英语语言学概论第九章笔记
Chapter 9 Psycholinguistics 心理语言学1.The biological foundations of language 语言的生理基础a)The case of Phineas Gage 盖奇案例One afternoon in September 1848, a tragedy happed to Gage. A huge metal rod had gone through the front part of Gage’s brain, but his langua ge abilities were unaffected.The point of this amazing case is that, if our language ability is located in the brain, it is clear that it is not situated right at the front.1848年9月的一个下午，有一名叫菲尼亚斯.盖奇的美国人身上发生了一场悲剧。
一根大铁杆穿过了盖奇的大脑的前部，但他的语言能力却未受影响。
这一令人惊异的案例的意义在于，如果我们的语言能力位于大脑中，很显然不在其头部。
b)The human brain 人的大脑The human brain is the most complicated organ of the body. Lying under the skull, the human brain contains an average of ten billion nerve cells called neurons.人的大脑是人体最复杂的器官，它位于头盖骨下，平均包含有一百亿个神经细胞，即神经元。
The most important part of the brain is the outside surface of the brain, called the cerebral cortex. The cortex is the decision-making organ of the body, receiving messages from all the sensory organs and initiating all voluntary action. Many of the cognitive abilities that distinguish humans from other mammals, such as sophisticated reasoning, linguistic skills, and musical ability, are believed to reside in the cortex.大脑最主要的部分是它的外表面，这一外表面称为大脑皮层。
这一皮层是人体中做出各种决定的器官，它从各感受器官接受信息，并启动所有有意的动作。
使人区别于其它哺乳动物的是人有很多认知能力，如复杂的推理、语言技巧和音乐才能，据认为都归因于这一皮层。
The brain is divided into two roughly symmetrical halves, called hemispheres, one on the right and one on the left. These hemispheres are connected like twins right down the middle by a number of interconnecting nerve pathways.大脑可分为大致对称的两半，称为半球，一个在左边，一个在右边。
这两个半球由一些起连接作用的神经路径从正中间像双胞胎一样连接在一起。
In general, the right hemisphere controls voluntary movement of, and responds to signals from, the left side of the body, whereas the left hemisphere controls voluntary movement of, and responds to signals from, the right side of the body.总的来说，右半球控制左侧身体的有意动作，并对左侧身体发出的信号做出反应。
而左半球反过来。
c)Brain lateralization 大脑的侧化The left hemisphere has primary responsibility for language, while the right hemisphere controls and spatial skills as well as the perception of nonlinguistic sounds and musical melodies. The localization of the cognitive and perceptual functions in a particular hemisphere of the brain is called lateralization.人的大脑左半球主要负责语言，而右半球不仅支配着对非语言声音及音乐旋律的感知，而且支配着视觉和空间技能。
认知功能和感知功能位于大脑的某一半球上被称为侧化。
Because each cerebral hemisphere has unique functional superiority, it is more accurate to conceive of the hemispheres as complementarily specialized.由于大脑的每个半球都有独特的功能优势，因而更准确地说，两个半球的专长是互利的。
The process of lateralization is believed to be maturational. That is, brain lateralization is genetically programmed, but takes time to develop.侧化的过程被认为是一种发育成长的过程。
也就是说，大脑侧化在基因中已安排好，但需要时间逐渐实现侧化。
2.Linguistic lateralization 语言侧化a)Left hemispheric dominance for language 左半球的语言优势Linguistic lateralization in terms of left hemispheric dominance for language is found to exist in an overwhelming majority of human beings.大脑侧化的一个显著特征是左半球语言侧化，即大脑左半球有着语言上的优势。
大部分人的大脑左半球具有语言信息处理功能。
Although both right and left hemispheres are lateralized complementarily in many aspects of human cognitive and perceptual activities, language functions are believed to be lateralized primarily in the left hemisphere of the brain. Research has shown that different aspects of language processing appear to be more characteristic of the left hemisphere than the other.虽然在人类认知和感知活动的很多方面，左右半球的侧化互相补充，人们还是认为，语言功能主要侧化于大脑的左半球。
研究表明，语言信息处理的多个方面似乎更多的是左半球的特性，而不是右半球的特性。
b)Dichotic listening research 两耳分听实验Evidence in supporting of lateralization for language in the left hemisphere comes from researches in dichotic listening tasks. Dichotic listening research makes use of the generally established fact that anything experienced on the right-hand side of the body is processed in the left hemisphere of the brain, and vice versa. A basic assumption, thus, would be that a signal coming in the right ear will go to the left hemisphere and a signal coming in the left ear will go to the right hemisphere. By means of dichotic listening task, we can analyze the characteristics of incoming stimuli processed by the individual hemisphere.证明左半球的语言侧化的证据来自于两耳分听研究。
两耳分听研究利用了已得到公认的事实：人体右半身所体验到的任何东西都是由左半球处理的，反之亦然。
这样就有了下面的基本假设：进入右耳的信号将进入左半球，而进入左耳的信号将进入右半球。
通过两耳分听研究，我们可以分析各个半球所处理的外部刺激的特点。
Research shows that the left hemisphere is not superior for processing all sounds, but only for those that are linguistic in nature, thus providing evidence in support of the view that the left side of the brain is specialized for language and that it is where language centers reside.研究表明，左脑并不是在处理所有进入的声音上都有优势，而只是在处理本质上是语言的声音时具有优势，这也为以下观点提供了证据：大脑左侧专司语言，语言中枢就位于这一部分。
英语语言学笔记
3
语音学
语音（Phonetics）
研究语言的发音机制、音素（音位）的发音特征和分布规律。
/b/、/t/、/d/等辅音音素的发音方式。
4
音位（Phoneme）
语言中能够区分意义的最小语音单位。
在英语中，“bit”和“bet”因音位/ɪ/和/ɛ/的不同而意义不同。
5
音系学
音系（Phonology）
研究语言中音素的组合规则和模式，以及这些规则如何影响语言的意义。
英语中的重音和节奏模式对单词和句子的意义有影响。
6
语法学
语法（Grammar）
描述语言中单词、短语和句子如何组合成有意义的结构的规则系统。
句子“The cat sat on the mat.”遵循英语语法规则。
英语语言学笔记
序号
主题/子主题
关键概念/术语
定义/解释
示例/应用
备注
1
语言学基础
语言学（guistics）
研究语言的科学，包括语言的结构、功能、演变以及语言在社会中的应用。
语言学家研究不同语言的语音、语法、词汇等。
2
语言（Language）
人类特有的、用于沟通的一套符号系统，包括口语、书面语和手势语等。
研究语言中的词汇、短语和句子如何表达意义。
单词“happy”的意义是“快乐的”。
10
语用学
语用（Pragmatics）
研究语言如何在特定情境中使用，以及语言使用者的意图、背景和互动如何影响语言的意义。
“It’s cold in here.”可能不仅仅是描述温度，还可能暗示要求关窗或开暖气。
11
社会语言学
社会语言学（Sociolinguistics）
语言学概论笔记自考(一到九章)
语言学概论笔记第一章：语言和语言学一、识记内容。
1口语：语言的客观存在形式首先是有声的口头语言。
2、书面语：文字出现以后，语言的第二种客观存在形式。
3、符号：指的是根据社会的约定俗成使用某种特定的物质实体来表示某种特定的意义而形成的这种实体和意义的结合体。
4、能指：语言符号的物质实体能够指称某种意义的成分。
