/ is africtionless continuant and /j/ and /w/ semi-vowels.

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Frictionless continuant /r/

Also identified as a flap, its articulation requires the apex or the tip of the tongue to be raised
towards the alveolar ridge curling backwards in the direction of the palate. The central part of
the tongue bunches up somewhat and the air is allowed to pass over the body of the tongue,
producing a frictionless sound. A single tap is made by the tongue.
A variety of this sound is alveolar trill in which the tongue is held amid the passing air-stream
with just the right tension to allow the air to set it into rapid vibration. In RP it is not found hut
in some dialects of English and certain European languages /r/ is found. /r/ is a voiced
consonant.
Initial Medial Final
/r/ rapid marry ––
rain very ––
Palatal /j/
Commonly it is recognised as a semi-vowel. The tongue moves from the position of /i/. The lips
are spread. The tongue then moves away in the direction of the next vowel following it. For you
the tongue moves to high back position; for yeast it moves to high front position. It is described
as voiced palatal approximant.
Labio-velar /w/
In pronouncing this phoneme the tongue is retracted and then raised towards the velum in high-
mid to high back region. Lip-rounding is prominently noticeable. However, it depends on the
vowel following. /w/ is a voiced sound and is described asvoiced labio-velar approximant or
semi-vowel. It is not observed to occur in the final position.
Initial Medial
/w/ waist swing
wonder sweet
In some varieties words with wh spelling are pronounced as sequence of h+w as in whale,
whom, white, while. This is symbolised as [M].
Consonant Clusters
Sequences of two or more consonants are called ‘consonant clusters’. In a word likecash /kæò/
there occurs single consonant in initial position; but in crash /kræò/ we observe a sequence of
two consonants /kr/. Occurrence of such combinations is quite common, and can be seen in
words likeflame (fl), dress (dr), slow (sl), emblem (bl),apron (pr), fifth (fq), and against (nst).
Clusters can have more than two consonants. They are articulated simultaneously. Consonant-
clusters can form the onset and coda of syllable as in frame/freim/ and sand /sænd/.

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Consonants can cluster together to form a syllable, without a vowel. For example intasks /tasks/
with /-sks/ forming the final syllable. Some phoneticians hold that the name ‘cluster’ can be
given only to those consonant sequences which comprise part of a syllable and are
not abutting [Link] bundle /b^ndl/, the consonants /n/ and /d/ are parts of two
different syllabic peaks - /n/ belonging to the first and /d/ to the second. According to this
criterion, these sequences cannot strictly be considered as consonant clusters.
Regarding possibilities of consonant combinations Ronald Wardaugh observes, ‘There are
restrictions in the combinatorial possibilities of consonants, and the maximal lengths of possible
consonant sequences’.
According to the number of consonants that can be clustered in words the following three
classes can be identified.
1) Two-segmental clusters
2) Three-segmental clusters
3) Four-segmental clusters
Consonant cluster may occur initially in syllable (ccv-structure) and finally only (-vcc).
Some examples of the possible consonant clusters distribution are presented below:
A. Two segmental initial consonant clusters
/p/ p+l /pl / ploy, play
p+r /pr/ present, pressure
p+j /pj/ pure, puma
/b/ b+l /bl/ bless, blast
b+r /br/ broom, brash
/t/ t+r /tr/ tree, train
t+w /tw/ twist, twinkle
t+j /tj/ tunic, tune
/d/ d+r /dr/ draw, dragon
d+j /dj/ dew, due
d+w /dw/ dwindle, dwell
/k/ k+l /kl/ class, clique
k+r /kr/ cringe, crack
k+w /kw/ queen, quest
/g/ g+l /gl/ glass, glow
g+r /gr/ grease, grass

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/f/ f+r /fr/ frown, frighten

f+l /fl/ flame, fling
f+j /fj/ fume, fusion
/v/ v+j /vj/ view
/q/ q+r /qr/ three, throng
/s/ s+l /sl/ sleep, slow
s+t /st/ stay, sting
s+k /sk/ school, sky
s+m /sm/ smile, smoke
s+n /sn/ snail, snake
s+p /sp/ spill, speed
s+w /sw/ swallow, swell
B. Three-segmental initial consonant clusters
/s/ s+p+l /spl/ splinter, spleen
s+p+r /spr/ spread, spring
s+t+r /str/ street, strong
s+t+j /stj/ stew
s+k+r /skr/ scrub, screech
C. Two-segmental final consonant clusters
final /p/ /s+p/ /spl/ wasp, gasp
/l+p/ /lp/ help, gulp
/m+p/ /mp/ bump, ramp
final /b/ /l+b/ /lb/ bulb
/r+b/ /rb/ barb, garb
final /t/ /p+t/ /pt/ kept, slept
/k+t/ /kt/ pact, attract
/tò+t/ /tòt/ snatched, attached
/f+t/ /ft/ cleft, deft
/s+t/ /st/ blast, mast
/n+t/ /nt/ dent, spent

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final /d/ /b+d/ /bd/ stabbed, barbed

/g+d/ /gd/ begged, bugged
/dз+d/ / dзd/ judged, pledged
/ð+d/ /ðd/ clothed, mouthed
/l+d/ /ld/ held, weld
/n+d/ /nd/ grand, find
final /k/ /s+k/ /sk/ flask, task
/l+k/ /lk/ milk, bulk
final /tò/ /n+tò/ /ntò/ bunch, crunch
final /dз/ /n+dз/ /ndз/ range, strange
final /v/ /l+v/ /lv/ resolve, delve
/r+v/ /rv/ swerve, carve
final /q/ /d+q/ /dq/ bredth, width
/f+q/ /fq/ fifth
/p+q/ /pq/ depth
/h+q/ /hq/ strength
/n+q/ /nq/ tenth, eighteenth
final /s/ /p+s/ /ps/ grips, slips
/q+s/ /qs/ depth
/l+s/ /ls/ tools, mills
/n+s/ /ns/ hens, minee
/f+s/ /fs/ cuffs, puffs
final /z/ /b+z/ /bz/ sobs
/m+z/ /mz/ bombs
/ð+z/ /ðz/ bathes
/v+z/ /vz/ valves
/h+z/ /hz/ hangs
D. Three-segmental final consonant clusters
final /t/ /d+s+t/ /dst/ amidst
/s+k+t/ /skt/ masked

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/m+p+t/ /mpt/ unkempt

/n+s+t/ /nst/ against
/l+p+t/ /lpt/ helped
/l+s+t/ /lst/ whilst
final /d/ /n+dз+d/ /dst/ deranged
/l+v+d/ /lvd/ resolved
final /s/ /p+t+s/ /pts/ adopts
/p+q+s/ /pqs/ depths
/s+k+s/ /sks/ asks
/n+t+s/ /nts/ fasts
/m+p+s/ /mps/ lamps
final /z/ /l+d+z/ /ldz/ folds
/l+v+z/ /lvz/ wolves
/n+d+z/ /ndz/ sends
E. Four-segmental final consonant clusters
final /s/ /k+s+t+s/ /ksts/ texts
/l+f+q+s/ /lfqs/ twelfths
/k+s+q+s/ /ksqs/ sixths
Some Major Concepts of Phonology
Phoneme: Most linguists, until recently at least, have regarded the phoneme as one of the
basic units of language. But they have not all defined the phonemes in the same way. Some
linguists like Bloomfied and Daniel Jones have described phonemes in purely physical terms.
Others like Sapir have preferred psychological definitions. Some regard the phoneme only as
abstractional fictitions unity and argue that in a language it is not phonemes but allophones that
exist in reality. Furthermore, linguists of theCopenhagen School treat the phonemes as
glassemes and regard them as algebaical units.
The term phoneme was first used in the late 1870’s notably by Kruszewski. Saussure too worked
on the phonemes. But the most notable work in this field was done by Sapir in 1927. Most
phoneticians such as Louis Jhelmsley, Bloomfield, Trubetzkoy, Daniel Jones, Roman Jakobson,
and Pike have thrown light on the phoneme.
The phoneme, according to Bloomfield, is the minimal unit of distinctive sound-feature. In
Webster’s Third New International, the phoneme is defined as the smallest unit of speech
distinguishing one unit from another, in all the variations it displays in the speech of one person
or in one dialect as a result of modifying influences, such as neighbouring sounds or stress. In
Dorfman’s oinion a phoneme is a single speech sound or group of similar or related speech

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sounds functioning analogously in a language, and usually represented in writing by the same
letter, with or without diacritic marks.
According to most contemporary linguists, however, the phoneme is the minimal bundle of
relevant sound features. A phoneme is not a sound; it can be realized only through one of its
allophones: it is a class of sounds, actualized or realized in a different way in any given position
by its representative, the allophone: it is an ideal towards which the speaker strives, while the
allophone is the performance he achieves; it occupies an area within which the various
allophones move and operate; its outer limits may approach but not overlap those of other
phonemes, and it cannot invade the territory of another phoneme without loss of phonemic
distinction.
Thus the precise definition of a phoneme has been the subject of much discussion among
linguists and there are two major points of view. The first is the ‘classification’ theory developed
by Daniel Jones which considers the phoneme to be a group or family of related sounds, e.g. /p/
in English consisting of [p], [ph], etc. or /u/ consisting of (u:), (u) etc. The second or ‘distinctive
feature’ theory developed by N.S. Turbetzkoy and thePrague School considers a phoneme to be a
bundle of distinctive features, e.g. /p/ in English is considered to be made up of bilabial + stop +
voiceless (aspiration is therefore not distinctive and thus the allophones (ph) and (p) above are
allowed for.
Depending on the point of view taken, a phoneme can be defined as “a unit, a rubric, a bundle of
sound-features”, or “the smallest contrastive linguistic unit which may bring about a change of
meaning”. Hence it is a minimum distinct functional unit. Phonemes of a language may be
discovered by forming minimal pairs, i.e. pairs of words are different in respect of only one
sound segment. The series of words pat, bat, cat, hat, sat, that, mat, supplies us with seven
words which are distinguished simply by a change in the first (consonantal) element of the
sound sequence. These elements of contrastive significance are phonemes and be symbolized as
/p, b, k, h, s, ð, m/. Similarly, in the series of words hat, hit, heat, hot, heart, the elements of
contrastive significance are æ, I, i:, o, a:/
Phone:
Any objective speech sound, considered as a physical event, and without regard as to how it fits
into the structure of any given language, is a phone. Hence a phone in phonology is ‘the smallest
possible segment of sound abstracted from the continuum of speech’.
Allophone:
Some sounds, the native speaker thinks are the same, while others are different. The linguist has
to figure out what sounds are grouped together as the same, what it is that they all have in
common among themselves and how dissimialar are they to other groups of sound in the
informant’s speech and what criteria the native speaker uses to tell sounds apart. We said earlier
that by substituting other segments, the linguist can arrive at a list of these significant,
contrastive classes of sounds called ‘phonemes’. But we do not always find minimal pairs to help
us figure out the list of phonemes. There must be other criteria too, which we will have to
incorporate into the definition of a phoneme. The k-sound inkeel, calm and cool differs.
In keel it is at the front in the mouth, in calm it is a little in the centre and in cool further back
in the mouth. The absence of the above mentioned features do not distort the message for the
native speaker. He does not differentiate these sounds in every day speech in the sense that he is

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not aware of the physical differences. He thinks these sounds are members of the k-class or are
all k. In other words for the phonemic /k/, central-k, retracted-k, fronted-k are all allophones.
Hence an allophone is a speech sound which is one of a number of variants of a phoneme. Such
a variant can, either in complementary variation or in free variation. The occurrence of a
particular allophone ma be determined by its environment, or it may be in free variation.
Allophones deter- mined by environment, for example, are front or clear [l] as in lamp or light
occurring before vowels and the so-called ‘back’ or ‘dark’ [l] as in Old and table occurring
before consonants and at the end of words. They are in complementary distribution, that is
where the dark [l] appears in English, there cannot occur the clear [l]. An example of
allophones occurring in free variation in the Southern British English (RR) is the /r/ between
vowels, as in very, which can occur either as a flap, or as a fricative. Thus allophones phonetic
variants; they are positional or contextual, or conditional variants, (alternants) of phoneme.
According to Trager and Smith (An Outline ofEnglish Structure), a linguist identifies these
allophones in the following way :
1. The sounds should be phonetically similar.
2. They should be in complementary distribution.
3. They should exhibit pattern congruity with other groups of sounds.
Diaphone
Sometimes a sound is used by a particular speaker or group) of speakers of a language, but is
substituted by another sound by sonic other speaker or group of speakers of the same language.
For example, the sound of the diphthong /ou/, as in the word ‘loan’ may be substituted by the
vowel sound /ә/ :/, or the sound of the consonants dark ‘l’ as in ‘little’ may he substituted the
sound of clear ‘l’ by some speaker. The bilabial plosive consomnant-sounds /p/ and /b/ may
often be replaced by the aspirated sound /ph/ and /bh/.
Both the sounds that is originally used by the speakers of a language as well as that which is
used by other speakers of that language, are said to constitute a diaphone. Daniel Jones has
defined a diaphone in the following manner: “The term diaplione is suggested to denote a sound
used by one group of speakers together with other sounds which replace it consistently in the
pronunciation of other speakers” (An Outline of Phonetics).
Assimilation
Sounds are influenced by the phonetic environment in which they occur. Since speech is a
continuum, and not a stringing together of phonemes (or sounds), what precedes and, follows a
sound has a direct bearing on it. Phonetic environment thus determines the phonetic quality of a
sound that is different environments tend to produce different phonetic qualities Let us see how
does this take place.
1. A consonant’s proximity affects the vowel length. In two words beat /bi:t/ and bead /bi:d/
we find the same vowel, the high-front long /i:/. But the voiceless phoneme that follows it in
/bi:t/ makes it shorter than the one that occurs in /bi:d/. The voiced stop /d/ occurring in this
word lengthens it. They differ in the precise phonetic quality. In these two words, voicing and
the absence of it in the consonant affect the length of the vowel. But the vowel

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occurring in beat is not as short as the vowel in bit or pit. Its length ishalf-long, which is halfway
between long and short.
We can now say that due to the proximity of certain phonemes having specific phonetic qualities
the vowel length has been affected. This process is called assimilation.
2. In a word like inquest [ihkwest], the nasal consonant is affected by the voiceless velar /k/
and shows velarization resulting in /h/ which is velar nasal phoneme. The same is the case
in income and incongruous. Another common example of assimilation by the sound following is
presented by the wordtriumph /traimf/. Here the bilabial nasal /m/ is ‘changed into labiodcntal
sound due to the contiguous labia-dental fricative /f/. Another word triumvirate also exemplifies
the same process.
3. The physiological factor that is operative in this is that of co-articulation. The above
examples reveal that the bilabial nasal phoneme is concurrently articulated with the labio-dental
fricative : /m/ + /f/. Even before the articulation of /m/ is fully gone through, the articulators
assume the position for the pronunciation of the following sound.
In triumph and triumvirate /f/ and /v/ can be described as prenasalised.
There are three types of assimilatory process based on various types of relationships existing
between assimilated sounds and the sounds that bring about assimilation. The two sounds are
usually immediately close to each other in the stream of speech.
We identify the three types of assimilation as 1) Progressive, 2) Regressive, 3) Reciprocal.
1) In progressive assimilation the assimilated sound follows the conditioning sound. The
phonetic form of the plural morpheme {z}, /-s/ changes into the voiced sibilant due to the
voiced sound [g] in the word dogs [d dz]. In other words, the plural morpheme is realised as the
voiced ‘fricative because the base ends in a voiced sound.
2) A reverse mechanism operates in theregressive assimilation where theconditioning sound,
one that assimilates, follows the conditioned or affected sound. In the word imlperfect we
can identify root /pә:fikt/ and a prefix whose base form is {in-}. /n/, an alveolar nasal, changes
to a bilabial nasal /m/ by the proximity of /p/ which is itself a bilabial stop. The assimilation of
/n/ is said to be conditioned by /p/.
3) Reciprocal assimilation shows the two contiguous sounds affecting each other equally and
producing a new sound. In word-sequences like would you the normal rapid articulation
produces the result /wudзju:/, and what you sounds like /w tòju:/. These two examples show
us assimilation occurring across the word or what is widely known as morphemic boundaries.
The important role of this process can be understood by observing, carefully a rapid
conversation. Quick changes occur in the phonetic shapes of individual phonemes. Sounds are
quickly lost, reduced and altered in. morphemes, words and phrases spoken in one breath
group after another in connected speech through a concurrent process of co-articulatory
movements. In a sequence likeyoung ones the final velar nasal is spoken with lip-rounding
which is co-articulated with the next phoneme of the following word. Similarly, partial loss of
voicing is seen in /l/ in at least due to /t/ of the preceding word. In good night and good girl the
final /d/ is almost completely assimilated by the voiced sounds of the next word, so that these
sound like /guaait/ and /gu?gә:l/ or /gugә:l/.

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In truth, assimilation operates as a great force in day-to-day speech situations where rapid pace
of conversation shows this in full operation. It shows level of mastery over language. Speakers of
L2 (or second language) on the other hand, tend to become conscious. To that degree their
pronunciation reflects a lower level of assimilation.
Elision
The above discussion highlights assimilation as a process whereby certain sound features are
either partially or totally lost. In the word ask when pronounced singly we can hear the final
velar stop. But in its past tenseasked [a:st], there is a loss of the velar stop accompanied by a
change of [d] to [t]. While change of [d] into [t] is due to assimilation, the disappearance of [k] is
the result ofelision, This process indicates loss of certain elements in rapid speech which are
present in isolated utterance or very conscious speech. In normal conversation we hear such
utterances as ‘cause (for because);prob’ly (for probably); costly (for costly); pos (for posts).
These are very common, and one has only to keep one’s eyes open in order to see the
mechanism. The unavoidable fusion of segments in such combinations as forced choices, group
behaviour and bunched children points to not only assimilatory factors at work, but the
resultant elisions as well. In the first example [d] is dropped, in the second we donot hear [p],
and the thirdexample shows [d] being elided.
Contracted forms in poetry, plays and fiction such as ne’er, ‘tis, don’t, can’t, mayn’t for never, it
is, do not, cannot and maynot are quite common.
Elided elements are often weak syllables or voiceless consonants. So about and along change
into ‘bout and ‘long. The finest example of what happens in elision are presented by such
expressions as Jack and
Jill, black and white, high and low, wind andrain and bread and butter. These sound like
[dnзæk n dзtil]; [blæk n wait] [hainlðu]; [windnrein] and [brednb^t∂].
Table 1
Phoneme Assimilating Changes into Examples
Sound
k i: pre-velar keen, keel
: post-velar caw caught
d r post-alveolar dry, drawl
t q dental eighth
t r post-alveolar training
m f labio-dental comfort
n q dental tenth
h q dental length
i: l retracted kneel, feel
u: j forward due, muse

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Table 2
Phoneme Conditioning Changes into Examples
Sound
t ð dental at the meeting
t ð post-alveolar that road
d ð dental add them
m f labio-dental come for
n ð dental in the river
s r post-alveolar that’s right
l ð dental tell them
l r post-alveolar tall reed

Theories of Phonological Analysis

The analysis of an utterance into segmental and suprasegmental features is known as phonemic
or phonological analysis. There are several different theories of phonological analysis. Some of
these major theories are discussed below,
(a) Structure and System:
One approach is in terms of what are called structure and system. The phonological units
(Phonemes or sounds) of a language are grouped together to form the various systems and the
arrangements of these units in larger units such as syllables, feet, tone-group, sentence that
form the structure of that language. The units that form a system, can be replaced by other units
to produce different utterances, while the relations between the different units present in an
utterance consitute a structure. For instance, the English word sack/sack has one syllable, which
is made up of sequence of three phonemes /s/, /ae/ and /k/. The phoneme /s/ can be replaced
by other phonemes /b/,/p/, /t/dз/. /h/, /l/ to give us different words back, pack, tack, jack,
hack, lack. All these items that can be replaced by another at a particular place in a structure
are inparadigmatic relationship and form a system. Similarly, /ae/ forms a system with other
phonemes /i/, /i:/, /e/, /ei/ that can be used as substitutes to give us other wordssick, seek,
seek, sake, /k/ also forms a system with the /t/, /d/, /p/, /m/ /ŋ/ that give us the words sat,
sad, sap, sam, sang.
The units of phonological analysis have a hierarchy, so that a unit of higher ranks consists of a
sequence of one or more occurrences of the next lower rank. For example, in English one or
more phonemes make up a syllable; one or more syllables make up a foot (which is the unit of
rhythm); one or more feet make up a tone group (which is the unit of intonation); one or more
tone groups make up a sentence. Examples of these phonological units arc given here :
i) Phoneme : /k/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /i/, /e/, etc.

ii) syllable : back/bæk/ago/әigou/buttonb^-tn,/ etc.

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iii) foot: The cur/few tolls/the knell/of part/ing day/. Here we have five feet. (/A slanting
bar/ represents a foot boundary)
iv) tone group : // If the ‘bride a, grees // the ‘marriage is in’ January.//. (// represents
tone group boundary; ‘represents rising tone, and ‘falling tone,’ accent (strong or
stressed syllable.)
v) Sentence : For example, the sentence given above has two tone groups.

(b) Prosodic Analysis:

Prosodic analysis is another aspect of phonology. It is concerned with phonological features ‘that
extend beyond a phonematic unit in a structure’. Features like aspiration, nasalization,
labialization, retroflexion and palatalisation often relate to sequences of more than one
phonematic unit. The study of supra-segmental features like stress, rhythm, intonation, etc. also
forms a part of prosodic analysis. Examples of a few prosodic features are given below :
i) aspiration: The English word clay/klei/ has an aspirated /k/ in the form of [kh], but
the aspiration affects the following /l/ also and devoices it to [ 1o]. It can therefore be
described as /h/ prosody.
ii) nasalization: The English word sing/siŋ/ has incidental nasalization of the vowel /i/
under the influence of the nasal consonant after it. Nasalization can therefore be
described as a prosody in this kind of syllable.
iii) lip-rounding: The English wordquiet /kwait/ has lip-rounding for /k/ also under the
influence of the following /w/. We have here an example of /w/––prosody.
iv) retroflexion: The Hindi word ===== has retroflexion extending to both the nasal and
the following plosive sounds. We can call it an example of the prosody of retroflexion.
v) palatalization: The English word key/ki:/ has a palatal instead of a velar /k/ under the
influence of the following /i:/. This can be described as /i/––prosody.
vi) accent: Accent on a particular syllable in a word can be taken as a prosody. For
example, the English word ago/ә ‘ gou/ has the accent on the second syllable.
vii) sentence stress, rhythm and intonation are also prosodic features.
Phonemics
Another approach to phonology is based on phonemics, according to which the discovery of the
phonemes (the minimal distinctive sound-units) of a language is done by forming minimal pairs
(by replacement of one phoneme by another which can bring about a change of meaning). Each
phoneme, however, may have slightly different phonetic realizations, called allophones, in
different environments. Most phonological theories are based on phonemics.
Some linguists restrict the use of the term ‘phoneme’ to segments of human sounds only, and
analyse what are called suprasegmental or prosodic features separately. The most important of
the suprasegmental features are : (1) length(syllables and feet), stress, and pitch. (These are
discussed in the next section of this chapter). Other linguists extend the use of the term ‘pho-

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neme’ to cover all distinctive sound features including levels of stress, levels of pitch, and types
of juncture.
(d) Distinctive Features Theory
In the phoneme theory, the phoneme (segment) is the smallest unit of phonology, but in
the Distinct Features Theory the phonetic feature is the smallest unit of phonology. Segment
theory is linguistically inconvenient. There are no rules in any language which apply to all the
sounds. There are a fixed number of features or components which form a basic stockpile from
which every language selects phonetic features and combines them in different ways. It is these
features which keep a segment distinct or separate from others. That is why they are called the
distinctive features.
In distinctive features theory (as different from the notation transcription), the phonetic
transcription is simplified and systematized by regarding each sound a set of components,
exactly parallel to semantic component. As proposed by Roman Jakobson, Morris Halle,
Chomsky, etc., acoustics and / or articulatory variables can be reduced to a small number of
parameters or phonetic features (twenty-seven with multi-values). A distinctive features
component, for example for the sounds /t/ and /k/ as in the English word takeaccording to this
theory, may be as follows :

t k

+ consonantal + consonantal
- vocalic - vocalic
- voice - voice
+ plosive - aspirate
+ Alveolar + plosive
+ Aspirate .
+ Tense .
. .
. .
. .

Note : Dots [.] mean that the list isinexhaustive.

In English, for example, the following phonetic features are distinct :
i) State of Glottis : voiceless/voiced.
ii) Position of Soft Palate: oral/nasal.
iii) Place of Articulation: (a) bilabial/alveolar/velar; (b) labiodental/ dental/ alveolar /
palato-alveolar.
iv) Manner of Articulation: (a) plosive / fricative/ nasal; (b) nasal/lateral; (c)
affricate/fricative.

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v) Part of Tongue Raised: front/back.

vi) Height of Tongue: Close/between half-close and half-open/between half-open and
open/open.
vii) lip-position: unrounded/rounded.
viii) stressed/unstressed.
ix) reduced vowel/unreduced vowel.
x) tonic/non-tonic.
xi) Tone: falling/rising; low fall/high fall/low rise/high rise/fall rise: or
primary/secondary/tertiary/fall-rise.
In more recent work on generative phonology, particularly by Noam Chomsky and Morris Halle,
these features have been extensively modified and placed into categories such as
i) Major class features as sonorant [making a deep impression] vs. non-sonorant;
vocalic vs. non-vocalic.
ii) Cavity features relating to the shape of the oral cavity and the point of articulation with
such features as coronal vs. non-coronal, anterior vs. non-anterior.
iii) Manner of Articulation features such as continuant vs. noncontivant, tense vs. lax.
vi) Source Features as voiced vs. voiceless; strident vs. mellow.
v) Prosodic Features as stress, pitch, etc.
Received Pronunciation (R.P.)
Linguistic differences marking particular geographical areas are a reality. These deviations
correspond to the geographical distance, or other features of the area like river, mountain and a
vast intervening desert zone. However, when these distinctions stand in the way of societal or
communal cohesion, the urge to use language as a binding clement is very strong. Search for
standard language or speech is often motivated by this need of the community. The larger the
country and more heterogenous its demographic composition, the more divergent may be its
linguistic/dialectal forms. India presents an ideal picture in this respect.
Although England is geographically far smaller and different from India, there are markedly
distinct varieties of language in that country too. What strikes one is the distinct cultural
character that Ireland,Wales and Scotland possess and have all along the history been asserting.
Their Celtic heritage is quite different from the Anglo-Saxon character that came from the
overseas and imposed itself on all. Even within strictly English speaking population can be
noticed such dialectal varieties as the speech of Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire,Midlands (east
and west Midlands forming distinct varieties) and so on. Perhaps one of the ways of bringing
about social unity and cohesion was through creating a standard form of pronunciation. A.J.
Ellis gave it the name of Received Pronunciation. Of course,in historical sense this is seen as a
means of furthering political domination of the English speaking rulers over the Celtic areas,
‘the minority languages of the British Isles have been undermined by English political and
economic power... The opprobrium cast on the regional dialects of England has been visited on

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the speech of regions diverse in language and culture and situated far away from the
metropolitan south-east’ (Dick Leith).
‘RP’ or Received Pronunciation carries a strong class sense about it. The birth and spread of RP
is a manifestation of the notions of correct pronunciation’ against ‘a background of what to
avoid’; and it becomes quite clear that it is ! Lower class pronunciation that must be avoided’
(Leith). In London itselt which is the seat of the ‘socially correct’ variety of speech, Cockney is
used with all its colourful deviations of pronunciation and lexical differences, ‘the differences are
purely social, rooted in class conscious society. In the public schools, the predominantly east
midland basis of the upper class London pronunciation gradually lost its regional colour. It
became a class accent, and was accordingly evaluated in ways which reflect the attitude of the
most powerful social group’.
RP represents the ‘best’ accent, but is not attached to any dialect or city, ‘Every town, and almost
every village contains speakers of R.P. whose families have lived there for generations…Those
who speak RP are set apart from other educated people by the fact that when they talk one
cannot tell where they come from’. (David Abercrombie). It is said to have originated in south-
easternEngland, but has now ‘a genuinely regionless accent within Britain, i.e., if speakers have
an R.P. accent, you cannot tell which area ofBritain they come from. This means that this accent
is likely to be encountered and understood throughout Britain’. (Trudgill and Hannah).
The spread and acceptance of the RP in those areas where English was taken and prevailed for
considerable length of time was facilitated by the B.B.C. broadcasting policy. With the coming of
the radio, the official policy of the B.B.C. was to strictly follow RP and recommend it for its
speakers, the main reason being that it was widely understood, and provoked little regional
prejudice. BBC became the model for all English speakers, mainly those foreigners who were
learning it. How far this universal acceptance of RP in the broadcasting media and educational
institutions has helped dilute the class boundaries and bias and bind all English speakers into
one cohesive whole may continue to be debated sharply, but as Prof. Gimson says, ‘it cannot be
said that R.P. is any longer the exclusive property of a particular social stratum. This change is
due partly to the influence of radio in consistently bringing the accent to the ears of the whole
national but also, in considerable measure, to the modifications which are taking place in the
structure of English society’.
An interesting aspect of the R.P. is that thought it was created as a standard form of English
pronunciation, it is itself subject to changes like other languages and dialects. Two varieties of
R.P. have been identified: a ‘conservative’ and an ‘advanced’. Conservative accent is found in the
older speakers, and advanced pronunciation typical of the younger speakers.
In the commonwealth countries English still holds an important position, particularly in the
official, administrative. Educational and a few other areas.
We can see the example of Indo-Pakistan where, in spite of Urdu being the official language and
several regional languages enjoying greater prestige and wider currency, English plays a crucial
role. British English serves as a model for all the users of English. Pakistani English is emerging
as a distinct variety with its phonetic and characteristic grammatical features offering an
interesting area of research to the students. Nevertheless, British English and, particularly, the
Received Pronunciation is what everyone is trained to aim at.

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Yet we must be clear about one thing; it would be wrong to say that in countries like India,
Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and other places anyone really uses
R.P. Received pronunciation is a standard for the British English, it is not used by the speakers
in these countries where English is L2, a second language, and is likely to be affected by L 1, the
first language of the speaker. This L 1 × L2interaction has produced some highly interesting
phenomena. There have emerged different ‘international varieties’ of English, an Indian
English, Australia-New Zealand English, Suth African English and Canadian English; in each
case the language is carried further away from the standard British English. This is manifested
in the emergence of characteristic forms of pronunciation, vocabulary, word-formation and
sentence construction. A curious aspect of these varieties is that a ‘standard’ has emerged
because of the sense of what is ‘acceptable’ socially.

Supra-segmental Phonemes and Phonetics

Phonemic particles that we have so far been considering such as vowels, consonants,
diphthongs, etc. are called segmental phonemes. They contribute to the meaning of a speech
segment. Apart from this class of segmental phonemes, there is another class of particles that’
play equally important role. These are supra-segmental phonemes.
Features of stress, pitch, intonation and juncture comprise this class, and are said to be
‘overlaid’ on the segmental units. It is difficult to imagine human communication without these
features. They invariably accompany our speech and lend the additional dimension which is
mote immediately and directly understood. These features convey the speaker’s identity,
attitudes, emotional states and his/her evaluation of how he/she is being received. Often, in the
totality of communicational situation, a listener doesnot pay so much attention to the wards as
he does to the rise and fall of pitch, volume of voice, stress and pauses, and so on. He
understands the meaning by simply responding to these extra-linguistic indices.
We will now look at these features or phonemes a little more closely.
Stress
Physiologically, stress means greater articulatory effort. By putting stress on particular segments
we give it greater prominence. Various types of meaning are conveyed by distributing stress
pattern over speech segments in a controlled manner.
Two types of stress can he established
1. Word stress (or accent)
2. Phrasal (or sentence stress)
Word Stress
In words made up of more than one syllable, some syllable stands out from others. In a word
like fable it is the first syllable that receives ‘stress’ or more articulatory energy which results in
its’ sounding louder and longer than the other syllable’ the second syllable here. The distribution
of stress over the word fable can be shown in this manner – fa-ble.
In monosyllabic words – these words may contain more than one phoneme, but that doesnot
matter-stress falls on the only syllable they contain:

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l /ai/ (single phoneme word)

see /si:/ (two-phoneme word)
cat /kaet/ (three-phoneme word)
flame /fleim/ (four-phoneme word)
tract /traekt/ (five-phoneme word)
In words made of more than one syllable, the stress is distributed over the syllables; one of the
syllables is pronounced with greater syllabic energy or prominence. In words
like sector and enable, the first syllable is prominent in sector and the second syllable in enable.
The syllable that is strongly stressed is called a strong syllable and weakly stressed syllable is
called weak syllable. In sector, secis strong syllable and-tor weak syllable. Inenable, en is weak
syallable and no srong syllable followed a weak –bl. In polysyllabic words the stressed syllable
may be more than one, for example these words –understand, appetizing examination. Syllabic
division is shown as follows:
Un-der-stand; ap-pe-ti-zing; e-xa-mi-na-tion.
A polysyllabic word is graded in terms of the release of syllabic energy. It can be seen that from
the strongest to the less strong to the weak, we can easily perceive different parts carrying these
stresses. For example, in a word like consolidation, the strongest stress falls on the fourth
syllable /-dei-/, the next prominent syllable is the second one, the other syllables carry weak
stresses.
One reason why the fourth syllable is the strongest is that the pitch of the voice changes on this
syllable. Therefore, this is also called primary stress or tonic stress. A strong stress
accompanied by a pitch-change or pitch movement is known as primary stress. Roger Kingdon
says that ‘the prominence of a syllable is also affected by its pitch; high-pitched syllables sound
more prominent than low-pitched ones’.
Stress features are thus divided into the following levels:
1. Primary stress
2. Secondary stress
3. Tertiary stress
4. Weak stress
The strongest release of syllabic energy accompanied by a potential change of pitch direction
marks the primary stress. The next strong stress is called secondary stress. Primary stress is
represented by the half straight bar [‘], and the secondary stress by the bar placed at the bottom
before the syllable that is stressed. Thus in apple the primary stress is on the first syllable ‘apple;
so with ‘father; but in ga’rage it is on the second syllable. The word understand carries a
primary and a secondary stress indicated as /unders’tand. Tertiary stress is weaker than the
secondary stress and close to weak or unmarked stress. It is somewhat difficult to define and
describe it. The two identically pronounced words nightrate and nitrate, show that the second
example has a tertiary stress while in night rate rate carries the secondary stress. A weak stress
is always left unmarked. Here the pitch is low and the vowel lax as in to’bacco.

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Stress pattern in English has to be learned; there is nothing in a syllable itself which indicates
that it may receive stress or not. In some disyllabic words the first syllable is stressed, for
example ‘writer, ‘bellow, ‘coral, ‘glimmer, ‘ginger, while other disyllabic words have the second
syllable sressed:re’cord, be’low, con’sort (vb), di’[Link] to the unstressed syllable, the
vowel in a stressed syllable is longer. Similarly, a long vowel becomes reduced in length when it
occurs in an unaccented syllable.
Stress Shift
It has been observed that stress shifts in derivative words. The following table shows how
different derivative words take stress on different syllables.
Table

1st syllable 2nd syllable 3rdsyllable

‘fraternise fra’ternity
‘fragility fra’gile
‘fragment frag’ment fragmen’tation
Or’thographer ortho’graphic
‘syllable sy’llabify syllabifi’cation
‘product pro’duce produc’tivity
‘excavate exca’vation
‘excellence ex’cel
‘photograph pho’tographer photo’graphic
Shift of Primary Stress in Syllables
In derived words also there is no predictability about the placement of stress. However, an
interesting aspect of the stress distribution is that for noun/adjective, stress is on the first
syllable and for verb it is on the second syllable.
Noun/Adjective Verb
‘produce pro’duce
‘import imp’ort
‘subject sub’ject
‘perfect per’fect
‘record re’cord
‘contract con’tract

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Compound Word Stress

Compound word consists of two words, which are written as one word. Mostly the nuclear, tonic
or primary stress falls on the first syllable of the first word as in ‘postman, ‘batsman,
‘chairman, etc. Distribution of stress varies greatly according to the syllabic composition of the
compound words.
Primary stress on the first syllable
‘Honeymoon, ‘honey suckle, ‘market day, ‘main spring, ‘long shore, ‘live stock, ‘liveryman.
Primary stress on the first, secondary on the third syllable
‘borderline, firebrigade, copyright
Primary stress on the first, secondary on the fourth syllable
National issue, labour exchange, cabinet maker
Primary stress on the third, secondary on the first syllable
Secondhand, country farm, easygoing, seargent major
Phrasal Stress
Although words have more or less fixed stress in connected speech, the intonational and
contextual imperatives guide a speaker’s choice of stress. Longer utterances, clauses and
segments can show changes in stress pattern. This is accompanied by the rise and fall in the
pitch level. For example in a sentence like
Bring those chairs closer
different words can be stressed in the manner shown below:
bring those chairs closer
bring those chairs closer
bring those chairs closer
bring those chairs closer
Each of the above examples conveys a different meaning. Normally, content words receive the
primary stress, grammatical words donot As T. Balasubramanian says, ‘The choice of the
syllable receiving primary accent depends on the meaning the speaker wants to convey’.
Speech Rhythm
In connected speech certain words receive the primary stress and other words are unstressed. A
pattern of alternations between the stressed and unstressed words is formed. If we consider the
sentence, see the cat on the roof we will find that the second, the fourth and the fifth syllable are
unstressed; the third and the sixth words are stressed. It is the tendency among the English
speakers to crowd together the unstressed syllables between the two stressed syllables. The
effect is a rhythm which makes English a stress-timed language.

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There is another process that produces the characteristic English rhythm, that of weakening of
the accent on certain words. In connected speech stress tends to be re-arranged due to elision
and assimilation. Syllables that in isolated expressions appear stressed may be unstressed in
such instances. Form-words, like articles, prepositions, auxiliary verbs, conjunctions and other
elements may show this, where consonant and vowel quality of the weak form is affected. Let us
look at these sentences.
a. I shall let you have it transcribed as
/ai òl let ju: hæv it/; the verb shall has become weak and is represented as /òi/ instead of
/òæl/.
b. Lend me the book, I’d read it transcribed as
/lend me buk, aid ri:d it/; wouldbecomes simply /d/ here.
a. There was a book on the table transcribed as

/ðәwәzә buk nðә teibl/; note the weakening of vowels in there /ðeә/ ® /ðә/
and was /w z/ ® /wәz/.
We can, therefore, say that such words have two forms; a strong form (in isolation) and a weak
form (in raid speech). Below are listed a few words with the two forms.
Strong form Weak form

æt әt /t
bai b∂

in tu: intә

tu: tә, tu
iz z,s
kæn k∂n, kn
will l, әl, l
kud kud, kd

jә: ‘selvz jә’selvz

maiself m∂self
tu him tuim

hæd hәd, әd, d

m^st mәst, ms

aend әnd, әn, d

aez әz
eni ni

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s^m sm

sәu sә

frәm fr∂m
fә: fә
Intonation
Another significant suprasegmental feature of English language is intonation or variation of
pitch from one segment of an utterance to another. A lot of emotional meaning is conveyed by
consciously varying intonation level.
Pitch is closely associated with vibration of the vocal cords. In males the vocal cords vibrate at a
rate of 70-125 times per second, and in adult females it is between 150-200 times. Increase in
the vibration of the vocal cords results in the rise of pitch. In normal conversation, pitch
variations are quite an integral part and cannot be completely ignored.
A combination of stress on a syllable and change in pitch-range produces tone, a significant
element of intonation. Two types of tone have been identified i) static toneand ii) kinetic tone. A
syllable pronounced on a level tone of unvarying pitch is said to have static tone. The kinetic
tones show different kinds of change in pitch contour. Physiologically, this is explained by
variation in the tension of the vocal cords.
Different levels of kinetic tone have been postulated by different phoneticians, some grade it
into fie, some into four. This shows that precise location of a tone contour is not possible –
gradations are made only as identification of a range, where correspondence with modulations
in the emotional level can also be identified.
In rapid speech pitch contours rapidly alternate but it must be remembered that all pitch
movements are not discriminating, and therefore, significant. Only those variations that serve as
significant units, discriminating between meanings are phonemic.
Below are presented the signs that are used for indicating itch contours
Rising Tone is symbolized as [‘]
Falling Tone is symbolized as [`]
Falling - Rising Tone is symbolized as [v]
Rising - Falling Tone is symbolized as [^]
Intonation pattern in English can be understood by dividing an utterance intobreath-groups.
Each breath-group forms a tone group.
In a sentence like She will ‘not` go we can identify the whole utterance as a breath group, a
sense group and an information unit. Under normal conditions it is the final syllable /gәu/ that
shows the pitch variation. This syllable, therefore, contains tonic prominence. It is known
as tonic [Link] prominence is a stress on the syllable, plus change in pitch level. A
speaker can vary the tonic syllable to correspond to the meaning, sense and emphasis he wishes
to convey. That means that tonic prominence can shift from final syllable to any other in a
sentence.

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Thus in the example cited above, she will not go, shifts in tonic prominence can be
demonstrated alongwitht he corresponding meaning changes:
i) She will not go = it is she who will not go.
ii) She will not go = come what may, she won’t go.
iii) She will not go = she will do anything but go.
We shall now consider below some examples of all the four tones.
1. Rising Tone:
‘Are you coming? (stress on are)
Is, he at home?
‘Wait, , keep it in place (gentle command)
‘Come, ,here (encouraging, inviting)
‘Really? (surprise)
2. Falling Tone:
When this tone is used, special implication is conveyed which is not verbally expressed, like
sympathetic attitude, surprise, disbelief, sarcasm, boredom, routine greeting, detached attitude,
and so on.
‘Put it on the stool (neutrality)
‘Good ,morning (routine greeting)
‘How ,nice (routine, bored)
,Sit down ,please (polite command)
,Such a ,waste (mildly sarcastic)
3. Falling-Risging Tone:
The pitch registers a fall from about mid to low and then from high to mid.
We are vwaiting (= better make haste)
vCarefully ! (soothing, encouraging)
The vfood was nice (=but the hotel awful)
vWell done (appreciating)
You may vre lax (you really need it)
vCan she do it? (=are you sure?)
4. Rising-Falling Tone:
The pitch changes from low to close to mid and low again. Normally, sarcasm, surprise, interest,
enthusiasm are expressed.

