TOP Attendance Evaluation
ENG 370, FOUNDATIONS OF LANGUAGE, Spring 2008, Melvin J. Hoffman. Updated: August 28
Dpt. Xtt.: 5416/7;
Dpt. Fax: 878-5700.
E-mail
Webpage
Course Description: The structure of language with emphasis on English, relation
to speech and writing, Language families and their relationships.
Language change. Significance of regional and social dialects.
Textbook: Yule, George. _The Study of Language._ 3nd. Ed. Cambridge UP, 2005.
Attendance
Attendance taking begins after adjustment day. After six absences, I deduct one point
from your accumulated points. NO DISTINCTION IS MADE BETWEEN EXCUSED AND UNEXCUSED
ABSENCES. Though absences may not be your fault, innocence does not equal attendance.
The six class-hour absences are intended to cover advisement, registration and work
conflicts; court appearances; family crises; field and team-away trips; funerals;
illnesses; jury and military duty; religious holidays, vehicular failure, and weather
delays etc. six class-hour absences are already more than 10% of the semester's meetings.
After add day, I pass out an attendance sheet at the beginning (and occasionally,
without prior notice, at the end) of class. Prenotified departures, may or may not,
result in no, to varied, deductions--depending upon how much time is lost. Unannounced
departures (leaving class early without having told me in advance) receive 2/3 of a
point deduction.
TOP
==========================================================================================
Evaluation Measures:
Evaluation 5 quizzes & 3 projects 10-points each, 1 presentation 9-points, and
one 11-point report on ten-hours of fieldwork: (8 x 10 = 80 + 9 + 11 = 100)
Eight Quizzes & Projects are graded by taking percentage of right answers 80
Presentations: There are 3 presentation criteria:
presentation clarity,conformity to presentation
instructions, source use.Each is graded: 3 points
for excellent, 2 for good,1 for fair, and 0 for poor. 3 x 3 = 9
TOP
==========================================================================================
10-Hour Fieldwork Requirement for ENG 370--11 Points (Non-Education degree
students see me for customized substitutions for this assignment)
The student must assist and/or interview and/or observe teachers to learn teachers'
respective approaches regarding their use of language topics in discussing language
arts, appropriate to grade being taught. Students must log times, dates, places and
persons; take notes, in their notebook; and from the notes, write a report comparing
and contrasting differences among teachers interviewed, and draw a conclusion (form
a thesis) from their analyses. The log as well as the final, edited, printed copy of
your report must be handed in together. Eleven points are assigned as follows:
Log entries: 3, log notes: 3; thesis sufficiency
& support: 3; and editing & proofing: 2. = 11
==========================================================================================
Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), 2005. _Ethnologue: LGS. of the World_, 15th. Ed. Dallas,
Tex.: SIL International. Online version: http://www.ethnologue.com/family_index.asp]
LANGUAGES WITH MORE THAN 50 MILLION SPEAKERS
3 European I.E. 6 U.N. World 6 N. Asian & M.E 6 Asian. I.E. 5 S. Asian & Pacific
ALTAIC ? TURKIC >
SOUTHERN TURKISH Turkish (75)†
ALTAIC ? KOREAN ? JAPANESE Korean (72)†
ALTAIC ? KOREAN ? JAPANESE Japanese (127)*
SINO-TIBETAN > CHINESE Mandarin (1051)† Wu (77)
SINO-TIBETAN > CHINESE Yue/Cantonese (55)
SINO-TIBETAN > TAINADAKAMTAI Thai (60)
AFRO-ASIATIC > SEMITIC Arabic (255)†
INDO-EUROPEAN >
GERMANIC > WEST-GERMANIC German (123)* English (510)*
INDO-EUROPEAN >
ITALO-CELTIC > ROMANCE Portuguese (218)† Spanish (425)†
INDO-EUROPEAN >
ITALO-CELTIC > ROMANCE Italian (61)* French (130)*
INDO-EUROPEAN >
BALTO-SLAVIC > SLAVIC Russian (254)*
INDO-EUROPEAN >
IRANIAN Farsi/Persian (110)
INDO-EUROPEAN >
INDIC Hindi (490)†
INDO-EUROPEAN >
INDIC Bengali (215)
INDO-EUROPEAN >
INDIC Urdu (104)
INDO-EUROPEAN >
INDIC Punjabi (103)
INDO-EUROPEAN >
INDIC Marathi (71)
DRAVIDIAN Tamil (78)
DRAVIDIAN Telegu (74)
MALAYO-POLYNESIAN Malay/Indonesian (175)†
MALAYO-POLYNESIAN Javanese (76)†
AUSTRO-ASIATIC > VIETMUONG Vietnamese (86)
* marks G-8 nation languages. G-8 nations are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, The Russian Federation of the Common-
wealth of Independent States, the U.K. & the U.S. † marks languages of G-20 nations, not already listed as G-8 languages.
