本科自考英语语言学概论精心整理 Chapter One language
27037本科自考英语语言学概论精心整理Chapter2Linguistics

Chapter 2 Linguistics语言学2.1 The scope of linguistics:语言学的研究范畴Linguistics is referred to as a scientific study of language.语言学是对语言的科学研究。
It may be a study of the structure of language,the history of language,the functions of language,etc.它可能研究语言的及结构,语言的历史、语言的功能等。
It is a scientific study beacause “it is based on the systematic investigation of linguistic data,conducted with reference to some general theory of language structure”(Dai Wei dong,1988:1)这是一个科学研究因为“这是基于语言数据的系统考察,和语言结构一般理论的研究之上的”2.1.1 Lyons’ distinctions 莱昂斯的区分1) General linguistics and descriptive linguistics. 普通语言学与描写语言学:The former deals with language in general whereas the latter is concerned with one particular language.前者处理一般语言,而后者涉及一个特定的语言。
2) Synchronic linguistics and diachronic linguistics. 共时语言学与历时语言学:Diachronic linguistics traces the historical development of the language and records the changes that have taken place in it between successive points in time. And synchronic linguistics presents an account of language as it is at some particular point in time.历时语言学追溯了语言的历时发展和记录了发生的连续时间点间的变化,共时语言学提供了一个账户的语言,因为它是某个特定的时间点。
(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。
27037本科自考英语语言学概论精心整理chapter4phonology

Chapter 4 Phonology(音位学)phonetics and phonology:语音学与音位学的区分Both phonetics and phonology are concerned with speech.语音学和音位学都士对语音的研究。
定义区别-Phonetics is a study of the production, perception and physical properties of speech sounds.语音学是研究语音的生产、感知和物理性质的。
-Phonology studies how speech sounds are combined,organized,and convey meanin gs in particular languages.研究语音如何在在特定的语言中结合、组织和表达含义。
---Phonology is is the study of how sounds are organized and used in natural languages.音位学是特定于语言的。
它的研究对象是自然语言中的声音是如何组织和使用的。
---Phonetics is a study of speech sounds while phonology is a study of the sou nd system of a language.语音学是一个研究语音的然后音位学是研究一种语言的声音系统的学科。
Phonemes,phones and allophones 音位、音子、音位变体Different languages have different phonological systems.不同的语言有不同的语音系统。
定义:①Phones are the smallest identifiable phonetic unit or segment found in a streamof speech.音子就是在连续的发音中可辨认的最小语音单位或片段。
自考英语(本科-)《现代语言学》-复习大纲设计

what is linguistics?1.1 定义 definitionLinguistics is generally defined as scientific study of language.1.2 语言学的研究范畴 the scope of linguisticsa. The study of language as a whole is often called general linguistics.把语言作为一个整体而进行的全面的语言学研究一般称为普通语言学。
b. The study of sounds used in linguistic communication led to the establishment of a branch oflinguistics called phonetics.语音学How speech sounds are produced and classified.c. how sounds are put together and used to convey meaning in communication.how sounds form systems and function to convey meaning. phonology音位学/ 音系学交际中语音的组合规律及传达意义的方式d. The study of the way in which these symbols are arranged to form words has constituted the branchof study called morphology.形态学how morphemes are combined to form words.这些符号通过排列组合而成构成语词,对于这种排列组合方式的研究构成了语言学研究的另一个分支,如对形态学的研究。
e. The combination of these words to form permissible sentences in languages is governed by rules.The study of these rules constitutes a major branch of linguistic studies, syntax. 句法学how morphemes and words are combined to form sentences.f. The study of meaning. semantics 语义学 (in abstraction)g. the study of meaning is conducted in context of use. pragmatics 语用学h. the study of language with reference to society. sociolinguistics.社会语言学i. the study of language with reference to the workings of the mind. psycholinguistics 心里语言学j. the application of linguistic principles and theories to language teaching and learning. applied linguistics1.3 语言学研究中的一些基本概念 some important distinctions in linguistics.1.3.1 规定性和描述性 prescriptive vs. descriptiveif a linguistic study describes and analyzes the language people actually use;如果一种语言学的研究是对人们实际使用中的语言进行的描述和分析——描述性的descriptiveif it aims at to lay down rules for “correct” behaviour to tell people what they should say and what they should not say如果某种研究的目的是在对所谓“正确的”行为制定一些规则——规定性的prescriptive现代语言学通常是描述性的,与“语法”的语言研究是大相径庭的1.3.2 共时性和历时性 synchronic vs. diachronicthe description of a language at some point in time is a synchronic study;the description of a language as it changes through time is a diachronic study.现代语言学中,共时性研究比历时性研究更受人青睐。
英语自考现代语言学简答题

第一章 绪论Because there are words in every language that imitate natural sounds, such as crash, bang in English .besides, some compound words are also not entirely arbitrary .these words cannot be made freely .Because the details of any language are not genetically transmitted ,but instead have to be taught and learned anew . it is passed on from one generation to another through teachingand learning rather than by instinct . in contrast ,animals are born with the capacity to produce the set of calls peculiar to their species, so animals call system are genetically transmitted. The duality nature of language means that language is system ,which consists off two sets of structures ,or two levels ,one of sounds and the other of meanings . at the lower or thebasic level ,there is the structure of sounds , which are meaningless. At the higherlevel ,the units can be arranged and rearranged into an infinite number of sentences .Language is productive or creative in that it makes possible the construction and interpretationof new signal by its users. The users can send message which no one else has ever sent before. Displacement means that language can be used to refer to things which are present or not present ,real or imagined matters in the past, present, or future or in far-awayplaces . in other words language can be used to refer context removed from the immediate situation of the speakers. Modern linguistics differs from traditional grammar . traditional grammar is prescriptive, it is based on high written language . it sets models for language users to follow . but modern linguistics is descriptive ,its investigation are based on authentic ,and mainly spoken language data. It is supposed to be