i am first year and i need some help plz

hi i am amel and i am new student in english language and i found difficulties in it and in specialy the module of linguistic and cultural stadies.so i ask who predecessors me in this jurisdiction to help me and reward with allah.thnx :)

me too i'm first year
but ihave the lessons of linguistic
أنا من جامعة قسنطينة

تفضلي اختي هذا راهوا أول درس في اللسانيات
University Mentouri – Constantine
Department of English
LG Module

Language : Nature and Function

When we study human language we are
approaching what some might call the " human
essence " the distinctive qualities of mind that are
,so far as we know, unique to man.
NOAM CHOMSKY, Language and mind.

Linguists are often asked questions like: what is linguistics?, why study linguistics?, what does a linguist do? In answer to the first question linguists may reply: Linguist is the scientific study of Language. We must now have a look at just what we mean by Language.

Language is such a familiar phenomenon that people can easily fall into the trap of thinking that we know all about it. ، of course I know what Language is’, some one might say,، I use it all the time , don't I? Or agam ’ Everyone knows what Language is, so why make such a song and dance over it ? ’But Language is acquired or first learned in a natural environment in infancy or childhood this is generally the case of native Language or mother tongue then, gradually as with all other skills, we have to be taught how to use it.
Once it has been learned. We tend to take it for granted- until, of course, something starts to go wrong. It is when we are required, for example, to learn a new Language, that we being to realize the complexity of what we have achieved or mastered. Language, to put it mildly, is a very complex phenomenon. First off all, let's begin by considering It’s function; what is Language main job?

Language is the most frequently used and highly developed from of human communication. What ever else people may do when they come together - whether they play, fight, or make automobiles-they talk. We live in a world of words. We talk to our friends, our mothers and mothers – in – law. We talk face to face and ever the telephone. And everyone responds to us with more talk. Television and radio further swell this torrent of words. As a result, hardly a moment of our lives is free from words. We talk even when there is no one to answer. We sometimes talk to ourselves. And we are the only animals
that do this- that talk.

The possession of Language, more than any other attribute, distinguishes humans from other animals. To understand our humanity, we must understand the Language that makes us human.

To sun up Language is a fascinating aspect of human behavior- hence the need to study Language because it is the key to the understanding of so much of human behavior , both of ourselves and for important to note that there are a number of practical applications arising from Language studies , i.e., other areas which such studies can help illuminate.

دروس السداسي الثاني كامل
تفضلي هاهم ليك و أدعيلي بالخير



Linguistic units

The linguistic units which compose the language , whether spoken or written , are more commonly referred to as grammatical units.


The Basic Units of Grammar

Traditionally, linguistic theory operates with two fundamental units of

grammatical description: the word and the sentence, with the word as the basic

unit. But some linguists have reacted against this and argue that the classical

grammarians were little concerned with the analysis of words into smallest units.

However, It is clear that, in many language at least , such elements exist. For

instance, the English word unacceptable is made up of three smaller units, each of

which has a characteristic distribution : un + accept + able, moreover, these are

minimal units in that they cannot be analysed further into distributionally -

classifiable units of English. Such minimal units of grammatical analyses , of

which words may be composed, are referred to as morphemes, We have therefore

three different units of grammatical description to consider : sentences, words ,

and morphemes . Intermediate between the word and the sentence ,two other

units are commonly recognized by grammarians: phrases and clauses.

Traditionally , the distinction between the two was formulated somewhat as

follows: any group of words which is grammatically equivalent to a single word

and which does not have its own subject and predicate is a phrase ; on the other

hand, a group of words with its own subject and predicate, if it is included in a
larger sentence, is a clause.

The relation between the five units of grammatical description is one of
Composition. If we call the sentence the ‘highest’ unit and the morpheme the ‘lowest’
We can arrange all five units on a scale of rank (sentence , clause , phrase , word,
morpheme), Saying that units of ‘higher’ rank are composed of units of ‘lower ’rank

as in the following diagram:

Sentence


Clause


Phrase

Word

Morpheme
The Sentence

According to Bloomfield a sentence is “ an independent linguistic form,

not included by virtue of any grammatical construction in a lower linguistic

form». The point of Bloomfield definition can be stated more concisely as

follows: The sentence is the largest unit of grammatical description

e.g: How are you ? It’s a fine day . Are you going to play tennis this

afternoon? Are all distributionally independent of one another, and for that

reason they are recognized as three distinct sentences.


De Saussure distinguished two senses of the term ‘sentence’:

utterances and sentences . Utterances generated by the system of elements

and rules which constitute the larger . The linguist describes instances of

parole by establishing the language.


