The Linguists

This article was about a team of linguists who studied a rare sign language in a remote village in The Middle East. The coverage of the study was highly regulated because it was difficult to earn the people's trust as it was. An agreement was made that only certain aspects of this culture could be disclosed. The village is so remote that it would be essentially impossible for someone who is not from there to find it. Perhaps that is why they wish to keep many of their customs a secret.

So far in this semester, I have learned a variety of terms, rules and structural fundamentals of la nguage. These things make a good foundation for the study of liguistics, but here are some of the things I have learned that will change the way I see my language and others forever. Before I enrolled in this course, I had no idea there were people who had such an interest and passion for the study of languages, nor did I realize the connection between language and culture. I always understood language to be simply a biproduct of culture, but as it turns out, a language or a combination of different languages can have a major influence on a culture. It can also affect the way people see the world.

During the course of the semester, I was fortunate enough to study with people from many different parts of the world. When we all shared our language stories with each other, I realized that no two stories were even close to being the same. I feel that this really confirms the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. Everyone has a language story which influences the way we see the world.

Someday I want to spend some time in a place where I can't understand what people are saying. Until I do this, I will never really be able to understand the barriers that are formed by language. Another thing I want to know more about is the prescriptivits vs. descriptivists angle. I want to know which direction we are heading in American language.

The New York Times

I think it's cool how all of these different languages are represented in New York. And they are notibly present in The Bronx and Queens. I can see why that professor wants to help preserve these languages. Many of them essentially came to New York to die, but with the right attention, could live on.

Part of New Yorks' extreme diversity lies in how it nurtures and embraces new cultures instead of forcing them to adhere to ours.

Me Talk Pretty One Day

That be common for I, also, but be more strong, you. In proper English it would be something like this: That is common for me too, but you need to be stronger. In this botched sentence the verb be is incorrectly used in the place where is should be. also the pronoun I is used where me should be. Since the language being attempted is French, they are likely to be mistakes in conjugation. For some reason there is a comma after too where I would not put one. The pronoun you should be placed between but and be. Then, finally more strong should be reduced to the one adjective stronger.



I am in the rigorous process of learning French. It is far different than English in that every word has grammatical gender instead of just natural. So before one can properly speak the Language, they have to learn the tricky rules revolving around gender. And if that isn't hard enough, it is necessary to memorize countless conjugations for each word. Each word takes on a different form depending on whether you are referring to you, them, us, you plural and so on. Plus, the sentence structure is different. If you use correct French words, but use them in an English structured sentence, it is often incorrect. Taking this class has openned my eyes to the vast world of phonetics. It makes learning French seem less significant in the grand scheme of things.

Reading Log for Chapter 9

Chapter nine is about the syntax of language. Syntax deals with the structure and ordering of comonents within a sentence. Within syntax is generative grammar, which makes explicit rules about constructing sentences. The structures of syntax includes deep and also more superficial sentences. In the sentence: Jimmy kicked the ball, the sentence is called active because it focuses on Jimmy. However if the sentence is changed to the ball was kicked by Jimmy, it puts the attention on what happens to the ball. This is called a passive sentence.

The part I found interesting was the part on structural abiguity. These are sentences with two interpretations. An example of this would be: Ginger burned the man with a bowl of soup. Did Ginger actually use a bowl of soup to burn the man, or did the man have a bowl of soup when Ginger burned him?

To make it easier to explain and understand the organizational structure of a sentence, a tree diagram can be used. This diagram seperates the adjectives from the pronouns from the verbs and so on and so forth. It also seperates the phrases within the sentence. There are two ways to set up the tree. The first way is to set it up by way of dissecting the entire sentence. The second way is by using phrase structure rules and cunstruct the sentence by phrase with these rules in mind.

Recursion is cool too. You can save yourself some space and avoid saying "and then" "and then". Recursion is putting sentences inside of each other. John knew Paul. George asked if John knew Paul. Ringo was curious whether or not George asked if John knew Paul. It seems to me like this could get a little messy. Could these kinds of sentences easily turn into run ons?

Reading Log for 6,7 and 8

Chapter 6 was about how the words we use are formed and the process that is undergone to form them. The chapter talked about how easy it is for us to adopt new words and names in to our language because there are almost always very similar and relatable links to other words we use in our language. Our language is highly complex, and therefore also very adaptive. The chapter used a specific example of product names; specifically hoover, which is now a household name. Every day we are presented with new names on tv, in ads, on the street, or in everyday conversation. We are constantly adapting our language along with culture. This all seems obvious because it is.

A key term in this chapter is etymology. Etymology is the study of the history and origin of a word. This is explained through a variety of methods such as coinage, which is the invention of a totally new term. And then there is an eponym. That is when a new word is based on the name of a person or place. There are basically just a bunch of vocabulary words that are related to etymology.

