Introduction To English Language

INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH LANGUAGE
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Introduction to
English Language
N. F. Blake and Jean Moorhead

© N.F. Blake and Jean Moorhead 1993
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of
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Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this

publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil
claims for damages.
First published 1993 by

THE MACMILLAN PRESS LTO
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 2XS
and London
Companies and representatives
throughout the world
ISBN 978-0-333-57303-7 ISBN 978-1-349-22869-0 (eBook)

DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-22869-0
A catalogue record for this book is available

from the British Library.
Copy-edited and typeset by Povey-Edmondson

Okehampton and Rochdale, England
Contents
Acknawledgements viii
Introduction ix
1 Describing the Structure and Sounds of English 1

Introduction 1
The Units of a Sentence 2
The Morpheme 3
The Word 5
The Phrase 11
The Clause 15
The Sentence 17
The Sounds of English 19
Consonants 20
Vowels 21
Diphthongs 21
Conclusion 26
2 Language Acquisition 29
Introduction 29
Pre-speech Developments 30
Sounds 31
Substitution .32
Assimilation 33
Other Features of Sound Production 34
Vocabulary and Meaning 35
Learning and Distinguishing Meaning 36
Types of Word Learned 38
Speed of Learning Vocabulary 40
Syntax 41
Two-word Utterances 42
Other Developments 44
Analysis of Child Talk 46
Exercises 51
Essay Questions 53
v
vi Contents
3 Language Change 55
Introduction 55
Elements of Language 58
Spelling 59
Punctuation 60
Sounds 60
Morphology 61
Syntax 61
Word-formation 62
Vocabulary 63
Analysis of English Texts 64
Caxton' s English 64
William Clift's English 71
Exercises 76
John Hart's English 76
Samuel Johnson's English 77
Essay Questions 79
4 Language Variety and the Social Context 80

Language as an Arbitrary System 80
Standardisation and Prescriptivism 82
User-related and Use-related Variation 86
User-related Varieties 88
Use-related Varieties 92
Black English Vernacular 95
Linguistic Variables 97
Variation in Register 100
Conclusion 103
Exercises and Essay Questions 104
5 Applying Language Study to Texts 105

Introduction 105
Style According to Purpose 106
To Inform 107
To Instruct 108
To Persuadeand to Entertain 111
Approaching Text Analysis 117
Recipes 119
Newspapers 123
Radio 127
Literary Texts: Prose 132
Contents vii
Literary Texts: Poetry 134

Exercises 139
6 Undertaking a Language Project 147

Taking Stock 147
Equipment 147
Support 148
Availability of Data 149
The Researcher 150
The Topic: Data and Purpose 151
Collecting the Data 154
The Final Form of a Project 155
Review of the Research Area and its Background in
Literature 155
Outline of the Research Topic 156
Methodology 156
The Data and its Analysis 156
General Conclusions 157
Bibliography 157
Conclusion 158
Glossary of Linguistic Terms 159

Suggestions for Further Reading 170
Index 172
Acknowledgements
The authors and publishers gratefully acknowledge permission to

