语言学常识

语言学常识

PartOne:Definitions1.Language:Languageisameansofverbalcommunication.Itis(1)humanspeech;(2)theabilitytocommunicatebythismeans;(3)asystemofvocalsoundsandcombinationsofsuchsoundstowhichmeaningisattributed,usedfortheexpressionorcommunicationofthoughtsandfeelings;(4)thewrittenrepresentationofsuchasystem.2.Langue:thelanguagesystemsharedbyaspeechcommunity.Parole:theconcreteutterancesofaspeaker.3.Languagecompetence:unconsciousknowledgeofthesystemofgrammaticalrulesinalanguage.Languageperformance:thelanguageactuallyusedbypeopleinspeakingorwriting.4.Creativity:Languageisresourcefulbecauseofitsdualityandrecursiveness.5.Phonology:thestudyofthesoundpatternsandsoundsystemsoflanguages.Itaimstodiscovertheprinciplesthatgovernthewaysoundsareorganizedinlanguages,andtoexplainthevariationsthatoccur.6.Articulatoryphonetics:thestudyofhowspeechsoundsareproduced.7.Phoneme:aunitexplicitsoundcontrast.Iftwosoundsinalanguagemakeacontrastbetweentwodifferentwords,theyaresaidtobedifferentphonemes.8.IPA:InternationalPhoneticAlphabetisasetofstandardphoneticsymbolsintheformofachart.9.Morpheme:thesmallestunitoflanguageintermsoftherelationshipbetweenexpressionandcontent,aunitthatcannotbedividedintofurthersmallerunitswithoutdestroyingordrasticallyalteringthemeaning,whetheritislexicalorgrammatical.LexicalFreeFunctionalMorphemeDerivationalBoundInflectional10.Inflection:isthemanifestationofgrammaticalrelationshipthroughtheadditionofinflectionalaffixessuchasnumber,person,finiteness,aspectandcasestowhichtheyareattached.11.Derivation:isthemostcommonword-formationprocesstobefoundintheproductionofnewEnglishwords.ItisaccomplishedbymeansofalargenumberofaffixesofEnglishlanguage,andshowstherelationshipbetweenrootsandaffixes.12.Syntax:thestudyoftherulesgoverningthewaysdifferentconstituentsarecombinedtoformsentencesinalanguage,orthestudyoftheinterrelationshipsbetweenelementsinsentencestructures.13.Constituent:Constituentisatermusedinstructuralsentenceanalysisforeverylinguisticunit,whichisapartofalargerlinguisticunit.\n1.Subordination:Subordinationreferstotheprocessorresultoflinkinglinguisticunitssothattheyhavedifferentsyntacticstatus,onebeingdependentupontheother,andusuallyaconstituentoftheother.ThusthesubordinateconstituentsarewordswhichmodifytheHead.Consequently,theycanbecalledmodifiers.2.Reference:Referenceisconcernedwiththerelationbetweenawordandthethingitrefersto,ormoregenerallybetweenalinguisticunitandanon-linguisticentityitrefersto.3.Complementaryantonymy:Complementaryantonomyisthesenserelationbetweentwoantonymswhicharecomplementarytoeachother.Thatis,theydivideupthewholeofasemanticfieldcompletely.Notonlytheassertionofonemeansthedenialoftheother,thedenialofonealsomeanstheassertionoftheother.4.Hyponymy:Hyponymy,thetechnicalnameforinclusivenesssenserelation,isamatterofclassmembership.5.ContextofSituation:isaframeworkputforwardbyFirth.Thistheoryhasthefollowingelements.A.Therelevantfeaturesoftheparticipants,persons,personalities:(1)Theverbalactionoftheparticipants.