http://www.eltcafe.net/ Fri, 30 Jul 2010 15:08:19 +0300 MyBB http://www.eltcafe.net/showthread.php?tid=44 Sun, 08 Apr 2007 17:36:53 +0300 http://www.eltcafe.net/showthread.php?tid=44 1)which of the following is an example of homonym?
a)bad b)divide c)mind d)grow e)inherit

2)shellfish is ______ of animal
a)synonym b)metonym c)prototype d)hyponym e)homonym

3)which of the follawing sentences include metonymy?
a)evden izin alabilirsem akşam gelirim.
b)hiç iğne iplik taşımayan genç kız olur mu?
c)sorgusuz sualsiz karar vermemek lazım.
d)hayatın kıymeti gençlikte de yaşlılıkta da bilinmeli.
e)yaz olsa da tatile gitsek.

4)She seems cheerful with her boyfriend in her little fiat.
The sentence contains:
a)agent-instrument-source
b)experiencer-theme-location
c)agent-instrument-location
d)experiencer-instrument-location
e)experiencer-theme-goal

5)Adam kadının ağzını burnunu kırmış.
The sentence includes:
a)metonymy
b)hyponymy
c)synonymy
d)collocation
e)homophony

6)”Gitti gelmez ne çare” is an example of
a)collocation b)reversive c)non-gradable d)metonymy e)homophony

7) which of the pairs are synonyms?
a)beautiful-handsome
b)rather-much
c)single-bachelar
d)unmarried-single
e)hold-grab

8)which of the following pairs are homophones?
a)cell-sell b)near-hear c)road-rod d)live-leave e)see- seem


1-c 2-d 3-a 4-d 5-d 6-b 7-c 8-a

***************************


DİLBİLİMİ - ÜNİTE 12
1)which of the following contains an example of deictic expression?
a)kitapları unutmuşum aceleyle çıkarken.
b)14 mayıs'ta sınavlar bitince gelirim.
c)şunları bir zahmet kaldırırmısın?
d)fuarda Ali'ye rastladım,çok neşeli görünüyordu.
e)Işın Karaca'nın son kasedi gerçekten dinlemeye değer.

2)........is an example of indirect speech?
a)Please be quiet!
b)There is so much smoke,I can't breathe!
c)Sit down!
d)Can you speak German!
e)The government announced that the rate of infletion had been lowered.

3)Why did you shout him?
The presupposition of a sentence is...
a)You are angry
b)You were angry
c)you shouted at him
d)I heard your voice
e)you are nervous

4)The woman:I can not leave you
The man:Oh my darling,so you love me so much
The woman:Not exactly.You are standing on my foot

what is the problem about the conversation above ?
a)The man doesn't understand the woman because she uses deictic expression
b)The woman makes a face-threating act.
c)the man and woman both uses anaphoric expression
d)The man doesn't understand the woman because she uses an indirect way of requesting.
e)There is no problem in the conversation

5)A teacher checking the attendance list says:
Where is the front desk?
The students answer:
She is ill today.......:which type of expression is it?
a)reference b)Inference c)reference-inference d)indirect speech
e)face-threating act

6)Doctor:İlhami bey bugün nasılsınız?
Patient:Senin verdiğin ilaç yaramadı galiba.İyi değilim
How can you describe the situation?
a)the doctor uses indirect speech act
b)the patient uses a face-saving act
c)the patient fails to infer the reference of the doctor
d)the patient uses a face-threatining act
e)the doctor uses a face-threating act

7)Yönetici:Aidatların hepsi toplandı mı?
Kapıcı:Beşinci kat henüz ödeme yapmadı.
which of the following is the expression used in the text below?
a)anaphora b)ındirect way of warning c)physical context
d)inference e)reference


1)c 2)b 3)c 4)d 5)c 6)d 7)e]]> 1)which of the following is an example of homonym?
a)bad b)divide c)mind d)grow e)inherit

2)shellfish is ______ of animal
a)synonym b)metonym c)prototype d)hyponym e)homonym

3)which of the follawing sentences include metonymy?
a)evden izin alabilirsem akşam gelirim.
b)hiç iğne iplik taşımayan genç kız olur mu?
c)sorgusuz sualsiz karar vermemek lazım.
d)hayatın kıymeti gençlikte de yaşlılıkta da bilinmeli.
e)yaz olsa da tatile gitsek.

4)She seems cheerful with her boyfriend in her little fiat.
The sentence contains:
a)agent-instrument-source
b)experiencer-theme-location
c)agent-instrument-location
d)experiencer-instrument-location
e)experiencer-theme-goal

5)Adam kadının ağzını burnunu kırmış.
The sentence includes:
a)metonymy
b)hyponymy
c)synonymy
d)collocation
e)homophony

6)”Gitti gelmez ne çare” is an example of
a)collocation b)reversive c)non-gradable d)metonymy e)homophony

7) which of the pairs are synonyms?
a)beautiful-handsome
b)rather-much
c)single-bachelar
d)unmarried-single
e)hold-grab

8)which of the following pairs are homophones?
a)cell-sell b)near-hear c)road-rod d)live-leave e)see- seem


1-c 2-d 3-a 4-d 5-d 6-b 7-c 8-a

***************************


DİLBİLİMİ - ÜNİTE 12
1)which of the following contains an example of deictic expression?
a)kitapları unutmuşum aceleyle çıkarken.
b)14 mayıs'ta sınavlar bitince gelirim.
c)şunları bir zahmet kaldırırmısın?
d)fuarda Ali'ye rastladım,çok neşeli görünüyordu.
e)Işın Karaca'nın son kasedi gerçekten dinlemeye değer.

2)........is an example of indirect speech?
a)Please be quiet!
b)There is so much smoke,I can't breathe!
c)Sit down!
d)Can you speak German!
e)The government announced that the rate of infletion had been lowered.

3)Why did you shout him?
The presupposition of a sentence is...
a)You are angry
b)You were angry
c)you shouted at him
d)I heard your voice
e)you are nervous

4)The woman:I can not leave you
The man:Oh my darling,so you love me so much
The woman:Not exactly.You are standing on my foot

what is the problem about the conversation above ?
a)The man doesn't understand the woman because she uses deictic expression
b)The woman makes a face-threating act.
c)the man and woman both uses anaphoric expression
d)The man doesn't understand the woman because she uses an indirect way of requesting.
e)There is no problem in the conversation

5)A teacher checking the attendance list says:
Where is the front desk?
The students answer:
She is ill today.......:which type of expression is it?
a)reference b)Inference c)reference-inference d)indirect speech
e)face-threating act

6)Doctor:İlhami bey bugün nasılsınız?
Patient:Senin verdiğin ilaç yaramadı galiba.İyi değilim
How can you describe the situation?
a)the doctor uses indirect speech act
b)the patient uses a face-saving act
c)the patient fails to infer the reference of the doctor
d)the patient uses a face-threatining act
e)the doctor uses a face-threating act

7)Yönetici:Aidatların hepsi toplandı mı?
Kapıcı:Beşinci kat henüz ödeme yapmadı.
which of the following is the expression used in the text below?
a)anaphora b)ındirect way of warning c)physical context
d)inference e)reference


1)c 2)b 3)c 4)d 5)c 6)d 7)e]]> http://www.eltcafe.net/showthread.php?tid=42 Sun, 08 Apr 2007 17:27:06 +0300 http://www.eltcafe.net/showthread.php?tid=42 1. Which of the following examplifies two bound morphemes attached to a lexical stem?
a) foolish b) derived c) unless d)irregularity e) unlike