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Is he^alright? (surprise)
She looked^beautiful (enthusiastic)
Yes, it is^nasty (full agreement)
But,^will that do? (doubt)
Juncture:
In connected speech it is necessary to distinguish within one macrosegment such phonems
whose function is to keep utterances apart. We must, for example, convey to the listener whether
we mean a part (a+part) or apart when we use these segments, however rapid our speech may
be. The accent feature of course plays a significant part in it; but we must also give a brief pause
that would separate a from partwhen we wish to say a part, and remove that pause when we
wish to say apart. As Hockett says, ‘Any difference of sound which functions to keep utterances
apart is by definition part of the phonological system of the language’. Such transition from one
segmental phoneme to another is calledjuncture and represented by [+] mark. Juncture is thus a
type ‘of boundary between two phonemes. Often, juncture helps the listener to distinguish
between pairs such assee Mill and seem ill in Did he see Mill? AndDid he seem ill?’ (Richards,
Platt, Weber).Terminal juncture is represented by the [+] sign as in the following examples.
a + name
an + aim
that + stuff
that’s + tough
Ice + cream
I + scream
Two vowels in close proximity both bearing the primary stress must receive a terminal juncture.

Morphology and Linguistics

Morphology is the study of morphemes, which are the smallest significant units of grammar.
According to Bloomfield, it is the study of the constructions in which sound forms appear among
the constituents. Dorfman defines morphology as the study of the ways and methods of
grouping sounds into sound-complexes or words.

Morphology is a level of structure between the phonological and the syntactic. It is

complementary to syntax. Morphology is the grammar of words; syntax is the grammar of
sentences. One accounts for the internal structure or form of words; the other describes how
these words are put together in sentences.
The English word unkind is made up of two smaller units: un and kind. These are minimal
units that cannot be further sub-divided into meaningful units. Such minimal, meaningful units

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of grammatical description are generally referred to as morphemes. A morpheme is a short

segment of language that meets three criteria:
1. It is a word or a part of a word that has meaning.
2. It cannot be divided into smaller meaningful parts without violation of its meaning or
without meaningless remainders.
3. It recurs in differing verbal environments with a relatively stable meaning.
The word unlikely has 3 morphemes while the word carpet is a single morpheme. The
words car and pet are independent morphemes in themselves. The word carpethas nothing to
do with the meaning of car and pet. Carpet is a minimal meaningful unit by itself. Again, the
word garbage is a single morpheme while the words garb and age are independent
morphemes by themselves. A systematic study of morphemes or how morphemes join to form
words is known as morphology.
The definition of the morpheme may not be completely unassailable as will be evident from the
discussion that follows, but it is certainly a very satisfying definition applicable to a majority of
words in any language. The English word unassailable is made up of three morphemes, un,
assail,able, each one of which has a particular meaning distribution and a particular
phonological form or shape.

Some Basic Concepts of Morphology

Morpheme
We can easily recognise such constructions as mats, artists, artistic. national, childishness,
unmoved, denationalization, horseride, highway, footpath as words. Difficulty arises when we
try to define these constructions - but all the same they can be recognised. They have meaning
which is independent of the meaning of other words. They convey the meaning in the same way
as the following words :
Sky, water, hill, cousin, mango, walk, sew, autumn and tap.
But the crucial difference between the first set of examples and the next is that while we can
break the items of the first set and still obtain smaller meaningful units we cannot break the
items occurring in the second set. If we do so we would be destroying their meaning. Let us see
how the items in the first group of examples can be split.
i. mat + s
ii. art + ist
iii. art + ist + ic
iv. nation + al
v. child + ish + ness
vi. un + move +d
vii. de + nation + al + ize + ation
viii. high + way

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ix. foot + path

After having broken these words we are left with more particles with different meanings.
Attempts to break these ten words have not destroyed their meaning. We rather discover that
the words are composed of smaller particles. We also see that two types of meaning in such
constructions can be identified :
a. some particles refer to the external reality.
(sky, dog, table, nation, child)
b. others donot do so, but are to be understood in terms of their function within the
language.
Words of the former type are known ascontent words and their meaning as lexical
meaning; while words that are meaningful in terms of their structural significance are
called form words having structural, formalor grammatical meaning. Thus we can see that the
word child is content word whose meaning is referable to the external world and is bound to be
destroyed if we try to split it further :
ch - ild, chi-Id, chil-d
But after breaking childishness into childishand ness we get two segments whose meanings are
independently contained in them. We cannot break -ness; but childish can be split into child
and -ish. Again we obtain such particles each one of which possesses meaning. Further attempts
to break them will, however, destroy their meaning. We will not get more particles that can
either be referred to the external reality or can be construed as having any grammatical
function. They are the minimal meaningful units. Such a particle is called a morpheme. ‘Since a
morpheme is a unit of language, it will have a differential function; that is, it has some
conventional and recurrent connection with nonlinguistic circumstances in which it occurs’
(Dinnech). In the above examples, the particles that we have been able to obtain after breaking
the various sequences, are all minimal meaningful parts of the English language. They are
minimal since they cannot be broken down further on the basis of meaning. They are
meaningful because we can specify the kind of connection they have with the nonlinguistic
circumstances in which they are used.
Morpheme is, therefore, the minimal recurring unit of grammatical structure, possessing a
distinctive phonemic form, having a grammatical function and may differ in its phonological
manifestations.
Morpheme and Syllable
A single morpheme may be made up of one syllable, more than one syllable, or no syllable at all.
Monosyllabic morphemes (those consisting of one syllable) are tin, train, gold, pen, man, cat,
dog. But words likestation and teacher are composed of two syllables - sta-tion, tea-cher,
Hyperion andintroduction contain four syllables; andchloromycetin contain five syllables.
These are all single morphemes, though their syllabic composition varies. On the other hand,
there are morphemes that can be marked to contain no syllable at all - the plural morpheme /-
s/, the past tense morpheme /-d/ are example of this type. Though they are not syllabic, they are
morphemes. In this context, the case of zero allomorph is still more interesting.

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Morph :
The concept of morph recognises that a morpheme has a phonetic shape. This phonetic
representation is called its morph. The word writer has two morphemes, writeand -er. These
are realizable in the phonetic shapes as /rait/ and/-∂:/. These are two morphs of the morpheme
(or word in this case).
Allomorph :
In our discussion of morpheme we have noted that it sometimes manifests itself in various
phonetic shapes or forms. The plural morpheme can be realized as /-s/ or /-z/ or /-iz/ and so
on. Similarly, the past tense morpheme can appear as /-d/, /-t/, /-id/, and /-q/. Each of these
morphs belongs to the same morpheme. These are called allomorphs.
The plural morpheme in English (which combines with a noun morpheme to form a plural) is
represented by three allomorphs /s/, /z/ and /iz/ in different environments (which are
phonologically conditioned).
Plural Morpheme
Allomorphs
{e(s)}
/iz/ in the case of words ending in /s/, /z/, /ò/, /з/, /tò/, /dз/
e.g. buses /ru : bΛsız/, vases /va: zız/, bushes / b ò f ız/,
rouges /ru : зız/, churches /tòз tòız/ judges/, /dзnΛdзız/
/s/ in the case of words ending in a voiceless consonant (other than ò, s, tò): cats /kæts/,
caps /kæps/
/z/ in the case of words ending in voiced sounds (other than /z, з, dз/): boys: b]ız/, bags
/bægz/
Similarly, the present tense morpheme {-e(s)} has three allomorphs /s/, /z/ &. / Iz/, e.g. packs
/pæks/, digs /digz/, washes /woòIz/. The past tense morpheme of English, {-e(d} has also three
different (phonologically conditioned) allomorphs /t/, /d/ and / Id/. The rule that governs these
allomorphs is as follows:
Past Morpheme
{e(d)}
/t/ after morphs ending in voiceless sounds (except /t/)
booked /b•kt/, pushed /p•òt/
/d/ after morphs ending in voiced sounds (except /d/).
loved /lžvd/, bagged /bægd/
/Id/ after morphs ending in /t/ and /d/ wanted /wantId/ wedded /wedId/

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The relationship between the terms morph, allomorph and morpheme is similar to that
between phone, allophone and [Link] term ‘morph’ means shape. Any minimal
phonetic form that has meaning is a morph. Thus /bžs/, / Iz/ /b•ò/, /Iz/, /kæp/, /s/, /b]I/, /z/
are all morphs. Those morphs which belong to the same morpheme are
calledallomorphs of that morpheme. Thus /s/, /z/ and /Iz/ are allomorphs of the plural
morpheme {e(s)}. Similarly, a phoneme is a minimal, distinctive unit in the sound system of a
language. A phoneme may sometimes occur in more than one phonetic form called allophones.
These phonetic forms have considerable phonetic similarity between them and their
phonological function is the same. They, however, never occur in the same phonetic
environment and are said to be in complimentary distribution. Allomorphs, like allophones, are
also in complimentary distribution. The phonemes /p/, /t/ and /k/ for example, have two
phonetic forms each i.e. [p] and [ph], [t] and [th], [k] and [kh]. Here [p] and [ph] arc the
allophones of the phoneme /p/. All the speech sounds (phonemes as well as allophones) arc
called phones.
It may be noted that in some languages words can generally he segmented into parts (morphs)
while it is not so in others. Similarly there are languages in which the morph tends to represent a
single minimal tirammatical unit (a morpheme) while
Allomorphs of a morpheme may change their phonemic shapes due to two types of conditioning:
a) phonological or phonemic conditioning
b) morphological conditioning
Phonological Conditioning
We shall first examine the following sets of words :

A B

set /sets/ beds /bedz/

bits /bits/ lads /lædz/
bats /bæts/ cabs /kæbz/
caps /kæps/ clubs /kl^bz/
clips /klips/ beads /bi:dz/

The pluralising suffix in set A appears as /s/; in set 13 it appears as /z/. This can be explained as
due to the occurrence of final sound of the stem which is voiced, or voiceless. In set A words end
in the voiceless sounds /t/ and /p/ affecting the plural morpheme which also appears as a
voiceless phoneme /-s/. But in set B the stems end in voiced sound and affect the plural
morpheme, which becomes /-z/. The phonetic quality of one sound affects the phonetic quality
of another occurring in close proximity. The affected sound isphonetically conditioned. Both /-
s/ and /-z/ are the allomorphs of the plural morpheme. Their positions cannot be interchanged,
i.e., we cannot have /z/ placed in set A and /s/ in set B. These sounds are thus in complementary
distribution. In the same way words rose, pose, advise, horse, judgetake the plural morpheme
which is phonemically realized as /iz/ so we haveroses /rәuziz/; poses /pәuziz/; horses /h]:siz/,
etc. These words also show phonological conditioning.

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We thus obtain three phonologically conditioned allomorphs of the plural morpheme /s/ ~ /z/ ~
/iz/. Phonological conditioning is predictable.
(Plural Morpheme z1}

{Past Tense Morpheme}

Morphological Conditioning
The regularity of phonological conditioning is restricted. There are several irregular forms that
donut show the predictable direction of morphophonemic changes. We can always explain
reasonably why such variant forms as the /t/~/d/~/id/ occur for past tense and /s/~/z/~/iz/ for
plural morpheme.
But such explanation is not possible in the case of the plural form of child - children, and sheep -
sheep. These forms are not phonologically conditioned, i.e. the proximity of a sound doesnot
affect these forms. en is peculiar to children, oxen andbrethren. Such changes are said to be due
tomorphological conditioning.
We shall consider below some major types of morphological conditioning.
Zero Suffix
Certain words in English do not show any change of form when inflected either for pluralizing or
making into past tense form. These singular - plural and present and past tense forms are alike.
Set A (Singular) Set B (Plural)
Sheep sheep
deer deer
cattle cattle
Set A (Present Tense) Set B (Past Tense)
cut cut
put put
hit hit
beat beat
But we know that set A words are in present tense and that set B words are in the past tense.
With this understanding we use the words.
There is a sheep
There are sheep
He cuts
He has cut

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We can say that a zero suffix of plural and a zero suffix of the past tense has been added to these
forms. The change is not one of overt alteration in the phonemic shape of the morpheme
(allomorph). They are said to undergo a zero modification. This is shown by {q} symbol which is
called zero allomorph.
Thus, sheep is written as /òi:p + q/.
cut is written as /kžt + q/
Vowel Mutation
Let us take another example; the plural form of man is men that
of woman is women, andlouse is lice. In making them plural we see that nothing has been
added, but a change in the vowel and diphthong has been made.
/a/ > /e/
/au/ > /ai/
Similarly, for making past tense, we can change the vowels as shown below :
find - found /ail > /au/
swim - swam /i/ > /æ/
bring - brought /i/ > /]/
seek - sought /i:/ > /]:/
catch - caught /æ/ > /]:/
feed - fed /i:/ > /e/
These changes too cannot be explained by the process of phonetic change. These are irregular
changes and are known as vowel-mutation.
A few more examples are to be seen below :
fly - flew /ail > /u:/
slay - slew /ei/ > /u:/
get - got /e/ > /]/
meet - met /i:/ > /e/
take - took lei /ei/ > /u/
Vowel mutation can also be seen in verb-making, adjectivising, noun-making, and so on.
Consonant Change
Apart from vowel changes, pluralizing is effected by changes in consonants also. Some English
words ending in /f/ - leaf life, wife, knife, shelf loaf make their plural by converting /f/ into /v/
and adding /z/. Examples are given below.
shelf /òelf/ > shelves /òelvz/

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sheaf /òi:f/ > sheaves /òi:vz/

knife /naif/ > knives /naivz/
wolf /wulf/ > wolves /wulvz/
wife /waif/ > wives /waivz/
But here too we observe irregularity. Not all words ending in /f/ undergo such changes -proof,
roof and reef, to name only three, take /s/ for changing to plural form; while hoof is pluralized
both by simply adding /s/ - hoofsand through the process of consonant change - hooves.
In the case of past tense formation also we observe consonant replacement -
send - sent
bend - bent /d/ > /t/
lend - lent
spend - spent
The list of different kinds of changes signalling pluralization and past tense formation is fairly
long. What is important here is to understand the mechanism of different types of vowel and
consonant mutation that operates in such processes.
Suppletion
In suppletion instead of a partial change in the root (either vowel change or consonant change or
addition of s), we see the whole form of the root being replaced by a new -form. So, we see the
past tense of go is went,and the comparative of bad is worse, goodhas better as comparative,
the adjective ofmoon is lunar, and sea ,has marine as its adjective; tooth is adjectivised
as dental andmouth as oral. What we see in these examples is the complete change in the
phonemic shape of the stem, for changing their form classes.
Free Morphemes and Bound Morphemes
Two types of morphemes have been identified on the basis of their occurrence in larger
constructions : free form and bound form. A morpheme that occurs alone, or can stand alone
is a free form. It doesnot require the presence of another morpheme; in other words, such a
morpheme doesnot need the support of any other element. All content words are free forms
: house, church, girl, cat, walk, see, red, short, book, water. Some form words are also free
forms, always, though, but, never, and, or, if. The meaning of such words is ‘contained in their
ability to refer to some point in the world outside’.
A second class of morphemes called bound form, contain elements that must always be attached
to some other elements. They cannot occur or stand alone. In words likewatery, invisible,
reader, possibility, madness, cats, and manly. We can identify such morphemic particles as -y,
in, -He, - cr, -ty, -ness, -s, and -ly. Their meaning is in their grammatical functions such as
noun-making, verb-forming, pluralizing, adjectivising, and so on. They can be attached to any
other free forms of the same form class to construct similar segments. Isolated they donot stand
by themselves.

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Two types of hound form that are widely used are prefix and suffix. As a class they are known
as affixes.
A prefix precedes a free form, a stem or aroot. We see these in the following words
:uncommon, decentralise, disappoint, recycle. Un-, de-, dis-, re- are all prefixes. There are many
other prefixes. All these are word-formative elements.
A suffix is also a word-formative clement - it follows a free form. Examples are sleeveless,
temptation, government, activate, darkness, reader.
By adding a suffix we can either negativise a word, i.e. hat less, merciless, or change its form
class; dark is an adjective, by adding -ness we can change it into noun.
-ate and -ide are verb-making particles. They are, therefore, known as grammatical morphemes.
Inflection and Derivation
Affixes are classified on the basis of their function into two categories
- derivation andinflection. Affixes that cannot take another affix is generally identified
as inflectional affixes. If we add -s or -ed to present we will get derivative
words presents and [Link] cannot add another suffix to it. Inflectional suffixes of this
type may create a set of forms of a morpheme within the same form class, usually known
as paradigm. Such words are said to be ‘inflected’. We can in this way pluralise a
noun, speeches, judgesand tops, etc.
These words are said to be inflected for pluralising. Similarly nouns can be inflected for making
them genitive - teacher’s, doctor’s, men’s, etc. Verbs are inflected for third person singular.
Generally, in English, inflectional affixes are suffixes. They define a part of speech, but donot
change it - ugly, uglier, ugliest - all the three forms belong to the adjective form class.
Both prefixes and suffixes can be derivational. The form-class of the morphemes may be
changed by additing a derivational affix. Globe (N) may
becomeglobal (Adj), globalize (vb), globalization (N);and so
also child (N), childish (Adj), childishly(Adv), childishness (N). Each time a derivational affix is
added in the above examples, we see the form-class changing.
A significant feature of the derivational affix is that other suffixes can be added to it. One of the
functions of derivational affixes has been recognised as that of ‘formation of new words’
(Richards, Platt, Weber). This is one of its functions,
Another function is that they maintain the form-class, that is, the grammatical category is not
changed, as is seen below :
If we add the prefix un-to certain (Adj.), we donot find the prefix changing the root to another
form-class. Uncertain remains as much an adjective as certain is. Similarly, possess (vb) can
take a negativising prefix dis- to make an antonym dispossess while retaining its form-class
association.
Structure of Words
Considered from the point of view of their morpheme constituents, there are mainly three types
of words:

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(i) Simple Words: They consist of a single free morpheme followed, or not, by an inflectional
suffix, e.g. play, plays, stronger.
(ii) Complex words: They consist of a base and a derivational affix, e.g. goodness, enable,
boyhood, determination.
(iii) Compound words: They consist of two (or more) free stems which are independent
words by themselves, e.g. over-ripe, happy-go-lucky, elevator-operator.
A morphological analysis of a few more words will further clarify the position:
(i)
(ii)
Various Ways of Word Formation
The users of a language have to be conversant with the myriad ways in which words are formed.
A simple word likehappiness for example, is formed by adding the suffix -ness to the base
word [Link] the word happy is an adjective, the word happiness is a noun. The
wordhappiness has thus been derived from the word happy. This most important method of
word formation is known as affixation, i.e. by adding a prefix or a suffix to a base. The base is
different from the stem. The stem is that part of the word that remains after every affix has been
removed. A base can also be stem but every base is not a stem (see Examples (a) and (b) below).
Every stem can, however, be a base. The stem cannot be further broken up into two separate
morphemes. Here are two examples:
(i)
(ii)
A Wonderful World
Apart from affixation, there are several other ways in which new words are formed. Also, words
are used in different ways for different meanings or connotations. The world of words in any
language is a wonderful world. A user of a language who masters the art of using words or
manipulating words becomes a wizard with the language and proves to be a master in the skill of
communication. It would be quite pertinent, therefore, to briefly list some of the different ways
in which words are formed or skilfully used.
Use of prefixes
Prefixes arc used to coin new words of various types:
(a) Negative prefixes
Prefix Base word New word
im- possible/mortal impossible/immortal
in- evitable inevitable
sensitive insensitive
un- stable unstable

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like unlike
a- theist atheist
moral amoral
non- entity non-entity
violence non-violence
dis- passionate dispassionate
service disservice
il- logical illogical
limitable illimitable
ir- rational irrational
relevant irrelevant
de- frost defrost
forestation deforestation
mis- interpret misinterpret
represent misrepresent
pseudo- secular pseudosecular
religious pseudosecular
(b) Prefixes of Number
mono- syllabic monosyllabic
logue monologue
uni- lateral unilateral
cellular unicellular
bi- lingual bilingual
lateral bilateral
di- pole dipole
ode (electrode) diode
urnal diurnal
tri- weekly triweekly
angle triangle
tetra- cyclic tetracyclic

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multi/poly- syllabic polysyllabic

racial multiracial
pronged multipronged
lingual multilingual
(c) Prefixes of Time and Order
re- evaluate re-evaluate
examine re-examine
ante- chamber antechamber
fore- knowledge fore-knowledge
tell foretell
pre- natal prenatal
mature premature
post- war post-war
dated post-dated
ex- M.N.A. ex-M.N.A.
principal ex-principal
super- structure superstructure
fine superfine
(d) Prefixes of Location
sub- way subway
terranean subterranean
Inter-/intra- national international
class interclass
group intragroup
departmental intra-departmental
trans- plant transplant
migration transmigration
(e) Prefixes of Degree or Size
super- man superman
natural supernatural

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out- run outran

live outlive
under- state understate
cooked undercooked
hyper- active hyperactive
critical hypercritical
ultra- modern ultramodern
simple ultrasimple
mini- bus minibus
(midi-/maxi-)
skirt miniskirt
over- active overactive
smart oversmart
sub- human subhuman
zero subzero
standard substandard
arch- bishop archbishop
angel archangel
(f) Prefixes of Attitude
pro- congress pro-congress
democracy pro-democracy
anti- hindu anti-hindu
social anti-social
co- operate cooperate
sponsor cosponsor
counter- act counteract
proposal counterproposal
(g) Other Prefixes
auto- biography autobiography
start autostart

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neo- rich neorich

classical neoclassical
semi- circle semicircle
nude seminude
pan- Indian pan-Indian
(h) Class-changing Prefixes
Here are examples of some prefixes that change the class to which a word belongs:
Prefix Word Class New word Class
be- head noun behead verb
friend noun befriend verb
en- able adjective enable verb
trust noun entrust verb
a- float verb afloat adjective
head noun ahead adjective
Use of suffixes
The suffixes may be broadly divided into two categories: class maintaining and class-changing.
Here are a few examples:
(a) Class-maintaining Suffixes
Suffix Word Class New word Class
-ship friend noun friendship noun
-hood boy noun boyhood noun
ite hindu adjective hinduite adjective
-er London noun Londoner noun
ess- tiger noun tigress noun
-dom king noun kingdom noun
-ery machine noun machinery noun
(b) Class-changing Suffixes
(i) Noun to adjective
-ian India noun Indian adjective
-ese China noun Chinese adjective

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-ful beauty noun beautiful adjective

-less harm noun harmless adjective
-ly friend noun friendly adjective
-like child noun childlike adjective
-ish child noun childish adjective
-al accident noun accidental adjective
-ous virtue noun virtuous adjective
(ii) Adjectives to Noun
-ity able adjective ability noun
-ness happy adjective happiness noun
-ry brave adjective bravery noun
(iii) Nouns to Verbs
-ify fort noun fortify verb
-en length noun lengthen verb
-le top noun topple verb
(iv) Verbs to Nouns
-er drive verb driver noun
-ment govern verb government noun
-age drain verb drainage noun
-ant pollute verb pollutant noun
-ee pay verb payee noun
-ation condemn verb condemnation noun
-al withdraw verb withdrawal noun
-or act verb actor noun
(v) Verbs to Adverb
-fly sleep verb sleepily adverb
-fully play verb playfully adverb

(vi) Adjectives to Adverbs

-ly nice adjective nicely adverb

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-wards back adjective backwards adverb

Conversions
Some words can be used as nouns, verbs, adverbs or adjectives without any change in the form
of the word, without the addition of an affix or prefix. This process of derivation is
called conversion. Here are some examples:
Light: Switch on the light (noun).
Light the lamp (verb).
The luggage is light (adjective).
Travel light if you must (adverb)
Round: The earth is round like a ball (adjective).
The principal went on a round(noun).
You must round all the sharp corners (verb).
Fast: He is observing a fast today (noun).
He ran fast to catch the bus (adverb).
This is a fast colour (adjective).
I am fasting these days (verb).
(A lexicographer may enter all these four different uses of the word fast as four different lexical
items).
Back: He is carrying a bag on his back(noun).
You must back me up (verb).
The plane flew back in no time (adverb).
He left by the back door (adjective).
(b) Other types of conversion
i) Please give me two coffees.
(An uncountable noun used as a countable noun)
ii) This instrument is a must for you.
(A closed system word being used as a noun)
iii) I do not like this touch-me-not policy.
(A phrase being used as an adjective)

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iv) I do not believe in any ism bothering the society today.

(A suffix being used as a noun)
v) He is only being nice.
(Stative verb used as a dynamic verb)
(c) In some words of two syllables, change of accent from the first to the second syllable changes
a noun/adjective to a verb:
Noun/Adjective Verb
‘conduct con’duct
‘subject sub’ject
‘object ob’ject
‘present pre’sent
‘contrast con’trast
(d) There are some words, in which there is a change in the meanings of words if the final
consonant is voiced (either by a change in spellings or without it); for example:
Word Final sound Word Final
sound
advice (n.) /s/ advise (v.) /z/
thief (n.) /f/ thieve (v.) /v/
house (n.) /s/ house (v.) /z/
Compound Formation
Compounds are formed by joining two or more bases. These bases are, in some cases, separated
by a hyphen, while in other cases, the hyphen appears to have disappeared with the passage of
time. There is no rule governing the presence or absence of the hyphen. Here are some examples
of compound words:
(a) Noun + Noun
Motor cycle hair breadth
teargas goldfish
girl-friend television fan
bread-piece block-head
fire-engine pot-belley
paper-back

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(b) Noun + Adjective

trustworthy beauty conscious
home sick brickred
duty free sea-green
(c) Adjective + Noun
paleface yellow press
red light
fathead greenhorn
(d) Compounds with verbs/adverbials/verbal nouns
sight-seeing man-eating
birth-control heart-breaking
record-player easy-going
brain-washing baby-sitting
walking-stick lip-read
Blends
Two words are sometimes clipped and the clippings joined to forma new word.
Examples
brunch from breakfast and lunch
smog from smoke and fog
telecast from television and broadcast
motel from motorists and hotel
Borrowings
English (or any other language) generally borrows words from other languages with which it
comes into contact. English continues to enrich its store of words by such borrowings.
Examples
Guru (from Hindi)
bazaar (from Persian)
Sheikh (from Arabic)
tycoon (from Japanese)
Dame (from French)

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Inventions
New words have to be given to new inventions. Such words (as other words of the language) are
arbitrary but in course of time, they come to stay as a part of the language.
Examples
X-rays, laser, sputnik, astronaut
Echoism
Some words are formed by the sounds that suggest their meaning.
Examples
clang, whisper, thunder, click, tick, lisp, murmur
Language, as everybody knows, is dynamic. It continues to acquire new words with the passage
of time. Some words also go on disappearing, as the time passes, due to several reasons.
Language is open-ended and modifiable.

Syntax and Modern Linguistics

With syntax we enter into a level of linguistic analysis that is higher than morphology, although
at places the distinction between the two becomes blurred. Morphology, it is often claimed, has
no ‘autonomous’ existence, as syntactical analysis includes morphological processes. Ferdinand
de Saussure himself considers morphology as part of syntax. This perception has come to
dominate recent post-Bloomfieldian linguistic thinking once again.

It is, however, better to view the two domains separately, morphology being the level that
includes segmental morphemes and the way words are built out of them, and syntax being the
level that includes the ways in which words and morphemic elements are arranged and
organised into larger constructions. Syntax has been defined by Richards, Platt and Weber as
‘the study of how words combine to form sentences and the rules which govern the formation of
sentences. In generative transformational grammar, the syntactic component is one of the
three main parts of the grammar. This component contains the rules for forming syntactic
structures and rules for changing these structures’(Longman Dictionary of Applied Linguistics).
Grammar and grammatical analysis include both morphology and syntax. ‘Grammar may be
divided into two portions : morphology and syntax. Syntax may be roughly defined as the
principles of arrangement of the constructions formed by the process of derivation and
inflection (words) into larger constructions of various kinds. The distinction between
morphology and syntax is not always sharp’ (Gleason).
This should not lead us to any confusion regarding the area of syntax, which is seeking to
understand units larger than words, phrases and clauses, and such functions as selectional
restrictions of concord and government. The fact that Max sees John is different from John sees
Max is a matter of syntax.

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Syntactic Relations
Let us see this sentence.
‘The cat who sat on the mat has gone away’. There are ten words in this sentence. Each of these
words has a definite relationship with the other words. If we are somehow able to state and
describe these relationships, we will have described the syntax of the sentence.
To take a more simple sentence.
Raheel pushed Zahid.
The three words in the above sentence are not simply strung together, though they are linearly
arranged, but appear to fit together in a manner governed by certain syntactical rules. We
cannot arrange these words in any of the following ways.
* Raheel Zahid pushed.
* pushed Raheel Zahid
* Zahid Raheel pushed, and so on
These constructions are unacceptable.
Similarly, in English we always say the fish, an apple, a building, not *fish the, *apple an,
*building a, unless, of course, these words are part of - the sentences like He was amused to see
in fish the colours of ……; He is building a big dam. These are obviously part of the longer
sequences and have no meaning apart from them. As independent segments the fish, an apple, a
building are more acceptable.
Secondly, these two segments are also more closely linked to each other than a verb following
them and the preceding noun. We can diagram this in the following manner.
“That the determiner the goes with fish is obvious enough. Their relation can better be
understood by dividing the construction in the manner shown below
The division made above shows that syntactical units are hierarchically ordered. Each
downward motion splits the segment into further patterns that show them immediately related
on that level. The wordunpleasantness can he shown to have the following constituents.
The vertical lines here point to the words or elements (appearing at the bottom of the vertical
lines) that are related to each other on that level. These words or elements are
called constituents. When the constituents are joined by the horizontal line they are called to be
in construction with each other. A construction is thus a relationship between the constituents.
Thus the constituents, the and fish are in construction with each other, the fish and swam are
constituents in construction with each other. The fish swam is an idependent constituent
forming an utterance. An utterance is not a ‘collection of randomly assembled bits and pieces’
(Noel Burton-Roberts) but a complex of interpenetrating relationships. Further these are not
just arranged in a linear fashion, but show that they consist of parts which themselves in turn
consist of further parts. They, in other words, show a hierarchical structure.
Hierarchies of construction suggest that utterances have an additional dimension besides the
linear dimension.

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The above manner of showing relations among the constituents and diagramming them is called
‘inverted tree’ diagramming in which the branches spread downwards.
Immediate Constituent Analysis
One of the established methods of analysing sentence is the Immediate Constituent Analysis. It
highlights the fact that sense is conveyed not only by the dictionary meanings of words but also
by their arrangement in patterns. ‘A sentence is not just a linear string of words; it is a sequence
grouped in a particular way. The groupings are important for understanding the sense, (N.R.,
Cattell).
In IC analysis sentences are broken down into successive components. Each component has
some grammatical relevance. Here the aim is to arrive at theultimate constituent by identifying
and establishing the immediate constituents (or ICs, as they are called for short). Relations
between the segments of an utterance are established at different hierarchical levels.
If we take a simple sentence like ‘students travel, we can identify the two
constituentsstudents and travel. It is possible to substitute a two-word sequence for the
constituent students without changing the basic structure - old men.

students
travel
old men

The immediate constituents of the first sentence is students and travel and of the second
sentence old men and travel. But at the next lower level old and men are the immediate
constituents.
Similarly, we can have substitution for travelalso, something like walk regularly. We may show
this in the following manner,

students travel

old men walk regularly

Thus we have now old men as immediate constituents on the one hand, and walk regularly on
the other.
We can further expand it by substituting other segments like His elder brother walks regularly
every day.

students travel

old men walk regularly

His elder brother walks regularly everyday

The process of substituting elements can be continued ad infinitum. What is demonstrated in

this manner is that constituents entering into constructions are governed by mutual
grammatical relations. The above diagram only illustrates that ‘an immediate constituent is one
of the two, or a few constituents of which any given construction is directly formed... the process
of analysing syntax is largely of finding successive layers of ICs and of immediate constructions,

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the description of the relationships which exist between ICs and the description of those
relationships which are not efficiently described in terms of ICs’ (Gleason).
The relationships between the constituents can also be shown by means of tree diagram as
below :
What we find here is not just a process ‘never allowing more than two elements in a bracket’
(Halliday), but the recognition of a functional relationship between the elements. The
immediate constituents in the first branching Dear friend and went awayshow a relationship
of subject and [Link] are the immediate constituents of the sentence marked x in a
functional relationship that can be identified as that of modifier and the noun. Similarly, with
the next ‘node’ went and away we identify the relation as that of main verb and adverb. These
two elements are the ICs at that level. The whole pattern of grammatical classes can be shown as
below :
We thus see that a sentence is composed of layers of constituents. At each ‘node’ (node is that
point at a particular level where constituents branch off downward into the next construction
level) can be identified and labelled functional classes.
There is another way of marking the ICs, that of bracketting. We can show this in the following
manner.
(((the) ((poor) (boy)) (ate) (the) (stale) (bread)))
However, the inverted tree diagramming has come to be widely accepted and used, and this has
been followed in the present book also.
Immediate constituent analysis is essentially a process of pure segmentation dividing a sentence
into its constituents. One of the weaknesses of this analysis is that it doesnot indicate the role or
function of the constituent elements. For example if we segment the above sentence by using the
tree diagram method, it will appear as follows:
There is little in this to tell us about the grammatical function and nature of the elements.
Labelling
The concept of labelling was, therefore, introduced to remove this inadequacy. As MAK Halliday
observes, these divisions tell us very little about the functional importance of the constituents,
and explain the grammatical structure. It will be necessary to say something about the particular
function that each part has with respect to the structure of the whole. If we are using bracketting
method, then the brackets are labelled; if on the other hand, we use tree diagram method then
nodes are labelled. Labelling gives us an insight into the syntactic function of the constituents.
Let us see how this is done.
The structure is indicated by S, (sentence),NP, (Noun phrase), and VP (Verb phrase). At the next
level of branching NP and VP are further split into their ICs.’ Thus in the sentence dear friend
went away we can identify the ICs and class them into the relevant grammatical forms in the
manner shown above. Hierarchical syntactic structure with the proper function classes can at a
glance be seen in this type of diagramming.
Or
Or

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To quote M.A.K. Halliday once again, ‘Bracketing is a way of showing what goes with what : in
what logical (as opposed to sequential) order the elements of a linguistic structure are
combined. It says nothing about either the nature or the function of the elements themselves’.
Labelling means putting name on things and so it is a way of specifying what these elements are.
The label provides some kind of a definition of the units that have been identified as parts of
some larger whole.
There are in principle two significant ways of labelling a linguistic unit. One is to assign it to a
class; the other is to assign a function to it. Hence there are two principles according to which we
can label the constituents of a grammatical structure : i. by class, and ii. by function.
In the particularly significant stage in the development of linguistics this way of establishing the
structure of different types of sentences was given great importance and considered the chief
aim. Leonard Bloomfield developed the notion of constituent structure. His notions were further
developed and clarified by such scholars as Eugine Nida, Ruelon Wells, Zellig Harris and others.
They evolved rigorous systems to analyse the sentences. Noam Chomsky took this further ahead
by developing mathematically precise methods and built up a system known as Phrase
Structure Grammar.
Phrase Structure Grammar or PSG
Phrase Structure Rules, or Grammar considers sentence as linear sequence of elements. The aim
is to identify these elements for their functions and class them appropriately. This is, therefore,
better viewed as an alternative system to the IC analysis.
Chomsky presented three models of grammar in his revolutionizing bookSyntactic
Structures: finite state grammar, phrase structure grammar, and transformational grammar.
The first, the finite state grammar is the most basic and elementary and is full of inadequacies.
The Phrase Structure Grammar takes us a long way in removing these shortcomings. The
Transformational model is an extension of the PSG with addition of more complex type of rules.
The PS grammar consists of phrase structure rules as shown below :
i. S ¾® NP VP
ii. VP ¾® V NP
iii. NP ¾® Det N
iv. N ¾® NP Plur
v. V ¾® VS Past
vi. Det ¾® the
vii. NS ¾® cat
viii. NS ¾® mouse
ix. VS ¾® catch
On the left of the arrow is the instruction torewrite the symbol into a string of one or more
symbols on the right. Syntactic categories which occur on the left are known as non-
terminal symbols and those occurring on the right are called terminal symbols representing

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morphemes. Syntactic categories that are represented by the symbols are sentence (S); noun
phrase (NP); verb phrase (VP); verb (V); determiner (Det); noun stem (NS); verb stem (VS).
NP can also include an article. The constituents of VP may include an NP, within V is tense
realisable by the symbol T. Theterminal string is a representation of morphemes.
Further down an NP could be a proper noun, a personal noun, a pronoun, demonstrative
pronoun, and all that can function grammatically in this position. So we can have here, I, we, he,
she, you, they, her, it, and so on, and everyone, anyone, no one, none, some, etc. A noun can take
a determiner the, a, an, many, old, new, etc. Similarly with the verb phrase which can be
classified into a verb stem (VS), an auxiliary (aux) and NP. Further sub-classification of the verb
is also possible into transitive, intransitive, be, have, look, etc. We can also describe the tense
and aspect and the sub-classification of the adverbial which may contain a prepositional phrase
or simply an adverb.
Such a description will turn out to be too lengthy and exhaustive.
Rather than resorting to descriptions of this kind, a set of phrase-structure rules in the form
of re-write rules can be given.
According to the rewrite rules, each symbol on the left hand can be replaced by a symbol on the
right hand. Not ‘only are the various constituents recognised and determined, it is also indicated
how one constituent dominates the other as their placement is organised hierarchically. Let us
consider the following sentence;
Old Sam sunbathed beside a stream
According to the PS model, the constituents of this sentence can be shown in the following
manner.
1. S (sentence ¾® NP (Noun Phrase) + VP (Verb Phrase)
2. NP ¾® Mod (Adj) + N (Noun)
3. VP ¾® Verb (MV) + PP (Prep. Phrase)
4. VP ¾® Verb
5. PP ¾® Prep. + NP
6. NP ¾® Art.
7. NP ¾® N
This can be written in a linear manner like this : S [old + Sam + past + sunbathe + beside + a +
stream] S; or shown in a tree-diagram.
In the PS rewrite system each next step of expansion is seen as ‘derived’ from the preceding one.
i. S
ii. NP VP
iii. NP V NP

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This is also, therefore, known as PS derivation. All such descriptions begin with S as the symbol
for sentence. This is rewritten as NP VP symbolising Noun Phrase and Verb Phrase and can be
said to derive from i) by application of rule ii, iii is like-wise derived from ii) symbolised as NP v
NP.
‘The sentences that can be constructed by following the rules of a given grammar are said to
be generated by that grammar’ (Rodney Huddleston).
Each sentence thus generated can be assigned a structure by the grammar.
The tree-diagram method is also known asphrase-marker (PM for short). Phrase markers arc
critical in Chomsky’s theory.
However, this doesnot exhaust all the possibilities of describing the sentences. There are many
complex areas that are governed by optional selection of items, and need to be indicated. The
main verbs are often preceded by the auxiliary verbs. Symbolically this may be shown as
VP ¾® Aux+MV
This can be described as a verb phrase to be rewritten as auxiliary plus a main verb. In a
branching tree diagram it is shown as:
NP + Aux + MV
Phrase-structure rules are mostly context free. They follow the x ® y form, x being a single
element and y a string of one or more elements. But what is the context in which x is to be re-
written as y? If the same rule is further elaborated as x ® y / w ® v, we make explicit that x
occurs in the context w and it is to be rewritten as y in the context of v. Contextual constraints
can be indicated in various ways. Such a rule (x ® y / w ® v) is called context sensitive rule,
without it we have a context-free rule which is what PSG deals with. Concord between the
subject and the verb can be explained only in terms of context-sensitive rule - the bird
flies but the birds fly. Context-free grammar can be viewed as part or sub-class of context-
sensitive grammar.
Domination Notion
According to the notion of domination we can say that Aux and MV are immediately dominated
by VP, and S immediately dominates NP and VP. Remotely, Aux and MV are simply dominated
by S. This notion also emphasises the ‘layered’ composition of a syntactic structure where each
lower segment is governed by the rule of ‘mutual dependency’.
Inadequacies
Phrase structure grammar is itself hemmed in with limitations. It is efficient in explaining ‘intra-
sentence constituent elements’, but cannot show inter-sentence relations such as declarative-
interrogative, active-passive and so on. It runs into difficulties when seeking to account for
ambiguous sentences, ambiguity being more than a matter of immediate constituency as we can
see in this ambiguous sentence.
Flying planes can be dangerous
Similarly, PS rules cannot explain suchdiscontinuous sentences as, He called me up,when the
object is a pronoun and the discontinuous construction is obligatory.

