语言学讲座课件

语言学讲座课件

TheNatureofLanguage\nIntroduction1.1Whatislinguistics1.1.1DefinitionLinguisticsisgenerallydefinedasthescientificstudyoflanguage.\nTheScopeofLinguisticsLanguageisacomplicatedentitywithmultiplelayersandfacets,sothelinguistshavetoconcentrateononeaspectofitatatime.\nPsycholinguisticsPhoneticsPhonologymorphologysyntaxsemanticsappliedlinguisticssociolinguisticsotherbranchesThescopeoflinguistics\nThestudyofsoundswhichareusedinlinguisticcommunicationiscalledphonetics.Thestudyofhowsoundsareputtogetherandusedincommunicationiscalledphonology.\nWhilesoundsareprimaryinlinguisticcommunication,theyarerepresentedbycertainsymbols,i.e.,wordsandmorphemes.Thestudyofthewayinwhichmorphemesarearrangedtoformwordsiscalledmorphology.\nThecombinationofthesewordstoformpermissiblesentencesinlanguagesisgovernedbyrules.Thestudyofhowmorphemesandwordsarecombinedtoformsentencesiscalledsyntax.\nTheultimateobjectiveoflanguageisnotjusttocreategrammaticallywell-formedsentences,buttoconveymeaning.Thestudyofmeaninginlanguageiscalledsemantics.\nLanguagecommunicationdoesnotoccurinavacuum.Italwaysoccursinacontext,i.e.,italwaysoccursatacertaintime,atacertainplace,betweenparticipantswithparticularintentions.Thestudyofmeaningincontextofuseiscalledpragmatics.\nLanguageisasocialactivitycarriedoutinacertainsocialenvironmentbyhumanbeings.Therefore,languageandsocietyarecloselyrelated.Thelanguageapersonusesoftenrevealshissocialbackground,andthereexistsocialnormsthatdeterminethetypeoflanguagetobeusedonacertainoccasion\nLanguagechangesareoftencausedbysocialchanges.Thestudyoflanguagewithreferencetosocietyiscalledsociolinguistics.\nThestudyoflanguagewithreferencetotheworkingsofmindiscalledpsycholinguistics.\nButinanarrowsense,appliedlinguisticsreferstotheapplicationoflinguisticprinciplesandtheoriestolanguageteachingandlearning,especiallytheteachingofforeignandsecondlanguages.Findingsinlinguisticstudiescanoftenbeappliedtothesolutionofsuchproblemsastherecoveryofspeechability.Thestudyofsuchapplicationsisgenerallyknownasappliedlinguistics.\nDifferentDefinitionofLanguageSapir:Languageisapurelyhumanandnon-instinctivemethodofcommunicatingideas,emotionsanddesiresbutmeansofvoluntarilyproducedsymbols.Hall:Languageistheinstitutionwherebyhumanscommunicateandinteractwitheachotherbymeansofhabituallyusedoral-auditoryarbitrarysymbols.Chomsky:FromnowonIwillconsiderlanguagetobeaset(finiteorinfinite)ofsentences,eachfiniteinlengthandconstructedoutofafinitesetofelements.\nAccordingtoSapir(1921:8):”Languageisapurelyhumanandnon-instinctivemethodofcommunicatingideas,emotionsanddesiresbymeansofvoluntarilyproducedsymbols.”\n1)Howeverbroadlyweconstruetheterms“idea”,“emotion”and“desire”,itseemsclearthatthereismuchthatiscommunicatedbylanguagewhichisnotcoveredbyanyofthem;and“idea”inparticularisinherentlyimprecise.Thisdefinitionsuffersmanydefects.\n2)therearemanysystemsofvoluntarilyproducedsymbolsthatweonlycountaslanguagesinwhatwefeeltobeanextendedormetaphoricalsenseoftheword“language”.\nwhatisnowpopularlyreferredtobymeansoftheexpression“bodylanguage”---whichmakesuseofgestures,postures,eye-gaze,etc.