UNIT 1 : THE ORIGINS OF LANGUAGE UNIT 2 : ANIMALS AND HUMAN LANGUAGE UNIT 3 : THE DEVELOPMENT OF WRITING UNIT 4 : THE SOUNDS OF LANGUAGE UNIT 5 : THE SOUND PATTERNS OF LANGUAGE UNIT 6 : WORDS and WORD FORMATION PROCESSES UNIT 7 : MORPHOLOGY UNIT 8 : PHRASES and SENTENCES : GRAMMAR UNIT 9 : SYNTAX

1. The Study of Language - George Yule
UNIT 1 : THE ORIGINS OF LANGUAGE
We simplydonotknowhowlanguage originated.We donotknowthat spoken
language developedwellbefore writtenlanguage.Yetwe have nophysical
evidance relatingtothe speechof our ancestorsand because of thisabsence of
evidance speculationsabout the originsof humanspeechhave beendeveloped.
The Divine Source:
The basic ideaof the theoryis that: “ If infantswere allowedtogrow upwithout
hearinganylanguage,thentheywouldspontaneouslybegin usingthe original
God-givenlanguage.“
The Natural Sound Source:
“ Primitive wordscouldhave beenimitationsof the naturel sounds whichearly
menand womenheardaroundthem“ Examples:cuckoo, splash,bang, boom.
Thisviewhasbeencalled“bow-wowtheory“of language originandthese words
echoingnaturel soundsare called“onomatopoeicwords“
A similarsuggestion:“ The original soundsof language came from naturel criesof
emotionsuchas pain,angerand joy.Examples:Ouch!, Ah!,Hey!
Yo-heave-ho Theory
The soundsof a personinvolvedinphysical effortcouldbe the source of our
language,especiallywhenthatphysical effortinvolvedseveral peopleandhadto
be coordinated.
The importance of yo-heave-hotheoryisthatitplacesthe developmentof
humanlanguage insome SOCIALCONTEXT.
The Oral-Gesture Source
The theorycomesfrom the ideathatthere is a linkbetweenphysicalgesture and
orallyproducedsounds. Firstof all a setof physical gestureswasdevelopedasa
meansof communication.Thenasetof oral gesturesspeciallyinvolvingthe
mouthdevelopedinwhichthemovementsof the tongue,lipsandsoonwhere
recognizedaccordingtopatternsof movementsimilartophysical gestures.
Glossogenetics
The focus ison the biological basisof the formation.Inthe evolutionary
developmentthere are certainphysical features,bestthoughtof a partical
adaptationsthatappearto be relevantforspeech.By themselves,suchfeatures
wouldnotnot leadtospeechproduction, buttheyare goodcluesthat a creature
possessingsuchfeatures probablyhasthe capacityforspeech.
Physiological Adaptations
Human teeth,lips,mouth,tongue,larynx,pharynx andbrainhave been createdin
such a way tocoordinate inproducingspeechsounds.Their places,connections
and coordinative functionsmake humankind differentfromall the living
creatures.
Interactions and Transactions
There are twomajor functionsof language:
• Interactional Function:It isrelated withhowhumanuse language to interact
witheachothersociallyoremotionally,howtheyexpresstheirfeelingsortheir
ideas.
• Transactional Function:It isrelatedwithhowhumanuse theirlinguisticabilities
to transferknowledgefromone generationtothe next.
UNIT 2 : ANIMALS AND HUMAN LANGUAGE
Communicative vs. Informative
Communicative : Toconveya message intentionally. e.g.All the thingsyousay
for communicating.
Informative: Unintentionalmessages.e.g.If yousneeze the personyou are
talkingtocan understandthatyouhave a cold./ If youhave a strange accent the
personyouare talkingtocan understandyouare from some otherpart of the
country.
Unique Properties of A Language : These features are uniquely a part of
human language.
Displacement
Talkingaboutthingsthathappenedinthe past,happensnowor will happenin
the future.

2. There isno displacementinanimal communication.
Exception:Bee communicationhasdisplacementinanextremely limitedform.A
bee can showthe othersthe source of the food.