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Complex sentences are described through cumbersome PS marker diagrams. If we want to

derive the following sentence.
The clear, lovely, blue sky,
we will have to present it in the following manner.
The Transformational Generative Grammar
We have noted that in Phrase Structure Grammar, PS rules convert a grammatical category into
a more explicit representation, VP ® V + NP, for example; or a symbol into a class for which it
stands, Vs ® come. We have also seen some of the limitations of PSG. It cannot account for
transformational relationships. Sohan sees a kite and A kite is seen by Sohan cannot be
considered two different sentences. The second sentence is only a transformation of the first
obtained through a re-arrangement, and morphemic changes in the terminal string,
‘transformation being a method of stating how the structures of many sentences in languages
can be generated or explained formally as the result of specific transformations applied to
certain basic sentence structures’ (RH Robins).
A major development in linguistics took place with the publication of Syntactic Structures in
1957 by Noam Chomsky. This book forms the basis of the Transformational Generative
Grammar that has come to replace the old grammatical systems and, provide a more precise and
efficient tool of analysing a language.
The shortcomings of the PSG were sought to be removed by TG grammar. ‘He did not reject the
whole notion of using immediate constituents; he merely showed that this method was not
powerful enough by itself to account for the whole of sentence structure. It must be used in
conjunction with some other method’. (N.R. Cattell). Therefore, while TG grammar uses the
phrase structure re-write rules, it offers a set of transformational rules. ‘A phrase structure
grammar consists exclusively of PS rules and assigns to each sentence a syntactic structure in
the form of a single phrase marker… whereas a TG consists of a set and assigns to each sentence
a series of PMs varying in the level of abstraction involved’.
What is Generative Grammar?
One of the two prominent features of the transformational generative grammar which its very
name throws up is the potential of the grammar to ‘generate’ sentences. As N. Krishnaswamy
observes, ‘We acquire information about a language and using that knowledge about the
language, we create orgenerate sentences. In this sense, the grammar is generative. The
grammar of a language is not just an analytical procedure; it should generate description of all
the grammatical sentences in the language and only these’. Generative is the key term here.
A particular grammar makes use of rules that are definite and limited, to produce an infinite
number of sentences. These rules govern operations that are limited too, but produce infinite set
of sentences. Such a grammar does not literally create sentences, but it is so designed ‘that by
following its rules and conventions we could produce all or any of the possible sentences of the
language’ (John Lyons). The grammar is thus concerned with the possible set of sentences.
Whenever we select any text or corpus of a language for analysis, what we have is the actual
manifest sentences which are finite. It would be a mistake to consider these as the limit, for
there is always possibility of having more sentences or forms. When we say that a grammar can

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produce infinite number of sentences, we donot mean its rules are infinite. On the other hand,
the grammar is finite, its rules are finite, but they can produce infinite number of sentences.
It is like producing a mind-boggling set of numbers like 8639261387534169 out of a set of finite
numbers 0-1. Chomsky defined language as a ‘set (finite or infinite) of sentences, each finite in
length and constructed out of finite set of elements’. He discovered a brilliant expression in W.
Von Humboldt (Uber die Verschiedenheit de’s meschlichen Sprachbans Oarmastadt, 1949) to
elucidate his own notion, ‘language makes infinite use of finite means’.
A finite grammer can be represented diagrammatically as follows:
It moves from one state to another by producing a word. However, from this only two sentences
can be produced. It is therefore, a finite state grammar.
However, by changing the diagram a bit, this can be changed into a device capable of producing
an indefinite number of sentences.
Now we can have ‘sequences like the old man comes, he old man comes, the old men come, the
old, old men come, and so on. It meets both criteria of being a finite grammar and producing an
infinite number of sentences. Famous linguist John Lyons represents the finite state grammar in
this manner.
According to Lyons the grammar can be seen as a machine or device... ‘which moves through a
finite number of internal ‘states’ as it passes from the initial state (start) to thefinal state (stop)
in the generation of sentences. When it has produced (let us say ‘printed out’ or ‘emitted’) a
word (from the set of words given as possible for that ‘state’) the grammar then ‘switches’ to a
new state as determined by the arrows. Any sequence of words that can be generated in this way
is thereby defined to be grammatical (in terms of the grammar represented by the diagram),
(John Lyons).
On a fundamental level Chomsky projected the simplest grammar (finite state grammar)
through employing the finite number ofrecursive rules. At the base is the notion that sentences
are generated by making choices ‘from left to right’. If we take a sentence likeThis young boy
bought a new bicycle yesterday, we can proceed at the left - most element, This and put that in
its place, or any other element possible in that position. Choice for the subsequent elements will
depend on the preceding element. From all the words possible in the position in
whichThis occurs, selection of the appropriate element can be made. Similarly, from a list of
words capable of occurring in the position in which young occurs, we can select a suitable
element, and so on. Diagrammatically this can be shown as follows.
When we base our understanding of the language on the generative principle, we believe that the
grammar is explicit, the fact of the possible sentences is indicated by this grammar. Palmer feels
that for this to happen, it should make everything clear, all rules and principles, conventions and
modes must be made explicit and nothing should be left to chance or the reader’s imagination.
This would eliminate the possibility of generating grammatically wrong sentences.
Competence and Performance
The main point at which the T-G grammarian diverges from his predecessors is the- belief that
he is not interested in the actual sentences, the given corpus of observed data, but the ‘possible’
utterances, the fact of what a speaker ‘can’ produce. His capacity to produce utterances is
directly related to his ‘competence’. Performance, on the other hand, is reflected in what he

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really does at the time of producing sentences. Simply, competence means in Chomsky’s sense of
the meaning, the speaker’s knowledge of the language, and his performance is his actual use of
the language in concrete situations’. In his opinion, a native speaker has an inherent ability to
use his language. This ability is independent of his conscious efforts at speech. It is this
intuitive/inherent power to use the rules of grammar and patterns of sentences that can be seen
in child who is ready at a surprisingly early age to use his language in a way that makes living for
him and expansion of relations easy. Unless this occurs, it is difficult for a child to learn a
particular language. ‘A theory of linguistic structure that arises for explanatory adequacy
incorporates an account of linguistic universals, and it attributes to the knowledge of these
universals to the child, (Chomsky, Aspects of the Theory of Syntax’).
In other words, ‘A Person’s linguistic competence is his tacit knowledge of his language. We
attribute knowledge of a language to account for his ability to use the language, to produce and
understand utterances in it’. (Huddleston).
It thus rules out the necessity for a speaker to formally learn the rules in order to be successfully
understood. This naturally reminds us of Charles F. Hockett’s description of the salient features
of language. One of these features, he points out, is Productivity. This means that ‘a speaker of a
language may say something, that he has never said nor heard before’. What Chomsky tries to
emphasize through his theory of competence is this ability of the native speaker to generate new
sentences that a speaker may not have heard before.
Linguistic performance is the use of language in concrete situation, manifestations of the
speaker’s ability to form potential utterances. At this point it is necessary to point out that
Chomsky distinguishes between the concepts of ‘sentence’ and ‘utterance’. ‘Sentence’ is a well-
formed sequence.
But in day-to-day situations we donot always use well formed utterances. Rather, ‘we change the
sentence halfway through, or we donot complete it, or we add bits that couldnot be justified on a
careful grammatical description. It has, in fact, been estimated that a large portion of spoken
utterances are in this sense not grammatical at all’ (Palmer).
Performance thus encompasses those utterances (an utterance can he a sentence in its well-
formed representation of sequences), that are found in concrete situations and that the linguists
must base their observations on. As Owen Thomas says, ‘a generative grammar is one that
contains a list of symbols, including, for example, English words, and a list of rules for
combining these symbols in various ways to produce every English sentence. Such a grammar is
said to ‘generate’ or to ‘enumerate’ all the possible sentences in a language... all speakers have
some method ofunderstanding completely novel sentences never spoken before, which means
that they must have a way of ‘determining, all the infinite number of sentences. In other words,
rules that generate or determine are actually generalizations about language which permit a
native speaker, among other things, to evaluate the grammaticality of any novel sentence’.
What is Transformational Grammar?
The shortcomings and inadequacies of the phrase-structure grammar, particularly its inability to
account for transformational relationships led Chomsky to devise a grammatical system that
would ‘cover the entire language directly... by repeated application of a rather simple set of
transformations to the strings given by the phrase structure grammar’. Transformation is an act
of transforming one sentence into another, from the deep structure into the surface structure.

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Chomsky’s theory claims that sentences have a surface structure and adeep structure. Surface
structure is more complicated, ‘being an elaboration of one or more underlying simple
structures’ (NR Cattell).
If we take a sentence like He saw her which is an active sentence we can transform it into she
was seen by him by rules of passivization which can be shown as below.
NP1 + V + NP2 (Active)
NP2 + IS + Ven + by + NP1 (Passive)
The two sentences are not considered different, the second one only a transformation of the first
one.
In the same way Has she seen me? is only a transform of she has seen me obtained through a
process of ‘permutation’. We shall take this up a little later.
Broadly, there are three basic components of a transformational model.
i) The phrase-structure componentwhich consists of a sequence of rules, of the form x ® y.
‘It begins with the initial symbol sentence (S) and constructs derivation through the
application of the rules of F’.
ii) The transformational componentwhich introduces changes in the morphemes of the
terminal strings produced by the P.S. component. Transformations are
either obligatory(i.e. putting S after an N in NP of a c), or optional (such as passivization
of an active sentence). A basic distinction between the kernel sentences and
thetransforms is made here. (The former has been discussed separately). These are, in
brief, core sentences the most primary having the S ® NP + VP structure. All other
structures, having relative or subordinate clause, interrogative, passives, etc. are said to
derive, or are derived forms or transformations of the kernel sentences (or k-terminals,
for short). For example, we can see one k-terminal string.
a) He saw a bird
Its various derivations would be
b) He did not see a bird
c) Did he see a bird ?
d) Didn’t he see a bird ?
e) A bird was seen by him
f) A bird was not seen by him
g) Was a bird seen by him ?
h) Wasn’t a bird seen by him ?
The different forms that we see from (b) to (h) are the derivations of the basic k-string (a) : they
have been obtained or generated by applying the optional transformational rules.

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The notion of kernel sentence was abandoned by Chomsky later on. But this notion still remains
a very convenient step to understanding the essential transformational process. Chomsky later
on added a semantic component too to understand and explain the role of meaning. He also
changed the PS component and renamed it as base component which generates the basic
sentence patterns of, a language. ‘The base component consists of a set of rules and a vocabulary
list (Lexicon) which contains morphemes and idioms. The main rules are called phrase structure
rules or rewrite rules’ (Richards, Platt, Weber).
iii) The morphophonemic componenttranscribes the transformational output by ‘rewriting
the morphemic representation into a proper string of phonemes’ (Dinneen) Syntactic
Structures cites these examples.
a) Walk ¾® /w]k/
b) take + past ¾® /tuk/
c) hit + past ¾® /hit/
d) /…D/ + past ¾® /…D/+/-id/ (where D=/t/ or /d/)

The morphophonemic component would rewrite the sentence He saw a bird as /hi s ] әbә:d./
What is Kernel Sentence ?
Chomsky distinguished between two types of sentences: Kernel Sentences and [Link]
kernel sentences are the basic constructions, from these the rest of the complex constructions
are made. The rest of the sentences are transformations of thekernel sentences.
Essentially, a kernel sentence is made of a noun phrase (NP) followed by verb phrase (VP).
S ¾® NP+VP
For example if we have the kernel sentence
a) Riaz sat on the chair
We can have its transforms in the constructions as follows:
b) Riaz didn’t sit on the chair
c) Did Riaz sit on the chair ?
d) Didn’t Riaz sit on the chair ?
e) The chair was sat upon by Riaz.
f) The chair was not sat upon by Riaz.
g) Was the chair sat upon by Riaz ?
h) Wasn’t the chair sat upon by Riaz ?
We observe here how different derivations of the kernel sentence a) are obtained by means
of optional transformations. These transformations may be called b) negative c) interrogative d)
negative and interrogative e) passive, f) passive and negative g) passive and interrogative, etc.

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‘Complex sentences are built up by elaborations of the simple structures that belong to these
kernel sentences’.
Deep and Surface Structures
While in the earlier work (1957) Chomsky focussed his attention on the distinction between the
kernel and complex sentences - the simple, active, affirmative, declarative kernel sentences
‘being directly produced by PS rules, and the rest being produced on transformation and
combination with kernel sentences’, all this was changed in his 1965 version which revised the
notion of complex sentences being derived from the basic kernel sentences. Now focus was on
the notion that a sentence has a deep structureand a surface structure. There was no need now
for considering the difference between obligatory and optional transformations. We rather see
that transformations map the deep structures on the surface structures. Syntax is thus seen as
the creative aspect of language, and has two broad pans - ‘the rules of the base and the
transformations. The deep structure, which is concerned with meaning is produced by the base
‘component; while the transformational component converts it into surface structures.
Let us consider it in a more simplified manner. There are two kinds of structure of a sentence.
One structure is the actual realization of the sentence in the way it is pronounced; its
pronunciation. At this level are also manifest the units and their relationships that are necessary
for interpreting the meaning of the sentence. A sentence like The Lion attacked the deer isthe
realization of the units that make it possible to be pronounced and written in the way it is done.
Secondly, at a different level there is a more abstract structure to it that enables a user of the
language to understand that the sentence means:
i) The lion attacked the deer
ii) The lion is a ferocious animal
iii) The deer is a weaker animal
iv) The deer has no chance before the lion
These different semantic features are buried under the surface and an stored at depths in an
abstract form - it is a level ‘where there are no nouns verbs, adjectives, adverbs, etc. At this level
there are only features semantic features and phonological features... they are the universals’ (N
Krishnaswamy). These features are stored in the brain in a finite form and are available to
speakers of any language. Some languages may not have nouns, others adjectives, others
adverbs - but the features that make u interprete the meaning of the realised sentences in more
than one way are there. Different languages have different ways of realising them on the surface.
The following two sentences
Ramzan kicks the ball.
The ball is kicked by Ramzan.
are closely related at the deep structure level. They have similarly meanings. The actually
realized structures are different, but the abstract (deep) structures are similar. ‘So, the actually
produced structure which have been encoded into phonemic form while speaking and certain
symbol] characters while writing, indicates the sentences’ surface structure and the abstract
structure constitutes the deep structure. At the deep structure level we work with the semantic

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component which enables us to arrive at the semantic interpretation of sentences. At the surface
structure level, we de with the phonological component whichenables us to arrive at the
phonological interpretation of the sentence. As Roger Fowler observes in the following two
sentences
He took off his hat
He took his hat off
We see the same meaning, but they are different arrangements of word ‘Since the difference... is
immediately apparent at first glance on the surface... they exhibit surface structures... they have
the same Jet structure.’ Deep structure relates to meaning, surface structure relates 1 order of
elements, and hence to sound, for in effect the surface structure determines the sequence of
sounds which occurs in a phonetic realization on a sentence. Surface structure is a dimension
with physical associations since it is the point at which a sentence impinges on space and
time. Deestructure, however, is an abstraction, a complex of meanings which is
‘unpronounceable’ unless it is rendered as a surface structure’.
T. Grammar is an advancement on PSG in that it considers deep structure essential and doesnot
believe in ‘eliminating the distinction between linguistic form and the use of language. By
including the semantic level, the notion of formal structure has only been enriched.
The relationship and all steps in the relationships between the deep and surface structures have
been stated by the term ‘transformational’.
Let us look at the following diagrams.
In these examples there can be seen a likeness between the two sentences – they are derived
from the same deep structure. The difference is due to the ‘effect of a transformation which we
shall call passivisation, that applies in the second derivation and not the first’.
VP ¾® (passive + Vt + NP
Similarly, let us take another sentence
The old car broke down.
Deep structure [the car [the car was old] broke down]
¯
Relative transformation
¯
[the car[which was old] broke down]
¯
Be-deletion transformation
¯
[the car[old] broke down]
¯

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Adjective movement transformation

¯
Surface structure The old car broke down.
The old car broke down can be put through the which transformation to obtain the following
surface structure The car which was old broke down.
The transformational process can be described as follows:
‘if an NP + S sequence occurs dominated by an NP, and if that S dominates an NP whose
referent is the same as the NP in the NP + S sequence, then the dominated NP ultimately
becomes either who or which.’ This is known as relative transformation.
The car which was old broke down.
Syntactic Processes
Syntax is the core of the grammar. It is necessary to understand i) the patterns that underlie the
sentences, and ii) the ways and means of linking the constituents and the rules of transforming
one kind of structure into another. We shall discuss here some of the major syntactic processes
whereby we obtain various syntactic patterns.
Conjoining
Conjoining is also identified by other terms like ‘co-ordination’ and ‘conjunction’. In this process
certain parts of two or more sentences are similar in structure. The co-ordinators join the
sentences. ‘This process is possible only when there is a similar relation of constituency’ between
the segments thus conjoined and the sentences.
Syntactic Structures gives us this example:
the scene – of the movie – was in Chicago.
the scene – of the play – was in Chicago.
Conjoining process seeks ‘to obtain the proper relation of constituency’, to produce this new
sentence.
The scene of the movie and he play was in Chicago
Embedding
In it one sentence is included within the other. Embedding transformation process embeds
the constituent sentence into thematrix (or basic) sentence.
{S1 [S2] S1}
Instead of joining the two sequences of equal status, one sentence becomes part of the larger
sentence.

(1) The news surprised his friends.

(2) (that) he had got married

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Sentence (2) is embedded in sentence (1) and is, therefore, an embedded sentence.
Let us consider another example:
S1 S2
The man was arrested The man murdered three persons

The man was arrested

The man murdered three persons

This diagram shows that S2 is subordinate to S1 and, therefore, embedded in it.

There are two major types of embedding:
a) nesting and b) self-embedding
In a nesting construction the nested segment is totally enclosed within a matrix. We take
another example.
The girl who bought the cosmetics gave money which was borrowed.
In the above example who bought the cosmetics is nested. Which was borrowed isnot nested as
no part of the matrix occurs to right of it.
A self-embedded construction is totally enclosed within a construction of the same
type (Fowler).
Recursion
Through this process the same rules may be re-applied ‘indefinitely many times within a single
derivation’. As has been pointed out earlier, transformationalist believe that a language user has
at his disposal an infinite number of sentences. This is chiefly because he can use the ‘recursive’
process, using the same linguistic device over and over again. This enables us to add any
constituent (adjective, for example) repeatedly,
The old man, the little old man, the little poor old man, the clever little poor old man, and so on.
‘To prove to anyone who doesnot believe in the infinity of the number of sentences in a
language, we have merely to ask him to give us the largest sentence he can produce and then add
another adjective or relative clause to it’ (Palmer).
The example cited above is the realization of the NP NP + (S) rule.
The example cited earlier, ‘the old man’... can be also be accounted for by a set of rewrite rules.
NP ¾® Det + Adj + N
Adj + Adj + N
Adj + Adj + Adj + N
Adj + Adj + Adj + Adj + N
This type of sentence can be expanded without apparent limit, and thus rules can go on being
multiplied. As Roger Fowler says, ‘we donot need a new rule to extend the sentence each time,

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just one complex sentence forming rule can be applied over and over again... recursiveness is a
property of complex sentences’, and ‘a transformational grammar with recursive rules
represents a substantial gain in economy over other alternatives’.
Discontinous Constituent
Scholars of structural linguistics usually worked with cutting, classifying and labeling elements
of language which is the process of IC analysis. Among the difficulties theyencountered in
following this method was that it was simply not possible to cut into neat segments certain
sequences, as the elements that belong together are separated by some other element/s. There is
thus a discontinuity in the sequence. Such constituents are known as ‘discontinuous
constituents’.
A very simple example is the sequence, the finest orator in the world. He sequence the
finest naturally goes with in the [Link] forms the other IC, but it interferes with the
former to create ‘discontinuity’.

Phrasal verbs produce the most familiar types of discontinous constructions. We can use in
sentences such phrasal verbs as put down, push away, brush off, make up, look up, etc to see
how discontinous constructions are created by them.
He brushed her explanation off
He brushed the dust off his coat.
The mob pushed him away.
The general soon put the uprising down
She made the whole story up
In such constructions the adverbs often follow the object, though they belong with the verb. In
interrogative sentences the ‘discontinuity’ process is quite obvious:
Is she coming?
This can be shown by using ‘boxes’.
Discontinuity in the sentence He brushed the dust off can be shown in the following manner.
Form-classes
The constituents of a sentence have the inherent lexical meaning as well as the class meaning.
An important type of class meaning assigns a particular component occurring in the sentence
structure a function meaning. These places or spots are structurally meaningful places in the
sentence. What kinds of form can be filled in these places depends on their position.

Ducks swim

Noun Phrase Verb Phrase

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The most basic dichotomy is between a Noun Phrase and a Verb Phrase. An utterance or a
sentence must have these two components. These are also known at another place as the
topic and the comment. These are the most common form classes. Any other sequence or
sequences that can replace Ducks will playthe same structural role as that single word. For
example, we can use Two ducks. The two ducks; The two old ducks; or birds; the migratory
bird; boys, the boys; the young boys, etc. Similarly, sequences that can replace swim, keeping
the same structural relationship to the Noun phrase, are calledVerb phrase. Thus we can
replace swim with such possible sequences as eat, eat slowly, walk fast, speak, speak loudly,
and so on.
Such structural positions are called form classes, and are also referred to as primary
grammatical categories. In traditional grammar ‘the major parts of speech were associated with
certain typical syntactic function. The basic primary grammatical categories we have just
identified in the sentence Ducks Swim can be shown diagrammatically as follows.
A constituent in English has two types of meaning - a lexical meaning, that can be known by its
ability to refer to things outside the language. A dictionary gives us the lexical meaning of words;
and a structural orformclass-meaning, whose meaning derives from their membership of a
form class. Certain words clearly show lexical meaning,chair, table, man, girl, hair, eyes, so on.
In certain words form-class meanings are more dominant, the, of, from, by, since, etc. But there
is no word which doesnot possess form class meaning.
We have already noted that an utterance or sentence can be divided into a Noun Phrase (NP)
and a Verb Phrase (VP) by virtue of their having different basic syntactic functions.
Noun Phrase
What we see in a Noun Phrase is that sequences occurring in this slot are all centred on the same
category of word [Link] complex a sequence may be that occurs in this position, if it can
be replaced by a single noun, or pronoun, it is called an NP. ‘Any Phrase that can function as
subject is a noun phrase’ (Noel Burton-Roberts). These identifiable actual words that can be
isolated by gradually peeling off other words without damaging the sentence structure is a noun
in NP. Such words are called Head words. They may be a noun of any type or a pronoun.
A B
1. She resumed her seat
2. My friend wasted his time
3. The new car runs smoothly
4. The car that created problems
you bought yesterday
The sequences occurring in section A are all NP. In the first sentence She is a pronoun, Head of
NP which is a single word constituent (NP). In the second sentence my friend, friend can be
identified as noun, my a possessive pronoun modifies it. Similarly, the new
car shows car a noun, which is the [Link] also in the last sentence. In sentences 2, 3 and 4 if
we remove the determiners and modifiers, we will be finally left with a noun that will still be
functioning as syntactically relevant function word.

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But if we remove the noun car, or friend, the structure of the sentence will suffer and we shall be
creating impossible sentences like,my wasted his time, the new runs [Link] Noel Burton-
Roberts defines it, ‘In a phrase containing a modified form the essential centre of the phrase is
said to be the Head of the phrase’.
Head words are recognised as constituting an open class. This is a place, or spot, or slot where
any word that can function as noun can become the Head word. We may have a sentence
like There are too many ifs and buts in your argument. Ifs and buts function here as nouns,
therefore as head words.
Head words can function as subject and can occur as complement.
They follow determiners which are closed class words. They show morphological changes for
form and class. A single noun can be the Head as well as the NP in a sentence. In Ali reserved
his seat, Ali is a noun, a headword and an NP.
Determiners
Noun head words pattern with a wide range of adjuncts. These adjuncts are
labelleddeterminers and modifiers. The class of determiners is fairly large with many sub-
classes. However, we shall here take into account three major sub-classes.
i. regular determiners.
ii. pre-determiners.
iii. post-determiners
i. Within this class we can identifyarticles, demonstratives andpossessives (also called
genitives). The basic determiner is the, the definite article. It precedes a noun or NP1 and
demonstrates the nounness of it. It has a particularising role, I know the man; the tree
has grown tall; The boys are rowdy, where its meaning is ‘before mentioned’ and
‘already known’. Articles and demonstratives are divided according to the number of the
nominal.
Art Demon. Possessives
a, an this my
q that our
the these your
any those her
every its
each their
some nom + z3
(Z3 is the symbol for the genitive form N + ‘s)
Two regular determiners donot occur before a noun. Only one determiner preceds it, showing a
relation of mutual exclusiveness. This principle distinguishes determiner from an adjective.

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ii. Pre-determiners co-occur with determiners, normally preceding them:

all the boys
both these umbrellas
half Rita’s time
If we say all boys the position is occupied by the zero article. Many of the determiners and pre-
determiners function like pronouns.
In the above example, both predetermines the determiner these which in turn
determines umbrellas.
iii. Post-determiners follow the determiners and precede the adjectives. While adjectives can
‘occur in any order, post-determiners have fixed positions. The following three classes of post-
determiners can be recognised.
Ordinals Cardinals Superlative/comparative
first one more
second two most
third three fewer
next many fewest
lost few less
final several least
In the examples, the last few days; the first four girls
we find that first and last which arc pre-determiners occur with few and far. But their order
cannot be changed.

Finer distinctions are made and sub-classes recognised within the large group.
Absence of an article is marked by q symbol. Such an absence cannot totally be ignored. Its
absence gives an information of the kind that can be compared to the information given by the
determiners. The information could be about indefiniteness. We can thus have
q + tables, the table
q + chair, chair

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Determiners, then, give information aboutdefiniteness and indefiniteness,

quantity andproportion. Their function is not to modify but to determine a nominal.
Modification
The term modification suggests the syntactic relation between a headword and the element that
is dependent on it. This dependent element may occur either before or after it. When it precedes
the H (head) itpremodifies; when it follows the H, it is said to post-modify. It is a one-way
dependency/function.
Let us look at the following construction,
his rather curious look , phrase a
The Head word is preceded by curious, rather and his. We see here the following relationships.
his + phrase b
phrase c + looks
rather + curious
Such structure is called the structure of modification. ‘It has the same distributional
characteristics as the head constituent (H)’.The boy ran, the young boy ran, He stood tall and
straight.
In (A) example the headword (N) is modified by young (Adj.). In (B) the VP has a VS -ranwhich
is the head word of the VP modified by slowly.
In the earlier example curious is modified byrather, a word which shows the extent of
curiousness; rather is dependent on curious -it cannot occur all by itself. At the next higher
level rather curious specifies look and are, therefore, dependent upon the latter. We can omit
the whole phrase rather curiousand still have a meaningful sequence his looks as it is
the headword and the whole sequence preceding it is dependent upon it.
Most adjectives act as pre-modifiers of nouns.
1. A pretty girl met me.
2. Good people are honest.
3. A tall chimney came down.
Adjectives can be modified by other adjective - a good tall chimney, a small pretty girl.
They can also be modified by degree adverbs like very, rather, quite, too, much.
Nouns as Modifiers
In a sequence in which two nouns occur, one of them can act as attributive or pre-modifier :
football match; Cricket
(Mod) (N) (Mod)
commentary; film industry; munition factory.

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(N) (Mod) (N) (Mod) (N)

The modifier noun can also be proper noun -Delhi conference, Geneva convention, cardinal
numerals (one, two, three), the ordinal numerals, (first, second, third...) and general
ordinals (next, last, other) can also function as pre-modifiers.
Let us now look at the following examples.

the faded scene the crumbling cake

A a forgotten valley B the flying bird
remembered moments the moving train

The phrases in set A have perfect participle forms faded, forgotten, remembered, they appeal to
meaning by referring to valley that has been forgotten, the scene that faded and the moments
that are remembered. They modify the noun-head. Similarly, the examples in set B
show progressive participleas modifying element for cake, bird, and train. Obviously these in
turn can be pre-modified in different ways.
Post-modification : In this type of modification the modifiers follow the item they modify.
The men injured were flown to Karachi.
The houses built recently have shown cracks.
The words injured and built are post-modifiers following the noun heads men andhouses. In
fact, we can see that these modifiers can be regarded as ‘reduced relative clauses’ so we can
expand them in the manner shown below.
The men (Who were) injured were flown toKarachi.
The houses (that were) built recently have shown cracks.
There are some phrases that show adjectives with special meaning -
Secretary General,president elect, court martial, attorneygeneral, heir apparent, etc.
Verb Phrase
In the example cited earlier, Ducks swim, we have labelled swim as verb phrase. It is the second
of the two immediate constituents. These are called predicates and embody ‘comment’ on the
‘topic’. Predicates contain a verb which optionally may be modified or complemented. These
verbs are the Headword of the VP.
In the above example the boy is a noun phrase with a noun as its centre (Head) andare moving
away is a verb phrase withmoving as its centre.
A verb phrase contains a verb group (Vgp) which consists of a main verb that may be optionally
modified by other verbs known asauxiliary verbs.
The simplest kind of VP is one-word construction with only a Head which is also a verb group
(Vgp).
In the sentence

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He is NP and is waking is VP which consists of Vgp made up of an auxiliary verb and the main
verb walking.
Main verbs show morphological possibilities - they can be inflected in the following manner.
Walks Walking Walked
Swims Swimming Swam
Complementation
A verb phrase may or may not contain a noun phrase.
The occurrence of an NP is one of complementation. A relation of mutual dependency exists
between a Vgp and an NP in which Vgp acts as governor. Thus we can see in this example,
We cannot omit the NP from the VP. Similarly, we cannot do without caught. Both
* He caught and
and * He those flies are unacceptable
Such verbs are called monotransitive or simply transitive. We shall discuss this process later on.
It is not necessary that all verb groups should be followed by an NP. In our example above, if we
replace caughtwith slept, we must drop the NP to have such a grammatically acceptable
construction as
He slept
We cannot construct a sentence in this case which has a Vgp followed by an NP. We shall have
an incorrect sentence if we do so such as
* He slept those flies or
or
* He looked those flies
Verbs that are followed by an NP are calledtransitive verbs; without such an NP they are known
as intransitive verbs.
Appear, disappear, look, feel, go, come, etc.
are some examples of intransitive verbs. However, these verbs can be followed by adverbs of
various types. He appeared suddenly, He appeared on the scene; or they may occur without
them.
But this is not part of the complementation as the sense of the sentence is complete without it.
Rather, it is a modifier in VP. VPs can include PP (on the scene, for instance) as optional
modification.
Verb Group Classified
Verb group can be sub-classified into six types according to what occurs after it.
i) Monotransitive verb group (or Vgp)

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ii) Ditransitive
iii) Intransitive
iv) Intensive
v) Complex transitive
vi) Prepositional
Monotransitive
As we have already seen, a monotransitive Vgp needs one NP as its complement. This NP
functions as its direct object, for example :
deer is the NP in the VP which complements the transitive verb saw. Pronouns functioning in
this place assume specific forms which are called objective case(accusative). The NP
complementing a Vgp is called the, direct object.
Ditransitive
This type of Vgp takes two NP complementations. Example,
1 2
a. She sent me a message
1 2
b. John gave Jill a car
1 2
c. Jill bought John a candy
Words marked I are indirect object and those marked 2 are direct object. Both the NPs are
governed by the Vgp sent, in a. gave in b. andbought in c. We can also write these sentences in
the following manner.
a. She sent a message to me.
b. John gave a car to Jill.
c. Jill bought a candy for John.
The indirect object, in these examples appears as prepositional phrase following a direct object.
Such PPs are introduced by toor for.
PPs of this type are part of the complementation of the intransitive verb.
Intensive
Either a single Adj. Phrase or an NP or a PP can complement an intensive verb group.
She became a doctor (NP
John is being rather generous (AP)

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Jill must be in the class room (AP)

We must note here that in the above examples no second person is mentioned. It is different
from monotransitive Vgp. complementation where something apart from the subject is
mentioned (i.e. she saw me). The NP, AP and the PP can be said to be ‘predicative’, and also
‘complement’ which’ distinguish it from ‘object’. The following examples make it clear.
i. Ramzan turned pale.
ii. Ramzan turned the doorknobs.
iii. She felt sad.
iv. She felt spider on her hand.
Examples i and ii show intensifying Vgp taking a subject predication, an AP, since they
characterise the subject. In ii) and iv) VP has a complementation which gives information about
something other than subject.
Complex Transitive
Here we see a combination of the monotransitive with intensive complementation : complex
transitives are followed by an NP (Dir. obj.) and an NP, an AP, or a PP (predicative).
i. They will make me their representative (NP)
ii. I found his joke extremely unpleasant (AP)
iii. Jill is putting the basket under the table (PP)
While in an intensive Vgp construction; the predicative characterises the subject (i.e. he became
a doctor), in the complex transitive constructions the predicative refers to the direct object : She
will be his wife. Suchcomplementation is called object predicate.
Prepositional
He glanced at the elephant
Jack referred to the o1d book.
In the above sentences a VP contains a PP which complements the Vgp. Such complements are
known as prepositional complements.
Adverbials
Also known as adjunct adverbials, this is a large class expressing a wide range of ideas like
manner, means, purpose, reason, place, time.
Adverb, or Adverb Phrase denotes a category; Adverbial denotes function.
a. So apart from functioning as adverbial, adverb has other functions too like modifying an
adjective as in this example.
She is extremely beautiful
b. It is not just adverbs that function as adverbials, other categories can also function as
adverbials, i.e., PPs and NPs.

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Adverbial Adverbs

Prepositional Phrases
Function
Noun Phrases

Adjuncts appearing in the VP modify the segment Vgp + NP, not just the Vgp alone. Let us look
at the following examples :
The PP adjunct in the garage characterises the verb group (Vgp) put hi car as a whole not just
the NP (his car).
Pre-verbs
It is a sub-class of adverbs, which occurs after ‘the first auxiliary Vb almost, ever, always,
seldom, hardly, rarely, etc.
Ramzan is always in a hurry
Rina has never read a novel
I can hardly understand it
Time adverbs: We can note various notions of time expressed by these adverbials, in the
following examples:
i. He came to see me again
ii. We saw him in Karachi last year
iii. Ramzan will leave at 8 o’clock
The adverbials in these examples indicate a point or period of time. So also now, then,etc. Other
adverbials indicate the point of time from which the period can be measured.
Recently I saw an old film.
Once I saw an old film
Time duration is indicated in the following manner :
He studied all night long
We had been moving since last Sunday
Frequency is suggested by adverbials likeregularly, everyday, often, seldom, usually, twice,
never, soon.
He regularly visits the library
Take the tablet twice a day
I sometimes feel giddy
The following examples show PP functioning as adverbials.
She has spoken about it on several occasions

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He has not seen me in recent times

Degree Adverbs : Effect can be underscored by putting a degree adverbial in the VP of a
sentence. The result is lowering or hightening of effect.
He will certainly agree
We nearly fell off the ladder
I much prefer to stay alone
Among others we can note definitely, thoroughly, all but, rather, really, entirely, scarcely, hardly,
simply as degree adverbs.
Place adverbs : As is obvious, these adverbs indicate the place.
He stood on the hill
Roberts fell in the bathroom
He studies in the college
Mobility of the Adverbials
A high level of mobility is observed in the adverbials. They can be moved around somewhat
freely, and donot necessarily occur only in a position after the Vgp and its complement. In fact
we can shift a PP around in a sentence to see if it functions as an adverbial or as a complement.
He arranged everything cleverly
He cleverly arranged everything
Cleverly he arranged everything
He arranged cleverly everything
We can experiment with other adverbs in this manner.
Phrasal verbs :
Phrasal verbs consist of the elements that also comprise some PPs. Apparently they look alike.
1. a. He took down the dictation.
b. He took me down the stairs.
2. a. I called up the man.
b. I called up the balcony.
In the set 1, and 2, a. shows a phrasal verb, while b. shows a verb plus an adverb.
In a. down the dictation doesnot make sense;took down form a unit, a phrasal verb. In b. down
the stairs makes sense. Similarly, in set 2 up the man fails to carry sense, but up the
balcony does. Though these segments, call upand take down look alike, they belong to different
categories and have different functions. We can distinguish them from call off put down, hand
over, give up, give in and a whole multitude of other phrasal verbs.

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Phrasal verbs may consist of more than one element, but all the units function together as one-
word verb group. It consists of Vb + particle.
An important feature of it is that it can appear as discontinous form -
NP as adverbial
Certain noun phrases function as adverbials.
He arrived last week
She left day before yesterday
We had seen it three years ago
Non-finite clause as adverbial
All the three types of non-finite clauses.
1. an infinitive
2. a progressive participle (-ing type)
3. a perfect participle (-ed type)
can function as adverbials
1. An infinitive functioning as adverbial is shown below :
He works to earn his bread
Ramzan came to meet his friend
We went there to spend the vacation
2. A progressive participle functioning as adverbial is shown below :
He felt satisfied, having talked to us
Entering the room, he collapsed
3. We can see the perfect participle functioning as adverbials in the following examples.
The work done, he left the place.
Not satisfied, we quit the office.
Forgotten, the book lay there for years.
Sentence Adverbials
This is a class of adverbial formation that is not strictly integrated in the structure of the
sentence. Also known as Disjuncts, these constituents represent some sort of comment from the
speaker and so are peripheral to the structure of the sentence. Let us look at these examples :
a. i) She upsets everything between you and me
ii) She upsets everything, between you and me

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b. i) He admitted everything frankly

ii) He admitted everything, frankly
In the i) sentence of both the sets the sequence between you and me and franklyare adjuncts. In
ii) sentences, on the other hand, these same sequences function asdisjuncts, denoting what the
speaker has to say, and not how she upsets or he admitted,or the manner of these actions. These
are expressed in sentence i. of both the sets.
Disjuncts are loosely attached to the sentence structure and can also be placed in the initial,
middle or final positions.
In writing disjuncts are shown by a comma, while in speaking a distinct intonation movement
marks them. Structurally, like other adjuncts, disjuncts or sentence adverbials can appear as
i. a prepositional phrase in all honesty
ii. an infinite clause to be honest
iii. a progressive participle honestly speaking
iv. a perfect participle put honestly
v. a finite verb clause if I can speak honestly
Auxiliary Verb Group
We must keep in mind that the verb group (Vgp) which is a constituent of the VP hasmain
verb (lexical verb) as its head. This optionally takes the verb modifier auxiliary verb. The
function of the auxiliary verb is tomodify the lexical (maim) verb, while the number of the lexical
verbs is very large, infinitely large, the auxiliary verbs are a restricted set of morphemes forming
a closed system. These are placed before the main verb, when an auxiliary verb combines with
the main verb to form a verb group, we get a complex verb group. But when a single verb forms
the verb group, we have simple verb group. Such simple Vgps consist of main verbs only.
He talks rapidly
I met some guests
She went there
They cracked soon enough
Finite Verbs are those that are tensed. A sentence must contain a finite Vgp.
Work Worked Working
leave left leaving
eat ate eating
Non-finite verbs are not tensed; participles, gerunds,-infinitives are types of non-finite Vgps.
Finite verb also changes its forms according to the number and person of the subject NP.
She goes

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They go
It cracks
These crack
This kind of relationship is known as subject-verb agreement or concord.
Auxiliary verbs are classified into Primary auxiliary and the modal auxiliary. In the former we
find the verbs do, have, be, with their variant forms - have, has, had, having, do, doing, done,
be, been, being, is, are, was, were, etc.
In modal auxiliaries we find can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would, need, dare,
used to, ought to.
Auxiliary verbs also function as main verbs, i.e. they constitute the single-verb Vgp.
Modals are not tensed, nor do they show subject-verb agreement; their form is always that of the
present tense.
I can go; She must read; They will win, and so on.
Even the verb that follows the modal shows the basic stem form.
An auxiliary verb having the perfect aspect modifies the main verb following it.
has MV + perfect
have
had
The changed form of the MVb is calledperfect participle. For progressive aspect we require
auxiliary verb be, followed by a main verb that takes -ing.
He is running; They were eating; He was writing.
Passivisation
Auxiliary verbs play a very important role in a kind of transformation process known
aspassivisation. This affects the whole sentence. For this we must switch the positions of subject
and object. Subject becomes a PP and passive Vgp is introduced.
The Vgp that creates passive voice sentences must contain be verb or their different forms.
Active Passive
build/built is/was built
is/was building is/was being built
has built has been built
will build will be built
The forms taken by the main verb after the passive auxiliary verb is the passive participle form.
Its form and that of the perfect participle is the same (built).

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Modern Grammar and Structuralism

The average educated person is no stranger to the word grammar. We all have an idea of what it
means, though the concept is shrouded in vagueness, wrong-headed notions and ill-founded
associations. Not only this, we use the word rather in a generalised sense in such expressions as
the ‘grammar of music’, ‘the grammar of art’, and so on. This underscores the core notion that
‘grammar’ invariably refers to a set of rules that governs any system and arrangement of
components.

