From the Paper " Effects of Linguistics on Written Composition
Naomi S. Baron (1981) has commented that since the birth of nineteenth century comparative philology, the position of writing in linguistic analysis has tended to be tenuous at best. Most of the classical linguists made the primacy of speech in linguistic analysis overt and the discipline has tended to restrict its inquiry to spoken language. Written materials have been introduced into analysis only where necessary for diachronic study. Over time, however, says Baron (1981), many linguists have come to the conclusion that spoken, written, and sign languages should be seen as different linguistic means or modes of representing human experiences which people find it necessary to convey to one another. Baron (1981, p. 72) quotes Sapir in defining language as "a purely human and non-instinctive method of.."
From the Paper "In the 19th and early 20th centuries, linguists were concerned primarily with codifying languages as they were spoken and/or written--they limited themselves to what we today call "descriptive" linguistics, or the study of words and sentences that have been produced by native speakers of a given language. Since the 1950s, however, beginning with MIT scholar Noam Chomsky, linguists have largely focussed their attention on trying to discover the range of words and sentences that could be produced by native speakers. This latter approach is referred to as "generative" linguistics; its goal is to account for words and sentences which do exist and, in addition, for all words and sentences which do not, but are grammatically possible. This paper will further explore and explain the differences between these two approaches to the study of language."
Abstract Most people are taught to tell the truth when they are growing up with aphorisms like "Speak the truth and shame the devil" and fables like the little boy who cried wolf
From the Paper "Most people are taught to tell the truth when they are growing up with aphorisms like "Speak the truth and shame the devil" and fables like the little boy who cried wolf. We are given continual reminders of the unpleasant things that lie in store for those people who diverge from this straight-and-narrow path of truth.
And yet at the same time, we are given several sets of contradictory instructions in our formative years, including the prescription that we should not hurt other people's feelings if that be possible and that we should not swear or use dirty words. It is often in an attempt to reconcile these differing sets of instructions that people employ euphemisms.
The etymology of the word euphemism is a relatively straightforward one, coming to the modern English speaker from ..."
Abstract This paper reviews the character of Dr. Bledsoe in the novel "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison. The paper focuses on the term 'Bledsoing' which is coined by the narrator of the story, based on Dr. Beldsoe's beliefs and actions. The paper describes the character, Dr. Bledsoe, in order to illustrate the meaning of the term 'bledsoing'. The paper illustrates how the term is used in a negative fashion to convey the narrator's feelings.
From the Paper "The narrator of "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison uses the term "Bledsoing" to refer to a set of beliefs and actions. The term comes from Dr. Bledsoe, a character in the novel who believes that the black person should act in a way that suits the white man and achieves what appears to be a successful life by doing this. At the same time though, Dr. Bledsoe suppresses his individuality and rejects other black people. The narrator refers to this set of beliefs and actions as ?Bledsoing.? In using this term, the narrator is rejecting Dr. Bledsoe as a model of true success and beginning the process of finding his own way in life and especially, finding his individuality."
Abstract In this paper, the author looks at the language in Milton's "Paradise Lost". Milton was blind as he composed the text, therefore had a limited (even for him) vocabulary to work with. The paper shows how certain words are found throughout the text which help illuminate the themes. Milton theme of "Man's First Disobedience..." is specifically examined in this essay, using the word 'wander' and its different tenses.
From the Paper "In the Epic Poem Paradise Lost, John Milton writes his way from the fall of Satan, through Man's own fall, while also providing a glimpse of history to contemporary times. The text begins with the lines: ?Of man's first disobedience, and the fruit/ Of that forbidden tree.? (1. 1-2) Milton uses the rest of the text to elucidate these lines, and an examination of specific words aids us in understanding his meaning. Milton's uses of wander (also wandered and wandering) in specific contexts help him construct the various meanings and themes of the poem. According to John Bradshaw's Concordance, wander and its various forms are used thirty-three times. Each time the word appears it is involved with the themes of man's disobedience and the resulting "fruit", and through analyzing select passages this essay examines Paradise Lost as a whole. Through the use of wander, we find man's disobedience defined as going astray from God, and that the "fruit" of this disobedience and resulting fall is journeys of conquest (physical and intellectual), sin and corruption in Man's history, and also a positive "fruit" in Man's possibility of redemption."
From the Paper "The acquisition of language in a child is a wondrous and complex act, not fully understood by professionals in the field of linguistics. To understand how humans acquire language would be to understand the very inner nature of man, what separates him or her from other animals, the physical and social evolutionary process among humans, and the precise structure of the thought processes that are learned and inherent, similar and unique, in every human being."
From the Paper "The purpose of this research is to examine internal and external changes in the history of the English language from the Indo-European period to the modern period. The plan of the research will be to set forth the context in which language as such appeared, and then to elaborate, with reference to geographic, schematic, and vocabularic elements of discussion, the emergence of principal and subsidiary shifts in English expression that illustrate a pattern of development and maturation.
To discuss the evolution of the English language is in many ways to discuss the evolution of English-speaking civilization as expressed by and through the language. Advanced in the early years of the twentieth century, Wells's view is that language as an abstraction in semiotical form of human experience dates back..."
I. Historical background
Chinese is usually regarded as one of the oldest languages in the world. The Chinese literary idiom, which is widely used for all purposes though in modern pronunciation, is largely based on the language of the ancient classics. Another reason for Chinese language reputation for antiquity is the relative social and cultural homogeneity and stability in China during more millenniums that has been the case with most other peoples of the world. There was no large-scale borrowing of words such as followed the Norman invasion of Britain (Chao, 1967, p. 3).
The Chinese language seems old because, instead of spreading by subdivision into various national languages, which would then seem new, as do the Romance languages descended from Latin, it..."