Arbitrariness :
The word and objectare not relatedtoeachother.e.g.dog.Cat
Exception
No arbitraryexamples:Onomatopoeicsoundse.g.cuckoo,crash, squelchor
whirr.
Majorityof animal signalshave aclearconnection withthe conveyed message.
Animal communicationisnon-arbitrary.
Productivity
(Creavity/open-endedness) Language userscreate newwordsasthey need
them.It isan aspectof language whichislinkedtothe fact that the potential
numberof utterancesinanyhuman language isinfinite.
Animal have fixedreference.Eachsignal referstosth,but these signals cannotbe
manipulated.
Cultural Transmission
Language passesfromone generationto another.Inanimalsthere isan
instinctivelyproduceprocessbuthuman infantsgrowingupinisolation produce
no instinctivelanguage.Cultural transmissionisonlycrucial in the human
acquisitionprocess.
Discreteness
Individual soundscanchange the meaning.e.g.pack – back , bin– pin. This
propertyiscalleddiscreteness.
Duality
To use some soundsindifferentplaces. e.g.cat– act . Soundsare the same but
the meaningsare different. There isnodualityinanimal communication.
Other Properties :
a-) Vocal- auditorychannel:Producing soundsbythe vocal organsand perceiving
themby ears.
b-) Reciprocity:Anyspeaker/readercanalsobe a listener/receiver.
c-) Specialization:Language isusedlinguistically.
d-) Non-directionality:Unseenbutheardmessagescanbe pickedupby anyone.
e-) Rapidfade:Linguisticsignalsare producedanddisappearedquickly.
Talking to Animals :
If these five properties(displacement,arbitrariness,productivity, cultural
transmission,andduality) of humanlanguage make itsucha unique
communicationsystem ,thenitwouldseemexteremely unlikelythatother
creatureswouldbe able tounderstandit. RiderscanWhoa to horsesandthey
stop,we can say Heel to dogsand theywill followarheel...Shouldwe treat these
examplesasevidence thatnonhumanscanunderstandhumanlanguage?
Probablynot.The standard explanationisthatthe animal producesaparticular
behaviourin response toaparticularsound-stimulusor'noise',butdoesnot
actually 'understand'whatthe wordsinthe noise mean.
UNIT 3 : THE DEVELOPMENT OF WRITING
Much of the evidance usedinthe reconstructionof ancientwriting systems
comesfrominscriptionsonstone ortabletsfoundinthe ruble of ruinedcities.
Pictograms and ideograms
A Picture representingaparticularimage inaconsistentwayitis called Picture-
writingorPictogram.There mustbe a linkbetweenthe pictogramandits
meaning.So,we can easilyunderstandwhatitrefers towhenwe lookatthe
pictogram.
More abstracts formsof pictogramsare calledIdeograms.The relationship
betweenthe entityandthe symbol isnoteasily understoodlikepictograms.
• A keypropertyof both pictogramsandideogramsisthat theydonot represent
wordsor soundsina particularlanguage.
Logograms
A goodexample of logographicwritingisthe systemusedbythe Sumerians,in
the southernpart of modernIraq,around 5,000 years ago. Because of the
particularshapesusedintheirsymbols,theseinscriptionsare more generally

3. describedascuneiformwriting.The termcuneiformmeans'wedge-shaped'and
the inscriptionsusedbythe Sumerianswere producedbypressingawedge-
shapedimplementinto softclaytablets,
Whenwe considerthe relationshipbetweenthe writtenformandthe objectit
represents,itisarbitrary.
Rebus Writing
In thisprocess,the symbol forone entityistakenoverasthe symbol forthe
soundof the spokenwordusedtoreferto the entity.That symbol thencomesto
be usedwheneverthatsoundoccursinany words.One symbol canbe usedin
manydifferentways,witharange of meanings.Thisbringsasizeable reductionin
the numberof symbols neededinawritingsystem.