(2)Thenon-verbalactionoftheparticipants.B.Therelevantobjects.C.Theeffectsoftheverbalaction.6.LinguisticRelativity:ThistermhasthesamemeaningwithlinguisticdeterminismandtheSapir-Whorfhypothesis.7.Sapir-WhorfHypothesis:isatheoreticassumptionwhichsuggeststhatourlanguagehelpsmouldourwayofthinkingand,consequently,differentlanguagesmayprobablyexpressspeakers’uniquewaysofunderstandingtheworld.Inaloosesense,thistermcanbeinterchangeablyusedwithlinguisticrelativityandlinguisticdeterminism.II.Explanation1.Describetherecursivenatureoflanguage.(1-7:Workbook:chapter-itemnumber)Therecursivenatureoflanguageprovidesatheoreticalbasisforthecreativityoflanguage.Forinstance,wecanwriteasentencelikethis:TodayIencounteredanoldfriendwhowasmyclassmatewhenIwasinelementaryschoolwheretherewasanappleorchardinwhichweslidtoselectripeapplesthat…2.Prescriptiveanddescriptivetypesoflinguisticstudies(1-1)Prescriptive:tomakeauthoritarianstatementaboutthecorrectnessofaparticularuseoflanguage.Descriptive:tomakeanobjectiveandsystematicaccountofthepatternsanduseofalanguageorvariety.\n3.GivethedescriptionofthefollowingsoundsegmentsinEnglish(2-2)[d][k][l][u:][η][θ][p][i][d]:voicedalveolarstop带声齿龈塞音[k]:voicelessvelarstop不带声软腭塞音[l]:alveolarlateral齿龈边音[u:]:highbacktenseroundedvowel高厚圆唇紧元音[ŋ]:velarnasal软腭鼻音[Ɵ]voicelessdentalfricative带声齿擦音[p]:voicelessbilabialstop不带声双唇塞音[i]:highfrontlaxunroundedvowel高前展唇松元音4.Explain"words"inthreesenses.(p55-56,course-bookpagenumber)(1)AphysicallydefinableunitLanguageisproducedasacontinuousstretchofspeechorwriting,butonecanstillfindpausesandblankseverynowandthen.Thus,wordmaybeseenasasetofsoundsegmentsorwritinglettersbetweentwopausesorblanks.(2)WordbothasgeneraltermandasaspecifictermWordmaybeusedbothasageneralterm(thenboyandboysarejustoneword)andasspecificwords(boyandboysaretwowords.)(3)AgrammaticalunitThegrammarofalanguagecontainsasetoflayers,andwordisoneofthem.Aword,inthissense,isthenagrammaticalunit,justlikemorphemeorclausecomplex.5.Giveanexampletoexplainthemeaningofawordinthefourways.(p106-107)Supposeyoudonotknowtheworddesk,andaskwhatitmeans.Onemaypointtotheobjectthewordstandsfor,andanswer”Thisisadesk”.Alternativelyhemaydescribetheobjectas“apieceoffurniturewithaflattopandfourlegsatwhichonereadsandwrites”.Orhemayparaphraseit,sayingthat“adeskisakindoftable,whichhasdrawers”.IfheisateacherofEnglish,thenhemaymoreoftenthannotgiveyouitsChineseequivalent书桌.6.Asstudentsoflinguistics,howshouldweunderstandtherelationshipsbetweenfunctionalismandformalism?(7-4)Ahealthierunderstandingoftherelationshipsbetweenfunctionalismandformalismistoregardthemastwosidesofacoinratherthantwocontrastingtheoriesorconcepts.Meanwhile,wemustalsoadmitthateachofthemhassomethingratheruniqueintermsoftheselectionoftheoreticalframeworks,perspective,researchconcerns,andmethods.Forinstance,whenwewanttostudygrammaticalissuesfromatypologicalperspective,aformaldescriptionofthedifferencesinlanguagesstructureprovestobeamoreeconomicandfeasibleapproach.Ontheotherhand,ifweattempttoexamineissuesrelatedtolanguageuse,afunctionalperspectivewillbeabetterchoice.Ineithercase,thereisnoabsolutecontrastbetweenthetwo,ifwewanttohaveaholisticstudyoflinguisticproblems.III.Questions1.Howisthedescriptionofconsonantsdifferentfromthatofvowels?