语言学导论第一章

Chapter1IntroductionPreliminaries:Whatislanguage?Whatislanguageusedfor?(1)aboutlanguage1.Agenerallyaccepteddefinition:Languageisasystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsusedforhumancommunication.Languagemustbeasystem.Languageisarbitrary.Languageissymbolic.Languageisprimarilyvocal.Languageishuman-specific.许国璋先生对‘语言’的定义做了如下概括:语言是人类特有的一种符号系统,当它作用于人与人的关系的时候,它是表达相互反应的中介;当它作用于人与客观世界的关系的时候,它是认知事物的工具;当它作用于文化的时候,它是文化的载体和容器。Whatarethefeaturesofhumanlanguages?Inwhatwaysarehumanlanguagesdifferentfromthecommunicativesystemofotheranimals?2.designfeaturesofhumanlanguagearbitrariness(任意性):Thereisnologicalconnectionbetweenmeaningsandsounds.e.g.书(汉)----book(英)Arosebyanyothernamewouldsmellassweet(Shakespeare).Findsomecasesinwhichthelanguageweuseisnotarbitrary.*onomatopoeia(拟声):quack-quackbangcrashroarcuckoodingdongkachaputong*compounds:rainbowbittersweetpickpocket*pictograph(象形文字)/hieroglyph(象形符号)休从北Arbitrarinessandconventionproductivity/creativity(创造性):Wecanproduceandunderstandaninfinitelylargenumberofsentences,includingsentenceswehaveneverheardbefore.Wecancreateendlesssentences.e.g.Heboughtabookwhichwaswrittenbyateacherwhotaughtinaschoolwhichwasknownforitsgraduateswho…dualityofstructure(结构的二重性):Humanlanguageisasystemconsistingoftwosetsofstructuresortwolevels.thehigherlevel:astructureofmeaningfulunits(morphemesorwords)thelowerlevel:astructureofsounds,whicharemeaninglessbythemselvese.g.pencake[p][e][n][k][ei][k]Isitsignificantforhumanlanguagestohavedualityofstructure?Whatwouldhappenifhumanlanguagehadonlyonesystemofstructure?Doesthetrafficlightsystemhaveduality,why?displacement(不受时空限制的特征):Languagecanbeusedtorefertothingswhicharepresentorabsent,realorimaginedmattersinthepast,present,orfuture,orinfar-awayplaces.e.g.A:WhenareyoumovingtoAmerica?B:I’mnotsureyet.Maybenextmonth.culturaltransmission:Languageisculturallytransmitted.Itispassedonfromonegenerationtothenextthroughteachingandlearning,ratherthanbyinstinct.e.g.thestoryofawolfchildWhatarethefunctionsofhumanlanguages?3.functionsoflanguagephatic:Hello.Goodmorning.Lovelyweather,isn’tit?吃饭了吗?去哪里呀?directive:Passmethesalt,please.Don’tdothatanymore.You’dbetterdoityourself.informative:Waterfreezesat32degreesandboilsat212degreesFahrenheit.interrogative:Whattimeisitnow?performative:e.g.(thechairman):NowIdeclarethemeetingopen.(thejudge):Isentenceyouto10yearsinprison.expressive:I’msorrytohearthat.I’mgladtomeetyou.Thankyouverymuch!Congratulations!evocative:Theuseoflanguagetocreatecertainfeelinginthehearer.Itsaimistoamuse,startle,angerorplease.e.g.jokes,threat,warningmetalingual:Wordslike“I,you,he”arepronouns.*otherclassifications:A.descriptivefunctionexpressivefunctionsocialfunctionB.ideationalfunction概念功能interpersonalfunction人际功能textualfunction语篇功能C.addresser---emotive情感的addressee---conative意动的context---referential所指的message---poetic诗学的contact---phatic交感的code---metalinguistic元语言的4.theoriginoflanguagethedivine-origintheory:AccordingtoChristianbelief,GodgaveAdamthepowertonameallthings.“Sohe(God)tooksomesoilfromthegroundandformedalltheanimalsandallthebirds.Thenhebroughtthemtothemantoseewhathewouldnamethem,andthatishowtheygottheirnames.theinventiontheory:Manypeoplethinkthatmaninventedlanguage.Somepeoplebelievethatlanguageatitsearlieststageconsistedof“criesofnature”.Otherssuggestthatlanguagearoseoutofthegruntsofmenworkingtogether.theevolutionarytheory:Inthelongprocessofevolution,mengraduallystoodup.Freeuseofthelungsandthevocalcordsmadeitpossibleformentoarticulatesounds.Somebelievethatitislaborthatcreatedthenecessityforlanguage.(2)aboutlinguisticsLinguisticscanbedefinedasthescientificorsystematicstudyoflanguage.Apersonwhostudieslinguisticsisusuallyreferredtoasalinguist.1.mainbranchesoflinguisticsphonetics,phonologymorphologysyntaxsemanticspragmaticsstylisticssociolinguisticsneurolinguisticspsycholinguisticsappliedlinguisticscomputationallinguisticsCanyouthinkofsomefieldstowhichlinguisticknowledgecanbeapplied?2.someimportantdistinctions:descriptivevs.prescriptive:Ifalinguisticstudyaimstodescribeandanalyzethelanguagepeopleactuallyuse,itissaidtobedescriptive(描述性的);ifthelinguisticstudyaimstolaydownrulesfor“correctandstandard”behaviorinusinglanguage,itissaidtobeprescriptive(规定性的).PeoplesayX.Don’tsayX,sayY.synchronic(共时的)vs.diachronic(历时的):Thedescriptionofalanguageatsomepointoftimeinhistoryisasynchronicstudy;thedescriptionofalanguageasitchangesthroughtimeisadiachronicstudy.OldEnglishsMiddleEnglishsModernEnglishsdlangueandparole(Saussure)Langue(语言系统)referstotheabstractlinguisticsystemsharedbyallthemembersofaspeechcommunity,andparole(言语)referstotherealizationoflangueinactualuse.competenceandperformance(Chomsky)Chomskydefinescompetence(语言能力)astheidealuser’sknowledgeoftherulesofhislanguage,andperformance(语言运用)theactualrealizationofthisknowledgeinlinguisticcommunication.traditionalgrammarandmodernlinguistics:1.Modernlinguisticsisdescriptivewhiletraditionalgrammarisprescriptive.2.Modernlinguisticsregardsthespokenlanguageasprimary,notthewritten.3.Modernlinguisticsdiffersfromtraditionalgrammara