Syllabic Writing
In the lastexample,the symbol thatisusedforthe pronunciationof partsof a
wordrepresentsacombination(ba) of aconsonantsound(b) and a vowel sound
(a).Thiscombination isone type of syllable.Whena writingsystememploysaset
of symbolseachone representingthe pronunciationof asyllable,itis described
as syllabicwriting.
There are nopurelysyllabicwritingsystemsinuse today,butmodernJapanese
can be writtenwithasingle symbolswhichrepresentspoken syllablesandis
consequentlyoften describedashavingasyllabicwritingora syllabary.
AlphabeticWriting
An alphabetisessentiallyasetof writtensymbolswhicheach representasingle
type of sound.
Written English
• The spellingof writtenEnglishtookplace in15 th century,viaprinting,soLatin
and Frenchaffectedthe writtenforms.
• Many of the earlyprinterswere Dutch,sotheywere notvery successful in
Englishpronounciation.
• Since the 15 th centuryspoken Englishhasundergonealotof changes.
UNIT 4 : THE SOUNDS OF LANGUAGE
The soundsof spokenEnglishdon’tmatch up,a lotof time,withletters of English.
The solutiontodescribe the soundsof a language like Englishistoproduce a
seperate alphabetwithsymbolswhichrepresent sounds.Suchaset of symbolsis
calledthe “ PHONETICALPHABET “ .
Phonetics
The general studyof the characteristicsof speechsoundsiscalled“phonetics“.
We have got fourareasof studywithinphonetics.
a-) ArticulatoryPhonetics:The study of howspeechsoundsare made, or
articulated.
b-) AcousticPhonetics:Itdealswiththe physical propertiesof speech assound
wavesinthe air.
c-) AuditoryPhonetics:Itdealswith the reception,viathe ear,of speechsounds.
d-) ForensicPhonetics:Itdealswiththe identificationof the speakerandthe
analysisof recordedutterances.
Voiced and Voiceless Sounds
• Voiceless:Whenthe vocal cordsare spreadapart, the air fromthe lungspasses
betweenthemunimpeded.Soundsproducedinthisway are describedas
voiceless.
• Voiced:Whenthe vocal cordsare drawntogether,the airfromthe lungs
repeatedlypushesthemapartasit passesthrough,creatingavibrationeffect.
Placeof Articulation
It isthe location,insidethe month, atwhichthe constrictiontakes place.We use
the symbolsof the phoneticalphabettodonate specificsounds.These symbols
are enclosedwithinsquare brackets[ ] .
Bilabials
The soundsformedusingbothupperandlowerlips.
Labiodentals
The soundsformedwiththe upperteethandthe lowerlip.
Dentals
The soundsformedwiththe tongue tipbehindthe upperfrontteeth.

4. Alveolars
The soundsformedwiththe frontpart of the tongue onthe alveolarridge.
Alveo-palatals
The soundsproducedwiththe tongue at the veryfrontof the palate, nearthe
alveolarridge.
Velars
The soundsproducedwiththe back of the tongue,againstthe velum.
Glottal
The soundsproducedwithoutthe active use of the tongue andotherparts of the
mouth.
Manner of Articulation
How the soundsarticulated.
Stops
The soundsproducedbysome form of complete “stopping“ of the airstreamand
thenlettingitgoabruptly.
Fricatives
The soundsproducedbyalmostblockingthe airstream,andhavingthe airpush
throughthe narrow opening.As the airpushedthrough,atype of frictionis
produced.
Affricates
The soundsproducedbycombining brief stoppingof the airstream withan
obstructuredrelease whichcausessome friction.
Nasal
The soundsproducedbylowering the velumandthe airstreamis allowedtoflow
out throughthe nose.
Approximants
Articulationof these soundsare stronglyinfluencedbythe followingvowelsound.
a-) Glides:The soundsproducedwiththe tongue movingtoorfromthe position
of a nearbyvowel.
b-) Liquids:The soundsformedbylettingthe airstreamflowaroundthe sidesof
the tongue as it makescontactwiththe alveolarridge.