In traditional grammar sentences are classified into different type in two

Ways. First of all by function, as statements, questions, exclamation and

Commands. Secondly , according to their structural complexity as simple or
Basic Levels of structure : Syntagmatic

Paradigmatic

In language , everything is based on relations of various kinds and in
order to examine the distribution of linguistic units, i.e ; the range or whole
set of contexts in which they may occur, it is important to consider the types of
relationship they enter into.

Linguistic units have a Paradigmatic relation with all words which can
occur in the same context and syntagmatic relation with all words forming
their context , for example,
1. read this book
2. read this letter

3. donne moi cette fleur
4. donne moi cette lettre
5.
6.
There is a syntagmatic relation between read + this + book in the first example
and a syntagmatic relation between read + this + letter in the second example
On the other hand , there is a Paradigmatic relation between book and letter
Because they can occure or replace one another in the same context . In other
Words , a syntagmatic relation is a linear relation that holds between the
elements which are present in the sentence or context . Each element is in
syntagmatic relation with the elements that constitute its context as in
examples 1 and 2 or 3 and 4 or 5 and 6 whereas a paradigmatic relation h…
between an element present in a sentence or context and another element which
is not present in the sentence or context but which can sta………..
poshion and have the same function as exemplified with book and letter in
examples 1 and 2 ; with fleur and letter in example 3 and 4 ; with and
in examples 5 and 6 .

Therefore, syntagmatic relations are viewed according to a horizontal
Level or horizontal dimension and paradigmatic relation are viewed according
to a vertical level or vertical dimension . Syntagmatic and paradigmatic
relations exist at all levels of linguistic description : lexical , grammatical and
phonological . For instance , at the word level , we may have a combination of
three units : un + friend + ly in unfriendly . At the phonological level , we have
c + + c ( consonant + vowel + consonant ) in cut .

Fixed and Free Sequence in syntagmatic relations

Another aspect of Syntagmatic relation is the influence of word order .
This means that Syntagmatic relation , i.e ; relation between units which are
Co-present , may or may not be in sequence .In some languages, the sequence is
Free ; in others , it is fixed .There are languages where the sequence can be free
or fixed , for example , at the phonological level in English , the sequence tends
to be rather fixed since we can have c+ v+ c as in cat , c+ v+ 0 in tea , c+ c+
c + v + c as in strange but not c+ c+ c+ c+ v.
We can find a certain flexibility at the grammatical level . for example:
7. He whispered the answer softly.
8. Softly he whispered the answer.
9. He softly whispered the answer.


10. C‘est une immense université.
11. C‘est une université immense.
This pair of sentences illustrates free sequence since the meaning is not
Affected, whereas the following pairs :
12. Un homme brave ( brave, courageous)
13. Un brave homme ( kind, generous , helpful)
and,
14. Un homme grand (tall)
15. Un grand homme ( exceptional , remarkable from the personality
and professional point of view)

illustrate fixed sequence since the meaning change in each case.

At the lexical level , the sequence tends to be fixed , but sometimes it can
Be free, e.g,
16. She is nice looking.
17. She looks nice.
In these examples the permutation of two lexical items which …………… of
from the combination looks + nice and nice + looking does not affect the
meaning . In other cases , changing the sequence or word order is not possible as
in all cases of idiomatic expressions such as idioms , proverbs , fixed
combinations , compound words and so on , for example , heavy smoker , head –
master , to put up with ( tolerate ) . tout ce qui brille n‘est pas or,
etc.
Free Variation and Contrast in Paradigmatic Relations
Another important aspect of these relation is that the elements having a
Paradigmatic relation can be similar o r different in meaning, consider the following examples:
18. She is terribly nice.
19. She is remarkably nice.
Terribly and remarkably are in Paradigmatic relation because they can occur
in the same context and without changing the meaning . So , they are
synonymous or in free variation. However , in the following examples :
20. The girl came to see us yesterday.
21. The boy came to see us yesterday.
the elements which function as subject of the verb , i.e; the boy and the girl
are in Paradigmatic relation and different in meaning. So they are in contrast.

According to De Saussure , these Paradigmatic relations are no more than
the associative relation , i.e; relations between words which have something
in common but which are not always present in the same context. They belong
to the individual‘ s internalized knowledge or language . These associative
relations can be based on.