But the notion belongs to language and its analysis, for it has always been believed that a
language can not be correctly learned without mastering its grammar, and by language is meant
only the written language; spoken languages donot have grammar ! It is something sacred and
ideal; it provides the model of ‘correct usage’, and the learner must strictly follow its rules and
precepts. Grammars are intolerant of deviations, even the slightest diversion is held in scorn !
Grammar is either good or bad, correct or incorrect, for example, to use end-prepositions is
objectionable and to say ‘It’s me’ is wrong and bad ! A plethora of ideas and myths have arisen to
surround what we commonly understand by the word ‘grammar’.
It was evolved in ancient Greece by sophistsof the 5th century B.C. who attempted to subject
everything to measurement - music, geometry, astronomy, and even language study. In their
teaching of rhetoric, for example, they recommended the use of rounded sentences, in which
phrases and clauses of successive sentences would be of equal length, right down to the last
syllable’ (Dinneen).
Philosophers from older clays have always been interested in language as a powerful medium of
attaining knowledge about nature, and were, therefore, very much concerned with maintaining
‘the purity of speech’. Development of the art of rhetoric has largely been dependent upon
proper understanding of the mechanisms of language, and, more importantly, upon designing a
system of rules which would serve as a model for its users. This preoccupation with what is
correct and incorrect continued for several centuries, right down to the time when a ‘scientific
descriptive’ outlook towards language began to develop and the normative and prescriptive tone
began to weaken.
However, grammar that has continued to be taught in schools and colleges for generations, the
strict classical system of rules imposed on the speakers by scholastic authorities has much
deeper roots in old tradition of ancient Greek and Roman time.
Defining Grammar
The sense of bewilderment and confusion that has resulted from the multiple view points,
approaches and applications of ‘grammar’ over centuries has made the task of finding a clear-cut
definition of it rather formidable. Rhetoric and art of oratory created the
word grammatkia orgranimatika techne in Greek from which derives our word grammar -
‘these Greek words meant the art of writing’ which was a branch of philosophy. Towards the
middle ages, Priscian and then Peter Helias dominated the current thinking on language with
exclusive attention paid to evolving rules for talking about the nature of thing as an end in itself’
(Dinneen).
Hellas defined grammar as ‘the science that shows us how to write and speak correctly. It is the
task of this art to order the combination of letters into syllables, syllables into words, and words

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into sentences... avoiding solecisms and barbarisms’. Later on in the 13th century Petras
Hispanus sought to discuss language in his Summulae Logicales as the communication of the
major stages of knowledge and went on to define his discipline as ‘science of sciences and art of
arts’.
The 16th and the 17th century grammarians were rigorously prescriptive as they were acutely
aware of ‘how barbarously we yet write and speak and were desirous if it were possible, that we
might all write with the same certainty of words, and purity of phrase, to which the tartars first
arrived and after them the French’ (Dryden).
Grammar thus describes ‘what people do when they speak their language’. Grammar doesnot
exist between the covers of the book, written down and to be learnt by’ heart. A native speaker
uses his language with an intuition about its grammar. According to some scholars a grammar
must be capable of explaining this intuition. Grammar is a theory according to Noam Chomsky
‘that deals with the mechanisms of sentence construction, which establish a sound-meaning
relation’. And according to Nelson Francis ‘grammar is the study of organisation of words into
various combinations often representing many layers of structure such as phrases, sentences,
and complete utterances’ (Structure of American English).
Background to Structural Grammar
The beginning of the twentieth century was marked by a new approach to grammar suggested by
linguists like Ferdinand de Saussure and American linguists like Franz Boas, Edward Sapir and
Bloomfield. This school of linguistics is called [Link] school arose as a reaction
against the approach of the traditional grammarians of the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.
The traditional grammarians had looked upon Latin as their model. Since English is a member
of the Indo-European family of languages, to which Latin and Greek also belong, it did have
many grammatical elements in common with them. But many of these had been obscured or
wholly lost as a result of extensive changes that had taken place in English. Early grammarians
considered these changes as a sort of degeneration in language and felt duty bound to resist
these changes. They, therefore, came out with a group of prescriptive rules for English on the
basis of Latin. They ignored the fact that every ‘language is unique in its own way and has to be
described as autonomous in itself. They did not realise that the only standard which is to be
applied to a language is the language itself, its USAGE. Also, they attached more importance to
the written part of language than to speech. Even the definitions of the parts of speech given by
them, as has been discussed earlier, were inadequate and confusing. Instead of describing the
actuallyspoken language, they found faults with it on trivial considerations. The following
sentences, though in common use, were condemned by them for reasons shown in brackets:
1. I do not know nothing. (double negative)
2. I will ask you to quickly do it.
(use of ‘will’ with I and use of split infinitive)
3. He is taller than me.
(comparison is between he and I and not me)
The real authority, in judgement concerning the correctness of sentences in a language, is the
native speaker who uses the language, not the grammarian. The approach of the traditional

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grammarians was thus not scientific or logical; it was rather an illogical presumptive
approach, prescribing certain rules of do’s and don’ts as to how people should speak or write
in conformity with the standards they held dear. They did not first observe as to how people use
the language and then describe it depending upon the usage.
The traditional grammarians gave a classicist’s model of grammar based on the authority of
masters of classical literature and rhetoric, while later on, after this authority was challenged (a
process which began from the Renaissance onwards), models of grammar began to be made on
the basis of scientific observation and analysis i.e. empirical approach or model was adopted.
The structural linguists began to study language in terms of observable and verifiable data and
describe it after the behaviour of the language as it was being used. These descriptive linguists
emphasized the following points:
(i) Spoken language is primary and writing is secondary. Writing is only a means of
representing speech in another medium. Speech comes earlier than writing in the life of an
individual or in the development of a language.
(ii) The synchronic study of language should take precedence over its diachronic
[Link] considerations are not very relevant to the investigation of a particular
temporal state of a language. In the game of chess, for example, the situation on the board is
constantly changing. But at any one time, the state of the game can be fully described in terms of
the positions occupied by several pieces on the hoard. It does not matter by what route the
players have arrived at the particular state of the game.
(iii) Language is a system of systems. It has a structure of its own. Each language is regarded by
the structuralists as a system of relations the elements of which sounds, words, etc. have no
validity independently of the relations of equivalence and contrast which hold between them.
The structural linguists attempted to describe language in terms of its structure, as it is used,
and tried to look for ‘regularities’ and ‘patterns’ or ‘rules’ in language
structure. Bloomfield envisaged that language structure was associated with phoneme as the
unit of phonology and morpheme as the unit of grammar. Phonemes are the minimal distinctive
sound units of language. The word tap, for example, consists of three phonemes: /t/, /æ/, and
/p/. Morphemes are larger than phonemes as they consist of one or more phonemes. The
word playing consists of two morphemes play and ing whereas it consists of the phonemes
/p/, /l/, /eI/, /I/ and /ŋ/. So in order to study the structure of a sentence, a linguist must be
aware of the string of phonemes or morphemes that make up the sentence. Here is a sentence:
The unlucky player played himself out.
As a string of phonemes, it is:
/ðI vnlvkI pleI ð hImself a t/
As a string of morphemes, the structure is:
The-un-luck-y-play-er-play-ed – him-self – out.
The type of approach in respect of the structure of language was based on a desire to be
completely precise, empirical, logical and scientific as against the unscientific, illogical and
prescriptive approach of the traditional grammarians.

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Immediate Constituent Analysis

In order to study the structure of a sentence, the structural linguists thought of dividing a
sentence into its immediate constituents’ (or ICs). The principle involved was that of cutting a
sentence into two, further cutting these two parts into another two, and continue the
segmentation till the smallest unit, the morpheme was arrived at. This can be shown by taking a
simple example of a sentence like:
A young girl with an umbrella chased the boy.
This sentence is made up of some natural groups. From one’s intuitive knowledge of the
language, the only way one may divide it into 2 groups is as follows:
A young girl with an umbrella chased the boy.
1 2
The two parts of the sentence as shown above are called constituents of the sentence.
Now 1 and 2 can be further divided into natural groups as follows:
A young girl with an umbrella chased the boy.
1-A 1-B 2-A 2-B
1-A and 1-B are the constituents of 1 while 2-A and 2-B are the constituents of 2. The above
information can be displayed in the form of a tree diagram as follows:
Now, 1-A, 1-B, 2-A and 2-B can be further sub-divided into smaller constituents as follows:
This type of analysis of a sentence is calledImmediate Constituent Analysis. Every
constituent is a part of a higher natural word group and every constituent is further divided into
lower constituents. This process goes on till one arrives at the smallest constituent, a morpheme
that can no longer be further divided. The full IC analysis of the above sentence is given below:
These constituents can also be labelled as belonging to different grammatical constituents like
Noun phrase, Verb phrase, Adverbial, and Prep. phrase, which can be further divided into
categories such as Noun, Adjective, Verb, and Tense Morpheme. Different methods are used for
showing the immediate constituents. Some of these are given below:
a) Segmentation using vertical lines
A | | young | | | girl | | with | | | an | | | | umbrella | chase | | | d | | the | | | boy
b) Segmentation using brackets
[[[(A)] [(young)(girl)]] [[with] [(an)(umbrelIa)]]] [[(chase) (d)] [(the) (boy)]]]
c) Segmentation using a tree diagram
Now, the question arises as to how we should make the cuts. The answer lies in the notion of
‘expansion’. A sequence of morphemes that patterns like another sequence is said to he an
expansion of it. One sequence can, in such cases, be replaced by another as the similar sequence
patterns will appear in the same kind of environments. Here is an example of similar sequences
in expansion that can fit up into the same slot:

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i. Daffodils
ii. Yellow daffodils
iii. The yellow daffodils
iv. The yellow daffodils with a lovely look.
The elements (ii), (iii), (iv) are expansions in the above set, i.e. “daffodils” the HEAD word,
whereas the other words in (ii), (iii), and (iv) are modifiers. Incidentally, the set of examples
given above can be grouped under the term Noun Phrase (NP).
A noun phrase may be a single word, a single noun or pronoun, or a group of words that belong
with the noun and cluster around it. A Noun phrase has in it a Noun (a Head word) and
certain modifiers. Generally a noun in a Noun phrase (optionally) has the following modifiers
appearing before it in the given order:
1. Restrictor Words like: especially,
only, merely, just, almost,
particularly, even
2. Pre-determiners Words like: half, double, both, one-
third, twice, all of
3. Determiners These words include
(a) Articles: a/an, the
(b) Demonstratives: this, that, these,
those
(c) Possessives: my, his, own, Ali’s
4. Ordinals Words like: first, third, last, next
5. Quantifiers Words like: many, several, few, less
6. Adjective Phrase good, long, tall, or intensifier and
adjective, e.g. good, or adjective and
adjective, e.g. good, nice looking
7. Classifier a city college
a leather purse
a summer dress
Here are some examples of noun phrases (shown in the form of tree diagrams) referred to
above.

Here are some other examples of NP:

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Preposition Phrase
A preposition phrase is a Noun phrase preceded by a preposition, i.e.
Here is an example: On the table
Sometimes, a Noun phrase contains a Preposition phrase embedded in it. In such cases, the
Noun phrase can be broken up into NP and preposition phrase. Both can then be further split
up. Here is an example:
The Verbal Group (VG)
The Verbal group generally immediately follows the NP in a typical English sentence, e.g.
Raheem plays
NP VG
Raheem is playing
NP VG
Raheem has been playing
NP VG
Raheem can play
NP VG
The main (or basic) verb in all these sentences is play. The Verbal group consists of the main
verb and the auxiliary.
Auxiliary, in turn, is made up of the tense(compulsory item) and any one or more of the
following items:
i) modal (marked by modal auxiliaries like can, may, will, shall must).
ii) Perfective (marked by have + en,where en is a marker of the past participle
morpheme).
iii) Progressive (marked by be + ing).
Thus, to present the whole information in the form of a tree diagram,
It should be noted that modern linguists admit of only two tenses in English Present and Past.
English can express present time, past time and future time but it does not mean that it has
three tenses too. Look at the following sentences:
He is playing a match now
(Present tense, Present time)
He is playing a match next Sunday
(Present tense, Future time)
If I went to Karachi, I would bring a camera for you

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(Past tense, Future time)

Tense, it may be stated here, is a grammatical category seen in the form or shape of the verb.
Normally, in English, tense is realized as
—e(s) (present)
—c(d) (past)
In the expressions will play or will eat, will is in the present tense, the past fort of which
is would.
‘The use of modals shall/will is only one of the mechanisms of expressing the future time.
Also, will/shall do not always express the future time, e.g.
Shaista will be at home now (Present time).
Also, it should be noted that while tense and the main verb are the compulsory segments of a
verbal group, the modal, the perfective and the progressive are only optional items. Given below
are some model analyses of some verbal groups.
Adverbials: Any group of words that performs the function of an ADVERB is called an
Adverbial. It may consist of a single word, a phrase or a clause. It generally
specifies time, place, manner, reason, etc., and modifies a verb, an adjective or a fellow
adverb. Given below are some sentences in which the adverbials have been underlined:
She slept soundly
He spoke fluently
We have approached him a number of times.
He smokes heavily.
He spoke in a nice manner.
I shall see you in a day or so.
I went there as first as I could.
She left home when she was a young girl.
Where there is a will there is a way.
He talks as if she were a fool.
IC Analysis of Sentences
A Single sentence is made up of an NP (subject) and a predicate phrase. This predicate phrase,
apart from a compulsory verbal group, may optionally have one or more noun phrase(s),
preposition phrase(s), adverbials and adjective phrases. Here are a few examples:
i) Asif has been playing cricket for several years.
ii) After depositing the fee the boys went to the hostel.
iii) These girls have been singing nicely.

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Limitations of IC Analysis
Immediate constituent analysis has its limitations. It is not possible to analyse such structures,
for example, as do not form proper grammatical groups. For example, here is a sentence:
She is taller than her sister.
In this sentence, the sequence -er than is not covered by IC analysis. Such a sequence can be
explained iii terms of the following constituents only:
i) She is tall.
ii) She has a sister.
iii) The sister is short.
Similarly, there are several cases of sentences that are ambiguous, e.g. ‘Time flies’. It can have
two meanings:
i) Time is flying.
ii) Time the flies (Time as verb).
In such a case, only proper labelling can solve the problem. There arc, however, some sentences
that are structurally similar but semantically they are different. An oft quoted example is:
i) John is easy to flatter.
ii) John is eager to flatter
Such sentences cannot he explained by IC analysis unless they are broken up into simple pairs
of sentences. In the case of (i) and (ii) above, one would have the following groups:
i) (It) is easy. Someone flatters John.
ii) John is eager. He wants to flatter.
Many a time, overlapping ICs also cause a problem. For example, here is a sentence:
He has no interest in, or taste for, music. This sentence means to convey:
He has no interest in music.
He has no taste for music.
The word no applies to both, interest as well as taste. It is not possible to show this in IC
analysis.
Also, IC analysis fails to show such elements as remain unstated in a sentence, e.g. In the
sentence
Hit the ball
Who is being addressed? The element ‘you’,is missing here. There is no way of showing this in
IC analysis.

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Not only that. IC analysis fails to show relationship between sentence types such as active and
passive, affirmative and negatives, statements and questions. Look at the following sets of
sentences, which though semantically similar, have different structures:
i) Who does not love his motherland?
Everybody loves his motherland.
ii) Asif hit a six.
A six was hit by Asif.
iii) Everybody in the hall wept.
There was none in the hall but wept.
Grammarians realise the limitations of IC analysis and have to take to other means also (e.g. TG
grammar) to fully explain the structure of sentences.
Phrase Structure Rules (PS Rules)
The structure of phrases, as discussed above, can be summed up in the following notation that
gives the structure of the concerned phrase in a straight line. Here is a summary m of the
PS-Rules.
S ¾® NP + Pied. phr.
NP ¾® Restrictor-Pre-determiner-determiner-Ordinal-Quantifier-(Adjective phrase-
Classifier-noun
Pred. phr. ¾® VG – NP
Prep. phr.
Adj. phr.
Adverbial
VG ¾® Aux. + V
Aux. ¾® Tense + (Modal) + (Perfective)+(Progressive)
Prep. phr. ¾® Prep + NP
NP ¾® NP + Prep. phr.

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Semantics and Theories of Semantics

Semantics is the study of meaning in language. We know that language is used to express
meanings which can be understood by others. But meanings exist in our minds and we can
express what is in our minds through the spoken and written forms of language (as well as
through gestures, action etc.).
The sound patterns of language are studied at the level of phonology and the organisation of
words and sentences is studied at the level of morphology and syntax. These are in turn
organised in such a way that we can convey meaningful messages or receive and understand
messages. ‘How is language organised in order to be meaningful?’ This is the question we ask
and attempt to answer at the level of semantics. Semantics is that level of linguistic analysis
where meaning is analysed. It is the most abstract level of linguistic analysis, since we cannot
see or observe meaning as we can observe and record sounds. Meaning is related very closely to
the human capacity to think logically and to understand. So when we try to analyse meaning, we
are trying to analyse our own capacity to think and understand, our own ability to create
meaning. Semantics concerns itself with ‘giving a systematic account of the nature of meaning’
(Leech).
Difficulties in the Study of Meaning
The problem of ‘meaning’ is quite difficult, it is because of its toughness that some linguists went
on to the extent of excluding semantics from linguistics. A well-known structuralist made the
astonishing statement that ‘linguistic system of a languagedoes not include the semantics. The
system is abstract, it is a signaling system, and as soon as we study semantics we are no longer
studying language but the semantic system associated with language. The structralists were of
the opinion that it is only the form of language which can be studied, and not the abstract
functions. Both these are misconceptions. Recently a serious interest has been taken in the
various problems of semantics. And semantics is being studied not only by the linguists but also
by philosophers, psychologists, scientists, anthropologists and sociologists.
Scholars have long puzzled over what words mean or what they represent, or how they are
related to reality. They have at times wondered whether words are more real than objects, and
they have striven to find the essential meanings of words. It may be interesting to ask whether
words do have essential meaning. For example, difficulties may arise in finding out the essential
meaning of the word table in water table,dining table, table amendment, and the table
of 9. An abstract word like good creates even more problems. Nobody can exactly tell what good
really means, and how a speaker of English ever learns to use the word correctly. So the main
difficulty is to account facts about essential meanings, multiple meanings, and word conditions.
The connotating use of words adds further complications to any theorizations about meaning,
particularly their uses in metaphor and poetic language. Above all is thequestion : where does
meaning exist: in the speaker or the listener or in both, or in the context or situation ?
Words are in general convenient units to state meaning. But words have meanings by virtue of
their employment in sentences, most of which contain more than one word. The meaning of a

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sentence, though largely dependent on the meaning of its component words taken individually,
is also affected by prosodic features. The question whether word may be semantically described
or in isolation, is more a matter of degree than of a simple answer yes or no. It is impossible to
describe meaning adequately any other way except by saying how words are typically used as
part of longer sentences and how these sentences are used. The meanings of sentences and their
components are better dealt with in linguistics in turns of how they function than exclusively in
terms of what they refer to.
Words are tools; they become important by the function they perform, the job they do, the way
they are used in certain sentences. In addition to reference and function,scholars have also
attached import talkie to popular historical considerations, especially etymology, while studying
word-meanings. Undobtedly the meaning of any word is casually the product of continuous
changes in its antecedent meanings or uses, and in many cases it is the collective product of
generations of cultural history. Dictionaries often deal with this sort of information if it is
available, but in so ding they are passing beyond the bounds of synchronic statement to the
separate linguistic realm of historical explanation.
Different answers have been given to the questions related to meaning. Psychologists have tried
to assess the availability of certain kinds of responses to objects, to experiences, and to words
themselves. Philosophers have proposed a variety of systems and theories to account for the
data that interest them. Communication scientists have developed information theory so that
they can use mathematical models to explain exactly what is predictable and what is not
predictable when messages are channeled through various kinds of communication networks.
From approaches like these a complex array of conceptions of meaning emerges.
Lexical and Grammatical Meaning
When we talk about meaning, we are talking about the ability of human beings to understand
one another when they speak. This ability is to some extent connected with grammar. No one
could understand:
hat one the but red green on bought tried Rameez.
while
Rameez tried on the red had but bought the green one causes no difficulties.
Yet there are numerous sentences which are perfectly grammatical, but meaningless. The most
famous example is Chomsky’s sentence
“Colourless green ideas sleep furiously”.
Similar other examples are:
* The tree ate the elephant.
* The pregnant bachelor gave birth to six girls tomorrow.
* The table sneezed.
In a sentence such as Did you understand the fundamentals of linguistics? A linguist
has to take into account at least two different types of meaning: lexical meaning
andgrammatical meaning. Full words have some kind of intrinsic meaning. They refer to

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objects, actions and qualities that can be identified in the external world, such astable,
banana, sleep, eat, red. Such words are said to have lexical meaning. Empty words have
little or no intrinsic meaning. They exist because of their grammatical function in the sentence.
For example, and is used to join items, or indicates alternative,of sometimes indicates
possession. These words have grammatical [Link] meaning refers mainly to
the meaning of grammatical items as did, which, ed. Grammatical meaning may also cover
notions such as ‘subject’ and ‘object’, sentence types as ’interrogative’, ‘imperative’ etc. Because
of its complexity, grammatical meaning is extremely difficult to study. As yet, no theory of
semantics has been able to handle it portly. But the study of lexical items is more manageable.
What is Meaning?
Philosophers have puzzled over this question for over 2000 years. Their thinking begins from
the question of the relationship between words and the objects which words represent. For
example, we may ask: What is the meaning of the word ‘cow’? One answer would be that it refers
to an animal who has certain properties, that distinguish it from other animals, who are called
by other names. Where do these names come from and why does the word ‘cow’ mean only that
particular animal and none other? Some thinkers say that there is no essential connection
between the word ‘cow’ and the animal indicated by the word, but we have established this
connection by convention and thus it continues to be so. Others would say that there are some
essential attributes of that animal which we perceive in our minds and our concept of that
animal is created for which we create a corresponding word. According to this idea, there is an
essential correspondence between the sounds of words and their meanings, e.g., the word ‘buzz’
reproduces ‘the sound made by a bee’. It is easy to understand this, but not so easy to
understand how ‘cow’ can mean’ a four-legged bovine’—there is nothing in the sound of the
word ‘cow’ to indicate that, (Children often invent words that illustrate the correspondence
between sound and meaning: they may call a cow ‘moo-moo’ because they hear it making that
kind of sound.)
The above idea that words in a language correspond to or stand for the actual objects in the
world is found in Plato’s dialogueCratyIus. However, it applies only to some words and not to
others, for example, words that do not refer to objects, e.g. ‘love’, ‘hate’. This fact gives rise to the
view held by later thinkers, that the meaning of a word is not the object it refers to, but
the concept of the object that exists in the mind. Moreover, as de Saussure pointed out, the
relation between the word (signifier) and the concept (signified) is an arbitrary one, i.e. the word
does not resemble the concept. . Also, when we try to define the meaning of a word we do so by
using other words. So, if We try to explain the meaning of ‘table’ we need to use other words
such as ‘four’, ‘legs’, and ‘wood’ and these words in turn can be explained only by means of other
words.
In their book, The Meaning of Meaning, L.K. Ogden and I.A. Richards made an attempt to
define meaning. When we use the word ‘mean’, we use it in different ways. ‘I mean to do this’ is
a way of expressing our intention. ‘The red signal means stop’ is a way of indicating what the red
signal signifies. Since all language consists of signs, we can say that every word is a sign
indicating something—usually a sign indicates other signs. Ogden and Richards give the
following list of some definitions of ‘meaning’. Meaning can be any of the following:
1. An intrinsic property of some thing
2. Other words related to that word in a dictionary

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3. The connotations of a word (that is discussed below)

4. The thing to which the speaker of that word refers
5. The thing to which the speaker of that word should refer
6. The thing to which the speaker of that word believes himself to be referring
7. The thing to which the hearer of that word believes is being referred to.
These definitions refer to many different ways in which meaning is understood. One reason for
the range of definitions of meaning is that words (or signs) in a language are of different types.
Some signs indicate meaning in a direct manner, e.g. an arrow (¾®) indicates direction. Some
signs are representative of the thing indicated, e.g. onomatopoeic wards such as ‘buzz’. ‘tinkle’
‘ring’; even ‘cough’. ‘slam’, ‘rustle have onomatopoeic qualities. Some signs do not have any
resemblance to the thing they refer to, but as they stand for that thins, they are symbolic.
Taking up some of the above definitions of meaning, we can discuss the different aspects of
meaning o a word as follows:
(i) The logical or denotative meaning. This is the literal meaning of a word indicating the
idea or concept to which it refers. concept is a minimal unit of meaning which could be called a
‘sememe’ in the same way as the unit of sound is called a ‘phoneme’ and is like the ‘morpheme
h Is structure and organisation. Just as the phoneme /b/ may be defined as a bilatial + voiced +
plosive, the word ‘man’ may be defined as a concept consisting of a structure of meaning ‘human
+ male + adult’ expressed through the basic morphological unit ‘m + æ + n’. All the three
qualities are logical attributes of which the concept ‘man’ is made. They are the minimal
qualities that the concept must possess in order to be a distinguishable concept, e.g. if any of
these changes, the concept too changes. So ‘human + female + adult’ would not be the concept
referred to by the word ‘man’, since it is a different concept.
(ii) The connotative meaning. This is the additional meaning that a concept carries. It is
defined as ‘the communicative value an expression has by virtue of what it refers to over and
above its purely conceptual content’ (Leech, 1981). That is, apart from its logical or essential
attributes, there is a further meaning attached to a word, which comes from its reference to
other things in the real world. In the real world, such a word may be associated with some other
features or attributes. For example, the logical or denotative meaning of the word ‘woman’ is the
concept, ‘human + female + adult’. To it may be added the concept of ‘weaker sex’ or ‘frailty’.
These were the connotations or values associated with the concept of ‘woman’. Thus connotative
meaning consists of the attributes associated with a concept. As we know, these associations
come into use over a period of time in a particular culture and can change with change in time.
While denotative meaning remains stable since it defines the essential attributes of a concept,
connotative meaning changes as it is based on associations made to the concept; these
associations may change.
(iii) The social meaning: This is the meaning that a word or a phrase conveys about the
circumstances of its use. That is, the meaning of a word is understood according to the different
style and situation in which the word is used, e.g. though the words ‘domicile’, ‘residence’,
‘abode’, ‘home’ all refer to the same thing (i.e. their denotative meaning is the same), each word
belongs to a particular situation of use—’domicile’ is used in an official context, ‘residence’ in a
formal context, ‘abode’ is a poetic use and ‘home’ is an ordinary use. Where one is used, the

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other is not seen as appropriate. Social meaning derives from an awareness of the style in which
something is written and spoken and of the relationship between speaker and hearer—whether
that relationship is formal, official, casual, polite, or friendly.
(iv) The thematic meaning: This is the meaning which is communicated by the way in
which a speaker or writer organises the message in terms of ordering, focus and emphasis. It is
often felt, for example, that an active sentence has a different meaning from its passive
equivalent although its conceptual meaning seems to be the same. In the sentences:
Mrs. Smith donated the first prize
The first prize was donated by Mrs. Smith
the thematic meaning is different. In the first sentence it appears that we know who Mrs. Smith
is, so the new information on which the emphasis is laid is
‘the first prize’. In the second sentence, however, the emphasis is laid on ‘Mrs. Smith’.
It is sometimes difficult to demarcate all these categories of meaning. For example, it may be
difficult to distinguish between conceptual meaning and social meaning in the following
sentences:
He stuck the key in his pocket.
He put the key in his pocket.
We could argue that these two sentences are conceptually alike, but different in social meaning–
–the first one adopts a casual or informal style, the second adopts a neutral style. However, we
could also say that the two verbs are conceptually different: ‘stuck’ meaning ‘put carelessly and
quickly’, which is a more precise meaning than simply ‘put’. Of course, it is a matter of choice
which word the speaker wishes to use, a more precise one or a neutral one.
Some Terms and Distinctions in Semantics
(a) Lexical and grammatical meaning
Lexical or word meaning is the meaning of individual lexical items. These are of two types: the
open class lexical items, such as nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs, and the close class items
such as prepositions, conjunctions and deter-miners. The open class items have independent
meanings, which are defined in the dictionary. The closed class items have meaning only in
relation to other words in a sentence; this is called grammatical meaning, which can be
understood from a consideration of the structure of the sentence and its relation with other
sentences.
For example, in the sentence The tiger killed the elephant’, there are three open class items:
tiger, kill, elephant. Out of these, two are nouns and one is a verb. There is one closed class
tern— ’the’—which occurs before each noun. It has no independent reference of its own and can
have meaning only when placed before the nouns.
This distinction may help in understanding ambiguity. Thus, if there is ambiguity in a sentence,
this can be a lexical ambiguity or a grammatical ambiguity. For example, in the sentence:
I saw him near the bank.

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there is lexical ambiguity, since the item ‘bank’ can mean (a) the financial institution or (b) the
bank of a river. However, in the case of:
‘The parents of the bride and the groom were waiting’ there is grammatical ambiguity as the
sentence structure can be interpreted in two ways: (a) the two separate noun phrases being ‘the
parents of the bride’, and ‘the groom’; or (b) the single noun phrase ‘the parents’ within which
there is the prepositional phrase ‘of the bride and the groom’ containing two nouns. The first
type of coordination gives us the meaning that the people who were waiting were the parents of
the bride and the groom himself. The second type of coordination gives us the meaning that the
people who were waiting were the parents of the bride and the parents of the groom.
The meaning of a sentence is the product of both lexical and grammatical meanings. This
becomes clear if we compare a pair of sentences such as the following:
The dog bit the postman.
The postman bit the dog.
These two sentences differ in meaning. But the difference in meaning is not due to the difference
in the meaning of the lexical items ‘postman’ and ‘dog’, but in the grammatical relationship
between the two. In one case ‘dog’ is the subject and ‘postman’ is the object, in the other case the
grammatical roles are reversed. There is also the relationship of these nouns with the verb ‘bit’.
In the first sentence, the action is performed by the dog, which conforms to our knowledge
about dogs, but in the second sentence, the action is performed by the postman which does not
match with our knowledge about what postmen do, so there is a sense of incongruity about the
second sentence. Only in some exceptional circumstance could we expect it to be
comprehensible.
(b) Sense and Reference
It has been explained earlier that signs refer to concepts as well as to other signs. A sign is a
symbol that indicates a concept. This concept is the reference, which refers in turn to some
object in the real world, called the referent. The relationship between linguistic items (e.g.
words, sentences) and the non-linguistic world of experience is a relationship of reference. It can
be understood by the following diagram given by Ogden and Richards:
The objects in the real world are referents,the concept which we have of them in our minds is
the reference and the symbol we use to refer to them is the word, or linguistic item.
As we have seen, we can explain the meaning of a linguistic item by using other words. The
relation of a word with another word is a sense-relation. Therefore, sense is the complex
system of relationships that holds between the linguistic items themselves. Sense is concerned
with the intra-linguistic relations, i.e. relations within the system of the language itself, such as
similarity between words, opposition, inclusion, and pre-supposition.
Sense relations include homonymy, polysemy, synonymy and [Link] are
different items (lexical items or structure words) with the same phonetic form. They differ only
in meaning, e.g. the item ‘ear’ meaning ‘organ of hearing’ is a homonym of the item ‘ear’
meaning ‘a stem of wheat’. Homonymy may be classified as:
(a) Homography: a phenomenon of two or more words having the same spellings but
different pronunciation or meaning, e.g. lead /led/ = metal; lead/li:d/ = verb.

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(b) Homophony: a phenomenon of two or more words having the same pronunciation but
different meanings or spellings, e.g. sea/see, knew/new, some/ sum, sun/son.
It is difficult to distinguish between homonymy and polysemy as in polysemy,the ‘same’ lexical
item has different meanings, e.g. ‘bank*’, ‘face*’: Two lexical items can be considered
as synonyms if they have the same denotative, connotative and social meaning and can replace
each other in all contexts of occurrence. Only then can they be absolutely synonymous. For
example, ‘radio’ and ‘wireless’ co-existed for a while as synonyms, being used as alternatives by
speakers of British English. But now, ‘wireless’ is not used frequently. What we consider as
synonyms in a language are usually near-equivalent items, or descriptive items. For example,
‘lavatory’, ‘toilet’, ‘WC’, ‘washroom’ are descriptive or near-equivalent synonyms in English.
Antonyms are lexical items which are different both in form as well as meaning. An antonym of
a lexical item conveys the opposite sense, e.g. single-married, good-bad. But this gives rise to
questions of what is an opposite or contrasted meaning. For example, the opposite of ‘woman’
could be ‘man’ or girl’ since the denotation of both is different from that of ‘woman’. Thus we
need to modify our definition of antonymy. We can say that some items are less compatible than
other items. There can be nearness of contrast or remoteness of contrast. Thus ‘man’ or ‘girl’ is
contrasted to ‘woman’ but less contrasted than ‘woman’ and ‘tree’. In this sense, ‘woman’ and
‘man’ are related, just as ‘girl’ and ‘boy’ are related, in spite of being contrasted. Other meaning-
relations of a similar nature are: mare/stallion, cow/bull, ram/ewe etc., all based on gender
distinctions. Another set of meaning relations can be of age and family relationship: father/son,
uncle/nephew, aunt/ niece. In this, too, there are differences in the structures of different
languages. In Urdu, for instance, gender distinction or contrast may be marked by a change in
the ending of the noun (e.g. /gho:a:/gho:i:/ for ‘horse’ and ‘mare’ respectively) or, in some
cases, by a different word (e.g. /ga:e/bael/ for ‘cow’ and ‘bull’ respectively). In English, there are
usually different words to mark contrast in gender except in a few cases (e.g. elephant, giraffe).
The evolution of a complex system of sense relations is dependent on the way in which the
objects of the world and the environment are perceived and conceptualized by the people who
make that language. For example, Eskimos have many words related in meaning to ‘snow’
because snow in different forms is a part o their environment. In English, there are only two
‘snow’ and ‘ice’, while in Urdu there is only one: ‘baraf’. This reflects the importance that a
particular object or phenomena may have for a certain community.
Another kind of sense-relationship ishyponymy. Hyponymy is the relation that holds between
a more general and more specific lexical item. For example, ‘flower’ is a more general item, and
‘rose’, ‘lily’, etc. are more specific. The more specific item is considered a hyponym of the more
general item—’rose’ is a hyponym of ‘flower’. The specific item includes the meaning of the
general. When we say ‘rose’, the meaning of ‘flower’ is included in its meaning. ‘Rose’ is also
hyponymous to ‘plant’ and ‘living thing’ as these are the most general categories.
The combination of words to produce a single unit of meaning is also a part of sense-relations in
a language. Compounds are made, which often do not mean the same as the separate words
which they consist of. Thus, while ‘black bird’ can be understood to mean ‘a bird which is black’,
‘strawberry’ cannot be understood to mean ‘a berry made of straw’. Similarly, ‘fighter’ can be
considered to be a noun made up of the morphemes ‘fight’ + ‘er’, but ‘hammer’ cannot be
considered as made up of ‘ham’ + ‘er’. Phrasal verbs and idioms are also a case of such sense
relations. The verbs ‘face up to’, ‘see through’, ‘look upon’, etc. have a composite meaning.
Collocations such as ‘heavy smoker’ and ‘good singer’ are not mere combinations of heavy +

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smoker meaning ‘the smoker is heavy’ or ‘good + singer’. They mean ‘one who smokes heavily’
or ‘one who sings well’. The collocated unit has a meaning which is a composite of both that is
why we cannot say ‘good smoker’ and ‘heavy singer’. All these sense-relations are peculiar to a
language and every language develops its own system of sense-relations.
(c) Sentence-meaning and Utterance-meaning
A distinction may be drawn between, sentence-meaning and utterance-meaning. This is because
a speaker may use a sentence to mean something other than what is normally stated in the
sentence itself. As discussed earlier, sentence meaning is a combination of lexical and
grammatical meaning. In addition to this, intonation may also affect sentence meaning. For
example, ‘I don’t like COFFEE’ means that the speaker does not like coffee, but may like some
other drink; ‘I don’t like coffee’ means that the speaker doesn’t like coffee but someone else
does. Speakers can use intonation to change the emphasis and thus the meaning of the sentence.
Further, a sentence may be used by a speaker to perform some act, such as the act of
questioning, warning, promising, threatening, etc. Thus, a sentence such as ‘Its cold in here’
could be used as an order or request to someone to shut the window, even though it is a
declarative sentence. Similarly, an interrogative sentence such as ‘Could you shut the door?’ can
be used to perform the act of requesting or commanding rather than that of questioning (The
speaker is not asking whether the hearer is able to shut the door, but is requesting the hearer to
actually do the action). Usually such use of sentences is so conventional that we do not stop to
think of the literal sentence meaning, we respond to the speaker’s act of requesting, etc., which
is the utterance meaning. This is the meaning that a sentence has when a speaker utters it to
perform some act, in particular appropriate circumstances.
(d) Entailment and Presupposition
One sentence may entail other sentence—that is, include the meaning of other sentence in its
meaning, just as hyponymy includes the meaning of other word. For example, the sentence ‘The
earth goes round the sun’ entails (includes) the meaning ‘The earth moves’.
A sentence may presuppose other sentences, e.g. the sentence ‘Shamim’s son is named Rahat’
presupposes the sentence ‘Shamim has a son’. Presupposition is the previously known meaning
which is implied in the sentence. While entailment is a logical meaning inherent in the sentence,
presupposition may depend on the knowledge of the facts, shared by the speaker and the hearer.

Theories of Semantics

a) Traditional Approach:
We have noted earlier that meaning was always a central concern with thinkers. This has been
the root of much divergent opinions and definitions of meaning. However, there was little doubt
that there are two sides of the issue : symbolic realization, whether in utterance or in writing,
and the thing symbolised.
Plato’s Cratylus clearly lays down that wordis the signifier (in the language) and the signified is
the object (in the world). Words are, therefore, names, labels that denote or stand for. Initially, a
child learns to know his world, and his language in this manner. He is pointed out the objects
and people; names are given to them, and in his mind link or association between the names

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and the external world is established. Children have always been taught their language in this
manner. This is also perhaps the way the earliest thinkers tried to understand the world through
linguistic medium. That could be the reason why William Labov was prompted to say, ‘In many
ways, the child is a perfect historian of the language’. This simple view of the relationship
between name and things is diagrammatically shown below.
However, this is an extremely simplistic theory and it would be wrong to say the child simply
learns the names of things. Gradually, and simultaneously, he learns to ‘handle the complexities
of experience along with the complexities of language’.
b) Analytical/Referential Approach:
Between the symbol and the object/thing there is an intervening phenomenon which is
recognized as ‘the mediation of concepts of the mind’. De Saussure and I.A. Richards and C.K.
Ogden are the best-known scholars to hold this view. The Swiss linguist de Saussure postulated
the link, a psychological associative bond, between the sound image and the concept. Ogden and
Richards viewed this in the shape of a triangle. The linguistic symbol or image, realized as a
word or sentence and the referent, the external entities are mediated by thought or reference.
There is no direct relation between the sign and the object but ‘our interpretation of any sign is
our psychological reaction to it’ (Ogden).
The meaning of a word in the most important sense of the word is that part of a total reaction to
the word which constitutes the thought about what the word is intended for and what it
symbolizes. Thus thought (the reference) constitutes the symbolic or referential meaning of a
word (YevgenyBasin : 32-33). Linguistics, in the opinion of de Saussure, operates on the
borderland where the elements of sound and thought combine : their combination produces a
form, not a substance. When we see an object, a bird, for example, we call it referent; its
recollection is its image. It is through this image that the sign is linked to the referent.
The symbol is manifested in the phonetic form and the reference is the information the hearer is
conveyed. This process thus established, makes meaning a ‘reciprocal’ and reversible relation
between name and sense. One can start with the name and arrive at the meaning or one can
start with the meaning and arrive at the name/s. The referential or ‘analytical’ approach, as it is
also known, tries to avoid the functional domain of language, and seeks rather to understand
meaning by identifying its primary components.
This approach is the descendant of the ancient philosophical world-view, and carries its
limitations. It ignores the relatively different positions at which the speaker and the hearer are
situated. Their positions make a reciprocal and reversible relationship between name and sense
(Ullmann). This approach also overlooks other psychological, non-physical processes which
donot depend upon the linguistic symbol, the reception of the sound waves for recognising the
meaning of the object/thing. A word usually has multiple meaning and is also associated with
other words. Which of the meanings will be received depends upon the situations.
(c) Functional Approach
In the year 1953 L. Wittgenstein’s workPhilosophical Investigation was published. Around this
time Malinowski and J.R. Firth were working to formulate the ‘operational character of
scientific concepts like ‘length’, ‘time’ or ‘energy’; they tried to grasp the meaning of a word by
observing the uses to which it is put instead of what is said about it. They approached the
problem by including all that is relevant in establishing the meaning – the hearers, their
commonly shared knowledge and information, external objecs, and events, the contexts of
earlier exchange and so on, and not by excluding them. This approach can directly be linked to

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the concept of the Context of situationbeing developed by the London group which viewed social
processes as significant factor in explaining a speech event.
While the referential approach took an idealist position, dealing, as someone said, with
‘meaning in language’, the functional theory or the operational theory took a realistic stand,
taking ‘speech’ as it actually occurred. Words are considered tools and whole utterances are
considered. Meaning is thus seen to involve a ‘set of multiple and various relations between the
utterances’ and its segments and the relevant components of environment’ (Robins). In placing
special emphasis on language as a form of behaviour – as something that we perform, the
functional approach shares a lot with systemic linguistics. Language is a form a behaviour which
is functional, ‘something that we do with a purpose, or more often, in fact, with more than one
purpose. It is viewed as a form of functional behaviour which is related to the social situation in
which it occurs as something that we do purposefully in a particular social setting’ (Margaret
Berry). The systemic organization of a language is sought to be understood through its relations
with the social situations of language.
According to this theory, meaning is classified into two broad categories,Contextual
Meaning and Formal Meaning.
Contextual meaning relates a formal item or pattern to an element of situation. There is a
regular association between a linguistic item and something which is extra-linguistic,‘something
which is part of the situation of language rather than part of the language itself’ (Berry).
Contextual meaning is further divided intothesis, immediate situation and wider
situation. In Formal meaning The relationship between a linguistic item, pattern or term form a
system and other linguistic items, patterns or terms from system belonging to the same level of
language’.
Formal meaning can be understood bycollocating and contrasting a lexical item with other lexial
items. The lexical item cat,for instance, has the potentiality for collocating with mew, purr, lap,
milk, fur, tail,etc. It also contrasts with dog, mouse, kitten,etc. Thus, the complete description of
the formal meaning of a lexical item would involve the statement of all the items with which it
collocates and contrasts. Such items which fall into a context or set of contexts are referred to as
an association field.
(d) Field Theory of Meaning:
Basic to this theory is the concept that each word in a language is surrounded by a network of
associations that connect it with other terms.
The field theory visualizes the vocabulary as a mosaic on a gigantic scale, which is built up of
fields and higher unitsin the same way as fields are built up by words. The associative field of a
word is formed by an intricate network of associations, some based on similarity, others on
continuity, some arising between senses, others between names, others again between both. The
field is by definition open, and some of the associations are bound to be subjective though the
more central ones will be largely the same for most speakers. Attempts have been made to
identify some of these central associations by psychological experiments, but they can also be
established by purely linguistic methods. The identification of these associations by linguistic
methods is done by collecting the most obvious synonyms and antonyms of a word, as well as
terms similar in sound or in sense, and those which enter into the same habitual associations.
Many of these associations are embodied in figurative language: metaphors, similes, proverbs,
idioms, and the link. The number of associations centred in one word will of course be extremely
variable and for some very common terms it may be very high.