Glottal stops
It occurs whenthe space betweenthe vocal cordsisclosedcompletely, very
briefly,andthenrealized.
Flap
The soundsproducedbythe tongue tipbeingthrownagainstthe alveolarridge
for an instant.
Vowels
Theyare produced witha relatively freeflowof air.Theyare all typicallyvoiced.
Front versusaback and a highversusa lowarea.
Dipthongs
Combinedvowelsoundswhichcontain twodifferentsoundsare called
diaphanous.Theybeginwithavowel soundandwithaglide.
UNIT 5 : THE SOUND PATTERNS OF LANGUAGE
• Physicallydifferentindividualswouldinevitablyhave physically differntvocal
tracts, intermsof size andshape.
• Since everyindividualshasaphysicallydifferentvocal tract,every individual will
pronounce soundsdifferntly.
• Each individualwillnotpronunce the word“ me”ina physically identical
manneron everyoccasion.
Phonology
The descriptionof the systemsand patternsof speechsoundsina language.Itis
concernedwiththe waysinwhichspeechsoundsformsystemsandpatterns
inhumanlanguage Phonologypermitsaspeaker.:
• To produce soundsthatform meaningful utterances.
• To recognize aforeignaccent.
• To make up newwords.
• To formpluralsor pasttenses,etc.

5. Phonemes
Each meaning– distinguishingsoundin alanguage isdescribedasa “ phoneme “.
It isthe single soundtype whichcame tobe represented byasingle symbol.Slash
marksa re conventionallyusedtoindicate aphoneme,/t/.
• Phoneme functionscontrastively.Thiscontrastive propertyisthe basic
operational testfordeterminingthe phonemeswhichexistinalanguage.If we
substitucle one sound foranotherinaword andthere isa change of meaning,
thentwosoundsrepresentdifferent phonemes.
• Place of articulation,mannerof articulation,voiced,voicelessare the
distinguishingfaeturesof the sounds.If the feature ispresent,we mark itwitha
plus( + ) sign:if it isn’tpresent,we use (- ) minussign./p/ – Voice,+Bilabial,+
Stop)
Phones and Allophones
Theyare differentversionsof asound type.Phonesare representedin square
brackets.
Whenwe have a setof phones,all of whichare versionsof one phoneme,we
referto themas the allophone of thatphoneme.e.g. Bean,bead.
Aspiration
Whenwe are producingthe same soundindifferentwords,sometimes extrapuff
of airis producedforthe same sound.Thisfeature isjustfor stops( b,p, t, d, k,g )
e.g.Pit,spit.
The basic distinctionbetweenphonemesandallophones;substituting one
phoneme foranotherwill resultinawordwitha different meaning,but
substitutingallophonesonlyresultinadifferent pronounciationof the same
word.
Minimal Pairs and Sets
Whentwo wordssuchas “ pat “ and “ bat “ are identical inform expectfora
contrast inone phoneme, occuringinthe same position, the twowordsare
describedasa minimal pair.e.g.Feat,fit,fat,fate
Phonotactics
There are definitepatternsto the typesof soundcombinations permittedina
language.We can formnonsense wordswhichare permissible formswithno
meanings.Theyrepresentidenticalgapsin the vocabularyof English.E.g.“lig”or
“vig” ( not Englishwordsbut possible ).
But “sing”or “mig” are notobeyingsame constraintsonthe sequence.
Such constraintsare calledthe “ Phonotactics“ of a language.
Syllabus and Clusters
A syllable iscomposedone ormore phonemesanditmustcontaina vowel sound.
Everysyllable hasanucleus,usuallyavowel-liquidornasal.The basicelementsof
the syllable are the onset( one or more consonants) and the rhyme.Plusany
followingconsonantstreatedas the coda.
