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WHAT IS LANGUAGE?
The ability to use language, perhaps more than any other attribute,
distinguishes humans from other animals
Linguistic Knowledge
- When you know a language, you can speak (or sign) and be understood
by others who know that language
- The ability to use a language requires profound knowledge that most
speakers don’t know that they know
Knowledge of the Sound System
- When we know a language, we know what sounds (or signs) are used
in the language and which sounds (or signs) are not
- This also includes knowing how the sounds of the language can be
combined
+ Which sounds may start a word
+ Which sounds may end a word
+ Which sounds may follow each other within a word
- Knowing the sounds of your language also involves knowing how your
face looks ahwen you produce them
Knowledge of Words
- Knowing a language also means identifying certain strings of sounds as
meaningful words
- Most words in all languages are arbitrary connections of sound to
meaning
- The conventional and arbitrary relationship between form and meaning
is also true in sign language
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Creativity of Linguistic Knowledge

Every language has an infinite number of possible sentences
What Is Grammar?
- Grammar = the knowledge speakers have about the units and rules of
their language
– Rules for combining sounds into words, word formation, making
sentences, assigning meaning
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MORPHOLOGY

1. Morphology is the study of construction of

words out of morphemes
2. Morpheme is the smallest linguistic unit that
has meaning and grammatical function.
3. Word formation/ Word formation processes
a) Coinage
Coinage is the method of forming a completely new
word without relying on any root word.
Words created in this way often come from the
names of popular products, individuals, or
companies, such as “google” – which is the name of
a famous technology company.
Ex: Chanel, Dior, Cadillac,…
b) Affixation
Affixation is the process of adding a prefix or suffix
to a base word to create a new word.
Ex: happy -> unhappiness
c) Compounding
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Compounding is a method of forming a new word

by combining two separate words together.
Ex: football -> foot+ ball
Toothbrush -> tooth+ brush
Blackboard -> black+ board
d) Borrowing
Borrowing is a method of forming new words by
borrowing from another language.
Ex: Tofu, this is a word derived from the Chinese
term “dou fu,” which means “tofu” in English.
e) Blending
Blending is also a method of combining two
separate words into a new word, but it only takes the
first part of one word and combines it with the last
part of the other word to create a new word.
Ex: brunch -> breakfast+ lunch
Smog-> smoke+ fog
Motel-> motor+ hotel
f) Clipping
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Clipping is a method of forming new words by

shortening longer words by one syllable with the
aim of saving time and making communication more
convenient
Ex: ad-> advertisement
Photo-> photograph
g) Conversion
Conversion is the process of changing the function
of individual words within a sentence without
altering the grammatical structure of that word.
Ex: to email= email
h) Back-formation
Back- formation is the process of creating a new
word by removing an element from an existing
word.
Ex: editor -> edit
i) Acronymy
Acronymy is a method of creating new words by
combining the initial letters of words in a phrase or
cluster of words.
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Ex: ATM (automatic teller machine)

ATB (all the best)
BBL (be back later)
F2F (face to face)
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PHONETICS

1. Definition
- The study of human speech sounds.
- The study of the sounds made by the human voice in
speech
- A branch of linguistics studying the production, the
physical nature, the perception and other aspects of
human speech sounds.
- Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that studies how
humans make and perceive sounds.
2.
A. Articulatory phonetics: the study of the production of
speech sounds, and how the vocal tract produces the
sounds of language.
B. Acoustic phonetics: the study of the transmission,
focuses on the physical properties of sounds.
C. Auditory phonetics: the study of the reception of
speech sounds, and how listeners perceive these sounds.

3. The human speech apparatus

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- The human speech apparatus or vocal system is a set of

organs and tissues in our body that generate and amplify
the sound we produce when we speak.
+ The tongue has different parts: tip, blade, front, back,
and root. It is the most important single organ of speech.
It is flexible and can make a large number of gestures to
produce speech sounds.
+ The lower lip may be placed against the upper teeth, or,
together with the upper lip may be closed or opened,
rounded or spread.
+ The glottis is the space between the vocal cords. With a
rapid closing and opening of the glottis, the air stream
traps behind it, then with a sudden release of the air
makes glottal sounds
+ The uvula is a small fleshy pendent structure at the very
end of the soft palate. The back of the tongue articulates
with the uvula and produces a q- q-sound.
+ The pharynx is the cone-shaped passageway leading
from the oral and nasal cavities in the head to the
esophagus (the tube that takes food to the stomach) and
the larynx.
+ The palate forms the roof of the mouth and separates
the mouth cavity from the nasal cavity. The hard palate is
the highest part of the palate, between the alveolar ridge
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and the beginning of the soft palate. The soft palate can be
raised or lowered.
+ The front upper teeth are used in producing some
speech sounds
+ The alveolar ridge is the part of the mouth lying
immediately behind the front upper teeth and consonantal
sounds like t,d,n,l,s, and z are produced here.