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As one of Saussure’s pupils expressed it, ‘the associative field is a halo which surrounds the sign
and whose exterior fringes become merged’. This field is formed by an intricate network of
associations: similarity, contiguity, sensation, name. The associative field is by any
definition open, that is, no finite limits can be assigned to any given field. Hence the aptness of
the concept ‘field’, which serves an analogous purpose in physics.
Semantic Structure or Name-Sense Relation
Words form certain kinds of relations. These are called sense relations that are paradigmatic
and syntagmatic.
Below we discuss five such major sense-relationships.
1. Hyponymy
2. Synonymy
3. Antonymy
4. Polysemy
5. Homonymy
Hyponymy
This refers to the way language classifies its words on the principle of inclusiveness, forming a
class members of which are then called co-hyponyms. For example, the classical Greek has a
‘super ordinate’ term to cover professions of various kinds, shoemaker, helmsman, flute player,
carpenter, etc. but such a term doesn’t exist in English. In English the word ‘animal’ is used to
include all living in contrast to thevegetable world.
Hyponymous sets can also be seen in such combinations denoting male-female-baby indog-
bitch-puppy; ram-ewe-lamb; when such terms do not exist, they are formed: female giraffe,
male giraffe, baby giraffe. Thus the meaning of male giraffe is included in the meaning
of giraffe as is the meaning of baby giraffe and female giraffe. The relationship of inclusiveness
rests on the concept of reference. This gives us the idea of how a language classifies words.
Words that are members of a class are called hyponyms.
Synonymy refers to similarity or ‘sameness of meaning’. This is a handy concept for the
dictionary makers, who need words for one word which have greater degree of similarity. To an
extent this is acceptable, it is a working concept. However, one cannot disagree with Dr.
Johnson’s statement that ‘words are seldom exactly synonymous’. In actual use where
contextual nuances and situational subtleties influence meanings the degree of similarity among
words reduces considerably to signify much, each word acts as a potential token of sense. Form
the great literary scholars to the semanticists all agree that it is almost a truism that total
synonymy is an extremely tale occurrence’.
It is clear that in considering synonymy ‘emotive or cognitive import’ has critical role. In the
words of Ullmann, to qualify as synonyms they must be capable of replacing’ ‘cach other in any
given context without the slightest change either in cognitive or emotive import’. John Lyon also
stresses equivalence of cognitive and emotive sense.
Except for highly technical and scientific items, words used in everyday language have strongly
emotional or associative significance. Libertyfreedom; Jude-conceal; attempt-effort, cut-slash;
round-circular; have different evocative or emotive values; in a particular context where
freedom is used liberty definitely cannot be used : it is alwaysfreedom struggle and not liberty

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struggle; orfreedom movement not liberty [Link] in this instance freedom acts as
modifier while liberty does not.
Antonymy
The concept of antonymy implies ‘oppositeness of meaning’ where the ‘recognition and assertion
of one implies the denial of the other’. This is illustrated in pairs of words such as, big-small;
old-young; wide-narrow, etc. These words can be handled in terms of the degree of quality
involved. The comparative forms of the adjectives are graded : wide-wider; happy-happier;
old-older. They are also made by adding more. To use Sapir’s term, these areexplicitly graded.
Polysemy
When a word is identified as possessing two or more meanings, it is; said to
bepolysemous or polysemic. These differentmeanings are derived from one basic idea or
concept. Dictionaries enter different meanings of a word. Head, for example, has the following
different meanings : the upper or anterior division of the body, scat of intellect, mind, poise, the
obverse of a coin, person, individual, the source of a stream, leader, director, crisis, culminating
point of action, etc (Webster’s Dictionary). All these meanings derive from the same word. From
this have been coined as many as seventy, compound structures, each in the right of a different
word such as headsman, headstand, headshop, headpiece, headgear, headlamp, headline,
headlong, head-dress, etc. In the latter examples, one can see that the noun acts as adjectives
which show contextual shifts of application.
Problems arise when it becomes difficult to determine whether a word with several meanings
must he called polysemic orhomonomous.
Homonymy
Homonomous words are defined as sounding alike hut possessing different meanings. For
example, the words lie-lie, by-bye, I-eye. They are spoken and sometimes, written alike, but
mean totally different things, as can be seen in their uses in these sentences - Don’t lie, tell the
truth. I have to lie down now. Normally, in dictionaries, separate entries are made for
homonymous words recognising them as separate Words rather than different meanings of the
same words.
Homophonous words may be spelled and written identically or in different ways. The example
cited above elucidates the point. For the words that are spelled alike the name homography is
used. For the words that sound alike but may be spelled differently, the term homophony is
used. Examples of the former are grave-grave; pupil-pupil; light-light; examples of the latter
are cite-site; write-right-rite-might. Somehomophones are also, interestingly, antonyms - raise-
raze; cleave in the sense of severing asunder and cleave in the sense of ‘uniting’. The problem of
identifying which is a homonym and which a polyseme is a practical one and often it is difficult
to determine exactly what is what. However, it is useful to know that homonymous words have
generally different origins, while polysemic words, even when their meanings arc markedly
divergent, have one source. We may use such metaphorical expressions as the foot of a bed, or
the mountain; thehands and face of a clock, but we know that these are the meanings that
ultimately trace to the original meanings of these words. They are, therefore, polysemes. Tracing
the lexical etymologies is fraught with difficulties. One must have a vast knowledge of the
histories of the words.
Confusion between polysemy and homonymy is natural.

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Collocation
An important concept in semantics is that ofcollocation, which recognises ‘the association of a
lexical item with other lexical items’. J.R. Firth says, ‘you shall know a word by the company it
keeps’. What he calls keeping company is what we know by collocation. It is par t of the meaning
of a word. Thus the word red is related to blood, rose, tomato, ink, cherry, etc. or to put it
differently, red collocates with these words. Different linguistic contexts enable us to identity
different meanings. Thus, for the word table we can identify these meanings front the contexts
presented below.
i) writing table
ii) reading table
iii) have tabled the motion
iv) talk across the table
Most associations are loose with a freedom of movement that is not predictable. We can
say white milk, but we can also say ‘while clouds and ‘white paint’. We can contrast this with
such predictable collocations asblond hair, buxom woman and pretty girl orchild. Blond cannot
be collocated with dooror dress. Buxom always goes with female individual - a buxom friend
would mean a buxom woman friend and cannot mean a man. Similarly, a pretty boy is not
heard. A more permanent collocation is seen in ‘bark’ always being associated with ‘dog’, ‘roar’
with ‘lion’ ‘chirp’ with ‘birds’, ‘school’ with ‘fishes’, ‘flock’ with birds etc.
In collocation words get special [Link] conditions and exceptional boy do not
really mean the same thing. So, the meaning of the collocated terms depends on the collocation.
‘A word will often collocate with a number of other words that have something in common
semantically. More strikingly ... we find that individual words or sequences of words will NOT
collocate with certain groups of words’ (Palmer : 78). To ‘die’ and to ‘pass away’ refer to the
same happening, but to say that daffodil passes away, is absurd, more acdeptable is to say
‘daffodil dies’.
F.R. Palmer has identified three types of collocational restrictions.
1. Meaning in this type is completely based on die word. Green horse is an unlikely
collocational combination.
2. Here meaning is based on the range, which makes, a pretty boyunacceptable.
3. This kind of restriction involves neither range nor meaning : rancid butter, addled
brains are a couple of examples.

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Semantics, Pragmatics and Discourse

Semantics and Pragmatics

Not only has semantics now become an important area of inquiry in linguistics but it has also
been extended to the level of pragmatics. Pragmatics is seen b some linguists as an independent
level of language analysis as it is based on utterances in the same way as phonology is based on
sound, syntax on sentences and semantics on both words and sentences.
The link between pragmatics and semantics remains, however, that at both levels we are
concerned with meaning. Semantics attempts to relate meaning to logic and truth, and deals
with meaning as a matter primarily of sense-relations within the language. Pragmatics attempts
to relate meaning to context of utterance; it views language as action which is performed by
speakers.
What is the context of utterance? A sentence is uttered by a speaker, and when the speaker
utters it, he/she performs an act. This is called a speech-act. Since it is performed by a speaker
in relation to a hearer (or addressee), it depends on the conditions prevailing at the time the
speech-act is performed. These conditions include the previous knowledge shared by speaker
and hearer, and the reasons for the performance of the act. All these taken together constitute
the context of utterance-speaker(s), hearer(h), sentence(s) and utterance(u).
Meaning in this sense involves the speaker’s intention to convey a certain meaning which may
not be evident in the message itself. In the sentence ‘There’s a fly in my soup’, the message is
that ‘There is a fly in my soup’ in which the speaker’s intention may be to complain. So the
meaning of the utterance contains the meaning of complaint. A hearer hearing this sentence
may interpret it not just as a statement but as a request to take the soup away. That is, the
meaning will include some intended effect on the hearer.
The consideration of meaning as a part of the utterance or speech act was initiated by the
philosopher J.L. Austin (How to Do Things With Words) and developed by J. Searle and H.Y.
Grice. Let us considerAustin’s idea first. Keeping in view the above distinction between the
speaker’s intention to convey a particular meaning which may not be evident in the message
itself, Austinmakes a distinction between Sense andForce. Sense is the propositional content
or logical meaning of a sentence. Austin calls it the locutionary meaning. Force is the act
performed in uttering a sentence. It is the performative meaning, defined by Austin as
Illocutionary Force. For example, the utterance ‘Please shut the door’ is an imperative
sentence. The logical or propositional context is that of shutting the door. It will have the force
of request if the speaker and hearer are in some relationship which allows the speaker to make
requests to the hearer, the hearer is in a position where he is capable of shutting the door, there
is a particular door which the speaker is indicating and that door is open. If all these conditions
are not fulfilled, the utterance will not have the force of request. We can chart the meaning of
the above sentence as follows:
Please shut the door Sentence form : Imperative
Sense : Shutting the door (someone)
Force : Request

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In this sentence, sense and force are very similar to each other. However, in some cases there
may be a difference. For example, if the speaker says, Can you shut the door?’ the sentence form
is interrogative, the sense is ‘can’ + ‘you’ + ‘shut the door’, that is, the logical meaning of the
sentence is a question about the ability of the hearer to shut the door, evident in the sense of the
modal ‘can’. However, the force is still that of request. In such an utterance, it is clear that the
sense is not the total meaning of the utterance, and that if only the sense is considered, the
utterance will not succeed as a successful communication. If the hearer takes only the sense of
the above sentence, he will understand the sentence only as a question regarding his ability to
shut the door; it is only when the force of the utterance is understood that the hearer takes it as a
request to shut the door, provided all the conditions for the performance of the request are
fulfilled.
In other instances there is even more discrepancy between what the sentence says and what the
speaker of the sentence intends the hearer to understand by it, i.e. between sense and force.
‘There’s a cold breeze coming through the door’ is a statement in terms of form and sense, but
the speaker may intend it to be a request to shut the door. In this way, there can he any number
of variable meanings of the same utterance.
This raises a problem: how can we interpret a sentence when sense and force are very different
and nothing in the sentence itself indicates what its force can be? Here a distinction can be made
between utterances which are more conventional in nature and others which are more
individual and situation-specific. For example, ‘Can you shut the door?’ is the kind of utterance
which has become conventionalized to a great extent, so that a hearer is less likely to
misinterpret it as a real question, and more likely to understand its force of request. But in the
case of ‘There’s a cold breeze coming through the door’, or ‘Its very cold in the room’ or ‘Are you
immune to cold?’ there is a more indirect manner of making the request to the hearer. These are
more dependent on the relation between the speaker and the hearer. While the conventionalized
utterance can occur in many situations, the variable utterances can occur only in specific
situations e.g. informal, friendly etc. Only under such conditions will the hearer be able to infer
the intended meaning of the speaker.
It is for this reason that Grice (Logic and Conversation, 1975) explains that all communication
takes place in a situation where people are co-operative. When people communicate, they
assume that the other person will be cooperative and they themselves wish to cooperate. Grice
calls this the ‘Cooperative Principle’. Under this principle, the following maxims are followed:
(i) Maxim of quantity. Give the right amount of information, neither less nor more than what is
required.
(ii) Maxirn of quality. Make your contribution such that it is true; do not say what you know is
false or for which you do not have adequate evidence.
(iii) Maxim of relation. Be relevant.
(iv) Maxim of manner. Avoid obscurity and ambiguity; be brief and orderly.
These ‘Maxims’ are different from rules in that while rules cannot be violated, maxims are often
violated. That is, people often give more or less information than required, or make irrelevant
contributions. When this happens, some implied meanings arise as a result. For example, in the
interaction:

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A : Where’s my box of chocolates?

B : The children were in your room this morning.
B violates the Maxim of relation because the reply is apparently not relevant to A’s question. A
proper response to A’s question would be that B answers A’s question about where the
chocolates are. Since B does not give this answer, it implies that B does not know the answer,
and also implies a suggestion on B’s part that the children may have taken the chocolates.
Similarly, in the interaction:
A : I failed in my test today.
B : Wonderful !
In this case, B’s response violates the maxim of quality in that the expression ‘wonderful’ here is
not an expression of delight or actual wonder. A’s statement is not such that would demand a
response of exclamation of delight. That such a response is given by B means that B implies
something else: the negative of ‘wonderful’ meaning ‘its not wonderful’. But by giving a response
like this, and violating the maxim, B is implying irony. The implication generated by an
untruthful and exaggerated statement is sarcasm; implication generated by an opposite
statement from the one expected is irony. These meanings are possible through the deliberate
violation of the conversational maxims and are called ‘conversational implicatures’ by Grice.
The insights provided by these theories of pragmatics have helped us to understand meaning as
part of communication rather than as something abstract. They have also helped to analyse
units of linguistic organization higher than the sentence, pairs of sentences taken as units, and
sequences of sentences taken as texts, leading us to the analysis of meaning in connected
language, i.e., discourse.
Discourse Analysis
As soon as we begin to study meaning in language in relation to context, we find that it is
situated within two kinds of context. One is the extra-linguistic, i.e. the content of the external
world. The other is the intra-linguistic, i.e., the linguistic context in which that piece of
language occurs. So, for example, words occur within a sentential context, sentences occur
within a context consisting of other sentences. In the ‘analysis of language at the level of
discourse, we are concerned with this intra-linguistic context.
Discourse is a level higher than that of the sentence. It includes all the other linguistic levels—
sound, lexis, syntax. All these continue to make up a discourse. But here we must distinguish
between the grammatical aspect and the semantic/ pragmatic aspect of discourse. The former
creates a text and the latter creates a discourse. In the former, words continue to form
sentences, sentences combine to form a text. Just as there are rules for combination of words,
there are certain relations between sentences and rules by which they may be related. These
rules of sentence-connection create cohesion in the text. At the same time, these sentences are
also utterances, i.e. they have a force which is vital for understanding their meaning, which are
combined to create coherence. Thus we may distinguish between text and discourse in that
text is created by sentence-cohesion and discourse is created by coherence. A discourse may be
defined as a stretch of language-use which is coherent in its meaning. It will of course include
grammar and cohesion. The following is an example of discourse which is both cohesive and
coherent:

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A : Can you go to Karachi tomorrow?

B : Yes, I can.
The interchange is cohesive because the second sentence does not repeat the whole of the first
sentence. Instead of the whole sentence: ‘I can go to Karachi tomorrow’, B says only: ‘I can’,
omitting the rest. This indicates that the second sentence is linked to the first in sequential
order. It is also coherent because B has given an appropriate response to A from A’s request.
However, in the following example:
A : Can you go to Karachi tomorrow?
B : There is a general strike.
The two sentences are not cohesive because the second sentence is not linked to the first
sentence in a grammatical sense. There is no repetition or obvious connection between the two
sentences. But they are coherent, because B replies to A’s request in a sentence which gives some
information implying that it may not be possible to go to Karachi. Thus, this exchange is
coherent but not cohesive.
In order to analyse discourse, it may be necessary to consider all aspects of language: the
grammatical as well as the semantic and pragmatic (not forgetting the role of intonation).
Grammatical forms which are used to link sentences and create cohesion can be of several kinds
: logical connectors such as ‘and’, ‘but’; conjuncts such as ‘also’, ‘equally’, ‘furthermore’,
contrasts such as ‘instead’ and similarly, ‘for’ ‘thus’.
Deictic elements such as ‘here’, ‘there’, also indicate other references and are thus important in
creating cohesion as well as discourse meaning.
Apart from grammatical features, discourse is constituted of features which are particular to the
mode, tenor and field or domain of that discourse. The mode may be spoken or written. In
spoken discourse there will be features of: inexplicitness, lack of clear sentence boundaries and
sentence-completion, repetition, hesitation, interaction and maintenance features, e.g. ‘well’,
‘you know’, while in written discourse there will be features of explicitness, clear sentence
boundaries and more complex sentences, formal features but no interactional and monitoring
features. The tenor of discourse refers to features relating to the relationship between the
speaker and the addressee in a given situation—these features reflect the formality or
informality, degree of politeness, a personal or impersonal touch. Thus, if the relationship is a
polite one, there will be respectful terms of address, e.g. ‘Sir’, and indirect requests rather than
commands. If the relationship is one of familiarity, the features will include terms of friendship
e.g. ‘dear’, direct requests and imperatives. Lastly, field or domain of discourse pertains to the
area of activity to which that discourse belongs, e.g. whether the discourse is in the field of
religion, science, law, journalism, advertising. In each field, the discourse will be characterized
by a particular kind of vocabulary and sentence structure, e.g. sports commentary uses present
tense; advertising uses many adjectives. Literary discourse often freely combines features from
many kinds of discourse and occupies a different status from other types of discourse.

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Psycholinguistics - A Study of Language and Brain in relation to

psychology
Psycholinguistics is a recent branch of linguistics developed in the sixties. It is the study of
interrelationship of psychological and linguistic behaviour. It uses linguistic concepts to describe
psychological processes connected with the acquisition and use of language. As a distinct area of
interest, psycholinguistics developed in the early sixties, and in its early form covered acoustic
phonology and language pathology.
But now-a-days it has been influenced deeply by the development of generative theory, and its
most important area of investigation has been language acquisition. It has raised and has partly
answered questions such as how do children acquire their mother tongue? How do they grow up
linguistically and learn to handle the registral and stylistic varieties of their mother tongue
effectively? How much of the linguistic system that they ultimately command, are they born with
and how much do they discover on the basis of their exposure to that system?
In its early form, psycholinguistics covered the psychological implications of an extremely broad
area, from acoustic phonetics to language pathology. Now-a-days, certain areas of language and
linguistic theory tend to be concentrated on by the psycholinguist. Much of psycholinguistics has
been influenced by generative theory and the so-called mentalists. The most important area is
the investigation of the acquisition of language by children. In this respect there have been many
studies of both a theoretical and a descriptive kind. The need for descriptive study areises due to
the fact that until recently hardly anything was known about the actual facts of language
acquisition in children, in particular about the order in which grammatical structures were
acquired. Even elementary questions as to when and how the child develops its ability to ask
question syntactically, or when it learn the inflectional system of its language, remained
unanswered. However, a great deal of work has been done recently on the methodological and
descriptive problems related to the obtaining and analyzing information of this kind.
The theoretical questions have focused on the issue of how we can account for the phenomenon
of language development in children at all. Normal children have mastered most of the
structures of their language by the age of five or six. The generative approach argued against the
earlier behaviorist assumptions that it was possible to explain language development largely in
terms of imitation and selectives reinforcement. It asserted that it was impossible to explain the
rapidity or the complexity of language used by the people around them.
Psycholinguistics therefore argue that imitation is not enough; it is not merely by mechanical
repetition that children acquire language. They also acquire it by natural exposure. Both nature
and nurture influence the acquisition of language in children. Children learn first not items but
systems. Every normal child comes to develop this abstract knowledge of his mother tongue,
even of a foreign language, to some extent for himself; and the generative approach argues that
such a process is only explicable if one postulates that certain features of this competence are
present in the brain of the child right from the beginning. ‘In other words, what is being claimed
is that the child’s brain contains certain innate characteristics which ‘pre-structure’ it in the
direction of language learning. To enable these innate features to develop into adult
competence, the child must be exposed to human language, i.e., it must be stimulated in proper
to respond. But the basis on which it develops its linguistic abilities is not describable in
behaviourist terms’. (David Crystal, Linguistics, p. 256)
The boundary between psycholinguistics and linguistics is becoming increasingly blurred as the
result of recent developments in linguistics which aim at giving psychological reality to the
description of language. Chomsky regards linguistics as a subfield of psychology more specially
the cognitive psychology. His view of linguistics, as outlined for instance, in his book Language

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and Mind, is that the most important contribution linguistics can make, is to the study of the
human mind. The bonds between psychology and linguistics become more and more strong by
the extent to which language is influenced by and itself influences such things as memory,
motivation, attention, recall and perception.
Similarly psycholinguistics and sociolinguistics are coming closer because of the realization that
merely grammatical competence is not enough; we have to aim at communicative competence
too. Whereas psycholinguistics is language and the mind, sociolinguistics is language and
community. In other words, psycholinguistics can be said to deal with language and the
individual, and sociolinguistics with language and society.
Language Acquisition
By the study of language acquisition is meant the process whereby children achieve a fluent
control of their native language. Few people in the 1950s asked about the processes by which
language was acquired. It was assumed that children imitated the adults around them and their
speech gradually became more accurate as they grow up. There seemed to be some mystery
attached to this apparently straight-forward process. Psycholinguistics have therefore attempted
general theories of language acquisition and language use. Some have argued that learning is
entirely the product of experience and that our environment affects all of us in the same way.
Others have suggested that everybody has an innate language learning mechanism which
determines learning or acquisitionof language identically for each of us. These two schools are
known as ‘empiricists’ (ehaviourists) and ‘rationalists’ (mentalists).
The empiricists say that all knowledge is derived from experience. They are of the opinion that
children start out as clean slates. Learning a language is a process of getting linguistic habits
printed on these slates. Language acquisition is the result of stimulus-response activities.
Imitation, repetition, memorization, reward, and reinforcement facilitate this process of
language acquisition. The behaviourists argue that learning is controlled by the conditions under
which it takes place and that, as long as individuals are subjected on the same condition, they
will learn in the same way. Variations in learning are caused because of the difference in
learning experience, difference in the past experience of learning, difference in aptitudes,
motivation, memory and age. So, for them there is not a theory of language learning as such but
merely the application to language of general principles of learning.
From this follows that in general there is no difference between the way one learns a language
and the way one learns to do anything else. So, according to the empiricists, language is a result
of stimulus and response. A child should therefore learn to make a response in the first place,
and then the response should be reinforced in a variety of ways. Indeed strength of learning is
measured in terms of the number of times that a response has been made and reinforced. A
word that has been uttered thirty times is better learned than one which has been said twenty
times. So language learning process is basically a mechanical process of a habit formation.
Habits are strengthened by reinforcement. Language is behaviour, a conditioned behaviour
which can be learned only by inducing the child to behave. Repetition plays a vital role in
learning a language. Hence the necessity of mechanical drills and exercises, imitation and
repetition.
The rationalists contradict the empiricists at almost every point. Children learn a language, not
because they are subjected to a similar conditioning process, but because they possess an inborn
capacity which permits them to acquire a language as a normal maturational process. This
capacity is universal. The child has an innate language acquiring device. He learns a language by
exposure to it in society and by unconsciously forming certain hypotheses about language, which
he goes on modifying till he comes to the adult model to which he is for the most part exposed.
So the child goes on constructing an innate grammar, operating over generalized rules.

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Language acquisition is species-specific and species-uniform. The ability to take up an

understand language is inherited genetically but the particular language that children speak, is
culturally and environmentally transmitted to them. Children all over the world acquire their
native tongue without tutoring. Whereas a child exposed to an English speaking community
begins to speak English fluently, the other one exposed to a community of Urdu speakers, begins
to use Urdu fluently. Only human beings can acquire language. Language acquisition thus
appears to be different in kind from acquisition of other skills such as swimming, dancing, or
gymnastics. Native language acquisition is much less likely to be affected by mental retardation
than the acquisition of other intellectual activities. Every normal human child learns one or
more language unless he is brought up in linguistic isolation, and learns the essentials of his
language by a fairly little age, say by six. To acquire fluency in a language a child has to be
exposed to people who speak that language. A language is not something we know by instinct or
inherit from our parents. It is the result of our exposure to a certain linguistic community. It is
part of that whole complex of learned and shared behaviour that anthropologists call ‘culture’.
By this we do not mean that language is acquired ready-made. It is created anew by each child
by putting together bits and pieces of environmental raw material. The human child does play
an active role in this process, he actively strains, filters, recognizes what he is exposed to. His
imitations are not photographic reproductions but artistic recreations. A child is a linguist in
cradle He acquires a language more easily than adults. He discovers the structure of his native
language to use that language; no one hands it to him in a ready-to-use form.
Both schools have said significant things, yet neither is perfect. The mentalists’ emphasis on the
rule-learning is over-enthusiastic, and the behaviourists’ rejection of meaning entirely is unjust.
Language acquisition seems to be a process both of analogy and application, nature and nurture.
Language Learning Theories
The Spectrum of language learning theories was dominated by the behaviorists till fifties of the
last century when Chomsky appeared with the beam of ‘cognitive approach’ and Piaget with the
ray of ‘Genetic Epistemology‘. Ideas of both the scholars turned the mode of language learning.
Chomsky emphasized the importance of ‘innate cognitive abilities’ for language learning which
were being neglected by the behaviorists. Whereas Piaget highlighted the importance of
cognitive development in the learning process. The work of both the psychologists introduced
new horizons to explore. Particularly, on one side, Piaget’s work patched the way of the language
learning theories of cognitive process such as Paivio’s ‘Dual Code theory’ and Anderson’s ‘Act
theory’. And on the other side, many Constructivists like Bruner, Vydotsky and Seymour Papert,
influenced by Piaget’s cognitive approach, tried to synthesis the behaviorist ‘environmental
stimulus’ and the Mentalist cognitive process in their theories. Moreover, Bloom’s Cognitive
Domain and Gardner’s MI theory provided classroom teacher to assess and analyze the levels
and problems of his students. In the following all these important theories will be discussed
under these heads:
1. The Behaviorists
2. The Mentalists
3. Cognitive Process Theories
4. The Constructivists
5. Cognitive Domain
6. Multiple Intelligence Theory
In fact, all these theories tend to describe the nature and the procedure of learning as they
observe it. Let’s start with ‘The Behaviorists’.
The Behaviorist School
Behaviorist school simply claims that language learning is the formation of a set of habits. The

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roots of this claim can be found in the general theory of learning described by the psychologist
John B. Watson in 1923, and is known as behaviorism. He gave the idea that knowledge is the
product of interaction with the environment through stimulus-response conditioning.
B F Skinner was the psychologist who connected SRR with language learning. His book Verbal
Behavior (1957) laid out a vocabulary and theory for analysis of verbal behavior. How Skinner
inferred this theory is an interesting matter and is related to the operant conditioning.
Operant Conditioning Behavior:
Skinner presented his concept of Operant Conditioning behavior in his book Schedules of
Reinforcement. This behavior implies that learner demonstrate the new behavior first as a
response to the system of reward or punishment and finally becomes an automatic response
which gradually can be developed into complex forms. In this regard Skinner conducted an
experiment on rat. He put the rat in a box containing a bar. When unconsciously the rat pushed
the bar, he received a pellet of food. Skinner presented the bar as stimulus, the pushing of the
bar as response and the
pellet of food as reinforcement. He made the process gradually complex by including blinking-
light and reinforcement on double pushing. He showed that through this SRR bond, it had
developed as a habit of rat that whenever he needed food he pressed the bar. From this, Skinner
conclude :
“The basic process and relation which give verbal behavior its special characteristics are now
fairly understood… the results have surprisingly free of species restrictions. Recent work has
shown that the methods can be extended to human behavior without serious modification.”
Skinner broadened the theory to the vast majority of human learning including language
learning, points out Jean Aitchison. When language acquisition is taken into consideration, the
theory claims that both LI and L2 learners receive linguistic input from speakers in their
environment. And when language learners’ responses are reinforced positively, they learn the
language relatively easily.
Influence of Behaviorism:
Behaviorism influenced a great number of learning theories in general and language learning
theories in specific. In general theories Guthrie’s Contiguity ,Hull’s Drive Reduction Theory,
Lava’s Situated learning theory mark great influence of Behaviourism. In language learning
theories Skinner’s Operant Conditioning theory, Maltzman’s Originality theory follow the
behaviourism. Moreover The Bloomfieldian structuralist school of linguistics also accepted
behaviorist ideas.
Maltzman proposed that Originality can be increased through instructions or practice to
produce uncommon responses. He distinguished originality from creativity. He claimed latter
refers to the consequences of original behavior. He is one of the few behaviorists who attempt to
deal with creative behaviour. He suggested three principles:
i) Present an uncommon stimulus situation for which conventional responses may not be readily
available
ii) Suggest different responses to the same situation
iii) Evoke uncommon responses as textual responses
Since the behaviorists claim that there is no need of innate or mental mechanism, they see
errors as wrong habits. During learning second language errors are taken ‘first language habits’
interfering with the learning of second language habits thus strictly avoided. If there are
similarities between the two languages, the language learners will acquire the target structures
easily. If there are differences, acquisition will be more difficult. This approach is known as the
contrastive analysis hypothesis. According to the hypothesis, the differences between languages
can be used to reveal and predict all errors and the data obtained can be used in second

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language teaching for promoting a better learning environment

The well-know application in the field of second language teaching is the Audio-lingual Method.
The theory sees the language learner with no built-in knowledge. The theory and the resulting
teaching methods failed to provide a sound basis for language teaching methodology. This
failure is due to the consideration of mere external factors on the one hand and on the other
hand the learned psychologist ‘misunderstood the nature of language’. This is what Chomsky
pointed out in his “A Review of B.F. Skinner’s Verbal Behavior”.
Chomsky’s Attack:
Chomsky, a linguist and psychologist, criticized Skinner’s theory and argued that he
misunderstood the nature of language. He said that Skinner took language merely ‘stringing
words together’. The linguist pointed out that language makes use ‘structure-depended
operation’. Through this he implies that language is consist of double structure: Surface
structure and Deep Structure. In order to understand the utterance, the listener is to
comprehend both the structures.
Another quality of language that Skinner overlooked is creativity in human language. In this
regard Chomsky says:
The normal use of language is a creative activity. The creative aspect of normal language is one
of the fundamental factors that distinguish human language from any known system of animal
communication”.
Chomsky’s point is that humans have freedom to create novel, and new utterance that never
used before yet other can understand it. For example, the sentence “Mars told that Pluto told
him that he saw a Moon in the pocket of Sun which was crying for a new pair of shoes for he
wanted to go to the fun fair in girls high school at Jupiter” is a novel and never-before-heard
sentence but any fluent speaker of English would be able to understand it. Thus, the behavior of
rat, which is simple and contains no creativity or novelty, is irrelevant to the human language. In
this regard he pointed out further lacks that are as following:
1. The conditions in rat experiment are simple, well defined, and predictable but human
language is complex phenomenon and it is next to impossible to predetermine what a human is
going to say.
2. The rat was repeatedly rewarded whereas children utters without any reward and even when
nobody is around.
3. If approval and disapproval (reinforcement) worked in the way Skinner suggests, children
should grow up always telling truth but speaking ungrammatically, since mother always
approves ‘true statements of a child’ even though ungrammatical.
On theses sound basis Nome Chomsky rejected “the verbal behavior” of Skinner and purposed
his own theory that is known as “The Mentalist Theory”
The Mentalist School
In contrast with the Behaviorists, the Mentalists claim that language learning is a rule cognition
process.. They suggest that learning is connected with cognition, innovation and innate ability.
Noam Chomsky suggests that humans are born with an innate knowledge of language. He
presented his theory about the possibility of an innate structure “Language Acquisition Device”.
Language Acquisition Device:
Chomsky named the ‘innate structure’, ‘Language Acquisition Device’. What does this LAD do?
In his “The Problem of Knowledge and Freedom”, the theorist claims that it works to relate the
sounds and meanings. It does this with the help of “an internalized set of rules”. That is to be
said a ‘mental grammar’. He claimed that the grammar expresses the speaker-hearer language
know ledge. Its system can be comprehended as a linguist analyses any ‘unknown linguistic
situation’. He receives sounds, makes hypothesizes, and sometimes for a time being abandoned

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it until he compiled a set of rules accountable for all the possible structures of language. So he
claimed:
“there can be little doubt that highly restrictive universal principle must exist [in mind]
determining the general framework of each human language”. {quoted in Aitchison’ The
Articulate Mammal)
Moreover, Chomsky first time made a distinction between language competence and language
performance. Competence is just the knowledge that speaker possesses of the grammar of a
language; performance is considered the ability to produce through use of one’s competence.
Chomsky’s Influence:
Chomsky’s ideas about language and mind shook the behaviorists’ theories about language
learning. Language learning remained no more mere a matter of ‘habit formation’.
Educationists, psychologist and linguists recognized this fact that language learning involves
various faculties such as memory, reasoning, critical thinking and problem solving etc., so the
theories which came after Chomsky’s work, were mostly based on cognitive approach. The more
important among them are Cognitive Code Learning, Communicative approach, and The
Bilingual Method. In fact, Chomsky’s real achievement is that his work changed the focus of
learning methods and theories from outer environment or teacher to the learner’s personality
and mind. Where he marked such a great influence, some of his ideas were criticized by
psycholinguists even though they believed in ‘cognitive abilities’.
Criticism on Chomsky:
Many research analysts criticizes the Chomsky’s notion that ‘grammatical rules’ are given as
innate knowledge. For instance Slobin modifies the Chomsky’s theory in this way that the rules
are not innate but capacity to process the rules is innate.
Chomsky gives little importance to the environment when he says in his” A Review of B.F.
Skinner’s Verbal Behavior” : “neither empirical evidence nor any known argument to support
any specific claim about the relative importance of feedback from the environment. His this
claim leads towards another extreme and even his design of LAD itself demands a need of
exposure for language learning.
These short comings and lapses in ‘cognitive approach’ were patched by the work another great
psychologist, Piaget, who first time proposed theory of ‘cognitive development’. Piaget’s
influence can be seen chiefly in two streams: 1). Theories of cognitive process 2). The
Constructivists theories. Let’s discuss these streams.
Cognitive Process Theories
Piaget presented general theoretical framework of “genetic epistemology“. The concept of
cognitive structure or development stages are central to his theory and he was primarily
interested in “how knowledge develops in human organisms”. These stage of Cognitive
developments, which he presented in his genetic epistemology, are as following:
1. Sensorimotor stage: children experience through their senses
2. Preoperational stage: motor skills are acquired
3. Concrete operational stage: children think logically about concrete events
4. Formal Operational stage: abstract reasoning is developed here.
Piaget explored the implications of his theory to all aspects of cognition, intelligence and moral
development. He proposed some principle that should be kept in view during the learning
process regardless of age and subject of learner. Practical implication of the principles in
language learning is found useful. For instance, to the children in the Sensorimotor stage, till the
age of seven, teachers should provide a rich and stimulating environment with ample objects
about which they want to teach. If learner is to be taught word apple, he should be provided with
the object ‘apple’. The principles are as following

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Principles:
1. Children will provide different explanations of reality at different stages of cognitive
development.
2. Cognitive development is facilitated by providing activities or situations that engage learners
and require adaptation (i.e., assimilation and accommodation).
3. Learning materials and activities should involve the appropriate level of motor or mental
operations for a child of given age;
4. Avoid asking students to perform tasks that are beyond their current cognitive capabilities.
5. Use teaching methods that actively involve students and present challenges.
There are many learning theories in general and various language learning theories in particular
that mark the influence of Piaget’ work. Theories related to language are:
1. Dual Coding Theory
2. Architecture Cognitive Theory
3. Social Development Theory
4. Seymour Papert’s Theory
Out of these four theories later two are related to ‘constructivism’ so they will be dealt under the
headings of the constructivist whereas former two are related to cognitive process so let’s have a
brief introduction of these two theories.
Architecture Cognitive Theory:
John Anderson along with his research fellows proposed a theory for memory process named
ACT. He distinguishes three types of memory structures:
• declarative
• procedural
• working memory.
Declarative memory takes the form of propositions, images, and sequences by direct
associations. Procedural memory or long-term memory represents information in the form of
productions; each production has a set of conditions and actions based on declarative memory.
Working memory is that part of long-term memory that is the most highly activated. For
language learning it suggests the fowling principles:
1. Relate new language items with previous knowledge
2. Minimize working memory load.
3. Provide immediate feedback on errors
Dual Coding Theory:
Piaivio is expounder of the dual coding theory. It attempts to give equal weight to verbal and
non-verbal processing. Paivio emphasizes on the dual function of ‘cognition process’ particularly
with reference to language. He says:
“Human cognition is unique in that way it has become specialized for dealing simultaneously
with language and with nonverbal objects and events. Any representational theory must
accommodate this dual functionality”.
The theory supposes that there are two cognitive subsystems, one specialized for the
representation and processing of nonverbal objects such as imagery, pictures etc and the other
specialized for dealing with language. Theory of Paivio is supported by researches conducting in
the field of neurology especially in regard with aphasia. These researches shows that left
hemisphere of human mind is dedicated to verbal function whereas right hemisphere is
dedicated to visual function. Thus, Dual Code Learning proposes a very significant principle in
language teaching:
“Learning can be enhanced by presenting information in both visual and verbal form”.
The cognitive process theorist’ gave their more emphasis on mental process for learning. They

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give little importance to external events. This gap was filled by the constructivists.
The Constructivists
Constructivism is recognized as a unique learning theory in itself. It however, may be associated
with cognitive psychology, because as a theory of learning, it focuses on a learner’s ability to
mentally construct meaning of his own environment and to create his own learning. The term
constructivism is linked to Cognitive and Social Constructivism.
Constructivist theory provides a general framework for instruction based upon the study of
cognition. Much of the theory is linked to child development research especially of Piaget who
first time emphasized that cognitive development is related as much with external experience as
with inner innate abilities. A major theme in the theoretical framework of constructivists is that
learning is an active process in which learners construct new ideas or concepts based upon their
experience.
J. Bruner, who presented the constructivists theory in learning context, described that the
learner selects and transforms information, constructs hypotheses, and makes decisions, relying
on a cognitive structure to do so. Cognitive structure provides meaning and organization to the
experiences and allows the individual to go beyond the information given.
Vygotsky, a Russian psychologist, suggests that social interaction plays a vital role in cognitive
development at any stage .He says “Every function in the child’s cultural development appears
twice: first, on the social level, and later, on the individual level:” His theory is a key component
of Situated Learning Theory and Anchored instruction. Lava, the expounder of Situated
Learning Theory, says:
“Learning, both outside and inside school, advances through collaborative social interaction and
the social construction of knowledge”.
Ideas of Piaget, Bruner and Vygotsky and Papert bring a balance in the approach of cognitive
psychologists. Seymour Papert says:
“Thus, constructionism,… attaches special importance to the role of constructions in the world
as a support for those in the head, thereby becoming less of a purely mentalist doctrine.”
Constractivists desire students to become motivated learners, critical thinkers, problem-solvers
and [Link] this they propose:
1. Language learning must be connected with the experiences and contexts that motivates
learner.
2. Language items must be structured so that it can be easily grasped by the student.
3. Learner should be encouraged to explore language own their own through experience.
4. Interactive learning should be encouraged instead of instruction based.
5. Learning should be learner-centered rather than teacher centered.
6. Use of computer technology is important for cognitive growth
While Piaget and other Cognitive psychologist were giving there attentions to the ‘cognitive
process’ some other psychologists prescribed the importance of ‘learning variables’ and some
other of ‘learner’s variable’. Out of those, two names gained more importance among
educationists : Benjamin Bloom for his famous ‘Cognitive Domain’ that deals with learning
variables and Howard Gardner for his Multiple Intelligence Theory that describes ‘learners’
variables. Let’s discuss both the theories one by one.
Cognitive Domain
Benjamin Bloom made a valuable contribution to the classification of educational objectives
through his Taxonomy that is known as Bloom’s Taxonomy. He emphasized the importance of
different types of learning. He divided learning into three major domains:
• Cognitive: mental skills
• Affective: growth in feelings or emotional areas

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• Psychomotor: manual or physical skills

Although, all three are important from teaching point of view, Cognitive Domain is more
important for language teaching. Due to its this importance, this domain will be discussed in
further details.
The cognitive domain involves knowledge and the development of intellectual skills. This
includes the recall or recognition of specific facts, procedures, patterns, and concepts that are
related to mental abilities and skills. There are six major categories starting from the simplest to
the most complex according to Bloom. These are:
1. Knowledge 4. Analysis
2. Comprehension 5. Synthesis
3. Application 6. Evaluation
Let’s try too understand all these concepts in the context of language.
Knowledge mean “recall data or information”. When a language student is instructed to identify
or label any linguistic item in the given statement, let’s suppose noun, in fact, his knowledge is
checked. All questions like: “narrate summery of any event”, or “tell the name of places or
characters”, are knowledge based question. Multiple-choice tests, definitions, quotations and
grammatical rules, all falls in the category of knowledge.
Comprehension implies understanding of knowledge and ideas. It can be demonstrated by the
questions of organization, translation or interpretation. All questions that instruct like:
“Translate paragraph into Urdu”, or “State main theme of story’, or “Explain with the help of
examples” are likely to test comprehension of students.
Application denotes “put the theory into practice”. For instance, learns are taught creative
writing, they have knowledge what creative writing is, and they can understand any piece of
writing, thus they have comprehension also. Application is a next step when they are asked to
write a narrative essay or argumentative essay. In spoken context, they learn to handle any
situation, let’s say giving presentation. They have knowledge of presentation, but when they
themselves give a presentation they are applying there knowledge and comprehension.
Analysis is mean “break and examine information into parts by identifying motives or causes”.
The tasks at this level that English language learners are give are: classify, contrast, compare,
categorize, sequence. For instance, “What are the basic elements of Bacons prose? Read his
essay and discuss.“ or “Why Elizabeth refused Darcy’s proposal ?(Pride& Prejudice)”
Synthesis tends to “put parts together to form a whole, with emphasis on creating a new
meaning or structure”. At this level students are to compile information together in a different
way by combining elements in a new pattern and by proposing alternative solutions. For
instance, question like “Can you invent another character for the story?” “How would you
change the story of Mill on the Floss to create a different ending?”
Evaluation means “make judgments about the value of ideas or materials.” Here students are to
give there own opinion. For instance “Which part of the novel Heart of Darkness did you like
best? Explain why you like it?” ‘Bacon is the Father of English prose”, accept or refute the
statement.”
Although the ranking of levels according to difficulty is still controversial among psychologists,
yet classification of different types of learning is Bloom’s great contribution to educational
scenario. It helps teacher to easily recognize and classify the weak areas of a student. As it helps
in classification of learning, another theory helps in classification of learner.
Multiple Intelligence Theorem
MI theory helps in classification of learner according to their different types of intelligence. The
theory of multiple intelligences was developed by Dr. Howard Gardner. It suggests that the
traditional notion of intelligence, based on I.Q. testing, is far too limited. Instead, Dr. Gardner

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proposes eight different intelligences to account for a broader range of human potential in
children and adults. These intelligences are:
• Linguistic intelligence (“word smart”):
• Logical-mathematical intelligence (“number/ reasoning smart”)
• Spatial intelligence (“picture smart”)
• Bodily-Kinesthetic intelligence (“body smart”)
• Musical intelligence (“music smart”)
• Interpersonal intelligence (“people smart”)
• Intrapersonal intelligence (“self smart”)
• Naturalist intelligence (“nature smart”)
In educational psychology and practice it was a great development. Prior to him, people gave
importance only to logical or linguistic intelligence. For instance only those people got esteem of
public who were highly articulate or who were logical. Particularly, in classroom teacher ignored
all other types of intelligence and emphasized on linguistic or logical interpretation. Drawback
of this was that student who were gifted with other types of intelligence were either ignored or
considered ‘dull’. The theory helps teacher to addressing maximum levels of understandings.
This theory has a broad scope in language learning process.
MI Theory in English Language Learning:
Through different kinds of activity almost every kind of intelligence can be addressed. If a
teacher is having difficulty reaching a student in the more traditional linguistic or logical ways of
instruction, the theory of multiple intelligences suggests several other ways in which the
material might be presented to facilitate effective learning. Whatever teacher is teaching, he
should see, how can be connect it with words, numbers, pictures, music, self-reflection, any
physical experience, any social experience, or with natural world.
For instance, let’s suppose lesson theme that is to be taught to second language learners at
beginner’s level is “Helpers.” The key vocabulary items are the names of community helpers
(firefighter, police officer, traffic warden, postman, doctor, nurse), the names of vehicles they
use and their places of work. The target structure to be used is Present Simple, with third person
singular.
A whole set of activities can be designed for the purpose. Let’s say take a start with an
educational trip to the fire station, police station, city council and post office, around the city.
First of all this will give them a direct natural and interpersonal experience of learning.
Secondly, the students will produce an essay, “My Personal Account of Trip”. This will address
two more levels: verbal and intrapersonal intelligence. Thirdly, they will prepare a picture album
with title “Our Helpers”. In album they will paste different pictures of doctor, nurse, firefighters,
postman etc, with their captions and with description in a few words. For example under the
photo of nurse description will be “A nurse cares patients”. So this activity will address spatial
intelligence as well as linguistic one. Fourthly, to address musical intelligence, any light song
about ‘Helpers’ can be produced. The whole class will sing the song. Fifthly, to address
mathematical intelligence, learner can be asked to list the ‘helpers’ they have met and give them
number in words along with in digits. Sixthly, learner will play roles of different helpers to
address kinesthetic intelligence. So in this way all eight intelligence can be addressed.
One great benefit of these theories of style of learning and levels of intelligence is that these
gives learner more importance who actually is the most important part of teaching/learning
process. On the other hand these theories help teachers in understanding their students and to
easily identify their problems and mental levels. Both the theories i.e., Bloom’s ‘Cognitive
Domain’ and Gardner’s MI theory have brought educational psychology out from clinics and
research centers into practice.

