...Language: Many Facets Communications comes in all kinds of sounds and symbols. A creature communicates in various ways, whether it is by sounds of voices, sounds of animals, signs, or symbols very existence of creatures on this planets attempt to communicate in some facet. According to the typical definition of language the response is simple. Willingham, 2007 states that “communication must be communicative, arbitrary, structured, generative and dynamic to be deemed a language.” The sound of animals is a part of communication, but these sounds are arbitrary, they might even be regarded as dynamic; however it is not structured, but it is original, so it makes a particular sound, even though it is not generative. The mental dictionary is of interest to the cognitive functions, and language assimilation of an individual because of the stored images of the speech, and the lexicon. The lexical doorway accrue the spelling, pieces of sounds, and pronunciation for every single word that has been incorporate into a person’s vocabulary. Furthermore, it is amazing how an individual can selectively distinguish the words by cross-referencing these forms of speech with things that they have identified with that is perceptible. Human beings attempt to associate certain sounds that animals make with precise lexicons to see if those specific sounds can formulate a specific language. According Willingham, 2007 he states in the text that language is hard to define. The standard definition and...
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...Kerry Kempink Mrs. Morris ENC 1102-69980 24 April 2008 Sentence Construction and Style It has been argued for decades on why the first year of college is so important for a student. The first year of college is generally filled with attending class and completing work for courses that seem to have little to no noteworthy importance on what a student wants to achieve a degree in. Some courses for example, humanities and psychology, endow students with just enough information to give the student a broad idea of what the subject matter the student is enrolled in is really about. Writing courses are no different from information based classes. In a writing course however, a student is expected to complete a task that few other courses will expect from him. The areas of concern are many for writing instructors, but places where progress is most often desired are in the areas of development or sentence construction and wording also known as style. Writing style is the manner in which a writer addresses a matter in prose, a manner which reveals the writer's personality, or “voice.” It is particularly evident in the choices the student makes in syntactical structures, diction, and figures of thought. Why is writing style important? Writing style is what depicts how the reader reads the essay. For example, the statements, the journalist has a very journalistic style, or the scholar's style is too scholarly, reveal the redundant and misleading nature of talking about style...
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...Language Paper Latrece Pratt PSY/360 March 23, 2015 Karen Wilson Four Levels of Language Structure and Processing This paper will discuss the four levels of language structure and processing. Which are known as phonemes, Syntax, Semantics, and Pragmatics. These four main components work collectively to create a meaningful communication between individuals. Language is the ability to understand both spoken and written words, and to produce meaningful words when someone speaks or writes. Language can be a complex skill set that encompasses countless difficult processes, such as biological, mental and social skills. First Level Phonology Phonology is the study of sound. These reverberations need to be recalled and understood appropriately according to the language. Phonemes create up words, which must be remembered and understood correctly according to the language. Words consist of sentences, which must be recognized and understood correctly according to the language. Sentences consist of words, which must be remembered and understood correctly according to the language. Phonology can also consist of hand signals, gestures or rhymes. Phonology is different from phonetics it involves the way sounds are used to deliver a meaning. Examples of Phonology In the English language sounds of speech is one example of phonology which is either a consonant or vowel. Phonemes are not actually spoken sound it is more of a representation of sound. For example the word goat. It...
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...linguist to identify the human language as rule governed, rather than just words and phrases which have meaning. This notion highly influenced Noam Chomsky's work, who often quoted Humboldt's idea that language "makes infinite use of finite means", which means that any number of sentences can be created using a restricted number of rules. Ferdinand de Saussure (1857 to 1913) Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure is an incredibly well known man in linguistics as he is considered to be one of the most influential linguists of the 20th Century. His work, 'Cours de Linguistique Generale, mentioned in when is syntax studied, is one of his best known works, compiled after his death. Which is generally thought to be the start 'structural linguistics'. Viggo Brondal (1887-1942) Viggo Brondal, a Danish Philologist, alongsde Louis Hjemslev founded the Linguistic Circle of Copenhagen. Hjemslev also went on to found the journal 'Acta Linguistica' in 1939. Noam Chomsky born 1928 As noted, Chomsky has been responsible for countless syntax theories and influential work over the years. These include Universal Grammar, Transformational Grammar, Generative Grammar and many of its developments. His book 'Syntactic Structures', first published in 1957 is known to lay down the foundations for transformational grammar Roy Harris (born 1931) Roy Harris is currently the professor...
