Linguistics means the study of language.

This semester, as we have taken language

apart, I have discovered language can be studied in more depth than I thought possible. I will
be using examples from the movie, Akeelah and the Bee, to show the connections that I have
made in regards to language. Specifically, phonology, morphology, semantics and language in
use.
I want to start with the smallest contrastive parts of a language which have no meaning,
phonology. Phonology has different areas of study, but I would like to focus on minimal pairs.
Words are considered a minimal pair if you change one sound in a word. In doing so, not only
does it change the way it sounds, but it also changes the meaning of the word. The example
from the movie that I would like to share are the words shot and shit. In the movie the kids
are playing a spelling game combined with basketball and having a conversation about the
spelling bee. One of the young men said, Spelling bees are serious shit. At that point in their
game he also said, I think Ill take the shot.
If we look at these two words, there is only one difference, the vowel. However, the
meaning of these words is completely different. The young man begins by exercising his newly
found teen freedom to express himself. The change of the phoneme makes the word
appropriate for him to use on the playground.
Morphology is the study of the smallest units in a language with meaning, and how you
use those units to make new words. Morphemes are the smallest meaningful unit in a
language. There are two types of morphemes, bound and free. The example I am going to use
is a conversation between Dr. Larabee and Akeelah in which Dr. Larabee asks:
What kind of power do we get from the sun?
Solar.
So what does sol mean?

Sun.
What does ''terraneous'' sound like?
Terraine. Meaning the earth.
''Soliterraneous'' means the sun and the earth working together. So where do big
words come from?
Little words.
As you can see from this example you can take different types of morphemes (bound or
free) and put them together to create new words.
Semantics is the study of the meaning of words and sentences. One subcategory of
semantics includes metaphors. A metaphor is a word or group of words that have a primary and
secondary meaning. In the movie there are several metaphors. Dr. Larabee is painting a
picture for Akeelah using words. He said, This national spelling bee is a tough nut. l've seen it
chew kids up and spit them out. So if you want to get there you can't be a shrinking violet.
These metaphors all have a meaning that is understood. However, in order to understand, the
context of what is being discussed is important.
I think that the most enjoyable part of the movie was recognizing the different ways
people use language. I grew up in a small town and I am sad to say that my exposure to
different uses of language has been very minimal. I was exposed to it through television, but,
as a child, my understanding was that the things I saw on television werent real. In the opening
scene of the movie there is music playing. They use English in such a way that they play with
Akeelahs name. They use the rhythm of the music as well as the letters in her name to make
something new and interesting.
Lexical borrowing happens in every language. As human being we cross paths with
different cultures and different languages. We not only borrow sugar, tools, or things from our
neighbors, we borrow language. The example I would like to focus on is when Akeelah is asked

to spell Pulchritude. She is taught that the English language borrows words from other
languages. When she is given her word to spell, she knew exactly what to do. She told the
judges that it was derived from a Latin word and gave the definition. Lexical borrowing is
shared with every culture and language.
My final example is foreigner talk. Akeelah has the capacity to change register if she
wishes. She can switch back and forth at any moment, but prefers to speak in an informal
register, because in her neighborhood that is how people speak. Dr. Larabee warns her that if
she continues to speak using an informal register, she should leave. She then chooses to use
prescriptive English and says, I dont need help from a dictatorial, truculent, supercilious
gardener. It is obvious that Akeelah has the ability to use foreigner talk when it is required.
In this paper, you have read about how the movie Akeelah and the Bee uses different
linguistic subcategories which exemplify how people use language in their daily lives. Phonology
was showcased through the use of minimal pairs. Morphology shows us that we can create
new words using bound and free morphemes. The use of semantics gives us a greater variety
and interest in our language use. Finally, we see language is used by people in a variety of
different ways. This is how users of language express themselves.
We see or hear language all around us everyday. It is something that I have taken for
granted my whole life. I had no idea that there were so many different aspects to a language. I
have really enjoyed studying language in depth.