The entire list of G-20 nations, including the G-8 mambers, are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France,
Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, United Kingdom
and the United States. [The 20th member,the European Union, is not a nation]) The ? marks relationships that some experts
question. Abbreviations in Column Headings: I.E., INDO-EUROPEAN; M.E., MIDDLE EASTERN; N. & S., NORTH & SOUTH.
==========================================================================================
CALENDAR OF ASSIGNMENTS FOR SPRING 2008
(ALL WORK BUT PRESENTATIONSARE DUE ON
MONDAYS EXCEPT WEDNESDAY FEB. 20 AND CEP)
JAN./FEB
M 28 Discussion of Chapter 2: Animals and Human Language.
(pp. 1-12t only).
W 30 Discussion of Chapter 4: The Sounds of Language.
(pp. 29-40t all).
F 1 Discussion of Transcription.
M 4 *Quiz A: Transcription of Text.
W 6 Discussion of Chapter 5: Sound Patterns of Language.
(pp. 43-49).
F 8
M 11 *Quiz B: Transcription of Text.
W 13 Discussion of part of Chapter 6: Words & Word Formation.
( pp. 57b-58t only) and Chapter 8: Morphology (pp. 62-69t all).
F 15
W 20 *Quiz C: Morphological Analysis
F 22 Discussion of Chapter 8: Phrases and Sentences.
(pp. 73-82t all).
M 25 *Quiz D: Phrasal Equivalents.
W 27 Discussion of Chapter 9: Syntax. (pp. 86-99t all).
F 29
MARCH
M 3 *Quiz E: Syntax Analysis.
W 5 Discussion of Chapter 14: 1st.-Language Acquisition.
(pp. 150-159t all ).
F 7
M 10 *Homework I.: Project D ( pp. 159b-160t) Order 3 items,
giving 3 specific syntactic reasons for the ordering.
Don't throw general terminology from the chapter at me,
hoping that will be enough. It won't be.
W 12 Discussion of Chapter 17: Language History and Change.
(pp. 182-191t all).
F 14
M 17 *Homework II.: Topic II (p. 192). Choose the six proto forms.
Hint--you need to choose them such that 1) two rules from the
protoforms give you all forms and 2) another rule from the
protoforms gives you all the forms of A. of B.
W 19 Diss. of Chapter 18: Language and Regional Variation.
(pp. 194-203t all).
F 21
M 31 *Homework III.: Project D (pp. 203b-204t) Define the uses of
the five words in the text. Obviously, they do NOT simply
translate "the, had, one, stay" and "when."
APRIL
W 2
F 4
M 7 *Turn in log and report on fieldwork.
W 9 Discussion of Chapter 19: Language and Social Variation.
(pp. 205-214t all)
F 11
M 14 Discussion of Chapter 20: Language and Culture.
(pp. 216-225 all).
W 16 **Diglossia
F 18 ** Hawaiian Pidgin/Creole.
M 21 ** Slang.
W 23 ** AAVE.
F 25 ** Appalachian/Southern Mountain English.
M 28 ** Sapir-Whorf.
W 30 ** Gender Linguistics.