Ø Form : unbilieved
unreadable
Ø Form and meaning : teaching
teacher
teach
Ø Meaning : change
variation
modification

If we take Saussure’s example , we will see once again that the
associative relation are no more than the current notions of paradigmatic relations.
changement associative relations paradigmatic
armament based on form only relation in contrast

Enseignement enseigner associative relations paradigmatic
meaning variation.
education associative relations
apprentissage based on meaning only
instruction

To conclude , we can say that every linguistic unit in any human
Language has a certain place in a system of relationship . Each unit or element
has both a syntagmatic and paradigmatic role : syntagmatic role because of its
capacity to combine with other units to form structures ( phrases or groups ,
clauses or sentences ) and paradigmatic role by virtue of being part of a system
or sub-system . This is exactly what De Saussure meant when he said that any
language constitutes an integrated system of relation , i.e ; ‹‹ un system ou’ tout
se tient › ›.











compound. Complex sentence are made up of a number of simple sentence or
clauses.
e.g : I saw him yesterday and I shall be seeing him again tomorrow.
If I had money , I would buy a car.
When I was young , I used to collect stamps.

Ready- made Utterances

They do not correspond directly to sentences generated by the grammar.
These are what De Saussure called " locutions toutes faites " , i.e ; expressions
which are learned as unanalysable wholes and employed on particular occasions
by native speakers.
e.g.: How do you do ?
Though this utterance is conventionally punctuated as a question, it is not
Normally interpreted as such . The stock of proverbs provides many instances of
Ready-made utterances ,
e.g.: Easy come easy go
All that glitters is not gold

On ne fait pas d’omelette sans casser d’œufs
C’est en forgeant qu’on devient forgeron


The internal structure of such sentences in not accounted for by means of rules
which specify the permissible combinations of words . They are to be accounted
for simply by listing then in the dictionary with an indication of the situations in
which they are used and their and meaning .
The word
The word is the unit par excellence of traditional grammatical theory . It
the basis of the distinction which is frequently draw between morphology
and syntax and it is the principal unit of lexicography or dictionary-making
According to a common formation of the distinction between morphology
and syntax , morphology deals with the internal structure of words and syntax
with the rules governing their combination in sentences.

According to bloomfiled , the word is " a minimum free form " this
Depends upon the prior distinction of free and bound forms in the following
Sense: forms which never occur alone as whole utterances ( in some normal
Situation ) are bound forms and forms which may occur alone as utterances
are free forms . The sentence is a free linguistic form and the word is its
minimal version .

Most language contain both variable and invariable words . Variable
words are those in which ordered and regular series of grammatically different
word forms are found, wherein part remains relatively constant and the variations
in the other parts are matched by similar variation in other words.
e.g.: walk walks walking cat cats
follow follows following house houses
These are variable words and the ordered series of forms ( such as walk , walks ,
walking ) are called paradigms .

Words appearing in only one form are invariable words.
e.g.: since , when , seldom , etc…..

Language differ in the number and complexity of the paradigms of their variable
words . French, for example , has more grammatical word form variation than
English, Arabic more than French ect… as illustrated bellow :

Ø In English, I / you / she / he / we / they will walk ( only one form the
future)
Ø In French, the future tense paradigms are different according to the person
and the number ( je marcherai , tu marcheras , il/ elle marchera , nous
marcherons , vous marcherez , Ils / elles marcheront ect…)
Ø In Arabic according to the person , the number , and the gender.

The morpheme
The morpheme as the minimal grammatical unit
The word has been treated in this account of grammatical analysis as a
Fundamental and unique grammatical unit it is demonstrably not the minimal
or smallest grammatical unit . The comparison of such word forms as cars, dogs
and horses with cat , dog and horse reveals the divisibility of the word into two
grammatically significant elements : cat , dog , horse and –s ( in phonological
transcription /s/ , /z/, and /iz/.)
These minimal grammatical units are called morphemes . Morphemes are
established and delimited in a language by comparing word forms with one
another and nothing the recurrent pieces that compose them and every word is
wholly analyzable into one or more morphemes .
e.g.: - s /s/ is revealed by comparing cat , cats , cap , caps etc…
- ment /mðnt/ by comparing establish, establishment etc…
Morphemes may be represented by , or correspond to , any phonological feature or
Shape , and may be monosyllabic or polysyllabic.
e.g.: - /z/ in / dogz/ is a single consonant.
-/li/ in / / shows a cv structure.
-/i/ in / f gi / is a single vowel.
- tobacco / tab k / contains three syllables.
Morphemes variants ( allomorphs)

Most variant morpheme shapes are strictly , dependent on their environ-
ment within the word . Thus , the regular formatives of English noun plurals / s/,
/z/ , and /iz/ are distributed according to the final vowel or consonant of the word base or singular form.