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...Argument Structure in the Verb Phrase (VP) The verb is the head of the VP, that is to say that the verb is the most important part that determines the presence of any other element in the VP. There are different classes of verbs according to the type of event they refer to. Verbs can refer to actions (such as break) or states (such as stand), processes (such as grow), achievements (such as reach), etc. Each event implies the involvement of role players. We therefore say that the verb assigns roles (we call them thematic roles, or theta-roles) to its arguments (the role players). According to the type of event referred to, the verb is combined with a number of arguments (including complements and the subject) that goes from zero to three (rarely four). For each verb the information specified in the lexicon includes a) the type of verb, b) the thematic roles that are assigned to its arguments, c) what is the hierarchy of the arguments (with the associated theta-role), d) whether they assign case to one or more arguments. It is crucial when learning a foreign language to realize that while the meaning of the verb, namely the event type and, as a consequence, the theta-roles assigne by it can be the same in L1 (our native language) and L2 (our foreign language), the hierarchy of the arguments may be very different. Let us make a very well-known example of the Italian – English contrast: (1) a. b. John likes potatoes. A Gianni piacciono le patate. Like and piacere express the same...
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...What is Linguistics? According to Professor David Crystal, Linguistics is the science of language. It is the subject whose practitioners devote their energy to understanding why human language is the way it is. They study the history, acquisition, structure, and use of as many languages as possible. In general, Linguistics studies the nature of human language. It aims to uncover the general structure of natural language which is not dependent on individual languages and ways in which languages can be described. Moreover, the discipline examines the characteristics that separate human language from other sign and communication systems. Both in teaching and research, language is studied in a versatile manner from the level of sounds to complete sentences and texts, their meanings and entire spoken discourses. Moreover, Linguistics studies regional, social and temporal changes occurring in language, context-related use of language and production, and understanding processes of linguistic messages from the perspective of individual psychology. Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. There are many approaches to the study of language, emphasizing different scientific traditions and aspects of the subject. Two broad divisions are the following: Theoretical Linguistics: the study of the structural properties of language, e.g., the rules or constraints that govern the formation and interpretation of words and sentences in the world's languages. Experimental...
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...Chapter one Introduction 1.1 Purpose of the Study As closed-class words, the spatial prepositions (SP), which are used to illustrate the relation of two objects is limited in number and simple in form. Nevertheless, they have a great many senses. SP is not only applied to describe the spatial relationship, but also applied to organize other grammar structure. Therefore, at the initial stage of learning English, SP is always the vital category of words that English learners have to comprehend. However, these limited and simple words are used (use) in the expression of foundational spatial meaning and abstract meaning. Learners can easily understand the meaning of up in get up but not in time is up. This is because the common and normal way learners used (use) to comprehend English is to find the “semantic equivalent”. A Chinese learner can understand the former one while they find a semantic equivalent “qi” in their mother language, but the latter one’s (one) is empty. According to the “semantic equivalence hypothesis” by Ijaz (1986), learners always intend to copy all grammar and communication function, except for pronunciation and spelling. From the linguistics aspect, learner can hardly find a precise substitute in their mother language. Therefore, how to master the use of SP efficiently becomes a challenge for English learners. In the view of traditional schools of linguists, the mean of words are arbitrary (Saussure,**), that is to say, the various meanings of SP and...
