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In this section, you will learn about language and the internet, along with the discipline of Corpus Linguistics. This includes how language is used on social media, how we can make sense of online language, and ways to process linguistic data for analysis.

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3.1 How internet slang is changing language

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3.1 How internet slang is changing language

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[3 min] Ever wondered why we text the way we do? This video shares about memes, slangs, and how the internet has added nuance and creativity to the way we speak online and offline.

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How Internet Slang Is Changing Language | Understanding with Unbabel

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[4 min] British linguist David Crystal explains how technology has changed language over the years.

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David Crystal - How is the internet changing language today?

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[5 min] Timestamp: 10:15-15:00

Internet linguist Susan Herring defines CMC. When you send a direct message to your classmate on Instagram, or drop a couple of 😆emojis😄 in a WhatsApp group, these are all considered examples of CMC!

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Susan Herring: "Digital data and digital methods for research in linguistics"

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[3 min] Timestamp: 1:23:30-1:26:33

Are emojis/stickers a language in their own right?

Have you ever sent a string of emojis without any words? Did the recipient understand what you were trying to say?

Consider the difference between sending '😂' and ' 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂'... or sending 'lol' instead of 'LOL'!

Timestamp: 1:23:30-1:26:33

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Susan Herring: "Digital data and digital methods for research in linguistics"

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In this section, you will learn about Sociolinguistics, the study of language in a social context. This includes how language interacts with social factors (i.e. age & gender), and how language is impacted by social settings and vice-versa.

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[12 min] In this video, Dr Evan Ashworth discusses several key concepts in Sociolinguistics, such as the difference between a language and dialect, types of dialects, accents and slangs.

Do note that Sociolinguistics is descriptive and not prescriptive, meaning that no language/dialect is inherently better than another one.

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2.1.2 William Labov and Variationist Sociolinguistics

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2.1.2 William Labov and Variationist Sociolinguistics

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[5 min] In this video, you will learn of the work of the renowned linguist William Labov. Labov pioneered the study of language variation and change, otherwise known as variationist sociolinguistics.

His work includes how different people from different social classes may speak in a different manner, and how language varies in different regions.

For instance, an English speaker from Texas could differ from an English speaker in New York in how they pronounce certain words.

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William Labov - 2013 Laureate of the Franklin Institute in Computer and Cognitive Science

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Social Stratification of (r) in New York City Department Stores

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This short paper is about Labov's investigation into whether the pronunciation of the rhotic /r/ sound differed across social classes in New York City.

He found that employees with higher socioeconomic status pronounced the rhotic /r/ more frequently than the employees with lower socioeconomic status.

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This paper investigated the use of /r/ in Singapore and how it varied across social classes and education levels.

Tan (2012) found that there was a direct correlation between the use of /r/ and educational levels and socioeconomic statuses.

Are there any observable linguistic behaviours you wish to explore?

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Language use also varies across gender, and this paper by Eckert discusses several differences observed.

Hierarchy: 248-254

Power and Status: 254-257

Gender and Adolescent Categories: 257-259

Phonological Variation: 259-264

How do you think language use varies across genders in Singapore?

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Do you have certain attitudes towards certain language varieties? Perhaps you view someone who speaks Singlish as more unprofessional than someone who speaks Standard Singapore English?

Do you think language ideologies exist, whereby there are shared beliefs and ideas within communities?

For instance, do you think people would treat you differently in America if you used Singlish and if you used British English?

Language attitudes and ideologies discuss how we feel about different languages, why we feel that way, and the social ramifications of these beliefs we hold.

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2.4.2 The evolution of attitudes towards Singlish

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2.4.2 The evolution of attitudes towards Singlish

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This article from Channel News Asia discusses Singlish and issues surrounding it through the years. It includes some research data on the use of Singlish, reports on the changing attitudes towards Singlish, and official stances on Singlish.

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CNA Insider

From the ban on its use on radio, to the Sar-vivor rap during the first coronavirus outbreak, to a growing body of research on its place today - Singlish has come a long way as part of the Singaporean identity. This is explored in CNA's two-part special on Singlish, this National Day.

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'You can't tell people to not speak it,' says NUS don. But where does Singlish stand now?

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From the ban on its use on radio, to the Sar-vivor rap during the first coronavirus outbreak, to a growing body of research on its place today - Singlish has come a long way as part of the Singaporean identity. This is explored in CNA's two-part special on Singlish, this National Day.

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2.5.1 Sociolinguistics theory (I): Kachru's Three Circles of English

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2.5.1 Sociolinguistics theory (I): Kachru's Three Circles of English

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[1 min] Timestamp: 30:10-31:00

Kachru's Three Circles of English groups World Englishes into different categories.

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Englishes around the World - Introduction

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2.5.2 Sociolinguistics theory (II): Schneider's Dynamic Model

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2.5.2 Sociolinguistics theory (II): Schneider's Dynamic Model

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[3 min] Timestamp: 31:01-33:55

Schneider's Dynamic Model proposes a framework to examine how English in postcolonial countries develop. Singapore is largely argued to be in the endonormative stabilisation phase.

Do you think it is possible for Singapore to reach the differentiation phase? If so, what would that look like?