• The syllabuswhichhasn’tgota coda are known“ OPEN SYLLABUS “ , whena
coda ispresent,they are called“ CLOSED SYLLABUS” . Cup=> closedsyllable no
=> opensyllable
• Bothonsetand coda can consistof more than one consonantknown as a
CONSONANTCLUSTER./s/+ (/p/,/t/,/k/) +( /r/, /l/,/w/)
Co-articulation Effects
Our talkis fastand spontaneousand itrequiresourarticulatorstomove fromone
soundto the nextwithoutstopping.The processof makingone soundalmostat
the same time as the nextiscalledcoarticulation.Articulationeffectsare called“
assimilation”and“ Ellision”.
Assimilation
Whentwo phonemesoccurinsequence andsome aspectof one phoneme is
takenor copiedbythe otherthe processisknownas “ assimilation“.Thisprocess
isoccasionedby“ ease of articulationin everydaytalk.Forexample,only vowel
becomesnasal wheneverit immediatelyprocedesanasal.E.g.can => I can go.
Elision
Omissionof asoundsegmentwhichwouldbe presentinthe deliberate
pronounciationof awordin isolationistechnicallydescribedas“ elision“. In

6. consonantsclusters,especiallyincodaposition,/t/isacommoncasualtyinthis
process,as inthe typical pronunciationforHe mustbe - Aspects
UNIT 6 : WORDS and WORD FORMATION PROCESSES
Etymology
The study of the originand historyof a wordis knownas itsetymology, aterm
which,like mayof our technical words,comestousthrough Latin, buthas its
originsinGreek....
Coinage
The leastcommonprocessesof word-formationinEnglishis “Coinage”.Thatis
the inventionof totallynewtermsandusingitforanyversionof that product.Ex.
Kleenex, Teflon, Xerox, nylon,aspirin, zipper…
Borrowing
That is takingoverof wordsfrom otherlanguages.Ex.Alcohol (Arabic), Croissant
(French) ,Robot(Czech) ,Bass (Dutch) , Piano(Italian) , Yogurt(Turkish) …
• A special type of borrowingisdescribedas“ loan-translation“or“ calque “ . In
thisprocess, there isa directtranslationof the elements of awordintothe
borrowinglanguage.Ex. Ungratteciel ( French) – It is translatedasa “ scrape-sky
“ . - It is normallyreferredtoasa “ skyscraper“ .
Compounding
The joiningof twoseperate wordstoproduce a single formiscalled“
Compounding“. It isverycommonin GermanEnglish,butless commonin
French,Spanish.Ex. Bookcase,fingerprint,sunburn, wallpaper…
Blending
Blendingistypicallyaccomplishedbytakingonlythe beginningof one wordand
joiningittothe endof the otherword. Ex. Gasoline +Alcohol => Gasohol Smoke +
Fog => SmogBinary+ Digit=> Bit Brakfast + Lunch => Brunch
Clipping
Whena word of more thanone syllable isreducedto ashorterform, oftenin
casual speech,iscalledclipping.
Ex. Goasoline =>Gas
Advertisement=>Ad
Situationcomedy=>Sitcom
Chemistary=> Chem
Examination=>Exam
Gymnastics=> Gym
Backformation
A wordof one type of ( usuallyanoun) is reducedtoformanotherwordof a
differenttype ( usuallyaverb) .
Ex. Television=>Televise
Donation=> Donate
Option=> Opt
• A longerwordis reducedtoa single syllable,then“–y“ or “ -ie “ is addedtothe
end.Andthisisknownas “ HYPOCORISMS“ .
Ex. Movingpictures=> Movie
Television=>Telly
Australian=> Aussie
Conversion
A change inthe functionof a word,as , forexample,whenanoun comestobe
usedas verb( withoutanyreduction) ,is generallyknown asConversion.This
processcan alsobe calledas“ category change “ and “ functional change “.
Ex. Butter(n) => Have youbuttered(v) the toast?
Paper(n) => He ispapering(v) the bedroomwalls.
• Conversioncaninvolveverbsbecomingnouns.
Ex. Guess(v) => A guess
Spy(v) => A spy
Must (v) => A must
To printout (v) => A printout
To take over (v) => A take over

7. Acronyms
Acronymsare formedfromthe initial lettersof asetof otherwords.
