Language: more than a line on your CV?

Richard Hudson

Mander Portman Woodward

Nov 2013

What language?

• Your own language– e.g. English

• Familiar school languages– e.g. French, Russian

• Unfamiliar languages– Big: e.g. Japanese– Little: e.g. Manam

Language or languages?

• Languages– studied one at a time

• Language– all languages studied together– 'How do humans learn language?'– 'How do languages change?'– etc.

My message

• Language is interesting in its own right.

• Full of links which are– surprising (like astronomy)– humanly interesting (like literature)– matters of fact (like chemistry)– complex (like physics)

Etymology

• glamour– derived from grammar

• surprising

• humanly interesting– grammar was associated with

• learning

• magic

The factual evidence

What's gramarye?

complex

grammar

'writing skill'

learning

wizardry

gramarie

glamour

flashy appeal

'corruption'

mea

ns

So what?

• Language is full of surprises.• Language has its experts and facts.• Language is all about connections.

– words connected to each other– words connected to meanings and forms– languages connected to each other.

• And that's why linguistics is fun– including etymology

Word meaning

• Our words reflect our culture– e.g. glamour, cricket, party, fun,cool

• So language is connected to culture.

• Sometimes this connection is very weak

• but at other times it's very strong.

Different languages - different messages

Translate into French (or Spanish):

He walked into the room

• Not: Il a marché dans la chambre.

• But:

Il est entré dans la chambre (en marchant).

manner of movement

direction of movement

direction of movement

manner of movement

What about German?

Er ist in die Kammer hinein/herein gelaufen.He is into the room hither/thither in run/walked.

• manner in verb – but basic contrast = with/without vehicle

• direction in obligatory particle hin/her– but basic contrast = from/to here

Languages are different

• English puts manner into the verb– direction is optional

• French puts direction into the verb– manner is optional

• German forces a choice: 'hither' or 'thither'?– direction and manner are obligatory

So what?

• The language doesn't just code the message– Different languages allow different messages.– So perfect translation is impossible.

• So do French, German and English speakers think differently?– certainly when they're speaking– they have to make different choices– but probably not otherwise.

How to discover language structure

• Grammars and dictionaries are reports– on research into how the language works– so someone has to do the research– that's linguistics: the study of language

• But you can do the research yourself– thanks to the Linguistics Olympiad!– e.g. Manam

Manam Island, Papua New GuineaThe sentences below tell us where Onkau, Kulu, Mombwa, Tola, Sulung, Sala, Pita and Butokang live. Can you work out who lives where?

uklo.orgauta = North ilau = South

ata = West awa = East

5.

3.4.

DEAD END!

THINK AGAIN!

Sala

Tola1.

2. Sulung

What's up in Manam?

Where's North in Manam?

Is the sun always in the North?

Until recently, there were

• no maps

• no compasses

What are they like in Manam?

They're like us.

They enjoy a day at the seaside.

And they don't know where North is.

What's where in Manam Island?

The sentences below tell us where Onkau, Kulu, Mombwa, Tola, Sulung, Sala, Pita and Butokang live. Can you work out who lives where?

uklo.org

auta = up ilau = down5.

3.

Sala

Tola

New idea: When relating two places, imagine standing between them facing uphill!

4.

6.Sulung

Pita

8.

Butokang

7.1.

ata = left awa = right

2.Sulung

4.

So what?• A language expresses and teaches a culture

– including 'folk geography'– relevant parameters for directions

• Is English 'normal' in contrast with Manam?– Where is 'up' in English?

• Birmingham: up or down?• Brighton? • Bristol?• Leicester Square? • 'Downtown'

A puzzle for Indiana Jones uklo.org

Where is Cleopatra? uklo.org

Cleopatra

t

rp a a

p

tcl

e o

o l

e

Ptolemy

• Spot the pattern!

Ulwa (Nicaragua)

Zooming in on Ulwa

-ni = "our (inc)"

-ma = "your (sing)"

-kana = "their"

-mana = "your (plur)"

'infix'suffix

Clitics

• Clitic = word realized like an affix – you are => you're– *de le => du– *de el => del– *von dem => vom– *dar te lo => dartelo

• Clitics may change normal word order – *je connais le => je le connais

Ulwa in context

• Ordinary clitics …– *gaad ni => gaadni– *bilam kana => bilamkana

• … but some behave like infixes– *diimuih kana => diikanamuih

• Infixes?– e.g. Beja, my PhD language …

Meet the Beja 'Red' Sea

… and their clitics and infixes

• uu-kaam 'the camel'

• kaam-uuk 'a camel of yours'

• i-kaam-uuk 'your camel'

• kitba 'write!'

• iktib 'he wrote'

• kantiib 'he writes'

clitic

infix

clitic

So what?

• Language is all about links– within one language, e.g. grammar – glamour– between languages, e.g.

• verbs of movement: surprisingly different• clitics: surprisingly similar

• Education is all about links• So language is much more than a line on

your CV.