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Englishes around the World - Introduction

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In this section, you will learn about language endangerment, documentation, and revitalisation efforts. Additionally, you will learn how to see which languages are endangered, and also be able to measure a language's endangerment level using an established framework.

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The Co-Evolution of Computer-Mediated Communication and Computer-Mediated Discourse Analysis

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Herring (2018) explains and differentiates CMC and Computer-Mediated Discourse Analysis (CMDA), and explains the inherent multimodality of CMC.

If you were to analyse an Instagram post of a famous athlete, could you only analyse the caption? You would have to analyse the visual aspects of the post (the picture) and perhaps even any accompanying audio. This is an example of multimodality.

CMDA toolkit: Page 2

CMC as multimodal: Page 13

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10. Additional topics: Semantics and pragmatics

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10. Additional topics: Semantics and pragmatics

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This section is optional. Here, we will look at the field of linguistics that considers meaning -- meaning inherent in the form of the word (semantics), and meaning of the word in context (pragmatics). We will see how playing with meaning can result in humorous situations.

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[2 min] In this short video, you will learn from Dr McEnery about Corpus Linguistics, which is an important methodology in modern linguistics.

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In this Padlet, you will find 9 sections with curated resources on various Linguistics topics. You are encouraged to treat this padlet like a menu, from which you can pick and choose the topics that interest you.

Several topics may complement one another, such as Sociolinguistics and English in Singapore, whereby sociolinguistic theories and frameworks can be used to explore your interest in Singlish. Several research papers have also been linked to provide you with a reference point of what an academic paper looks like.

The main topics are:

1. Language & Linguistics

2. Sociolinguistics

3. Language & the Internet

4. Language Endangerment & Documentation

5. Phonetics & Phonology

6. Morphology & Syntax

7. Grammar

8. Historical Linguistics

9. English in Singapore

There are two more sections with yet more resources if you would like further exploration:

10. [Additional Topic] Semantics and Pragmatics

11. Other Useful Resources

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[5 min] This video divulges the basics of Corpus Linguistics, including how corpora are collected and how they are analysed on corpus analysis softwares.

This link here brings us to the British National Corpus (BNC), a live corpus that you can access to experience how corpora work.

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[17 min] This lecture provides a summary of semantics and how it relates to other disciplines in the field of linguistics.

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This first E-Lecture related to the VLC class "Semantics and Pragmatics" provides an overview of the role of semantics within linguistics and its use in other disciplines. Furthermore, it discusses the central goals and objectives of semantics.

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AntConc: A freeware corpus analysis toolkit for concordancing and text analysis

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3.4.3 Corpus Analysis Software (AntConc)

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3.4.3 Corpus Analysis Software (AntConc)

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AntConc is a free corpus analysis software created by Dr Laurence Anthony, Professor of Educational Technology and Corpus Linguistics at Waseda University.

It is easy to use and compatible with Windows/MacOS/Linux.

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Latest Release

A freeware corpus analysis toolkit for concordancing and text analysis.

[ AntConc Homepage] [ Screenshots] [Help] [ License]

Downloads:

Official releases

AntConc 3x series

Older versions

PayPal Donations and Patreon Supporters:

Click one of the following if you want to make a small donation to support the future development of this tool.

Older Versions

All previous releases of AntConc can be found at the following link. <*.exe> and <*_win.zip> are for Windows. <*.dmg>, <*.zip> and <*.pkg> files are for Macintosh OS X. <*.tar.gz> files are for Linux.

Frequent asked questions (FAQ)

1. What is the difference between the Windows-Installer and Windows-Portable versions?
The Windows-Installer version will place the AntConc software in a safe location on your machine and put links to the software in the Start menu and on your desktop (if you want). This is the most common way to get software onto your computer. However, in cases where you are not allowed to install software on the computer (e.g. in a school environment) or when you want to put the software on a portable device like a USB stick, the Windows-Portable version is needed. In this version, all files are stored in a single folder. Open the folder and double click on the AntConc.exe to start. These packaging options were newly introduced with the release of AntConc 4.0.

2. How do I get AntConc to work on a Apple Macintosh computer?
AntConc should work with the latest version of Apple's operating system. Double click the AntConc.dmg icon and follow the instructions to put the software into the Applications folder on your computer. You can then launch the software by double-clicking the icon in the Applications folder or from the Launchpad. This packaging option was newly introduced with the release of AntConc 4

3. Can I use AntConc on a mobile device (e.g. iPhone, Android phone, iPad, or Chromebook)?
No. AntConc can only run on desktop computers.

4. How can I search for a question mark (or other wildcard characters) in my corpus?
The question mark (?) is a wildcard character in AntConc meaning "any one character". To search for an actual question mark or any other wildcard character, just escape the character (e.g. \?) in the search query box. Note that you need to add these characters to the token definition when creating your corpus to be able to search for them later.

5. When creating my own corpus, I get the following error: "Error: UnicodeDecodeError: 'utf-8' codec can't decode byte XXX in position YYY: invalid start byte". What should I do?
This error is telling you that the file is not properly encoded in the default UTF-8 encoding used by AntConc and so it cannot be read. To address this problem, either resave your file using the UTF-8 encoding (recommended) or change the encoding setting of AntConc to match the encoding of the file (assuming you know what encoding your file is saved in). Many users don't know what encoding they are using which is why I recommend that the files are resaved with the UTF-8 encoding. You should be able to set the encoding in any standard text editor, e.g. NotePad or NotePad++.