2. /k/ in cat is an example of __________
a) Flap b)Assimilation c)Aspiration d) Elision e) Cluster

3. __________ is designed to show how small components in sentences go together to form larger units
a) Structural Analysis b) Phrase Structure Rules c)Traditional Analysis
d) Immediate Constituent Analysis e)Test Frame

4. Which of the below contains conversion?
a) Her yeri cifledim b) Lütfen saygısızlık yapmayın
c) Büyük şehirlerde her yer gökdelen dolu d) Sporcu dediğin düzenli yaşar
e) Pazarcı, biz farkında olmadan çürükleri doldurmuş

5. ’’Enthuse’’ is an example of
a) Clipping b) Borrowing c) Backformation d) Conversion e) Multiple Process

6. Which of the following is an example of minimal pair?
a) tale-bell b) pat-pen c) bet-pit d) pat-bet e) meal-heal

7. Which of the following is not a feature of Mental Grammar?
a) It develops subconsciously b) It is related to adults
c)It does not require any teaching d) It is the indentification of proper structures in a language
e) Psychologists are interested in it

8. Which of the following words is an open class word?
a) himself b) since c) cute d) above e) the

9. das Feuer (the fire)
der Mond (the moon)
The expression above examplifies ____________
a) Voice b) Grammatical Gender c) Natural Gender d) Agreement e) Traditional Analysis

10. hanap (look for) basag (break)
hinahanap (is being looked for) binabasag (is being broken)
The examples above from Tagalog shows that ________
a) There is reduplication for producing passive voice b) There is an infix for producing passive voice
c) There is a prefix for producing passive voice d) There is a suffix for producing passive voice
e) There is reduplication for continous tense

11. How many morphemes does the word ‘’bakımsızlık’’ have?
a) 2 b) 6 c) 5 d) 4 e) 7

12. Which of the following has a large onset cluster?
a) cash b) nurse c) kiss d) string e) flap

13. Free Morpheme+Bound Morpheme=Word
Which of the following is not suitable for the formula?
a) Reducable b) Regularity c) Oral d) Factual e) Confused

14. (plant) mula mulmula (plant)  Ilocano
(call) tawag tatawag (plants)  Tagalog
Which of the following is true according to the example above?
a) Ilocano and Tagalog use reduplication for derivation
b) Future Tense Marker of Tagalog and Turkish are similar:they both use inflectional prefixes
c) Ilocano has (inflectional) plural suffix
d) Both languages use reduplication for inflection
e)Tagalog uses infix for tense inflection

15. “A subconscious form of internal linguistic knowledge which operates in the production and recognition of appropriately structured
expressions in that language.”
The definition above belongs to _____________
a) Grammar b) Traditional Grammar c) Mental Grammar d) Linguistic Etiquette e) Prescriptive Grammar

16. ’’Psikoterapi’’ is an example of
a) Borrowing b) Loan Translation c) Compounding d) Blending e) Multiple Process

17. ıf an English native speaker uses both the negative modal “can’t” and “nothing” in a sentence, this is incorrect. Double negative
shouldn’t be used in English.
The expression above belongs to _______________.
a) Descriptive Approach b) Traditional Grammar c) Prescriptive Approach
d) Mental Grammar e) Grammar

18. “hankie” is an example of ___________
a) Hypocorism b) Clipping c) Analogy d) Blending e) Backformation

19. Which of the following is an example of calque?
a) hesap makinesi b)ütü masası c) dizüstü d) otorite e) performans

20. Which of the following exhibits elision?
a) teach b) pan c) chain
d) bottle e) asked

21. Which of the following is not a property of phoneme?
a) contrastive b) meaning-distinguishing c) seen as letters
d) rule-governed e)shown in slashes

22. Which of the following examplifies a violation of Prescriptive rule?
a) She rarely gets angry b)I’m about to really go c) Please switch on the button
d) I like coffee and cream e) He comes work late very often

23. “the description of the system and speech sounds in a language” The definition above belongs to _________.
a) Allophone b) Phone c) Phonology d) Aspiration e) Assimilation

24. AIDS is _________
a) clipping b) blending c) multiple-process d) acronym e) analogy

25. “The old man sat on a chair and told them tales of woe.” How many closed class words are there in the sentence above?
a) 7 b) 5 c) 6 d) 4 e) 8

26. Which of the following is an example of zero morpheme?
a) oxen b) curricula c) person d) deer e)women

27. The main concern of _________ is to investigate the distribution of forms.
a) Traditional Grammar b) Grammar c) Immediate Constituent Analysis
d) Prescriptive Grammar e) Structural Analysis

28. Which of the following copmpounds has the construction of Noun+Verb?
a) telltale b) hothouse c) welldressed d) haircut e) catfish

29. “Infotainment” is an example of __________
a)blending b) conversion c) backformation d)clipping e)compound

30. Which of the following is an example of closed syllable?
a) my b) two c) how d) tape e) clue

31. C + V + C belongs to the word __________
a) cold b) tree c) rough d) calf e) true

32. If the Descriptive Approach Judges a sentence as not acceptable, we may infer that
a)The sentence violates the grammar rules Latin b) Native speakers never use it
c) Prescriptive Approach will judge it as grammatical d) Prescriptive Approach will judge it as ungrammatical
e)It contains structural ambiguity

33. ’’Kara Kutu’’ is an example of
a) Blending b) Conversion c) Backformation d) Borrowing e) Loan-Translation

34. Which of the words below contains more than one derivation
a) terrorism b) irregular c) mislead d) misrepresent e) disrespectful

35. Which grammar type requires a more detailed study?
a) Linguistic Etiquette b)Traditional Grammar
c) Prescriptive Grammar d) Descriptive Grammar
e) Mental Grammar

-------------
ANSWER KEY
1. D 2. C 3. D 4. E 5. C 6. E 7. D 8. C 9. B 10. C 11. D 12. D 13. C 14. D 15. C 16. E 17. C 18. A 19. C 20. E 21. D 22. B 23. C 24. D 25. C 26. D 27. E 28. D 29. A 30. D 31. C 32. B 33. E 34. E 35. D]]> 1. Which of the following examplifies two bound morphemes attached to a lexical stem?
a) foolish b) derived c) unless d)irregularity e) unlike

2. /k/ in cat is an example of __________
a) Flap b)Assimilation c)Aspiration d) Elision e) Cluster

3. __________ is designed to show how small components in sentences go together to form larger units
a) Structural Analysis b) Phrase Structure Rules c)Traditional Analysis
d) Immediate Constituent Analysis e)Test Frame

4. Which of the below contains conversion?
a) Her yeri cifledim b) Lütfen saygısızlık yapmayın
c) Büyük şehirlerde her yer gökdelen dolu d) Sporcu dediğin düzenli yaşar
e) Pazarcı, biz farkında olmadan çürükleri doldurmuş

5. ’’Enthuse’’ is an example of
a) Clipping b) Borrowing c) Backformation d) Conversion e) Multiple Process

6. Which of the following is an example of minimal pair?
a) tale-bell b) pat-pen c) bet-pit d) pat-bet e) meal-heal

7. Which of the following is not a feature of Mental Grammar?
a) It develops subconsciously b) It is related to adults
c)It does not require any teaching d) It is the indentification of proper structures in a language
e) Psychologists are interested in it