CEP
STUDENTS WHO HAVE COMPLETED ALL PROJECTS, QUIZZES AND PRESENTATIONS ARE EXEMPTED
FROM ATTENDING. THOSE WHO HAVE NOT COMPLETED ALL THEIR WORK ARE REQUIRED TO SHOW UP.
THROWING PAPERS IN MY MAILBOX, UNDER MY DOOR, OR SENDING EMAILS ARE NOT A SUBSTITUTE.
FAILURE TO APPEAR WILL BE COUNTED AS AN(OTHER) ABSENCE.
(THE CRITIQUE AND EVALUATION PERIOD RESPONSIBILITY AND ITS SCHEDULE ARE PUBLISHED
AT THE BEGINNING OF EVERY SEMESTER IN THE CLASS-SCHEDULE PAMPHLET FOR REGISTRATION.)
ALL LATE ESSAYS ARE DUE, AND WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED AFTER THE CEP. STUDENTS SHOULD BE
PREPARED TO TAKE MAKE-UP QUIZZES IF THEY HAVE MISSED ANY.
ALSO, IF THERE ARE NOT TOO MANY STUDENTS AND IF THERE IS ENOUGH TIME, I WILL TRY TO
HEAR BELATED PRESENTATIONS. (NO GUARANTEE)
==========================================================================================
The Consonant Phonemes of English
/p/ P i t, u P o n, u P;
/b/ B i t, a B o ve, r u B;
/t/ TH o m a s, i T, (m e T a l); (1)
/d/ D i p, b e D, (m e D a l);
/č/ CH u r ch, i TCH i ng, n a T u re;
/ǰ/ J u DGE, m a J o r, e D u c a te;
/k/ C a t, o CC u r, K i CK, CH r o me;
/g/ GU i de, au G e r, GH o s t;
/f/ PH o ne, o FF e r, l au GH;
/v/ V e r y, o V e r, o F;
/θ/ TH i n, e TH i c, m y TH;
/ð/ TH i s, o TH e r, b a THE;
/s/ S i t, a SS e t, SC i e n CE;
/z/ Z oo, v i S o r, i S;
/š/ CH u te, o C ea n, f i SH;
/ž/ ZH i v a g o, v i S io n, b ei GE; (2)
/h/ H ea d, a H ea d; (3)
/m/ M e t, t i M e r, a M;
/n/ N i p, i NN e r, s i N;
/ŋ/ s i NG e r, s i NG; (2)
/w/ W i t, l oW e r; (3)
/l/ L i p, ai L i ng, w e LL;
/r/ R e d, e RR o r, f a R;
/y/ Y ou, p aY i ng. (3)
[1] Nearly all speakers in the area distinguish the /t/ in "writTing" from the /d/
in "riDing," but many speakers have a /d/ where a "t" is written in most other
environments so that "metal," "mettle," "medal," and "meddle" are homo-
phones for many as well as "latter" and "ladder" or "bleeding" and "bleating."
[2] for most, not all speakers.
[3] final /w/, /y/ & /h/ are with vowels.
==========================================================================================
Supplement to Chapter One
ii ɨɨ uu Savitt, Joan Neuberger. 1979. Morphone-
ee əə oo mics in the Aspectual Model." The 5th.
ææ aa ɔɔ LACUS Forum 1978. 1978. Eds. W. Wölck &
iy ɨy uy i ɨ u iw ɨw uw P. Garvin. Columbia, SC: Hornbeam Press.
ey əy oy e ə o ew əw ow
æy ay ɔy æ a ɔ æw aw ɔw The latest version (of which I am aware)
ih ɨh uh of the Trager-Smith vowel representation
eh əh oh system appeared in the above publication,
æh ah ɔh the source of the table to the left.
p t č k ʧ IPA and American representations of con-
b d ǰ g ʤ sonant phonemes differ only in the palatal
f θ s š h ʃ column. IPA representations are to the im-
v ð z ž ʒ mediate left.
m n ŋ
w l r y j
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Supplement to Chapter One
i Ɨ u
ɪ ɨ ʊ
e ə o
ɛ ʌ ɔ
æ a ɑ
ai oi au
Above is a typical text-book IPA-oriented long & short vowel presentation with unitary long vowels distinguished
from the three diphthongs listed.
