DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGESDEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES DIPLOMA COURSE CODE 101: EnglishDIPLOMA COURSE CODE 101: English

COURSE PARTS:1. Language Its nature and use; (Mr. A.M. Nahoda)2. English Phonology; (Mr. S.P.Mkude.)3. Theory of Literature; (Mr. Kassim Dadi)

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COURSE OBJECTIVES• Define language and its basic concepts• Describe characteristics of human language with specific

reference to English• Describe factors that lead to development, expansion, and

death of language.• Explain the relationship between language and culture• Use linguistic terms appropriately• Explain the status role of English in Tanzania and in the

around the world.• Give the historical sketch of the changing role and status of E• Discuss issues pertaining to language policy in Tanzania.

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INTRODUCTION TO LANGUAGE

• What is linguistics?I. Linguistics is the scientific study of language.II.Linguistics is the scientific inquiry into the

human language with all its aspects. III.Linguistics is Scientific discipline with the goal

of describing language and speech in all relevant theoretical and practical aspects and their relation to adjoining disciplines.

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VARIOUS LINGUISTICS DISCIPLINES

• Historical linguistics :This discipline is occupied with the examination of the historical development of languages.

• Phonetics : The subjects of phonetics are the articulation, transport, and receival of speech sounds.

• Phonology: Phonology is the study of the distinctive sounds of a language, the so-called phonemes.

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VARIOUS LINGUISTIC DISCIPLINES

• Morphology: Morphemes are the smallest meaningful elements of a language. Morphology is the study of these meaning units.

• Syntax : Syntax is the study of sentence structure; it is a part of grammar in the broad sense.

• Semantics: Semantics examines the meaning of linguistic signs and strings of signs.

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INTRODUCTION TO LANGUAGE

• What is a language?a system of vocal sounds and combinations of such

sounds to which meaning is attributed, used for the expression or communication of thoughts and feelings

Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication.

An instrument where by humans communicates and interact with one another by means of habitual use of auditory, arbitrary symbols.

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Key words in definition of language

I. SystemII. ArbitraryIII. SymbolsIV. VocalV. HumanVI. Conventional

What is the meaning of these words in the definition of language?

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Unique Property of Human language

I. ArbitrarinessII. DualityIII. DisplacementIV. ProductivityV. Cultural Transmission

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Arbitrariness

Is absence of any necessary connection between the form of a word and its meaning. Every language typically has a distinct word to denote every object, activity and concept its speakers want to talk about. Each suchword must be formed in a valid manner according to the

phonology of the language. But, in most cases, there is absolutely no reason why a given meaning should be denoted by one sequence of sounds rather than another. In practice, the particular sequence of sounds selected in a given language is completely arbitrary: anything will do, so long as speakers agree about it.

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Duality

• A type of structure in which a small number of meaningless units are combined to produce a large number of meaningful units. Duality allows a language to form many tens of thousands of different words, all of which can be produced by a vocal tract which can produce no more than a few dozens of distinguishable speech sounds.

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Duality

• English has around forty phonemes. And even just four phonemes from the word cat can be combined to produce a large number of words with very different meanings:

• /æt/at, /ækt/ act, /kæt/ cat,• Duality allows human languages the ability to

produce an infinite number of utterances, all with different meanings, and hence makes open-endedness possible.

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Displacement

• In contrast to other animals, humans have a sense of the past and the future. A gorilla, for example, cannot tell his fellows about his parents, his adventures in the jungle, or his experience of the past. The use of language to talk about things other than "the here and now", is a characteristic of humans. Displacement is thus our ability to convey a meaning that transcends the immediately perceptible sphere of space and time.

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Productivity

• Ability of word-forming elements to be used to form new linguistic expressions.

• It is the degree of freedom with which a particular grammatical pattern can be extended to new cases.

We most often speak of productivity in connection with patterns of word-formation. The noun-forming suffix -ness is highly productive: happiness, preparedness, salaciousness, user-friendliness. The same is true of the verbal prefix re-: rewrite, reconsider, reappoint, renegotiate, reboot (a computer).

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Cultural Transmission

• Culture is transmitted from on individual to another not by physical inheritance, but by learning. It is through language that knowledge of the society is transmitted from one generation to another.

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References:

• Trask, R.L (2005) Key Concept in Language and Linguistics. Routledge: London

• Malmkjær, Kirsten. (2006) The Linguistics Encyclopaedia. Routledge: London

• Ipsen, Guido. (1999) Linguistics for Beginners.• Trauth, Gregory and Kazzazi, Kerstin. (1996)

Routledge Dictionary of Language and Linguistics.Routledge: London

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