- Active Articulators: lip, apex, blade, back tongue.

- Passive Articulators: upper lip, upper teeth, alveolar
ridge, hard palate, uvula

4. Consonants
a) Consonants are speech sounds produced with various
degrees of airstreams obstruction out of oral/nasal cavity

b)
b.1) Classification of English consonants according to
PLACE OF ARTICULATION (8)
- Bilabial: the two lips are the primary articulators: p,b,m
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- Labio-dental: the lower lip articulates with the upper

teeth: f,v
- Dental: the tongue tip and rims articulate with the upper
teeth: Ɵ,ð
- Alveolar: tip the tongue articulates with the alveolar
ridge: t,d,l,n,s,z
- Palato-alveolar: ʒ, ʃ, dʒ, tʃ
- Palatal: the front of the tongue articulates with the hard
palate: j
- Velar: the back of the tongue articulates with the soft
palate: k,g,ŋ
- Glottal : h

b.2) Classification of English consonants according to

MANNER OF ARTICULATION (6)
1. Plosive: A complete closure at some point in the vocal
tract, behind which the air pressure builds up and can be
released explosively:
p, b, t, d, k , g
2. Affricate: A compete closure at some point in the
mouth, behind which the air pressure builds up; the
separation of the organs is slow compared with that of a
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plosive so that friction is a characteristic second element

of the sound: dʒ, tʃ
3. Nasal: A compete closure at some point in the mouth
but the soft palate being lowered, the air escapes through
the nose. Those sounds are continuants and have no noise
components: m, n, ŋ
4. Lateral: A partial closure is made at some point in the
mouth, the air stream being allowed to escape on one or
both sides of the contact: l
5. Fricative: Two organs approximate to such an extent
that the air stream passes through them with friction:
f, v, Ɵ,ð, s, z, ʃ, ʒ,h
6. Approximants: are usually included in the consonantal
category on functional grounds, but from the point of
view of phonetics description they are more properly
treated as vowel glide: w,r,j

b.3) Voicing
- Speech sounds which are produced with the vocal cords
vibrating are called “voiced”
- Speech sounds which are produced without the vocal
cords vibrating are called “voiceless”
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- Voice: b, d, g, v, ð, z, ʒ, ʤ, m, n, ŋ, l, ɹ, w, j.
- Voiceless: p,t,k,f, Ɵ, s, ʃ,h, tʃ

E.g:
/m/: voiced, bilabial, nasal sound
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/n/: voiced, alveolar, nasal sound

/p/: voiceless, bilabial, oral sound
/b/: voiced,bilabial ,oral sound
/t/: voiceless, alveolar, oral sound
/g/: voiced, velar, oral sound
/Ɵ/: voiceless, fricatives, dental
/tʃ/: voiceless,affricates, palato- alveolar
/s/: voiceless, fricatives, alveolar

5. Vowels
a) Definition:
(1) Vowels are sounds in which there is no obstruction to
the flow of air as it passes from the larynx to the lips.
(2) Vowels are speech sounds in which the breath escapes
from the lungs without construction. In the other words, a
vowel is produced without stoppage of the air stream in
the oral cavity.
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(3) Vowels are syllabic sounds. They form the center of

the syllable.
- They are always voiced. (They are produced with the
vibration of the vocal cords)
- In the production of vowel sounds, the tongue may be
moved forward or backward, up and down.
b)
(Q: How are English vowels classified?)
1. The numbers of constiuent elements :
- Monophthongs (12)
+ 7 short vowels: / ɪ, e, æ, ɒ, ʊ, ə, ʌ /
+ 5 long vowels: / i: , ɔ: , u: , ɜ: , a: /
- Diphthongs (8)
+ 3 diphthongs gliding to /ɪ/: / eɪ, aɪ, ɔɪ /
+ 2 diphthongs gliding to /ʊ/: / aʊ, əʊ /
+ 3 diphthongs gliding to /ə/: / eə, ɪə, ʊə /
- Triphthongs (5): eɪə, aɪə, ɔɪə, aʊə, əʊə
(Q: What is a triphthong?)
 A triphthong is a glide from one vowel to another and
then to a third, all produced rapidly and without
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interuption. It is a combination of a diphthong with

one pure vowel.
 5 English triphthongs are composed of 5 closing
diphthongs plus the ə added at the end.