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...Contents: Contents 1 1. INTRODUCTION 2 2. SENTENCE TYPES 3 3. IDENTIFICATION OF THE COMPLEX SENTENCES 4 4. TYPES OF COMPLEX SENTENCES 6 5. FINITE CLAUSE 7 5.1 Nominal clause 7 5.2 Adjectival clause 11 5.3 Adverbial clause 13 6. NON-FINITE CLAUSE 16 6.1 Gerund 16 6.2 Infinitive 17 6.3 Participles 18 7. Verbless clause 19 8. CONCLUSION 20 REFERENCES 22 COMPLEX SENTENCES 1. INTRODUCTION The study of sentence structure is called syntax, and because there is so little variation in the grammatical structure of English words, a syntactic analysis forms the dominant element in a modern English grammar. The area provides the main point of contrast with traditional grammars, which because of their Latinate origins paid little attention to the syntactic properties of sentences. Syntax takes the central part of language between morphology (shape of words) and semantics (which deals with a meaning of word; what are they meaning), however, syntax is the part of grammar which treats of phrases, clauses and sentences. There are three syntactical units in English language: * Phrase (word); * Clause; * Sentence. A phrase is a syntactic construction which typically contains more than one word, but which lacks the subject-predicate structure usually found in a clause. Phrases can be divided into endocentric- when a phrase can be replaced...
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...Stylistic syntax 1. General considerations The object of stylistic analysis on syntactic level is sentence. Within the domain of syntax stylistics deals with the following crucial problems: 1) the stylistic potential of syntactic units of different structural design, semantic characteristics and communicative types; 2) the syntactic synonymy, i.e. the peculiarities of rendering of one and the same logical content by syntactic units with different structure, functional characteristics, expressive colouring and connotations; 3) description of syntactical expressive means and stylistic devices. Owing to its constructive nature, syntax is considered to have more perceptible stylistic power (when compared with morophological and lexical level) because it embraces the expressive potential of morphology and vocabulary. Syntax is the structural basis of any utterance and text: the process of nomination and metaphorization, logical and figurative, emotional, expressive and poetic colouring of the words, language imagery and symbolism, specific figures of speech, new coinages and at last the individual speaker’s creativity are actualized only on the level of syntax, and, having been melted into a completed unity, can fulfill its communicative purpose. Thus the importance of syntax for stylistic analysis is hard to overestimate. It is syntax that fixes the stylistic aspect of any text. Syntax, alongside with other stylistic elements (phonetic, morphological, lexical) that secure utterance...
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...elements of description, inner thoughts and feelings of the main character are imperceptibly interwoven with the narration. The type of the narration is author’s narrative. Also we can observe non-personal direct speech. The type of character drawing is direct because while reading this very excerpt we get information about the character and it may be said that the author tries to thrust his opinion on the readers. The very structure of the story adds to the effect of implication but the actual meaning of what is going on is not clear at the beginning of the story as he feelings suggested by the writer are not precisely determined. The reader however feels that something had happened and the character is strained and full of hidden apprehension and suppressed emotions. What strikes one’s eye at the first glance is that the tension of the atmosphere in this excerpt is gradually increasing and gets its top at the end of it. The text can be logically divided into only one part: the story itself. According to this kind of division the fragment has opened plot structure. We can also divide the text into the following supra-phrasal unities: 1. The postcards 2. Anonymous correspondent 3. Wondering 4. Difficulties 5. The woman 6....
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...field of linguistics may be divided in terms of three dichotomies: synchronic versus diachronic, theoretical versus applied, microlinguistics versus macrolinguistics. A synchronic description of a language describes the language as it is at a given time; a diachronic description is concerned with the historical development of the language and the structural changes that have taken place in it. The goal of theoretical linguistics is the construction of a general theory of the structure of language or of a general theoretical framework for the description of languages; the aim of applied linguistics is the application of the findings and techniques of the scientific study of language to practical tasks, especially to the elaboration of improved methods of language teaching. The terms microlinguistics and macrolinguistics are not yet well established, and they are, in fact, used here purely for convenience. The former refers to a narrower and the latter to a much broader view of the scope of linguistics. According to the microlinguistic view, languages should be analyzed for their own sake and without reference to...