Below are common Western NY equivalents in Trager-Smith representations with long vowels and diphthongs ana-
lyzed as short vowel plus semivowel. (Monophthongs do not occur here.) Because of fine tuning to environments
such as /r/ among others, more than one equivalent to the IPA treatment is needed. Two of the vowels listed are
not needed in WNY, so only sixteen eqivalents or equivalent sets are listed. The following nuclei do not apply to
all American speakers. They apply to many, not all, WNY speakers.
iy, ih ɨh uw, uh
i ɨ u
ey, eh ə ow, oh
e ɔh
eh a, ah
ay, əy, ah oy aw, ah
OR
i ɨ u iy ih ɨh uh uw
e ə ey əy oy eh oh ow
a ay ah ɔh aw
/i/ p I t, c ou n t e r f EI t, c r Y p t;
/e/ p E t, l EA d, s AI d;
/ɨ/ 2nd. vowel: f i re, p i le. r o s E s; (Note ignore the "r" & "l" of "fire" and "pile" and note only the weak
stressed vowel of the 2nd, syllable which WNY has, unlike many other dialects and varieties of English.);
/ə/ b U t, s O n, r OU gh;
/a/ h O t, c Al m, f A th e r;
/u/ b OO k, sh OUL d, p U t;
/iy/ f EE t, l EA k, s EI ze;
/ey/ w EIGH t, b r EA k, c A pe;
/ay/ a pp l Y, t r I be, d IE d;
/əy/ r I ce, p I pe, h EIGH t;
/oy/ b OY, h OI s t, v OI d;
/uw/ d O, b OO t, m O ve;
/ow/ v O te, OA k, d OUGH;
/aw/ OU t, n OW, b OUGH;
/ih/ f EA r, b EE r, h E re;
/eh/ h A t, h AI r, l AU gh, f A re;
/ɨh/ f I r, h E r, h EA r d, p U rr;
/ah/ f A r, h EA r t, s O rr y* *not all speakers;
/ɔh/ c AUGH t, b OUGH t, (and before /r/ in "c OU r t" and "p OU r"--if both sets sound the
same and differ greatly from the vowel in "OA k, v O te, r O pe--otherwise, /oh/.)
/uh/ p OO r, t OU r, y OU r; however, many people in WNY and elsewhere use /oh/ for these as well.
Hint: if "p OO r" and "p OU r" are homophones for you, you probably use /oh/ for both sets.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
The IPA-oriented unitary long vowel representations in Yule are traditional but somewhat misleading. Many linguists
exist who use IPA phonetics but who recognize that English long vowels end in glides even if they reject Trager-Smith
representations. There are no generally agreed upon alternatives, so some variation exists.
Below is just a select sample of such representations.
Unitary T.-S. Sample 1 Sample 2 Sample 3 Sample 4 Sample 5
i iy ii ɪi ɪɪ ɪ i ɪ ɪ
⁀ ⁀
e ey ei ɛi ɛɪ ɛ i ɛ ɪ
⁀ ⁀
aɪ ay ai ai aɪ a i a ɪ
⁀ ⁀
aʊ aw au au aʊ a u a ʊ
⁀ ⁀
o ow ou ou oʊ o u o ʊ
⁀ ⁀
u uw uu ʊu ʊʊ ʊ u ʊ ʊ
⁀ ⁀
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Using Instructor's Speech, Samples of the Effects of Supplement to
Phonotactics: Particularly, Assimilation and Elision. Chapter Two
In the next four sets of examples, the first line will be Orthographic Transcription:
Writing; the second line will be the Underlying Phonological Transcription (which name
differs in every theory); the third line is the Surface Representation or Contrastive
Phonological Transcription: Phonemic Transcription.
Did you do it?
d.ì.d.+.y.uw.+.d.úw.+.i.t.#.
