Introduction
to
Linguisti
cs
II
Levels of linguistics analysis
Previously on introduction to Linguistics…
The scientific study of human language
• Phonetics (physical nature of speech)
• Phonology (use of sounds in language)
• Morphology (the structure of words)
• Syntax (sentence structure)
• Semantics (meaning of words & how they combine into sentences)
• Pragmatics (the study of language use and communication in context)
Introduction
to
Linguisti
cs
Introduction
Morphology
to
Linguisti
cs
• Inflectional vs. Derivational Morphology
Dog + s
Walk + ed
‫ ֹות‬+ ‫ילד‬
arrange + ment
neighbor + hood
‫ ּות‬+ ‫ילד‬
Inflectional morphemes vary (or "inflect") the form
of words in order to express specific grammatical features
Derivational morphemes makes new words from old ones
• do not change basic grammatical category
• express grammatically-required features or indicate
relations between different words in the sentence
I have walked to the park
I will walk to the park
• are not required by grammatical relations outside the word
• often not productive or regular in form or meaning
Brotherhood but not Daughterhood
Brotherhood ≠ Neighborhood
• change the part of speech or the basic meaning of a word
re-activate, judg-ment
Introduction
Syntax
to
Linguisti
cs
A fragment of English lexicon:
a
the
nice
small
girl
very
big
boy
likes
sees
Closed class words
Open class words
finite sets of words which are never expanded
new words can be added to the class as the need arises
prepositions, determiners, or conjunctions
the
but
of
a
and
with
Nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs
email
google
Kick ass
Introduction
Syntax
to
Linguisti
cs
A fragment of English lexicon:
a
the
nice
small
girl
very
big
• Some good sentences:
• the boy likes a girl
• the small girl likes the big girl
• a very small nice boy sees a very nice boy
boy
likes
sees
• Some bad sentences:
• *the boy the girl
• *small boy likes nice girl
• * likes small boy nice girl
Syntax
Introduction
• Word order:
Linguisti
cs
S
to
V
O
MaryAg kissed JohnPa
• SVO; English; 42%
MaryAg JohnPa kissed
• SOV; Latin, Turkish, Japanese; 45%
kissed MaryAg JohnPa
• VSO; Biblical Hebrew, Irish, Arabic; 9%
kissed JohnPa MaryAg
• VOS; Fijian, Malagasy; 3%
?‫ומה לגבי עברית‬
JohnPa kissed MaryAg
• OVS; Tamil; 1%
‫"וַיִּ קַ ח אֵ לִּ יָּהּו אֶ ת אַ ַד ְרּת ֹו וַיִּ ְגְ םֹ ַו ַיֶֶּה אֶ ת הַ מַ ִּי‬
".‫ַויֵחָּ צּו הֵ נָּה וָּהֵ נָּה ַויַעַ בְ רּו ְשיֵנֵיהֶ ֶּ חָּ ָּרבָּ ה‬
JohnPa MaryAg kissed
• OSV; Jamamadí, Warao, Xavante; 0%
Mary kissed John
S
O
V
Taroo-ga ringo-o tabeta
)Japanese: Taroo apple ate(
Syntax
Introduction
• Two proposals for forming constituents:
Linguisti
cs
to
Structure in strings
Proposal 1
• Some good sentences:
• (the) boy (likes a girl)
• (the small) girl (likes the big girl)
• (a very small nice) boy (sees a very nice boy)
Proposal 2
• Some good sentences:
• (the boy) likes (a girl)
• (the small girl) likes (the big girl)
• (a very small nice boy) sees (a very nice boy)
• ((the) boy) likes ((a) girl)
• ((the) (small) girl) likes ((the) (big) girl)
• ((a) ((very) small) (nice) boy) sees ((a) ((very) nice) girl)
Syntax
• Lexical categories:
Introduction
to
Linguisti
cs
Any experienced journalist knows that he can sometimes manage to
lure the unsuspecting politician into making unguarded comments
[Q Any ][A experienced][N journalist][V knows][C that][PRN he][T can][ADV sometimes]
[V manage][T to][V lure][D the ][A unsuspecting][N politician]
[P into][V making][A unguarded][N comments]
Introduction
Syntax
to
Linguisti
cs
Phrase-structure tree
• From words to trees:
subject
•
verb
object
(the boy) likes (the girl)
NP
NP
NP
• ((the) boy) likes ((the) girl)
constituent
S
nonterminal
nodes
(constituents)
NP
constituent
Det
• [NP[D the] N boy]] [V likes] [NP[D the] N girl]
N
V
Det
the boy likes the
terminal
nodes
(words)
grammatical
features
(2nd person)
N
girl
Syntax
Introduction
• Phrase structure grammar:
Linguisti
cs
to
S
S
NP
Det
NP
N
V
Det
the boy likes the
S
NP
NP V NP
Det N
VP
NP
N
girl
Det
N
the boy
S
NP
NP VP
Det N
NP
V
Det
likes
VP
N
the girl
V NP
Syntax
Introduction
• Recursive rules
Linguisti
cs
Recursion is the process that a procedure goes through when one of
the steps of the procedure involves invoking the procedure itself
to
Syntax
Introduction
• Recursive rules
Linguisti
cs
to
In 2015, Brian Nosek and his colleagues in the Open Science Collaboration
showed that they could not replicate effects for over 50 per cent of studies
published in top journals.