scientific andobjective and the task of linguistics is supposed to describe the language people actually use, whether it is correct or not. Language exists in time and changes trough time. The description of a language at some point in time is a synchronic study, the description of a language as it changes though time is a diachronic study. A synchronic study of language describe a language as it is at some particular point in time ,while a diachronic study language is a historical stud ; it studies the historical development of language over a period.speech and writing are the two major media of communication . modern linguistics regards the spoken form of language as primary , but not the written form ,because thespoken form is prior to the written form and most writing systems are derived from spoken form of language. Langue and parole are French words, langue refers to the abstract linguistic system shared by all the members of a speech communication ,and parole refers to the realization of langue in actural use. Langue is the set ofconventions and rules which language users all have to follow while parole is the concrete use of the conversation and the application of the rules. Chomsky defines competence as the ideal user ’s knowledge of the rules of his language,and performance the actual realization of this knowledge in linguisticscommunication. 第二章 音系学1. speech and writing are the two major media of communication. Modern linguistics regards the spoken form of language as primary ,but not the written form ,because the spoken for id prior to the written form and most writing systems are derived from the spoken form of language.the basic difference between a vowel and a consonant is that the pronunciation of a vowel,the air stream from the lung meets no obstruction of any kind in the throat, the nose, or the mouth, while in the pronunciation of a consonant , the air stream from the lungs is obstructed in one way or another.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 or haphazard in most cases; it is rule-governed . one of the tasks of the phonologist is to find out these rules.The phonemic features that occur above the level of the segments are called suprasegmental phonemes; these are the phonological properties of such units as the syllable , the word ,and the sentence. The main suprasegmental featuresinclude stress, tone, and intonation.第三章 形态学Morphology is divided into sub-branches : inflectional morphology and lexical or derivational morphology. Free morphemes are themorphemes which are independent units of meaning and can be used freely all by themselves or in combination with other morphemes .bound morphemes are the morphemes which cannot be used independently but have to be combinedwith other morphemes, either free or bound ,to form a word.derivational affixes are added to an exciting form to create a word . prefixes occur at the beginning of a word and. Prefixes modify the meaning of he stem .suffixes are added to the end of the stems ;they modifythe meaning of the original word and in many cases change its part of speech.Syntactically, the part of speech of the compound is generally determined by the part of speech o the second element, e.g. icy-cold adj. head —strong adv. Greenhouse n. but there are many exception ,especially with hose compounds ending with a verb or an adverb or a preposition . for example,follow up , crackdown ,kickoff are allnouns instead of adverbs.and toothpick, snowfall,and facelift arenoun instead of verbs.semantically, the meaning of a compound is often idiomatic, not always being the sum total of the meaning of its components. For example ,a greenhouse is not a house that is green .in order to find out the meaning of a compound, one sometimes hasto consult the dictionary instead of doing some guess work.第四章 句法学 As a major component of grammar, syntax consists of a set o abstract rules that allow words to be combined with other words to form grammatical sentences. A sentences is considered grammatical when it is in agreement with thegrammatical knowledge in the mind of native speakers. Universally found in the grammars of all human language ,syntactic rules comprise the system of internalized linguistic knowledge of a language speaker known as linguistic competence.Linguistics is generally defined as the scientific study of language. The word language in this definition implies that linguistics studies not any particular language ,but investigate or examine. And the word scientific refers to the way in which language is studied.Chomsky thinks that linguistics should study the ideal speaker ’s competence, but not his performance. For any natural language ,a set of syntactic rules are capable of yielding an endless number of sentences in that language .that is ,the syntactic rules of any language are finite in number, and yet there is no limit to the number of sentences native speakers of that language are able to produce and comprehend.Traditionally, there are three major types of sentences. They are simple sentence,coordinate sentence,and complex sentences.When a sentence is uttered or written down ,the words of the sentences are produced one after another in a sequence. Meanwhile,they are heard or read as arranged one after another in a sequence.therfore, the structure of a sentence is linear.major lexical categories are open categories in the sense that new words are constantly added. Minor lexical categories are closed categories becausethe number of lexical items in this categories is fixed and no new members are allowed for.The combinational pattern in a linear formula may be called a phrase structural rule. Syntactic movement is governed by transformational rules. The operation of the transformational rules may chang the syntactic representation of a sentence.parameters are syntactic options of UG that allow general principles to operate in one way or another and contribute to significant linguistics variation between and among natural