Chapter 7 is about how these words can be morphed and all the different elements of a given word. For example: the word talk can be morphed in to the words talks, talker, talked, and talking. There are also words called functional morphemes which stick around and are rarely joined by new comers i their category. They are called a closed class of words. The part of this chapter that I found most interesting was the part where they talked about the langauge in Ganda and how there is a different inflexional prefix for singular forms of words than there are for plural.

Chapter 8 is about grammar. It defines and explains all the aspects of language. These terms include nouns, articles, adjectives, verbs, prepositions and others. Since defining all of these would not make for a very interesting reading log, I will move on. Some languages use grammerical gender. This has nothing to do with sex, but instead categorizes words by gender. As a French student, I am dealing with this learning process and there is not always a good a logial rhyme and reason for the gender. Sometimes you just have to learn by repitition.

The part I found interesting in this chapter was Captain Kirk's infinitive which creatively describes how the Latin infinitives are single words which never split. English words often break the rules of Latin grammar by doing this. This shows me that even though the English language derives from Latin, it has truly evolved into it's own identity. The evolution of language is truly a deep and never ending possibility of exploration; just as deep and extensive as the study of history itself.

Reading Log for "Yes and No"

"Yes and No" is about a Chinese girl named Amy Tan who seems to have a real chip on her shoulder. She doesn't like the way her language is misconceived as an overly polite and passive language. She revolves her essay around an article she found in the New York Times about there being no direct words for yes or no in the Chinese language. She admits later in the essay that it is true, but there are other ways to say it that get the point across with similar efficiency.

She also feels that the reason there are not as many Chinese people in high profile management positions is because of the language barrier and the way Chinese is misconceived. It is not a bad thing to be accused of being polite, but to hear it so often is apparently frustrating to Amy. Throughout the article and then very clearly at the end, she states her feelings about the American way. She seems to think it's particularly rude.

I personally have never been aware of this issue of yes and no until today, but I have had many situations where I could not understand what a Chinese person was saying. I find myself not even trying now because of my failed experiences in attempting to effectively communicate with them. If this is the reason they are not getting high profile management positions in America, then good. I have spoken to many Chinese people who speak good English, and if I moved to China I would not be fit to lead until I fully learned the customs and courtesies of the culture. That includes, but is not limited to it's language.

During my time in the military, I dealt with Filipino chiefs who could not be understood and therefore much time was wasted when their English speaking underlings had to explain it again. These chiefs were in their position because they had a tight knit Filipino family that promoted from within. So I sort of resent it when I hear about someone moving to America and blaming their difficulties on lack of understanding by the Americans.

My Name in IPA

My name is Eric. It is a common name and therefore rarely mis-pronounced. In IPA it is written ErIk. The places of articulation are alveolar and velar. The manners of articulation are liquid and stop.

Usually people can say my name easily enough, but some people pronounce it differently because of their dialect. For instance, a Norwiegen may pronounce it as ieric. Someone of Middle Eastern origin may pronounce it edic, pronouncing the r as a d. Hispanics may roll the r. Someone with a Southern twang may say airc.

I have difficulty pronouncing certain African names because they are constructed with sounds uncommon to English. I can't think of a specific example, but if I could I just told you all that I would mis-pronounce it anyway.

Chapter 5- The sound patterns of language

In chapter five of the text, we learn about the physical production of speech sounds produced by humans. And since humans come in all shapes and sizes, the sounds produced by them also vary greatly. Chapter five goes into the rules of how certain sounds are or are not allowed to follow or be paired with others while also explaining the similarities between certain sounds and the ways in which they are articulated.

The part that stuck out the most for me in this chapter was the part that talked about allophones. Allophones are when there is a group of several phones, all of which are versions of one phoneme. The example they used was the pair tar ans star. When I felt for aspiration on each word, I realized that a phoneme can take on a different sound when preceeded by a certain other. Like the [t] pronounced in tar suddenly becomes less stressed when you place an s in front of it to make star(pg. 45).

As a song writer, the part that I could most relate to was the syllables and clusters segment that explained some of the rules of rhymes and consonant/vowel placement. It demonstrated how certain clusters of words are strategically placed one after another to create the proper sound and flow(pgs. 47 and 48).

My only question is who is Bob Belviso?

I am sure that there are many people in this class who have come up
against major barriers in communication in their lives. Many of you
likely moved to America to find a place that was far less inviting
than you had hoped for. Some of you were forced to adapt to a new
language that would sadly take the place of a language makes up a part
of who you are.

The truth is, I have never been in an environment where I had to
change the way I spoke in order to be understood. This naturally
means that I have not given as much thought to the question of what
language means to me. I have always communicated on an almost sub-
conscious level (a little bit more than I should by the way), and
therefore never gave much thought to how I spoke or how I was
perceived. I mean, I was one of the "normal" ones.

And now I am in a French class. This question has been served to me
with impecable timing. My struggles with French enable me to take a
glimpse into the world of a person trying to survive in a place that
doesn't understand them. The only difference is, when I get
overwhelmed, I can just step out.