/ dìjə + dúwɨt # /
What are you doing?
h.w.`ə.t.+.a.r.+.y.uw.+.d.úw.i.ŋ.#.
/ w`əčə + dúwɨn # /
Could you do what they want you to do?
k.ù.d.+.y.uw.+.d.úw.|.h.w.`ə.t.+.ð.ey.+.w.ə´.n.t.+.y.uw.+.t.uw.+.d.ûw.#
/ kùjə + dúw | w`ət + ðey + wə´nčə + tɨdûw # /
Did you eat? No, did you?
d.ì.d.+.y.uw.+.íy.t.#.n.ów.#.d.ì.d.+.y.úw. #.
/ jə+íyt || nów # júw || /
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Below, three line 3's occur. The first two both occur in the instruc-
tor's speech'; the third line three occurs in forms of Irish English
1) It is not true.
2) i.t.+.ì.z.+.n.â.t.+.t.r.yúw.
3a) / ìts + nât + trúw # /
3b) / ìt + îzɨnt + trúw # /
3c) / tîzɨnt + tríw # /
In 3a, the "is" vowel is lost. In 3b & 3c,the "not" vowel is lost. Line 3c also loses
the "it "vowel.
Note that the 2nd. vowel in "isn't" comes neither from "is" nor from "not." It reflects
no underlying vowel. Rather, phonotactics needs an unstressed vowel / Ə, ɨ, i / to
syllabify sonorant consonants like / m, n, l, r / when--for any reason--no adjacient
underlying vowels have a surface representation.
Note that the words "what" and "want" could have alternate underlying vowels other
than Ə., namely, a. or o.
Supplement to chapters 20 and 21 in Yule.
In most places, Yule presents what is used by both American and British linguists then
and now. Varieties often preceded by National pretty generally is used of those lin-
guistic features shared by speakers within a nation whose language is international:
American, Australian, British, Canadian - English; Belgian, Canadian, French, Swiss
- French etc. Within a nation, its differences rather than commonalities are usually
studied under regional or social dialectology.
Yule's dialectology discussion is excellent. Dialect boundaries are not always as
distinct as one would wish, and the distinction between dialect and language is often
more political than linguistic.
==========================================================================================
1. Linguistic Boundaries: Isoglosses?
German and Dutch are different languages, but no major isoglosses distinguish contiguous
dialects on either side of national borders. No major isogloss boundary separates border
dialects from French to Portuguese. Years ago, this would have involved three languages:
French, Spanish and Portuguese. Now, the political situation has changed. More language
boundaries exist since many former dialects are now official languages. Naming only the
more well-known Spanish languages, there are no clear linguistic boundaries between
French, Occitan, Catalan, Castillian, Gallician and Portuguese.
2. Linguistic Boundaries: Rhenish fan?
There is an area between high and low German where speakers mix some of the features of
high and some of low German. But not everyone in this region has the same mix, if a
traveler goes in one direction or another across this region, a slightly different mix
occurs. On either side of this region, one speaks obviously high or low German, but how
should analysts characterize the people in between, especially as the in-between people
fall into a spectrum?
3. Linguistic Boundaries: Intelligibility?
Scandinavians, who understand much of what their linguistic cousins say, insist on
distinguishing Danish, Swedish and Norwegian as distinct languages with separate,
though overlapping, writing systems, lexicons, and grammars.
German and Italian dialects cross national boundaries and are wide spread geographically,
and are often mutually unintelligible, but are, nonetheless, considered dialects of the
respective languages, held together by an artificial standard language for classroom,
workplace, and government: High German for the German speaking, and Italian (Acrolects
of Rome and Florence) for the Italian speaking.
==========================================================================================
Directions on the seven oral presentations:
1 There are to be seven groups of 5 or 6 students.
2. Group members need to address the following concerns. Who does what is up
to the group.
A. What is the definition of the title topic?
B. Who are the major figures in the field?
C. How did the group decide these figures to be major, not just anybody
writing on the topic?