5、所指：也就是“能指成分”，即特定的物质实体，所指的意义内容。
6、聚合关系：在同一个位置上可以互相替换出现的各个语言单位处在互相可以联想起来的关系之中，因而聚合成为一个类。
7、组合关系：组合关系体现为一个语言单位和前一个语言单位或后一个语言单位，或和前后两个语言单位之间的关系，也体现了部分与整体之间的关系。
8、语言学：是研究语言的科学。
9、普通语言学：语言学界把研究人类社会的语言这种社会现象的一般理论。
10、理论语言学：把研究某种具体语言的语言学称为汉语语言学或英语语言学等等，把侧重理论探讨的称为理论语言学。
11、应用语言学：把侧重语言学理论和成果的实际应用。
12传统语言学：一般泛指20世纪以前的语言学，特别是指索绪尔开创的结构主义语言学以前的语言学。
13结构主义语言学：索绪尔创立的语言学可以称为“结构主义语言学”，至于我国内常说的“结构主义语言学”、“结构主义语法”，往往只是指在国外影响较大并且我国语言学界比较熟悉的美国结构主义描写语言学，那只是当代结构主义语言学的一个流派，并不等于受索绪尔影响的整个结构主义语言学。
二、领会内容（不用识记，大体知道即可）1、言语交际是一个编码和解码的过程。
答：人要说话所需要的因素：生活经历、社会环境、当前处理的问题、社会问题、文化问题、哲学问题、逻辑问题。
人要接受语言所需要的因素：组织与分析的能力、心理、生理问题；发音、听音的器官和神经网络及机制和能力；复杂的生理和物理问题。
总之一句话，言语交际是通过许多因素对语言进行编码和解码的过程，言者编码，听者解码。
胡壮麟《语言学教程》笔记第8-9章
胡壮麟《语言学教程》笔记第8-9章Chapter 8 Language in Use1. 语义学与语用学的区别1.1 语用学（Pragmatics）Pragmatics is the study of the use of language in communication, particularly the relationships between sentences and the contexts and situations in which they are used.（语用学是研究语言实际运用的学科，集中研究说话人意义、话语意义或语境意义。
）1.2 区别Pragmatics is sometimes contrasted with semantics, which deals with meaning without reference to the users and communicative functions of sentences.（语用学主要研究在特定的语境中说话人所想要表达的意义，语义学研究的句子的字面意义，通常不考虑语境。
）2. 合作原则及其准则（Herbert Paul Grice）2.1. 合作原则(Cooperative Principle)说话人经常在话语中传达着比话语表层更多的信息，听话人也能够明白说话人所要表达的意思。
格莱斯认为一定存在一些管理这些话语产生和理解的机制。
他把这种机制称作合作原则。
2.2. 准则(maxims)数量准则(quantity)①使你的话语如（交谈的当前目的）所要求的那样信息充分。
②不要使你的话语比要求的信息更充分。
质量准则(quality)设法使你的话语真实①不要讲明知是虚假的话②不要说没证据的话关系准则(relation)所谈内容要密切相关方式准则(manner)要清晰。
①避免含糊不清②避免歧义③要简练（避免冗长）④要有序3. 言语行为理论（Speech Act Theory）---John Austin3.1. 施为句&叙事句(Performatives & Constatives)施为句是用来做事的，既不陈述事实，也不描述情况，且不能验证真假；叙事句要么用于陈述，要么用于验证，可以验证真假。
英语语言学概论第九章笔记
英语语言学概论第九章笔记Chapter 9 Psycholinguistics 心理语言学1.The biological foundations of language 语言的生理基础a)The case of Phineas Gage 盖奇案例One afternoon in September 1848, a tragedy happed to Gage. A huge metal rod had gone through the front part of Gage’s brain, but his langua ge abilities were unaffected.The point of this amazing case is that, if our language ability is located in the brain, it is clear that it is not situated right at the front.1848年9月的一个下午，有一名叫菲尼亚斯.盖奇的美国人身上发生了一场悲剧。
一根大铁杆穿过了盖奇的大脑的前部，但他的语言能力却未受影响。
这一令人惊异的案例的意义在于，如果我们的语言能力位于大脑中，很显然不在其头部。
b)The human brain 人的大脑The human brain is the most complicated organ of the body. Lying under the skull, the human brain contains an average of ten billion nerve cells called neurons.人的大脑是人体最复杂的器官，它位于头盖骨下，平均包含有一百亿个神经细胞，即神经元。
The most important part of the brain is the outside surface of the brain, called the cerebral cortex. The cortex is the decision-making organ of the body, receiving messages from all the sensory organs and initiating all voluntary action. Many of the cognitive abilities that distinguish humans from other mammals, such as sophisticated reasoning, linguistic skills, and musical ability, are believed to reside in the cortex.大脑最主要的部分是它的外表面，这一外表面称为大脑皮层。
《语言学概论》复习笔记
《语言学概论》复习笔记一、语言和语言学1.语言的本质（1）自然属性：语言从本质上来说是一套符号系统。
（2）社会属性：是人类最重要的交际工具。
（3）心理属性：是人类进行思维的工具。
语言的自然属性从本质上来说是一套符号系统。
（99年填空）2.什么是符号？语言符号和其它符号的不同特点。
符号：用甲事物指代乙事物，甲即乙的符号。
语言符号的特点：①有声的；②成系统的；③分层次的装置，语音→音素→音节→语素→词；④音义结合是任意的，是约定俗成的（不可论证，无理据）；⑤线条性：语言符号在输出时是一个接一个的，不能全盘端出。
语言符号与客观事物的关系。
（98年大题）3.语言最基本的社会功能：交际功能。
文字：是在语言的基础上产生的，是记录语言的书写符号。
符号：是形式和内容（意义）的统一体。
（1）语言符号的形式：声音（语音）是语言的物质外壳，听觉可感知。
（2）语言符号的内容：意义（语义）是人们对现实现象的概括反映。
（99年填空）4.语言符号的特点：①任意性和强制性；②线条性；③系统性。
人的语言和动物语言有何不同？简要说明语言符号的任意性和强制性。
（01年大题）答：①任意性：语言符号的音与义之间没有必然的、本质的联系，它们的结合是由社会“约定俗成”的。
表现：某种具体语言的音义结合关系；形成人类语言多样性的一个重要原因。
②强制性：符号的任意性知识是就创制符号时的情形说的。
符号一旦进入交际，也就是某一语音形式与某一意义结合起来，表示某一特定的现实现象以后，它对使用它的社会成员来说就具有了强制性。
任何人不能借口任意性而随意改变音义之间的结合关系。
符号的音义结合是社会约定俗成的，它们之间的关系改变也要由社会来决定。
5.语言的构成（1）底层：音位。
音位和音位组合成音节——语言符号的形式部分（01年填空）（2）上层：音义结合的符号和符号的序列——结构语素→词→句子★6.符号的组合关系语言符号具有线条性的特点。
符号和符号前后依次相接组合起来，好似一个链条，环环相扣。
unit9注解笔记
Unit 9 划线部分为必背内容curly adj. “卷曲的；卷毛的”其反义词为straight，意为“直的”。
Does she have curly hair or straight hair? 她的头发是卷发还是直发？【回顾】straight 作副词，意为“直地；笔直地”，Go straight and then turn left. 直走然后向左转。
2. height n.“高度” 不可数搭配：the height of …的高度询问高度是多少用what, 不用how many或how muchWhat’s the height of the tree? 这棵树有多高？搭配：…in height=tall 表示有。
高Yao Ming is 2 meters tall/in height.【拓展】high adj.“高的”, 多指山高high mountains，也可以表示建筑或树高=tallA tall/high building , 还可以指价格、速度、温度等方面的高 A high price3. a little “有点儿” +形容词。
表示程度=a bit; kind of= a little bitIt’s a little cold tonight. 今晚有点冷。
a little “一些；少许”+不可数名词。
表示数量There’s a little meat in the bowl.碗里有点肉。
little 表示否定意义，“几乎没有”There is little meat. Let’s buy some. 几乎没有肉。
我们去买一些吧。
拓展：a few “一些”+可数名词复数I have a few books. 我有一些书。
few 表示否定意义，“几乎没有”+可数名词复数I have few books. I want to buy some. 我几乎没有书。
我想要买一些。
4. glass “玻璃” ，是不可数名词“玻璃杯”，可数名词glasses “眼镜” 搭配：a pair of glassesGlass is broken easily. 玻璃很易碎。
第九章 语言学
第一节 语音的演变
二、语音演变的规律性和演变机制 2、语音演变的规律性 3）地区性。语音的演变只在一定的地域中 进行。 浊音清化的规律在北方话系统中是普遍起 作用的，而在吴语区和湘语区仍保留原来 的浊音，并没有发生清化的现象。
第一节 语音的演变
三、语音对应关系和历史比较法 1、语音对应关系：是指方言或亲属语言之间的同 义或意义上有联系的一组词在语音上呈现出来的 系统性差异。 *要根据有规律的语音对应关系来确定语言的亲属关 系。 2、历史比较法：是根据语音对应关系比较方言或 亲属语言之间的差别来推测原始母语的方法。 *历史比较语言学：是比较方言或亲属语言的这种成 系统的差异重建语言史的一门学科。
第一节 语音的演变
苏州话不论声母的清浊，都分尖、团；宁波话则
不论声母的清浊，都不分尖、团；上海话中的清 声母不分尖、团，浊声母却又分尖、团。
吴方言尖、团音合流的线索：从南往北， 宁波话先合流，上海话次之，现在还没有 完成合流的全过程，而苏州话还分尖、团 两套。
2、记录了语音的文字。
第二节 语法的演变
二、语法演变的方式和途径 2）特点 语法化是一个有等级的序列，是由语法化程 度较低的那一端向语法化较高的一端的逐 渐演化的过程。 实词＞语法词＞黏附成分＞屈折成分
第三节 词汇和词义的演变
一、演变的结果——新词产生、旧词消亡 和词语替换（词汇发展的一般规律） 1、新词的产生 新词的产生与现实中出现新的事物有联系。
第一节 语音的演变
二、语音演变的规律性和演变机制 1、语言演变的机制 总之，语音演变的规律性主要表现在音位 系统的演变发展有三种形式：合并、分化、 关系的改变。
第一节 语音的演变
英语语言学概论知识点总结