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The Conclusion
There are two main different streams of theories. One flows with the waves of behaviorist
psychologist whereas the other runs with the tides of cognitive scientists. Former observes
environmental stimulus as crucial factor but later declares ‘mental process’ as central feature.
However, both the streams are combined at the channel of the constructivists’ who, according to
Dr. Joseph Anthony, suggest “A Cognitive-Behavioral Approach”. In all this flood of theories,
two separate tides of Cognitive Domain and of MI theory make their distinction by serving two
purposes respectively : by categorization of he different kinds of learning, and by identification
of different types of learner. Due to these developments, language learning process has
remained no more subject to theories or methods but now it gives its attention to the learner. It
focuses on learner, revolves around learner, thus it has become learner-centered.
Biological Evidence for Innate Language Capacity
The qualitative growth of language till now has been a unique hallmark of humans. Language
seems to arise according to an inlaid biological time clock. Children, all over the world, normally
start speaking almost at the same time: between their 18th and 28th month. To provide an
unaltering and a patent evidence about an innate inlaid programming of language in humans is
although a colossal task because language is such a complex phenomenon, still it does not deter
us from making a hypothesis: language in humans is a preplanned innate program. A few factors
seem to recommend the presence of a biological set up in humans for innate language capacity.
These factors may stand as biological evidence for an innate language acquisition. Let us
examine them in detail.
It is usually believed that when an animal has some innate behavior, it should give some
biological clues about it. Physiology is an authentic branch of biology so let us first see if any
kind of physiological adaptation of the organs of speech is exclusive to humans. On examination,
it seems as if partial adaptation is there.
The organs of speech are involved in planning, processing and producing speech. In humans,
they show certain differences from other species. These organs are the mouth, the tongue, the
teeth, the vocal cords, larynx, the lungs and the brain. Their structural adaptations are as under:
Human lips are thick-muscled and the shape of the mouth is quite plastic and variable, which
can be rapidly opened and shut. The human lips have a muscular system that is more intricate
than the primates. The mouth’s variable size is planned to be rather small for supporting good
articulation. In chimps and other animals, it is quite large to support hunting but not speech.
The human tongue is also thick-muscled and not thin like chimps and birds, the shape that
impedes stressed speech. Thick tongue helps in articulating a number of sounds like //, /dз/,
/t /, /z/ and /j/. Thin tongue cannot rest upon itself to produce these stressed sounds. Again,
the teeth are quite distinguishable from other species. They are precisely placed, placed together
and go like a barrier for the air stream coming out of the lungs. Each set of teeth, the upper and
lower, gets set into each other and is not indented outwards. The indented shape of teeth in
animals cannot support firm articulation.
The examination of human mouth cavity shows as if it is biologically designed to meet the needs
of speech production. But, of course, only this cannot stand as a quite approved and ultimate
evidence of an innate language capacity therefore we move on to downward analysis.
The larynx is unlike animals in its simple structure. It shows streamlining when compared to
that of the primates. Biologically, streamlining and simplification often indicates specialization
for some purpose. So this may be an adaptation to speech production. In lungs, we witness a
finely balanced respiratory system. Usually, breathing is accelerated when a person pants and
one may faint due to this increased rate yet during speech production, people can go on talking

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without any peculiar discomfort. The rate of inhalation while speaking is increased and that of
Exhalation is reduced. This adjustment is not learnt but natural. It also stands as a biological
adaptation for language.
Critchley quotes Oliver Wendell Holmes praising the sophisticated adaptation for speech in
humans:
‘What a curious thing speech is! The tongue is so serviceable a member (taking all sorts of
shapes just as it is wanted)––the teeth, the lips, the roof of the mouth, all ready to help; and so
heap up the sounds of the voice into the solid hits which we call consonants, and make room for
the curiously shaped breathings which we call words.’
The brain is a very crucial organ in processing speech. The human cortex or the gray matter is
quite thicker than other animals and it appears reasonable to suggest that a high brain-body
ratio is favorable for speech production, still the factor is not always confirmed in every animal.
A camel cannot produce speech like a human even when it is more huge than human. Likewise a
non-cephalic human and chimp, having the same brain-body ratio, are different in language
production. The dwarf speaks while a chimp does not. This again shows that language is like
innate and exclusive to humans.
We shall have to examine the brain’s working in detail to comprehend its function in language
processing. Many researches show that the hemispheres, the two halves of the brain, function
identically in animals while in humans a considerable difference is seen in their functioning.
Unlike animals, one of the hemispheres shows a high function in language production. Mostly, it
is the left hemisphere. Moreover, the right hemisphere controls the left side of the body and the
left hemisphere, the right side. This was first discovered by Marc Dax in 1836 that the paralysis
of the right side of the body incurs speech loss while the left-side paralysis does not affect
speech. This discovery also recommends that usually the left hemisphere controls not only the
right side of the body but speech as well. It indicates functional difference in both hemispheres.
This difference is also indicated by Barbiturate (Sodium amytal) Test, Dichotic Listening Test
and Electrodiagnosis. This brain asymmetry develops gradually but even in fetus development,
some neurologists found traces of future left hemisphere dominance. It shows as if the
physiology of the brain is altered in humans to support language acquisition.
The breathing adaptation, neuromuscular sequencing, comprehension and fine balance of
different processes during speech points toward another biological evidence. The multiplicity of
the integrative processes, which operates during speech production, is usually not possible in
many other processes. For example, patting one’s head and rubbing one’s stomach cannot take
place simultaneously. But during speech production the coordination of different processes is so
intense we can feel language might be innately programmed to take place.
Different experiments have shown that only human brain has been able to achieve ‘semanticity’
and structural development of language. The animals that were given crash training to speak
could not come to the point of clear articulation and semantic usage of language in spite of
providing many years of language-enriched environment. Here I shall give reference of certain
experiments that were carried out on different animals.
All these experiments showed that these animals might differ in their capacity to learn language,
as chimps seem to be better than others at acquiring a limited amount of language. In spite of
their ability to learn to speak to a limited extent, they gave biological evidence in favor of the
human brain. They showed that only the human brain possesses the unique capacity to process
language up to a sophisticated and intricate level. Chimps are not physiologically capable of
uttering speech sounds that humans can utter.
Let us touch upon another very important factor, which might stand as biological evidence on
the innate capacity of language in humans. Biologically, if any behavior shows following

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features, it is supposed to be innate:

• The behavior emerges before it is necessary
• The emergence of the behavior is involuntary. No conscious decision is made for its emergence
• The above said emergence of the behavior is not triggered by external events
• There is a ‘critical period’ for the acquisition of this behavior
• Direct teaching and intense practice has very little effect
• The behavior progresses through certain ‘milestones’. We can say that it is sequenced.
Let us see whether language shows these features or not:
With reference to the above said points, we see that language also emerges before it is necessary.
Even when their parents still fend for them, babies start speaking. It is called ‘law of anticinatory
maturation’. Without any inborn mechanism speech might develop in babies when their parents
left them to fend for themselves. It would emerge at different times in different cultures but we
can see that the emergence of speech takes place almost at the same time in all the babies.
Secondly, a child does not decide consciously, ‘Tomorrow I shall start speaking.’ Starting
uttering words is quite unconscious. This is quite different from the decision of jumping from a
high place, which has to be consciously decided. So language shows the second characteristic of
an innate behavior as well.
Thirdly, children start to talk even when their external environment remains unchanged. They
remain in the same house and the same place. Here, it must not be mingled with the fact that
rich linguistic environment helps the child toward a far better progress. It is because any
biologically programmed behavior does not develop in impoverished or unnatural surroundings.
Fourthly, all the analyses of language acquisition show that there is a certain time period in
which the acquisition is on the peak, after which it slows down. We shall not go into the reasons
of its slowing down. The same critical period is said to be working in children getting even two
mother tongues at the same time equally effectively. The end of this critical period works in
adults who do not prove to be very good at learning a second language.
Fifthly, many experiments show that direct teaching and giving forced practice only hinders the
way of a child towards good learning performance. The language takes its natural course
towards its development. It indicates that language is naturally programmed. And if it is
naturally programmed, it is innate.
Sixthly, language acquisition is a sequenced behavior. A baby has to pass through certain
milestones till he gets the language fully. At first, it starts crying, then cooing that remains for
about 6 weeks. Then babbling starts and lasts for 6 months. After 2 months, intonation patterns
arise, which lasts for about 2 months. 1-Word utterances are followed by 2-words utterances and
last till the child is of 18 months. At the age of 5 years, children start producing rare and complex
structures. And it is at 10 years of age that mature speech begins. Though this is an approximate
age-schedule but the order of the events is the same.
The physiological and behavioral factors discussed above show to a very great extent that
language is biologically programmed behavior and so it is innate. Lenneberg says:
‘There is in fact, no evidence that any conscious and systematic teaching of language takes place,
just as there is no special training /or ‘stance or gait ‘.
Factors Affecting Foreign Language Learning
Plenty of observation has made it clear that FL learning is different from mother tongue
acquisition. Although one can learn two mother tongues equally well simultaneously, FL does
not seem to follow the same mode of learning. There must be then a number of factors that
affect this learning and an overview might help us in getting an insight into what we can do to
overcome these factors. We shall analyze the following in this regard:
• Aptitude

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• Motivation
• Needs
• Age
• Personality
• Learning strategies
• Influence of mother tongue
Aptitude
Let us first see how aptitude affects the FL learning:
As teachers, we must have seen many a times that a few students in every session seem fairly
better at language acquisition than the other ones. We assign to them a quality that they possess
a good language learning potential, which differs from individual to individual. It follows that
people are not identical in their capability to learn a foreign language. This language learning
potential is actually the language aptitude’. It is the same element that can determine the
success or failure of a FL learner. Whether their aptitude is a product of the innate abilities or
previous learning experience does not matter. Neither influence, we suppose, is reversible so
every person has a permanent and stable level up to which he can learn a foreign language.
Here, it should be remembered that aptitude is a factor more concerned with FL learning. It is
because mother tongue seems to develop through one’s innate abilities.
To measure this aptitude, researches have developed two important language tests. This
measure can give us a piece of information doubt the future performance of a learner,
beforehand. It seems reasonable to expect that any test that succeed in providing such a
prediction would point towards the psychological components a language learning ability.
There are two existing language tests, both developed in the united states:
1. Modren Language Aptitude Test (MLA] ) developed by Caroll and Sapon.
2. Language Aptitude Battery (LAB) developed by Pimsleur
Now we can get an idea out of what has been said above that language aptitude is an important
factor that can have serious effects on FL learning. A learner, who possesses an active and good
aptitude, would naturally show diligent learning while a learner with a less active aptitude is
expected to find hurdles in his way through language learning. That is why language aptitude
tests are given a lot of significance before starting FL teaching.
We would definitely like to see how the tests work. Let us have an overview:
The MLAT in the beginning had 25 variables to determine language aptitude. The 20 variables,
on seeing that they did not offer a good prediction, were dropped and 5 of them selected to
develop MLAT. This test works through the following factors:
• Learning artificial numbering
• Working on a phonetic script
• Vocabulary test containing not illogical but strangely spelt words
• Identifying similar grammatical words in different sentences
• The ease of learning based on the pairs of words in English and Kurdish
After MLAT, Pimsleur’s LAB was again a good predictor of success and failure in FL leaning.
LAB works through the following factors:
• Vocabulary in the mother tongue
• Construction of new analogous sentences
• Ability to discriminate sounds of new language
• Testing sound––symbol relationship
• Measuring pupil’s declared interest in language learning on a scale of 1–5
An analysis of LAB tells us that the first four factors are purely linguistic and the last one is non-
linguistic but can show an important degree of language learning aptitude. The difference

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between MLAT and LAB is that the earlier of the two contains only linguistic sub-tests whereas
the second one probes into a non-linguistic measure as well. It makes LAB a better predictor
than MLAT. A general analysis of the Grade Point Average is also taken into account these days.
Thus, language aptitude becomes a very significant factor that affects performance of foreign
language learners.
Motivation
Motivation, like aptitude, is a factor much concerned with second language learning. The reason
of not associating it to first language acquisition is that L1 acquisition is thought to be a
maturational process, in which motivation and aptitude seem to have no place. The psychology
of first language gives a few points about motivation in second language learning as well. The
two Soviet psychologists, Luria and Vygotsky describe the psychology very explicitly in an
acceptable way:
It is through speech that a child learns to organize his perception and to regulate his behavior
and mental activities. Faced with problems and needs, the child will in his early years merely
look for outside assistance and language will have the function of obtaining this assistance for
him. Then will come a stage in which the child spends a lot of time talking to himself or to
anyone who cares to listen in his first efforts to find solutions to his needs himself. Finally, the
external speech is internalized, so that the child’s behavior is no longer simply a response to
external stimuli but has come under the control of his thought processes. It is the environment
that is controlled by the child rather than the other way round.
The parallel between the above said situation and that of learning an alternate language does not
abound. In learning L2, a learner does not need the second language for regulating his manners
or behavior. His modes of’ behavior are already set in the culture of his L1. He is not ‘forced
mentally’ to acquire a language but possesses only a desire of learning L2. He may be motivated
to influence the outer environment according to his needs. The greater the motivation, the
greater the success. This is where the only means available to exercise control over events and
people outside himself, is the foreign language. If to satisfy his needs, to influence the actions
and thoughts of others to pursue his occupation and his recreation, it is necessary to use a
foreign language, then he will learn the foreign language more rapidly and effectively. These
circumstances will normally arise if the learner is living in the country where a foreign language
is as important functionally as the learner’s L1 in his own country. So the learner would be
highly motivated to learn the alternate language. If immigrants find themselves, even in the
foreign land, in a situation where most of their needs can be met in their mother tongue, they
would be less motivated to learn L2. Motivation can be of two kinds:
• INTEGRATIVE MOTIVATION
• INSTRUMENTAL MOTIVATION
The reason of learning may be numberless. People are motivated for different reasons. Those
who want to learn a language to achieve some other goal are called instrumental learners. Some
of the like reasons are mentioned below:
1. To pass an exam that is important.
2. To utilize the language at one’s job place.
3. To go for a holiday to the area of 1,2.
4. To get the entertainment that is being continuously induced.
5. Under the instruction of school.
Such a learner uses the language as an instrument to get his target.
In integrative motivation, language is itself an end into it. We considered them better motivated
than the instrumental learners because research has shown that integrative learners are the
most successful. The reasons of integrative motivation may be such like:

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1. That one wants to know about how the native speakers of the foreign language live or what
kind of culture they own.
2. That one is expected to live in the country concerned.
3. That one wants to be conversant with the native speakers.
Age
Age factor is different from aptitude and motivation. Age is inverse-proportional to language
learning capability therefore it is a variable and unlike aptitude and motivation, which are more
or less permanent. It plays a very important role in L1 acquisition as well. After the passage of
the ‘critical period’, it becomes hard to acquire a language fully well. In learning L2m age factor
is extremely functional as a barrier because the set of behavior is already adjusted according to
one’s culture. Researches have shown that children are all the better able to acquire L1 and L2
than adults. Let us go into its detail:
Many sources have shown if children are exposed to two mother tongues, they become
ambilingual; they can use both languages and each without being distinguishable from the
native speakers. On the other hand, adult immigrants, who have acquired their first language
cannot remove traces of L1 in their communication. This points toward age factor working as a
barrier behind it. The capacity to master a new language is gradually reduced along with
increasing age. Many adult learners remain at the primary level of their speech in second
language.
Evidence of a boundary between child and adult learner, is also provided by neurophysiology.
Penfield and Roberts have argued on the basis of their study of speech mechanisms that the
neurological evidence is in favor of language instruction beginning at an early age. ‘I he brain’s
motor skills are associated with the left hemisphere and if it is damaged only children can
transfer the motor skills to the other hemisphere. They also argue that the brain has a certain
sort of plasticity at a young age, which is lost when one becomes an adult. That is why the
articulatory skills cannot be perfectly acquired at a later age. These ideas are expressed by these
neurophysiologists in Speech and brain Mehanisms.
It is also observed that children can adopt a new sound system better than adults. That’s why it
is now preferred to start teaching a foreign language at the primary level. Inhibition also plays
the part of obstruction in adults acquiring a new pronunciation. Children usually enjoy imitation
and repetition, which is needed in this process. They are less self-conscious and ethnocentric.
Though these factors are to a great extent operant, still exceptions can be found. If adults face a
difficulty in getting a new language, they are also better off to tackle the troubles that arise on
way. It takes us to another realm of a factor that might be functional in acquiring a foreign
language.
Personality
Personality of a learner is also significant in learning a foreign language. An introvert learner is
usually very self-conscious and due to this inhibition, he cannot take the desired advantage of
teacher’s instructions. Imitation is much needed in learning a language, which may not be well
met by an introvert. A confident learner talks about his problems openly and gets them solved.
Still, we should remember that research labels this factor as less functional in language learning.
Learning Strategies
Good and active learners are those who are apt to adopt different learning strategies. He should
be ready to change his active knowledge into passive one. For example, he should try to use a
newly gained item into sentences and look for opportunities in which he can be conversant in
the target language. Switching on to the programs in the target language also helps. Successful
learners do not feel shy at making mistakes as they are predictors of how the learning is going.
Influence of Mother Tongue

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Mother tongue, for an adult, impedes the way to a thorough teaming of a foreign language. It is
because his mind is already caught in the mazes of the first language so L1 interferes with the
operation of a new language. The previous grammatical system and pronunciation affects the
new one. Often, many adults cannot speak and hear new sounds. They seem to filter out the new
sounds from their hearing because they have been using the systems of the previous language
for a long time and so they become accustomed of it.
Let us now see how much functional these factors arc in our local environment. English is a
significant foreign language in our locality. In Pakistan, it is mostly used among people who
wish to go for higher education or immigration. In other situations, it is usually not given the
attention it needs. “That is why the factors of less aptitude and age can be seen to lay the worse
effects.

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SocioLinguistics - A Study of Language and Society

Language is a social-cultural-geographical phenomenon. There is a deep relationship between

language and society. It is in society that man acquires and uses language. When we study a
language which is an abstraction of abstractions, a system of systems, we have to study its
further abstractions such as dialects, sociolects, idiolects, etc. That is why we have to keep in
mind the geographical area in which this language is spoken, the culture and the society in
which it is used, the speakers who use it, the listeners for whom it is used, and the purpose for
which it is used, besides the linguistic components that compose it. Only then can our study of a
language be complete and comprehensive.
So we must look at language not only from within but also from without; we should study
language from the points of view of both form and functions. Socio-linguistics is the study of
speech functions according to the speaker, the hearer, their relationship and contact, the context
and the situation, the topic of discourse, the purpose of discourse, and the form of discourse. An
informal definition of socio-linguistics suggested by a linguist is that it is the study of : ‘Who can
say what how, using what means, to whom and why.” It studies the causes and consequences
of linguistic behaviour in human societies; it is concerned with the function of language, and
studies language from without.
Socio-linguistics is a fascinating and challenging field of linguistics. It studies the ways in which
language interacts with society. It is the study of the way in which the structure of a language
changes in response to its different social functions, and the definition of what these functions
are. ‘Society, here is to cover a spectrum of phenomena to do with race, nationality, more
restricted regional, social and political groups, and the interactions of individuals within groups.
Different labels have sometimes been suggested to cover various parts of this spectrum.
ETHNOLINGUISTICS is sometimes distinguished from the rest, referring to the linguistic
correlates and problems of ethnic groups—illustrated at a practical level by the linguistic
consequences of immigration; there is a language side to race relations. The term
ANTHROPOLOGICAL LINGUISTICS is sometimes distinguished from ‘sociological linguistics’,
depending on one’s particular views as to the validity or otherwise of a distinction between
anthropology and sociology in the first place (for example, the former studying primitive
cultures, the latter studying more ‘advanced’ political units; but this distinction is not
maintained by many others). ‘Stylistics’ is another label which is sometimes distinguished,
referring to the study of the distinctive linguistic characteristics of smaller social groupings. But
more usually, stylistics refers to the study of the literary expression of a community using
language. Socio linguistics gradually merges into ethno-linguistics, anthropological linguistics,
stylistics and the subject-matter of psychology.
Broadly speaking, however, the study of language as part of culture and society has now
commonly been accepted asSociolingustics. But there are also some other expressions which
have been used at one time or another, including ‘the sociology of language’, ‘social linguistics’,
‘institutional linguistics’, ‘anotheropological linguistics’, ‘linguistic anthropology’,
‘ethnolinguistics’, the ‘ethnography of communication’, etc.
The kinds of problems which are faced by the sociolinguist are: the problems of communities
which develop a standard language, and the reactions of minority groups to this (as in Belgium,

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India, Pakistan or Wales); the problems of people who have to be educated to linguistic level
where they can cope with the demands of a variety of social situations; the problems of
communication which exist between nations or groups using a different language, which affects
their ‘world-view’ (for example the problem of popularizing Russian among the nations which
are friendly to Russia); the problems caused by linguistic change in response to social factors;
the problems caused or solved by bilingualism or multilingualism. By this however, we do not
mean that socio-linguistics can or does solve all such problems as stated above. Yet it can
identify precisely what the problems are and provide information about the particular
manifestation of a problem in a given area, so that possible solutions can thereby be found out
or expedited. Furthermore, problems related to interference, code-switching or dialect-
switching can be successfully handled by socio-linguistics. But the success of socio-linguistics
ultimately depends upon ‘pure linguistics’.
The scope of socio-linguistics, therefore, is the interaction of language and various sociologically
definable variables such as social class, specific social situation, status and roles of
speakers/hearers, etc. As J.B. Pride says, socio-linguistics is not simply ‘amalgam of linguistics
and sociology (or indeed of linguistics and any other of the social sciences)’. It incorporates, in
principle at least, every aspect of the structure and use of language that relates to its social and
cultural functions. Hence there seems no real conflict between the socio-linguistics and the
psycho-linguistic approach to language. Both these views should be reconciled ultimately.
Linguisticians like John Lyons and cognitive psychologists likeCampbell and Wales advocate the
necessity of widening the notion of competence to take account of a great deal of what might be
called the ‘social context’ of speech.
Language Variation
Language with its different varieties is the subject matter of socio-linguistics. Socio-linguistics
studies the varied linguistic realizations of socio-cultural meanings which in a sense are both
familiar and unfamiliar and the occurrence of everyday social interactions which are
nevertheless relative to particular cultures, societies, social groups, speech communities,
languages, dialects, varieties, styles. That is why language variation generally forms a part of
socio-linguistic study.
Language can vary, not only from one individual to the next, but also from one sub-section of
speech-community (family, village, town, region) to another. People of different age, sex, social
classes, occupations, or cultural groups in the same community will show variations in their
speech. Thus language varies in geographical and social space. variability in a social dimension
is called sociolectical. According to socio-linguists, a language is code. There exist varieties
within the code. And the factors that cause language variation can be summarized in the
following manner:
Nature of participants, their relationship(socio-economic, sexual, occupational, etc.
Number of participants (two face-to-face, one addressing a large audience, etc.)
Role of participants (teacher/student priest / parishioner /father/son/husband/wife, etc.)
Function of speech event (persuasion, request for information ritual, verbal, etc.)
Nature of medium (speech, writing, scripted speech, speech reinforced by gesture, etc.)
Genere of discourse (scientific, experiment, sport, art, religion, etc.)

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Physical setting (noisy / quiet / public / private / family / formal/familiar/unfamiliar, etc.

Language Varieties
Language varies from region to region, class to class, profession to profession, person to person,
and even situation to situation. Socio-linguistics tends to describe these variations in language
with reference to their relationship with society. It shows that the relationship between language
variation and society is rather a systematic relationship. It manifests that there are four major
social factors involve in this variation: socio-economic status, age, gender, and ethnic
background of the user or users of language. Due to all these four factors language differs on
four levels chiefly:
1. Phonological Level
2. Lexical Level
3. Syntax Level
4. Discourse Level
In other words, variation within a language with reference to its use or user can be defined in
terms of ‘difference of linguistic items’. R. A. Hudson in his Sociolinguistics manifests:
“What makes a language variety different from another is linguistic items that it
includes, so we may define a variety of language as a set of linguistic items with similar
social distribution”.
So, to describe language varieties, on one side there are linguistic items and on the other there is
‘social distribution’. Let’s take two different social classes for example: Middle Class and
Working Class. Language of Working Class is different form that of Middle Class. The choice of
vocabulary of one class is quite different from the other. Middle class uses more adjective,
adverbs and impersonal pronouns. Whereas Working class uses active and simple words and
here is lesser use of adjective, adverbs and impersonal pronouns. Lower class speech (restricted
code) is more direct with simple grammatical construction in contrast with middle class speech
(elaborated code). If a person wants to ask for the cake placed on table, person of working class
may ask another person: “shove those buns mate”. A middle class person will say the same thing
in rather different way: “Please pass the cake”
In the following, six major language verities will be discussed, namely: Idiolect, Register,
Diglossia, Pidgin, Lingua Francaand Esperanto. Besides this, it will also be observed that
how a language variety differs from another closely related variety. For instance, what is
difference between Idiolect and sociolect? How register differs from dialect? What makes
distinguish pidgin from other varieties?
Idiolect:
Every person have some differences with people around him. From eating habits to dressing,
everyone has some quite unique feature. The same is the case with individual language use.
Every individual have some idiosyncratic linguistic features in his or her use of language. These
personal linguistic features are known as Idiolect. David crystal in his Dictionary of Linguistics
and phonetics defines Idiolect as:
“[Idolect] refers to Linguistic system of an individual—one’s personal dialect”.

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This ‘linguistic system’ can be described in terms of personal choice of vocabulary, grammatical
structures, and individual style of pronunciation. In other words idiolect refers to a person’s
individual phonology, syntax and lexicon.
For instance some individuals use lower pitch and some other speak with higher pitch. Some are
in habit of speaking with harder tone and it feels as if they are speaking with anger, even though
they are speaking ‘sweetly’ on their side. Similarly, some individual’s use their nasal cavity, more
than their vocal cord, in their production of sound and listener feels as some sharp whistle is
blowing.
The best example of particular choice of vocabulary is individual use of ‘catch phrases’. Most
frequent among these are “I say”, “I mean”, “do you understand?” and “what do you think?”
Some catch phrases are rather interesting and their use becomes cause of amusement. For
example a student at my university is in habit of using “Bhai” with every third or fourth
sentence. Once his audience was a girl instead of boy. When he said “Bhai, main explain kar
raha thaa...”. The girl corrected him and said “bhai nahi bhan!” and he promptly replied, “Oh
bhai, I mean...”
In this way a person’s speech is distinguished from other individuals and form any speech
community. Idiolect is a minor speech variety than sociolect, which is used by any social class.
Idiolect varies with individual whereas sociolect varies with class defined on socio-economic
bases. Idiolect, sociolect and dialect are the varieties which depend on their user. However,
there is another scheme of language varieties distinguishing from one and another in term of
their use rather than user. Register is one of them.
Register:
Human beings are not static. Their thinking, choice, and behavior vary according to need and
situation. As they adapt their behavior according to the situation, they adapt their language. This
adaptation of language according to situation, context and purpose forms a language variety that
is called ‘Register’. David Crystal defines Register as:
“A variety of language defined according to its use in a social situation”.
Language of individual varies from situation to situation. At some occasions people talk very
formally, on some other occasions they talk technically as well as formally. At some other
occasion they become informal yet technical and some times informal and non-technical.
Following is the example of all these ‘levels of formalities’:
Formal technical: “We obtained some sodium chloride.”
Formal non-technical: “We obtained some salt.”
Informal technical: “We got some sodium chloride.”
Informal non-technical: “We got some salt.”
There are two other levels: Slang, and vulgar. Question is that why a person adopts these
different levels of formalities? Halliday tries to describe it in terms of ‘three dimensions’.
Michael Halliday in his Language as Social Semiotic defines register as “A complex scheme of
communicative behaviour”. He observes that this scheme of behaviour has three dimensions:
Field, Tenor, and Mode. These three dimensions determine speaker’s choice of ‘linguistic items’.

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Field implies why and about what the communication is? In simple, what is the purpose and
subject matter of communication? For example, a doctor’s communication with other doctors
will be containing more medical terminology i.e., he will be using medical register.
The same doctor will communicate with his patient in as simple language as possible. So the
patient is ‘Tenor’ that means to whom the communication is being done. Other example of
determination of speech by ‘Tenor’ is the difference of a person’s communication with a teacher
than with a friend.
Mode is the means of communication. If the mode of communication is letter, its language will
be different from direct conversation. If it is an essay, its language will be differing from that of
letter even though written about the same topic.
‘Register’ as a language variety differs from dialect_ sociolect and idiolect. These differences are:

Register Dialect

Register is a language Dialect is language variety

variety according to use according
to user

It may be related to any It may be related to any

particular profession or region or social class
situation

It shows what the user of It shows who the user is.

language is doing.

Register is a set of Dialect is a set of linguistic

particular linguistic items items to be used by people
to be used in a particular of particular area or class.
situation

Up till now the different variations within a language were being dealt but there are certain
situations where two or more languages are used which causes such variations that are beyond
the range of one language. One of these variations is known as pidgin. There is a situation in
which two or more languages are used with in a society. That is known as ‘Diglossia’. Let’s
discuss the situation.
Diglossia:
Diglossia is not a language variety but a ‘linguistic situation’ where more than one languages are
used. In English language, term Diglossia was introduced by Charles Ferguson. He used this
term to refer to those societies where two very different varieties of the same language were
being used. He said:
“Diglossia is a relatively stable language situation in which, in addition to the primary
dialect of the language (which may include standard or regional standards), there is very
highly codified (often grammatically complex) superposed variety.”

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In Ferguson’s theory that society is ‘diglossic’ where two ‘divergent’ varieties of the same
language are used, out of which one is ‘highly codified’. Arabic speaking countries are the best
examples of ‘Diglossia’. Throughout the Arabic peninsula there are two varieties of Arabic
language in use: Classical Arabic, and Vernaculars. Classical Arabic, which is based on the
Qur’anic language, is highly codified and complex and has stable grammatical structure since
The Holy Qur’an is revealed. This language is ‘Lingua Franca’ of Arabic Peninsula and is being
taught in schools and also the language of media. Every one has to learn this variety especially
and not acquired “by being born in right kind of family”. Everywhere in diglossic society,
vernaculars are used for daily routine conversation. Other examples of diglossic societies
areGreece, where high variety is Katharevousa and low is Dhimotiki, and German
speakingSwitzerland with Hochdeutsch as a high and Schweizerdeutsch as a low variety of those
same languages.
It is obvious from Ferguson’s definition that only that society was considered diglossic where
two varieties, one high and another low, of the same language were used. However, later on,
Joshua Fishman, extend the term to that society where two different languages are used.
According to this extension almost all societies become diglossic society.
Ferguson also purposed that there is a strong tendency to give one language higher status or
prestige and reserve it for specific occasion and purposes. According to this notion, Pakistani
society is strongly a diglossic society where there are not two but three languages exist with
different status. In Punjab for example, Punjabi is used at personal level, Urdu is used on social
level and English is ‘reserved’ for high formal occasions. The existence of different languages in a
society provides them to emerge into each other and sometimes results into a new mixture of
languages that is called Pidgin.
Pidgin:
Pidgin is an ‘odd mixture’ of two languages which cannot be said a divergent variety of ‘a
language’ but of two or more languages. Here languages mixed up oddly that from morphemes
to sentence structure every thing reduces and mingles strangely. David crystal defines pidgin as:
“A language with a markedly reduced grammatical structure, lexicon, and stylistic range,
compared with other languages, and which is native language of non…and are formed by
two mutually unintelligible speech communities attempting to communicate.”
The vocabulary of a pidgin comes mainly from one particular language called the “lexifier”. An
early “pre-pidgin” is quite restricted in use and variable in structure. But the later “stable pidgin”
develops its own grammatical rules which are quite different from those of the lexifier. These
names of pidgins themselves reflect how the vocabulary emerges: chinglish “Chinese English”
or engrish “English Chinese” [Link]. However it becomes more complex with the
passage of time.
Since pidgin emerges out of practical need of communication between two different language
communities having no greater language to interact, it is also called ‘contact language’. R.
A. Hudson in his Sociolinguistics states:
“Pidgin is a variety especially created for the purpose of communication with some other
group, and not used by any community for communication among themselves.”

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So pidgin is out come of interaction between two entirely different ‘speech communities’. It
develops because neither of the communities ‘learns’ the language of others due to different
reasons.
Sometimes practically it is impossible to learn either of the languages so quickly and there is
strong need of interaction, as for business purposes or immediate political needs.
Most of the present pidgins have developed in European colonies. A few examples are: Hawaii
Creole English, AAVE, Papiamentu “Geordie Cameroon Pidgin Krio “Singlish” Tok Pisin,
Bislama. Out of these, many have developed as Creoles.
Major difference between pidgin and Creole is that former has no native speakers but later has.
In fact, when any pidgin is acquired by children of any community it becomes Creole. At that
time it develops its new structures and vocabulary. In other words when a pidgin becomes
‘lingua franca’ it is called Creole.
An old example of pidgin, that later developed into creol, was “lingua franca”. It referred to a
mix of mostly Italian with a broad vocabulary drawn from Turkish, Persian, French, Greek and
Arabic. This mixed language was used for communication throughout the medieval and early
modern Middle East as a diplomatic language. Term “lingua franca” has since become common
for any language used by speakers of different languages to communicate with one another.
Lingua Franca:
Lingua franca is any inter-language used beyond its native speakers for that sake of
communication between the speech communities having different languages. David Crystal
defines it as:
“An auxiliary language used to enable routine communication to take place between
groups of people who speak different native languages”.
Term ‘lingua franca’ is an old one and its origin is Italian means “Frankish language”. It was
derived from the medieval Arab Muslim use of “Franks” mean ancient Germanic people. The
Muslims used it as a generic term for Europeans during the period of the Crusades. Formerly,
the term refered to an old pidgin, mixture of Italian, Turkish, Arabic, Persian, Greek and French.
This pidgin was widely used in the Mediterranean area from the 14th century or earlier and still
in use in the 20th century. This language served as diplomatic and trade language. However,
now this term refers to any language that serves to communicate between different larger speech
communities.
There are many languages which have served as ‘Lingua Franca’ during the course of history.
For instance, during the domination of Roman Empire, lingua franca was Latin in the East and
Greek in the west. With the rise of the Arab Muslims, Arabic became lingua franca in the East
from South Asia to North Africa and even western part of southern Europe. Persian also have
enjoyed this status around 15th century till 19th century in Indian-subcontinent and Centeral
Asia. Until the late-19th and early-20th centuries, Classical Chinese served as both a lingua
franca and diplomatic language for Far East Asia, used by China,Korea, Japan, the Ryukyus,
and Vietnam in interstate communications. In Europe, From 18th century till World War II,
French worked as interlingua among European nations. And now English has occupied this
place and is serving as diplomatic and commerce language around the globe.

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Esperanto:
The idea of a universal language is at least as old as the Biblical story of Babel and its fall. In
the 18th century, some rationalist natural philosophers sought to recover the Edenic language
that was confused in the city of Babel. Gottfried Leibniz, 18th century German rationalist
philosopher, marked many elements relating to the possibility of universal language in his work.
Later on, many scholars and philosophers worked on this idea. Some stressed on finding the
most ancient language assuming that it would be closer to the Edenic whereas some other
stressed on ‘planning’ a ‘universal language’ considering the most common structures of human
languages. The major practical out come was the development of Esperanto.
Esperanto is a planned language intended for use between people who speak different native
languages. This artificial language was invented in 1887 by a Polish physician Dr. L. L.
Zamenhof. It is based on roots common to the chief European languages with endings
standardized. Dr. Zamenhof rejected other European languages such as French, German,
English because they were difficult to learn as second language and due to strong nationalism
any nation will not learn the language of other as a superior one. He also rejected ancient
languages, Greek and Latin, for they were far more complex than the modern languages. Thus
he purposed his planned language, Esperanto. Two basic advantages of this artificial language
were claimed:
· It is a neutral language, being the property of no particular group of people and
therefore the equal property of everybody.
· It is relatively easy to learn. It would appear from personal experience and anecdotal
evidence that, for an English speaker, Esperanto is perhaps five times as easy to learn as
Spanish, ten times as easy as Russian, and “considerably” easier than Chinese, and
Japanese.
Esperanto has, as claimed by Esperantists, a number of features that make it relatively easy to
learn:
· A regular and phonetic spelling system:
Esperanto phonetics spelling system (one letter = one sound) can be learnt more easily
than any other language. Where the Chinese school child must spend years learning the
relationship between the spoken and written language, and the American school child
must spend an almost equally long period learning to spell, the Esperanto system can be
learned in about half an hour. This also includes a regular system of accentuation.
· A regular and exception-free formal grammar:
Esperanto grammar can be learnt with a mere sixteen grammatical rules. After learning
eleven invariable grammatical endings and how they are used, one will immediately be
able to invent grammatically correct, usable and useful sentences in Esperanto.
· A regular system of forming new words from already known words:
This is particularly useful because it allows to take a fairly small basic vocabulary (about
500 items, including word-roots, particles, and affixes) and carry on long and fairly
complex discussions about a wide range of topics, including technical ones. While
modern Esperanto has a considerably larger overall vocabulary of unique roots

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(officially, about 9000 at last count), many of these are simply synonymous with words
that can be formed from the most basic roots, and it is always considered acceptable to
create one’s own words rather than borrowing somebody else’s.
The number of Esperanto speakers, according to a careful figure, is two million. The speakers
are more numerous in Europe and East Asia than in the Americas, Africaand Oceanian, and
more numerous in urban than in rural areas. The planned language is particularly prevalent in
the northern and eastern countries of Europe; in China, Korea,Japan, and Iran within Asia;
in Brazil,Argentina, and Mexico in the Americas; and in Togo and Madagascar in Africa.
Despite of the claims of Espirentoists, linguistics and critics have criticised their vociferous
assertion. Justin B Rye and many other linguists have pointed out various weak points of
Esperanto:
1. Its vocabulary and grammar are too Western European.
2. Esperanto’s word-classes are based on the traditions of classical Latin and Greek
grammars, unfamiliar even to many Europeans.
3. Its main sources are European languages and it gave little consideration to Eastern
languages.
4. Esperanto has developed fairly distinct culture, customs, mythology, and even religion
(homaranismo) of its own. It does not suit to a language that claims to be neutral.
5. Human language is a social and cultural phenomenon thus any language cannot be
culture free so, the notion of neutral.
6. Few learners of the language progress to a high level of fluency.
7. Esperanto is frequently accused of being inherently gender biased because the generic
form of nouns is used for males while a derived form is used for females.
8. Esperanto has not lived up to the hopes of its creator, who dreamed of it becoming a
universal second language.
Conclusion
We have studied different varieties of language and have compared their different aspect. We
have observe that language varies from larger communities, down to an individual. Even
language of an individual varies from occasion to occasion. We find that there are different
levels of formalities with in a language and their use depends of speaker’s purpose, mode and
audience. Moreover it also varies due to socio-economic position of individual or group. This
variation of language with social difference, makes this notion more firm that language is social
phenomenon and inextricably tied with social and cultural traditions. The study of Esperanto
also revealed this fact that language and culture are inseparable.