8. Which of the following words is an open class word?
a) himself b) since c) cute d) above e) the

9. das Feuer (the fire)
der Mond (the moon)
The expression above examplifies ____________
a) Voice b) Grammatical Gender c) Natural Gender d) Agreement e) Traditional Analysis

10. hanap (look for) basag (break)
hinahanap (is being looked for) binabasag (is being broken)
The examples above from Tagalog shows that ________
a) There is reduplication for producing passive voice b) There is an infix for producing passive voice
c) There is a prefix for producing passive voice d) There is a suffix for producing passive voice
e) There is reduplication for continous tense

11. How many morphemes does the word ‘’bakımsızlık’’ have?
a) 2 b) 6 c) 5 d) 4 e) 7

12. Which of the following has a large onset cluster?
a) cash b) nurse c) kiss d) string e) flap

13. Free Morpheme+Bound Morpheme=Word
Which of the following is not suitable for the formula?
a) Reducable b) Regularity c) Oral d) Factual e) Confused

14. (plant) mula mulmula (plant)  Ilocano
(call) tawag tatawag (plants)  Tagalog
Which of the following is true according to the example above?
a) Ilocano and Tagalog use reduplication for derivation
b) Future Tense Marker of Tagalog and Turkish are similar:they both use inflectional prefixes
c) Ilocano has (inflectional) plural suffix
d) Both languages use reduplication for inflection
e)Tagalog uses infix for tense inflection

15. “A subconscious form of internal linguistic knowledge which operates in the production and recognition of appropriately structured
expressions in that language.”
The definition above belongs to _____________
a) Grammar b) Traditional Grammar c) Mental Grammar d) Linguistic Etiquette e) Prescriptive Grammar

16. ’’Psikoterapi’’ is an example of
a) Borrowing b) Loan Translation c) Compounding d) Blending e) Multiple Process

17. ıf an English native speaker uses both the negative modal “can’t” and “nothing” in a sentence, this is incorrect. Double negative
shouldn’t be used in English.
The expression above belongs to _______________.
a) Descriptive Approach b) Traditional Grammar c) Prescriptive Approach
d) Mental Grammar e) Grammar

18. “hankie” is an example of ___________
a) Hypocorism b) Clipping c) Analogy d) Blending e) Backformation

19. Which of the following is an example of calque?
a) hesap makinesi b)ütü masası c) dizüstü d) otorite e) performans

20. Which of the following exhibits elision?
a) teach b) pan c) chain
d) bottle e) asked

21. Which of the following is not a property of phoneme?
a) contrastive b) meaning-distinguishing c) seen as letters
d) rule-governed e)shown in slashes

22. Which of the following examplifies a violation of Prescriptive rule?
a) She rarely gets angry b)I’m about to really go c) Please switch on the button
d) I like coffee and cream e) He comes work late very often

23. “the description of the system and speech sounds in a language” The definition above belongs to _________.
a) Allophone b) Phone c) Phonology d) Aspiration e) Assimilation

24. AIDS is _________
a) clipping b) blending c) multiple-process d) acronym e) analogy

25. “The old man sat on a chair and told them tales of woe.” How many closed class words are there in the sentence above?
a) 7 b) 5 c) 6 d) 4 e) 8

26. Which of the following is an example of zero morpheme?
a) oxen b) curricula c) person d) deer e)women

27. The main concern of _________ is to investigate the distribution of forms.
a) Traditional Grammar b) Grammar c) Immediate Constituent Analysis
d) Prescriptive Grammar e) Structural Analysis

28. Which of the following copmpounds has the construction of Noun+Verb?
a) telltale b) hothouse c) welldressed d) haircut e) catfish

29. “Infotainment” is an example of __________
a)blending b) conversion c) backformation d)clipping e)compound

30. Which of the following is an example of closed syllable?
a) my b) two c) how d) tape e) clue

31. C + V + C belongs to the word __________
a) cold b) tree c) rough d) calf e) true

32. If the Descriptive Approach Judges a sentence as not acceptable, we may infer that
a)The sentence violates the grammar rules Latin b) Native speakers never use it
c) Prescriptive Approach will judge it as grammatical d) Prescriptive Approach will judge it as ungrammatical
e)It contains structural ambiguity

33. ’’Kara Kutu’’ is an example of
a) Blending b) Conversion c) Backformation d) Borrowing e) Loan-Translation

34. Which of the words below contains more than one derivation
a) terrorism b) irregular c) mislead d) misrepresent e) disrespectful

35. Which grammar type requires a more detailed study?
a) Linguistic Etiquette b)Traditional Grammar
c) Prescriptive Grammar d) Descriptive Grammar
e) Mental Grammar

-------------
ANSWER KEY
1. D 2. C 3. D 4. E 5. C 6. E 7. D 8. C 9. B 10. C 11. D 12. D 13. C 14. D 15. C 16. E 17. C 18. A 19. C 20. E 21. D 22. B 23. C 24. D 25. C 26. D 27. E 28. D 29. A 30. D 31. C 32. B 33. E 34. E 35. D]]> http://www.eltcafe.net/showthread.php?tid=40 Sun, 08 Apr 2007 16:55:24 +0300 http://www.eltcafe.net/showthread.php?tid=40
In each language, there are many sounds, known as phones, which can be described by phoneticians. These phones are universal. For example, [l] sound, as in lale can exist in many languages. However, it is more significant in some languages and less significant in some others. It is important in Turkish because it changes the meaning of the word. For example, both ala and ara are different words in Turkish. In Japanese, however, it does not make a meaning distinction. The phones that distinguish the meanings of words are phonemes.

Minimal Pairs and Minimal Sets

Above we saw that some consonants and vowels have a function: They distinguish the meanings of words. We called these sounds phonemes. Phonemes are contrastive. That means that if they exist in the same place in a word, they cause contrast in meaning. For example, when we use /p/ instead of /b/ the word has a different meaning. For example, (pan) and (ban) are words with different meanings. These words differ only because one sound is used instead of the other. These are known as minimal pairs. Minimal pairs are two words with different meanings which are produced exactly the same way except for one sound. Examples are: beat [bit] and bit [bıt]. If there are more than two words which are distinguished only with a single sound, they are called minimal sets. Examples are words such as boot, but, bit, beat, bought.

Linguists use minimal pairs or minimal sets in order to find out the inventory of phonemes. They investigate whether two similar sounds occur in the same position in different words and whether they change the meaning of the word. If sounds occur in the same position, they are said to have overlapping distribution. To illustrate this, we can say that /p/ and /b/ are in overlapping distribution in words such as pan and ban, because they appear exactly in the same position.

Variation of Sounds: Allophones

Let us consider the following analogy:

Meltem says "Ben öğle yemeklerinde hep ayran içerim."

Meltem's fondness of ayran might teach us something about speech sounds. Each time Meltem drinks ayran, it is different ayran, right? It is made of different yoghurt, adding different water. It may be very sour, slightly sour, or not sour at all; it may be salty or not; it may be dense or not. This type of variation exists in human speech sounds. For example, each time we produce a [p], it is not exactly the same sound. The sound varies from speaker to speaker and even the same speaker does not produce exactly the same sound at all times. The sound also differs based on other neighboring sounds or whether the sound is in word-initial (or syllable-initial) position or word-medial or word-final position.

