Notes on

Introduction to Linguistics (Eng 252)

(Based on George Yules The Study of Language)
Chapter One: The origins of language
1. What is the relationship between speaking, on the one hand, and chewing, licking
and sucking on the other?
All of these actions involve movements of the mouth, tongue and lips in some
kind of controlled way. It is an example of the type of observation that can lead to
interesting speculations about the origins of spoken English.
2. What do scientists assume about the time of the development of spoken and
written language?
Scientists assume that some type of spoken language developed between 100,000
and 50,000 years ago and that some type of written language developed about
5000 years ago.
3. What are the major speculations in vogue about the origins of human language?
The major speculations in vogue about the origins of human language are: 1. the
divine source, 2. the natural sound source, 3. the physical adaptation source, and
the genetic source.
4. Briefly explain the divine source speculation about the origins of human
language.
One of the very popular speculations about the origin of human language is that of
the divine source. In the biblical tradition, God created Adam and whatsoever
Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. According to a
Hindu tradition, language came from Saraswati, wife of Brahma, creator of the
universe. The Quran, the divine book of Islam, emphatically states that Allah
taught Adam, the first man, all the names and that it was He who taught man the
skills of speech, writing, and everything that he didnt know. In short, in most
religions, there appears to be a divine source that provides humans with
languages. There were several attempts across history to experimentally find out
the truth about this. The case of the Egyptian pharaoh and King James of Scotland
were two instances.
5. Explain the natural sound source speculation about the origins of human
language.
An important view of the beginnings of language is based on the concept of
natural sounds. The suggestion is that primitive words could have been imitations
of the natural sounds which early men and women heard around them (example:
coo-coo sound made by a flying creature as the source of cuckoo). Further, in
English, we have words like splash, bang, boom, rattle, buzz, hiss, screech, bow-

wow, etc. This type of view of the origin of language has been called bow-wow
theory. While it is true that a number of words in any language are onomatopoeic
(echoing natural sounds), it is hard to see how most of the soundless as well as
abstract things in our world could have been referred to in a language that simply
echoed natural sounds. Another related assumption is that sounds of language may
have come from natural cries of emotion such as pain, anger, and joy (examples:
Ouch! Ah! Ooh! Wow! Yuck! etc). Another natural sound proposal is the yo-heho theory which suggests that the sounds of the person involved in physical
effort could be the source of our language.
6. Briefly explain the physical adaptation source speculation about the origins of
human language.
Another important speculation about the origin of human language is that of the
physical adaptation. Our ancestors, at some early stage, made a very significant
transition to an upright posture, with bi-pedal locomotion, and a revised role for
the front limbs. In the study of evolutionary development, human beings
developed several physical features / adaptations (such as those related to teeth,
lips, mouth, larynx, pharynx, and brain) relevant for speech. Although several of
these features were found in other primates that did not develop speech skill, a
creature possessing such features has the probability to develop the capacity for
speech.
7. What, according to scientists, were the advantages humans had because of their
mouth in the development of speech?
Scientists point out that in the process of evolution humans developed a mouth
that is relatively small compared to other primates, can be opened and closed
rapidly, and contains a smaller, thicker and more muscular tongue which can be
used to shape a wide variety of sounds inside the oral cavity.
8. How did lips help in the development of human speech?
Human lips have much more intricate muscle interlacing than is found in other
primates and their resulting flexibility certainly helps in making sounds like p or
b.
9. What is the role of the teeth in the development of human language?
Human teeth are upright, not slanting outwards like those of apes, and they are
roughly even in height. Such characteristics are not very useful for ripping or
tearing food and seem better adapted for grinding and chewing. They are also
helpful in making sounds such as f or v.
10. What is special about human larynx that contributed in the development of
language?
The human larynx or voice box (containing the vocal cords) differs significantly
in position from the larynx of other primates such as monkeys. Scientists suppose
that, in the course of human physical development, the assumption of an upright
posture moved the head more directly above the spinal column and the larynx