Standard Language
In a country or speech community where different dialects are in use, growth of a ‘standard’
form is a matter of social acceptance and sanction. Generally, the dialect that belongs to the
mightier ruling class, holding social prestige and glamour, is sought to be imitated by ‘lesser’
classes. William Labov has pointed out that lower-middle class shows a tendency to use more

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‘prestige’ forms in formal discourse, than does the upper-middle class. This is
calledhypercorrection which is the case of propagation of linguistic change. It is not a question
of how many people speak the. standard variety, but the institutional support it gets - its use in
schools, media, government, administrative and armyfunctions, literature, and so on.
A standard dialect, then ‘has the highest status in a community or nation and is usually based
on the speech and writing of educated native speakers of the language’. It is this variety that is
taught in schools, described in dictionaries and grammars and taught ‘to non-native
speakers. StandardAmerican English is the standard variety, and British English is
the Standard British English. Since what a speaker ‘says on any occasion is in part a reflection
of his social identity’, he would like to be identified with the class or stratum that wields
prestige, status and power. If he fails to do so, he runs the grave risk of being relegated to
unimportance. As Gregory-Carroll say, some North American Indians, for instance, donot use
the same verbal strategies, as do whites and the consequence of this can be serious for their
children, particularly those attending white schools’.

Growth of Standard English

We have already noted the historical stages of the growth and development of English Language.
At different stages, battle for dominance and power put one tribe or community of people on top
to be displaced by another after a period of time. Through this see-saw of tussle for supremacy
one tribe’s speech gains upper hand and becomes the norm. Treating this phenomenon in a
wider sense R.A. Hall Jr. writes, ‘A standard behaviour-pattern, whether linguistic or non-
linguistic, is usually regarded as necessarily unitary, admitting of relatively small deviation.
There have been a few exceptions to insistence on a single linguistic form, but they are found, in
general, in artificial situations, involving particular literary genres. In old Provencal Lyric
poetry, forms and phonetic developments from several different dialects were in free alternation
... In ancient Greece, different dialects were used for different types of literary productions ...
and in Middle Indic drama, members of each caste spoke the appropriate variety of Sanskrit or
Prakrit... The simplest type of linguistic variation is regional, and hence the choice of standard
has usually been made among local dialects of any given language... This problem has usually
been settled by choosing the dialect of the administrative centre of the region involved’.
In the Old English period, there existed four major dialects; Northumbrian, Mercian, West-
Saxon and Kentish. In the eighth century it was the Northumbrian that led; it is in this dialect
that the literature of the period was written ‘for the history of the country caused this West-
Saxon to become by the tenth century the accepted language for most vernacular literary
purposes. Even the literature of other dialects such as was most of the poetry, was re-copied into
the ‘standard’ West-Saxon which, with local modification, has become a sort of common literary
language all over the country’ (Wrenn). Even grammar and dictionaries in that period were
based on this dialect.
Mercian replaced it for a short period and then the West Saxon. Till the time of King Edward the
Confessor, Winchester was the centre of political activities which also made it the linguistic
centre of England. But Kind Edward favoured London and Westminster, which
caused London to grow as the centre of commercial, political, legal, and ecclesiastical life
towards the end of the century. London had a heterogenous population coming from all over the
country... They spoke a mixed dialect. Proximity of Oxford and Cambridge also influenced the
city to develop a new dialect’. Another factor that helped London develop a mixed dialect of its
own was the East Anglian trade (in wood and cloth) with close connection with the East

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Midlands. The result was a London dialect that was largely East Midland; ‘in character while
retaining an underlayer of the original south-eastern of its geographical position. E.E. Wardale
observes, ‘by the end of the ME period the language in London shows such a mixture of forms
from East Midland, South west and Kentish that it may be said to form a dialect of its own, the
London dialect’. Its written language was emulated and copied by all. It came to provide the
standard in literary language, though the process is said to have been completed only towards
the end of the sixteenth century.
The east and west Midland dialects showed distinct linguistic characteristics. Till the 13th
century when King William I died, West Midland was the dominant language in Cathedral cities
of Hereford and Worcester. This was a direct descendant of Old Mercian. Around the 13th
century, East Midland rose to prominence. It was the dialect of ‘‘the court, of the city
of London and of both universities, Oxford and Cambridge’ (Potter : 18). Geoffrey Chaucer wrote
in this dialect with notable scattering of Kentish and Southern. peculiarities. Gower and Wyclif
also wrote in this dialect. Regarding the standard form prevalent in this period E.J. Dobson says,
‘that any conception of a standard form of English, either written or spoken, was consciously
held in the fourteenth century is very doubtful’.
By the end of the ME period London’s position in the country’s politics and culture enabled it to
lead the whole country.
English had to face a stiff struggle for recognition against Latin which was still considered the
language of prestige. ‘The revival of learning’ only made things difficult for English. ‘Latin and
Greek were not only key to the world’s knowledge, but the languages in which much highly
esteemed poetry, oratory, and philosophy were to be read. And Latin, at least, had the advantage
of universal currency, so that the educated all over Europe could freely communicate with each
other, both in speech and writing, in a common idiom’. But there was a class. of scholars
in England that defended the use of English and advocated its propagation. Ascham, Wilson,
Elyot, Puttenham, Richard Mulcaster, all argued, ‘But why-not all in English, a tong of it self
both depe in conceit, and frank in deliverie ? I donot think that any language, be it whatsoever,
is better able to utter all arguments, either with more pith, or greater planesse, then our English
tung is, if the English utterar be as skilful in the matter, which is to utter : as the foren utterer is’.
Exposure to the great wealth of Latin and Greek learning made the English scholars only more
determined in their nationalistic love for English. ‘I Love Rome, but Londonbetter, I favor Italic
but England more, I honor the Latin, but I worship the English’.
This spirit gaining strength everyday let loose a spate of translations of almost all the available
classical works - Thucydides, Xenophone, Herodotus, Plutarch, Plato, Seneca, Cicero, Epictetus,
Aristotle, Terence, Homer, Horace, Ovid, Virgil, and the rest. A standard in linguistic refinement
and perfection was thus set comparison to which was the only way to improve the language.
As for spoken language M.L. Samuels says, ‘there is no question of a spoken standard in the
fifteenth century. We are concerned with the spoken language only in so far as any written
standard must be ultimately based on it; but the evolution and spread of Standard English in the
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries was primarily through the agency of writing, not speech, ... The
importance of early London written English in this evolution has been overrated : consultation
of any of the large classes of documents at the Public Record Office will show clearly that, until
1430-5, English is the exception rather than the rule in the written business of administration,
after that, there is a sudden change, and the proportions are reversed, from a mere trickle of

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English documents among thousands in Latin and French, to a spate of English documents.’ As
another scholar says in the sixteenth and the seventeenth centuries the standard speech was
much more limited in extent, ‘not only was its penetration of the North only incipient, and
confined rather to spelling and vocabulary than to pronunciation, but also, south of the Trent, it
was used by a far narrower range of people than in later times’ (E.J. Dobson).
It is only towards the period marking the transition between the 17th and the 18th centuries that
a standard form of spoken English is believed to have begun to [Link] had already
acquired the strength and prestige as the political, social and cultural centre. Other dialects had
faded out of the competition. London presented a model of stability and standard. Robert
Burchfield says, ‘Between 1476 and 1776 the language had been set down in writing with every
kind of burgeoning ornamental device and subtle constructive power by some of the greatest of
English writers. A standard language’ had been established, and it was admired and imitated in
the provinces, that is by writers who did not happen to live inLondon. Side by side with the
majestical prose of Bacon, Raleigh, Donne, Milton, Thomas Browne, Jeremy Taylor, Edward
Gibbon and many other great writers, stood the undecorated work of the new urban scientific
writers, beginning with the ‘mathematical plainness’ of the Royal Society’s ideal of prose and
defined by Bishop Sprat.’
It is significant to note that in Chaucer, Townley and Caxton’s work ample evidence is available
to show that dialectal differences often formed good subject of humorous treatment and that the
royal officials were expected to use southern English, i.e. that Southern English was becoming
the recognized official language.
The British Isles abound in dialectal variations marking geographical regions and areas. ‘But
only one form is the standard language, one that is taught to the foreigners, whose individuality
and importance went hand in hand with the fortunes of London, and of people who moved into
the London area.... Historically, it contains some elements from the south-west, especially Kent,
and some from the east midlands as far north as the city of Lincoln. But for the most part its
constituent elements are those that came to be accepted as the ‘best’ form of speech among
educated speakers in London itself’.
This standard variety is spoken by the educated people and taught everywhere. This is
understood all over England even by those who use regional dialects. OutsideEngland it is
recognised in Delhi, Beijing,Moscow or Kuala Lumpur as the standard variety. In the countries
where the British ruled and English is used to-day in educated society, clubs, educational
centres radio and T.V. and in government work, it is thisLondon variety.

Micro and Macro-Sociolinguistics

A major concern of sociolinguistics is the extreme variability of language in use. Variability is
observable along a number of axes, spatial, role-models, behaviour inmultilingual settings and
also certaindomains. There are several other levels at which variation in speech is seen.
However, a linguist always needs to determine major domains that determine language-choice.
Schmidt-Rohr in 1932 identified nine domains in their study of non-German speaking
populations in various types of contact settings (Fishman:19). They suggested family,
playground and street, the school (subdivided into language of instruction, subject of
instruction, and language of recess and entertainment), the church, literature, the press, the
military, the courts and the governmental administration. These nine domains provided a
model, and later on more were added by Frey, Mak, Dohrenwend and’ Smith.

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Domains are understood as institutional contexts or socio-ecological [Link]

these cluster ‘interaction situations’. Through our understanding of domains we can relate
linguistic choices to the larger sociocultural norms and expectations. The population of a speech
community is thus segmented into users of a specific language style appropriate to the particular
topic of the individual domains. On the other hand, the study of language behaviour of children
calls for consideration of different domains.
Macro-sociolinguistics is concerned with the relations or patterning of relations between one
wide domain or another, ‘they’ are as real as the very social institutions of a speech community
and indeed they show a marked paralleling with such major institutions (Fishman). Speakers of
one domain show a tendency to share ‘common linguistic patterns - players on a football
ground, for example, or teacher’s language choice in class-room. One can notice variability
across domains, a lecturer’s language-choice in class-room can be contrasted with that outside
it, say, in college gathering, or within family. College gathering, family and class room thus
constitute three different domains determining three linguistic styles. What must be recognised
thus is the reality of domain of language-and-behaviour in terms of existing norms of
communication apparatus. ‘The high culture values with which certain varieties are associated
and the folksian values with which others are congruent are both derivable from domain-
appropriate norms governing characteristic verbal interaction. .
Micro-sociolinguistics concerns itself with the study of variation within a larger framework (or
domain) by classifying particular elements in face-to-face situations. The sociolinguist must
collect data from the individual speakers, whatever his topic; and must analyse the particular
features. He can classify the issues only after having analysed these particular features. All this
activity falls within [Link] micro-linguistics includes the detailed study of inter-
personal communication, speech events, e.g. sequencing of utterances and also those
investigations which relate variation in the language used by a group of people to social factors.
Macro-linguistics, on the other hand, includes study of language choice in bilingual or
multilingual communities, language planning, language attitudes, etc. They are also considered
part of the sociology of language.
Newly freed countries where more than one language (dialect) is used, face the question of
agreeing on a standard national language. Sociolinguists have come to see an active role for
themselves in this area. Let us consider the following statement, ‘standard languages which
symbolize feelings of unification, separateness and prestige, sometimes qualify
as national languages. Some of the recurrent aspects of this perplexing but important field of
study are what are or could be some of the roles of ‘languages of wide communication’ (such as
English, or French, or Russian) not only as national languages but also as affecting other
national languages? How can or should less widely used languages expand, both formally and
functionally? What principles should govern the choice of languages at various levels in the
educational system of a country? And so on.’ (Pride-Janet Holmes)

Linguistic, Sociolinguistic and Social Codes

The shift of interest that we have witnessed recently in the direction of language in use, or
language being considered as behaviour ‘relating the participants in a speech event to their
environment, to each other and to the medium of communication itself’, has thrown up many
issues of crucial importance to linguistic analysts. It is easy- to see the relationships. As Michael
Gregory and Susanne Carroll say, ‘Words change their meaning according to context. Word-
meaning is neither fixed nor stable. Word-meaning can be considered to be meaning-in-use, the

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‘living’ word as it appears in situation. Meaning realised in recurrent and typical situations can
itself be seen as part of a larger system of meaning to which members of the community have
access. This system of potential meaning is the culture itself. When we say that language is
choice we suggest that language-in-use implies the selection of all possible meanings inherent in
this extensive meaning-system called culture.’
The growth and development of linguistic science have been along rigorous scientific lines. Its
tools and methods are time-tested. With a fine scientific eye it has been able to isolate and study
the units of language and formulate its principles and theories. But when the scientific linguist
observed the samples of utterances in actual social reality or realities, he found variations and
fluctuations for which he had no explanation in the existing corpus of knowledge. It is difficult to
reconcile this fluctuation with the notion that there is a fixed set of rules which speakers follow.
It is not surprising, therefore, that many conscientious linguists felt it was their duty to ignore
this ‘purely social’ variation, and concentrate on the more rigid ‘central core’ of the language’
(Jean Aitchison)
On the other hand anthropologists and sociolinguists have always been interested in human
verbal behaviour. The impact of Ferdinand de Saussure is quite clear. He felt that ‘the group
constrains the individual and the group culture determines a great deal of his humanity’.
Sociolinguists give equal importance to social codes and linguistic codes, and seek to discover
links between the two. In the words of Denis McQuail, ‘We know from daily experience that the
simple model of communication between two individuals cannot represent the variety of
communication situations in social life. For example, communication between family members
takes the form of an intricate interplay of contact connecting pairs, triads or larger numbers and
governed by an equally intricate set of unstated understandings and expectations’.
Social structural system and culture are systems of meanings. They defy scientific explanations.
Their complexities are overlaid with other complexities, because social structure and culture
‘incorporate’ all possible meaningful behaviours (linguistic or otherwise) possible within that
society, the beliefs and attitudes associated with it, including the arts and sciences as we usually
think of them’. ‘Culture of a society is the way of life of its members; the collection of ideas and
habits which they learn, share and transmit from generation to generation’ (M. Haralambos).
This complex socio-cultural network of values provides the basic meaning complexes to the
language user. In 1936 Benjamin Lee Whorf pronounced that linguistics is concerned with
meaning. This is the position from which sociolinguists see themselves facing the problem of
analysing the correlation of linguistics and sociological phenomena. The problem has not easily
been solved as stated. Firth, Halliday, Hasan, Trudgill, David Sankoff, Shana Poplack and many
others have been trying to evolve techniques and methods to locate and describe the correlations
and the mechanisms of changes such correlations result in. Most scholars have drawn upon
sociological and other descriptive techniques which have proved highly useful. For example,
William Labov, interested in observing language change in the present,used surprisingly simple
technique, of interviewing the sales people without their knowing that they were being
interviewed, and quietly noting down the required information which comprised his primary
data.

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Labov’s Analysis

William Labov, the American linguist, conducted two interesting studies, one inNew
York shopping centres, and the other oh the island of Martha’s Vineyard, which have become
model works in the field. These studies performed the difficult work of charting fluctuations and
reinforce the belief that language change is observable, and ‘the variation and fuzziness which so
many linguists tried to ignore are quite often indications that changes are in progress’.
Dr. Labov observed the fluctuating use of rin the New York speech in such words as car, bear,
beard. In common observation it was found that New York speakers sometimes inserted r in
these words and others, and sometimes didnot. So, the randomness in the matter, as the general
opinion went, was rejected by Labov. ‘He rather worked on the hypothesis that it is not a matter
of pure chance, but must be correlated with social status. Labov selected Manhattandepartment
stores, from top, middle, and low price and fashion range. For the study of top class shop he
selected Saks Fifth Avenue, for middle-priced level he chose Macys, for the low class one he
selected Klein’s, close to the lower Eastside, ‘a notoriously poor area’. William Labov went into
these shops as a customer, asked certain questions in which roccurred; pretended that he had
not heard properly the first time, asked again, carefully noted down the presence or’ absence of
it; age and sex of sales person were also noted. He went to other counters and repeated the
performance. Similar questions were asked at the middle-range and low-range shops. In this
manner he obtained a total of 264 interviews. The results thus obtained confirmed his ‘hunch’
that in the New Yorkspeech insertion of r was related to the social prestige factor. Percentage
of rinclusion in the high-range Saks store was higher than in Macy’s, which showed a
comparatively higher percentage of its occurrence than in Klein’s. New York upper class
educated speakers include r in such words as car, bear, beard, card, while the lower classes
omit it. At the lower level in the casual speech r appeared to be omitted, but when asked to
repeat, the speakers became conscious and emphatic; so they showed a ‘significantly higher
percentage ofr’s. As Jean Aitchison observes, ‘Labov suggested that the reinsertion of r was an
important characteristic of a new prestige pattern which was being superimposed upon the
native New York pattern. This is supported by description of New Yorkspeech in the early part of
the century, which suggests that r was virtually absent at this time - a fact observable in films
made inNew York in the 1930s’. It is interesting to note that till the eighteenth century, English
speakers showed a tendency to insert r, but this was lost around the middle of the nineteenth
century. In New Yorkpronunciation also this is a recent cultivation; its rise was witnessed in the
1940s and 1950s. Perhaps, desire to forge a distinct un-British identity led to the conscious

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cultivation of this feature. That could be the reason why in unconscious casual times one
witnesses absence of r.
William Labov went on to expand the study on a larger area ‘obtaining speech samples from
different socio-economic, ethnic, age and sex groups, in a variety of language styles. These
extended studies again confirmed his thesis that r insertion in words such as bear, beard is
socially prestigious, since it occurs more frequently in the casual and formal speech in the upper
and middle class than in the lower social classes. A further indication of social prestige is that
more careful the speech style, the more likely r is to be pronounced. Obviously, when people
speak -slowly and carefully, they remember to insert an r which they feel should be there.
Martha‘s Vineyard Studies
Another pioneering study conducted by Prof. Labov is known as ‘Martha’s VineyardStudy’.
Martha’s Vineyard is an island, part of Massachusetts, three miles off the east coast of mainland.
It has a permanent population of about six thousand. Around fifty thousand tourists visit the
island in summer, and concentrate largely on the Downlsland in the eastern region. The Central
and the western areas are inhabited mainly by the local population. Labov noted that a few
decades earlier a linguist had visited the island and having interviewed some members, had
noted that in the pronunciation of these people the diphthongs in such words as high, pie, night,
trout, house, etc. the first vocalic element [a] + [i] and [a] + [u], showed a shift towards
becoming [ә] as in American but.

[au] ¾® [әu]
[ai] ¾® [әi]
Labov systematically interviewed a cross-section of local population, dividing it into three age-
groups and occupational classes – those engaged in the traditional fishing activity and those in
the service industries attending
to the summer visitors. The results showed that the population was not aware that change in
pronunciation was taking place. Secondly, in the rural areas in the western parts change was
more noticeable than in the eastern part. Speakers from 31 years to 45 years of age showed
greater tendency to change than older people, and least of all was it seen in people over 75 years
of age. Also those less than 30 years showed comparatively lesser change. Labov argued that a
distinct change in diphthong pronunciation was taking place in Martha’s Vineyard more’
noticeably than in the mainland America. These changes radiated from a small group of
islanders and spread to more extensive areas, particularly those of English descent.
The research also indicated that the changes didnot occur all of a sudden, someone didnot
suddenly decide to alter his/her speech, and others took it up. Rather, the tendency was always
there. Only some people exaggerated it and made it their habit. Thus the new diphthong was
always there as a form of old-fashioned element. One can compare it to the characteristic
‘American sounds’, which are nothing but conservative tendencies of the 18th century
pronunciation, which speakers in England had long ago outgrown, but the Americans stuck to;
at some time, Martha’s Vineyard had begun showing loss of the diphthongs when contact with
the summer visitors increased. But those old generation speakers while confined to their part of
the land, did not establish any contact with the ‘modern’. Down Islandclung to the older
tendencies. They showed resistance to changes in other features of behaviour too and thus

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exemplified the qualities of strength, tenacity, dour close-knit mentality who could oppose the
incursions of outside fun-loving tourists.
‘The next generation down island admired these old fisherman, who appeared to
exemplify the virtues traditional to Martha’s Vineyard, they were viewed as independent,
wilful, physically strong, courageous. They epitomized the good old yankee virtues, as
opposed to the indolent consumer-oriented society of summer visitors. This led a
number of Vineyarders to sub-consciously imitate the speech characteristics of the
fishermen in order to identify ‘themselves as ‘true islanders’ (Aitchison).
Clearly, the tendency to change linguistically is related to certain cultural attitudes in this
particular instance as well as in the Yew York r-experiment. The island of Martha’s
Vineyard presents a relatively simple social structure. Resentment toward and dislike of the
tourist population are also quite unconcealed and simple. This created in the local people a
desire to preserve their cultural values. That is why the speech feature which is embedded in old
habits caught on with the younger speakers of ages between 30 and 45 years. Interstingly, those
who wished to stay on the islands for good showed greater inclination to adopt the changed
diphthongs as they had greater need to identify themselves with the locals. In this way change
establishes a norm.
In the complex social scenario of New York, speaker’s use of r is clearly related to the prestige
values of upper middle class which are approximated by those below this class. Here also, New
Yorkers adopted r out of a growing awareness of themselves as ‘being American, and, requiring
an American Standard on which to model themselves’.
Language change and Language Decline
The great Greek philosopher Heraclitus had said as early as in the sixth century, ‘Everything
rolls on, nothing stands still’. This wisdom has been echoed down the centuries by men active in
different walks of life, from scientists to social thinkers to medicine men to philosophers, and
linguists too. Poets and litterateurs have constantly lived under the overviding sense of
uncertainty and transience because time is ever in flight and the world is never the same. In the
words of Omar Khayyam,
Alas, that Spring should vanish with the Rose !
That youth’s sweet-scented Manuscript should close !
The Nightingale that in the Branches sang !
Ah, whence, and whither flown again, who knows !
It is not easy to understand why man has found it difficult to reconcile with change, though he
has always understood that ‘since ‘tis Nature’s law to change constancy alone is strange’ (John
Wilmot, Earl of Rochester).
Like all things in life, language also changes. ‘It is part of the general flux. There can never be a
moment of true stand still in language ... By nature it is a continuous process of development’,
said Wilhelm Von Humboldt, the great German philosopher-linguist. It would be a great
surprise if language didnot show changes, while everything else changed at varying rates.

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It is human tendency to ignore changes that occur in language as aberrations in need of

correction. Those who argue that linguistic changes are inevitable, as well as those who frown
upon them, resenting and resisting any deviations from the norm, consider symptoms of
transformation as signs of ignorance, sloppiness, laziness or as (often happens, simply a matter
of vulgar habits of expression. ‘One has only to see how fierce is the reaction of those who see in
someone talking differently a violation of the norm and quick attempts to suggest prescriptive
rules are made. Letters to the editors have been written in newspapers and magazines on
deviant trends, move to debase and vulgarize language. Jean Aitchison quotes a reviewer,
writing in 1978 edition of thePocket Oxford Dictionary, announced that his ‘only sadness is that
the current editor seems prepared to bow to every slaphappy and slipshop change of meaning’.
She says, ‘the author of the book published in 1979 compared a word which changes its meaning
to a piece of wreckage with a ship’s name on it floating away from a sunken hulk’. The book was
entitled Decadence’.
Efforts of Jonathan Swift to ‘fix our language forever’ led him to submit A proposal for
correcting, improving, and Ascertaining the English Tongue, to the Earl of Oxford, Lord
Treasurer of England in 1712. In this historical document he stresses the need to check the
growing tendency to deviate from the prescribed grammatical norms. These deviations were
often seen and deplored by the eighteenth century scholars as ‘abuses and absurdities’. Dr.
Samuel Johnson’s attitudes in this regard are too well-known to need any mention except that
he was particularly intolerant of what he believed to be ‘barbarous corruptions’ and ‘licentious,
idioms’, etc. Such resistance to changes and desire to, keep language in a permanent state of
perfection have always been seen to drive men to formulate ways and’ means to artifically keep
it refined.
However, changes are produced by forces that cannot be resisted by artificial means. What
begins as isolated instances of variation escalates and spreads to larger number of speakers.
Certain habits get rooted and then are finally accepted as norms. Older elements and habits
enjoy lesser currency, with the number of users dwindling till they completely fade out of
language.
Thus we know that Dr. Johnson condemned the word lesser as a barbarous corruption, and
so nowise also. Today, however, no one thinks so about these words. What he, on the other
hand, tried to establish as respectable Latinate or classical formations never really were
accepted, and, therefore, died a natural death. Obviously these pundits failed to understand the
essential nature of language, that it goes through similar life cycles of birth, growth and decay as
any organism does, which the German scholar Franz Bopp supported in these words, ‘languages
are to be considered organic natural bodies, which are formed according to fixed laws, develop
as possessing an inner principle of life, and gradually die out...’ This extremely simple view of
linguistic progress [or decay ?] is not accepted in our times by more scientific-minded linguists
who wish to describe the exact mechanism of language growth; but formation of new languages
through various diachronic processes and their being taken over by a newer, more different
variety, has never been denied.
As our account of the studies conducted by William Labov and Basil Bernstein and others
engaged in sociolinguistic researches reveal, changes in time begin as changes seen in the
present in a particular speech community. Labov was interested in showing that it is not
impossible to ‘capture’ those changes in the present that are only seen in their consequences
over a period of time. These historical changes that create new sounds, morphemes, syntactic

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relations and habits of speech, donot occur suddenly. Rather, he felt, they are to be understood
by exploring those variations and deviations, those tendencies to violate or break the norms
which some speakers always exhibit and others resent. This tug of war and the controversial
practices are what in the long run produce ‘permanent changes’ in a language. Till as recently as
1958 a scholar like Charles Hockett felt, ‘No one has yet observed sound change. We have only
been able to detect it via its consequences... A nearly direct observation would be theoretically
impossible, if impractical, but any ostensible report of such an observation so far must be
discredited’.
Later linguists felt, however, that it is these fluctuations, these variations exhibited under
numerous socio-cultural conditions that conceal the clue to the problem. They were interested
in observing that ‘the grammatical rules of a language are likely to alter slightly from region to
region... Parallel to geographical variation, we find social variation. As we move from one social
class to another, we are likely to come across the same type of alteration as we noted from region
to region, only this time co-existing within a single area’.
One of the major points William Labov worked to prove through his New York andMartha’s
Vineyard studies is that what we notice as variations in accent or sound feature or any of the
several linguistic features may be a pointer that language is undergoing a change. A careful
analysis might show us in which direction is the change taking place.
Reasons for the spread in favour of a specific feature or set of features could be many. Generally
they can be described in this way.
i) a tendency to imitate the upper class speaker’s habits.
ii) the need to sound/appear like the majority speakers of the community.
iii) need to be accepted by the majority and counted as one of them.
iv) to assert one’s identity and resist the majority tendencies due to particular psychological
factors, i.e. dislike, bias against, etc.
The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
In their exploration of various types of correlation between culture and language, scholars have
come out with different hypotheses. These hypotheses indicate the ways to understand the
complex relations language and society have. One established and more controversial theory of
this kind is known as Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. This is named after two scholars of linguistics and
anthropology, Edward Spair (1884-1939) and Benjamin Lee Whorf. Spair’s over-riding interest
in linguistic determinism operating in culture has been mentioned in volume one and this one
also. He recognised linguistic relativity converging with cultural relativity. This is embodied in
the following extract.
‘Human beings donot live in the objective world alone, nor alone in the world of social
activity as ordinarily understood, but are very much at the mercy of the particular
language which has become the medium of expression for their society... The fact of the
matter is that the ‘real world’ is to’ a large extent unconsciously built up on the language
habits of the groups. No two languages are ever sufficiently similar to be considered as
representing the same social reality. The words in which different societies live are
distinct words, not merely the same words with different labels attached.’

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Benjamin Lee Whorf who was a student of Sapir continued studying the matter. He argued that
‘language patterns and cultural norms... have grown up together, constantly influencing each
other. But in this partnership the nature of the language is the factor that limits free plasticity
and regidifies channels of development in the more autocratic way’. It is not difficult to see the
deterministic role of language in bringing about cultural transmission. It is only through the
linguistic medium that this happens.
One major problem about this hypothesis is that in terms of objective proofs and through
rigorous methods Whorfian hypothesis is difficult to prove, though intuitively one can seethe
natural link. As William Bright says, ‘in particular, no correlations can be traced between
language and world - view until specific world - views are themselves defined in terms of
observable behaviour’. Whorf spent plenty of time in Mexicostudying the Red Indian speeches.
His well known analysis of the Hopi’s linguistic structure led him to propose that it (structure) is
compatible with a world view involving a peculiar relation between subjective and objective
experience, but he tends to assume rather than to demonstrate that Hopi actually hold such a
view of the world’. William Bright suggests the following modification of Whorf’s thesis,
‘In so far as languages differ in the ways they encode objective experience, language
users tend to sort out and distinguish experiences differently according to the categories
provided by their respective languages. These cognitives will tend to have certain effects
on behaviour’.
Basil Bernstein’s work
A potable contribution in relating social factors to language variation and the variability
functioning as an indicator of one’s cognitive abilities was that of the British sociologist Basil
Bernard Bernstein. Born in 1924, his extensive researches dominated the sociolinguistic
thinking in the 1960s and 1970s. He is considered pioneer in research in the description of
varieties of speech within a language community. He concentrated on dialect studies which rest
on a key assumption that language learning is determined by social, environment and by the
verbal and non-verbal expressions of speakers’. His paper ‘Language and social class’ (1960)
puts forward the idea that speakers (particularly children) raised in culturally disadvantaged
environments and exposed to non-standard dialects show stunted cognitive abilities, compared
to speakers of the middle and upper classes.
Bernstein examined class based variabilities and their implications for language fluency and
learning’. He reformulated and revised some of his earlier concepts and put forth the
terms elaborated code and restricted code;
He uses code slightly differently. He means by it ‘different ways of conveying in a social context.
Restricted code has a limited vocabulary, reduced range of vocables, an abundance of question
tags, and greater use of pronouns like he and she. Basing his observations on the middle-class
and working class boys Bernstein argued that the latter tended to use only the restricted code.
This restricted their language and thinking behaviour. Elaborate gesticulations, hand gestures
and facial expressions reinforce the verbal communication. The speakers assume that the other
communicants share, their emotional states and attitudes. This code showed less fluency and
was what he called highly static. It has narrower range of language alternatives, ‘often tended to
be predictably formulaic and exhibited highly individuated utterances. It is characterized by ‘a
simplified grammatical system, poor syntactic forms, repetitive use of common conjunctions,
little use of subordination, a rigid and limited selection of adjectives and adverbs, reinforcement

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statements following what was immediately- said, and a tendency to confound reason and
conclusion in statements’. Bernstein found that the middle class boys used both codes
comfortably and with equal ease. These speakers showed fluency in the ‘elaborated code’. They
possessed a wide range of ‘syntactic and lexical ‘alternatives’, had a level of verbal dexterity and
greater manipulative power in regulating and organising what is spoken. This means that they
manifested greater use of conjunctions and subordinate elements in sentences, prepositions, ‘a
frequent use of indefinite and third person pronouns and the use of expressive symbolism to
discriminate meaning within speech segments’. The sentence structures are more complex and
there is found greater use of I and adjectives. It is more explicit, ‘speakers using it donot assume
the same degree of shared attitudes and expectations on the part of the addressee’. Elaborated
code is considered to be ‘open and liberating’. It shows capacity to exploit full range of language
possibilities. Restricted code is inhibiting and restrictive.
The famous sociolinguists Gregory Smith and Sussanne Carroll feel that these two types of code
reflect two different principles of semantic organization. ‘Each code orients the user to a specific
type of meaning which is itself a function of the type of relationship that the user enters into...
The codes, elaborated and restricted, are acquired through exposure to different speech models.
They embody two types of meaning. The concept of code has, therefore, two facets - the semiotic
and the linguistic. Both the speech models and the semiotic functions are referred to as
universalistic or particularistic.’
Bernstein’s findings created a lot of controversy. Some linguists believe that his opinions are
linguistically insignificant. They also felt uncomfortable at one’s dialect being related to
cognitive abilities. ‘Some questioned his conclusion as too extreme, and based on limited
observation, others simply rejected the anti-egalitarian notion of social class.’

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Stylistics, Literature and Linguistics

Style means the language which is used “in a given context, by a given person, for a given
purpose” (Leech). It is applied to the writer’s individual characteristic manner of expression. It
is applicable to the written and spoken, and literary and non-literary codes.

Mush have I travell’d in the realms of gold

And many goodly states and kingdoms seen;
Round many western islands have I been
Which bards in fealty to Appollo held.
(John Keats)

A cursory glance at these lines show that much liberty has been taken here with grammar. Such
poetic ‘licences’ are among the ‘especial norms of standard’ for poetry. On the contrary, the
general standard form of language would completely fail to produce the slightest poetic effect.
There are indeed deviations within deviations; that is, once we accept that literary language
flourishes on the principle of deviation from the norm of the standard, and ‘that to deny work of
poetry the right to violate the noun of the standard is equivalent to the negation of poetry’ (Jan
Mukarovsky).
We shall find it easy enough to recognise other deviations, both internal and external, that
establish a writer’s literary identity; how, for instance, Arnold Bennett is distinguished from
E.M. Forster or John Galsworthy in spite of several points shared by them; or what makes
Virginia Woolf’s style her own as distinct from that of James Joyce.
‘Stylistics’ as we understand it to-day, with its being armed with the techniques of linguistics,
which happened over the last three decades or so, seeks not to ‘dissect the flower o of beauty’, as
some apparceintors of literature have come to feel, but develop a full scientific understanding of
the style as evidenced in the discourse/text. Recent scholars in the field have been sensitive
enough to the problem to discard the rigorous technical approach and devise a sesible middle-
of-the-road means, Leo Spitzer describes it in these words,
I would maintain that to formulate observation by means of words is not to cause the
artistic beauty evoporate in vain intellectualities; rather it makes for a widening and
‘deepening of the aesthetic taste. It is only a frivolous love that cannot survive intellectual
definition; great love prospers with understanding.
‘Linguistic stylistics’ or ‘new stylistics’ as Roger Fowler calls it, thus provides for the first time a
firm technical and theoretical base for the study of style. Without a sound theory, basic concepts
and categories cannot be established, and without the precise tools of analysis any description
would remain weak and unsound, prey to changing winds and whims of opinion. ‘How often,-
with all the theoretical experience of method accumulated in use over the years, have I stared

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blankly, quite similar to one of my beginning students, at a page that would not yield its image’
(Spitzer).
Out of this diversity of linguistic frameworks and systems, one concrete path that emerges is ‘a
tendency to explore for pattern and system below the surface form of language; to search for the
principles of meaning, and language use which activate and control the code... If a text is
regarded in objective simplicity as a sequence of symbols on paper, then the modem linguist’s
scrutiny is not just a matter of looking at the text, but of looking through the text to its
significance.’
The basic assumption of stylistic approach to language is called the ‘context of situation’ which
means that this approach considers language events as not taking place in isolation from Other
events; rather they operate within a wide framework of human activity. Any piece of language is,
therefore, part of a situation and so has a context, a relationship with that situation’ (Sucncer-
Gregory). The second assumption is that stylistics is primarily concerned with written language.
Third Stylistics seeks to describe linguistic forms of the text ‘in order to isolate those places in
language where there are possibilities of choice which contribute to meaning. Possibility of
choices varies at different places in different forms of literature. Stylistics seeks to establish what
factors govern the choices.
Collocation
A significant stylistic category is [Link] to it, certain items tend to occur close to
each other, and share a wide semantic range of associations. Grammar is unable to explain this.
For example, the word ‘disaster’ may occur in a particular linguistic environment in such items
as ‘tragedy’, ‘tragic’, ‘damages’, ‘loss’, and so on. These are the collocates of the word ‘disaster’.
The word ‘disaster’ itself is recognised as nodal item, ‘collateral range’ is established by the
collocates, that constitute the list of collocations. So, if we identify ‘industry’ as nodal item then
the other words in close range such as factory, workers, management, strikes, etc. would be its
collocates. Another nodal item ‘finance’ or ‘economy’ occurring in the same text would be found
to share several collocates. The ‘nodal items’ economy/finance andindustry form a
set, ‘Industry’ and ‘economy’ share part of the collocational range, indicating a collocational
overlapping.‘Identifying collocations, of course, demands large-scale frequency counts, the
extensive statistical examination of many sets’.
Pragmatics
We have already noted that stylistic analysis of a work involves more than paying attention to
the formal aspect of presentation. Stylistics considers other aspects that normally find no direct
‘reflection’, but have to be deduced from the context, the relations obtaining between one
character and another, the author-reader relations and the addresser-addressee relations. These
situations exert potential influence on the development of discourse, and must, therefore, be
properly understood. As Leech--Short says ‘The pragmatic analysis of language can be broadly
understood to be the investigation into that aspect of meaning which is derived not from the
formal properties of words and constructions, but from the way in which utterances are used
how they relate to the context in which they are uttered’.
Interpretation strategies are, therefore, devised to unfold the ‘moms and mechanism of these
factors lending significance to the actual written text. J.R. Searle and J.L. Austin developed the
concept of Speech Act relating the meaning of utterance to the context. The main assumption is

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that there are a number of utterances that do not report or ‘constate’ anything, and are not,
therefore, ‘true or false’, but rather that the uttering of the sentence is, or is part of, an action’.
When some one says, I bet he will come to-day, he issimply betting an action and not making a
true or false statement. Statements of this kind are called performative. Performatives are
further divided into explicit and implicit. The former contains the expression naming the act ‘I
request you to sit down’; the former does not contain such expression as ‘Will you sit down?’
This means that in performative expression, the naming of the action doesnot seem an absolute
necessity, ‘The performative verb may be omitted without the loss of the illocutionary force’
(Palmer).
Searle believed that in an utterance lie hidden many acts of various kinds : asking, commanding,
promising, requesting, declaring, etc. It is easy enough to locate this when the performative verb
is used as in ‘Irequest you to come here’, or ‘I beg you to get me a pass’. But a sentence like,
‘please slay there’ can be interpreted both as a command and request. In the concept of speech
acts we may hope to find answer to much semantic clue that doesnot appear in the actually
formalised conversation.
On the one hand thus we can postulate utterances as speech acts by identifying whether they are
warnings, requests, boast, etc. But an utterance may simply give a piece of information. If one
says ‘‘There is a dog there’, it is difficult to say what kind of speech act is involved. Even perhaps
the speaker may have no clear idea of his own intentions. Ile may simply have spotted a dog and
said, or have been expressing fear, which could be a veiled form of warning to his friends or just
an emphatic warning with the appropriate suprasegmental marker accompanying. Speech act
thus makes it necessary that we know to what use the utterance is being put.
Auxiliary modals; can, shall, may, must, etc. do something of the kind. These are used to
indicate warnings, promises, requests, [Link] may come tomorrow is an utterance
ofimplicit performative.
F.R. Palmer in his book Semantics has given the example front the games of bridge and cricket.
When a bridge player calls Three clubs, No bit] he binds himself to that contract, while in
cricket, the umpire’s No ball makes the delivery a ‘no ball’ in the sense that the batsman cannot
now be out by being bowled, stumped, caught or l.b.w.
In the following extract from Jane Austen’sPride and Prejudice the ironic suggestions are
obvious, not in words spoken but in the context, in the speech act. Mr. Darcy is busy writing,
while the obtrusive Miss Bingley tries all manner of ruse to draw his attention.
1. ‘How delighted Miss Darcy will be to receive such a letter!’
2. He made no answer.
3. ‘You write uncommonly fast’
4. ‘You are mistaken I write rather slowly’
5. ‘How many letters you must have occasion to write in the course of a year ! Letters of
business, too ! How odious I should think them !’
6. ‘It is fortunate, then, that they fall to my lot instead of to yours’
7. ‘Pray tell your sister that I long to see her’.

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8. ‘I have already told her so once, by your desire’.