We will only be concerned with the variation based on neighboring sounds and based on the position in the word.

We will see that allophones never occur in the same environments. They are in complementary distribution. Complementary distribution is just the opposite of overlapping distribution. The sounds are mutually exclusive in the same environment. This means that if one allophone is observed in word-initial position or when it is adjacent to a particular sound, the other one is not. This is shown in the following tasks.]]>
In each language, there are many sounds, known as phones, which can be described by phoneticians. These phones are universal. For example, [l] sound, as in lale can exist in many languages. However, it is more significant in some languages and less significant in some others. It is important in Turkish because it changes the meaning of the word. For example, both ala and ara are different words in Turkish. In Japanese, however, it does not make a meaning distinction. The phones that distinguish the meanings of words are phonemes.

Minimal Pairs and Minimal Sets

Above we saw that some consonants and vowels have a function: They distinguish the meanings of words. We called these sounds phonemes. Phonemes are contrastive. That means that if they exist in the same place in a word, they cause contrast in meaning. For example, when we use /p/ instead of /b/ the word has a different meaning. For example, (pan) and (ban) are words with different meanings. These words differ only because one sound is used instead of the other. These are known as minimal pairs. Minimal pairs are two words with different meanings which are produced exactly the same way except for one sound. Examples are: beat [bit] and bit [bıt]. If there are more than two words which are distinguished only with a single sound, they are called minimal sets. Examples are words such as boot, but, bit, beat, bought.

Linguists use minimal pairs or minimal sets in order to find out the inventory of phonemes. They investigate whether two similar sounds occur in the same position in different words and whether they change the meaning of the word. If sounds occur in the same position, they are said to have overlapping distribution. To illustrate this, we can say that /p/ and /b/ are in overlapping distribution in words such as pan and ban, because they appear exactly in the same position.

Variation of Sounds: Allophones

Let us consider the following analogy:

Meltem says "Ben öğle yemeklerinde hep ayran içerim."

Meltem's fondness of ayran might teach us something about speech sounds. Each time Meltem drinks ayran, it is different ayran, right? It is made of different yoghurt, adding different water. It may be very sour, slightly sour, or not sour at all; it may be salty or not; it may be dense or not. This type of variation exists in human speech sounds. For example, each time we produce a [p], it is not exactly the same sound. The sound varies from speaker to speaker and even the same speaker does not produce exactly the same sound at all times. The sound also differs based on other neighboring sounds or whether the sound is in word-initial (or syllable-initial) position or word-medial or word-final position.

We will only be concerned with the variation based on neighboring sounds and based on the position in the word.

We will see that allophones never occur in the same environments. They are in complementary distribution. Complementary distribution is just the opposite of overlapping distribution. The sounds are mutually exclusive in the same environment. This means that if one allophone is observed in word-initial position or when it is adjacent to a particular sound, the other one is not. This is shown in the following tasks.]]> http://www.eltcafe.net/showthread.php?tid=39 Sun, 08 Apr 2007 16:39:36 +0300 http://www.eltcafe.net/showthread.php?tid=39
Almost all speech sounds are produced by the energy from the respiratory system from which the air is pushed out of the lungs. Pressure on the lungs from the surrounding muscles causes a flow of air into the vocal tract. Air goes up the windpipe (the trachea) and into the larynx. (See the picture below). In larynx there are vocal cords. The sounds of speech both consonants and vowels are produced by the use of air flow from the lungs to the outside through either the mouth (oral cavity) or the nose (nasal cavity).

Other Speech Organs

Note that there are two cavities through which the air that comes from the lungs can go outside: One within the mouth (oral cavity) and the other within the nose (nasal cavity). Tongue, lips, teeth, palate are important organs that help us produce various sounds. For example, try to pronounce the word baston. When you produce the [b ] sound, you use both of your lips, when you produce [s], your tongue touches at the roof of your mouth (palate), etc.

Lips: The position and the use of lips are important in producing some consonants and vowels, as we will see later.

Teeth: We use our upper or lower teeth or air may go through our teeth when we produce some consonants.

Alveolar Ridge: The small ridge behind our teeth and immediately in front of the palate is called the alveolar ridge.

Tongue: Different parts of our tongue are used when we produce some sounds.

Palate: Our tongue touches to the palate during the production of some speech sounds such as [y].

Vocal cords: The two small muscular cords that are inside the larynx. They are used to produce sounds. (We will talk about vocal cords in Task 2.3).

Glottis: The space between the vocal cords is known as glottis.

Larynx: The larynx is a tube that is located in the upper part of the trachea and it contains the vocal cords.

Velum: The velum is the soft part of the roof of the mouth behind the hard palate. It is the place where we produce sounds such as [k], as we shall see later.

Consonant Features

When we produce sounds, our vocal cords may vibrate or not; the air stream may go out from the mouth or the nose. We use various parts of our speech organs. We also obstruct the air stream in some way or another. We classify consonants based on the following features:

Voicing: Vocal cords vibrate or not? Voiced vs. voiceless
Velum: Lowered or not? Nasal vs. oral
The place of Articulation: Where the obstruction takes place
The Manner of Articulation: The amount of obstruction: Total, partial, or relatively open.

Voicing

Remember that the air from the lungs go up to the larynx. Here the air passes through the two vocal cords. If the vocal cords vibrate when we produce the sound, it is said to be a voiced sound; if the vocal cords do not vibrate, the sound is voiceless. In order to understand the voicing difference, put your finger on your throat and try to pronounce a long [zzzzzzz] vs. a long [ssssss] sound. In which case do you feel vibration? In the former, right? You can also hear the distinction if you close your ears when you produce [zzzzzzz] vs. [ssssss] sounds. Now, compare the following sounds in terms of voicing:

[b ] vs. [p] as in bat vs. pat
[v] vs. [f] as in vat vs. fat
[d] vs. [t] as in dare vs. tear
[g] vs. [k] as in goat vs. coat

Oral or Nasal

Oral means related to the mouth and nasal means related to the nose. In the case of oral sounds, the airflow goes out of our mouth; and in the case of nasal sounds, the airflow goes out of our nasal cavity. This is closely linked with the positioning of the velum, as you can see in the following pictures. In the case of oral sounds, the velum is raised allowing the air to flow from the mouth. In the case of nasal sounds, the velum is lowered to allow the air to pass through the nasal cavity. The consonants at the final position in the following words are nasal: Kin, Sam, king. Oral vs. nasal distinction is not only a feature of consonants; vowels can also be oral or nasal sounds.

Place of Articulation

Bilabials: Bilabial sounds are produced by using both our upper and lower lips. The air is obstructed by our lips. The initial sounds in words pen, bay, my are all bilabial sounds. The following picture shows that the upper and lower lips come together and the air is obstructed by the lips when the following sounds are being produced: [p], [b ], [m].

Labiodentals: Labiodental sounds are used with our upper teeth and lower lip. We produce labiodental sounds when we produce the first sounds in words such as fazla, vakit, and the final sounds in laugh, tough. You can see how labiodental sounds are produced in the following picture.

Interdentals: Interdentals are produced by touching the tip of the tongue between the teeth. The two interdental sounds in English are the initial sounds in words such as the and through. The way in which these sounds are produced can be seen in the diagram given below:

Alveolars: Alveolar sounds are produced by touching our tongue to the alveolar ridge. Try to produce sounds such as [t, d, s, z, n]. You will feel that your tongue touches at the alveolar ridge. See the following picture to see how alveolar sounds are produced.