language. Another parameter, the one that involves word order, concerns the directionality of case assignment ,i.e the directionality parameter. This parameter offers a neat and consist account forthe typological difference in the word order within the VP category between English and Japanese第五章 语义学Contextualism is based on the presumption that one can derive meaning from or reduce meaning to observable contexts. Two kinds of contest are recognized :the situational context and the Linguistic context.Obviously, linguistic forms with the same sense may have different references in different situation. For example, in the following exchange, the two speakers are surely talking about two different references, i.e. two different gogs.But because of their differentorigin ,there are often subtle differences between thesesynonyms .synonyms that are mutually substitutable under all circumstances are called complete synonyms . however, complete synonyms are rare.Dialectal synonyms which are used in different regional dialects .stylistic synonyms which differ in style. Synonyms hat siffer in their emotive or evaluation meaning collocational synonymssemantically different synonyms.A polysemic word i.e. a word with several meanings, is the result of the evolution of the primary meaning o the word ,the various meaning of the word are related to some degree ,as is discussed in the previous section.There is one advantage of componential analysis . by specifying the semantic features of certain words I will be possible to show how these words are related in meaning.there are three kinds. they are gradable antonyms,complementary antonyms and relational opposites. 第六章语用学Without this shared knowledge, linguistics communication would be impossible, and without considering this knowledge , linguistics communication cannot satisfactorily accounted for in apragmatic sense.If we regard a sentence as what people actually utter in the course of communication , it becomes an utterance ,and it should be considered in the situation in which it is actually uttered.Therefore ,while themeaning of a sentence is abstract ,and decontextualized, the meaning of an utterance is concrete ,and context-dependent. the act theory is the act of uttering words, phrases ,clauses. It is the ac of conveying literal meaning by meaning of syntax, lexicon and phonology.第七章 历史语言学Researches in historical linguistics shed light on prehistoric development in the evolution of language and the connections of earlier and later variants ofthe same language ,andprovide valuable insights into the kinship patterns of difference languages.it is generally accepted that the history of the English language is divided into the period of old English ,middle English and modern English.3.The most vigorous and no-going change in the historical development of a language is the change in its vocabulary.They are the Indo-European Family, The Sino-Tibetan Family, the Austronesian Family ,and the Afroasiatic Family.Grimm ’s major contribution to historical is his explanation of the relationships among cognates in terms of a sound shift, the systematic modification of a series of phonemes.Language do not change without reasons . a linguistics change is caused either by the inherent nature of language , or by external contacts of speakers of one language with the speakers of the other language.第八章 社会语言学Sociolinguistics is the study of language in social contexts. Sociolinguistics are also concern with the influence of extralinguistic factors on language use, such as age, gender, profession, and social statue.Sociolinguistics is the study of language in social contexts . in view of language as a primary means of communication among individual speakers of a society , sociolinguists are concerned with he social significance of language variation and languageuse indifferent speech communities including regional ,ethnic and social groups . sociolinguists are also concerned with the influence of extralinguistic factors on language use, such as age, gender,profession ,and social statue.The important characteristic of a speech community is that the members of the group must ,in some reasonable way, interact linguistically with other members of the community .they may share closely related language varieties, as wellas attitudes towards linguistic norms.they are regional dialects ,sociolects or social dialects ,and registers.第九章 心理语言学psycholinguistics is the study of language in relation to the mind. As the term suggests, psycholinguistics is viewed as the intersection of psychology and linguistics, drawing equally upon the language we acquire, produce and comprehend.By mean of dichotic listening tests, we can analyze the characteristic of incoming stimuli processed by the individual hemispheres.3. I has been proposed that the brain activity involved in hearing , understanding andthen saying a word would follow a definite pattern. 4.A safe conclusion from Genie ’s case for the moment is that the labguage faculty of an average human degenerates after the critical period and consequently ,most linguistic skills cannot develop.The most provocative position to date on the relationship between language and thought has been what is known as the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis.第十章 语言习得the study of language acquisition enables linguistics ,psychologists and applied linguists to better understand the nature of human language and the developmental processes oflanguage acquisition.The biological, ornativist, view of language acquisition means that human are equipped with the neural prerequisites for language and language use. 3.In principle ,no human brain can store all the words and expressions of a language . what happens is that when processing the language the hear ,children construct the grammar and make sense of the expression according to the grammar . when producing utterances, they follow the internalizedgrammatical rules.Starting from the prelinguistic cooing and babbling stage ,children move through the one-word ,two-word and multiword stage ,gradually acquiringphonology ,morphology, syntax, vocabulary, semantics, and discourse skills of the adult language system as they grow.Although SLA is not entirely different from FLA.some problems experienced in L2development by teenage or adult learners simply donot exist in children ’s L1. According toKrashen ,acquisition refersto the gradual and subconscious development of ability in the first language by using it naturally in daily communicativesituation .learning ,however,is defined as a conscous process of accumulating knowledge of a second language usually obtained in school settings.It has been claimed that the optimum age for SLA is early teenage.。