User Support

Latest Help files

Discussion groups

Video tutorials

YouTube Tutorials (by Laurence Anthony)

YouTube Tutorials (by Umair Ibne Abid of Umair Linguistics)

Youku Tutorials (by Laurence Anthony)

Downloadable guides

Guide by Warren Tang (Hiroshima University, Japan)

Help file translations

Common Statistics Used In Corpus Linguistics

The following document lists common statistics that are used in corpus linguistics focusing on those that appear in AntConc. The document is largely based on an unpublished paper written by Andrew Hardie of Lancaster University in 2014.

Development Road Map

My current tentative plans.

Status

Description

Under development

Plans for 2022
and beyond

Improve tag handling (XML/Part-Of-Speech/...)

Your suggestions come here...

Citing/Referencing AntConc

Use the following method to cite/reference AntConc according to the APA style guide:

Anthony, L. (YEAR OF RELEASE). AntConc (Version VERSION NUMBER) [Computer Software]. Tokyo, Japan: Waseda University. Available from https://www.laurenceanthony.net/software

For example if you download AntConc 4.2.0, which was released in 2022, you would cite/reference it as follows:

Anthony, L. (2022). AntConc (Version 4.2.0) [Computer Software]. Tokyo, Japan: Waseda University. Available from https://www.laurenceanthony.net/software

Word frequency lists

These 'wordlist' corpora can be loaded into AntConc (4.0 and later) via the Corpus Manager and used as reference corpora to create keyword lists.

These lists can be imported into AntConc (3.5.9 and earlier) and used as reference corpora word lists to create keyword lists.

BE06 corpus and AME06 corpus frequency lists.

Brown Corpus frequency lists.

Lemma lists

Lemma lists. These lists can be imported into AntConc (3.5.9 and earlier) to create lemma word lists. From AntConc 4.0, it is recommended that you Part-Of-Speech (POS) tag and lemmatize your files, e.g. using TagAnt, before loading them into AntConc. Then, the lemma forms can be displayed through menu options.

AntBNC Lemma List (ver. 004)
An automatically generated English lemma list based on all words in the BNC corpus with a frequency greater than 2 (created by Laurence Anthony). To use this list, *append* a hyphen (-) character to the AntConc token definition to ensure the processed correctly (see global settings). This list is extensively revised from the previous version, with all words with overlapping headwords combined into a single entry and all words including an apostrophe removed. As this process conflates words of different word classes into the same entry, the list serves more as a flemma list. The automatic generation process naturally introduces some erroneous entries, so the list should be checked before use, depending on the purpose.

Someya Lemma List (no hypens)
An edited version of the Someya English lemma list with no hypenated words (original list created by Yasumasa Someya).

Someya Lemma List

The original Someya English lemma list (created by Yasumasa Someya).

To use this list, *append* a hyphen (-) and apostrophe (') character to the AntConc token definition (see global settings).

French Lemma List
A French lemma list (created by Benoît Sagot).

Spanish Lemma List
A Spanish lemma list (developed by Laurence Anthony based on the list provided here).

Books/papers/websites related to AntConc

References to works citing AntConc can by found on Google Scholar here.

Interesting applications of AntConc

Here are a random collection of projects that use AntConc in interesting ways.

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A freeware corpus analysis toolkit for concordancing and text analysis. [ AntConc Homepage] [ Screenshots] [ Help] [ License] Official releases AntConc 3x series Older versions Click one of the following if you want to make a small donation to support the future development of this tool.

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[20 min] How do we define the relationship between the meanings of words in a language? Lexical semantics studies these relationships, and, in this lecture, we look at sense relations.

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[10 min] Dr Laurence Anthony has uploaded a detailed guide on YouTube on how to set up AntConc on your computer, along with each function of the analysis software.

If you are keen to pick up a new software with no coding involved, mastering AntConc will not take you more than 1-2 days!

[18 min] AntConc: Corpus Management Basics

[17 min] AntConc: KWIC Tool

[13 min] AntConc: Plot Tool

[4 min] AntConc: File Tool

[7 min] AntConc: Cluster Tool

[11 min] AntConc: N-Gram Tool

[11 min] AntConc: Collocate

[7 min] AntConc: Word List

[12 min] AntConc: Keyword List

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[19 min] Related to the topic of sense is reference, where the relationship of the word and an object is in question. In this lecture, you will learn about referential semantics (or simply, 'reference') and how to define the relationship between a word and an object.

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In this section, you will find additional resources that may be useful in pursuing further knowledge about language and linguistics.

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[21 min] In this lecture, you will learn about the concept of ambiguity and how it affects the interpretation of language.

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[11 min] This lecture discusses vagueness -- a different concept from ambiguity -- as it deals with unspecified meanings, as opposed to multiple meanings.

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[12 min] To distinguish between the two concepts, Prof Handke provides linguistic tests that may help separate the concept of ambiguity from vagueness.