dropped to a lower position. This created a longer cavity called pharynx, above
the vocal cords, which acts as a resonator for increased range and clarity of the
sounds produced via the larynx. (Resonator is a device for making sounds louder
and stronger, especially in a musical instrument)
11. What is the role of pharynx in the development of human language?
Pharynx is the cavity just above the vocal cords (larynx) in human beings. It
works as a resonator in making the sounds produced via larynx louder and clearer
and also uniquely facilitates the production of certain speech sounds otherwise
impossible to produce. It also increases the probability of humans choking over
pieces of food.
12. Comment briefly on the role of brain in the development of human language.
What contributes most in the development of human beings enabling him in
speech production is the brain. Human brain is unusually large relative to human
body size. It is in control of all the complex physical parts including those of
considerable physical adaptations (upright posture, low larynx -position, pharynx,
free front limbs, the peculiar lips, teeth, mouth, tongue etc) that potentially help
speech production. The human brain is lateralized, that is, it has specialized
functions in each of the two hemispheres. Functions that control motor
movements (speech, using tools etc.) are largely confined to the left hemisphere
of the brain for most humans. There seems to be an evolutionary connection
between the language using and tool using abilities of humans. All languages,
including sign language, require the organizing and combining of sounds or signs
in specific arrangements. We seem to have developed a part of our brain that
specializes in making these arrangements.
13. Give an account of the genetic source speculation about the origins of human
language.
Most of the physical changes discussed as physical adaptations in human beings
that enabled them in speech could be found taking place in a little human baby as
an automatic set of developments. At birth, the babys brain is only a quarter of its
eventual weight and the larynx is much higher (enabling babies to breath and
drink simultaneously. In a short period, the larynx descends, the brain develops,
the child assumes upright posture, starts walking and talking. Even children born
deaf becomes fluent sign language users, given appropriate circumstances, very
early in life. This seems to indicate that human offspring are born with a special
capacity for language. It is an innate capacity not found in other creatures. It
seems to be genetically hard-wired in the newborn human. This innateness
hypothesis about the origin of language takes us to the study of genetics and
distances us from all notions about evolution, physical adaptation, etc and
persuades us toward analogies with how computers work (being pre-programmed
or hard wired) and further to concepts in genetics. Thus the study about the
origins of language turns into a search for the special language gene that only
humans possess.

Chapter Two: Animals and human language

14. Write a note on the communication ability of creatures other than human beings.
Creatures certainly are capable of communicating with other members of their
own species. It is not quite possible that they could learn to communicate with
humans using language. Human language has properties that make it so unique
that it is quite unlike any other communication system and hence un-learnable by
any other creature. Stories about creatures that can talk are fantasy or fiction or
involve birds or animals simply imitating something they have heard humans say
(parrots, chimpanzees, seal etc.).
15. What are the special properties of human language that make it uniquely unlearnable by any other creatures?
The properties of human language that make it uniquely un-learnable by any other
creature are: a) communicative and informative signals b) displacement c)
arbitrariness d) productivity e) cultural transmission and f) duality.
16. Briefly explain the properties of human language known as communicative and
informative signals.
Human beings unintentionally send out a number of nonverbal signals in the
course their communication (example: sneezing- have cold; shifting around in
seat- not at ease; strange accent- from another part of the country etc). These are
called communicative and informative signals. This property is unique to human
language. When while speaking out verbally, we are intentionally communicating.
Both these factors are analyzed as potential means of communication while we
consider the properties of human language.
17. Explain the property of human language known as displacement.
Animal communication seems to be designed exclusively for this moment, here
and now. It cannot effectively be used to relate events that are far removed in time
and place. Humans, on the other hand, can refer to past and future time. This
property of human language is called displacement. It allows language users to
talk about things and events not present in the immediate environment. This
property allows us to talk about things and places whose existence we cannot
even be sure of.
18. Explain the property of human language known as arbitrariness.
Generally speaking, there is no natural connection between a language form and
its meaning (Example: the words dog / have nothing to do with the animal
suggested by them). The linguistic form has no natural or iconic relationship
with that animal. This aspect of the relationship between linguistic signs and
object in the world is described as arbitrariness. For the majority of animal
signals, there does appear to be a clear connection between the conveyed message
and the signal used to convey it. The set of signals used in animal communication
is finite and they are non-arbitrary.