27037本科自考英语语言学概论精心整理 Chapter One language(word文档良心出品)

English Linguistics:An Introduction 英语语言学概论(王永强支永碧)Chapter One language• 1 What is language?• 2 What are the features of language?• 3 What are the functions of language?The definition of language•Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication.语言是用于人类交际的任意性的发音的符号系统。
•First ,language is a system: sound ,words, rules, meaningsElements of language are combined according to rules. Every language contains a set of rules. By system ,we mean the recurring patterns or arrangement or the particular ways or designs in which a language operates. The sounds and the words which form sentences are used in fixed patterns that speakers of a language can understand each other. It is because every language has its system that it conveys the same meaning to its speakers. 语言的元素组合根据规则。
每一种语言包含一组规则。
英语自考本科语言学概论

Chapter 1: Introduction1.What is linguistics?Linguistics is generally defined as the scientific study of language.The word “language” implies that linguistics studies not any particular language, but languages in general.The word “study” does not mean “learn” but “investigation” or “examine”.“Scientific” refers to the way in which the language is studied.Based on systematic investigation of language data, the study is conducted with reference to some general theory of language structure. In studying language, the linguist first has to study language facts, then he formulates some hypotheses about language structure which have to be re-checked against the observed facts so as to prove their validity.The process of linguistic study:1)Certain linguistic facts are observed, and generalizations are made about them;2)Based on these generalization, hypotheses are formed to account for these facts;3)Hypotheses are tested by further observations;4) A linguistic theory is constructed about what language is and how it works.1.1The scope of linguisticsGeneral linguistics –the study of language as a whole, which deals with the basic concepts, theories, descriptions, models, methods applicable in any linguistic study.Phonetics – the study of sounds, which are used in linguistic communication,Phonology – the study of how sounds are put together and used in communication.Morphology – the study of the way in which morphemes are arranged to form words.Syntax – the study of how morphemes and words are combined to form sentences.Semantics – the study of meaning in language.Pragmatics – the study of meaning in context of use.Socio-linguistics – the study of language with reference to society.Psycholinguistics – the study of language with reference to the workings of mind.Applied linguistics – Findings in linguistic studies can often be applied to the solution of such problems as the recovery of speech ability. This study is called applied linguistics. In a narrow sense, it refers to the application of linguistic principles and theories to language teaching and learning, especially the teaching of foreign and second languages.Anthropological / neurological / mathematical / computational linguistics1.2Some important distinctions in linguistics1.2.1Prescriptive vs. DescriptiveIf a linguistic study describes and analyzes the language people actually use, it is said to be descriptive (modern); if it aims to lay down rules for “correct” behavior, i.e. to tell people what they should say and what they should not say, it is said to be prescriptive (traditional). (Question: how is modern linguistics different from traditional grammar?)1.2.2Synchronic vs. DiachronicThe description of a language at some point in time is a synchronic study; the description of a language as it changes through time is a diachronic study. In modern linguistics, synchronic study seems to enjoy priority over diachronic study.1.2.3Speech and writingAs two major media of communication, modern linguistics regards spoken form as primary, because the spoken form is prior to the written form and most writing systems are derived from the spoken form. In the past, traditional grammarians tended to over-emphasize the importance of the written word, partly because of its permanence.(Why does modern linguistics regard the spoken form of a language as primary?)1.2.4Langue and parole (语言和言语)The distinction was made by famous Swiss Ferdinand de Saussure early this century. Both are French words.1)Langue refers to the abstract linguistic system shared by all the members of a speechcommunity, and parole refers to realization of langue in actual use.2)Langue is the set of conventions and rules which language users all have to follow whileparole is their concrete use.3)Langue is abstract; it is not the language people actually use, but parole is concrete; it refers tothe naturally occurring language events.4)Langue is relatively stable and does not change frequently; while parole varies from personto person, and from situation to situation.Saussure made this distinction in order to single out one aspect of language for serious study. In his opinion, parole is simply a mass of linguistic facts, too varied and confusing for systematic investigation, and linguists are supposed to abstract langue from parole.1.2.5Competence and performance (语言能力和语言运用)Similar to 