Palatals: Palatals are sounds produced when the tip of the tongue touches at the palate. The sound [y] as in yes is a palatal sound.

Alveo-palatals: These sounds are produced by raising the tongue to an area between the alveolar ridge and the palate. For example, the first sound in shine is an alveo-palatal.

Velar: Velar is a sound that is produced when the back of the tongue comes into contact with the velum. [k, g] sounds as in kettle and game are velars.

Glottal: A sound that is produced at the glottis is called a glottal sound. English has two glottal sounds. One is the initial sound, i.e. [h] in words such as high, house and hotel. The other is known as a glottal stop, which is represented as and can be heard in uh-uh.

Manner of Articulation

We defined consonants in terms of their place of articulation in the previous section. You have seen that there are alveolar sounds such as [d, t, n]. We need to distinguish these sounds from one another and to describe them accurately and more precisely. You will understand what this means when you answer Questions 1 and 2 below:

Manner of articulation describes how articulation can be accomplished. The speech organs such as lips, tongue, velum, and glottis can be positioned differently in the production of different sounds. Manner of articulation is related to the degree closure of articulators.

We start with sounds that are produced with the most obstruction of the airflow.

Stops:

Stops are consonant sounds that are produced with a complete closure of the airflow for a moment and then suddenly releasing it. Try to pronounce sounds, such as: [p], [t], [k], [b ], [d], and [g]. They are all stop sounds.

Fricatives:

Fricatives are consonants that are produced when the airflow passes through a narrow opening in the vocal tract and so a friction takes place. Some fricatives are [f], [s], [v], among others.

Affricates:

Affricates are consonant sounds which are produced with a closure of the air and then a release of the airflow with a frication. The voiceless affricate is [c], like the sound at the beginning and end of the word church. The voiced fricative is [j] as in the initial sound of the word John.

Approximants:

In producing approximants, one of the speech organs comes close to another, but the vocal tract is not narrowed. For example, our tongue is raised to our palate when we produce [y] as in yes, but note that there is no turbulence of air. The sound [w], as in we, is produced with the approximation of the two lips. That is why it is known as a bilabial sound. Again there is y less no obstruction of airflow.

The sounds [y] and [w] are also sometimes called semi-vowels or glides, because they are produced with tongue gliding. They are known as semi-vowels, because they are produced with no narrowing in the vocal tract the way like vowels are produced. However, they function like consonants because they begin syllables. These are both voiced consonants.

There are also approximant sounds which are produced by incomplete closure and by the contact of the tongue with the alveolar ridge. Then, the air goes out between the sides of tongue. These sounds are [l] and [r], as in led and red. These sounds are also known as liquids.

In your textbook [h] is also considered to be an approximant. This sound can be seen at the initial position of a word like hotel.

The glottal stop and flap:

The glottal stop is produced when the glottis is closed completely very shortly and then released. It is like the sound produced when we say ıh-ıh, meaning no in Turkish. It can be observed in some varieties of English when speakers produce words, such as butter. It is not used in the Standard varieties of English.

In American English, when [t] occurs between two vowels, and if the syllable before [t] is stressed and if the syllable that follows is unstressed, the flap is used. It is not used in British English. The flap is very much like [d], but it is produced more rapidly. It is produced by touching the tongue to the alveolar ridge strongly and rapidly. The flap can be observed in words such as, letter, city, writer, better, etc. The flap is a voiced consonant and it is represented with [D] or . For American English speakers, the following words are pronounced similarly, because [t] sounds are produced as flaps: metal-medal, latter-ladder, bitter-bidder.

Classification of Vowels

We need to classify vowels by using different features than consonants. Vowels are sounds that are produced with a relatively open vocal tract and they are usually voiced. Vowels can be described in terms of the following criteria:

The height of the tongue in the vocal tract: The tongue position can be high, mid, or low. For example, try to produce the vowels in the following Turkish words: il, el, al. You will realize that you open your mouth somewhat wider as you change from il to el and even wider as you produce al. Can you notice the differences?

High vowels are produced with your mouth less open but the tongue body is high. On the other hand, low vowels are produced with your mouth open and your tongue lowered. Mid vowels are produced with immediate tongue height and your mouth is relatively more open than in the case of high vowels but less open than in the case of pronouncing low vowels.

The tongue position in the mouth: You can push you tongue forward or backward in your mouth when producing vowels. Try to produce the vowels in the Turkish words bil and bul. You will realize that when you pronounce these vowels in that order your tongue changes from front to back position. The tongue is pushed forward in high vowels and it is pulled back in back vowels.

Lip Rounding: Try to produce the vowels in the Turkish words bil and bul again. You will feel that when you produce the vowel in bil, there is no lip rounding; while in the case of bul, you will feel that your lips are rounded or (protruded). Round vowels are produced with lip rounding; while unrounded vowels are produced without lip rounding.

Some Examples of English Diphthongs:

The following diphthongs exist in English:

[ay]: when you pronounce this diphthong, your tongue starts out in the position for [a] and it moves forward to the position of [y] (or [i]). Some examples are found in words such as eye, file, find, height, tired, hire, hide, wife, and sight.

[aw]: when you produce this diphthong, the tongue starts at the position of [a] and moves to that of [w] (or ). Some examples are found in words such as how, down, out, loud, cow, bow.

[oy]: In this case, the tongue moves from back (the position of [o] to the front position of [y] (or [i]). Some examples are found in words such as boy and toy.]]>
Almost all speech sounds are produced by the energy from the respiratory system from which the air is pushed out of the lungs. Pressure on the lungs from the surrounding muscles causes a flow of air into the vocal tract. Air goes up the windpipe (the trachea) and into the larynx. (See the picture below). In larynx there are vocal cords. The sounds of speech both consonants and vowels are produced by the use of air flow from the lungs to the outside through either the mouth (oral cavity) or the nose (nasal cavity).

Other Speech Organs

Note that there are two cavities through which the air that comes from the lungs can go outside: One within the mouth (oral cavity) and the other within the nose (nasal cavity). Tongue, lips, teeth, palate are important organs that help us produce various sounds. For example, try to pronounce the word baston. When you produce the [b ] sound, you use both of your lips, when you produce [s], your tongue touches at the roof of your mouth (palate), etc.

Lips: The position and the use of lips are important in producing some consonants and vowels, as we will see later.

Teeth: We use our upper or lower teeth or air may go through our teeth when we produce some consonants.

Alveolar Ridge: The small ridge behind our teeth and immediately in front of the palate is called the alveolar ridge.

Tongue: Different parts of our tongue are used when we produce some sounds.

Palate: Our tongue touches to the palate during the production of some speech sounds such as [y].

Vocal cords: The two small muscular cords that are inside the larynx. They are used to produce sounds. (We will talk about vocal cords in Task 2.3).

Glottis: The space between the vocal cords is known as glottis.

Larynx: The larynx is a tube that is located in the upper part of the trachea and it contains the vocal cords.

Velum: The velum is the soft part of the roof of the mouth behind the hard palate. It is the place where we produce sounds such as [k], as we shall see later.