---wouldseemtosatisfythispointofSapir’sdefinition.Forexample\n“theinstitutionwherebyhumanscommunicateandinteractwitheachotherbymeansofhabituallyusedoral-auditoryarbitrarysymbols.”InhisEssayonLanguage,Hall(1968:158)tellsusthatlanguageis\nare,firstofall,thefactthatbothcommunicationandinteractionareintroducedintothedefinition(“interaction”beingbroaderthanand,inthisrespect,betterthan“cooperation”)Amongthepointstonoticehere\nbyaparticularsocietyispartofthatsociety’sculture.Hall,likeSapir,treatslanguageasapurelyhumaninstitution;andtheterm“institution”makesexplicittheviewthatthelanguagethatisused\nChomskysaysthat“FromnowonIwillconsideralanguagetobeaset(finiteorinfinite)ofsentences,eachfiniteinlengthandconstructedoutofafinitesetofelements.”SyntacticStructures(1957:13)\nDefinitionoflanguageLanguageisasystemofvocalsymbolsusedforcommunication.\nDesignFeaturesofHumanLanguageDesignfeaturesrefertothedefiningpropertiesofhumanlanguagethatdistinguishitfromanyanimalsystemofcommunication.TheAmericanlinguistCharlesHockettspecifiedtwelvedesignfeatures,fiveofwhicharediscussedhere,namely,arbitrariness,productivity,duality,displacement,andculturaltransmission\n1)Arbitrariness:therearenodirectorintrinsiclinksbetweenformandmeaningorbetweenthesignalandthemessage.Agoodexampleisthefactthatdifferentsoundsareusedtorefertothesameobjectindifferentlanguages.Ontheotherhand,weshouldbeawarethatlanguageisnotentirelyarbitrary.\nPrimaryonomatopoeiameanstheimitationofsoundsbysounds.Thereareinstancesinalllanguagesofwhatistraditionallyreferredtoasonomatopoeia.\nApesgibber.BearsgrowlBullsbellowCatsmew(purr)Eaglesscream.Frogscroak.Goatsbleat.\nAssesbray.Beetlesdrone.Camelsgrunt.Ducksquack.Fliesbuzz.Geesecackle(gabble).Horsesneigh(snort).\n模仿金属的声音：clash,clank,ting,tinkle,clang,jangle,ding-dong,tick-tack\n模仿水等液体声：splash,bubble,sizz,sizzle,splish-splosh,drip-drop\nSecondaryonomatopoeiaItmeansthatcertainsoundsandsoundsequencesareassociatedwithcertainsensesinanexpressiverelationship\nSn-1)breath-noise:sniff,snuff,snore,snort2)quickseparationormovement:snip,snap,snatch3)creeping:snake,snail,sneak,snoop\nSl-1)slippery:slide,slip,slither,slush,sluice,sludge2)pejorativesense:slattern,slut,slang,sly,sloppy,slovenly\nSk-:与表面接触：skate,skim,skin,skid,skimp-ump:表示圆形体：plump,chump,rump,hump,stump,dump,mump\n/h/表示猛烈使劲时的气喘声：heavy,haste,hurry,hit,heave,hoarse,hurl等\nWh-表示“剧烈”的拟声词：wham,whang,whap,whop,wheeze,whicker,whinny,whomp,whoop\nButthevastmajorityofthewordsinalllanguagesarenon-onomatopoeic:Theconnectionbetweentheirformandtheirmeaningisarbitraryinthat,giventheform,itisimpossibletopredictthemeaningand,giventhemeaning,itisimpossibletopredicttheform.\n2)ProductivityItreferstotheabilitythatweallhavetoconstructandunderstandanindefinitelylargenumberofsentencesinournativelanguage,includingsentencesthatwehaveneverheardbefore,butthatareappropriatetothesituationinwhichtheyareuttered.\n3)Duality:Bythedualityfeatureoflanguagewemeanlanguageisasystemconsistingoftwosets,ortwolevels,ofstructures,onebeinglowandtheotherhigher.andeachofthetwolevelshasitsownprinciplesoforganization.