1.3.4, American Noam Chomsky defines competence as the ideal user‟s knowledge of the rules of his language, and performance the actual realization of this knowledge in linguistic communication. Chomsky thinks that linguists should study competence but not performance.Similar to Saussure, Chomsky thinks that linguists should study the ideal speaker‟s competence, but not his performance. As one difference, Saussure took a sociological view of language and his notion of language is a matter of social inventions, whereas Chomsky looks at language from a psychological point of view and to him competence is a property of the mind of each individual.2.What is language2.1DefinitionsNowadays, the generally accepted definition of language is that language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication.1)Language is a system, as elements of language are combined according to rules;2)Arbitrary, as no intrinsic connection between form and meaning, or between sign and what itstands for.3)V ocal, as primary medium is sound for all languages.“Human”indicates the difference from the communication systems of other living creatures. “Communication”means that language makes it possible for its users to talk to each other and fulfill their communicative needs.2.2Design featuresRefer to the defining properties of human language that distinguish it from any animal system of communication. The American Charles Hockett specified 12 design features, 5 of which will be discussed here.1)ArbitrarinessNo logical connection between meanings and sounds, symbols, words. Not entirely arbitrary, there are some words in every language that imitate natural sounds. Some compound words are not entirely arbitrary. But this makes up only a small percentage.This nature is a sign of sophistication, which only human beings are capable of and it makes it possible for language to have an unlimited source of expressions.2)Productivity3)DualityLanguage is a system, which consists of two sets of structure, or two levels, one of sounds ad the other of meanings. At the lower or the basic level, there is the structure of sounds, which are meaningless. But the sounds of language can be grouped and regrouped into a large number ofunits of meaning such as morphemes and words. Then at the higher level, the units can be arranged and rearranged into an infinite number of sentences.4)DisplacementLanguage can be used to refer to things, which are present or not present, real or imagined matter in the past, present, or future, or in far-away places. In other words, language can be used to refer to contexts removed from the immediate situations of the speaker.5)Cultural transmissionWe are born with the ability to acquire language, the details of any language are not genetically transmitted, but instead have to be taught and learned anew.In linguistics, as in any other discipline, data and theory stand in a dialectal complementation.Chapter 2: Phonology1.The phonic medium of languageOf two media of language, speech is more basic than writing, for the reasons:1)In linguistic evolution, speech is prior to writing;2)In everyday communication, speech plays a greater role in terms of the amount of informationconveyed;3)Speech is always the way in which every native speaker acquires his mother tongue, andwriting is learned and taught later in school.This limited range of sounds which are meaningful in human communication and are of interest to linguistic are the phonic medium of language; and the individual sounds within this range are the speech sounds (语音).2.Phonetics2.1 What is phonetics?Phonetics is defined as the study of the phonic medium of language; it is concerned with all the sounds that occur in the world‟s languages. Three branches: (the most important conclusion is that phonetic identity is only a theoretical ideal.)1)Articulatory phoneticsHow a speaker uses his speech organs to articulate the sounds. Longest established, highly developed.2)Auditory phoneticsHow the sounds are perceived by the hearer.3)Acoustic phoneticsStudies speech sounds by looking at the sound waves (recorder named spectrographs). It studies the physical means by which speech sounds are transmitted through air from one person to another.2.2 Organs of speechThe articulatory apparatus of a human being are contained in three important areas or cavities, where the air stream coming from the lungs may be modified by complete or partial interference. It may also be modified in the larynx (喉)before it reaches any of the cavities. They are:Pharyngeal cavity – the throatAir stream: lung →windpipe →glottis (vocal cord)Vibration of the vocal cords results in a quality of speech sounds called “voicing”, which is a feature of all vowels and some consonants. Otherwise “voiceless”Oral cavity – the mouthThe greatest source of modification of the air stream. Tongue is the most flexible organ.Nasal cavity – the noseThe velum can be drawn back to close the passage of the air stream so that all air exiting from the lungs can only pass through the oral cavity. Produced are oral sounds. Otherwise, nasalized sounds such as three nasal consonants. Generally, the passage is definitely open or closed.2.3Orthographic representation of speech sounds – broad and narrow transcriptionsInternational Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) came into being at the end of 19th century. Its basic principle is using a different letter for each distinguishable speech sound.The IPA provides a set of symbols called diacritics, which can be added to letter-symbols to make finer distinction than the letter-symbols alone. The transcription with letter-symbols only is called broad transcription, normally in dictionaries and textbooks. The other with diacritics is narrow transcription, used by phoneticians in their study of speech sounds.2.4Classification of English speech soundsTwo broad categories –vowels and consonants, the basic difference is that in pronunciation of vowels, no air stream