Linguistics

Linguistics

What is Linguistics?
 

Linguistics is defined as the scientific study of language.
 

1) What is a language?             

 

when we say that linguistics deals with the study of language, it does not mean any particular language because Language, in general, is the ability of human beings to produce meaningful sounds with the help of vocal tract (lungs, vocal cords, tongue, lips etc.). There is no single definition of language. Different linguists have defined it in different ways. Sapir (1921) defines it as a purely human, non-instinctive method of communication through volumtarily produced symbols.

This definition indicates that only human beings are capable of using a language as their communication system. Although other animals do have their communication systems but they can not use language as their means of communication. Language is also non-instinctive as it is learned in a social setup. It is not something that human beings are born with. If a child is kept in complete solitude where there is no human communication via language then the child will not be able to use language unless s/he is exposed to it.

First year at Harrow

Interpreting

7.Why does Churchill think mr welldon considered him worthy to pass into Harrow?

Mr welldon took a broadminded view of Churchill’s  Latin paper and showed discernment in judging his  general ability.Due to his ability to look beneath the surface of the things, he was able to discern Churchill’s “slender indications of scholarship” which he exhibited in his Latin paper.Churchill always had a great regard for him because he was the man who was not dependent on paper manifestations.

8)Why does the author consider his situation at Harrow as unpretentious?

The author considers his situation as unpretentious because of his name placement in the bottom of the merit list.He, unlike many brilliant students,takes interest in poetry,English essay writing and history.Whereas examiners on the other hand  always like to expose his shortcomings by testing him in mathematics and Latin.In this way he is not able to boast off his performance

9)Churchill and some other students were not allowed to study Latin and Greek as they did not show any extra-ordinary performance during the entrance test of Harrow.They were considered the stupidest boys of the school, who could only learn English.This thing according to Churchill,gave them an advantage over cleverer boys as it helped them to make their way in society.

10)Churchill did not feel himself at any disadvantage as compared to the boys who learnt Greek and Latin as he learnt English thoroughly by staying in third(year) three times.So, he had three times as much of it as anyone else.He got essential structure of ordinary English sentence into his bones.The boys who excelled in Latin and Greek,had to come down to common English,to their living or make their way.

I Have A Dream

I Have A Dream

Interpreting

Q1) What does Dr King mean by cashing a cheque,bad cheque,and a cheque that has come back marked “insufficient funds”

Ans   A bad cheque is a banking metaphor that Dr King uses to make his point about lack of civil rights.

The people of colour who came to claim their rights were given the cheque ,marked as “insufficient funds”,means that African-Americans are still unpaid in terms of their equal rights of citizenship.White administration has not given them what was promised to all “Men”according to their constitution.

Q2)Read the last few paragraphs……………..shout in the mountain,what happens?

Ans. The most prominent structural feature of his speech is the use of refrain.There are two sentences which have been repeatedly used by Martin Luther king one is “I Have A Dream” while the other one is “Let freedom ring”. He has used refrain in other parts too. It gives emphasis on a certain  topic  under discussion. He also mentions mountains because when we shout in mountains our voice strikes the mountain and comes back, it echoes.

Q3) Granting that King knew well his audience, examine the appropriateness of his word choice,sentence structure,h is use of metaphor analogy?

 Answer) Metaphor:metaphor allows you to associate your speech concept with concrete images and emotions.To highlight the contrast between two abstract concepts, consider associating them with contrasting concrete metaphors. For example to c contrast segregation with racial justice, King uses the contrasting methods of dark and desolate valley (of segregation) and sunlit path (of racial justice).

Joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity paragraph 2

 “The Negro lives on a lonely Island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity” paragraph 3

 Analogy; Anaphora  (repeating words at the beginning of neighbouring clauses) is a commonly used rhetorical device. Repeating the words twice sets the pattern and further repetitions emphasize the pattern and then increase the rhetorical effect. “I Have a Dream” is repeated in eight successive sentences and is one of the most often cited example of anaphora in modern rhetorics. But this is just one of eight occurrences of anaphora in the speech. By order of introduction here are the key phrases;

One hundred years later---- paragraph 3

 Now is the time----------- paragraph 6

Q6) What is the most prominent structural feature in this speech?

This speech demonstrates King's strategic use of organization and language for rhetorical effect. The stylistic features of parallelism (indicated in bold type) are visible at every grammatical level. For example:

·         at the word level: together, one day, with, black (as in "little black boys and black girls," as opposed to just "little black boys and girls"), and white

·         at the phrase level: with this faith, by the color of their skin, will be/we will be able to, sweltering with the heat of

·         at the sentence level: I have a dream

·         at the paragraph level: every paragraph begins with the same phrase and follows the same structure. That is, every paragraph begins with "I have a dream" and each paragraph is short, consisting of three or four sentences.

Using parallelism, King emphasizes key images and arguments.