19. Explain the property of human language known as productivity.

Humans are continually creating new expressions and novel utterances by
manipulating their linguistic resources to describe new objects and situations. This
property is described as productivity (or creativity or open-endedness). There
is no limit to the potential number of utterances in any human language. The
communication systems of other creatures do not appear to have this type of
flexibility.
20. Explain the property of human language known as cultural transmission.
Human beings do not inherit their language from their parents the way they
inherit physical features such as brown eyes and dark hair. They acquire a
language in a culture with other speakers and not from parental genes. This
process whereby a language is passed on from one generation to the next is
described as cultural transmission. Humans are born with some kind of
predisposition to acquire language in a general sense. However, they are not born
with the ability to produce utterances in a specific language such as English.
21. Explain the property of human language known as duality.
Human language is organized at two levels or layers simultaneously, at the level
of individual sounds with no particular meaning such as b, n, i, and at the level of
words or combinations of such sounds with meaning such as bin, nib etc. This
property is called duality (or double articulation). This is one of the most
economical features of human language because, with a limited set of discreet
sounds, we are capable of producing a very large number of sound combinations
(words) which are distinct in meaning. Among other creatures, each
communicative signal appears to be a single fixed form that cannot be broken
down into separate parts.
22. Write a note on human experience of talking to animals and its utility.
23. Write a note on the outcome of training chimpanzees to speak human language.
24. What is the story of Washoe? What does it reveal?
25. Who were Sarah and Lana? What does their story reveal to you?
26. What is the controversy about the outcome of training chimpanzees to talk human
language?
27. Who was Nim? What does his story reveal?
28. Who was Kanzi? What does Kanzis story prove to you?
29. What did Noam Chomsky say about animals ability to learn human language?
How do scientists look upon it now?

Chapter Three: The development of writing

30. What is cuneiform writing? When did it come into vogue? Who named it so?
Cuneiform writing is an ancient system of writing used in Persia and Assyria. It is a
system of writing Geoffrey Nurnberg refers to as cuneiform marked on clay tablets
about 5000 years ago. The term cuneiform means wedge-shaped and the

inscriptions used by the Sumerians were produced by pressing a wedge-shaped

implement into soft clay tablets.
31. Explain pictograms.
Pictogram is a system of writing using pictures to represent words or phrases.
Developed from cave drawings, pictograms or picture writing served to record some
events. Initially it did not serve the purpose of any type of specifically linguistic
message. Before long, such pictures might have come to represent particular images
in a consistent way.
32. Explain ideograms.
Ideogram is a system of writing in which symbols are used to represent ideas of
things, rather than the sounds of words. The writing system in Chinese is a good
example. Its presumably a system developed from the pictogram system, the pictures
developing into a more fixed symbolic forms, moving from something visible to
something conceptual. The distinction between pictograms and ideograms is
essentially a difference in the relationship between the symbol and the entity it
represents. The more picture-like forms are pictograms and the more abstract
derived forms are ideograms.
33. Explain logograms.
Logogram (word-writing) is an ancient system of writing in which a symbol
represents a word or phrase (instead of letters). A good example of logographic
writing is the system used by the Sumerians in the southern part of modern Iraq,
around 5,000 years ago (a system known as cuneiform writing in another context).
The forms of these symbols give no clues to what type of entities are being referred
to. The relationship between the written form and the object it represents is arbitrary.
34. What is rebus writing?
Rebus writing is an ancient system of writing in which a combination of pictures and
letters represent word or phrase and the meaning had to be guessed. The relationship
between the written form and the idea / object it represents is not fully arbitrary.
In this process, the symbol for one entity is taken over as the symbol for the sound of
the spoken word used to refer to the entity. That symbol then comes to be used
whenever that sound occurs in any words.
35. What is syllabic writing?
Syllabic writing is a system of writing which employs a set of symbols each one
representing the pronunciation of a syllable.
(A syllable is any of the units into which a word is divided, containing a vowel sound
and usually one or more consonants).
There are no purely syllabic writing systems in use today, but modern Japanese can
be written with a set of single symbols representing spoken syllables and can be
described as having a (partially) syllabic writing system.
36. Explain alphabetic writing.