Ex. CompactDick : CD , Personal IdentificationNumber:PIN ,Video Cassette
Recorder: VCR, AutomaticTellerMachine :ATM , Radio DetectingandRanging(
RADAR) …
Derivation
It isaccomplishedbymeansof a large numberof small bitsof English. These small
bitsare called“ affixes “andthisprocessiscalled“ Derivation“.
Ex: –un / -less/ -ish/mis- / pre- / – full / -ism/ -ness…
Unhappy, boyish,misrepresent,joyful ,careless,sadness,prejudge, terrorism…
• PrefixesandSuffixes:Some affixeshave tobe addedtothe beginning of a
word.These are calledPREFIXES.Some affixeshave tobe addedtothe endof the
word.Theyare calledSUFFIXES.
Ex. Misleadmis=> prefix
Disrespectfuldis=>prefix ful => suffix
• Infixes:Infix isanaffix whichisincorporatedinside anotherword. Theyare not
normallytobe foundinEnglish.Examplesare fromKamhmu.
Ex. See => To Drill => Srnee => A drill
Toh => To Chisel => Trnoh=> A chisel
Ex: ( English) Absogoddamlutely!Hallebloadylujah!
UNIT 7 : MORPHOLOGY
Morphologyisthe studyof forms.It hasbeenusedtodescribe that type of
investigatingwhichanalysesall those basicelementswhichare usedina
language.Whatwe have beendescribingaselementsinthe formof a linguistic
message are knownas morphemes.
Morphemes
Morpheme isthe minimal unitof meaningorgrammatical function.
Ex. Touristscontains3 morphemes.Tour+ ist+s
Free and Bound Morphemes
Free Morphemescanstand bythemselvesassingle words.Ex Tour, open,stay …
BoundMorphemescan notnormallystandalone buttheyare typically attached
to anotherform.Affixesare boundmorphemes.Ex.re- ,-ist, - ed, -s…
• Whenfree morphemesare usedwithboundmorphemes,the basicword–
forminvolvedistechnicallyknown asthe ” stem” . Ex.un dress edun=> Prefix (
bound) , dress=> stem( free ) , ed=>suffix ( bound)
Lexical and Functional Morphemes
• Free morphemesfallintotwocategories:
Lexical morphemesare the ordinarynounsadjectivesandverbswhich we thinkof
the wordswhichcarry the contentof messageswe convey. Theyare calledopen
classof words,since we can addnewlexical morphemestothe language easily.
Functional morphemesare the functional wordsinthe language such as
conjunctions,prepositions,articlesandpronouns.Theyare called close classof
words,since we almostneveraddnewfunctional morphemestothe language.
Ex. and,but,on, near,above => functional morphemes
Sad,long,look=> lexical morphemes
Derivational and Inflectional Morphemes
BoundMorphemescan alsobe dividedintotwotypes.
Derivational morphemesare used tomake newwordsinthe language andare
oftenusedtomake wordsof a differentgrammatical categoryfromthe stem.
Ex. good=> adjective good+ness=> noun
Care => nouncare + less=> adjective
Inflectional morphemesare notusedtoproduce newwords inthe English
language,butratherto indicate aspectsof the grammatical functionof aword.
Plural markers,possessivemarkers,tensemarkers, comparativeandsuperlative
markersare inflectional morphemes.
Ex. Tim’stwosisters:Tim’s‘s => inflectional ,sisterss=> inflectional

8. Derivational Versus Inflectional
• Aninflectional morpheme neverchangesthe grammatical categoryof aword.
Ex. old=> adj., Older=> adj.
• A derivational morpheme canchange the grammatical categoryof a word.
Ex. teach=> verb, teacher=> noun
Some morphemeslookthe same but thisdoesnotmeanthat theydo the same
kindof word.
Ex. teacher=> suffix +inflectional
Younger=> suffix +derivational
Wheneverthere isaderivationalsuffix andinflectional suffix attachedtothe same
word, theyalwaysappearinthat order.
Ex. teach+ er+ s => stem+ derivational +inflectional
Morphological Description
The girl’swildnessshockedthe teachers.