Consonant Features

When we produce sounds, our vocal cords may vibrate or not; the air stream may go out from the mouth or the nose. We use various parts of our speech organs. We also obstruct the air stream in some way or another. We classify consonants based on the following features:

Voicing: Vocal cords vibrate or not? Voiced vs. voiceless
Velum: Lowered or not? Nasal vs. oral
The place of Articulation: Where the obstruction takes place
The Manner of Articulation: The amount of obstruction: Total, partial, or relatively open.

Voicing

Remember that the air from the lungs go up to the larynx. Here the air passes through the two vocal cords. If the vocal cords vibrate when we produce the sound, it is said to be a voiced sound; if the vocal cords do not vibrate, the sound is voiceless. In order to understand the voicing difference, put your finger on your throat and try to pronounce a long [zzzzzzz] vs. a long [ssssss] sound. In which case do you feel vibration? In the former, right? You can also hear the distinction if you close your ears when you produce [zzzzzzz] vs. [ssssss] sounds. Now, compare the following sounds in terms of voicing:

[b ] vs. [p] as in bat vs. pat
[v] vs. [f] as in vat vs. fat
[d] vs. [t] as in dare vs. tear
[g] vs. [k] as in goat vs. coat

Oral or Nasal

Oral means related to the mouth and nasal means related to the nose. In the case of oral sounds, the airflow goes out of our mouth; and in the case of nasal sounds, the airflow goes out of our nasal cavity. This is closely linked with the positioning of the velum, as you can see in the following pictures. In the case of oral sounds, the velum is raised allowing the air to flow from the mouth. In the case of nasal sounds, the velum is lowered to allow the air to pass through the nasal cavity. The consonants at the final position in the following words are nasal: Kin, Sam, king. Oral vs. nasal distinction is not only a feature of consonants; vowels can also be oral or nasal sounds.

Place of Articulation

Bilabials: Bilabial sounds are produced by using both our upper and lower lips. The air is obstructed by our lips. The initial sounds in words pen, bay, my are all bilabial sounds. The following picture shows that the upper and lower lips come together and the air is obstructed by the lips when the following sounds are being produced: [p], [b ], [m].

Labiodentals: Labiodental sounds are used with our upper teeth and lower lip. We produce labiodental sounds when we produce the first sounds in words such as fazla, vakit, and the final sounds in laugh, tough. You can see how labiodental sounds are produced in the following picture.

Interdentals: Interdentals are produced by touching the tip of the tongue between the teeth. The two interdental sounds in English are the initial sounds in words such as the and through. The way in which these sounds are produced can be seen in the diagram given below:

Alveolars: Alveolar sounds are produced by touching our tongue to the alveolar ridge. Try to produce sounds such as [t, d, s, z, n]. You will feel that your tongue touches at the alveolar ridge. See the following picture to see how alveolar sounds are produced.

Palatals: Palatals are sounds produced when the tip of the tongue touches at the palate. The sound [y] as in yes is a palatal sound.

Alveo-palatals: These sounds are produced by raising the tongue to an area between the alveolar ridge and the palate. For example, the first sound in shine is an alveo-palatal.

Velar: Velar is a sound that is produced when the back of the tongue comes into contact with the velum. [k, g] sounds as in kettle and game are velars.

Glottal: A sound that is produced at the glottis is called a glottal sound. English has two glottal sounds. One is the initial sound, i.e. [h] in words such as high, house and hotel. The other is known as a glottal stop, which is represented as and can be heard in uh-uh.

Manner of Articulation

We defined consonants in terms of their place of articulation in the previous section. You have seen that there are alveolar sounds such as [d, t, n]. We need to distinguish these sounds from one another and to describe them accurately and more precisely. You will understand what this means when you answer Questions 1 and 2 below:

Manner of articulation describes how articulation can be accomplished. The speech organs such as lips, tongue, velum, and glottis can be positioned differently in the production of different sounds. Manner of articulation is related to the degree closure of articulators.

We start with sounds that are produced with the most obstruction of the airflow.

Stops:

Stops are consonant sounds that are produced with a complete closure of the airflow for a moment and then suddenly releasing it. Try to pronounce sounds, such as: [p], [t], [k], [b ], [d], and [g]. They are all stop sounds.

Fricatives:

Fricatives are consonants that are produced when the airflow passes through a narrow opening in the vocal tract and so a friction takes place. Some fricatives are [f], [s], [v], among others.

Affricates:

Affricates are consonant sounds which are produced with a closure of the air and then a release of the airflow with a frication. The voiceless affricate is [c], like the sound at the beginning and end of the word church. The voiced fricative is [j] as in the initial sound of the word John.

Approximants:

In producing approximants, one of the speech organs comes close to another, but the vocal tract is not narrowed. For example, our tongue is raised to our palate when we produce [y] as in yes, but note that there is no turbulence of air. The sound [w], as in we, is produced with the approximation of the two lips. That is why it is known as a bilabial sound. Again there is y less no obstruction of airflow.

The sounds [y] and [w] are also sometimes called semi-vowels or glides, because they are produced with tongue gliding. They are known as semi-vowels, because they are produced with no narrowing in the vocal tract the way like vowels are produced. However, they function like consonants because they begin syllables. These are both voiced consonants.

There are also approximant sounds which are produced by incomplete closure and by the contact of the tongue with the alveolar ridge. Then, the air goes out between the sides of tongue. These sounds are [l] and [r], as in led and red. These sounds are also known as liquids.

In your textbook [h] is also considered to be an approximant. This sound can be seen at the initial position of a word like hotel.

The glottal stop and flap:

The glottal stop is produced when the glottis is closed completely very shortly and then released. It is like the sound produced when we say ıh-ıh, meaning no in Turkish. It can be observed in some varieties of English when speakers produce words, such as butter. It is not used in the Standard varieties of English.

In American English, when [t] occurs between two vowels, and if the syllable before [t] is stressed and if the syllable that follows is unstressed, the flap is used. It is not used in British English. The flap is very much like [d], but it is produced more rapidly. It is produced by touching the tongue to the alveolar ridge strongly and rapidly. The flap can be observed in words such as, letter, city, writer, better, etc. The flap is a voiced consonant and it is represented with [D] or . For American English speakers, the following words are pronounced similarly, because [t] sounds are produced as flaps: metal-medal, latter-ladder, bitter-bidder.

Classification of Vowels

We need to classify vowels by using different features than consonants. Vowels are sounds that are produced with a relatively open vocal tract and they are usually voiced. Vowels can be described in terms of the following criteria:

The height of the tongue in the vocal tract: The tongue position can be high, mid, or low. For example, try to produce the vowels in the following Turkish words: il, el, al. You will realize that you open your mouth somewhat wider as you change from il to el and even wider as you produce al. Can you notice the differences?

High vowels are produced with your mouth less open but the tongue body is high. On the other hand, low vowels are produced with your mouth open and your tongue lowered. Mid vowels are produced with immediate tongue height and your mouth is relatively more open than in the case of high vowels but less open than in the case of pronouncing low vowels.

The tongue position in the mouth: You can push you tongue forward or backward in your mouth when producing vowels. Try to produce the vowels in the Turkish words bil and bul. You will realize that when you pronounce these vowels in that order your tongue changes from front to back position. The tongue is pushed forward in high vowels and it is pulled back in back vowels.

Lip Rounding: Try to produce the vowels in the Turkish words bil and bul again. You will feel that when you produce the vowel in bil, there is no lip rounding; while in the case of bul, you will feel that your lips are rounded or (protruded). Round vowels are produced with lip rounding; while unrounded vowels are produced without lip rounding.