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...research and the substance of the thesis has not, wholly or in part, been submitted for any degrees to another universities or institutions Signature:…………………………… Date : August, 2007 Abstract This paper focuses on English and Vietnamese negative questions in term of structures and word using. The author wishes only to concentrate on four types of negative questions: negative Yes/ No question, negative Tag- question, negative Wh- question, negative alternative question. The thesis is divided into three parts, the main content is presented in part two. The similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese negative questions have been analysed and pointed out. With an ambition to help teachers and learners have a clear understanding about the English and Vietnamese negative questions, the author also drawn out a survey questionnaire to find out the common mistakes made by Vietnamese students. And then the author has managed to suggest some ways to correct common those mistakes. Suggested exercises are also offered to help learners to practice and avoid committing mistakes. The thesis mainly focuses on the structures of four types of negative questions in English and Vietnamese, the negative words that are used in negative questions are also considered. However, the pragmatic and semantic features have been initially investigated; a deeper approach to the pragmatic and semantic feature is suggested for further study. ...
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...combined to form words * Example: tele + phone = telephone * Content Morphemes: refer to things and events * Example: “cat” “dog” “take” * Function Morphemes: serve grammatical functions, such as tying sentences together or indicating time * Example: “and” “but” “when” * Function morphemes are what make human language grammatically complex enough to express abstract ideas * Syntactical Rules: indicate how words can be combined to form phrases and sentences. * Example: In English, every sentence must contain at least one noun and one verb * Deep Structure vs. Surface Structure: * Deep Structure: meaning of a sentence * Surface Structure: how a sentence is worded * Example: “the dog chased the cat” and “the cat was chased by the dog” have the same deep structure, but different surface structures * To create a sentence: start with deep structure (meaning of the sentence) and create a surface structure (the particular words) to convey that meaning * When comprehending a sentence: opposite; process surface structure in order to extract the deep structure * After deep structure is extracted, surface structure is usually forgotten * Distinguishing Speech Sounds During...
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...techniques for generating ideas. Brainstorming. Brainstorming consists in writing series of words or sentences just as they flow from our mind, although they have no logical order or connections. Once the words are written down, we have to establish relationships among them. This is the embryo of the future text. Free writing. Free writing is a similar technique to the brainstorming. Consists in writing a text without previous decisions or ideas about how we want to write it. Just choosing a topic and writing about it, and then we can summarise the main ideas. Organisation of information. There are some basic rules for writing a well - structured text. The text should be organised in a clear way; it must not be a twisted or an incomprehensible lot of ideas. We have to try to write according to certain conventions about hoe the text is organised. We have to structure our text in paragraphs. Each paragraph must express one idea. Some rules referring to the paragraphs: A paragraph must be clearly separated from other paragraphs, either by an empty line or by indenting the first line, or both. There must be no blank spaces or half-empty lines inside the paragraph. A paragraph in academic prose does not begin with a dot, a line or a kind of mark, except in special circumstances. Each body paragraph must normally have a topic sentence, and more than one sentence. Types of paragraphs. The introductory paragraph. There must be at least one, although there...
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...BIBLE STUDY METHODS OUTLINE OF CONTENTS Section Page OUTLINE OF CONTENTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 I. OBSERVATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 A. B. C. D. II. Observe the Terms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Observe the Structure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Observe the Literary Form. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Observe the Atmosphere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 INTERPRETATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 A. B. C. Ask Interpretive Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 Give Interpretive Answers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 Integrate and Summarize Conclusions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 III. APPLICATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 A. B. C. D. Know . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 Relate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....
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