英语语言学概论知识点总结English linguistics is a fascinating field that delves into the structure, variation, and evolution of the English language. It encompasses phonetics, which studies the sounds of speech, and phonology, the system of sounds in a language.Morphology, the study of word formation, and syntax, which examines sentence structure, are crucial components of linguistics. They reveal how words are constructed and how they combine to form meaningful sentences.Semantics, the study of meaning in language, and pragmatics, which looks at language in use and the context in which it is spoken, help us understand how language conveys information and intention.Sociolinguistics explores the relationship between language and society, including how dialects and accents vary across different social groups and regions.Psycholinguistics, on the other hand, investigates the cognitive processes involved in language acquisition and use, shedding light on how we learn and understand language.Historical linguistics traces the development of the English language over time, from its roots in Old English through to the modern language we speak today.Finally, applied linguistics takes the theoretical knowledge from these areas and applies it to real-world problems, such as language teaching, translation, and language policy development.In summary, English linguistics offers a comprehensive view of the language, from its smallest units to its role in society, and from its past to its present and future forms.。
英语语言学概论笔记
《英语语言学概论》重、难点提示Questions & Answers on Key Points of Linguistics《英语语言学概论》重、难点问与答1.1. What is language?“Language is system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication. It is a system, since linguistic elements are arranged systematically, rather than randomly. Arbitrary, in the sense that there is usually no intrinsic connection between a work (like “book”) and the object it refers to. This explains and is explained by the fact that different languages have different “books”: “book” in English, “livre” in French, in Japanese, in Chinese, “check” in Korean. It is symbolic, because words are associated with objects, actions, ideas etc. by nothing but convention. Namely, people use the sounds or vocal forms to symbolize what they wish to refer to. It is vocal, because sound or speech is the primary medium for all human languages, developed or “new”. Writing systems came much later than the spoken forms. The fact that small children learn and can only learn to speak (and listen) before they write (and read) also indicates that language is primarily vocal, rather than written. The term “human” in the definition is meant to specify that language is human specific.1.2. What are design features of language?“Design features” here refer to the defining properties of human language that tell the difference between human language and any system of animal communication. They are arbitrariness, duality, productivity, displacement, cultural transmission and interchangeability1.3. What is arbitrariness?By “arbitrariness”, we mean there is no logical connection between meanings and sounds (see I .1). A dog might be a pig if only the first person or group of persons had used it for a pig. Language is therefore largely arbitrary. But language is not absolutely seem to be some sound-meaning association, if we think of echo words, like “bang”, “crash”, “roar”, which are motivated in a certain sense. Secondly, some compounds (words compounded to be one word) are not entirely arbitrary either. “Type” and “write” are opaque or unmotivated words, while “type-writer” is less so, or more transparent or motivated than the words that make it. So we can say “arbitrariness” is a matter of degree.1.4.What is duality?Linguists refer “duality” (of struc ture) to the fact that in all languages so far investigated, one finds two levels of structure or patterning. At the first, higher level, language is analyzed in terms of combinations of meaningful units (such as morphemes, words etc.); at the second, lower level, it is seen as a sequence of segments which lack any meaning in themselves, but which combine to form units of meaning. According to Hu Zhanglin et al. (p.6), language is a system of two sets of structures, one of sounds and the other of meaning. This is important for the workings of language. A small number of semantic units (words), and these units of meaning can be arranged and rearranged into an infinite number of sentences (note that we have dictionaries of words, but no dictionary of sentences!). Duality makes it possible for a person to talk about anything within his knowledge. No animal communication system enjoys this duality, or even approaches this honor.1.5.What is productivity?Productivity refers to the ability to the ability to construct and understand an indefinitely large number of sentences in one’s native language, including those that has never heard before, but that are appropriate to the speaking situation. No one has ever said or heard “A red-eyed elephant is dancing on the small hotel bed with an African gibbon”, but he can say it when necessary, and he can understand it in right register. Different from artistic creativity, though, productivity never goes outside the language, thus also called “rule-bound creativity” (by N.Ch omsky).1.6.What is displacement?