The discrete nature of language

The discrete nature of language

1. The discrete nature of language By : Mrs. Naeema AL Najjar & Ms. Ruba Dr. Khaleel B. Al Bataineh Amman Arab University Department of English Language & Translation

2. the discrete nature of Language The Linguistic communication such as the use of language, is characteristically vocal and verba l behaviour , involving the use of discrete language elements Vocal Verbal behavior Because it is associated with the vocal organs soft & hard palates Words play a very essential part in communication Words as lexical items are discrete because they differ from one another on an either-or basis. This means that two word- realisations either represent the same word or two different words.

3. Word- realisations Means that different words with different meanings have the same referent Referent : person or thing to which a name – a linguistic expression or other symbol – refers . Example When an English native speaker, pronounces the word “ pen “ There will be some difference but not noticeable and or insignificant. but when pronouncing the words, pen, pan , car,picture and camera. p e n and p a n , they are all discretely different because if you change one of them for another in a particular sentence you may get a completely different sentence , with a completely different meaning ,

4. phonemes A phoneme  is a sound or a group of different sounds seeming to have the same function by speakers of the language An example is the   phoneme  / k /, which occurs in words such as c at, k it, s c at, s k it If you replace one phoneme with another in a particular word, you may get a different word which no longer means the same p e n = p i n v an= f an

5. minimal pair . When the only difference between two words is that one has one phoneme where the other has another phoneme, the two words constitute minimal pai r

6. — segmenta l elements , Phonemes can be represented as segmental elements , because they are like the smallest blocks (= segments) of words and sentences. Suprasegmental elements , which are called so because they are “superimposed” upon units that are or can be larger than segments, such as e.g. syllables. — Supra segmenta l elements , Vowels and consonants Stress, rhythm, intonation(musical aspect of pronunciation

7. — Stress is a degree of the prominence(focus) of a syllable . Stress patterns A tertiary-stressed syllable is louder than the unstressed ones, i.e. it is extra-loud. • A secondary-stressed syllable is extra-loud and pitch prominent , primary-stressed syllable is extra-loud and pitch prominent in the sense that it initiates a nuclear pitch pattern. A nuclear pitch pattern is the characteristic final melody/ tone in an into national, phrase,

8. Stress Degress are discrete a syllable is either extra-loud or not, and when it is extra loud it is either pitch prominent or not, and when it is pitch prominent, it is it either has a nuclear contour or not , When we want to show which syllables are stressed in words, we may put the symbol( ا ) before a primary-stressed syllable

9. tertiary-stressed secondary-stressed primary-stressed primary-stressed secondary-stressed

10. T he primary stress is on its first syllable primary stress falls on come and the utterance implies ‘ but he didn’t come ’, Primary stress falls on thought and the utterance implies ‘ and he did come ’. S tress helps as well in distingushing the identical words I nsult (noun) Insult (Verb) T he primary stress is on its second syllable the interpretation of the sounds/words depends on where the primary stress falls in Example showed the stressing of the utterances but not their intonation

11. Pitch patterns (tones) are permanent pitch configurations that are carried by syllables or syllable sequences . The commonest pitch patterns are : falling (i.e. high-low ), rising (i.e. low-high), falling-rising (i.e. high-low-high ), rising-falling (i.e. low-high-low), high level (i.e. high), and low level (i.e. low) tones .

12. distinguish the meanings of words that are segmentally identical by using lexical tones or word melodies tone-languages in some languages, such as Chinese or Thai, pitch patterns are used as lexical tones or “word melodies”, For example, in Thai there are several different words which are all composed of the sound string kha , but have different pitch patterns and so different meanings. falling pitch pattern kha means ‘kill with a rising one it means ‘leg’ with a low level one it means ‘spice’ with a high level one it means ‘trade’

13. there are no word melodies, but pitch patterns are used in intonation , as parts of “utterance melodies”, because they distinguish the meanings of utterances that are in other respects identical intonational languages In other languages, such as English or Hungarian, there are no word melodies , but pitch patterns are used in intonation , They , is unstressed , no symbol, Came , secondary-stressed and has a high level tone (symbol: ») ( yes - ) is primary-stressed and initiates a falling nuclear contour (symbol: \ ), it is primary-stressed and initiates a rising nuclear contour (symbol: / ). the boundaries of the intonational phrases

14. Of course there is room for variation within the pitch patterns. For example, a fall can start at any pitch from very high to mid-low pitch. However , a fall is a discrete pitch pattern, because it is not a rise, not a fall-rise, not a rise-fall, and not a level tone, either. Two tone- realisations realise either the same tone,or two different ones. Conclusion

15. Many T hanks