meets obstruction, while consonant, the air stream is obstructed somehow. (the basic difference between a vowel and consonant)2.4.1Classification of English consonantsTwo ways: manner of articulation(how obstruction is created): stops, fricatives (when the obstruction is partial and the air is forced through a narrow passage in mouth so as to cause definite local friction at the point), affricates, liquids, nasals, glides; and place of articulation (where): bilabial (the upper and lower lips are brought together to create obstruction), labiodental, dental, alveolar, palatal, velar, glottal sounds. Each classification brought about certain phonetic features of consonants.2.4.2Classification of English vowelsV owels are differentiated by a number of factors: the position of the tongue in the mouth (front / central / back vowels), the openness of the mouth (close / semi-close / semi-open / open), the shape of the lips (rounded / unrounded), and the length of the vowels (with or without colon, the long vowels are all tense vowels and the short vowels are lax vowels). Monophthongs (individual vowels) and diphthongs. In English, all the front vowels and the central vowels are unrounded vowels.3.Phonology3.1 Phonology and phonetics (音系学和语音学)Phonetics is concerned with the description of all the speech sounds in language (the study of sounds that are used in linguistic communication), while phonology (the study of how sounds are put together and used in communication) is concerned with the study of the sound system of a particular language. Therefore, the conclusion about the phonology of one language should not be generalized into the study of another language. What is true in one language may not be true in another language.3.2 Phone, phoneme, and allophonePhones can be simply defined as the speech sounds we use when speaking a language. A phone is a phonetic unit or segment. It does not necessarily distinguish meaning: some do, some don‟t. The basic unit in phonology is called phoneme; it is a unit that is of distinctive value. But it is an abstract unit. To be exact, a phoneme is not a sound; it is a collection of distinctive phonetic features. In actual speech, a phoneme is realized phonetically as a certain phone. The different phones, which can represent a phoneme in different phonetic environment are called the allophones of that phoneme. A different definition would be that a phoneme is a class of phonetically similar sounds, which in particular language do not stand in contrast with one another. Although phonemes are the minimal segments of language systems, they are not their minimalelements. A phoneme is further analyzable because it consists of a set of simultaneous distinctive features. The features that a phoneme possesses, making it different from other phonemes, are its distinctive features. Distinctive features are language-specific, that what distinguishes meaning in one language does not necessarily do so in another language, e.g. aspiration. (鼻音, refers to a strong puff of air stream in the production of speech sounds)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 or haphazard in most cases; it is rule-governed. One of the tasks of the phonology is to find out these rules.3.3 Phonemic contrast, complementary distribution, and minimal pairPhonemic contrast refers to the relation between two phonemes. If two phonemes can occur in the same environment and distinguish meaning, they are in phonemic contrast. Those two allophones of the same phoneme are said to be in complementary distribution, which means that the allophones of the same phoneme always occur in different phonetic environments.A basic way to determine the phonemes of a language is to see if substituting one sound for another results in a change of meaning. If it does, the two sounds then represent different phonemes. An easy way to do this is to find the minimal pairs. The sound combinations (pill, bill, etc.) constitute a minimal set, in which they are identical in form except for initial consonant.3.4 Some rules in phonology3.4.1 Sequential rulesThe rules that govern the combination of sounds in a particular language are called sequential rules, which is language-specific.3.4.2 Assimilation rulesIt assimilates one sound to another by “copying” a feature of a sequential phoneme, thus making the two phones similar, caused by articulatory or physiological processes.3.4.3. Deletion rulesIt tells us when a sound is to be deleted although it is orthographically represented.3.5 Suprasegmental features – stress, tone, intonationRefers to the phonemic features that occur above the level of the segments. These are the phonological properties of such units as the syllable, the word, and the sentence.3.5.1 StressWord stress and sentence stress. In English, word stress is free. The location of stress in English distinguishes meaning. Word stress may also be employed to distinguish meaning in the combinations of –ing forms and nouns; Sentence stress refers to the relative force, which is given to the words in a sentence.3.5.2 ToneTones are pitch variations, which are caused by the differing rates of vibration of the vocal cords. Pitch variation can distinguish meaning just like phonemes. English is not a tone but intonation language. Chinese is a typical tone language.3.5.3 IntonationWhen pitch, stress and sound length are tied to the sentence rather than the word in isolation, they are collectively known as intonation. English has four: the falling tone (indicates that what is said is a straight-forward, matter-of-fact statement), the rising tone (question of what is said), the fall-rise tone (indicates an implied message), and the rise-fall tone, in which the first three are most frequently used.Intonation can make a certain part of a sentence especially prominent by placing the nucleus on it. Nucleus refers to the major pitch change in an intonation unit.Chapter 3: Morphology1.DefinitionsIt is a branch of grammar