 eɪ + ə = eɪə (layer, player,…)

 aɪ + ə = aɪə (liar, fire,…)
 ɔɪ + ə = ɔɪə (loyal, royal,…)
 aʊ + ə = aʊə (power, hour,…)
 əʊ + ə = əʊə (lower, mower,…)

2. Position of the tongue:

- Front Vowels: When the front of the tongue is raised in
the direction of hard palate: / ɪ, i: , e, æ /
- Central Vowels: When the central part of the tongue is
high: / ə, ɜ:, ʌ /
- Back Vowels: When the back of the tongue is raised
toward the soft palate: / ʊ, u: , ɔ: , ɒ, a: /
3. The height of the tongue:
- Close vowels: The tongue comes closer to the palate so
the air passage is narrow
/ ɪ, i: , ʊ, u:/
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- Mid vowels: The tongue is in the middle position

/e, ɜ: , ə, ɔ:/
- Open vowels: The tongue is low so the air passage is
wide
/ æ, ʌ, ɒ, a:/
[*High-Mid-Low*]
4. Lip rounding:
- Rounded: the corners of the lip are brought toward each
other and the lips pushed forwards.
/ ʊ, u: , ɔ: , ɒ /
- Unrounded (spread): the corner of the lips moved away
from each other as for a smile
/ ɪ, i: , e, æ /
- Neutral: Where the lips are not noticeably rounded of
spread
/ ə, ɜ:, ʌ, a: /
5. The length of vowels:
- Long: / i: , ɔ: , u: , ɜ: , a: /
- Short: / ɪ, e, æ, ɒ, ʊ, ə, ʌ /
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6. Muscle tension:
- Tense: / i: , ɔ: , u: , ɜ: , a: /
- Lax: / ɪ, e, æ, ɒ, ʊ, ə, ʌ /

*
- A fortis consonant is a “strong” consonant
produced by increased tension in the vocal
apparatus. These strong consonants tend to be long,
voiceless, aspirated, and high
- A lenis consonant is a “weak” consonant produced
by the lack of tension in the vocal apparatus. These
weak consonants tend to be short, weakly voiced or
voiceless, aspirated, low, and the following vowel
tends to be lengthened
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PHONOLOGY

1. Definition:
(1) Phonology is the study of how speech sounds form
patterns.
(2) Phonology is the study of sound system used to
convey meaning in any spoken human language

2. Differences between phonetics and phonology:

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- Phonetics:
+ The basis for phonological analysis
+ Analyzes the production of all human speech sounds
- Phonology:
+ The basis for further work in morphology, syntax,
discourse and orthography design
+ Analyzes the sound patterns of a particular language

- Minimal pair: two words that differ only by a

single sound in the same position and have different
meanings but are otherwise identical

3. Phonemes
a. A phoneme is the smallest sound unit in a
language that is capable of conveying a distinct
meaning, such as the s of sing and the r of ring.
b. Allophones are phonetic variations - different
pronunciations - of the same phoneme
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An allophone (from allos 'other' phone 'sound') is a

predictable variant of a phoneme
When a speech sound changes, and becomes more
like another sound which follows it or precedes it
c.
- Regressive assimilation: the phoneme that comes
first is affected by the one that comes after it. e.g.
- Progressive assimilation: The preceding sound
affects the following one. e.g.
Assimilation is a feature-changing rule that makes
English vowels more similar by adding the feature
[+nasal] to the vowel.
This is refer to the study of the tune and rhyhm of
speech and how these features contribute to
meaning.
- It is also consits of distintive variations of stress,
tone, and timing in spoken language.
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SEMANTICS

Semantic is a branch of linguistics which studies

meanings of words, phrases and sentences.

- What are antonyms?