Some Examples of English Diphthongs:

The following diphthongs exist in English:

[ay]: when you pronounce this diphthong, your tongue starts out in the position for [a] and it moves forward to the position of [y] (or [i]). Some examples are found in words such as eye, file, find, height, tired, hire, hide, wife, and sight.

[aw]: when you produce this diphthong, the tongue starts at the position of [a] and moves to that of [w] (or ). Some examples are found in words such as how, down, out, loud, cow, bow.

[oy]: In this case, the tongue moves from back (the position of [o] to the front position of [y] (or [i]). Some examples are found in words such as boy and toy.]]> http://www.eltcafe.net/showthread.php?tid=38 Sun, 08 Apr 2007 16:18:42 +0300 http://www.eltcafe.net/showthread.php?tid=38
Human beings communicate using language produced by the speech organs located in the vocal tract and hearing it through auditory organs. The most common experience men have of language is in speaking and listening to it. This reveals that speech is prior to its representation in writing. All speech sounds used in languages spoken in the world are produced by the same set of speech organs, and all of them can be described by the describing the movement of these organs.

Reciprocity

This property refers to the interchangeability of the roles assigned to each participant in a communication chain. In other words, each participant is expected to reciprocate in the process. Human beings are capable of acting both the speaker and the hearer as each individual is equipped with the same type of speech organs. For example, we do not have sex-oriented roles as is the case in most animal communication, i.e. red spots on the stickleback, male songs in birds, etc.

Neither the types of messages sent, nor the roles for message transmission are associated with a certain participant in human communication.

Specialization

Human speech organs and speech signals appear to have no immediate purpose beyond communication. In some communication systems signals are in fact a byproduct of other functions, whereas human communication system is primarily specialized for communication.

Non-directionality

In human communication, speaker (transmitter) and hearer (receiver) do not necessarily be in direct contact facing each other. Speech signals can be received by anyone within hearing distance; either face to face, or back to back. Hearing in human beings is less directional. We do not have to rotate our ears to focus in on a direction like dogs.

Rapid-fade

Speech fades as fast as it flows. This refers to the transitory nature of the speech signal. Speech signals are not permanent. Unless we make a written record of speech signals, they disappear right after they are produced without leaving a visual trace behind. This is different from most animal communication realized through chemical reactions, such as the case with the stickleback.]]>
Human beings communicate using language produced by the speech organs located in the vocal tract and hearing it through auditory organs. The most common experience men have of language is in speaking and listening to it. This reveals that speech is prior to its representation in writing. All speech sounds used in languages spoken in the world are produced by the same set of speech organs, and all of them can be described by the describing the movement of these organs.

Reciprocity

This property refers to the interchangeability of the roles assigned to each participant in a communication chain. In other words, each participant is expected to reciprocate in the process. Human beings are capable of acting both the speaker and the hearer as each individual is equipped with the same type of speech organs. For example, we do not have sex-oriented roles as is the case in most animal communication, i.e. red spots on the stickleback, male songs in birds, etc.

Neither the types of messages sent, nor the roles for message transmission are associated with a certain participant in human communication.

Specialization

Human speech organs and speech signals appear to have no immediate purpose beyond communication. In some communication systems signals are in fact a byproduct of other functions, whereas human communication system is primarily specialized for communication.

Non-directionality

In human communication, speaker (transmitter) and hearer (receiver) do not necessarily be in direct contact facing each other. Speech signals can be received by anyone within hearing distance; either face to face, or back to back. Hearing in human beings is less directional. We do not have to rotate our ears to focus in on a direction like dogs.

Rapid-fade

Speech fades as fast as it flows. This refers to the transitory nature of the speech signal. Speech signals are not permanent. Unless we make a written record of speech signals, they disappear right after they are produced without leaving a visual trace behind. This is different from most animal communication realized through chemical reactions, such as the case with the stickleback.]]> http://www.eltcafe.net/showthread.php?tid=36 Sun, 08 Apr 2007 15:37:06 +0300 http://www.eltcafe.net/showthread.php?tid=36
In most religions, it is believed that language is a God-given gift to human species. In Christianity, God gave Adam the kingdom of all animals in the Garden of Eden and the first thing Adam did was to name these animals. That is how language started according to religious sources. Today people speak many different languages rather than only one language because ancient humans became too proud and they tried to build the Tower of Babel in order to reach God. So, God punished them by separating their languages.

People tried to discover the original divine language which was spoken by our most ancient ancestors. They assumed that if a child was brought up without hearing any language, the first word the child would utter would be in this divine language.

Task 2: The Natural Sound Source

'The "Bow-bow" Theory'

All languages have sounds that mimic the natural sounds. These are called onomatopoeic words. Some examples from Turkish are şırıl şırıl, hav hav, miyav, lıkır lıkır, etc. One belief is that human languages originated from these onomatopoeic words that mimic the sounds of entities or actions to which they refer. Thus, for example, miyav originally would be a word to refer to cats.

' The "Pooh-pooh" Theory'

According to this assumption language originated with the use of sounds that reflect emotions such as pain, fear, hunger, surprise, and the sounds of laughter and crying, etc. Some examples of these sounds are üf, ayyy, yaa, vay, etc. However, these sounds of emotion do not necessarily exist in the vocabulary of human language. Therefore, it is not plausible to assume that sounds of emotion are the basis for human language.

'The "Yo-heave-ho" Theory'

According to this proposal, early human beings used some sounds when they were doing some collaborative work. For example, when they were lifting a huge animal that they hunted, they used sounds to do their task for physical coordination and to reach their message to their friends that they share the burden of their job. It is claimed that these sounds eventually turned out into a language.

Task 3: The Oral-Gesture Source

People use some nonverbal communication when they speak. For example, we wave hands to say good-bye; we nod our heads to show our approval or to mean 'yes', we produce a sound by our tongue when we mean 'no'. The oral-gesture source suggests that language started with the gestures that we use by our mouth and other speech organs.

Task 4: Glossogenetics

Our ancestors became bipedal (standing and walking on their two legs) about 3.5 million years ago. When these humans could stand on their two legs, their larynx (a speech organ behind Adam's apple in the human throat) changed in a way to allow humans to produce vowel and consonant sounds in human languages. Human language developed as a result of this evolutionary change.

Task 5: Physiological Adaptation

Unlike human beings, no other species can use language because other animals have a very different physiology than human beings. Modern human beings have vocal tract for speaking. Human mouth is small, which makes it easier to open and close for fast speech production. Human teeth are in upright position and are regular in size, which allows us to produce sounds such as, f and v. Human mouth has a complicated muscle system, which allows us to produce various vowels. Our tongue can move backwards, forwards, up and down. This allows us to produce various speech sounds. In fact without these speech organs, human beings could not have spoken.

In addition, to these changes, human brain has gone through a number of changes, it became much bigger and specialized for language.

Researchers have claimed that human beings adapted all these physiological changes throughout their history and these changes caused the emergence of human language.

Task 6: Interactions and Transactions

Human language has two functions: Interactional and transactional. The interactional function pertains to our contact with other people socially and expressing our emotions. For example, we greet people, we ask them how they are, we chat about weather, we show our friendliness and hostility either by using gestures or by means of language. We also use language to transmit knowledge, skills, and information. For example, we give lectures, we give recipes about how to cook spinach, we talk about how to build houses, we talk about news, etc. This is known as the transactional function of language.