which studies the internal structure of words and the rules by which words are formed. Two sub-branches: inflectional morphology / lexical or derivational morphology. The former studies inflection and the latter word-formation.2.Morpheme2.1 Morpheme: the smallest meaningful unit of languageThe meaning morphemes convey may be of two kinds: lexical meaning and grammatical meaning.2.2 Types of morphemes2.2.1 Free morphemesMorphemes, which are independent units of meaning and can be used freely all by themselves or in combination with other morphemes.2.2.2 Bound morphemesMorphemes, which cannot be used independently but have to be combined with other morphemes, either free or bound, to form a word.RootsWith clear definite meaning, it must be combined with another root or an affix to form a word.AffixesInflectional affixesManifest various grammatical relations or grammatical categories such as number, tense, degree, and case.Derivational affixesDerivation, derivative (the word formed). The existing form to which a derivational affix can be added is called a stem, which can be a bound root, a free morpheme, or a derived form itself. Prefixes: usually modify the meaning of stem but do not change the part of speech(词类)of original word, except “be-” and “en(m)-”Suffixes: modify the meaning of the original word and in many cases change its part of speech: noun-forming, adjective-forming, adverb-forming, verb-forming.2.2.3 Morphological rulesWe must guard against overgeneralization. Different words may require different affixes to create the same meaning change.poundingRefers to combination of two or sometimes more than two words to create new words.3.1 Types of compound words3.2 Features of compounds1)Orthographically, a compound can be written as one word with or without a hyphen inbetween, or as two separate words.2)Syntactically, the part of speech of the compound is generally determined by the part ofspeech of the second element.3)Semantically, the meaning of a compound is often idiomatic, not always being the sum totalof the meanings of its components.4)Phonetically, the stress of a compound always falls on the first element, while the secondelement receives secondary stress.Chapter 4: Syntax1.Syntax as a system rulesAs a major component of grammar, syntax consists of a set of abstract rules that allow words to be combined with other words to form grammatical sentences. A sentence is considered grammatical when it is in agreement with the grammatical knowledge in the mind of native speakers. Universally found in the grammars of all human languages, syntactic rules comprise the system of internalized linguistic knowledge of a language speaker known as linguistic competence. The syntactic rules of any language are finite in number, and yet there is no limit to the number of sentences native speakers of that language are able to produce and comprehend.A major goal of linguistics is to show with a consistent and explicit grammatical theory how syntactic rules account for this grammatical knowledge. A theory of grammar must provide a complete characterization of linguistic utterances 言语that speaker implicitly consider well-formed, or grammatical, sequences.2.Sentence structure2.1 The basic components of a sentenceA sentence is a structurally independent unit that usually comprises a number of words to form a complete statement, question or command. Normally, a sentence consists of at least a subject (referring expression被指对象) and its predicate which contains a finite verb or a verb phrase.2.2 Types of sentences2.2.1 The simple sentenceConsists of a single clause which contains a subject and a predicate and stands alone as its own sentence. A clause that takes a subject and a finite verb, and at the same time stands structurally alone is known as a finite clause.2.2.2 The coordinate sentenceContains two clauses joined by a linking word that is called coordinating conjunction, such as “and”, “but”, “or”. Two clauses are equal parts rather than being subordinate to the other.2.2.3 The complex sentenceContains two, or more, clauses, one of which is incorporated into the other. The incorporated or subordinate clause is normally called an embedded clause (子句), and the clause in which it is embedded is called a matrix clause (主句). 1) Embedded clause functions as a grammatical unit in its matrix clause; 2) most embedded clauses require an introductory word that is called asubordinator(引导词), such as that, if, before; 3) an embedded clause may not function as a grammatical well-formed sentence if it stands independently as a simple sentence unless its form changes.2.3 The linear and hierarchical structures of sentences2.3.1 The linear word order of a sentence (words in sentence one after another in a sequence)2.3.2 The hierarchical structure of a sentenceSentences are organized by grouping together words of the same syntactic category, such as noun phrase (NP) or verb phrase (VP).2.3.3 Tree diagrams of sentence structure3.Syntactic categoriesApart from sentences (S) and clauses (C), a syntactic category usually refers to a word (called a lexical category) or a phrase (phrasal category) that performs a particular grammatical function, such as the subject in a sentence. Constituents that can be substituted for one another without loss of grammaticality belong to the same syntactic category.3.1 Lexical categoriesCommonly known as parts of speech (词类). Major lexical categories are open categories in the sense that new words are constantly added, including 4 –noun, verb, adjective, and adverb. Minor lexical categories are closed ones as the number of lexical items are fixed and no new members are allowed for, including 6.3.2 Phrasal categoriesFour: NP, VP, PP (prepositional), AP (adjective). NP and VP, which are essential components of a sentence, form the two major syntactic categories, that is, the subject and the predicate of a sentence.4.Grammatical relationsThe structural and logical relations of constituents