D. What are some major works (articles, books etc.) in field?
E. How did the group decide these works to be major, not any old works
on the subject?
F. What pedagogical political, social, economic implications can one
draw from this field?
3. Some Starter URL's
A. Diglossia
http://www.ce.berkeley.edu/~coby/essays/refdigl.htm
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/messeas/diglossia/handbuk.html
http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~sngynan/slx4.html
B. Hawaiian Pidgin/Creole
http://www.extreme-hawaii.com/pidgin/vocab/
http://www2.hawaii.edu/~gavinm/hcegrammar.htm
http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=hwc
C. Slang
http://www.google.com/Top/Science/Social_Sciences/Linguistics/Languages/Natural/Indo-European/Germanic/English/Slang/
http://www.slangsite.com/
http://www.pbs.org/speak/words/sezwho/slang/
D. African American Vernacular English (Do not discuss youth slang here; vocabulary
differences are the easiest aspect of AAVE for non-AAVE speakers to notice, but
AAVE youth slang is the most transient of all AAVE features and is of the least
relevance pedagogically despite uninformed journalistic pontifications.)
http://www.stanford.edu/~rickford/ebonics/
http://www.cal.org/ebonics/
http://linguistlist.org/topics/ebonics/
E. Southern Mountain/Appalachian English
http://www.ferrum.edu/applit/studyg/dialect/features.htm
http://www.ecu.edu/NCFA/AMFOLK/mtnlang.html
http://www.wvculture.org/history/journal_wvh/wvh30-2.html
F. Sapir Whorf Hypothesis
http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/short/whorf.html
http://www.cerezo.name/archives/000005.html
http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/4110/whorf.html
G. Gender Linguistics (This refers to biological, not grammatical, gender)
http://www.kichu.com/elp/gender.html
http://www.geocities.com/Wellesley/2052/genddiff.html
http://www.ldc.upenn.edu/myl/ling001/gender.htm
==========================================================================================
Education Students should note the relationships of the object-
ives of the course to the conceptual framework of Teacher Edu-
cation Programs at Buffalo State College:
--- --- --- --- --- ---
/ \ / \
/ \/ \
/ LEARNER /\ CONTENT \
| | | |
| --- | -|- --- |
| / | | \ |
\ / \/ \ /
\ / /\ \ /
\ | / \ | /
--- |-- --- --- ---| ---
| |
\ /
\ PEDAGOGY /
\ /
--- --- ---
TOPICAL OUTLINE OF MAJOR UNITS:
I. The history of linguistics.
II. Current applications of linguistics
III. The anthropological setting for language
IV. The human invention of language based on recent .
speculations of anthropological linguists.
V. Phonology, primarily English, but employing
comparative structures.
VI. Morphology.
VII. Syntax.
VIII. Semology.
MAJOR OBJECTIVES OF THE COURSE:
1. To familiarize students with the history
of language study. Pedagogy Content
2. To familiarize students with the techniques
of scientific language study. Content
3. To provide students with a knowledge of the
structures of language, using English pri-
marily but exemplifying linguistic tech-
niques through a comparative structural
analysis. Content
4 To exemplify the application of linguistic
analysis in the English classroom. Learner Pedagogy
5. To provide students with a brief survey of
the languages of the world. Content
==========================================================================================
Behavior conveying disrespect or rudeness toward anyone based on age, race, religion,
color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or marital, veteran
or socio-economic status as well as other behavior--in the instructor's opinion--
disruptive to the educational process may result in the instructor's having a student
removed from the classroom and in charges brought against a student pursuant to Buf-
falo State College's Procedure Regarding Disruptive Individuals.
IF YOU HAVE A DISABILITY OR SUSPECT THAT YOU HAVE
A DISABILITY THAT REQUIRES ANY KIND OF ACCOMODA-
TION TO FULFILL THE REQUIREMENTS OF THIS COURSE,
PLEASE CONTACT THE OFFICE OF SPECIAL SERVICES FOR
STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES AT 878-4500.
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