\nAtthelowerorthebasiclevelisastructureofsounds,whicharebasicallymeaningless.Butthesoundsoflanguagecanbegroupedandregroupedintoalargenumberofunitsofmeaningsuchasmorphemesandwords,whicharefoundatthehigherlevelofthesystem.Thisdualityofstructureordoublearticulationoflanguageenablesitsuserstotalkaboutanythingwithintheirknowledge\n4)displacementDisplacementmeansthatlanguagecanbeusedtotalkaboutthethingsthatexistinourworldofexperienceorintheworldofimagination.\nWecanusethelanguagetotalkaboutthingsthathappenedinthepast,orthatarehappeningnoworthatwillhappeninthefuture.\nThedisplacementpropertyoflanguageprovidesspeakerswithanopportunitytotalkaboutawiderangeofthings,freefrombarriersresultingfromtimeandspacefactors.Incontrast,noanimalcommunicationsystempossessesthisfeature\n5)CulturalTransmissionItmeansthatlanguageisnotgeneticallypasseddownfromonegenerationtoanother.Rather,languagehastobelearned.\nSomeimportantdistinctionsinlinguistics1)PrescriptivevsdescriptiveIfalinguisticstudyaimstodescribeandanalyzethelanguagepeopleactuallyuse,itissaidtobedescriptiveIfthelinguisticstudyaimstolaydownrulesforcorrectandstandardbehaviorinusinglanguage,itisprescriptive.\nModernlinguisticsismostlydescriptive.Earlygrammarswerelargelyprescriptive.Ittellsthelearnerwhatheshouldsay,orwhatissupposedtobecorrectusage.Ontheotherhand,mostmodernlinguiststakeadescriptiveapproachinlinguisticstudy.Inotherwords,whateveroccursintheactivelanguageshouldbedescribedandanalyzedinlinguisticinvestigation.\n2)SynchronicvsdiachronicThedescriptionofalanguageatsomepointoftimeinhistoryisasynchronicstudy.Thedescriptionofalanguageasitchangesthroughtimeisadiachronicstudy.\nDiachronic(historicallinguistics)SynchronicLinguistics\n3)SpeechandwritingModernlinguisticsregardsthespokenlanguageasthenaturalortheprimarymediumofhumanlanguageforsomeobviousreasons.\nA.SpeechispriortowritingB.Thewritingsystemisalwaysinventedbyitsuserstorecordspeech.C.Speechplaysagreaterrolethanwritingintheamountofinformationconveyed.D.Speechisalwaysthewayinwhicheverynativespeakeracquireshismothertongue.\n4)LangueandparoleLanguereferstotheabstractlinguisticsystemsharedbyallthemembersofaspeechcommunity.Parolereferstotherealizationoflangueinactualuse.SwisslinguistF.deSaussuremadethedistinctionbetweenLangueandparoleintheearly20thcentury.\nLangueisabstract;itisnotthelanguagepeopleactuallyuse.Paroleisconcrete;itreferstothenaturallyoccurringlanguageeventsLangueisthesetofconventionsandruleswhichlanguageusersallhavetoabideby,andparoleistheconcreteuseoftheconventionsandtheapplicationoftherules.\n5)CompetenceandperformanceCompetenceistheidealuser’sknowledgeoftherulesofhislanguage.Performanceistheactualrealizationofthisknowledgeinlinguisticcommunication.ThedistinctionbetweencompetenceandperformancewasproposedbytheAmericanlinguistNormChomskyinthelate1950’s.\nAccordingtoChomsky,speakershaveinternalizedasetofrulesabouttheirlanguage.Thisrulesystemenablesthemtoproduceandunderstandaninfinitelylargenumberofsentence.Despitetheprefectknowledgeofone’sownlanguage,aspeakercanstillmakemistakesinactualuse.Thisimperfectperformanceiscausedbysocialandpsychologicalfactorssuchasstress,anxiety,andembarrassment.