 Words ending in voiced consonant , other than /z/ , / / , or /d / or in a
Vowel ( which are all voiced in English ) , have /z/.
e.g.: dogs / dogz/ . cows /kauz/ , hens / henz/.
 Those ending in voiceless consonant , other than /s/ , /f/ or /tf/ have /s/ e.g.: cats / kaets/, cups /k ps/ .
 Those ending in /s/ , /z /, /f/ , /3/ , /tf/ , and /d3/ have /iz/.
e.g.: horses / h siz/ , rushes / r iz/ , churches / iz/ and judges
/d iz/.
These different shapes /s/ , /z/ , and /iz/ of the plural morpheme -s are called
morphs or allomorphs . In the examples given they are phonologically
predictable by any phonological criteria .
e.g.: The irregular plurals of nouns such as : ox , oxen ; child , children ; foot , feet ;
man , men ect…

Such plurals have to be learned individually in learning English . The
analysis of the different forms taken by the English noun plural morpheme,
discussed in this section , is part of the morphophonological or morphophonemic
analysis of English .

Bound and Free morphemes

Morphemes can be bound or free . A free morpheme is one that may
Constitute a word (free form ) by itself . A bound morpheme is one that must
appear with at least one other morpheme bound or free in a word .
e.g.: in English cats , cat is free since cat is a word in its own right and -s is
bound as it is not a word in its own right .

free morphemes Constitute monomorphemic words ( one word one morpheme ).
Polymorphemic words consist wholly of free morphemes being accorded word –
Status . They are often called ‘compound words’.
e.g.: house – work , penknife, aircraft etc…
The number of free and bound morphemes varies considerably in different
languages .













Word Classes and Grammatical Categories
Word Classes or Parts of Speech

Sentences are composed of units which can be referred to as parts of
speech or word classes as articles , nouns , verbs , adjectives , adverbs ,
prepositions etc . These can be exemplified in English as follows :

 Closed – system items : the set of items are closed in the sense that they
cannot normally be extended by the creation of additional members . The
decision to use one item in a given structure excludes the possibility of
using any other.
e.g.: articles ( the , a (n) ) , demonstratives ( this , that , etc .) , pronouns ( he ,
which , anybody , ect .) prepositions ( of , at , without , etc.) , conjunctions
( and , but , when , etc .) and interjection ( oh , ah , ugh , etc.).

Open – classes items : The class is open in the sense that it is indefinitely
extendable . New items are constantly created.

e.g.: nouns ( john , room , answer , etc.), adjectives ( happy , large , new ,
etc.) , adverbs ( completely , then , very , etc . ) , and verbs ( searsh , be ,
grow , have , etc.)

Grammatical Categories
In many languages , the forms of a word vary , in order to express such
contrasts as number , gender , case , voice , tense , aspect , person and mood.

Number: Number is a category referring to quantities there is a category For one , singular ( table , man , sheep , knife ) , and a category for more than one.
Plural ( tables , men , sheep , knives ) . The Arabic number system ha s category
For tow . dual ( ) .

Gender : Gender is traditionally associates with sex : feminine , masculine
and . sometimes neuter . English makes very few gender distinctions compared to
other languages . There is no gender concord in English as is the case in French
and Arabic .
e.g.: Il est beau , elle est belle
Il est venu , elle est venue
Gender in English depends upon the classification of persons and objects as
male ( uncle ) , female ( aunt ) , or inanimate ( box) . Dual gender includes words
such as : artist , docter , teacher , professor , neighbor , etc. For clarity , it is
sometimes necessary to use a gender marker :
e.g.: boy friend girl friend
man student woman student
Case : The English noun system has two cases : the –s genitive and the of
genitive . The –s genitive is sometimes called the possessive , but it can express
other meaning than possession .
e.g.: A woman’s college , i.e; A college for women
Ten day’s absence , i.e; the absence lasted ten days
A summer’s day , , i.e; a day in the summer
The general’s letter, , i.e; the general wrote a letter

Voice : Voice is a category specifying the relation of the subject to the
action expressed by the verb . English has two voices : an active , indicating that
the subject performs the action expressed by the verb and a passive , indicating
that the subject undergoes the action.


























The above branches are a clear evidence of the practical applications
deriving from linguistic research . We can even say that it is difficult to think of
an aspect of human behavior which is not concerned with language . Hence ; all
fields of human experience can benefit from linguistics.