9. ‘I am afraid you donot like your pen. Let me mend it for you. I mend pens remarkably
well’.
10. ‘Thank you - but I always mend my own’.
11. How can you contrive to write so even?’
12. He was silent
13. ‘Tell your sister, I am delighted to Lear of her improvement on the harp; and pray let her
know that I am quite in raptures with her beautiful little design for a table, and I think it
infinitely superior to Miss Grantley’s.
14. Will you give me leave to defer your raptures till I write again? At present I have not
room to do them justice’.
15. ‘Oh ! it is of no consequence. I shall see her in January. But du you always write such
charming long letters to her, Mr. Daley?’
16. ‘They are generally long; but whether always charming it is not for me to determine !’
The remarkably warm, intrusive manner of Miss Caroline Bingley contrasts with the cool
response of Daley. It is not in the words and structure, it is rather in the ‘tone’, in the emotive
inflexions, the polite, even,unruffled manner. Jane Austen derived particular delight in
portraying; such situations.
If we render the whole dialogue into indirect speech, this interpersonal force will be utterly lost.
‘Caroline said that Miss Darcy will be extremely delighted to receive such a letter to which he
made no answer. Caroline then observed that he wrote uncommonly fast. Darcy replied that she
was mistaken, he rather wrote slowly.
Caroline then wondered how many letters he must have occasion to write in the course of a year
and added that they must include letters of business too. She then added that she thought of
them highly odious’, etc.
There is no doubt that the linguistic interchange is faithfully rendered in such a
transformational transcript, but a lot of speech act’s meaning is totally lost here, the subtle
overtones which the author sets so much store by, is destroyed. We are left with a bunch of
related sentences, but we realize that ‘speech act is not necessarily embodied in a sentence’.
Speech acts, as units on the pragmatic level of analysis, do not have to correspond to easily,
recognisable units of syntactic or textual analysis’.
Presuppositions
Presupposition is a crucial aspect of pragmatics. According to some scholars a statement may
either be true or false. The sentence, The Queen of Modern India is married can be said to be
false, since there is no queen of modern India. In the opinion of another class of thinkers, the
hearers identifies the person or thing about which or whom the statement is made. This is called
the referring expression. In this sense the speaker presupposes the existence of the person
thing. In the above statement the sentence is not false, there is only a ‘presupposition failure’,
there is only ‘truth-value gap’. The same is the case with the negative form of this utterance.

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Presuppositions thus donot change under ‘negation’, they are constant. Both the positive and
negative sentences imply the same logical presupposition. Both the sentences, The Queen of
modern India is married and The Queen of modern India is not married, presuppose that there
is a queen of modern India. “This is applicable to all types of noun phrase. He wrote/didn’t
write to his brother pressuppose that he has a brother.
If we take another sentence like She wasn’t worried about her brother’s dishonesty, it is normal
to suppose that her brother was dishonest. It can also be taken to show that her brother was not
dishonest, if we extend the sentence in this manner She wasn’t worried about her brother’s
dishonesty because he was not dishonest. We may then say that presupposition is not denial but
assertion. She wasn’t worried about her brother’s dishonesty simply means that shewasn’t
worried.
In The Queen of modern India is married, the segment marked I may be true or false
independent of segment 2 (whether she is married or not). But segment 2 can be considered true
or false only in the light of segment 1 if it is known who is it that is married. Only when this is
established can the truth of the ‘second segment be established,
In interrogative sentences also presuppositions remain constant.
Is the Queen of modern India married ?
Was she worried about her brother’s dishonest) ?
These sentences in question form presuppose that there is a queen of India, she was married.
Questions do not. make any assertion. This is true of the negative interrogation as well. Isn’t the
Queen of Indiamarried ? Wasn’t she worried about her brother’s dishonesty ?
The above examples contain referring expression or what is also known as factive predicates,.
These arc grammatical NPs, which refer to the ‘existences’ of what is being mentioned, ‘in either
physical or factual sense’.
Verbs can also indicate certain kinds of presupposition. She washed/didn’t wash/the clothes
presuppose that the clothes need washing or they were dirty. He killed/didn’t kill the rat
presuppose that the rat was alive.
We can thus draw a neat line of distinction between what is asserted and what is presupposed.
The question what should be included in presupposition is somewhat slippery, since it
leads us to consider all kinds of semantic features associated with collocation or ‘selectional
restriction’. So in a sentence He is bachelor we must consider that the word bachelor means
‘unmarried’. ‘He’ is a ‘man’ leads to the connected term ‘male’ and its ‘female’ as a term for
‘woman’. An unmarried ‘woman’ is a ‘spinster’, and so on.
Implicatures
In the preceding section we have seen that the speakers assume the information as indicated in
actual expression or assume that the hearer knows it. In actual day-to-day use of language the
speakers ‘imply further information that the hearer doesnot know’. The expression may not
actually indicate what he implies. It may rain spoken by a woman to her maid-servant may
imply the command to her to remove the drying clothes hung on the clothes line. Or someone in
the house saying, I didn’t have tea this morning may imply a request to the housewife to get him
a cup of tea.

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There is a co-operative principle operative here, between the speaker and the hearer. According
to this principle, the hearer understands what the speaker means and receives the message. This
also controls the direction in which the conversation goes. This principle is formulated by H.P.
Grice, who distinguished four categories, each of which contains maxims.
Quantity 1) The speaker must make his contribution as informative as required.
2) He must not make contribution more informative than is required.
Quality The speaker’s contribution must be true.
1) He shouldn’t say what he doesn’t believe.
2) He shouldnot say that for which he does rot have information
Relative His information must be relative.
Manner He should avoid obscurity, ambiguity, disorderliness.
If somebody asks, - Have you visited the guests and given them my regards ? and the reply given
is, ‘I have visited the guests’, the speaker can guess that his regards have been given to them. The
reply could also be conveyed by a simple ‘yes’, if this doesnot violate the maxim of quantity. This
is also associated with the fall-rise tone, which points to the fact that intonation is crucial in
implicatures. In an expression like She is very intelligent, the intonation may give the hearer
what the speaker implies, and it must be worked out by the hearer.
It is the occasion that provides the clues to the implicatures. Violation of the maxim is often seen
in the maxim of quality; ‘You’re a great friend’; ‘He is the cream of the class. The interpretation
depends entirely on what and much of it the hearer understands. Contexts and the common
range of beliefs, shared by speaker and hearer, of course, determine the implicatures, but there
has also been recognised a conventionalimplicature which depends on the conventional
meaning of the words.
The Muslims are brave and self-sacrificing is an example. This contrasts with the conventional
implicature which so far we have been discussing.
Metaphor
Haliday describes metaphor as the general term for those figures of speech that refer to different
kinds of verbal transference. But it is also used, ‘in a more specific sense to icier to just one kind
in contrast to metonymy; and sometimes a third term is introduced,
namely, synecdoche’. Comparison is the central trait of metaphor. In the normal day-to-day
communication, metaphorical uses are common it escapes me, I can’t follow, petticoat
government, milk of humanism, security beefed up, etc. Mostly, transfer is from concrete to
abstract sense, and also from material to mental process. Svnec cloche refers to the part of the
thing standing for the whole, and in metonymy, a word is used for ‘something related to that
which it usually refers to: He will go on working as long as the breathes.’
They have a hand in it; one twist keep one’shead.
The act of transferring meaning is quite evident in this kind of non literal form of expression. It
is the meaning of the word that determines its selection. Halliday feels that there is a strong

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grammatical element in rhetorical transference. In this sense it is a matter of lexico-grammatical

selection rather than simply lexical.
From the point of view of studying literature, it is interesting to note that many metaphorical
representations have become norm, living under a roof, protests flooded him, l missed a
heartbeat, etc.
‘Metaphorical modes of expression are characteristic of all adult discourse’. It is only in young
children’s expressions that we find absence of it. News reporting, speeches, journalistic writings,
even official and informal writings are sprinkled with metaphorical expressions.
Metaphorical : the fifth day saw them at the summit
Congruent : they arrived at the summit on the fifth day
Metaphorical : the guest’s supper of icecream was
followed by a gentle swim
Congruent : In the evening the guests ate icecream and then swam gently.
‘Much of the history Of every language is a history of demetaphorizing : of expressions which
began as metaphor gradually losing their metaphorical character as one can see in these
expressions : source of income;barrier to understanding; headache for all;
political game; political rise; invite trouble; no-confidence motion; parliament silting;; shadow
-fight; hung parliament; firm step.
Metapherical wording, whether in speech or in writing introduces a degree of complexity, the
least metaphorical wording will always be the one that is maximally simple : technical language,
for example. The complexity of written language is a lexical complexity; written language attains
a high lexical density, that is, a greater number of lexical items per clause, and the lexical items
have a higher information context, often accompanied by a relatively simple grammatical
structure. The complexity of spoken language is a grammatical complexity; spoken language
constructs complex dependency structure… often accompanied by a relatively simple choice of
words’.
Felicity Conditions
Speech acts have felicity conditions or the conditions of appropriacy. In the extract from Price
and Prejudice, we recognise the absurdity of Caroline’s ignorantly pursuing Darcy while the
latter goes on politely to make her realize his attempts to ward her off. In words he is polite,
unoffending, but the meaning he seek to convey is couched in his paralinguistic behaviour. The
overall context of situation lends greater force of meaning to the total speech act. Felicity
conditions are of course, determined by other factors of diverse nature, the social position of the
interactants, the cultural milieu, their mutual relations, etc. that have bearing on the meaning of
the discourse. Very often the readers are required to adjust themselves to the norms and
conventions of the projected societies and periods, and recognise the felicity conditions
accordingly. Reading a Jane Austen novel demands a different set of felicity conditions from the
one required in reading a novel by Charles Dickens or Joseph Conrad. In a single novel of
Dickens one comes across more .than one type of social environment. Felicity conditions must
therefore, vary within one novel - in Great Expectations, for instance, there is dramatic change
from Joe Gargery’s forge to the twilight world of Miss Havisham.

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Implicature in Literature
In the above extract from Pride and Prejudice, it becomes easier to the readers to infer ‘extra
meanings - meaning more than the words and tonal inflexions imply from his knowledge of
what precedes this exchange. This knowledge bridges the gap between ‘the overt sense and
pragmatic force’. Let us look once again at these sentences.
“you write uncommonly fast”
“you are mistaken. I write rather slowly”
“How many letters you must have occasion to mite in the course of a year. Letters of business
too ! How odious I should mink them !”
“It is fortunate, then, they fall to my lost instead of to yours”
We have by now sufficiently known Daley to get to the sense of his short, curt replies and
perceive the faint line of irritation bordering these overtly cool, impersonal sort of replies. The
‘extra-meanings’ thus inferred are what the philosopher H.P. Grice calls [Link] is a
term which refers to a kind of tacit understanding between the reader and the text in one.
Grice says that the ‘tacit understanding’ between the author and the reader is based on the co-
operative principle, which makesthem agree to some maxims (rules). The statements made
must convey the truth and these must be relevant to the conversation.
It is significant that these rules or maxims are often violated in literature. The violation may be
ostentatious, or clandestine. The hearer perceives the difference between what the speaker says
and what he means. The meaning thus deduced is implicature.
Here is another example from Pride and Prejudice. Sir William says,
‘you excel so much in the dance, Miss Eliza, that it is cruel to deny me the happiness of
seeing you; and though this gentleman dislikes the amusements in general, he can have
no objection, I am sure, to oblige us for one half-hour.!
‘Mr. Darcy is all politeness’, saidElizabeth, smiling’ (27).
Miss Elizabeth Bennet’s observation is a cruel one, because it is no secret that she thinks exactly
the opposite. So this is the violation of the maxim of quality. In H.H. Munro Saki’s celebrated
story The Open Window we see the ‘very self-possessed young lady of fifteen’ weaving a web of
lies and falsities in which she deftly traps and captures poor Franton Nuttel to the utter joy of
herself and amusement of the readers. Once again, (he maxim of quality is broken. Without it
there wouldn’t be any story at all. As Short and Leech observe, ‘pragmatic tone is not so much a
function of the situation itself objectively considered, as the way participants construe the
situation... where characters are at ‘cross-purposes and their models are at valiance. Such
variance is the basis of the dramatic juiciest in conversational dialogue’.
Thought
Authors often present the character’s thought in the interrupted movement of action as a kind of
elaboration or explanatory aside. This kind of ‘suspended action’ has generally the role of taking
the story along a new path, introducing a new turn or simply providing added pace to its
progress. In chapter 6 of Jane Austen’s Emmathere occurs a delightful exchange between Miss

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Emma and Reverend Elton. The highly amusing situation is born out of Emma’s efforts to push
Miss Harriet Smith into Elton’s favour by praising her beauty and manners. Elton’s responses
are aimed at making inroad into Emma’s affections. But he does so in words that are oblique
and make Emma interprete them as Elton’s shy and half concealed admiration for Harriet.
‘Let me entreat you”, cried Mr. Elton, “it would indeed be a delight ! Let me entreat you,
Miss Woodhouse, to exercise so charming a talent in favour of your friend. I know what
your drawings are. How could you suppose me ignorant ? Is not this room deli in
specimens of your landscapes and flowers; and has not Mrs. Weston some inimitable
figure-pieces in her thawing-room at Randall’s 7” Yes, good man ! - thought Emma - but
what has all that to do with taking likenesses ? You know nothing of drawing. Don’t
pretend to be in raptures, about mine. Keep your raptures for Harriet’s face’ (P:71)
This aside is characteristic articulation of Emma’s avowed purpose of throwing Harriet and
Elton together. It is also a reflection of Emma’s predilection for deriving pleasure out of some
apparent weakness in the other’s character. A different kind of self-address occurs in chapter 47
of the novel. The events have taken a dramatic and catastrophic turn for her. It is time now for
her to look back over the ruins and do some re-evaluation.
‘Harriet, poor Harriet !’ - Those were the words; in them lay the tormenting ideas which
Emma could not get rid of, and which constituted the real misery of the business to her.
Frank ‘Churchill had behaved very ill by herself - very ill in many ways- but was not so
much his behaviour as her own, which made her so angry with him. It was the scrape
which he had drawn her into on Harriet’s account that gave the deepest hue to his
offence - Poor Harriet ! to be second time the dupe of her misconceptions and flattering.
Mr Knightley had spoken prophetically - when he once said, ‘Emma, you have been no
friend to Harriet Smith’” , and so on.
Throughout the chapter go on Emma’s turbulent thoughts in this vein. A curious thing about
this style is that it has a mixture of self-ruminating monologuic pace and tenor, and the objective
manner addressed to the reader. ‘Although there can be by definition no interlocutor when
minds are depicted, writers often represent them as if there were. In this way thought becomes a
form of suspended action; or even a form of suspended interaction between characters’. This
form of description is not just a matter of ‘talking’ to oneself, but a useful means of sorting out
the complications that surround a person and clarify the interaction.
Author to Reader
We have just seen that ‘monologuic conversation’ is sometimes addressed to the readers. In the
above instance, it is the character who does the loud thinking. Jane Austen very infrequently
appears to ‘convey messages’ to the readers. ‘Sometimes an author conveys what he wants to say
directly, and sometimes via exchange between characters. In both the cases we can expect
conversational implicatures and other inferential strategies to be used’. Continuing with our
example from Emma,below is presented an extract containing the general statement indicating
author-leader implicature.
‘Seldom, way seldom, does complete truth belong to any human disclousrue; seldom can
it happen that something is not a little disguised, or a little mistaken; but where, as in
this case, though the conduct is mistaken, the feelings are not, it may not be very
material’.

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It is less direct. The reader is ‘thus involved a novel, to draw implicatures both from character
speech and authorial commentary’. Jane Austen’s other novel,Pride and Prejudice, begins with a
statement of the kind, full of ironic significance.
‘It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune
must be in want of a wife’
In many novelists, the authorial commentary is easily recognisable which sometimes is
embodied in the ‘I-figure’ and sometimes ostentatious voice of the writer who steps in from time
to time to cast commentaries. ‘The. dominant style of Tom Jones is a blend of the essayistic and
the argumentative, as is set by the introductory chapters to each of the eighteen books of the
novel, and they call attention to the controlling hand of the novelist, and to his dependence on
the reader’s tolerance’. (Roger Fowler)
George Eliot is another novelist who was fond of intruding into the narrative to interrupt its
progess and make general observations. Middlemarch and The Mill on the Floss present
examples of this.
The Irrational in Poetry
Earlier in this book, it has been pointed out that poetic language is based on the principle of
deviance from the norm of the standard. This is realized in various ways, and on different levels
of language structure. Any reader of poetry will become conscious of the unfamiliar and unusual
uses of language, be it syntactical construction, phonological arrangement or any other linguistic
function. We present below a few examples.
1. Queen Isabella : No, rather will I die a thousand deaths :And yet I love in vain; - he’ll
ne’er love me.
(Marlowe’s Edward the second)
2. Late, as I rang’d the crystal wilds of air,
In the clear mirror of thy ruling star,
I saw alas I some dread event impend
(Pope’s Rape of the Lock)
3. I die, yet depart not,
I am bound, yet soar free;
Thou art and thou art not
And ever shall be
(Robert Buchanan’s The City of Dreams)
If we look at these examples closely we can understand that by the norm of the standard
principle to ‘die a thousand deaths’ is an impossibility. This is, therefore, an absurd statement. It
is also difficult to understand how can one see anything in the ‘ruling star’ as one does in the
mirror. So also with the third example. The contradictions are outrageously obvious, creating
confusion, in the mind of the readers, who may find it verging on the nonsense, For an ordinary
‘chronically literal-minded being such uses of language produce only unspeakable gibberish’.

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One has only to talk to some people not used to reading literary works. Their opinion of poetry
reflects to what extent does the poetic language deviate from the norm. Normally, language is
used to convey ideas in direct logical manner - often aiming at simplifying things and reducing
complexity, as in ‘This new anthology has been compiled with two specific ends in view’.
But what is ordinarily viewed as absurdity, nonsense or ‘gibberish’ is a deliberate linguistic act.
Without it poetry and other buns of literary writing cannot exist. This is a licence or sanction
which the literary writers enjoy, most of all, the poets. Such deviations have their own rules,
processes and patterns. By understanding the different ‘figures of speech’ one can get the basic
idea of this ‘logic of the irrational’. A poet’s use of oxymoron, metaphor, paradox, and so on
helps him get beyond the merely commonly perceptible reality and express that which eludes
expression on the level of everyday logical plane of communication. Certain semantic
irregularities are created for the desired poetic effect. Some fundamental processes
are, Oxymoron, Tautology, Pleonasm, Periphrasis and Paradox.
We shall now discuss in brief these processes. Pleonasm, tautology and periphrasis refer to
redundancy factor, such as when the poet expresses more than he is required to do: That lie is
false (tautology);doctor who treats patients (pleonasm), my male parent father (periphrasis).
The other two, oxymoron and paradox refer to contradiction in statement and meaning. We
shall begin by discussing the last two.
Oxymoron
By bringing together two expressions which have apparent semantic incompatibility, that is,
which cannot show mutual semantic congruence, the poet creates oxymoron. John Milton uses
in Samson Agonistes the expression ‘to live a life half-dead, a living death’, and in Romeo and
Juliet we read‘Parting is such a sweet sorrow’. In both the examples, the italicised expressions
have words that are incompatible. This lends a degree of’ ambiguity which on the surface is
puzzling. But a careful reading by placing the, lines in their context would reveal that they are
very much compatible. To experience pleasure with pain is common. The mingling of joy with
sorrow is on the surface absurd, but particular contexts in life and literature discover for us the
perfect truth of the statement, so with Milton’s line. In certain conditions of life - the physically
disabled person feels that his life is more merciless than death - it is living hell and also living
death.
Paradox
In paradox also conllnly elements and statements me yoked together to create a strange
equation of antonyms. In the opening scene of Macbeth the three witches chant.
Fair is foul, and foul is fair
Hover through the fog and filthy air.
In the commonsense interpretation of these words fair cannot be foul, if it is fair, and foul
cannot be fair, if it is really foul. In the context of what follows in the play, this expression has a
macabre truth in it, ringing with prophetic echoes. Another example of paradoxical statement is
King Duncan’s observation made to Banquo in the same play.

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My plenteous joys
Wanton in fulness, Seek to hidethemselves
In drops of sorrow (Macbeth I, iv 32-34)
Pleonasm
This refers to the expression which needlessly repeats the meaning by way of explaining and
elaborating that which occurs either earlier or later. For example, when someone says, ‘the
doctor who treats the patients’, it is not difficult to recognise that the segment ‘who treats
patients’ is redundant, because the word ‘doctor’ contains that meaning. Often such explanatory
clauses are considered faults of style. But in literature this serves other ends.
Clown : if he mends, he is no longer dishonest;
if he cannot, let the botchermend him,
Anything that’s mended is best patched;
(Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night)
The clown is explicatory, anything that’s mended is but patched is but pleonasm seeking to
explain that which is already contained in the word. In Christina Georgina Rossetti’s (1830-
1894) poem ‘When I am Dead, My Dearest’, we see two stanzas, the beginning being ‘when, I am
dead, my dearest/sing no sad songs for me’. The poetess goes on to tell the dear one whathe/she
must do. But in the second stanza the poetess pleonasmically narrates what she herself shall
miss,
I shall not see the shadows,
I shall not feel the rain,
I shall not hear the nightingale
Sing on, as if in pain.
And dreaming through the twilight
That doth not rise nor sit
In the common communicative framework the explanation that she shall not feel the rain nor
see the shadows is redundant once ‘when I am Dead, My Dearest’ is said. But Christina Rossetti
is reputed for evoking pathos of lonely and sorrowful conditions of life. She aims at building an
atmosphere and a response in the readers which are vivid and distinct. Pleonasm has, therefore,
a marked role here, apt and reinforcing her opening line.
Tautology
Tautology is also an expression which seeks to explain that which is already presented in a word
or phrase. As Geoffrey Leech says, ‘Tautologies tell us nothing about the world, but may well tell
us something about the language’. Shakespeare’s play Hamletpresents some of the most striking
examples. In Act I Scene V Hamlet and Horatio exchange these observations.

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Ham. The air bites shrewdly; it is verycold.

Hor. It is a nipping and an eager air.
What Horatio says is only a kind of echo of Hamlet’s remarks.
In Thomas Dekker’s The Shoemaker’s Opera these lines occur.
Eyre. Leave whining, leave whining !
Away with this whimpering, this puling,
these blubbering tears, and these wet eyes !
After blubbering tears, wet eyes do not convey any new information. In drama, however,
‘tautology can be an indirect means of conveying information about character and state of mind’.
Periphrasis
This involves saying more than is expected. In ordinary communicative situation this is
considered violation of the principle of economy. However, it is a commonly employed mode in
poetry, especially lengthy poems, where the poet needs to refer to the same thing in different
ways. Often metrical convenience dictates its use as Shakespeare uses ‘this golden rigot.’ for
‘crow’ and ‘the round and top of sovereignty’. Such uses also avoid monotony, and introduces
variations. By employing round-about descriptive expressions the poet can also emphasize first
one facet then another of the same thing.
I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.
Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible
To feeling as to sight ? or art thou but
A dagger of the mind, a false creation,
Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain ?
(Macbeth Act 2 Scene 1)
The terrible ranting of Macbeth goes on in this rambling manner just before King Duncan is
murdered. It has many examples of periphrasis which Shakespeare illuminatingly uses to reveal
Macbeth’s character. And then a little later Macbeth, unsettled and unhinged by the deed, tells
Lady Macbeth in Scene 2 of Act 2,
Macb. Methought I heard a voice cry
1. Sleep no more :
Macbeth does murder sleep – the innocent sleep,
2. Sleep that knits up the ravell’d sleeve of care,
3. The death of each day’s life,
4. sore labour’s bath
5. Balm of hurt minds,

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6. great nature’s second course

7. Chief nourisher in life’s feast.
Macbeth has killed sleep by murdering the unguarded Duncan who looked like a sleeping babe
in his deep slumber. But it is not merely the destruction of sleep and the sleeping king that has
been carried out. By plunging dagger in Duncan’s breast,
Glamis bath murdered sleep; and
therefore Cawdor
Shall sleep no more - Macbeth shall
sleep no more
In this way he has also destroyed the innocence of sleep and all that sleep signifies to him. These
attributes are given numbers in the above passage to indicate what it signified to him. It is a
great profound self-revealing out-cry of a man who was ‘too full of the milk of humanity’ and
who had earlier understood,
If chance will have me King, why, chance
may crown me, without my stir.
Periphrasis is thus, in this instance, a very powerful means of producing poetic effect. In the
context of this tragic development, this extract is crucial in revealing an important aspect of
Macbeth’s character, his essential goodness. Sleep with its poetically enumerated attributes
leaves the reader more enlightened as to its significance and Macbeth’s character.
In the eighteenth century poetry one sees a close connection between periphrasis and the dignity
of expression. Something of this is perceptible in Macbeth also. Talking of the 18th century
linguistic practices, we turn to William Collins (1721-59) whose The Passions An ode for Music
contains these lines.
O Music ! Sphere-descended maid,
Friend of Pleasure, Wisdom’s aid !
Why, goddess, why, to us denied,
Lay’st thou thy ancient lyre aside ?
The poet emphasises those aspects of music that matter to him, creating a series of periphrastic
utterances. In a similar vein Thomas Gray writes,
Awake, Aeolian lyre awake…
O Sovereign of the willing soul,
Parent of sweet and solemn - breathing airs
Enchanting shell
(The Progress of Poesy)

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Periphrasis thus provides a means of building the appropriate poetic tone and evoking various
facets of the dominant idea, emotion or theme. They give a heightened imaginative appreciation
of the object described.
Ambiguity and Indeterminacy
A major strength of poetic writings is its ability to offer itself to multiple interpretations. The
‘meaning’ of a poem is, therefore, not its ‘cognitive meaning’, or to put it differently, ‘logical
denotative meaning’. This is the kind of meaning given by dictionaries. In a poem this kind of
meaning constitutes only a part of its total meaning. In order to distinguish the two types of
meaning, the word significance is used for the latter, the total meaning of a poem. In ordinary
communication, in day-to-day life both the types of meaning are used. For strictly scientific or
other academic purposes, ‘cognitive meaning’ is sought to be communicated. When Wordsworth
writes,
The Being, that is in the clouds and air,
That is in the green leaves among the groves,
Maintains a deep and reverential care
For the unoffending creatures whom he loves
What his use of the words ‘clouds’ and ‘air’ signify includes the cognitive meaning weathermen
attach to them. ‘It would be quite absurd to insist that cognitive meaning counts for nothing in
poetry’. There is, however, always an additional semantic value to be derived from the poetic use
of a word.
Thou on whose stream, mid the steep sky’s commotion
Loose clouds like earth’s decaying leaves are shed,
Shook from the tangled boughs of Heaven and Ocean,
Angels of rain and lightning;
(Shelley’s Ode to the West Wind)
In Shelley’s use of the word ‘clouds’ it would be absurd to confine our attention to mere
cognitive meaning; the word assumes greater strength of expression by its association with other
words. In association with other words it forms an inclusive field of significance which lends it
especial meaning. The assertion by a class of critics and waders that a poem cannot be
paraphrased, that, as Wordsworth says
Sweet is the love which Nature brings;
Our meddling intellect
Mis-shapes the beauteous forms of things;
We murder to dissect
(The Tables Mined)

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derives partly from this complex semantic associative whole. This means; that on the cognitive
level one may present a kind of surface interpretation, but apart from this also there remains a
lot to be presented. The possibility or possibilities of further interpretation to the manner in
which the poet uses language. It is a language which has the many-valued character, a language
possessing multiple significance, offering possibility of multiple interpretation. This comes
about by the author’s use of forms of deviation from linguistic norms. This has already been
discussed earlier. Shakespeare’s
put a tongue
In every wound of Caesar, that should move
The stones of Rome to rise and mutiny
(Julius Caesar III, ii)
defies literal paraphrasing of words. Such an attempt would not only result in nonsensical
interpretation, it would also mar the force of expression, the powerful articulation of emotion
that this deviant use of language achieves. It is common practice among prose writers also to
resort to deviations, as the poets do. Prose writers do this in order to achieve force of expression
and semantic density.
Lexical Polysemy
Similarly with polysemic words
lie : i. ‘to lie down’
ii. as in ‘tell lies’
Both the meanings of the word are effectively used in these lines from Richard II.
Surrey : Dishonourable boy !
That lie shall lie in my sword,
Grammatical Polysemy
It is evident in the following example,
Present Tense
A. She cooks without help
a. event occurring now
b. regularly repeated event
B. He is going home
a. event occurring now
b. event to take place in near future
These sentences written or spoken in isolation would lead to ambiguity, both the meanings
being available. In poetry ‘ambiguities are frequently brought to the readers’ attention, and the
simultaneous awareness of mote than one interpretation is used for artistic effect. One reason

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why we recognise and tolerate more ambiguity in poetry is that we are iii any case attuned to the
acceptance of deviant usages and interpretations’.
Ambiguities also arise from homophones andhomographs. In the first, words are pronounced
alike but are written differently.
bore - boar; see - sea; cell - sell; die - dye; etc. in the latter, the words are written alike but
pronounced differently.
row - row; lead - leed; read - read; bear (vb) - bear (n).
Pun
When a writer uses pun what lie does is to foreground the homonymous or polysemous
character of a word and allows more than one meaning to function in full measure in order to
create dramatic situation.
Maria : Now, Sir, thought is free, I pray you, tiring your hand to th’ butt’ry - bar and
let it drink.
Sir Andrew : Wherefore, sweet heart ? What’s your metaphor ?
Maria : It’s dry, Sir.
Sir Andrew : Why, I think so. I am not such an ass but
I can keel) my hand dry.
But what’s your jest ?
Maria : A dry jest, sir.
Sir Andrew : Are you full of them ?
(Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night I. 3)
The word dry in the above example has been used as pun, ‘hand dry’ meaning in literal sense of
‘not wet’, and ‘dry jest’ meaning barren jest.
Homonymic pun is considered less serious than the polysemic one, as it is believed that the
author benefits from the sheer accident of language. Pun is thus a form of word-play. Below we
discuss some prominent types of pun.
Repetition
In the example from Twelfth Night we observe the word twice repeated, each occurrence
projecting its different meanings. This has been quite popular with Elizabethan writers. In an
cat her examplefrom Richard II the word lie has been repeated. This is more common than a
single occurrence of the word. In T.S. Eliot’sWasteland we read this passage in the section
entitled ‘The Fire Sermon’.
When lovely woman stoops to folly and
Paces about her room again, alone,
She smooths her hair with automatic hand,

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And puts a record on the gramophone

The highly mechanical word ‘automatic’ has been yoked with the hand of the ‘lovely woman’,
evoking the idea of dry, mechanical life of the metropolis. This single word reminds us in this
passage of all the fast, impersonal, almost de-huillanized life in large cities consisting of
mechanical routine of humdrum activities. As Arthur Pollard says,
‘The pun is a form of innuendo, but its two in-congruous meanings are usually more
readily, even obviously recognisable than those of innuendo proper. The latter depends,
in fact, for its effect on the slight delay in realising that a second meaning underlies the
first and more obvious meaning’.
To happy converts, bosom’d deep in vines when slumber Abbots, purple on their wines
(Alexander Pope’s The Dunciad IV, 301-2)
The last phrase in the above quotation is not simply descriptive but also critical. In another of
Pope’s fine book The Rape of the Lock occur these lines
A. Oh hadst thou, Cruel ! been content to seize Hairs less in sight, or any Hairs but these !
(IV, 175-6)
B. On her white Breast a sparkling crossshe wore; which Jews might kiss, and infidels
adore
(II, 7-8)
In the first example (A) Belinda appears to have reached the climax of her distress. But the
ambiguity of ‘Hairs less in sight’ raises a curious dilemma, what other hairs ? The reference is
sexual and creates a new dimension of Belinda’s reputation. In example B what does the
word ‘which’ refer to, ‘cross’ or ‘breast’? A typical ambiguity is created in that if the cross is
kissed then, it is quite near the breast. Again the word ‘might’ would mean would desire to,
and/or would be allowed to.
Pun on Antonyms
When two words with opposite meanings or connotations are use together multiple meanings
arise, as by this association they intensify their antonymous sense.
therefore pardon me
And not compute this yielding to light love,
which the dark night bath so discovered.
(Romeo and Juliet)
Syllopsis
This is a type of pun which consists of a compound structure. In it a deliberately contrived
superficial structure of identical nature is brought together.
Here thou, great Anna ! whom their reals obey,

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Dost sometimes counsel take - and some time tea

(Rape of the Lock)
The two similarly constructed clauses clearly denote different things. Syllopsis here creates irony
by bringing together two activities of different nature one abstract, the other concrete !
Jingle as Pun
Ironic or comic effect is created by using two homonymous words
A young man married is a man that’s marred
(All is Well that Ends Well)
This of course flourishes on the musical quality of words whose sounds create not only chiming
effect; but also disparate meanings.
what thou wouldst highly
That wouldst thou holily
(Macbeth)
‘Punning’ is a very popular mode of expression with the writers. It gives them the kind of
expression power which is remarkably economical and pleasant. Many writers earned
permanent fable by displaying especial punning skill and talent, particularly the eighteenth
century poets, whose satirical works especially required this device, for it gives two meanings for
the price of one, and so adds to the poem’s density and richness of significance. Pun reduces
possibility of discovering incongruity between two unconnected words.
Indeterminacy
A poem is always open to multiple interpretations. It has many-valued aspects, there is no
definite number of possibilities to choose, from. As, William Empson says, ‘what often happens
when a piece of writing is felt to offer hidden riches is that one phrase after another lights up
and appears as the’ heart of it; one part after another catches fire, so that you walk about with
the thing for several days’. A linguist studies what possibilities of choice exist. Indeterminacy is
one of the prominent aspects of poetry, apart from that of multiple significance. There are
various factors responsible for it. We look at them below.
1. Deviation
We have already studied the different forms of poetic deviations arising out of the poet’s use of
language in a special manner. We must pay particular attention to the irregularities in poetry
and semantic absurdities.
2. Register and dialect
‘My nerves are bad to-night, yes, bad stay with me.
Speak to me.
Why do you never speak. Speak.
What are you thinking of ? What thinking ?

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What ?
I never know what you thinking. Think.
I think we are in rat’s alley
Where the men lost their bones
The Waste Land II
T.S. Eliot here uses the tone of discourse that arises out of the situation. A poet makes use
of dialect or register (defined elsewhere) to suit these contextual requirements. Milton’s
linguistic style is classical and perceptibly latinate. Wordsworth’s style, on the other hand,
avoids these pompous features, for he believes in the language of man speaking to men. Robert
Burns has chosen to write his work outside the standard dialect. What we see in ‘ES. Eliot
example is not the use of dialect, but a prosaic hurried speech often dropping in colloquial tenor.
In some poems one may find strange complexes of these varieties. In the words of Leech, ‘These
Engishes are difficult to describe precisely, because they shade into, one another and have
internal variations which could, if wished, lead to interminable sub-classification. For instance,
we could not, on any reasonable principle, draw a strict line between the English of journalism,
and the English of belles lettres or of general educational writing, or to take another example.
between formal and colloquial English, for there are innumerable degrees of formality and
informality in language’.
3. The ground and tenor of metaphor
Metaphor is vital to poetic expression. If we look at the following line
‘Life’s chilled boughs emptied by death’s autumn-blast’
the whole range of what ‘life’ signifies has been compressed into one metaphor ‘boughs’ that are
‘chilled’. And the cruel deal of death has been viewed as ‘autumn-blast’. This ‘definition’ of life
and death are not what is given in the dictionary. On the literal plain, life is not boughs and
death has no autumn blast. The ‘definition’ must, therefore, be taken in the linguistic sense. ‘Life
is like a bough’, ‘Life is as if it were a bough’, and so on, must be the figurative description. ‘Life’
is the tenor of this metaphor and its purported definition ‘a bough’ its vehicle. To make another
example from Thomas Campion’s poem Cherry-ripe.
There is a garden in her face
1. Where roses and lilies blow;
A heavenly paradise is that place
2. Where in all pleasant fruits do grow;
Her face is the tenor here, but the following descriptions cannot be taken in the literal sense.
The incongriuty of seeing face as the garden with the roses and lilies blowing is too violent to
sustain such comparing. The vehicle (1) represents one definition of her face and (2) represents
a further extension in terms of seeing it as heavenly paradise. It is important to understand that
the ‘literal meaning is always basic and the figurative’ meaning derived. Metaphoric transference
establishes link between tenor and vehicle. This leads us to the ground of the comparison.

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Metaphor implies the form A is like B in respect of C’. So her face is like garden in respect of the
freshness and colour represented by roses and lilies.
Let us look at another example
An aged man is but a paltry thing
A tattered coat upon a stick
(W. B. Yeats Sailing to Byzantium)
Vividness of comparison emphasizes certain qualities of the tattered coat upon a stick to
the aged man whose paltriness is already mentioned. The time-worn and battered life, and the
insignificance of being hung on a stick all loose and helpless have been chosen by the poet to
define the ‘aged man’. These attributes into which the metaphorical comparison has been
resolved form tileground of the metaphor.
Distinction between metaphor and simile is well-known to the students of literature. In simile
the comparisons are ‘Spelt out in succession and made explicit through the constructional
particles such as like, like as, as...as, as, etc.
She walks like beauty in the night
In cloudless climes and starry skies
(Lord Byron)
The above lines show the fine use of simile which compares her with the beauty of cloudless
climes and star-spangled skies.
Implications of Context
The immediate context presented by a poem helps us in interpreting the text to some extent. But
more useful details can be furnished from other sources. For example, in reading A. E.
Houseman’s A Shopshire Ladit would be useful to know what actually happened during Boer’s
war.
Connotations
Poetic’ language teems with connotations, some of which Pro interpretable within the contex of
the poem. The range stretches beyond this context, however. Context often gives prominence to
certain attitudes and suppresses others.
A. I saw her upon near view,
A spirit, yet a woman too !
Her household motions light and free,
And steps of virgin-liberty;
(Wordsworth’s She was a phantom of delight)
B. In spite of myself, the insidious masteryof song
Betrays me back, till the heart of me weeps to belong

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To the old sunday evenings at home

(D.H. Lawrence’s Piano)
What exactly does William Wordsworth mean by the compound word Virgin-liberty is a matter
of inderminate semantic significance. So with Lawrence’s phraseinsidious mastery of song. As
G.N. Leech observes, personal attitudes will always vary. This is the area of subjective
interpretation par excellence : a person’s reaction to a word, emotion, or otherwise depends to a
great extent on that person’s individual experience of the thing or quality referred to.
Ellipsis
Ellipsis emphasises reliance on contextual factors as providing and completing meaning. The
hearer/reader derives and completes the intended meaning from the context which may be a
single sentence or a larger composition where the context is built by more than one
sentence. Omission from sentences of required elements capable of being understood in the
context of their use is called ellipsis. ‘Ellipsis creates acceptable, but nonetheless grammatically
incomplete sentences’. (Noel Burton-Roberts : 101).
Why didn’t you bring a spade ?
I hadn’t got any.
The hearer presupposes here what is Jett out by discovering the semantic relation between what
is left out and what is referred to. This is a lexicogrammatical relationship which leads to
semantic relationship. Ellipsis mostly creates anaphoric cohesion.
Ellipsis works in three different contexts :
i) the clause, ii) the verbal group, and iii) nominal group
i) In question-answer dialogues ellipsis of clause is often seen.
a. Have you taken your meal ?
yes (I have taken my meal)
b. Was that fine ?
No (that was not fine)
In many such situations substitution is also used as potential referent.
He may report to duty today.
Perhaps not
In the above sentence, substitute perhaps notis used for ‘he may not report to duty today’. Other
such expressions are he said so, l think so, let us say so, if so, etc.
In the following example a positive clause is simply presupposed by ellipsis.
Would you like to see a little of it ?
- Very much indeed (I should very much indeed like to see a little of it).
In a wh- ellipsis the whole clause may be omitted.

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I think you must get the premission of the V.C. first.

- Why ? (must I get the permission of the V.C. first).
ii) A verbal group, comprising finite plus predicator may show ellipsis in any of these or the
whole.
a. I couldn’t bear [to be questioned like that]
b. Can you dance ?
- yes. I can (dance).
iii) Within the nominal group ellipsis is common and its role is one of contracting the
structure by reducing redundancies and thereby creating greater cohesion in the
discourse.
a. He came here last week, (he) visited us only yesterday.
b. She takes tea, but I don’t take any.
In (b) the ellipted item is replaced by a substitute any. ‘Ellipsis-substitution is a relationship at
the lexicogranimatical level: one of ‘go back and retrieve the missing words’. Hence the missing
words must be grammatically appropriate; and they can be inserted in place’.
(Halliday)
Conjunction
Conjunctions link phrases or clauses together. They have different kinds of function and refer to
different situational factors such as causation, elaboration, exemplification, clarification,
extension, enhancement. Conjunctions create linkages between subjects, verb phrases,
compliments, adverbials, prepositional complements. From simple single words this device can
relate to larger structure like clauses and sentences.
The cohesion thus achieved is called by the name of conjunction. ‘A range of possible meanings
within the domains of elaboration, extension and enhancement is expressed by the choice of a
conjunction, adjunct ... or of one of a small set of conjunction ..., in thematic position at the
beginning of the clause’.
Below we present in brief various categories and sub-categories to which different conjunctions
belong.
i. Elaboration. Elaborative relation is achieved by this type of conjunctions. This category
has two sub-categories a) apposition, b) exposition. In both, following conjunctions are
used - that is, in other words, for example, for instance, thus, to put it another
[Link] the function of these conjunctions is to re-present or re-state.
ii. Clarification. In this category of conjunctions their role is that of summarizing, making
precise or in some other way clarifying. This is achieved by these. devices : to be precise,
rather, at least (corrective);incidentally, by the way (dish active);anyway, in any case,
in particular, in short, briefly, to sum up, actually, in fact, as a matter of fact.
iii. Extension: This includes both addition and variation. In addition is
includedand (positive), nor (negative), but(adversative). ‘The class of variation has other

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smaller classes. These are : replacive, expressed by instead of, on the contrary;
substractive by apart from that, except for, except for that, etc.
iv. Enlargement : We can create cohesion by using conjunctions such as here,
there, anywhere else, nearby, behind, then, hitherto, previously, in the end, finally.
Causation and condition are indicated by hence, because, for, because of, on account
of, for that reason, then so; and otherwise, or, if not, then, in that case, under the
circumstances, in that event, nevertheless, though, in spite of, however, etc.

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