The ( functional ) , girl ( lexical ) ,‘s ( inflectional ) ,wild ( lexical ) ,ness(
derivational ) ,shock( lexical ) , -ed( inflectional ) ,the ( functional ) ,
teach( lexical ) , -er ( derivational ) –s( inflectional ) .
* CATEGORIESOF MORPHEMES : FREE ( a- Lexical b- Functional ) and
BOUND ( a- Derivationalb- Inflectional )
Problems in Morphological Description
1- The inflectional morpheme–sisaddedto “ cat “ and we getthe plural “ cats “ .
What isthe inflectional morphemewhichmakessheepthe pluralof sheep?
Ex. wentpasttense of go.
Legal => Is ithe same morpheme asin“ international “.
Solution:A full descriptionof Englishmorphologywill have totake accountof
bothhistorical influencesandthe effectof borrowed elements.
Ex. Law => borrowedintooldEnglishfromoldNorse
Legal => borrowedfromthe Latinform of “ legal is“ ( of the law )
Morphs and Allomorphs
Morphs : The actual formsusedto realize morphemes.
Ex. cats => consistsof twomorphemes
An inflectionalmorpheme ( -s)
A lexical morpheme ( cat)
Allomorphs:The actual forms of the morphswhichresultfromthe single
morpheme “plural “ turn out to be different.Theyare all allomorphsof the one
morpheme.
Ex. sheep( s) => sheep( p )
Sheep( zeromorpheme )
• zeromorpheme isone allomorphof plural.
Reduplication:Repetitiondevice asa meansof inflectional marking.
UNIT 8 : PHRASES and SENTENCES : GRAMMAR
Grammar
We needaway of describingthe structure of phraseswhichwill accountforall of
the grammatical sequencesandrule outall the ungrammatical sequences
providingsuchanaccount involvesusinthe studyof grammar. The phrasesand
sentencescanbe describedasillformedorwell-formed.
Types of Grammar
1- Each adultspeakerof a language clearlyhassome type of mental grammar.
Thisgrammar is subconsciousandisnotthe resultof any teaching.
2- This can notbe consideredas“ linguisticetiquette“whichisthe identification
of the properor beststructuresto be usedina language.

9. 3- This isthe studyand analysisof structuresfoundina language, usuallywiththe
aimof establishingadescriptionof the grammarof English.
Traditional Grammar
Since there were well-establishedgrammatical descriptionsof these older
languages,itseemedappropriate toadoptthe existingcategories fromthese
descriptionsandapplythemin the analysisof languageslike English.
Parts of the speech
The terms forthe parts of speechare nouns,adjectives,verbs,adverbs,
prepositions,pronouns,andconjunctions.
Agreement
• Agreementonnumber:That’s whethernounissingularorplural.
• AgreementonPerson:This coversthe distinctionsof persons( He, she,it,we,
you,they)
• Agreementontense :For example ,the verb( likes) isthe present tense ,which
isdistinguishedfrompasttense ( liked) .
• AgreementonVoice :for ex.“ The boy likeshisdog.“The sentence is inthe
Active Voice ,withthe boydoingthe liking.Analternative isthe PassiveVoice,in
whichthe likingisdone tothe boy , as in“ The boyis likedbyhisdog“ or just“
The boy isliked”.
• AgreementonGender:This helpsusto describe the agreement between“boy
“ and “ his“ .
The PrescriptiveApproach
The viewof grammar as a setof rulesfor the correct or properuse of alanguage
may be characterizedasthe Prescriptive Approach. Grammarianssetoutrules
fort he correct properuse of English.
Ex. Neverbeginasentence with“AND“.
You mustn’tsplitaninfinitive.( Thisrule canbe brokenitisn’tbecauseof the
Englishformsare bad, itis because of the breakingsupposedrule of Latin
Grammar.
The DescriptiveApproach
Describingthe regularstructuresof the language asitis used, not according to
some viewof how itshouldbe usediscalledthe Descriptive Approach.Analysis
collectsamplesof the language theyare interestedandtheydescribethe
structuresof the language.We have gottwo differentcategoriesunderthis
approach;Structural Analysis andImmediate ConstituentAnalysis.