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[15 min] If you are interested in learning more about semantics, here  is an optional lecture on historical semantics, where you will learn about etymology, semantic change and lexical change. Other topics in semantics include:

Theories of word meaning

Sentence semantics

Propositions

Entailment

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[3 min] Professor Steven Pinker introduces the topic of pragmatics to us in this short clip.

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[15 min] In this lecture on conversation, you will learn about the elements and processes that are required for a successful interaction to take place, including Grice's conversational maxims.

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The Virtual Linguistics and Literature Campus

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[14 min] This lecture on speech acts bridges the topics of semantics and pragmatics by discussing the differences between meaning and meaning in use.

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[1 min] In this extract from The Big Bang Theory, consider why Sheldon's responses are semantically correct yet inappropriate to the situation.

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The Big bang Theory - Sheldon open the Door - S04E07

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[15 min] Deixis is the method of relating to the spatial-temporal context of the utterance. This lecture discusses different deictic elements.

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This E-Lecture discusses the various aspects of deixis (Greek for "pointing with words"), ranging from person to discourse deixis. As usual, Prof. Handke uses a variety of examples to illustrate his main points.

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In this segment, you will find resources about Singlish, the colloquial version of the variety of English spoken in Singapore.

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[12 min] What goes on in our minds as we speak? An extension on the lecture of conversation, this optional lecture puts together all the knowledge of linguistics we have learned so far, and discusses the various levels and processes that we experience during a conversation.

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[4 min] This video by OGS breaks down what Singlish is and how it came about. The video features anecdotes from the older generation and a Linguistics professor.

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The Coxford Singlish dictionary is a lexical compilation of Singlish terms. It is one of the first attempts to compile Singlish words and phrases into a reference material that anyone can use.

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The Coxford Singlish Dictionary | Colin Goh

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We began THE COXFORD SINGLISH DICTIONARY online in TalkingCock.com, as a crowd-sourcing effort to document Singapore’s vernacular English or “Singlish”. Since its print publication in 2001, it has sold tens of thousands of copies, and been praised by both academics and the mainstream press. Availabl…

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In this section, we delve into the English language: its origin, history, and how it has change over the course of the millennium. We begin with a short animation on the origins of English.

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[5 min]

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Where did English come from? - Claire Bowern

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In this section, we will discover a little more about grammar and influential theories that support how we are able to use language.

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In this section, you will learn about two foundational linguistics topics:  Morphology (word formation) and Syntax (sentence formation).

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In this section, we learn about phonetics (speech sounds) and phonology (the categorical organisation ('patterns') of speech sounds in a language).

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In this section, you will find lectures that will discuss languages: What languages are, their possible origins, and how they have developed over time.

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1.1 Language as the best invention of mankind

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1.1 Language as the best invention of mankind

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[17 min] In this TEDx Talk, Dr Dan Everett claims language is the best invention of mankind. He discusses the evolution of mankind and how elements of language may have evolved along with it.

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How language began | Dan Everett | TEDxSanFrancisco

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[16 min] How did humans learn to speak? Why did humans learn to speak? What do we need to be able to speak? This lecture by Prof Handke gives an overview of the origins of human language by looking at the biological prerequisites of speech production, He also summarises various hypotheses regarding the emergence of languages.

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Speculation about the origins of human language is as old as history. This E-Lecture discusses two aspects of this topic: The biological pre-requisites for language and speech and possible hypotheses of how language could have emerged.

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[5 min] This animation shows us part of the history of English and how words from different languages have entered the English language. It also points out why we associate different connotations to two sets of words with the same meaning.

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[6 min] This animation illustrates how English has grown throughout the centuries by borrowing words from other languages, reviving old words, changing its meaning, and combining current words to form new words and meanings.

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Where do new words come from? - Marcel Danesi

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[11 min] This lecture by Prof Handke gives an overview of the study of speech sounds through the three subfields of phonetics. These fields study the mechanical process of producing sound, the processes we undergo to understand the sounds we hear, and the physical properties the speech sounds we produce.

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[10 min] This lecture gives an overview of the term 'grammar', the types of grammars, and various approaches towards grammar.

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[12 min] What counts as a word? When is a word not a word? Prof Handke explores the nature of a 'word' with the help of examples from various languages.

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How do linguists determine what type of communication is considered a language? Section 1.2 in this blog explains Hockett’s design features of language, which sets human languages apart from animal communication.

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Language is a system of communication uniquely associated with humans and distinguished by its capacity to express complex ideas. Notably, studies analysing the various features of human language have informed our understanding of language as a distinctly human trait. Specifically, language is thought to possess a highly structured system of encoding and representing concepts through either speech sounds or manual gestures, depending on whether they are spoken or signed.

Likewise, studies which have attempted to methodically dissect this system of human communication into various parts, or components, have informed our understanding of the reasons for the immense expressive power of language.

We'll start off with a featural analysis of what defines a language, followed by an evaluation of these features with a specific focus on how human language can be compared to animal communication.
1.2 Hockett's design features
In 1960, the linguistic anthropologist Charles Francis Hockett conducted a pioneering featural study of language. In the study, he listed 13 design features that he deemed to be universal across the world's languages. More importantly, these features distinguished human language from animal communication. While the first 9 features could also match primate communications, the last 4 were solely reserved for human language. Later on, Hockett added another 3 features that he saw as unique to human language. Thus, it can be said that human language share a general set of features that help set it apart from communication among animals.

