Introducing English Linguistics

Self-study activities
1. Match the structures in the left-hand column with the area of linguistics in
which they are studied in the right-hand column.
(1) the structure of words
a. phonetics/phonology
(2) word order/structure of clauses
b. morphology
(3) the meaning of words
c. syntax
(4) individual sounds
d. semantics
2. If you are studying rules of syntax, are you studying linguistic competence
or linguistic performance?
3. What is the difference between prescriptivist and descriptivist approaches
to language study?
4. If you claim that the sentence He don’t know nothin’ is “incorrect,” are
you making a judgment about the grammaticality of the sentence or its
acceptability?
5. American Sign Language (ASL) is gestured, not spoken, yet it is still con-
sidered a language. Explain how ASL is a language in the same sense
that English or Spanish is?
6. While a language such as German has a system of “grammatical” gender,
English has “natural gender.” What’s the difference between the two sys-
tems, and, in particular, why is it the case that Modern English employs a
system of “natural” gender?
7. The Linguistic Society of America is a professional organization of linguists
that periodically publishes statements dealing with linguistics and lan-
guage policy. One of its statements, “Language Rights”
(www.lsadc.org/info/lsa-res-rights.cfm, accessed June 22, 2008),
describes the linguistic rights that speakers of languages other than
English should have in the United States. The statement notes that “The
vast majority of the world’s nations are at least bilingual, and most are
multilingual, even if one ignores the impact of modern migrations” and
that “Multilingualism by itself is rarely an important cause of civil discord.”
The statement also lists specific rights that multilingual speakers should
be accorded, such as being “allowed to express themselves, publicly or
privately, in the language of their choice” and “to maintain their native
language and, should they so desire, to pass it on to their children.” Do
the quotes provide examples of what Deborah Cameron describes as
verbal hygiene?

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