Sociolinguistics and The Sociolinguistic Development of the Child

I defined sociolinguistics as 'the study of language in relation to society', implying (intentionally) that sociolinguistics is part of the study of language. Thus, the value of sociolinguistics is the light which it throws on the nature of language in general, or on the characteristics of some particular language. As we might expect, students of society have found that facts about language can illuminate their understanding - after all, it is hard to think of any characteristic of a society which is as distinctive as its language, or as important for its functioning. 'The study of society in relation to language' (the converse of our definition of sociolinguistics) defines what is generally called THE SOCIOLOGY OF LANGUAGE.

How We Learn to Speak: The Stages of Language Acquisition

 

First language acquisition refers to how infants and young children acquire their native language naturally, without formal teaching. It’s a universal process that happens in predictable stages, although the exact ages may vary slightly by child. Studies of linguistic development have revealed a series of crucial stages in children as they master their native languages. Though the correlation of age with the given stage can vary remarkably from child to child, the particular sequences of stages seem to be the same for all children in first language acquisition.

Syntactic process

 The syntactic process of a language refers to the way words are arranged and combined to form phrases, clauses, and sentences according to the rules of grammar. It is the mechanism that allows language to create complex and meaningful sentence structures from simple elements. There are some major syntactic processes, and these are given below:

Discontinuous constituents:

Discontinuous constituents are when a phrase or clause is broken up by other words, yet the separated parts still form a single grammatical unit. For example, in the English language, the phrasal verb ‘pulled down’ in the sentence ‘he pulled the thief down’ is a discontinuous constituent separated by the ‘the thief’.

Recursion:

Recursion in syntax is the process by which a grammatical rule can be applied to its own output, allowing structures to be nested inside each other indefinitely. Recursion explains why human language can generate an infinite number of sentences from a finite set of rules and words.

Concatenation:

Concatenation in syntax is the process that places words one after another to build larger structures. For example, in the sentence ‘the boy runs’, we see that the structure is subject ( the boy)+ verb (runs).

Conjoining:

Conjoining or coordination is the process that links two or more units of the same type using conjugations. For example:

the scene of the movie was in Singapore.

The scene of the play was in Singapore.

The two sentences can be turned into a new sentence by the process of conjoining: the scene of the play and the movie was in Dhaka city.

Embedding:

Embedding in syntax occurs when a subordinate clause is embedded within a superordinate or main clause, as in the example: "The boy who spoke to you is my brother."

What is Syntax?

 The word ‘syntax’ comes originally from Greek and means putting together or arranging. in earlier approaches, there was an attempt to produce an accurate description of the sequence or ordering arrangement of elements in the linear structure of the sentence. In more recent attempts to analyze structure, there has been a greater focus on the underlying rule system that we use to produce or generate sentences. Syntax is concerned with the structure of sentences, and determines which words go where, which words combine with which, and which words have which forms. For example, in English, 

''Rahman goes to school every day.'' is a correct sentence  whereas ''goes to school Rahaman everyday'' is an incorrect sentence.

That is, studying syntax allows us to define descriptive rules about how language works. The aim of syntacticians, experts in syntax, is to identify the factors involved in grammar, particularly in relation to specific languages. Eventually, it is assumed that there exist rules that apply to all languages, which is why it is important to study as many different languages as possible.

Definition:

To understand the nature of language, linguists analyze linguistic

What Are Alternants? A Quick Linguistics Guide

 

In English, some morphemes change pronunciation depending on the final sound of the word they attach to. Alternants are simply different pronunciation forms that a single linguistic unit- like a morpheme – can take. Alternants are allophones when talking about sounds, and allomorphs when talking about morphemes, but the general word for different versions is alternants. For example:

In English, the plural -s (same spelling) has different phonetic forms depending on the final sound of the noun:

Noun Ends With	Plural Ending Pronouned as	Example	Ipa
Voiceless sound (e.g. /p/, /t/, /k/)	/s/	cat → cats	/kæts
Voiced sound (e.g. /b/, /g/, vowel)	/z/	dog → dogs	/dɔːgz/
Sibilant sound (e.g. /s/, /z/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /tʃ/, /dʒ/)	/ɪz/ or /əz/	bus → buses	ˈbʌsɪz/

 So the same-s is pronounced /s/, /z/, or /ɪz/ depending on context — a clear example of phonetic alternation. If the preceding sound is /s/, it often triggers an /iz/ or /ez/ alternant because two /s/- like sounds in a row are hard to pronounce.

