Comparing English to Other Languages

One can learn a lot about one's own language by comparing it to other languages. This group's project will be to compare English to at least two other languages one of which is a non-Indo-European Language. Article #31 in LRLC explains what is meant by Indo-European Language. Included is a chart of the "Indo-European Family Tree" (p. 417).

Begin your investigation of this topic by reading "The Classification of Languages" by Alexsandra Steinbergs, Chapter Nine of Contemporary Linguistics by William O'Grady, Michael Dobrovolsky, and Mark Aronoff (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1977) [Reserve].

In contrasting languages linguists speak of genetic classification and typological classification. In genetic classification languages are grouped according to their descent. Languages that developed historically from the same ancestor language are said to be "genetically related." Sometimes languages that are genetically related are quite different typologically, that is they have different structural characteristics. Latvian and English, for example, are genetically related (both are Indo-European languages) but they have a very different morphological structure.

Typological classification involves comparison at these levels:

1. Phonology

How many vowel phonemes? How many consonant phonemes? What is the syllable structure? Are consonant clusters permitted? Etc.

2. Morphology

In comparing languages at the level of morphology, linguists talk of isolating, polysynthetic, synthetic-agglutinating, synthetic-fusional, and mixed types of languages (See "The Classification of Languages" by Steinbergs for an explanation of these terms; they aren't as difficult as they may sound). What type is English? What type are the languages you are comparing English to?

3. Syntax

A common comparison at this level is word order in simple declarative sentences. There are three common word orders: Subject-Object-Verb (SOV), SVO, and VSO. What order does English have? What order occurs in the languages you are comparing English to? In some languages (Russian, e.g.) word order can be varied to emphasize certain words or to create stylistic effect. Is this possible in English? Why or why not?

4. Discourse

Researchers interested in "contrastive rhetoric" have compared languages at the discourse or text level. Some researchers argue, for example, that Chinese and Korean writers organize paragraphs differently from native-speakers of English. Kaplan suggests Chinese and Korean writers prefer a more cyclical organization whereas English writers prefer a more linear structure. Hinds (see below) argues that Japanese organize discourse differently because Japanese unlike English is a "reader responsible" language. Here are two articles to read to learn more about comparing languages at the level of discourse:

Kaplan, Robert. "Cultural Thought Patterns in Intercultural Education." Composing in a Second Language. Ed. Sandra

McKay. Rowley, MA: Newbury House, 1984. 43-62. Reprinted from Language Learning 16 (1966): 1-20 [Reserve].

Hinds, John. "Reader Versus Writer Responsibility: A New Typology." Writing Across Languages: Analysis of L2

Text. Ed. Ulla Connor and Robert B. Kaplan. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1987. 141-152 [Reserve].

Here's a possible way to divide up the responsibility. (I'm assuming the group has chosen to compare English to two other languages.)

1. Genetic Classification. Explain how a genetic classification differs from a typological classification. Explain how English is genetically or not genetically related to the two other languages by discussing the family trees of the three languages.

2. Typological comparison at level of phonology.

3. Typological comparison at level of morphology.

4. Typological comparison at level of syntax and discourse.

5. Discussion of some difficulties speakers of the two non-English languages might have in learning English.