“Displacement”, as one of the design features of the human language, refers to the fact that one can talk about things that are not present, as easily as he does things present. In other words, one can refer to real and unreal things, things of the past, of the present, of the future. Language itself can be talked about too. When a man, for example, is crying to a woman, about something, it might be something that had occurred, or something that is occurring, or something that is to occur. When a dog is barking, however, you can decide it is barking for something or at someone that exists now and there. It couldn’t be bow wowing sorrowfully for dome lost love or a bone to be lost. The bee’s system, nonetheless, has a small share of “displacement”, but it is an unspeakable tiny share.1.7.What is cultural transmission?This means that language is not biologically transmitted from generation to generation, but that the details of the linguistic system must be learned anew by each speaker. It is true that the capacity for language in human beings (N. Chomsky called it “language acquisition device”, or LAD) has a genetic basis, but the particular language a person learns to speak is a cultural one other than a genetic one like t he dog’s barking system. If a human being is brought up in isolation he cannot acquire language. The Wolf Child reared by the pack of wolves turned out to speak the wolf’s roaring “tongue” when he was saved. He learned thereafter, with no small difficulty, the ABC of a certain human language.1.8.What is interchangeability?(1) Interchangeability means that any human being can be both a producer and a receiver of messages. We can say, and on other occasions can receive and understand, for example, “Please do something to make me happy.” Though some people (including me) suggest that there is sex differentiation in the actual language use, in other words, men and women may say different things, yet in principle there is no sound, or word or sentence that a man can utter and a woman cannot, or vice versa. On the other hand, a person can be the speaker while the other person is the listener and as the turn moves on to the listener, he can be the speaker and the first speaker is to listen. It is turn-taking that makes social communication possible and acceptable.(2) Some male birds, however, utter some calls, which females do not (or cannot?), and certain kinds of fish have similar haps mentionable. When a dog barks, all the neighboring dogs bark. Then people around can hardly tell which dog (dogs) is (are0 “speaking” and which listening.1.9.Why do linguists say language is human specific?First of all, human language has six “design features” which animal communication systems do not have, at least not in the true sense of them (see I .2-8). Let’s borrow C. F. Hocket’s Chart that compares human language with some animals’ systems, from Wang Gang (1998,p.8).Secondly, linguists have done a lot trying to teach animals such as chimpanzees to speak a humanlanguage but have achieved nothing inspiring. Beatnice and Alan Gardner brought up Washoe, a female chimpanzee, like a human child. She was taught “American sign Language”, and learned a little that made the teachers happy but did mot make the linguistics circle happy, for few believed in teaching chimpanzees.Thirdly, a human child reared among animals cannot speak a human language, not even when he is taken back and taught to lo to so (see the “Wolf Child”in I.7)1.10.What functions does language have?Language has at least seven functions: phatic, directive, Informative, interrogative, expressive, evocative and per formative. According to Wang Gang (1988,p.11), language has three main functions: a tool of communication, a tool whereby people learn about the world, and a tool by which people learn about the world, and a tool by which people create art. M .A. K.Halliday, representative of the London school, recognizes three “Macro-Functions”: ideational, interpersonal and textual (see! 11-17;see HU Zhuanglin et al., pp10-13, pp394-396).1. 11What is the phatic function?The “phatic function” refers to language being used for setting up a certain atmosphere or maintaining social contacts (rather than for exchanging information or ideas). Greetings, farewells, and comments on the weather in English and on clothing in Chinese all serve this function. Much of the phatic language (e.g. “How are you?” “Fine, thanks.”) Is insincere if taken literally, but it is important. If you don't say “Hello” to a friend you meet, or if you don’t answer his “Hi”, you ruin your friendship.1.12. What is the directive function?The “directive function” means that language may be used to get the hearer to do something. Most imperative sentences perform this fun ction, e.g., “Tell me the result when you finish.” Other syntactic structures or sentences of other sorts can, according to J.Austin and J.Searle’s “indirect speech act theory”(see Hu Zhuanglin et al., pp271-278) at least, serve the purpose of direction to o, e.g., “If I were you, I would have blushed to the bottom of my ears!”1.13.What is the informative function?Language serves an “informational function” when used to tell something, characterized by the use of declarative sentences. Informative statements are often labeled as true (truth) or false (falsehood). According to P.Grice’s “Cooperative Principle”(see Hu Zhuanglin et al., pp282-283), one ought not to violate the “Maxim of Quality”, when he is informing at all.1.14.What is the interrogative function?When language is used to obtain information, it serves an “interrogative function”. This includes all