Here, /s/, /z/, and /əz/or/Iz/ are alternants of the plural morpheme -s in English. Thus, we see that /s/ after /p, t, k, f, θ/ as in 'ships' / ʃips/, 'cats' /kæts/ etc.  

/z/ after vowels and /b, d, g, v, ð, m, n, l, ŋ/ as in dogs /dɔːgz/,pens /penz/, sings /siηz/, and so forth.      

 /ız/ after /s, z,ʃ,tʃ,ʤ / as in praises /preizız /, catches/ kætʃΙs/, etc.      

Similar situation emerge from the past tense morpheme -ed as /t/, /d/  and /Id/.

bloomfield calls this sort of alternants 'phonetic alternants' as they can be described in terms of phonetic modification. however,later linguists employ the term 'allomorph' to designate the alternants.

This particular kind of alternation, moreover, is described by the later linguists as 'phonologically determined alternation' since the phonological characteristics of the environment determine it.  Furthermore, even agglutinative languages possess 'phonetic modification', for instance, in Swahili, 'm (him) is replaced by 'mw' before vowels:

a - li -m - penda 'he loved him'.

a - li - mw-ona   'he saw him'.

Irregular Alternants

Bloomfield puts forward 'irregular alternants' which, when added to roots of words/syllables, change the final consonants of the roots, that is, in singular final consonants being voiceless whereas in plural voiced:

knife/ naıf/  knives /naıvz /,

house/ haus/   houses/ hauzız/, etc.

The phonetic environment conditions these alternants. However, this phenomenon is not generally applicable, for example, to cliffs, myths, and so on.

Morpheme: The Smallest Meaningful Unit of Language

The term 'morpheme' is exploited to refer to the smallest meaningful, observable, syntactic or grammatical unit in a language that cannot be divided without altering or destroying its meaning. For example, sing' is a morpheme; but if we remove 'g' or 's', it changes to 'sin' or '-ing', which have quite different meanings; and if we remove ‘si’ or the like, sing' loses its meaning. In writing, individual morphemes are usually represented by their graphic form, or spelling, for example, -es, -er, un-, re -; or by their graphic form between bracers { }, for example, {-es}, {-er}, {un-}, {re-}.

Bloomfield (1933) presents a precise definition of the morpheme ‘as a linguistic form that bears no partial phonetic-semantic resemblance to any other form’. According to this definition, 'speaking,' for example, cannot be a morpheme since part of it resembles the first part of 'speaks', and part of it resembles the second part of going'. But if we divide 'speaking' into two- 'speak'/ spi:k/ and '-ing' / in/-, these forms have no partial resemblance to any other form, and, hence, are morphemes.

Bloomfield primarily divided morpheme in two sections. These are : free morphemes and bound morphemes.

Classification of Morpheme:

                                       Figure: Classification of Morpheme

Free morphemes: morphemes that can functions independently are called free or independent morphemes, for example, man, boy, girl, cow, mango, curly, beauty, is, an, but, clever, animal, city, and the like. Free morphemes are also classified into two sub-classes: lexical content or referential morphemes and grammatical or functional morphemes.

Lexical Morphemes: The lexical morphemes are very large in number and independently meaningful. They include nouns. (For example, man, cat, pen, rice, country, land, etc.), Main verbs (e.g., do, go, come, eat, write, jump, etc.), adjectives (e.g., large, long, short, dull, wide, beautiful, etc.), and adverbs (e.g., quickly, slowly, happily, sadly, etc.). Lexical morphemes form the open class of words ( content words) in a language,

Grammatical morphemes:

Grammatical morphemes are very limited in number and can also be used independently. They have little or no meaning on their own but demonstrate grammatical relationships [s in and between sentences. They usually include auxiliary verbs(for example, am, is, are, can, may, etc.), determiners( for example, a, an, the, much, many, little, each, etc.
), prepositions( e.g. in, on, up, into, over, through, below, etc.), conjunction(e.g. And, but, yet, or) and so on.

Bound Morpheme

Some morphemes cannot function alone and are added to root words. This type of morpheme is called a bound or dependent morpheme. For example, -less, -ness, pre-, -ment, un-, im-, and so forth. Bound morphemes are of two types: bound roots and affixes.