Structural Analysis
One type of descriptive approach.The methodemployedinvolvesthe use of “
test-frames“whichcan be sentenceswithemptyslotsinthem.
Ex.The ___________ makesa lotof noice.
• “ Donkey,car,radio,etc… “ fitinthe same test-frame andtheyare the
examplesof the same grammatical category“noun“. But “ a dog, the car “ don’t
fitthe test-frame .
Immediate Constituent Analysis
Thisapproach isdesigned toshownewsmall constituents (components) in
sentencesgotogethertoformlargerconstituents. (Analyzingthe sentenceby
dividingittodifferentcategoriessuchas“ nounphrase “ , “ verbphrase “ , and “
prepositional phrase “.
Ex. Herfatherbroughta shotguntothe wedding.
Her father=> nounphrase
broughta shotgun=> verbphrase
to the wedding=> prepositional phrase .
UNIT 9 : SYNTAX
If we concentrate onthe structure and orderingof componentswithin a
sentence,we are studyingwhatistechnicallyknownasthe syntax o a language.
Syntax means“ a settingouttogether“ or “ arrangement”.
Generative Grammar
If the sentencesof alanguage canbe seenasa comparable set,then there must
be a setof explicitruleswhichyieldthose sentences.Suchasetof explicitrulesis
a “ generative grammar“.
Some propertiesof grammar:

10. 1- The grammar will generateall the well-formedsyntacticstructures andfail to
generate anyill-formedstructures.
2- The grammar will have afinite numberof rules,butwillbe capable of
generatinganinfinitenumberof well-formedstructures.
3- The rulesof thisgrammar will needthe propertyof recursion.
Recursion
The capacity to be appliedmore thanonce ingeneratingastructure.
4- This grammaralso showshowsome superficiallydistinctsentences are closely
relatedandhowsome superficiallysimilarsentencesare in factdistinct.
Deep and SurfaceStructures
Charlie broke the window.
The windowwasbrokenbyCharlie.
Theirsyntacticformsare different.One isanactive sentence,the otherisa
passive one.Soitcan be saidthat they differin“surface structure “, however,
theirdeepstrucuresare identical.Theycarrythe samemeaning.The deep
structure is an abstractlevel of structuralorganisationinwhichall the elements
determiningstructuralinterpretationare represented.
Structural Ambiguity
Annie wheckedamanwithan umbrella.
Thissentence isstructurallyambigoussince ithastwounderlying interpretations
whichwouldbe representeddifferentlyinthe deepstructure.
Diffrent Approaches
There continue tobe many differentapproachesamongthose who claimto
analyze language interms of generativegrammar,andmany more among those
whoare critical of the whole system.
Tree Diagrams
It isa wayof showingall the constituents inahierarchical order.Refertopage
105.
Phrase StructureRules
We can simplytreattree diagramas a staticrepresentationof the structure of the
sentence atthe bottom of the diagram.The alternative viewistotreatthe
diagramas a dynamicformat,inthe sense thatit representsawayof “ generating
“ not onlythat sntence buta very large numberof sentenceswithonlyasmall
numberof rules.These are called“phrase structure rules“ .
Back to Recursion
The phrase structure ruleshave no recursive elements.However,we have tobe
able to repeatsome symbolsonthe rightside of the arrow.
Mary helpedGeorge.
In the sentence above there are norecursive elements.But;
CathythoughtMary helpedGeorge or,
JohnsaidCathy thoughtMary helpedGeorge .
Have recursive elements.Inthese sentenceswe needtoaddV and PN to our
lexical rules.
Transformational Rules
a- George helpedMaryyesterday.
b- YesterdayGeorge helpedMary.
Phrase structure ruleswill generateall sentenceswithfixedwordordertothe
constituents.Sosentence “a “ will be definedbyphrase structure ruleseasily
while sentence “b “ will not.Here we have to transformsome of the elements.
Refertopage 108.