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fact we recommend you only rely on the course knowledge). However, if you choose to use other sources, make sure to cite them properly (refer to the material posted on Blackboard under ?How to avoid plagiarism?).
Your assignment consists of two parts. You need to discuss both parts. Make sure you answer all
the questions. The answer will consist of several paragraphs which should be linked to each other,
with proper topic sentences and transitions. The structure within the paragraphs should be clear and
coherent.
Part 1. Consider the following two sets of data from a dialect of English:
(1) a. Our teacher be late every day.
b. I see him when I bees on my way to school. c. You be slow all the time.
d. That boy always be messing up.
(2) a. Our teacher late today.
b. I see him when I on my way to school. c. You slow last night.
d. That boy messing up right now.
Compare the two sets between themselves and with Standard English by answering the following
questions:
In what way are these sentences different from Standard English?
Is be used as a lexical verb or as an auxiliary? Judging from this data, what are agreement rules for be
in this dialect?
What grammatical meaning is conveyed by be? Is any grammatical meaning conveyed by its
absence? Does Standard English have grammatical means to convey this difference?

Part 2. The children who speak this dialect of English are often considered by teachers as deficient
and failing to speak English ?correctly?. Does this reflect the prescriptive or descriptive approach to
language? Which approach did you take in your analysis of this dialect? Support your answers with
reference to the above examples.

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Lecture 1: Introduction, About Language and Linguistics,
Categories
January 11, 2017
For information about the course see the Syllabus (available on
Blackboard).
I. What is Language?
– knowledge of sounds (=phonetics,
phonology): e.g. En.
b
but not
?
;
str-, sk-
but not
*rts-, *ks-
–
knowledge of word structure (=morphology): e.g.
un-system-atic
but not *
atic-system-un
– knowledge of sentence structure
(=syntax): e.g. *
It is anxious to go Bill
– knowledge of meaning
(=semantics) and real-world usage (=pragmatics): e.g.
I saw the
man with the telescope
(2 meanings)
What is Linguistics?
Linguistics is the scientific study of human languages and (more
generally) the human capacity for language.
II. Prescriptivism
versus Descriptivism
Prescriptivism: ?Don?t end a sentence with a
preposition?, but
Who are you talking to?
?Don?t split an
infinitive?, but
To boldly go where no one has gone befo
re.?Two
negatives make a positive?, but
I don?t have none.
Our approach is
descriptive. The rules and generalizations proposed by linguists
describe the unconscious knowledge of speakers. E.g.
Have you
the time?
or
Do you have the time?
– Standard versus Non-standard:
?A language is a dialect with an army and navy?- Formal versus
Informal:
Goin? to the store, eh?
(informal&grammatical)
III.
Grammatical vs. Ungrammatical (*)
Grammaticality is judged with
respect to a particular speaker or dialect.Grammaticality is not
based on:- truth; we can lie- reality, e.g.
unicorns, square circles
–
meaningfulness, e.g.
I belong to the sunburn of the church?s uncle.
IV. Subject and Predicate
E.g. SUBJECT
Things
View the Answer
All the winnersClause versus sentence: E.g.
Jill seems quite
friendly
(sentence);
I think that Jill seems quite friendly.
(clause)
V.
Lexical and grammatical categories (aka ?Parts of Speech?)
nouns, verbs, prepositions, adjectives, adverbs, etc.
PREDICATE change.received their prizes.
Lexical categories:
a. Nouns: MEANING: Nouns describe physical objects,
individuals and abstract concepts
(e.g.
ball, child
,
idea
)
FORM: Most nouns have different forms in the singular and plural
(e.g.
househouses,
dog-dogs
)
TYPES: Nouns include common nouns (things that are not
unique), proper nouns
(e.g.
Toronto, John
), and pronouns (e.g.
I, you, he
).
b. Verbs: MEANING: Verbs usually describe an action, an event,
or a state (e.g.
open,
explode, know
)
FORM: Most verbs in English have different forms for present
tense and past
tense (e.g.
open ? opened, explode ? exploded, know ? knew
)
c. Adjectives: MEANING: Adjectives normally describe the
properties of objects, individuals,
or concepts (e.g.
happy, absolute
)
Show entire document Sentence (1) a is not that different from Standard English. Be is used as a substitute for the lexical verb is. The same… View the full answer