An alphabet is essentially a set of written symbols, each one representing a single

type of sound. A writing system that makes use of an alphabet i.e. symbols
representing single type of sounds, is alphabetic writing. This was the writing system
that occurred in the development of the writing systems of Semitic languages such as
Arabic and Hebrew.
37. What is consonantal alphabet?
Words written in languages like Arabic and Hebrew (that have an alphabetic writing
system) largely consist of symbols for the consonant sounds in the word with the
appropriate vowel sounds being supplied by the reader. This type of writing system is
often described as consonantal alphabet.
38. Write a note on the writing system in English.
The alphabetic writing system originated from the idea of a need for a
correspondence between a single symbol and s single sound type. Viewed from this
perspective, the writing system in English evinces a large number of mismatches
between the written forms (you know) and the spoken sounds (yu no). This is due to a
number of historical influences on the form of written English. The spelling of written
English was largely fixed in the form that was used when printing was introduced into
fifteenth century England. At that time, there were a number of conventions regarding
the written representation of words that had been derived from forms used in writing
other languages, notably Latin and French. Moreover, many of the early printers were
native Dutch speakers and could not make consistently accurate decisions about
English pronunciation. And besides, the pronunciation of spoken English has
undergone substantial changes since the 15th century. Another important thing is that a
large number of older written English words were recreated (sometimes even
erroneously) by 16th century spelling reformers to bring them more into line with their
Latin origins.

Chapter Four: The sounds of language

39. What is phonetic alphabet? What is its use?
40. The sounds of a language like English do not always match up the letters used for
representing them in writing. The letters of the alphabet, in such a situation,
cannot be used consistently to represent the sounds we make. This makes the act
of describing the sounds of that language quite difficult. A solution to this
problem is to produce a separate alphabet with symbols that represent sounds. A
set of symbols has been made for this purpose in the last century and is called the
phonetic alphabet.
41. What is phonetics?
The general study of the characteristics of speech sounds and how they are produced
is called phonetics. It is a subfield of linguistics.

42. What is articulatory phonetics?

Articulatory phonetics is the main area of study in phonetics that studies how speech
sounds are made, or articulated.
43. What is acoustic phonetics?
Acoustic phonetics is the area of study in phonetics which deals with the physical
properties of speech as sound waves in the air.
44. What is auditory phonetics?
Auditory phonetics is the area of study in phonetics which deals with the perception,
via ear, of speech sounds.
45. Explain voiceless sounds.
Sounds produced when the vocal cords (in larynx on top of the trachea) are spread
apart and the air from the lungs passes between them unimpeded are called voiceless.
Examples: /p/, /k/, /s/, /t/.
46. Explain voiced sounds.
Sounds produced when the vocal cords are drawn together and the air from the lungs
repeatedly pushes them apart as it passes through them creating a vibrating effect are
called voiced sounds. Examples: /b/, /g/, /z/, /d/.
47. What is understood by place of articulation?
During the production of speech sounds, the air from the lungs, after passing through
the gap between the vocal cords (glottis), goes out either through the mouth or the
nose. As the air passes out the oral cavity is constricted in some way by the tongue
and other parts of the mouth for producing the speech sounds. The organs in the
mouth involved in this constriction (either actively or passively) are the places of
articulation (active & passive articulators). The common active articulators are the
lower lip and the various parts of the tongue. The passive articulators are the upper
lip, the upper front teeth, the teeth ridge / the alveolar ridge, the hard palate, velum /
the soft palate, and the uvula. Speech sounds are described in phonetics with
reference to these places of articulation.
48. What are the different types of sounds on the basis of the place of articulation?
The different types of sounds on the basis of the place of articulation are bilabials,
labiodentals, dentals, alveolars, palatals, velars, and glottals.
49. Explain bilabials with examples from English.
Bilabials are sounds produced with the two lips as the active and passive articulators.
The initial sounds in the words pat, bat, and mat are bilabials.
50. Explain labiodentals with examples from English.
Sounds produced with the lower lip as the active articulator and the upper front teeth
as the passive articulator are labiodentals. The initial sounds of the words fat and vat
and the final sounds of safe and save are labiodentals.