The transactional function of language can only be transferred by means of language. In other words, we can not educate our children by using our gestures, we can not transmit knowledge about our past by only using body movements,

According to some scholars, the reason why we, human beings, have developed human language is to be able to record our knowledge and pass it to other generations and to share knowledge and information with other people. In other words, the transactional function of language is a motivation for its origin. It is also considered to be the motivation for the eventual development of the writing systems.]]>
In most religions, it is believed that language is a God-given gift to human species. In Christianity, God gave Adam the kingdom of all animals in the Garden of Eden and the first thing Adam did was to name these animals. That is how language started according to religious sources. Today people speak many different languages rather than only one language because ancient humans became too proud and they tried to build the Tower of Babel in order to reach God. So, God punished them by separating their languages.

People tried to discover the original divine language which was spoken by our most ancient ancestors. They assumed that if a child was brought up without hearing any language, the first word the child would utter would be in this divine language.

Task 2: The Natural Sound Source

'The "Bow-bow" Theory'

All languages have sounds that mimic the natural sounds. These are called onomatopoeic words. Some examples from Turkish are şırıl şırıl, hav hav, miyav, lıkır lıkır, etc. One belief is that human languages originated from these onomatopoeic words that mimic the sounds of entities or actions to which they refer. Thus, for example, miyav originally would be a word to refer to cats.

' The "Pooh-pooh" Theory'

According to this assumption language originated with the use of sounds that reflect emotions such as pain, fear, hunger, surprise, and the sounds of laughter and crying, etc. Some examples of these sounds are üf, ayyy, yaa, vay, etc. However, these sounds of emotion do not necessarily exist in the vocabulary of human language. Therefore, it is not plausible to assume that sounds of emotion are the basis for human language.

'The "Yo-heave-ho" Theory'

According to this proposal, early human beings used some sounds when they were doing some collaborative work. For example, when they were lifting a huge animal that they hunted, they used sounds to do their task for physical coordination and to reach their message to their friends that they share the burden of their job. It is claimed that these sounds eventually turned out into a language.

Task 3: The Oral-Gesture Source

People use some nonverbal communication when they speak. For example, we wave hands to say good-bye; we nod our heads to show our approval or to mean 'yes', we produce a sound by our tongue when we mean 'no'. The oral-gesture source suggests that language started with the gestures that we use by our mouth and other speech organs.

Task 4: Glossogenetics

Our ancestors became bipedal (standing and walking on their two legs) about 3.5 million years ago. When these humans could stand on their two legs, their larynx (a speech organ behind Adam's apple in the human throat) changed in a way to allow humans to produce vowel and consonant sounds in human languages. Human language developed as a result of this evolutionary change.

Task 5: Physiological Adaptation

Unlike human beings, no other species can use language because other animals have a very different physiology than human beings. Modern human beings have vocal tract for speaking. Human mouth is small, which makes it easier to open and close for fast speech production. Human teeth are in upright position and are regular in size, which allows us to produce sounds such as, f and v. Human mouth has a complicated muscle system, which allows us to produce various vowels. Our tongue can move backwards, forwards, up and down. This allows us to produce various speech sounds. In fact without these speech organs, human beings could not have spoken.

In addition, to these changes, human brain has gone through a number of changes, it became much bigger and specialized for language.

Researchers have claimed that human beings adapted all these physiological changes throughout their history and these changes caused the emergence of human language.

Task 6: Interactions and Transactions

Human language has two functions: Interactional and transactional. The interactional function pertains to our contact with other people socially and expressing our emotions. For example, we greet people, we ask them how they are, we chat about weather, we show our friendliness and hostility either by using gestures or by means of language. We also use language to transmit knowledge, skills, and information. For example, we give lectures, we give recipes about how to cook spinach, we talk about how to build houses, we talk about news, etc. This is known as the transactional function of language.

The transactional function of language can only be transferred by means of language. In other words, we can not educate our children by using our gestures, we can not transmit knowledge about our past by only using body movements,

According to some scholars, the reason why we, human beings, have developed human language is to be able to record our knowledge and pass it to other generations and to share knowledge and information with other people. In other words, the transactional function of language is a motivation for its origin. It is also considered to be the motivation for the eventual development of the writing systems.]]> http://www.eltcafe.net/showthread.php?tid=35 Sun, 08 Apr 2007 15:26:13 +0300 http://www.eltcafe.net/showthread.php?tid=35
Task 1: Language

Language plays a major part in our life. It has a role of expressing the variety of human thought and endeavor. We carry out our every day life by using language. We start hearing our native language in our environment when we are born. When we go to school we are educated in different topics by the means of language. We socialize with others by using language. We are informed about our ancestors and our history through language. We plan our future by using language. We talk about concrete objects and very abstract ideas by language. We can understand science, technology and great masterpieces of literature by means of language. We watch movies, television, and plays where language is an important component. We are so much involved with language in our everyday life. It is so easy and effortless for us to use our native language like walking and drinking water. We produce and comprehend very complex sentences automatically and without effort. Compare you performance to that of computers which scientists have been trying to program to produce and understand human language. Computers cannot come close to the performance of human beings.

Possibly due to this closeness to language and our familiarity with it, speakers do not need to observe language. People take language for granted and everybody has strong opinions, sometimes erroneous views about language as we shall see later.

However, the knowledge of language even for an educated lay person is implicit. Native speakers use their language perfectly well and yet they can not explain language rules with precision and within a system. As we shall see later, language teachers need to have explicit and systematic knowledge about what language is, how it works, what functions it has in society, etc.

Before we go further, we should provide a definition of what we understand when we mean language. In linguistics, language roughly refers to the system of principles that regulates sounds, words, sentences, and texts that people use for expressing their thoughts, ideas, feelings, to keep social contact, etc. Language in linguistics is a term that covers all human languages that actually exist (or existed). We shall see later linguistics investigates facets of all human languages.]]>
Task 1: Language

Language plays a major part in our life. It has a role of expressing the variety of human thought and endeavor. We carry out our every day life by using language. We start hearing our native language in our environment when we are born. When we go to school we are educated in different topics by the means of language. We socialize with others by using language. We are informed about our ancestors and our history through language. We plan our future by using language. We talk about concrete objects and very abstract ideas by language. We can understand science, technology and great masterpieces of literature by means of language. We watch movies, television, and plays where language is an important component. We are so much involved with language in our everyday life. It is so easy and effortless for us to use our native language like walking and drinking water. We produce and comprehend very complex sentences automatically and without effort. Compare you performance to that of computers which scientists have been trying to program to produce and understand human language. Computers cannot come close to the performance of human beings.

Possibly due to this closeness to language and our familiarity with it, speakers do not need to observe language. People take language for granted and everybody has strong opinions, sometimes erroneous views about language as we shall see later.

However, the knowledge of language even for an educated lay person is implicit. Native speakers use their language perfectly well and yet they can not explain language rules with precision and within a system. As we shall see later, language teachers need to have explicit and systematic knowledge about what language is, how it works, what functions it has in society, etc.

Before we go further, we should provide a definition of what we understand when we mean language. In linguistics, language roughly refers to the system of principles that regulates sounds, words, sentences, and texts that people use for expressing their thoughts, ideas, feelings, to keep social contact, etc. Language in linguistics is a term that covers all human languages that actually exist (or existed). We shall see later linguistics investigates facets of all human languages.]]>