Antonyms are words with opposite meanings, like
hot and cold, good and bad, and happy and sad.
- When should antonyms be used?
Antonyms are best used in comparisons to draw
attention to what separates two opposing things. By
pointing out these differences, antonym pairs can
better communicate what sets each apart from the
other.
- What are the different kinds of antonyms?
Complementary antonyms, like on and off, cannot
be true at the same time. Gradable antonyms show
opposite amounts of the same quality, like big and
small, which describe different sizes. Relational
antonyms show opposite roles in the same
relationship, like teacher and student.
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- Examples of Complementary Antonyms

Complementary antonyms are exact opposites that
have no middle ground. For example, "off" is always
the opposite of "on" — there's no other possibility
for its antonym.
Examples of complementary antonyms include:
• off — on
• night — day
• entrance — exit
• exterior — interior
• true — false
• dead — alive
• push — pull
• pass — fail
- Relational Antonyms Examples
Relational antonyms describe opposite words as they
relate to each other. One word can't exist without the
other. For example, a doctor with no patients can't be
a doctor; a predator with no prey is not a predator.
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Other examples of relational antonyms include:

• above — below
• servant — master
• borrow — lend
• give — receive
• buy — sell
• instructor — pupil
- Examples of Graded Antonyms
Graded antonyms deal with levels of comparison,
and they can be two words on a scale. Many are
relative terms, which can be interpreted differently
by different people. For example, "sad" and "happy"
are relative antonyms, because someone can be quite
sad or quite happy, or mildly sad and mildly happy.
Examples of graded antonyms include:
• young — elderly
• hard — easy
• happy — wistful
• wise — foolish
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• fat — slim
• warm — cool
• early — late
• fast — slow
• dark — pale
- Examples of Antonyms Created With Prefixes
Sometimes you don’t need to search for another
word entirely. It’s possible to create an antonym
simply by adding a prefix to the word, typically
prefixes that mean "not" or "without."
Adding Dis-
Some examples of antonyms created by adding the
prefix dis- ("away from") are:
• agree — disagree
• appear — disappear
• belief — disbelief
• honest — dishonest
Adding In-
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Adding the prefix in-, meaning "not," can make the

following opposites:
• tolerant — intolerant
• decent — indecent
• discreet — indiscreet
• excusable — inexcusable
Adding Mis-
Using the prefix mis- (meaning "wrong") creates
antonyms such as:
• behave — misbehave
• interpret — misinterpret
• lead — mislead
• trust — mistrust
Adding Un-
Examples of antonyms made by adding the prefix
un-, which means "not," are:
• likely — unlikely
• able — unable
• fortunate — unfortunate
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• forgiving — unforgiving
Adding Non-
By adding the prefix non- ("without" or "other
than"), you can make these antonyms:
• entity — nonentity
• conformist — nonconformist
• payment — nonpayment
• sense — nonsense
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NOTE
1. MORPHOLOGY is the study of construction of words out of morphemes
2. Morpheme; is the smallest linguistic unit that has meaning and grammatical
function.
3. Minimal pair: two words that differ only by a single sound in the same
position and have different meanings but are otherwise identical
4. Syntax is the study of sentence structure.
5. A phoneme is the smallest sound unit in a language that is capable of
conveying a distinct meaning, such as the s of sing and the r of ring or the smallest
segment of sound that comprises the basic building blocks of a language
6. Homonymy: a relation which exists between words which have the same
forms but unrelated senses or two words that share the same phonetic forms but
have different meanings
7. Stress is a strong prominence on a particular syllable.
8. Phonology is the study of rules and practices for making and using sounds in
a language or the study of sound system of a language, how the particular sounds
contrast in each language to form an integrated system for encoding information
and how such systems differ from one language to another.
9. Utterance is a particular piece of speech produce by a particular individual
on a particular occasion
10. Metaphor is a comparison of unlike things without using a word of
comparison such as like or as
11. Semantic is a branch of linguistics which studies meanings of words, phrases
and sentences.
12. A fortis consonant is a “strong” consonant produced by increased tension in
the vocal apparatus. These strong consonants tend to be long, voiceless, aspirated,
and high
13. A lenis consonant is a “weak” consonant produced by the lack of tension in
the vocal apparatus. These weak consonants tend to be short, weakly voiced or
voiceless, aspirated, low, and the following vowel tends to be lengthened
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14. Speech sounds which are produced with the vocal cords vibrating are called
“voiced”
15. Speech sounds which are produced without the vocal cords vibrating are
called “voiceless”