.::Reflection on Topic 1 : Language and Communication::.

For topic 1, we have learn much about language and question itself. After completing this topic, we should be able to compare the features of language and communication. We also will be able to assess own language progress through reflections/journals. In this topic, we will be thought about a variety of subtopics. There are definition of language, language and culture, functions of language, non-verbal communication, speech and writing and last but not least English language in Malaysia. We have been give a tutorial task in group of 5. We need to discuss on how Malaysian culture affects English Language considering different factors which are multicultural society-major ethnic groups and dialect groups, urban and rural settings, political/historical influence and educational policies. my group will be presented the second factor which is urban and rural settings.


Linguistic is a systematic study of laguage. It covers phonology (the sound system), morphology and syntax (form and function i.e. the grammar of language) and lexis and semantics ( the meaning system)


Language is a code that allows us to represent thoughts and ideas by means of sounds/letters which has complex symbols with internal structure which is rule-governed.


Languagea is a code. Each word of a language is a symbol, a sequence of sounds or letters which has a particular meaning. For example: A "manggo" can be easily be called "amber".


Linguistics symbols have function and form. Words are put together to make phrases and sentence which have a structure. Structure of words in a sentence is:

• linear - a particular set of units in a particular order 
• hierarchical - one unit is made up of units lower down on the hierarchy (three or box diagram)

Linguistics units are contructed according to rules. There are spelling, grammatical rules which determine how words fit into sentences. These rules are descriptive - describe regularities in the structure of a language.


Language is specifically human. Every human language language uses sound to encode meaning. The sound sequence are known as words. These words have grammatical classes and can be combined into phrases, sentences, questions, etc.


Language use is creative. The rules of language allow us to put words together in many different/new ways.


Language use is constrained by culture. Language rules allow us much freedom to say whatever we like external factors often place constraints on this freedom.

• Speaker-particular style of speech
• Audience-style changes with audience type & speaker's purpose
• Dialect-colloquial, informal style
• Mode-oral or written
• Media-letter, SMS, book, radio
• Register-occupation, status,age,gender

We also have done a role-play in the class using the dialogue that we made ourselves consist of language functions for our ISL. We also do a non-verbal communication in the class.

Communication consist 2 process which are encoding(speaking,writing) and decoding(listening, reading) involving sender and receiver. It also have two type which are voal and non-vocal.

We also discuss together in the class about the issues of English education in Malaysia. There are so many thing that i have learned from this topic that I can use to teach in school later. Next is Topic 2. Enjoy it..

.::Activity : Miming(our group)..lets get a look::.

presented by our group:


Mohd. Khairizan, Mohd. Khairuddin, Graciella, Lydia Suzzance...

.::Still Morpheme::.

• morpheme: a combination of sounds that have a meaning.  A morpheme does not necessarily have to be a word.  Example:  the word cats has two morphemes. Cat is a morpheme, and s is a morpheme.  Every morpheme is either a base or an affix.  An affix can be either a prefix or a suffix.  Cat is the base morpheme, and s is a suffix.
• affix: a morpheme that comes at the beginning (prefix) or the ending (suffix) of a base morpheme.  Note: An affix usually is a morpheme that cannot stand alone.  Examples: -ful, -ly, -ity, -ness. A few exceptions are able, like, and less.
• base: a morpheme that gives a word its meaning.  The base morpheme cat gives the word cats its meaning: a particular type of animal.
• prefix: an affix that comes before a base morpheme.  The in in the word inspect is a prefix.
• suffix: an affix that comes after a base morpheme.  The s in cats is a suffix.
• free morpheme: a morpheme that can stand alone as a word without another morpheme.  It does not need anything attached to it to make a word. Cat is a free morpheme.
• bound morpheme: a sound or a combination of sounds that cannot stand alone as a word.  The s in cats is a bound morpheme, and it does not have any meaning without the free morpheme cat.
• inflectional morpheme: this morpheme can only be a suffix.  The s in cats is an inflectional morpheme.  An  inflectional morpheme creates a change in the function of the word. Example: the d in invited indicates past tense. English has only seven inflectional morphemes:  -s (plural) and -s (possessive) are noun inflections; -s ( 3rd-person singular), -ed ( past tense), -en (past participle), and -ing ( present participle) are verb inflections;  -er (comparative) and -est (superlative) are adjective and adverb inflections.
• derivational morpheme: this type of morpheme changes the meaning of the word or the part of speech or both.  Derivational morphemes often create new words.  Example: the prefix and derivational morpheme un added to invited changes the meaning of the word.
• allomorphs: different phonetic forms or variations of a morpheme.  Example: The final morphemes in the following words are pronounced differently, but they all indicate plurality: dogs, cats, and horses.
• homonyms: morphemes that are spelled the same but have different meanings.  Examples:  bear (an animal) and bear (to carry),  plain (simple) and plain ( a level area of land).
• homophones: morphemes that sound alike but have different meanings and spellings.  Examples: bear, bare; plain, plane; cite, sight, site.

