Language in Use 105-106
This unit considers the propensity of language to set tip pairs of terms or structures, in such a way that a speaker of the language would usually expect one of the pair to be used, rather than the other. It focuses on areas of vocabulary and examples from life, and shows how the principle works in the grammar.[1] The aim of this session is to explore the marked/unmarked concept as it operates in one area of the vocabulary where it is particularly apparent: those pairs of words which have the marked term prefixed by non-. Ask the class to complete some or all of the following sentences, and then discuss the reason why the marked/unmarked pair occurs in the particular form that it does.
This pan is a non- he was fined for non-
this material is non- as a non- . . . lie isn't
his answer was non- this shirt is non-
he is a non- this tyre is non-
this mat is non- their policy was one of non
this compartment is a non-
[2] The aim of this session is to extend the work of [1] into other
areas of the vocabulary and into everyday life. Other areas of the vocabulary
include those pairs like man/woman, dog/bitch or duck/drake where one of the
words may be used for both sexes, and pairs like nurse/male nurse where the
sex less likely to be found doing the job is marked by a prefix. Examples from
life include screws, which are normally put in clockwise; light switches, where
'down' for ON is the unmarked case; right-handed-ness, unmarked; tea with milk,
unmarked; second class on the railway, unmarked; bus stop, unmarked, as against
request stop, marked; present, in school, unmarked, as against absent, marked. The
aim of this session is to show the same principle at work in the grammar. This
may be done, first of all, by short sentences which have to be completed to
illustrate that singular (bird) is unmarked, as against plural (birds), and
that present (love) is unmarked as against past (loved). This may then be extended
to include such features as active, unmarked, against passive; positive, unmarked,
against negative; declarative, unmarked, against interrogative.