Bound roots include those bound morphemes which have lexical meaning when they are attached to other bound morphemes to form content words, for example, -ceive in receive, conceive; -tain in retain, contain; -plac in implacable, placate; cran- in cranberry; etc. it is noteworthy that bound roots can be prefixed or suffixed to other affixes.

Affixes are bound morphemes which are usually marginally attached to words, and which change the meaning or function of those words, for example: -ment in development, en- in enlarge; ‘s in John’s; -s in claps, -ing in studying, etc. Affixes can be classified in two different ways: a) according to their position in the word; and b) according to their function in a phrase or sentence.

                               Figure: Subdivision of Bound Morphemes

According to their position in the word (or side of the word they are attached t

The Rules of Word Formation

 Word formation stands for the process of forming new words from words or word groups woth the same root.It  refers to how new words are created in a language. It has traditionally been regarded as a branch of lexicology or a branch of grammar equal in importance to jorphology and syntax, or it has been assigned to morphology.

Free Morpheme and Bound Morpheme:

 Morphemes are classified into two types- free morphemes and bound morphemes. A free morpheme can stand alone as a complete word and still have meaning. For example: bag, book, goat, dog, is, and, but, beauty, cruelty, and so on.

Free morphemes are of two types- lexical or referential morphemes and functional or grammatical morphemes.

English Consonants

 Consonants are a crucial component of speech sounds in the English language. They are produced when the airflow is either completely blocked or partially restricted as it moves through the mouth or throat. Unlike vowels, which are voiced without obstruction, consonants involve some form of contact between different parts of the vocal tract. These speech sounds can occur at the beginning, middle, or end of words and help form the structure and rhythm of language. Consonant articulations are relatively easy to feel and, as a result, are most conveniently described in terms of places and manners of articulation. It is often necessary to specify the duration of the sound, the airstream mechanism involved, and the direction of air flow.

From the phonological point of view, consonants are those units that function at the margins of syllables, either singly or in clusters. Briefly, consonants can be defined as the speech sounds articulated with interruption in the lung air and/or some obstacles in the vocal tract.

Places of Articulation of Consonants

Consonants are speech sounds in which the air from the lungs is seriously obstructed by the different articulators at different places in the vocal tract, and then goes out through the oral passage and, in some cases, through the nostrils. According to their places of articulation, English consonant phonemes can be divided into nine types as discussed below.

The Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

 The study of Sociolinguistics learns how language interacts with society. It examines how factors such as region, class, gender, age, level of education, ethnicity, and context influence the way people speak and how language varies and evolves. For example, in a formal job interview, a speaker might use standard grammar and vocabulary, but the same person might use slang and informal expressions with friends-showing style shifting based on social context. Sociocultural theory came from the work of  Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934), a Soviet psychologist and social development theorist. Lev Vygotsky. He believed that parents, peers, caregivers, and culture were primarily responsible for the development of higher-order functions. According to Vygotsky, "Every function in the child’s cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level, and later, on the individual level; first, between people and then inside the child. This applies equally to voluntary attention, to logical memory, and to the formation of concepts. All the higher functions originate as actual relationships between individuals.”

Syllable: The Beat of Every Word

 A syllable is a phonological unit that is composed of one or more morphemes. It is a single, unbroken sound of a spoken or written word. It is a unit of pronunciation that contains one vowel sound, with or without surrounding consonants.

Lenis and Fortis

 Lenis and fortis are two terms that represent a dichotomy of a voiced/ voiceless pair. Phonetically, lenis refers to the consonants articulated with relatively less muscular energy and weaker breath effort, and are usually voiced. It is a softer, weaker consonant sound. For example, [ b d g] .  Fortis refers to consonant

Manners of Articulation of Consonants:

 When producing the consonant sound in the English language, different speech organs or articulators (such as the tongue, lips, and teeth) behave in diverse manners. According to the manners of articulation, the consonants in the English language can be categorized as follows:

Consonants: Place of Articulation

Phonetically, consonants are one of the two general categories used for speech sounds, the other being vowel sounds. Consonants are speech sounds in which the air from the lungs is seriously obstructed by the different articulators at different places in the vocal tract, and then goes out through the oral passage and, in some cases, through the nostrils. According to their areas of articulation, English consonant phonemes can be divided into nine types as discussed below:

Bilabial Consonant:

 To produce the bilabial consonants, the two lips function as the primary articulators. They first make contact to block the lung air and then separate to release it. English bilabial consonants include /p, b, m/. For example: pat, bat, mouse, etc.

