英语语言学笔记(DOC)

第一章Chapter1InvitationstoLinguisticsTeachingaims:letthestudentshavethegeneralideaaboutlanguageandlinguistics.Teachingdifficulties:designfeaturesoflanguage;someimportantdistinctionsinlinguisticsTeachingprocedures1.language1.1Whystudylanguage?为什么学习语言Atoolforcommunication交流的工具Anintegralpartofourlifeandhumanity人类生活和人性中不可或缺的一部分.Ifwearenotfullyawareofthenatureandmechanismofourlanguage,wewillbeignorantofwhatconstitutesouressentialhumanity.如果不能完全理解语言的本质和结构,我们就会对人类的本质一无所知.1.2Whatislanguage?什么是语言1.2.1differentsensesoflanguage语言的不同意义1.whatapersonsays(concreteactofspeech)aperson’sconsistentwayofspeakingorwritingaparticularlevelofspeakingorwritinge.g.colloquiallanguageanabstractsystem2.Awebster’sNewDictionraryoffersafrequentlyusedsenseoftheword“language”:a.humanspeech人类的言语b.theabilitytocommunicatebythismeans通过言语来交流的能力c.asystemofvocalsoundsandcombinationsofsuchsoundstowhichmeaningisattributed,usedfortheexpressionorcommunicationofthoughtsandfeelings;用来表达或交流思想和感觉的一套声音及这些声音互相结合的系统d.thewrittenrepresentationofsuchasystem系统的文字表达3.thebarestofdefinition,languageisameansofverbalcommunication.最简洁的定义:语言是言语交流的一种方式.Languageisinstrumentalinthatcommunicatingbyspeakingorwritingisapurposefulact.Itissocialandconventionalinthatlanguageisasocialsemiosticandcommunicationcanonlytakeplaceeffectivelyifalltheusersshareabroadunderstandingofhumaninteractionincludingsuchassociatedfactorsasnonverbalcues,motivation,andsocio-culturalroles.Languagedistinguishesusfromanimals.因为说和写的交流方式是一种有目的的行为,所以语言是实用性的;因为语言是社会符号,语言的交流只能在所有参与者广泛理解了人类的那些非言语的暗示,动机,社会文化角色等等互相关联的因素之后才能有效进行,因此语言又是社会的,约定俗成的.语言使人类区别于动物.1.2.2definitionsLanguageisasystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsusedforhumancommunication.Whatiscommunication?Aprocessinwhichinformationistransmittedfromasource(senderorspeaker)toagoal(receiverorlistener).Asystem----sinceelementsinitarearrangedaccordingtocertainrulessystematically,ratherthanrandomly.Theycannotbearrangedatwill.e.g.Hethetablecleaned.(×)bkli(×)Whydowesaylanguageisarbitrary?Arbitrary----thereisnointrinsic(logic)connectionbetweenalinguisticformanditsmeaning,betweenthesoundsthatpeopleuseandtheobjectstowhichthesesoundsrefer.Thisexplainsandisexplainedbythefactthatdifferentlanguagehavedifferentwordsforthesameobject,itisgoodillustrationofthearbitrarynatureoflanguage.itisonlyourtacitagreementofutteranceandconceptatworkandnotanyinnaterelationshipboundupintheutterance.Atypicalexampletoillustratethearbitraryoflanguageisafamousquotationfromshakepeare’splay:”RomeoandJuliet:Arosebyanyothernamewouldsmellassweet.一朵玫瑰不管它叫什么名字,闻起来都是一样香的.Symbols----wordsarejustthesymbolsassociatedwithobjects,actions,andideasbynothingbutconvention.Namely,peopleusethesoundsorvovalformstosymbolizewhattheywishtoreferto.Vocal--------theprimarymediumforalllanguagesissound,nomatterhowwelldevelopedtheirwritingsystemsare.Writingsystemscamemuchlaterthanthespokenforms.Thefactthatsmallchildrenlearnandcanonlylearntospeakandlistenbeforetheywriteorreadalsoindicatesthatlanguageisprimarilyvocal,ratherthanwritten.Writingsystemscameintobeingmuchlaterthanthespokenforms.Peoplewithlittleornoliteracycanalsobecompetentlanguageusers.Human----languageishuman-specific.Humanbeingshavedifferentkindsofbrainsandvocalcapacity.“LanguageAcquisitionDevice”(LAD)二.Whatcharacteristicsoflangaugedoyouthinkshouldbeincludedinagood,comprenhensivedefinitionoflanguage?Languageisarule-governedsystem;langaugeisbasicallyvocal;langaugeisarbitrary;langagueisusedforhumancommunication.1.3Designfeaturesoflanguage语言的结构特征Designfeatures------referstothedefiningpropertiesofhumanlanguagethatdistinguishitfromanyanimalsystemofcommunication.Theyarearbitrariness,duality,creativity/productivity,displacement,cluturaltransmissionandinterchangeability.Designfeatures-----arefeaturesthatdefineourhumanlanguages,suchasarbitrariness,duality,creativity,displacement,culturaltransmission,etc.(指决定了人类语言性质的特征.例如任意性,二重性,创造性,移位性,文化转移性等.)TheAmericanlinguistCharlesHockettspecifiedtwelvedesignfeatures.Whatisarbitrariness?任意性a.arbitrariness【'ɑːbɪtrərɪnɪs】----arbitrariness(任意性):onedesignfeatureofhumanlanguage,whichreferstothefactthattheformsoflinguisticsignsbearnonaturalrelationshiptotheirmeaning.(人类语言的本质特征之一,指语言符号的形式与意义之间没有自然的联系.)ItwasdiscussedbySaussurefirst.Thelinkbetweenthemisamatterofconvention.E.g.“house”uchi(Japanese)Mansion(French)房子(Chinese)(1)arbitrarybetweenthesoundofamorphemeanditsmeaning语言的音和义之间的任意性a.By“arbitrary”,wemeanthereisnologicalconnectionbetweenmeaningsandsounds.语言的意义和语音之间没有逻辑关系。Agogmightbeapigifonlythefirstpersonorgroupofpersonshaduseditforagig.Languagethereforeislargelyarbitrary.b.Butlanguageisnotabsolutelyseemtobesomesound-meaningassociation,ifwethinkofechowords,like“bang””crash””roar””rumble””cakle”,whicharemotivatedinacertainsense.”onomatopoeia拟声词---wordsthatsoundlikethesoundstheydescribe那些发音像它们的描写的声音的词c.somecompounds(wordscompoundedtobeoneword)arenotentirelyarbitaryeither.“type”and”write”areopaqueorunmotivatedwords,while“type-writer”islessso,ormoretransparentormotivatedthanthewordsthatmakeit.sowecansay“arbitrariness”isamatterofdegree.arbitraryando