1.2.1 Vocal-Auditory Channel

With the exception of signed languages, natural language is vocally transmitted by speakers as speech sounds and auditorily received by listeners as speech waves. Although writing and sign language both utilize the manual-visual channel, the expression of human language primarily occurs in the vocal-auditory channel.

1.2.2 Broadcast Transmission and Directional Reception

Language signals (i.e. speech sounds) are emitted as waveforms, which are projected in all directions ('broadcasted into auditory space'), but are perceived by receiving listeners as emanating from a particular direction and point of origin (the vocalising speaker).

1.2.3 Transitoriness

Language signals are considered temporal as sound waves rapidly fade after they are uttered; this characteristic is also known as rapid fading. In other words, this temporal nature of language signals requires humans to receive and interpret speech sounds at their time of utterance, since they are not subsequently recoverable.

1.2.4 Interchangeability

Humans can transmit and receive identical linguistic signals, and so are able to reproduce any linguistic message they understand. This allows for the interlocutory roles of 'speaker' and 'listener' to alternate between the conversation's participants via turn taking within the context of linguistic communication.

1.2.5 Total Feedback

Humans have an ability to perceive the linguistic signals they transmit i.e. they have understanding of what they are communicating to others. This allows them to continuously monitor their actions and output to ensure they are relaying what they are trying to express.

1.2.6 Specialization

Language signals are emitted for the sole purpose of communication, and not any other biological functions such as eating. In other words, language signals are intentional, and not just a side effect of another behaviour.

Contrasting example: Biological functions which may have a communicative side effect: such as a panting dog which hangs out its tongue to cool off (biological), may simultaneously indicate to its owner that it is feeling hot or thirsty (communicative).

1.2.7 Semanticity

Specific language signals represent specific meanings; the associations are 'relatively fixed'. An example is how a single object is represented by different language signals i.e. words in different languages. In French, the word sel represents a white, crystalline substance consisting of sodium and chlorine atoms. Yet in English, this same substance is represented by the word salt.

Likewise, the crying of babies may, depending on circumstance, convey to its parent that it requires milk, rest or a change of clothes.

1.2.8 Arbitrariness

There is no intrinsic or logical connection between the form of specific language signals and the nature of the specific meanings they represent. Instead, the signal and the meaning are linked by either convention or instinct.

Contrasting example: Conveyance of aggression in crabs - strongly threatened crabs express their potential intention to fight by raising their front claw, which is partially iconic given that crabs use their craw pincers to attack prey and defend against predators.

1.2.9 Discreteness

Language signals are composed of basic units and are perceived as distinct and individuated. These units may be further classified into distinct categories. These basic units can be put in varying order to represent different meanings. The change in meaning is abrupt, and rarely continuous.

1.2.10 Displacement

Displacement also includes prevarication, which is the ability to lie or produce utterances which do not correspond with reality. Language signals may be used to convey ideas about things not physically or temporally present at the time of the communicative event such as a topic that is linked to the past or future.

1.2.11 Productivity

Productivity is also called openness or creativity. It entails reflexiveness, the ability of language to be used to talk about language. Humans can use language to understand and produce an indefinite number of novel utterances.

1.2.12 Cultural Transmission

Although humans are born with the innate ability to learn language, they learn (a) particular linguistic system(s) as their native language(s) from elders in their community. In other words, language is socially transmitted from one generation to the next, and a child reared in isolation does not acquire language.

1.2.13 Duality of Patterning

The discrete speech sounds of a language combine to form discrete morphological units, which do not have meaning in itself. These morphemes have to be further combine to form meaningful words and sentences.
1.3 Evaluation of Hockett's design features
While Hockett's list of design features may appear comprehensive, it contains three key limitations.

Firstly, Hockett's list is drawn up from the narrow perspective of spoken language. However, human language can be expressed in both the audio-vocal (spoken) and visuo-manual (sign) modes: sign languages are equally complex and fully grammatical linguistic systems (Stokoe, 2005). As Corballis (2009, p. 22) notes, there is:

growing evidence that the signed languages of the deaf have all of the grammatical and semantic sophistication of spoken languages, as exemplified by the fact that university-level instruction at Gallaudet University in Washington, DC, is conducted entirely in American Sign Language (ASL).

Therefore, his first two features, the vocal-auditory channel and broadcast transmission and directional reception, are only relevant to the auditory nature of spoken language, and cannot be strictly considered necessary to human language.

Secondly, Hockett's list is a plain compilation of all discernible features of human language; it does not indicate which features are critical to the linguistic system of communication. For example, the sixth and seventh features of specialization and semanticity are likely to be properties of all natural systems that have developed for communication, rather than human language per se.

Thirdly, Hockett's list includes many features that relate to the physical characteristics and production of linguistic signs (either via speech or gestures), rather than language as a communicative tool per se. For example, the third and fifth features of transitoriness and total feedback appear to be more relevant to the physical, rather than semiotic, properties of the speech sounds and gestures used in spoken and sign languages. In other words, the fact that sound waves and physical gestures are spatially transmitted makes them necessarily transitory (feature 3) and perceptible to the producer at the same time (feature 5). Also, the fourth feature of interchangeability similarly appears more relevant to the physical ability of language users to imitate or reproduce the speech sounds or gestural signs used in spoken and sign languages, rather than their cognitive ability to use these signs communicatively.

This therefore leaves only six main features: arbitrariness, discreteness, displacement, productivity, cultural transmission and duality of patterning. However, in order to understand how these features are crucial to human language as a system of communication, a componential analysis - the focus of our next section - is in order.

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Language is a system of communication uniquely associated with humans and distinguished by its capacity to express complex ideas. Notably, studies analysing the various features of human language have informed our understanding of language as a distinctly human trait.

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11.1 More lectures by Prof. Jurgen Handke

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11.1 More lectures by Prof. Jurgen Handke

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In this Padlet, you will have noticed that we refer to a number of recorded lectures by Prof. Jurgen Handke's from The Virtual Linguistics Campus on YouTube. If you would like to listen to more lectures about linguistics from Prof Handke, the link above will bring you to the YouTube page of the Virtual Linguistics Campus.

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linguistics "linguistics online" handke "jürgen handke" vlc "virtual linguistics campus" "inverted classroom" "flipped classroom" e-lecture university colleg...

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The educational videos in this channel (complete list: https://bit.ly/2YRk5yD) are interconnected with the E-Learning units on the Virtual Linguistics Campus (https://oer-vlc.de) , the E-Learning platform for linguistics hosted by Prof. Handke's award winning Linguistic Engineering Team of Marburg University, Germany, but can also be used as stand-alone instructional videos.

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9.3 A dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English

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9.3 A dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English

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This is an online compilation of items you can find in Singlish and Singapore English, complete with pronunciation, definition, and examples.

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A Dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English

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3.4.5 Corpus-assisted analyses using AntConc

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3.4.5 Corpus-assisted analyses using AntConc

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Here are several academic papers which use AntConc to conduct corpus analysis

1. Corpus-Assisted Analysis of Robert Frost's Poem "Into My Own" Using AntConc

2. Representation of Israeli-Palestine Conflict in the Western Media: A Corpus-Assisted Critical Discourse Analysis

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Here are more resources

Attitudes and Ideologies

Lannang Identities

Singaporeans and the Chinese Identity

Varieties of English:

African American Vernacular English

Chinese English (Chinglish)

Japanese English (Japanglish)

Korean English (Konglish)

Multicultural London English (MLE)

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[17 min] This lecture by Prof Handke outlines the changes that the English language has gone through over the past few centuries, to become the version that we use and understand today.

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TYP121 - Typological Changes in   English

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[4 min] Why are there so many languages in the world? Why are some languages so different? Why are other languages so similar? This animation shows you how language may have spread, and the process by which linguists work out languages and the families they belong to.

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[12 min] How do we produce speech sounds? In this lecture, we look at the human speech anatomy and how we use them to produce the sounds we want to make. Prof Handke also provides visual and audio examples of the different kinds of sounds we can make.

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[15 min] In this lecture, we explore the topic of morphology, where you will learn first about the different types of languages and writing systems, and then the lecture will proceed to define morphemes. Lastly, Prof Handke will present the analysis of words into their constituent parts.

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[11 min] We will start with generative grammar, the most influential model of grammar in linguistic theory. Central to this theory is the production of well-formed sentences and rejecting ill-formed sentences.

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This E-Lecture discusses the fundamental ideas of generative grammar, the most influential grammar model in linguistic theory. In particular we exemplfy the main principles that account for the non-finite character of natural language as well as the phenonemon of native speaker competence. As a result the main architecture of generative grammar is defined.

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Despite debates and controversies surrounding Singlish in Singapore, some items have been added into the Oxford English Dictionary. Find out here what it takes to be added as an entry in the OED. What do you think about the acceptance of Singlish items into a famous international lexicon of the English language?

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Shiok! 19 Singlish items added to the Oxford English Dictionary

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SINGAPORE - Who needs the Queen's English when you can use Singlish? Read more at straitstimes.com.

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[19 min] The Great Vowel Shift is a significant process in the history of English which pushed Middle English to Early Modern English. This lecture provides a detailed explanation of the sound changes that gave rise to the UK English we hear today.

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[8 min] This lecture introduces Universal Grammar, a famous theoretical concept posited by Noam Chomsky that all humans have the innate capacity to learn grammar. Prof Handke discusses the theory and the problems surrounding this theory.

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The Virtual Linguistics and Literature Campus

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[5 min] In this short animation, you will find out why languages are sometimes labelled as 'language' while other times as 'dialect'. This video explores the concept of 'language varieties' and some considerations underlying the classification and perception of languages.

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What makes a language... a language? - Martin Hilpert

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[14 min] In this lecture, Prof Handke introduces to us airstream mechanisms, which shows the different ways in which speech sounds which may be produced. Some of these sounds may not be used in the languages we hear in Singapore, but may be heard in other languages of the world.

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[14 min] This lecture on morphological operations shows us how words may be modified.

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[2 min] This short video explains the different schools of thought behind language acquisition, including the American linguist Noah Chomsky's theory of Universal Grammar.

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[11 min] In this lecture, you will learn about how English spread all over the globe and the emergence of varieties of English we hear today by speakers of different societies.

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This short 6-page paper explores Noah Chomsky's theory of Universality in language, and why he argues for it.

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Noam Chomsky, Universals of Human Nature, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Vol. 74, No. 5 (2005), pp. 263-268

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If you would like to learn more about language, here are links to lectures on topics like language, dialect and variety, language contact, and the possible benefits of bilingualism.

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[19 min] This lecture defines consonantal sounds, which is a segment of speech sound produced by causing a partial obstruction of our breath. The production of these sounds are illustrated using animations and live recordings.

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PHO106 - Basic Segments of Speech (Consonants)

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[15 min] In the previous lecture, we learned how morphological operations modify words. In this lecture, we look at the processes involved in building words, some of which that uses the morphological operations mentioned in the previous lecture.

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[15 min] In this lecture on linguistic encoding, we dive into the topic of language processing and how grammar is seen to play an important part in the way we understand and formulate language.

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8.7 British vs. American English spelling

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8.7 British vs. American English spelling

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[11 min] Using linguistic theories, this lecture explores British and American English spelling, and how these differences arise.

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[16 min] Continuing from consonantal sounds, we now look at vowel sounds and how they are produced. In this first lecture, Prof Handke also shows how they are classified and represented on the Cardinal Vowel Chart, a useful reference tool that describes a particular vowel sound.

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PHO107 - Basic Segments of Speech (Vowels I)

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[11 min] In this lecture on syntax, Prof Handke introduces three different types of sentences (minor, major and elliptical), and a tests that help identify the type of sentence in question.

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[16 min] In this second lecture on vowels, we will look at the different types of vowels: monophthongs, diphthongs and semi-vowels. There will be examples from languages around the world.

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PHO107 - Basic Segments of Speech (Vowels II)

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[20 min] Using the English language as the subject, Prof Handke shows us the constituents that make up the structure of the English language as we know today.

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[14 min] What makes a speech sound comprehensible to us? Why do we sometimes mishear what others are saying? If you are interested in finding more about speech perception, Prof Handke in this optional lecture explains how we interpret speech sounds, using graphs and audio playbacks to show the thresholds required for us to interpret the words we hear correctly. He also discusses phonetic theories that pertain to speech perception.

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[15 min] Following the lecture on the constituents that form English sentences, we now look at the roles of these constituents to determine their function in the English language.

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This introductory E-Lecture, which is part of our series "The Structure of English", discusses the central syntactic functional elements of clause structure in PDE. It serves as an overview, i.e. as a first approach towards a functional analysis of PDE clause structure.

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[15 min] Phonetic transcription provides a specific way for us to describe the sound system of a language. This lecture introduces phonetic notation systems, an essential tool that allows the sounds of a language to be recorded in written form, which others may use to reproduce the same sounds.

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[14 min] This lecture introduces the keywords that help us label the elements in a sentence. These keywords will then show us what makes up the structure of a particular sentence.

After this lecture, if you would like to learn more about constituents, you may look at this lecture here.

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SYN107 - Constituent Analysis, First Steps

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5.7.2 The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)

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5.7.2 The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)

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[12 min] In order to describe the sound systems of all the languages in the world, it is useful to have a notation framework that will represent all these sounds accurately across languages. Following the previous lecture on notation systems, we will now learn about the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), a transcription system which contains all human speech sounds, and provides a standardised linguistic reference for linguists working on languages all over the world.

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[18 min] How do we group words to form larger syntactic units (phrases, sentences, etc.)? How do we instinctively know what elements belong together in a unit? How does knowledge of syntactic structure help us interpret sentences? In this lecture, Prof Handke introduces constituent tests, and shows us how constituent analysis helps us interpret the meaning of different types of sentences.

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The IPA chart is a useful reference tool that contains all human speech sounds. This interactive chart provides a common, standardised linguistic reference for the sounds we can hear from languages all over the world. This official chart also has an audio reference for how the speech segments sound like. Read more about it here.

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The International Phonetic Alphabet chart with sounds lets you listen to each of the sounds from the IPA. The interactive IPA chart can be found at the bottom of this page.

International Phonetic Alphabet, also called IPA, is an international alphabet used by linguists to accurately represent the wide variety of sounds (phones or phonemes) in human speech. A phoneme is a unit of sound that can distinguish one word from another in a given language. For example, the English words "sit", "bit", and "kit" can be distinguished by the sounds, or phonemes, that are created by each of their first letters.

A phoneme chart is a table that displays the IPA symbol for each of the IPA phonemes of the international alphabet. A phoneme chart can be organized in different ways based on the characteristics of the different IPA phonemes and the relationships between them. For example, in the IPA vowel chart at the bottom of this page, the IPA phonemes that are generated in the same part of the mouth are listed in the same column, and those that are generated with the same amount of mouth opening or closing are listed in the same row. In addition, the IPA vowel chart and other interactive IPA charts below include audio recordings of the individual phonemes in order to help students, non-native speakers of the language, and others, to learn IPA pronunciation of particular sounds.

Who Uses the International Phonetic Alphabet?

An essential function of the IPA is to provide a standard for labeling these phonemes so that linguists can discuss any sound without ambiguity.