Now we have a paper by Dan Gilbert and colleagues saying that this is misleading
because Nosek’s study was flawed, and actually psychology is doing fine.
Center embedding
This has stimulated a set of rapid responses, mostly in the
blogosphere. As Jon Sutton memorably tweeted:
The The The
paper paper paper
Is
Is
A
A
bit bit
shit shit
Is
A
bit
shit
Semantics / Pragmatics
Introduction
to
Linguisti
cs
Context
Introduction
to
Semantics
Linguisti
cs
Semantics deals with the most basic sense of meaning:
‫תחנת הרכבת בבאר שבע צפון‬
• Referent: a person or thing to which a linguistic expression or other symbol refers
Does meaning = referent?
Some linguistic expression are meaningful, but lack referent
‫קרן‬-‫חד‬
‫המספר הטבעי הגדול ביותר‬
Introduction
to
Semantics
• “On Sense and Reference” (Frege, 1892)
Linguisti
cs
• Frege wonders about identity sentences such as:
'‫) ג'יי קיי רולינג היא רוברט גלבריית‬1(
‫) הלבנה היא הירח‬2(
Gottlob Frege
(1848-1925)
Introduction
to
Semantics
• Sense, according to Frege, is the “directions” for picking
Linguisti
cs
the referent out, the “manner of presentation” of the referent
• What is the sense of a sentence?
sense is the thought that it expresses
• What is the referent of a sentence?
The reference of a sentence is its truth value
‫) אודיסאוס הורד לחוף איתקה כשהוא שקוע בשינה עמוקה‬3(
??‫מי זה‬
Gottlob Frege
(1848-1925)
‫‪Introduction‬‬
‫‪to‬‬
‫‪Linguisti‬‬
‫‪cs‬‬
‫‪Semantics‬‬
‫ )‪Principle of compositionality (Frege’s principle‬‬‫‪The meaning of a complex expression is determined by the meanings‬‬
‫‪of its constituent expressions and the rules used to combine them‬‬
‫פסיכולוגים ודוגמנים מצליחים מרוויחים הרבה כסף‬
‫‪[ .1‬פסיכולוגים ודוגמנים] [מצליחים] מרוויחים הרבה כסף‬
‫‪[ .2‬פסיכולוגים] ו[דוגמנים מצליחים]] מרוויחים הרבה כסף‬
‫גילה לא הזמינה את כולם‬
‫‪ .1‬את מי גילה הזמינה? גילה לא הזמינה את כולם‬
‫גילה הזמינה חלק מהאנשים‪,‬‬
‫אבל לא את כולם‬
‫‪ .2‬את מי גילה לא הזמינה? גילה לא הזמינה את כולם‬
‫את כל האנשים‪ ,‬גילה לא‬
‫הזמינה (לא הזמינה אף אחד)‬
Semantics
• Predicate logic
Lexicon:
Introduction
to
Linguisti
cs
Well-formed formulas:
x[muzar(x)]
QUANT= {
, }
x[muzar(x)]
x[ohev(x,dani)]
‫‪Introduction‬‬
‫‪to‬‬
‫‪Semantics‬‬
‫‪Linguisti‬‬
‫‪cs‬‬
‫‪x‬‬
‫‪• Scope ambiguity‬‬
‫גילה לא הזמינה את כולם‬
‫‪hizmin‬‬
‫לכל ‪ x‬זה לא נכון שגילה הזמינה אותו‬
‫‪x‬‬
‫‪hizmin‬‬
‫זה לא נכון שכל ‪ x‬הוא כזה שגילה הזמינה אותו‬
Pragmatics
• Implicatures
Introduction
to
Linguisti
cs
Implicature: A technical term coined by The British philosopher Paul Grice, which refers to what
is suggested in an utterance, even though neither expressed nor strictly implied by the utterance.
?‫ ראית אתמול את טקס האוסקר‬:‫דפנה‬
.‫ אין לי טלוויזיה‬:‫יוסי‬
Grice’s conversational maxims:
- Phrased by Paul Grice, the cooperative principle describes how people interact with one another:
"Make your contribution such as it is required, at the stage at which it occurs, by the accepted
purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged."
- The cooperative principle can be divided into four maxims, called the Gricean Maxims,
describing specific rational principles observed by people who obey the cooperative principle