an introduction to language victoria fromkin robert rodman nina hyams

Language itself is not sexist or racist, but people can be, and because of this particular words take on negative meanings. The linguists call this property of human language displacement: the capacity to talk (or sign) messages that are unrelated to here and now. If you’re tired you may yawn, but you may also say “I’m tired,” or “I’m going to bed,” or “I’m going to Starbucks for a double espresso.” Notably, you also have the right to remain silent, or talk about things completely unrelated to your physical state-the weather, the movie you saw last night, your plans for the weekend, or most interesting of all, your linguistics class. Our words and sentences are not simply responses to internal and external stimuli. Because Lowth was influential and because the rising new class wanted to speak “properly,” many of these new rules were legislated into English grammar, at least for the prestige dialect - that variety of the language spoken by people in positions of power.īirds cannot tell us their story, however beautifully they sing. Many of these prescriptive rules were based on Latin grammar and made little sense for English. Lowth, however, decided that “two negatives make a positive” and therefore one should say I don’t have any and that even when you is singular it should be followed by the plural were. Before the publication of his grammar, practically everyone-upper-class, middle-class, and lower-class-said I don’t have none. Lowth prescribed a number of new rules for English, many of them influenced by his personal taste.

In 1762 Bishop Robert Lowth wrote A Short Introduction to English Grammar with Critical Notes. An Introduction to Language is a practical, interesting and entertaining read of linguistics, with clear structure and elaborate content.

Every chapter ends with a summary, references for further reading and exercises – all are very useful.

An introduction to language victoria fromkin robert rodman nina hyams