51. Explain dentals with examples from English.

Sounds produced with the tip of the tongue as active articulator and the upper front
teeth as passive articulator are called dentals. The initial sound of thin and the final
sound of bath are both dentals. The initial sounds of the common words the, there,
then, and thus also are dentals.
52. Explain alveolars with examples from English.
Sounds produced with the front part of the tongue as active articulator and the teeth
ridge / alveolar ridge as passive articulator are alveolar sounds. The initial sounds in
top, dip, sit, zoo, and nut are alveolars.
53. Explain palatals with examples from English.
Sounds produced with the central part of the tongue as active articulator and the hard
palate as the passive articulator are called palatals. The initial sounds of shout, child,
church, joke, and judge are examples of palatals.
54. Explain velars with examples from English.
Sounds produced with the back of the tongue as the active articulator and the soft
palate / velum as passive articulator are called velars. The initial sounds of kill, car,
go, give and the final sounds of sing, bring etc. are velars.
55. Explain glottals with examples from English.
Sounds produced with the two vocal cords as articulators are called glottals. Such
sounds are produced without the active use of the tongue and other parts of the
mouth. The initial sounds of have and house are glottals.
56. Write a note on consonant sounds chart.
The consonant sounds chart is a chart that marks the phonetic features of consonant
sounds. It provides us with three-element information about a consonant sound. .They
are a) whether the sound is voiced or voiceless b) the place of articulation, and c) the
manner of articulation.
57. Explain manner of articulation.
Consonant sounds are described in phonetics with reference to how they are
articulated i.e. the manner in which the air stream from the lungs is controlled by
constricting the oral cavity. This is called the manner of articulation.
58. What are the different types of sounds based on the manner of articulation?
With reference to the manner of articulation, the consonant sounds are classified into
stops / plosives, fricatives, affricates, nasals, liquids, glides, the glottal stop, and the
flap.
59. Explain stops / plosives with examples.
During the articulation of certain sounds some form of stopping of the air stream is
effected in the oral passage simultaneously with the closure of the nasal passage by

raising the soft palate to the back wall of the mouth and the oral blockage is suddenly
released letting the air go out through the mouth with an audible explosive sound.
Sounds produced in this manner are called stops / plosives. The sounds [p], [b], [t],
[d], [k], [g] in the English words pin, bin, task, door, kill, and get, are examples of
stops / plosives.
60. Explain fricatives with examples.
Certain consonant sounds are produced by making the articulators come very close to
each other leaving a narrow gap between them through which the air escapes with
difficulty. Sounds produced in this manner are called fricatives. The sounds
represented by the highlighted letters in the words finger, love, think, those, some,
zoo, shoe, pleasure are examples of fricatives in English.
61. Explain affricates with examples.
Sounds produced with a complete closure of the oral and nasal passages and a slow
release of the oral blockage are called affricates. The initial sounds of the English
words chair, January are examples of affricates.
62. Explain nasals with examples.
Sounds produced with a complete closure of the oral passage of air and a
simultaneous opening of the nasal passage letting the lung air go through the nose are
called nasals. The final sounds of the words some, sun, and sing are nasal sounds.
63. Explain liquids (laterals, tap) with examples.
Sounds produced with an obstruction in the central part of the oral tract and letting
the lung air escape through the sideways are called liquids. The initial sounds of lung,
and red are examples of liquids. Of these [l] is called a lateral as the air, during its
articulation, escapes through the sides of the tongue and [r] is called a tap as it
produced by the tip of the tongue (curled back) taps the alveolar ridge.
64. Explain glides (semivowels / approximants) with examples.
Some consonant sounds are produced with the tongue in motion (or gliding) to or
from the position of a vowel. They are known variously as glides, semivowels, or
approximants. The sounds [w] and [j] represented by the initial letters of the words
well and yes are examples.
65. Explain the glottal stop.
The glottal stop, represented by the symbol [?], occurs when the space between the
vocal cords (the glottis) is closed completely (very briefly), then released. Try saying
the expression Oh oh. Between the first Oh and the second oh, we typically produce a
glottal stop.
66. Explain flap.
Flaps are consonant sounds produced by the tongue tip tapping the alveolar ridge
briefly. Many American English speakers have a tendency to flap the [t] and [d]
consonants between vowels so that, in casual speech, the pairs latter and ladder,