questions that expect replies, statements, imperatives etc., according to the “indirect speech act theory”, may have this function as well, e.g., “I’d like to know you better.” This may bring forth a lot of personal information. Note that rhetorical questions make an exception, since they demand no answer, at least not the reader’s/listener’s answer.1.15.What is the expressive function?The “expressive function” is the use of language to reveal something about the feelings or attitudes of thespeaker. Subconscious emotional ejaculations are good examples, like “Good heavens!” “My God!” Sentences like “I’m sorry about the delay” can serve as good ex amples too, though in a subtle way. While language is used for the informative function to pass judgment on the truth or falsehood of statements, language used for the expressive function evaluates, appraises or asserts the speaker’s own attitudes.1.16.What is the evocative function?The “evocative function” is the use of language to create certain feelings in the hearer. Its aim is, for example, to amuse, startle, antagonize, soothe, worry or please. Jokes (not practical jokes, though) are supposed to amuse or entertain the listener; advertising to urge customers to purchase certain commodities; propaganda to influence public opinion. Obviously, the expressive and the evocative functions often go together, i.e., you may express, for example, your personal feelings about a political issue but end up by evoking the same feeling in, or imposing it on, your listener. That’s also the case with the other way round.1.17.What is the per formative function?This means people speak to “do things” or perform action s. On certain occasions the utterance itself as an action is more important than what words or sounds constitute the uttered sentence. When asked if a third Yangtze Bridge ought to be built in Wuhan, the mayor may say, “OK”, which means more than speech, a nd more than an average social individual may do for the construction. The judge’s imprisonment sentence, the president’s war or independence declaration, etc., are per formatives as well (see J.Austin’s speech Act Theory, Hu Zhuanglin, ecal.pp271-278).1.18.What is linguistics?“Linguistics” is the scientific study of language. It studies not just one language of any one society, but also the language of all human beings. A linguist, though, does not have to know and use a large number of languages, but to investigate how each language is constructed. He is also concerned with how a language varies from dialect to dialect, from class to class, how it changes from century to century, how children acquire their mother tongue, and perhaps how a person learns or should learn a foreign language. In short, linguistics studies the general principles whereupon all human languages are constructed and operate as systems of communication in their societies or communities (see Hu Zhuanglin et al., pp20-22)1.19.What makes linguistics a science?Since linguistics is the scientific study of language, it ought to base itself upon the systematic, investigation of language data, which aims at discovering the true nature of language and its underlying system. To make sense of the data, a linguist usually has conceived some hypotheses about the language structure, to be checked against the observed or observable facts. In order to make his analysis scientific, a linguist is usually guided by four principles: exhaustiveness, consistency, and objectivity. Exhaustiveness means he should gather all the materials relevant to the study and give them an adequate explanation, in spite of the complicatedness. He is to leave no linguistic “stone” unturned. Consistency means there should be no contradiction between different parts of the total statement. Economy means a linguist should pursue brevity in the analysis when it is possible. Objectivity implies that since some people may be subjective in the study, a linguist should be (or sound at least) objective, matter-of-face, faithful to reality, so that his work constitutes part of the linguistics research.1.20.What are the major branches of linguistics?The study of language as a whole is often called general linguistics (e.g.Hu Zhuanglin et al., 1988;Wang Gang, 1988). But a linguist sometimes is able to deal with only one aspect of language at a time, thus the arise of various branches: phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, sociolinguistics, applied linguistics, pragmatics, psycholinguistics, lexicology, lexicography, etymology, etc.1.21.What are synchronic and diachronic studies?The description of a language at some point of time (as if it stopped developing) is a synchrony study (synchrony). The description of a language as it changes through time is a diachronic study (diachronic). An essay entitled “On the Use of THE”, for example, may be synchronic, if the author does not recall the past of THE, and it may also be diachronic if he claims to cover a large range or period of time wherein THE has undergone tremendous alteration (see Hu Zhuanglin et al., pp25-27).1.22.What is speech and what is writing?