reproduce material from the following works:
BBC Enterprises Ltd for a recipe from Delia Smith's Complete Cookery
Course, BBC Books.
British Broadcasting Corporation, The Mental Health Foundation
and Anthony Clare for his appeal on behalf of The Mental Health
Foundation on Radio 4, 3 February 1991.
Carnell Ltd for 'How to talk to your cat' advertisement.
Casio Electronics Co. Ltd for 'Rap-1' advertisement.
Rosica Colin Ltd on behalf of the author for an extract from The
Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner by Alan Sillitoe, copyright ©
Alan Sillitoe 1959, 1987.
Faber & Faber Ltd and Harcourt Brace & Company for an excerpt
from The Spire by William Golding. Copyright © 1964, renewed
1992, by William Golding.
Little, Brown & Company (UK) Ltd for extracts from Cooking for
Special Occasions, by Mrs Cozens.
Newspaper Publishing pic for material from The Independent,
October 1991; 'Sacked preacher to reclaim citadel of the Lord' by
Dayid Nicholson-Lord, The Independent, February 1992; and
' "Kidneys for sale" business may open', The Independent, 30
January 1989.
Peugeot Talbot for 'The perfect car for anyone between 50 and 70'
advertisement.
Syndication International Ltd for 'Kidney dealer rumpus', Daily
Mirror, 30 January 1989.
Every effort has been made to trace all the copyright-holders, but if
any have been inadvertently overlooked the publishers will be
pleased to make the necessary arrangement at the first opportunity.
viii
Introduction
Imagine the two sentences 'E were right gormless and He was absolutely
stupid. What would you say about them? You might say that both of
them are English and both mean more or less the same thing. You
might also say that people react to these sentences in different ways.
The second represents 'Standard English',* that variety of English
used in writing and by educated people, whereas the first occurs
only in the speech of some people and would be considered by
many as 'non-standard'. As speakers of the language we recognise
that there are differences in these two sentences and we make
assumptions about speakers according to the way they speak, just
as we make certain assumptions about people from the way they
dress. But what are these differences and how can they be
described? To start with, we can see that 'E in the first sentence
corresponds to He in the second; this is a difference in spelling
which represents a difference in pronunciation because h may be
dropped at the beginning of a word. There is a difference in the
second word between were and was even though both have the same
person (H)e who is being discussed. This could be said to be a
difference in grammar, for some speakers of English would use were
only after a word like They, meaning 'more than one'. Finally, the
expression right gormless could be said to mean the same as absolutely
stupid, though the words are different so that here we are dealing
with a difference in vocabulary.
These two sentences differ in pronunciation (sounds, which in
writing have to be represented by the spellings), grammar (the
relationship between words) and vocabulary (the choice of
words). All these features are present in any sentence in English.
But if we want to describe these features in any detail and compare
them with those in other sentences, we need to refer to the various
categories and elements that go to make up pronunciation/writing,
grammar, and vocabulary. This is what we do in Chapter 1,
,.Remember to consult the Glossary of Linguistic Terms (p. 159) for terms
you are not familiar with.
ix
X Introduction
Describing the Structure and Sounds of English. There we outline

the make-up of an English sentence, what elements occur in it and in
what orders we expect to find them, as well as the various sounds
used in English. Before we can describe how English is used or
acquired, we need to have some means of talking about these
elements, which means learning some of the technical words to
describe the grammar and the sounds of language. Grammar is a
word that tends to frighten some people, but that is partly because it
is often connected with good grammar and speaking properly. From
the two sentepces quoted in the last paragraph, you will have seen
that every sentence in English has grammar no matter whether it is
called· 'standard' or 'non-standard'. For us grammar is simply the
means of describing how a language works and the terms that are
necessary to undertake a description of any variety of language. You
could not talk about clothes unless you know what is meant by shirt,
skirt, blouse and trousers, but to know the meaning of these words
does not imply you think a blouse is better than a shirt; these words
simply provide you with the means of talking about different forms
of clothing. The same applies to the words which are used to talk
about grammar: they enable you to talk about different varieties of
language in a sensible and an intelligible way.
Just as there are different ways of talking and writing about
clothes and fashion, so there are different ways of approaching
the grammar of language. Grammar has been a subject of debate
and investigation from the time of the Greeks in the sixth century
BC. The terminology which they and after them the Romans
developed remained the principal way of discussing the grammar
of English till the twentieth century and is sometimes referred to as
'traditional grammar'. Any grammatical terminology you learn
before you are sixteen will almost certainly be a form of traditional
grammar. In the twentieth century different types of grammar and
associated terminologies have been put forward by linguistic
researchers, but these have not been very helpful in dealing with
language in use. It is not our intention to teach you different
grammatical terminologies; we want you to learn the terminology
of one grammar to enable you to discuss such topics as language
acquisition and historical change in English. As the only terminol-
ogy you are likely to be familiar with, if you know any at all, is that
of traditional grammar, we have decided in Chapter 1 to present a
terminology which is a modified and up-dated form of traditional
grammar. If you want a more advanced grammar and terminology,
Introduction xi
you will find references to books you could use in the Suggestions
for Further Reading on p. 170. But the terminology we put forward
in Chapter 1 is concerned solely with the constituent parts of a
sentence and the sounds of English.
When you have a grasp of the make-up of an English sentence
and the sounds of English it is possible to approach Chapters 2-4 in
a more informed way. These deal with Language Acquisition,
Language Change, and Language Variety and the Social Context.
Chapter 4 is slightly different from Chapters 2 and 3, which is why it
comes at the end. Earlier we referred to standard and non-standar d
English, and many people regard Standard English as correct
English. It is certainly the variety which is taught to foreign learners
of English and, in its written form, it represents the form which is
found in most types of writing - school text-books, government
documents, newspapers and literature. But Standard English is only
one variety among the many varieties of English, though it has
acquired a special position among these varieties because it is used
as the medium for education in England. This role of Standard
English encourages some people to regard non-standar d speakers as
being uneducated and often by a further unwarrante d extension as
being unintelligent. But students of language should regard all
varieties of English as equivalent vehicles of communication, even
though within society generally different prejudices and attitudes
may be attached to particular varieties. Because of the position of
Standard English it is often taken subconsciously as a norm in
discussions of language acquisition, change and varieties. Thus
discussions of past forms of English are based on a comparison
between that form and modern Standard English. Similarly, in
discussions of language acquisition, it may be assumed that a child
is moving towards the acquisition of the elements of Standard
English rather than of another variety. Discussions of language
varieties will frequently involve comparison s between a given
variety and Standard English. Because of the limits on the size of
this book, we follow this general procedure here. But in discussions
of language and the social context we look at attitudes towards
different varieties of English, and this means knowing something
about those varieties and about the structure of society. Whereas
Chapters 2 and 3 often compare one variety of language with the
standard, Chapter 4 on Language Variety and the Social Context
matches linguistic performance to social structure and is conse-
quently of a rather different nature.
xii Introduction
Language study, however, is more than simply understanding