10

writer and rider, metal and medal do not have distinct middle consonants. They all
have flaps.
67. Write a note on vowels.
Vowels are speech sounds during the production of which the mouth is open and the
tongue is not touching any part of the roof of the mouth, the teeth etc. While the
consonant sounds mostly articulated via closure or obstruction in the vocal tract,
vowel sounds are produced with a relatively free flow of air.
68. What are the different types of vowels?
Vowel sounds are classified, described and labeled taking into account three points.
They are the position or shape of the lips, the part of the tongue raised, and the height
assumed by the raised part of the tongued. Thus we have rounded and un-rounded
vowels; front, central and back vowels; low, high, low-high, and high-low vowels.
69. Explain diphthongs.
Sound units formed with a combination of two vowel sounds are known as
diphthongs. The middle vowel elements [ai] in the word pipe and [ou] in the word
doubt are diphthongs. Diphthongs are articulated with a starting point in quality of a
vowel and an ending point in the quality of another vowel. They are also known as
vowel glides.
70. Write a note on the role of vowels in accentual variations.
Vowel sounds are notorious for varying between one variety of English and the next,
often being a key element in what we recognize as accents. They are mainly
responsible for the existence of a large variety of regional varieties in English
language.

Chapter Five: The sound patterns of language

71. What is phonology? Explain its importance.
Phonology is the description of the system and patterns of speech sounds in a
particular language. The system and patterns of speech sounds particular to a
language is something that every speaker of that language knows unconsciously.
It is a subfield of phonetics.
For example, the [t} sound in the words tar, star, writer, and eighth are treated as the
same sound in English. But these sounds are all very different in their actual
realization and may be treated as different sounds in another language.
72. What is phoneme?
Phoneme is any one of the set of smallest units of speech in a language that
distinguish one word from another. In English, the /s/ in sip and the /z/ in zip
represent two different phonemes. Phonemes are, thus, the meaning distinguishing
sounds in a language. If we substitute one sound for another in a word and there is a
change of meaning, then the two sounds represent different phonemes. The /f/ in fat
11

and the /v/ in vat are different phonemes as they change their meanings when
interchanged. Phonemes are the abstract (in the mind) possibilities of speech sounds
and their characteristic features in a particular language. In actual speech, they need
not be realized precisely with the same characteristics.
73. What are phones?
We found that phonemes are the abstract unit or sound type (in the mind). There are
many different versions of that sound type regularly produced in actual speech (in
the mouth). These different versions are called phones. Phones are phonetic units and
appear in square brackets [ ].
74. What are allophones?
When we have a group of several phones, all of which are versions of one phoneme,
we distinguish them as allophones of that phoneme.
Example: The [t] sound in the word tar is normally pronounced with a stronger puff
of air than is present in the [t] sound in the word star. They are two allophones
(aspirated and un-aspirated) of the phoneme /t/.
The crucial distinction between phonemes and allophones is that substituting one
phoneme for another will result in a word with a different meaning (and different
pronunciation), but substituting allophones only results in a different pronunciation of
the same word.
75. What is a minimal pair?
Phonemic distinctions in a language can be tested with pairs of words. When two
words such as pat and bat are identical in form except for a contrast in one phoneme,
occurring in the same position, the two words are described as a minimal pair. Other
examples: fan - van ; bet bat; site side;
76. What is a minimal set?
When a group of words can be differentiated, each one from the others, by changing
one phoneme (always in the same position in the word), it is called a minimal set.
Like minimal pair, it is a way of testing phonemic distinctions in a language.
Examples: 1. feat, fit, fate, fought, foot
2. pig, rig, fig, dig, wig
77. What is phonotactics?
Each language has certain constraints or rules in force for the arrangement and
positioning of sounds / phonemes. Such constraints are called the pnonotactics (i.e.
permitted arrangement of sounds in a language). They are part of every speakers
phonological knowledge. To put it more clearly, forms such as [fsig] and [rnig] do not
exist or are unlikely ever to exist in English as they have been formed without
obeying the phonotactic rules of English language.
78. What is a syllable? Describe the structure of a syllable with reference to onset,
rhyme / nucleus and coda.

12

A syllable is any of the units into which a word is divided naturally, containing a
vowel sound and one or more consonants. Examples (potato) po-ta-to; (mango)
man-go; (plastic) plas-tic
A syllable must contain a vowel or vowel-like sound (V). Examples: a,I, simple(simple), sudden (su-dden) etc. The most common types of syllable in language also has a
consonant or consonants(C). Thus the basic elements of the syllable are the onset
(one or more consonants in the beginning) and the rhyme / rime (consisting of a
vowel) treated as the nucleus, plus any following consonant(s) known as coda.
Examples of syllable structures: I (V), go (CV), slum (CCVC), jump (CVCC)
79. Explain open syllables and closed syllables.
Syllables like me, to, no etc. that have an onset and a nucleus, but no coda (and have
the structure CV, CCV) are called open syllables. Syllables like up, cup, at, hat with a
coda that have the structures CVC, VC, VCC etc. are known as closed syllables.
80. What is a consonant cluster?
The onset or coda of a syllable in English may have more than one consonant
element. Consonants coming together in either positions of a syllable (onset or coda)
are known as consonant clusters. Examples: green (CCVC), eggs (VCC), and (VCC),
stop (CCVC), black (CCVC) etc.
81. What is co-articulation? What are the two major effects of co-articulation?
The process of making one sound almost at the same time as the next sound is called
co-articulation. The two major effects of co-articulation are assimilation and elision.
82. What is assimilation? Give examples.
When two sound segments occur in sequence and some aspect of one segment is
taken or copied by the other, the process is known as assimilation. In speech, this is
a regular process that happens simply because it is quicker, easier, and more efficient
for our articulators as they do the job. Any vowel, for example, becomes nasal
whenever it immediately precedes a nasal as in pin, pan etc.
83. What is elision? Give examples.
The process of not pronouncing a sound segment that might be present in the
deliberately careful pronunciation of a word in isolation is described as elision. This
is a result of quick, easy and natural articulation. Examples: friendship, aspects, he
must be, every, cabinet, interest, suppose etc.

Chapter Six: Words and word-formation processes

84. What is etymology?
Etymology is the study of the origin and history of words and their meanings. It is a
subfield of philology or linguistics. It explores the processes by which words in use
today came to take their present shape and meaning.
(Greek source for etymology: etymon: original form; logia: study)
85. What are the different ways of word formation?
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The important ways of word formation are coinage (e.g. aspirin, nylon, Vaseline,
zipper, Xerox), borrowing (e.g. sofa, tattoo, lilac, piano, tycoon), compounding
(bookcase, doorknob, fingerprint, sunburn), blending (gasohol, smog, brunch,
telecast, spanglish), clipping (e.g. gas, bra, ad, flu, cab, phone, plane), backformation
(e.g. babysit, enthuse, televise, opt, donate), conversion (e. g. chair, bottle,
vacationing, printout, takeover, wannabe), acronym formation (e. g. CD, VCR,
NATO, NASA, radar, MADD, ATM), derivation (e.g. un-, mis-, pre-, -ful, -less, ),
prefixes, suffixes, infixes (e.g. Absogoddamlutely!, Singabloodypore!,
Hallebloodylujah!), and multiple processes (e.g. deli).

Chapter Seven: Morphology

86. What is morphology?
Morphology is a subfield of linguistics that studies the different forms of words.
Literally study of forms, the term was originally used in biology to refer to the
study of the form and structure of animals and plants. Since the middle of the 19th
century, it has been used to describe the type of investigation that analyses all those
basic elements (morphemes)used in a language. Examples: undressed (un-dress-ed),
carelessness (care-less-ness), reopened (re-open-ed).

Chapter Eight: Phrases and Sentences: Grammar

87. What are the different approaches to grammar?
The two important approaches to grammar are the prescriptive approach and the
descriptive approach. The former is otherwise known as the traditional grammar. It is
based on the grammatical bases of Greek and Latin. It focuses on describing the parts
of speech, prescribing rules of subject-verb agreement, grammatical gender etc. The
descriptive approach is based on the analysis of the language in actual use and
describing the characteristics of the language accordingly.

Chapter Nine: Syntax

88. What is syntax?
Syntax is a subfield of linguistics that studies the way that words and phrases are put
together to form sentences in a language. When we concentrate on the structure and
ordering of components within a sentence, we are studying the syntax of a language.
The word syntax comes originally from Greek and literally means a putting
together or arrangement.

Chapter Ten: Semantics

89. What is semantics?
Semantics is a subfield of linguistics that studies the meanings of words and phrases
or how language operates at the level of meaning.

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Chapter Eleven: Pragmatics

90. What is pragmatics?
Communication clearly depends on not only recognizing the meaning of words in an
utterance, but recognizing what speakers mean by their utterances. The study of what
speakers mean, speaker meaning, is called pragmatics. In other words, pragmatics is
a subfield of semantics /linguistics that studies the ways in which language is used to
express what somebody really means in particular situations, especially when the
actual words used may appear to mean something different.

Chapter Twelve: Discourse Analysis

91. Explain discourse analysis.
Generally speaking, discourse is a long and serious treatment or discussion of a
subject in speech or writing. In linguistics, discourse analysis is the analysis of the
language of a text at the level of various component parts / elements in order to see
how they are connected and how we understand speakers who communicate more
than what they say, and how we successfully take part in that complex activity called
conversation. The word discourse is usually defined as language beyond the
sentence and the analysis of discourse is typically concerned with the study of
language in text and conversation.

Chapter Thirteen: Language and the brain

92. What is neurolinguistics?
Generally speaking, Neurolinguistics is a subfield of linguistics that studies the
relationship between language and the brain. It specifically explores how the human
brain processes language in all its complexities including acquisition as well as loss
of language.

Chapter Fourteen: First language Acquisition

93. What is the significance of the study of first language acquisition?
First language acquisition is an important area of study in linguistics today. With the
emergence of linguistics as a major field of study and experiment in the last few
decades, the issues involved in the process of acquiring the first language have come
to the focus in academic efforts in the field.

Chapter Fifteen: Second language acquisition / learning

94. What are the major approaches to second language acquisition?
With the unprecedented rise in the number of people learning other peoples
languages for various reasons in the recent times, the issues involved in the processes
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of learning and teaching a second language have come to be meticulously explored by

academics in the field. Several approaches have been experimented over the years for
perfecting and fool proofing the efforts in this direction. Grammar-translation
method, the audio-lingual method, and the communicative method are a few
approaches so far tried in this area.
95. What is applied linguistics?
Applied linguistics is the scientific study of language as it relates to practical
problems, in areas such as teaching and dealing with speech problems. In attempting
to investigate the complex nature of L2 learning, we have to appeal to ideas not only
from linguistic analysis, but from other fields such as communication studies,
education, psychology, and sociology. All these are areas of the study of applied
linguistics.

Chapter Sixteen: Gestures and sign languages

96. What are the major forms of non-linguistic communication?
97. What is ASL?

Chapter Seventeen: Language history and change

98. What is philology?

Chapter Eighteen: Language and regional variation

99. Explain standard language and dialects.

Chapter Nineteen: Language and social variation

100.

What is sociolinguistics?

Chapter Twenty: Language and culture

101.
102.

What is the relationship between language and culture?

What is the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis?

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