(1) No one needs the repetition of the general principle of linguistic analysis, namely, the primacy of speech over writing. Speech is primary; because it existed long long before writing systems came into being. Genetically children learn to speak before learning to write. Secondly, written forms just represent in this way or that the speech sounds: individual sounds, as in English and French as in Japanese. (2) In contrast to speech, spoken form of language, writing as written codes, gives language new scope and use that speech does not have. Firstly, messages can be carried through space so that people can write to each other. Secondly, messages can be carried through time thereby, so that people of our time can be carried through time thereby, so that people of our time can read Beowulf, Samuel Johnson, and Edgar A. Poe. Thirdly, oral messages are readily subject to distortion, either intentional or unintentional (causing misunderstanding or malentendu), while written messages allow and encourage repeated unalterable reading.(3) Most modern linguistic analysis is focused on speech, different from grammarians of the last century and theretofore.1.23.What are the differences between the descriptive and the prescriptive approaches?A linguistic study is “descriptive” if it only describes and analyses the facts of language, and “prescriptive” if it tries to lay down rules for “correct” language behavior. Linguistic studies before this century were largely prescriptive because many early grammars were largely prescriptive because many early grammars were based on “high” (literary or religious) written records. Modern linguistics is mostly descriptive, however. It (the latter) believes that whatever occurs in natural speech (hesitation, incomplete utterance, misunderstanding, etc.) should be described in the analysis, and not be marked as incorrect, abnormal, corrupt, or lousy. These, with changes in vocabulary and structures, need to be explained also.1.24.What is the difference between langue and parole?F. De Saussure refers “langue”to the abstract linguistic system shared by all the members of a sp eech community and refers “parole” to the actual or actualized language, or the realization of langue. Langue is abstract, parole specific to the speaking situation; langue not actually spoken by an individual, parole always a naturally occurring event; langue relatively stable and systematic, parole is a mass of confusedfacts, thus not suitable for systematic investigation. What a linguist ought to do, according to Saussure, is to abstract langue from instances of parole, I. e. to discover the regularities governing all instances of parole and make than the subject of linguistics. The langue-parole distinction is of great importance, which casts great influence on later linguists.1.25.What is the difference between competence and performance?(1) According to N. Chomsky, “competence” is the ideal language user’s knowledge of the rules of his language, and “performance” is the actual realization of this knowledge in utterances. The former enables a speaker to produce and understand an indefinite number of sentences and to recognize grammatical mistakes and ambiguities. A speaker’s competence is stable while his performance is often influenced by psychological and social factors. So a speaker’s performance does not always match or equal his supposed competence.(2) Chomsky believes that linguists ought to study competence, rather than performance. In other words, they should discover what an ideal speaker knows of his native language.(3) Chomsky’s competence-performance distinction is not exactly the same as, though similar to, F. de Saussure’s langue-parole distinction. Langue is a social product, and a set of conventions for a community, while competence is deemed as a property of the mind of each individual. Sussure looks at language more from a sociological or sociolinguistic point of view than N. Chomsky since the latter deals with his issues psychologically or psycholinguistically.1.26.What is linguistic potential? What is actual linguistic behavior?M. A. K. Halliday made these two terms, or the potential-behavior distinction, in the 1960s, from a functional point of view. There is a wide range of things a speaker can do in his culture, and similarly there are many things he can say, for example, to many people, on many topics. What he actually says (i.e. his “actual linguistic behavior”) on a certain occasion to a certain person is what he has chosen from many possible injustice items, each of which he could have said (linguistic potential).1.27.In what way do language, competence and linguistic potential agree? In what way do they differ? And their counterparts?Langue, competence and linguistic potential have some similar features, but they are innately different (see 1.25). Langue is a social product, and a set of speaking conventions; competence is a property or attribute of each ideal speaker’s mind; linguistic potential is all the linguistic corpus or repertoire available from which the speaker chooses items for the actual utterance situation. In other words, langue isinvisi ble but reliable abstract system. Competence means “knowing”, and linguistic potential a set of possibilities for “doing” or “performing actions”. They are similar in that they all refer to the constant underlying the utterances that constitute what Saussure, Chomsky and Halliday respectively called parole, performance and actual linguistic behavior. Paole, performance and actual linguistic behavior enjoy more similarities than differences.1.28.What is phonetics?“Phonetics” is the science which studies t he characteristics of human sound-making, especially those sounds used in speech, and provides methods for their description, classification and transcription (see Hu Zhuanglin et al., pp39-40), speech sounds may be studied in different ways, thus by three different branches of phonetics. (1) Articulatory phonetics; the branch of phonetics that examines the way in whicha speech sound is produced to discover which vocal organs are involved and how they coordinate in the process. (2) Auditory phonetics, the branch of phonetic research from the hearer’s point of view, looking into the impression which a speech sound makes on the hearer as mediated by the ear, the auditory nerve and the brain. (3) Acoustic phonetics: the study of the physical properties of speech sounds, as transmitted between mouth and ear.Most phoneticians, however, are interested in articulator phonetics.1.29.How are the vocal organs formed?The vocal organs (see Figure1, Hu Zhuanglin et al., p41), or speech organs, are organs of the human body whose secondary use is in the production of speech sounds. The vocal organs can be considered as consisting of three parts; the initiator of the air-stream, the producer of voice and the resonating cavities.1.30.What is place of articulation?It refers to the place in the mouth where, for example, the obstruction occurs, resulting in the utterance of a consonant. Whatever sound is pronounced, at least some vocal organs will get involved. g. Lips, hard palate etc., so a consonant may be one of the following (1) bilabial: [p, b, m]; (2) labiodental: [f, v]; (3) dental: [,]; (4) alveolar: [t, d, l, n.s, z]; (5) retroflex; (6) palato-alveolar: [,]; (7) palatal: [j]; (8) velar [k, g,]; (9) uvular; (10) glottal: [h].Some sounds involve the simultaneous use of two places of articulation. For example, the English [w] has both an approximation of the two lips and those two lips and that of the tongue and the soft palate, and may be termed “labial-velar”.1.31.What is the manner of articulation?The “manner of articulation” literally means the way a sound is articulated. At a given place of articulation, the airstreams may be obstructed in various ways, resulting in various manners of articulation, are the following: (1) plosive: [p, b, t, d, k, g]; (2) nasal: [m, n,]; (3) trill; (4) tap or flap; (5) lateral: [l]; (6) fricative: [f, v, s, z]; (7) approximant: [w, j]; (8) affricate: [].1.32.How do phoneticians classify vowels?Phoneticians, in spite of the difficulty, group vowels in 5 types: (1) long and short vowels, e.g.,[i:,]; (4) rounded and unround vowels,e.g.[,i]; (5) pure and gliding vowels, e.g.[I,].1.33.What is IPA? When did it come into being ?The IPA, abbreviation of “International Phonetic Alphabet”, is a compromise system making use of symbols of all sources, including diacritics indicating length, stress and intonation, indicating phonetic variation. Ever since it was developed in 1888, IPA has undergone a number of revisions.1.34.What is narrow transcription and what is broad transcription?In handbook of phonetics, Henry Sweet made a distinction between “narrow” and “broad” transcriptions, which he called “Narrow Romic”. The former was meant to symbolize all the possible speech sounds, including even the most minute shades of pronunciation while Broad Romic or transcription was intended to indicate only those sounds capable of distinguishing one word from another in a given language.1.35.What is phonology? What is difference between phonetics and phonology?(1) “Phonology” is the st udy of sound systems- the invention of distinctive speech sounds that occur in a language and the patterns wherein they fall. Minimal pair, phonemes, allophones, free variation, complementary distribution, etc., are all to be investigated by a phonologist.(2) Phonetics, as discussed in I.28, is the branch of linguistics studying the characteristics of speech sounds and provides methods for their description, classification and transcription. A phonetist is mainly interested in the physical properties of the speech sounds, whereas a phonologist studies what he believes are meaningful sounds related with their semantic features, morphological features, and the way they are conceived and printed in the depth of the mind phonological knowledge permits a speaker to produce sounds which from meaningful utterances, to recognize a foreign “accent”, to make up new words, to add the appropriate phonetic segments to from plurals and past tenses, to know what is and what is not a sound in one’s language.1.36.What is a phone? What is a phoneme? What is an allophone?(1) A “phone” is a phonetic unit or segment. The speech sounds we hear and produce during linguistic communication are all phones. When we hear the following words pronounced:[pit], [tip], [spit], etc., the similar phones we have heard are [p] for one thing, and three different[p]’s, readily making possible the “narrow transcription or diacritics”. Phones may and may not distinguish meaning. A “phoneme” is a phonological unit; it is a unit that is of distinctive value. As an abstract unit, a phoneme is not any particular sound, but rather it is represented or realized by a certain phone in a certain phonetic context. For example, the phoneme[p] is represented differently in [pit], [tip] and [spit].