how the elements within a sentence are made up and ordered.
Sentences have to be joined together to produce a text, whether
written or spoken, in order to put across a point of view, persuade
someone else to do what you want, or for whatever purpose the text
is intended. Language is used for communication. It is addressed to
a specific audience and therefore falls into a particular type or genre.
An obituary is a different genre from a romantic novel, and a writer
will adjust his or her English to meet what he or she considers the
requirement of each. Hence in Chapter 5 we look at English beyond
the sentence, at English as discourse directed towards particular
communicative goals. To have a good command of English it is not
sufficient to know the parts of a sentence, and equally to study
English language fully one needs to look at the choices one makes to
achieve one's communicative ends. Gormless and stupid may mean
the same thing, but we would use them on different occasions
according to who our audience was, where we were speaking, and
what effect we were trying to achieve. To study how others have
adapted their language to particular genres and goals should enable
you to use your own language in similar ways.
One of the exciting aspects of language study is that since
language is all around us, anyone can study it. Does your father
use different language from your mother? Do you use language to
irritate or exclude your parents? If you do, what language do you
use, and why? Chapter 6 looks at ways in which you can organise
language research, for the best way to find out how language works
is to conduct your own research. But it is necessary to have some
framework in which to carry out your investigation: how to decide
on a project, how to collect data, how to interpret it, and how to set
out your results.
It has been said that language is power, and a knowledge of how
language works may well increase your self-confidence in using it.
But studying language is fun because of the uses to which it is put
and it is important because language will be with you and surround
you all your life. Enjoy it.

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INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Related titles from Macmillan

N. F. Blake and Jean Moorhead

Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this

First published 1993 by

ISBN 978-0-333-57303-7 ISBN 978-1-349-22869-0 (eBook)

A catalogue record for this book is available

Copy-edited and typeset by Povey-Edmondson

1 Describing the Structure and Sounds of English 1

4 Language Variety and the Social Context 80

5 Applying Language Study to Texts 105

Literary Texts: Poetry 134

6 Undertaking a Language Project 147

Glossary of Linguistic Terms 159

The authors and publishers gratefully acknowledge permission to

Describing the Structure and Sounds of English. There we outline

Language study, however, is more than simply understanding

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