 Labio-dental consonant:

 To articulate the labiodental consonants, the lower lip makes contact with the upper teeth. English labio-dental consonants are / f, v /. For example: fan, van, etc.

Phonology

 Phonology is a level of linguistics that studies the sound systems of languages. Phonology is concerned with the range and function of sounds in specific languages, and with rules that can be written to show the types of phonetic relationships that relate and contrast words and other linguistic units. so, it is concerned with the systemetic organization of sounds in spoken languages. 

The broadest aim of phonology is to isolate the distinct thorough interacting pressures that underlie both the cross-linguistically common and language particular sound patterns that our data analyses reveal. Broadly, these pressures derive from speech production and sound perception. it deals with the abstract, cognitive aspects of sounds rather than the physical production.

In linguistic theories, phonology is seen in one of two main ways:

Monopthong, Dipthong and Tripthong

 Every language possesses vowel sounds that play an inevitable role in producing speech. Vowel is one of the two general categories used for the classification of speech sounds, and this type of sound is articulated with the air from the lungs passing through the vibrating glottis and the vocal tract without any interruption.

That is, the speech sounds that are produced without any obstacles in the vocal tract are called vowels. However, vowels can be defined in terms of both phonetics and phonology.

Phoneme Theory

 The concept of phoneme has been studied and explained in three different schools of phonetics. Firstly, according to a school, the phoneme represents a physical phonetic reality. According to David Jones (1931), a phoneme is a family of sounds in a given language and consists of an important sound of the language together with other related sounds. It takes place in particular sound sequences. Gleason (1955) defines the phoneme as a class of sounds that are phonetically similar and show certain characteristic patterns of distribution in the language or dialect under consideration. Under this view, the phoneme is seen as a convenient label for several phonetic units. For example, /p/ may stand for [p], [p:], [ph], etc.

Phoneme, Phone and Allophone:

 In linguistics, the theory used to describe a language's distinctive sounds and their relations to one another is labeled the phoneme theory. In order to investigate, analyze, and interpret the various aspects and behaviors of speech sounds, there are three basic terms used in phonetics and phonology, and they are phoneme, phone, and allophone.

Phonetics: The Sounds of Language

 Phonetics is concerned with describing the speech sounds that occur in the languages of the world. We want to know what these sounds are, how they fall into patterns, and how they change in different circumstances. ..The first job of a phonetician is… to try to find out what people are doing when they are talking and when they are listening to speech.

                                                                   Peter Ladefoged, A Course in Phonetics, 1982,^nd Edition

Knowledge of a language includes knowledge of morphemes, words, phrases, and sentences. It also includes knowing what sounds are in the language and how they may be ‘strung’ together to form these meaningful units.  And although there may be some sounds in one language that are not in another, the sounds of all the languages of the world together constitute a limited set of all the sounds that can be produced by the human vocal tract. To describe speech sounds, it is necessary to know what an individual sound is and how each sound differs from all others. It is also necessary to analyze and interpret the physical, psychological, and physiological aspects of speech sounds. Phonetics is the branch of linguistics that studies the sound of human speech- how they are produced, transmitted, and perceived.

Semantics vs Pragmatics

 

Semantics and pragmatics are two fields of linguistics. Both of them are concerned with the study of the meaning of human speech signs. However, each of the tackles meaning from different angles:

Semantics:

Semantics is the branch of linguistics that studies the meaning of words, phrases, sentences, and texts. It pays attention to the literal meaning of words (dictionary meaning).  It seeks to understand how language represents ideas, objects, and relationships, and how meaning is constructed and interpreted i.e. it combines words into phrases and sentences. It is essential for clear communication, and it helps to detect ambiguity and resolve misunderstandings.

Pragmatics:

Pragmatics is a branch of linguistics that studies how people understand and use language in context. It focuses on the intended meaning of an utterance (what the speaker means) that is conveyed not just by the words themselves, but by how, when, where, and to whom something is said. It is concerned with the use of language in different contexts and ways in which people produce and comprehend meaning through language.  

For example, when someone says, “it is cold here,”- semanticist will explain the meaning as dictionary; a pragmatist will explain it by saying the speaker wants.

Pragmatics helps to explain why the same sentence can mean different things in different situations.

Semantics is the level of linguistics that has largely been affected by pragmatics, but they have some differences. They are given below: