Series editor: David Crystal
The Language Library was created in 1952 by Eric Partridge, the great etymologist and lexicographer, who from 1966 to 1976 was assisted by his co-editor Simeon Potter. Together they commissioned volumes on the traditional themes of language study, with particular emphasis on the history of the English language and on the individual linguistic styles of major English authors. In 1977 David Crystal took over as editor, and The Language Library now includes titles in many areas of linguistic enquiry.
The most recently published titles in the series include:
Ronald Carter and Walter Nash Seeing Through Language
Florian Coulmas The Writing Systems of the World
David Crystal A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics, Fifth Edition
J. A. Cuddon A Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory, Fourth Edition
Viv Edwards Multilingualism in the English-speaking World
Geoffrey Hughes A History of English Words
Walter Nash Jargon
Roger Shuy Language Crimes
Gunnel Tottie An Introduction to American English
Ronald Wardhaugh Investigating Language
Ronald Wardhaugh Proper English: Myths and Misunderstandings about Language
Heidi Harley English Words: A Linguistic Introduction
© 2006 by Heidi Harley
BLACKWELL PUBLISHING
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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher.
First published 2006 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd
3 2007
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Harley, Heidi.
English words : a linguistic introduction / Heidi Harley.
p. cm. (The language library)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN: 978-0-631-23031-1 (alk. paper)
ISBN: 978-0-631-23032-8 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. English language—Word formation.
2. English language—Morphology. 3. English language—Phonology. 4. English language—Semantics. I. Title. II. Series.
PE1175.H43 2006
425—dc22
2005028556
A catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
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This book is dedicated to my father, Peter Harley, who takes words seriously.
This textbook is intended as a thorough introduction to the study of English words from a linguistic perspective. It introduces students to the technical study of words in several areas: phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, language acquisition and historical linguistics, in that order. Some introductory material is covered in each section, to give students the theoretical tools they will need to proceed, and then those tools are employed to analyze the English vocabulary.
This book will be of interest to students who have a general interest in words – people whom Richard Lederer smilingly calls “verbivores.” They enjoy reading tidbits of word facts in language mavens’ columns, word games and etymologies, but have never taken a linguistics or structure of language course.
The text is designed to give students a command of the basic theory in each area, skill in analyzing and understanding English words, and the grounding needed for more advanced study in linguistics or lexicology. Ultimately, however, the aim is to provide students who will never take another linguistics-related course with a grasp of some of the basic methods and questions of the field, viewed through the window of words.
This book would not have been possible without the help of a great many people. It wouldn’t exist had Andrew Carnie not suggested that I submit a proposal for it, building on my lecture notes for the cross-listed Linguistics/English 322 course, “The Structure and Meaning of Words.” My students and colleagues at the University of Arizona provided invaluable feedback and expertise in many moments of uncertainty. I would especially like to thank Michael Hammond, Adam Ussishkin, Diane Ohala and Andrew Carnie for reading and commenting on portions of the manuscript. Several teaching assistants I have had over the years also provided feedback, including Bob Kennedy, Jason Haugen, Sarah Longstaff, Gwanhi Yun and Xu Xu. Thanks especially to Xu Xu for preparing the IPA transcription key. The three anonymous reviewers of the manuscript for Blackwell provided exhaustive comments that improved it considerably and also saved me from many mistakes; I am very grateful to them. The linguistics editors at Blackwell, first Tami Kaplan and then Sarah Coleman and Ada Brunstein, have exhibited a combination of patience, persistence and tact that both reassured and motivated a fairly skittish author. I also have very much appreciated Sarah’s and Margaret Aherne’s guidance and hard work throughout the publication process.
Last but far from least, both my parents, Carolyn and Peter Harley, read through the entire first draft manuscript and provided detailed comments that have helped me no end. My husband, Art Torrance, read through the manuscript not once, but twice, thinking through each analysis and transcription, paying sharp attention to every comma and apostrophe, and saving future students from a great deal of unnecessary confusion. He also has supported me throughout the process with encouragement, snacks and late-night cups of hot chocolate. I cannot express my gratitude to him and them enough.
Needless to say, the many flaws that doubtless remain are entirely my responsibility!
Heidi Harley
April, 2005
As discussed briefly on page 41, there are many dialects of English with correspondingly many transcription systems. One of the most widely used and taught Englishes is the broadcasting standard of the United Kingdom, called ‘Received Pronunciation’, or RP for short.
In the text we use a transcription suited to American English, but for the benefit of readers who are interested in using the RP transcription system, the vowel symbols are presented in summary below (the consonants are essentially the same as those presented in the text). Also provided below are RP transcriptions corresponding to all the American English transcriptions in the text, organized by page number.
Most of the differences between the two transcriptions have to do with the different pronunciations of the two dialects, but a few differences are simply notational. For instance, rather than use the upside-down symbol /ɹ/ for the retroflex liquid, the more usual symbol /r/ is used. Similarly, rather than representing the affricates in ‘church’ and ‘judge’ with a ligature arc over the two symbols which make up their pronunciation, the RP custom is to print the two symbols closer to one another – that is, rather than /
/ and /
/, the RP transcription uses /tʃ/ and /dʒ/.
| RP vowel | Transcription |
| sea, feet, me, field | iː |
| him, big, village, women | ɪ |
| get, fetch, head, Thames | e |
| sat, hand, ban, plait | æ |
| sun, son, blood, does | ʌ |
| calm, are, father, car | ɑː |
| dog, lock, swan, cough | ɒ |
| all, saw, cord, more | ɔː |
| put, wolf, good, look | ʊ |
| soon, do, soup, shoe | uː |
| bird, her, turn, learn | ɜː |
| the, butter, sofa, about | ə |
| ape, waist, they, say | eɪ |
| time, cry, die, high | aɪ |
| boy, toy, noise, voice | ɔɪ |
| so, road, toe, know | əʊ |
| out, how, house, found | ɑʊ |
| deer, here, fierce, near | ɪə |
| care, air, bare, bear | eə |
| poor, sure, tour, lure | ʊə |
, lɪt
tz maɪ ʤɔː ɡɒt ˈnʌməˈ, ˈnekləsd, fʌʤ bɪliːz fɪfθ ɡreɪd tiːt∫ə kɔːld ɪz fɑðə wʌn iːvnɪŋ. “aɪm sɒrɪ tət wɜːdz ˈkɔːlɪŋ ɔːl ˈskræbˈ ˈpleɪəz ˌɪdiːəʊˈsɪŋkrəsiːz, keɪ∫, ɪŋ, əˌfɪ∫əˈliːz, ˈtɒnsɪl, ˌtɒnsɪˈlaɪtɪs, ˈekspɪˈdɪ∫əs, ˈræ∫, ˌɑːtɪˈfɪ∫, məˈlɪ∫əs sɪˈmæntɪks ðə ˈstrʌkt∫ər əv ˈmiːnɪŋ ðə ˈmiːnɪŋ əv ˈstrʌkt∫ət, ɪə, ˌ∫ændəˈlɪə, kæp, ˌ∫æpəˈreʊn, ˈkɑːs, ˈ∫ætəleɪn, t∫eə, ∫eɪz lɒŋ, ˈt∫erɪ, səˈriːz, t∫eɪn, ˈ∫iːnjɒn, kæt∫, t∫eɪs