From the Paper "NOTES ON THE CHOMSKY-HALLE PHONOLOGICAL FEATURE SYSTEM
Traditional categories and approaches
There are various ways in which languages have been transcribed. For example, one may symbolize one aspect of a contrast (e.g. length) or some other quality. One may show only underlying phonemes, or only some allophonic differences. Traditionally, a broad transcription designates one that uses a simple set of symbols, whereas a narrow transcription exhibits more phonetic detail. Diacritics increase precision, such as for indicating voicelessness, or a dental rather than alveolar sound.
Conventionally, transcription has two aspects, viz. the text itself and its interpretation. One set of conventions ascribes general phonetic values to symbols. Ladefoged (1993) thus regards symbols as approximate specifications of the.."
From the Paper "The purpose of this research is to examine the proposition that much of linguistic knowledge is innate. The plan of the research will be to set forth the basis for that claim, and then to discuss arguments for and against it, with a view toward reaching a determination as to the extent of its validity, based on the evidence and character of debate in the literature.
The concept that linguistic knowledge is innate is connected to theories of how language can be acquired in early childhood. The professional literature makes clear that the name linguistic theory is given to the idea that language acquisition occurs because human beings have, built in to their physical and psychological makeup from birth, the absolute possession of the..."
Abstract This paper discusses the beliefs and philosophies of the rhetorical theorist Mikhail Bakhtin. Amongst the ideas examined are Bakhtin's belief that everything ideological possesses a meaning which is indicated by a sign and how he unified physical utterance and the written word. The author also identifies which of Saussure's ideas Bakhtin accepted and which he rejected.
From the Paper "Mikhail Bakhtin, in his rhetoric, mixes literary criticism with rhetoric, following in the footsteps of Saussure and others in this regard. At the same time, Bakhtin rejected many of Saussure's ideas, such as that "the meaning of discourse is to be found in the psychological processing of signs" (911). Saussure's approach is also known as Structuralism and has been applied to a wide variety of forms of human communication. In literary criticism, for instance, the Structuralist approach owes much to linguistic studies and to ideas about language in general. Bakhtin in his literary criticism rejected the distinction between literary and ordinary language and so attacked the existing Russian Formalist school. The Formalists sought to isolate the text, while Bakhtin did not."
Abstract This paper deals with the question whether Middle English could be considered a creole or not. In this essay it is argued that Middle English cannot be considered a creole. First the writer looks at the definition of the word creole and then looks at some creolization criteria. Finally, it looks at the "creole hypothesis" i.e. the hypothesis that Middle English would be a creole, in a sociohistorical and sociolinguistic framework.
From the Paper "There are two terms that need to be defined before going further. The first term is pidgin. In short, a pidgin is a language which has been drastically simplified in structure and vocabulary, in order to serve communication needs. It is no-one's native language. Pidginization may arise when two language communities come into sudden direct contact, for instance in trade contact or military invasion.
"The second term that needs to be defined is creole. A creole is usually preceded by a pidgin. This is how a pidgin may become a creole: In a few exceptional sociolinguistic circumstances, a pidgin may be adopted as the first language of a community and acquires native speakers. In this case it undergoes elaboration, i.e. creolization. Normally, there is also an expansion in function (Poussa 40)."
Abstract Examines differing concepts of the rationalist and the empiricist theorists on how language is acquired. Compares the two approaches as applied to children's first language acquisition. The minds of young children. Structure-oriented & process-oriented groups. Environmental factors. Social interaction vs. cognitive theories. Semantic learning characteristics. Current research.
From the Paper "The fierce debate between the rationalist and the empiricist theorists on the issue of language acquisition has captured the imagination of the linguistic world for decades. Even though each group has produced results that contribute to the research on language acquisition, the complete process of language acquisition still remains a mystery. While the rationalists? concept of specific language mechanisms in the brain has prevailed for many years, new research by connectionist theorists has tilted the balance towards the empiricists? approach.
In this paper, the two competing approaches will be examined and compared in detail. Their application in children's discourse will be explored to assess their validity. Finally, the work..."
Abstract Discusses signs and meaning. Spoken and written speech, images, symbols, gestures. Communal nature of language; shared meaning. Connection between a work of art and the artist. Example from documentary film of architect/sculptor Maya Lin and her design for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Social and political contexts of meaning.
From the Paper "Semiology is the study of signs and meaning, from the signs we know as language to other forms of communication by means of images, symbols, gestures, and so on. All messages have a relational component. Language is communal in that it has meaning only within a community of people who accept that meaning, and meaning exists only as shared meaning. Semiotics has been applied to language in various ways, including an analysis of how we read and write and understand the written word, with written language seen as a form of symbolic interaction between writer and reader. The semiology of language analyzes the morphemes of language and how they acquire meaning in both spoken and written speech. Signs also come in the form of images, pictures, symbols, and so on, and these have meaning also within a community context."
This paper gives an archaeological perspective on the origins of language. The writer employs graphs and photographs to trace the source of language in the human brain.
Abstract The paper looks to answer the following questions: Can apes or any other non-humans use symbols or language? How does our understanding of the relationship between mind and brain help us to investigate which fossil hominins first used language? What do we know of the brains of fossil hominins and the constraints on brain size increase? What is language "as we know it"?
From the Paper "A symbol is considered to be something that "stands for something else" (Davidson & Noble 1993). Davidson and Noble also suggest a second criterion, that is, symbols as accepted by social custom or convention. A ring worn on a finger can symbolize marriage, (although the social convention varies within groups of people) and is an example containing both criteria. The second criterion cited above stems from Wittgenstien's "private language argument"."