In 1886 a group of French and British language teachers teamed up to create a new organization for linguists. The teachers were headed by the French linguist Paul Passy. The International Phonetic Association was formed by formed in1897 (in French, l'Association phonétique internationale).

The latest version, IPA chart number 122, was published by the International Phonetic Association in 2005. Since then, IPA linguistics have played an important role in both the study and use of language worldwide.
IPA linguistics provide students with a greater understanding of language by accurately and uniquely representing the sounds of oral speech. The IPA is used by:

Lexicographers

Foreign Language Students

Teachers

Linguists

Speech-Language Pathologists

Singers

Actors

Constructed Language Creators

Translators

Many American linguists have found that using a combination of IPA and Americanist phonetic notation is an effective way to standardize transcriptions. An extended set of IPA symbols represent different qualities of speech, such as tooth gnashing, lisping, and sounds made with a cleft palate.

How Many International Phonetic Alphabets Are There?

While this IPA is the most commonly used and well-known international phonetic alphabet, it is not the only one. Other alphabets include the Americanist phonetic notation, also known as the North American Phonetic Alphabet (NAPA), the Americanist Phonetic Alphabet or the American Phonetic Alphabet (APA), Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics Alphabet (CASA), the Swahili Phonetic Alphabet (SWA), and the Thai Phonetic Alphabet (TPA). Each international alphabet has its own set of symbols and phonemes to represent the sounds of oral language.

The IPA linguistics are based on the Latin alphabet in order to correspond to an international standard. This IPA is also the standard that the United Nations uses to represent sounds in all languages that use a writing system.

Are There Free IPA Translators?

Yes! We have automatic IPA translation tools available in English, Spanish, French and other languages. All of our IPA translators are available for free. Please visit our IPA translators section to see a complete list and use the translators for your own linguistic needs.

How to Use the IPA Chart

The interactive IPA chart helps you identify the sounds of language. To use the phoneme chart, first familiarize yourself with each IPA symbol and the corresponding IPA pronunciation of the sound. For example, in the IPA vowel chart, click on each symbol to hear the corresponding vowel sound, and begin practicing pronouncing the sounds yourself. Finally, start using the IPA in your own speech and writing.

Click on an IPA Symbol to Hear the Associated IPA Pronunciation of the Sound

Our interactive IPA chart is responsive, this means it adjusts to any screen size. If part of the chart is not visible, please click the red and green arrows to see the additional symbols.

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IPA Chart with Sounds - International Phonetic Alphabet Sounds

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The interactive International Phonetic Alphabet chart and online resource. Listen to each of the sounds from the International Phonetic Alphabet. IPA chart sounds and symbols.

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[13 min] In this lecture, Prof Handke describes the differences between phonetics and phonology, using examples from English and German.

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[14 min] In this lecture, we distinguish between two types of word stores: dictionaries and lexicons. Prof Handke also shows how lexical entries are defined and stored in a linguistic manner.

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[14 min] Using English as an example, this lecture teaches us how to identify phonemes, a family of speech sounds that never occur in the same situation ('in complementary distribution').

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If you are interested in learning about the different word classes and their functions in language, please see the lectures below:

Noun
Noun classes
Adverbial
The verb in Present Day English (Part 1)
The verb in Present Day English (Part 2)
The verb in Present Day English (Part 3)

Verb functions:
Tense
Mood & modality
Aspect & voice

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Here, we have a list of additional optional materials about phonetics and phonology. If you are interested to find out more about these topics, please see the links below:

Reading:
Book chapter containing definitions and concepts in phonetics and phonology

Activity:
An interactive activity to familiarise yourself with IPA

Lectures:
More on phonemes
Identifying distinctive features in phonology, using English as an example
More on distinctive features

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6.12 More about morphological operations and processes

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6.12 More about morphological operations and processes

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[19 min] If you are interested in finding out more about other morphological operations, this lecture uses present-day English as an example to describe a few other operations found in the English language.

If you would like to find out more about morphological processes, please refer to the lectures on the topics below:

Compounding

Derivation

Reduplication

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3.5.1 Artificial Intelligence (AI) and language

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3.5.1 Artificial Intelligence (AI) and language

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With the advent of AI and the rapidly evolving landscape of technology in education, read about how the Ministry of Education MOE is implementing AI tools to complement students' learning experiences

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From languages, we will now move on to explore Linguistics, the study of languages.

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[13 min] What is Linguistics and what does it do? What is the point of studying Linguistics? Prof Handke's lecture provides the definition of Linguistics, an introduction to the fields of Linguistics, and an overview of data collection methods central to Linguistics studies.

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[7 min] Prof Handke points out the differences between Language and Linguistics in this short lecture.

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The Virtual Linguistics and Literature Campus

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1.10 Linguistics as a window to the brain

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1.10 Linguistics as a window to the brain

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[50 min] Professor of Psychology Steven Pinker, renowned for his research on visual cognition, psycholinguistics, and social relations, discusses why language is useful for us to understand how our brain works.

He draws data from various fields of linguistics, and explores the importance of language to social relationships, human biology, and human evolution.

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Steven Pinker: Linguistics as a Window to Understanding the Brain | Big Think

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[10 min] This lecture describes the types of writing systems found in the languages of the world.