Fifteen Common Prefixes

The following tables and tip are adopted from Grammar and Composition by Mary Beth Bauer, et al.  

Prefix	Meaning
ad-	to, toward
circum-	around, about
com-	with, together
de-	away from, off
dis-	away, apart
ex-	from, out
in-	not
in-	in, into
inter-	between
mis-	wrong
post-	after
re-	back, again
sub-	beneath, under
trans-	across
un-	not

 

Ten Common Suffixes

 

Suffix	Meaning
-able (-ible)	capable of being
-ance (-ence)	the act of
-ate	making or applying
-ful	full of
-ity	the state of being
-less	without
-ly	in a certain way
-ment	the result of being
-ness	the state of being
-tion (-ion, -sion)	the act of or the state of being

 

Tip

Suffixes can also be used to tell the part of speech of a word.  The following examples show the parts of speech indicated by the suffixes in the chart. Nouns:  -ance, -ful, -ity, -ment, -ness, -tion Verb:  -ate Adjectives:  -able, -ful, -less, -ly Adverb:  -ly

.::What is a MORPHEME??::.

Definition
	A morpheme is the smallest meaningful unit in the grammar of a language.

Discussion
	Current approaches to morphology conceive of morphemes as rules involving the linguistic context, rather than as isolated pieces of linguistic matter. They acknowledge that
	meaning may be directly linked to suprasegmental phonological units, such as tone or stress. the meaning of a morpheme with a given form may vary, depending on its immediate environment.
	Source: Payne, T. 1997a 20–21

Examples (English)

Unladylike The word unladylike consists of three morphemes and four syllables. Morpheme breaks: un- 'not' lady '(well behaved) female adult human' -like 'having the characteristics of' None of these morphemes can be broken up any more without losing all sense of meaning. Lady cannot be broken up into "la" and "dy," even though "la" and "dy" are separate syllables. Note that each syllable has no meaning on its own. Dogs The word dogs consists of two morphemes and one syllable: dog, and -s, a plural marker on nouns Note that a morpheme like "-s" can just be a single phoneme and does not have to be a whole syllable. Technique The word technique consists of only one morpheme having two syllables. Even though the word has two syllables, it is a single morpheme because it cannot be broken down into smaller meaningful parts.

Classification
	Morphemes may be classified, on the basis of word formation, characteristics into the following types:
	Morpheme type Structure Bound Free root simple, made up of a single morpheme; a basis for compounding and affixation yes/no yes/no stem may be complex, made up of one or more morphemes; a basis for affixation yes/no yes/no affix prefix infix suffix suprafix simulfix circumfix simple yes no clitic proclitic enclitic simple yes (phonologically) yes (syntactically)
	Note: A clitic is a kind of morpheme that does not fit well in the above classification system because it is phonologically bound but syntactically free. Refference: http://www.sil.org/linguistics/GlossaryOfLinguisticTerms/WhatIsAMorpheme.htm

.::What is PHONEME??::.

Definition
	A phoneme is the smallest contrastive unit in the sound system of a language.

Discussion
	Phonologists have differing views of the phoneme. Following are the two major views considered here:
	In the American structuralist tradition, a phoneme is defined according to its allophones and environments. In the generative tradition, a phoneme is defined as a set of distinctive features.

Comparison
	Here is a chart that compares phones and phonemes:
	A phone is … A phoneme is … One of many possible sounds in the languages of the world. A contrastive unit in the sound system of a particular language. The smallest identifiable unit found in a stream of speech. A minimal unit that serves to distinguish between meanings of words. Pronounced in a defined way. Pronounced in one or more ways, depending on the number of allophones. Represented between brackets by convention. Example: [b], [j], [o] Represented between slashes by convention. Example: /b/, /j/, /o/

Examples (English): Minimal pair
	Here are examples of the phonemes /r/ and /l/ occurring in a minimal pair:
	rip lip
	The phones [r] and [l] contrast in identical environments and are considered to be separate phonemes. The phonemes /r/ and /l/ serve to distinguish the word rip from the word lip.

Examples (English): Distinctive features
	Here are examples of the English phonemes /p/ and /i/ specified as sets of distinctive features:
	/p/ /i/
	-syllabic +consonantal -sonorant +anterior -coronal -voice -continuant -nasal+syllabic -consonantal +sonorant +high -low -back -round +ATR -nasal Refference: http://www.sil.org/linguistics/GlossaryOfLinguisticTerms/WhatIsAPhoneme.htm