(2) The phones representing a phoneme are called its “allophones”, i. e., the different (i.e., phones) but do not make one word so phonetically different as to create a new word or a new meaning thereof. So the different[p]’s in the above words are the allophones of the same phoneme[p]. How a phoneme is represented by a phone, or which allophone is to be used, is determined by the phonetic context in which it occurs. But the choice of an allophone is not random. In most cases it is rule-governed; these rules are to be found out by a phonologist.1.37.What are minimal pairs?When two different phonetic forms are identical in every way except for one sound segment which occurs in the same place in the string , the two forms(i. e., word) are suppose d to form a “minimal pair”, e.g., “pill” and “bill”, “pill” and “till”, “till” and “dill”, “till” and “kill”, etc. All these words together constitute a minimal set. They are identical in form except for the initial consonants. There are many minimal pairs in English, which makes it relatively easy to know what are English phonemes. It is of great importance to find the minimal pairs when a phonologist is dealing with the sound system of an unknown language(see Hu Zhuanglin et al., pp65-66).1.38.What is free variation?If two sounds occurring in the same environment do not contrast; namely, if the substitution of one for the other does not generate a new word form but merely a different pronunciation of the same word, the two sounds then are said to be in “free variation”. The plosives, for example, may not be exploded when they occur before another plosive or a nasal (e. g., act, apt, good morning). The minute distinctions may, if necessary, be transcribed in diacritics. These unexploded and exploded plosives are in free variation. Sounds in free variation should be assigned to the same phoneme.1.39.What is complementary distribution?When two sounds never occur in the same environment, they are in “complementary distribution”. For example, the aspirated English plosives never occur after[s], and the unsaturated ones never occur initially. Sounds in complementary distribution may be assigned to the same phoneme. The allophonesof[l], for example, are also in complementary distribution. The clear[l] occurs only before a vowel, the voiceless equivalent of[l] occurs only after a voiceless consonant, such as in the words “please”, “butler”, “clear”, etc., and the dark[l] occurs only after a vowel or as a syllabic sound after a consonant, such as in the words “feel”, “help”, “middle”, etc.1.40.What is the assimilation rule? What is the deletion rule?(1) The “assimilation rule” assimilates one segment to another by “copying” a feature of a sequential phoneme, thus making the two phones more similar. This rule accounts for the raring pronunciation of the nasal[n] that occurs within a word. The rule is that within a word the nasal consonant[n] assumes the same place of articulation as the following consonant. The negative prefix “in-“ serves as a good example. It may be pronounced as [in], or [im] when occurring in different phonetic contexts: e. g.,indiscrete-[ ](alveolar)inconceivable-[ ](velar)input-[‘imput](bilabial)The “deletion rule” tells us when a sound is to be deleted although is orthographicall y represented. While the letter “g” is mute in “sign”, “design” and “paradigm”, it is pronounced in their corresponding derivatives: “signature”, “designation” and “paradigmatic”. The rule then can be stated as: delete a [g] when it occurs before a final nasal consonant. This accounts for some of the seeming irregularities of the English spelling (see Dai Weidong ,pp22-23).1.41.What is suprasegmental phonology? What are suprasegmental features?“Suprasegmental phonology” refers to the study of phonologica l properties of linguistic units larger than the segment called phoneme, such as syllable, word and sentence.Hu Zhuanglin et al.,(p,73) includes stress, length and pitch as what they suppose to be “principal suprasegmental features”, calling the concurrent patterning of three “intonation”. Dai Weidong(pp23-25) lists three also, but they are stress, tone and intonation.1.42.What is morphology?“Morphology” is the branch of grammar that studies the internal structure of words, and the rules by which words are formed. It is generally divided into two fields: inflectional morphology andlexical/derivational morphology.1.43.What is inflection/inflexion?“Inflection” is the manifestation of grammatical relationships through the addition of inflectional affix es, such as number, person, finiteness, aspect, and case, which does not change the grammatical class of the items to which they are attached.1.44.What is a morpheme? What is an allomorph?(1) The “morpheme” is the smallest unit in terms of relati onship between expression and content, a。
(完整版)英语语言学概论--整理
Chapter 1 Language语言1. Design feature （识别特征） refers to the defining properties of human language that distinguish it from any animal systemof communication。
2. Productivity（能产性） refers to the ability that people have in making and comprehending indefinitely large quantitiesof sentences in their native language。
3. arbitrariness （任意性) Arbitrariness refers to the phenomenon that there is no motivated relationship between alinguistic form and its meaning.4. symbol （符号） Symbol refers to something such as an object, word， or sound that represents something else by associationor convention.5. discreteness (离散性） Discreteness refers to the phenomenon that the sounds in a language are meaningfully distinct.6. displacement(不受时空限制的特性) Displacement refers to the fact that human language can be used to talk about thingsthat are not in the immediate situations of its users。