语言学教程第三版配套笔记

1StellaChapter1Whatislanguage?designfeaturesoflanguage;Whystudylanguage?AtoolforcommunicationAnintegralpartofourlifeandhumanityIfwearenotfullyawareofthenatureandmechanismofourlanguage,wewillbeignorantofwhatconstitutesouressentialhumanity.[A]TheoriginsoflanguageSomespeculationsoftheoriginsoflanguage:ThedivinesourceThebasichypothesis:ifinfantswereallowedtogrowupwithouthearinganylanguage,thentheywouldspontaneouslybeginusingtheoriginalgod-givenlanguage.Actually,childrenlivingwithoutaccesstohumanspeechintheirearlyyearsgrowupwithnolanguageatall.Thenatural-soundsourceThebow-wowtheory:thesuggestionisthatprimitivewordscouldhavebeenimitationsofthenaturalsoundswhichearlymenandwomenheardaroundthem.TheYo-heave-hotheory:thesoundsproducedbyhumanswhenexertingphysicaleffort,especiallywhenco-operatingwithotherhumans,maybetheoriginsofspeechsounds.OnomatopoeicsoundsTheoral-gesturesourceItisclaimedthatoriginallyasetofphysicalgestureswasdevelopedasameansofcommunication.Thepatternsofmovementinarticulationwouldbethesameasgesturalmovement;hencewavingtonguewoulddevelopfromwavinghand.GlossogeneticsThisfocusesmainlyonthebiologicalbasisoftheformationanddevelopmentofhumanlanguage.PhysiologicaladaptationdevelopnamingabilityinteractionsandtransactionsPhysicaladaptation:Humanteethareuprightandroughlyeveninheight.Humanlipshaveintricatemuscleinterlacing,thusmakingthemveryflexible.Thehumanmouthissmallandcontainsaveryflexibletongue.Thehumanlarynxislowered,creatingalongercavitycalledthepharynx,andmakingiteasierforthehumantochokeonthepiecesoffood,butmakingthesoundspeechpossible.Thehumanbrainislateralized.Thoseanalyticfunctions(tool-usingandlanguage)arelargelyconfinedtothelefthemisphereofthebrainformosthumans.Twomajorfunctionsoflanguage:Interactional:asocialfunctionoflanguage.2Transactional:afunctioninvolvingthecommunicationofknowledgeandinformation[B]ThepropertiesoflanguageLanguageisasystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsusedforhumancommunication.a)System:combinedtogetheraccordingtorulesb)Arbitrary:nointrinsicconnectionbetweenthewordpenandthethingintheworldwhichitreferstoc)Vocal:theprimarymediumissoundforalllanguagesd)Human:languageishuman-specificCommunicativevs.Informative:Communicative:intentionallyusinglanguagetocommunicatesomethingInformative:through/viaanumberofsignalsthatarenotintentionallysentDesignfeaturesreferstothedefiningpropertiesofhumanlanguagethatdistinguishitfromanyanimalsystemofcommunicationDisplacementLanguagecanbeusedtorefertocontextsremovedfromtheimmediatesituationsofthespeaker(refertopastandfuturetimeandtootherlocations)ArbitrarinessThereisnologicalornaturalconnectionbetweenalinguisticform(eithersoundorword)anditsmeaning.E.g.houseuchi(Japanese)Mansion(French)(Chinese)Whilelanguageisarbitrarybynature,itisnotentirelyarbitrary.a)echoofthesoundsofobjectsoractivities:onomatopoeicwordsb)somecompoundwordsCreativityLanguageisproductiveinthatitmakespossibletheconstructionandinterpretationofnewsignalsbyitsusers.(novelutterancesarecontinuallybeingcreated.)CulturaltransitionWhilehumancapacityforlanguagehasageneticbasis(everyonewasbornwiththeabilitytoacquirealanguage),thedetailsofanylanguagesystemarenotgeneticallytransmitted,butinsteadhavetobetaughtandlearnt.DiscretenessEachsoundinthelanguageistreatedasdiscrete.DualityLanguageisorganizedattwolevelsorlayerssimultaneously.Thelowerorbasiclevelisastructureofsoundswhicharemeaningless.Thehigherlevelismorphemeorword(doublearticulation)thehigherlevel----wordswhicharemeaningfulthelowerorthebasiclevel----soundswhicharemeaningless,butcanbegroupedandregroupedintowords.3Theabove6propertiesmaybetakenasthecorefeaturesofhumanlanguage.Vocal-auditorychannel,reciprocity,specialization,non-directionality,orrapidfade,thesepropertiesarebesttreatedaswaysofdescribinghumanlanguage,butnotasameansofdistinguishingitfromothersystemsofcommunication.[C]Thedevelopmentofwrittenlanguagepictograms&ideogramsPictogram:whensomeofthepicturescametorepresentparticularimagesinaconsistentway,wecanbegintodescribetheproductasaformofpicture-writing,orpictograms.Ideogram:thepicturedevelopedasmoreabstractandusedotherthanitsentityisconsideredtobepartofasystemofidea-writing,orideogramHieroglyph:LogogramsWhensymbolscometobeusedtorepresentwordsinalanguage,theyaredescribedasexamplesofword-writing,orlogograms.Arbitrarinessawritingsystemwhichwasword-basedhadcomeintoexistence.Cuneiform--theSumerians(5000and6000yearsago)Chineseisoneexampleofitsmodernwritingsystem.Advantages:twodifferentdialectscanbebasedonthesamewritingsystem.Disadvantages:vastnumberofdifferentwrittenforms.SyllabicwritingWhenawritingsystememploysasetofsymbolswhichrepresentthepronunciationsofsyllables,itisdescribedassyllabicwriting.ThePhoenicians:thefirsthumanbeingsthatappliedthefulluseofasyllabicwritingsystem(ca1000BC)AlphabeticwritingSemiticlanguages(ArabicandHebrew):firstappliedthisruleTheGreeks:takingtheinherentlysyllabicsystemfromthePhoeniciansviatheRomansLatinalphabetandCyrillicalphabet(Slaviclanguages)RebuswritingRobuswritingevolvesaprocesswherebythesymbolusedforanentitycomestobe