overview of topics

INTRODUCTION what is linguistics? language and creativity grammar and components of grammar descriptive vs. prescriptive grammar linguistic competence misconceptions about language basic linguistic principles synchronic ~ diachronic ling. language ~ dialect PHONETICS sound-producing system major sound classes articulatory description of sounds IPA consonants: manner of articulation, point (place) of articulation, voicing Canadian English--consonant system aspiration in English vowels: height, frontness, tense/lax, rounding Canadian English--vowels

phonetic transcription syllabic liquids and nasals phones: other languages - a few Cs and Vs consonant and vowel length natural classes pitch: tone and intonation prosodic / suprasegmental features stress: primary and secondary articulatory processes: Assimilation (progressive ~ regressive; assimilation to point of articulation / nasal place assimilation; voicing assim.; devoicing; nasalization; palatalization; total assimilation) Dissimilation Deletion Epenthesis Metathesis

PHONOLOGY what phonology does principal units in phonology sound patterns: segments in sequence; segments in contrast segments in sequence phonotactics

English phonotactics: syllable-initial sequences involving vls stops accidental gaps systematic gaps

segments in contrast minimal pairs and minimal sets minimal pairs test: contrastiveness of sounds near-minimal pairs examples from English: contrastive sounds phonemes (contrastive sounds of a language) phonetically conditioned variation (systematic and noncontrastive)= allophones predictability of variants: allophones in complementary distribution phonemes and natural classes: generalizations about the phonology of a language allophones in free variation

phonological rules: form and notation phonemic vs. phonetic transcription some phonological rules of English liquid devoicing nasalization flapping tense vowel rule Canadian Raising

derivations in phonology

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UR / UF (underlying representation / underlying form) = phonemes Phonological Rules PR / SF (phonetic representation / surface form) = allophones = [ ]

UR > phonological rules > PR

the structure of syllables the syllable as a phonological unit onset, nucleus, coda (onset + rhyme) representation of syllables (notation) a few examples: English syllabic structure + phonotactics

more phonological rules of English (involving syllabic structure) vowel lengthening rule aspiration

derivations and rule-ordering

MORPHOLOGY: word formation

introduction to lexical categories verbs, nouns, adjectives, adpositions, etc. the noun: number, case, gender

morphemes free vs. bound morphemes derivational vs. inflectional morphemes affixes (prefixes, infixes, suffixes) productivity

organization of morphemes linear (concatenative) morphology affixation reduplication (partial; full)

non-concatenative morphology (interdigitation) hierarchical (internal) organization: root; base (stem); affix

allomorphy variant forms of morphemes; morphophonology

other morphological phenomena cliticization internal change suppletion

other ways of building/extending vocabulary compounding, borrowing, backformation, blending, clipping, conversion, metaphorical extension