(2-5[3])Thesoundsegments(speechsounds)areclassifiedintoconsonants辅音/子音andvowels元音/母音.Consonantsareproducedbyobstructingtheairstreamatsomepointofthevocaltract(声道).Vowelsareproducedwiththeairstreampassingthroughthevocaltractwithoutobstruction.Thedistinctionbetweenvowelsandconsonantsliesintheobstructionofairstream.\n2.Towhatextentisphonologyrelatedtophoneticsandhowdotheydiffer?(2-5[4])Bothphoneticsandphonologystudyhumanspeechsoundsbuttheydifferinthelevelsofanalysis.Phoneticsstudieshowspeechsoundsareproduced,transmitted,andperceived.Phonologyisthestudyofthesoundpatternsandsoundsystemsoflanguages.Itaimstodiscovertheprinciplesthatgovernthewaysoundsareorganizedinlanguages,andtoexplainthevariationsthatoccur.3.Ismorphemeagrammaticalconceptorasemanticone?Whatisitsrelationtophoneme?(3-3)(1)Morphemeisbothagrammaticalconceptandasemanticone.Sincemorphemeisthesmallestunitintermsofexpressionandcontent,itatthesametimecoversthegrammaticalandthesemanticaspectoflinguisticunit.(2)Therelationbetweenmorphemeandphonemeisalsooftwofoldfeature,viz.one-to-oneone-to-more.Aswiththeformertype,one-to-one,re-isthekindofmorphemethatalwaysconsistsoftwophonemes/ri:/;asforthelattertype,one-to-morerelation,atypicalexamplewouldbethepluralmorphemethatfollowsanounoraverb.{s}afteranouncanbepronouncedinthreewaysviz./s/,/z/,and/iz/,asinlocks,bags,andwatches;{z}afteraverbcanalsobepronouncedinthreeways,viz./s/,/z/,and/iz/,asinstops,drags,andcatches.4.WhatisIC?Giveasentence,indicatethecategoryofeachwordanddrawaTreeDiagramtoshowIC.(4-2;p87-88)ICmeansImmediateConstitutes.InthesentenceTheboyatetheapple,S(A),theboy(B),atetheapple(C),eachpartisaconstituent.Iftwoconstituents,intheexampleabove,(B)theboy,(C)atetheapple,arejoinedtoformahierarchicallyhigherconstituentA(“S”,hereasentence),thenBandCaresaidtobetheimmediateconstituentsofA.TaketheconstructionTheboyatetheappleforexampleagain,onecananalyzeitbymeansofaTreeDiagramSNPVPDetNVNPDetNTheboyatetheappleTheboyatetheapple5.HowdoyouunderstandtheReferentialTheory?(p107)Thetheoryofmeaningwhichrelatesthemeaningofawordtothethingitrefersto,orstandsfor,isknownastheReferentialTheory.\nHowever,therearealsoproblemswiththistheory.Oneisthatwhenweexplainthemeaningofdeskbypointingtothethingitrefersto,wedonotjustmeantheconcretethingwecanseewithoureyes.Thereissomethingabstractbehind,whichhasnoexistenceinthematerialworldandcanonlybesensedinourminds.ThisabstractthingisusuallycalledConcept.Theotheristhatthereisadifferencebetweensenseandreference.Tosomeextent,wecansayeverywordhasasense,i.e.someconceptualcontent.Butnoteverywordhasareference.Grammaticalwordslikebut,if,anddonotrefertoanything.AndwordslikeGod,ghostanddragonrefertoimaginarythings.6.Whydoweneedtoteachcultureinourlanguageclassroom?(7-3)Languagenotonlyreflectsculturebutalsoispartofculture.Whenitcomestolanguageteachingandlearning,theinfluenceofculturalknowledgeonthelinguisticperformanceoflanguagelearnershasbeenidentifiedandhighlighted.Ithasrepeatedlybeenfoundthatlearnerswholacksufficientknowledgeaboutthetargetculturecanhardlybecomeactiveadappropriatelanguageusersintheirtargetlanguage.Forthesereasons,theinformationconcerningculturaldifferenceshasrightlybeenintroducedinlanguageclassroomsofdifferentkindsofenhancinglearners’culturalconsciousnessandimprovingtheirperformanceincross-culturalcontextsofcommunication.