are called grammatical relations. It concerns the way each noun phrase in the sentence relates to the verb. (who does what do whom). Structural vs. logical subject, object. (**)binational rules5.1 Phrase structural rulesThe combinational pattern in a linear formula may be called a phrase structural rule, or rewrite rule. It allows us to better understand how words and phrases form sentences, and so on.S →NP VP “()”means optionalNP →(Det) (Adj) N (PP) (S)VP →V (NP) (PP) (S)AP →A (PP) (S)PP →P NP5.2 The recursiveness (循环性) of phrase structure rulesCan generate an indefinite number of sentences, and sentences with infinite length. “creative”5.3 X-bar theorya. X”b. X‟‟→ Spec X’X‟→ X complSpec X‟(specifier)X Complement(head)Commonly known as the X-bar theory, this widely recognized and highly abstract X-bar schema is capable of reducing the redundancies of individual phrasal structure rules and may well capture certain basic properties shared by all phrasal categories across the languages of the world.6.Syntactic movement and movement rulesSyntactic movement occurs when a constituent in a sentence moves out of its original place to a new position, the sentence involving which cannot be described by phrase structure rules. It was governed by transformational rules, the operation of which may change the syntactic representation of a sentence (句法的表达方式).6.1 NP-movement and WH-movementNP-movement occurs when, for example, a sentence changes from the active voice to the passive voice (postpose, prepose).WH-movement is obligatory in English. It changes a sentence from affirmative to interrogative.6.2 Other types of movementAUX-movement (auxiliary)6.3 D-structure and S-structureThe syntactic component of the grammar:Phrase Structure Rules + the Lexicon (词汇)generateD-structure (deep structure)Movement RulestransformS-structure (Surface structure)A sentence may not look different when it is at different syntactic levels. Since syntactic movement does not occur to all sentences, the D-structure and S-structure of some sentences look exactly the same at different levels of representation.6.4 More α-a general movement ruleThere is a general movement rule accounting for the syntactic behavior of any constituent movement, called Moveα(or Move Alpha), which means “move any constituent to any place”. The problem is Moveαis too powerful and the grammar should include some conditions which will restrain this power and stimulate that only “certain constituents” move to “certain positions”.7.Toward a theory of universal grammarSince early 1980s, Noam Chomsky and other generative linguists proposed and developed a theory of universal grammar (UG) known as the principles and parameters theory. According to Chomsky, UG is a system of linguistic knowledge and a human species-specific gift, which exists in the mind or brain of a normal human being. According to principles-and-parameters framework, UG consists of a set of general conditions, or general principles, that generate phrases and at the same time restrain the power of Moveα, thus preventing this rule from applying in certain cases. UG also contains a set of parameters that allow general principles to operate in certain ways, according to which particular grammar of natural languages vary.7.1 General principles of Universal GrammarOne general principle, or condition, is the Case Condition, which requires that a noun phrase has a Case and Case is assigned by V (verb) or P (preposition) to the object position, or by AUX (auxiliary) to the subject position. The theory of Case Condition accounts for the fact that noun phrases appear only in subject and object positions. When a noun phrase moves, it can move only to the position where it can be assigned Case, in order to satisfy condition of Case requirement.Another condition is the Adjacent Condition on Case assignment. This condition states that a Case assignor and a Case recipient should stay adjacent to each other. It explains why no otherphrases category can intervene between a verb and its direct object. While strictly served in English well-formed sentences, it is not the case in some other languages.7.2 The parameters of Universal GrammarParameters are syntactic options of UG that allow general principles to operate in one way or another and contribute to significant linguistic variations between and among natural languages. Set in one of the permissible ways, a parameter acquires a particular value, e.g. a plus [+] or [-], which allows the grammar of a language to behave in a way very different from that of another language.Another parameter, the one that involves word order, concerns the directionality of Case assignment, i.e. the Directionality parameter, which can account for the typological difference in the word order within the VP category between English and Japanese.Chapter 5: Semantics1.What is semantics?A study of meaning in language. Linguists cannot agree among themselves as to what meaning is. Philosophers are interested in understanding the relations between linguistic expressions and the phenomena in the real word they refer to and in evaluating the conditions of truth and falsehood of such expressions. Psychologists focus their interest on understanding the human mind through language.2.Some views concerning the study of meaning2.1 The naming theoryIt is one of the oldest notions concerning meaning, and also a very primitive one, proposed by Greek scholar Plato. According to his theory, the linguistic form of symbols, in other words, the words used in a language are taken to be labels of the objects they stand for. So words are just names or labels for things. The limitation: 1) applicable to nouns only; 2) within the category of nouns, there are nouns which denote things that do not exist or abstract notions.2.2 The conceptualist viewIn the interpretation of meaning, a linguistic form and what it refers to are linked through the mediation of concepts in the mind (no direct links). This theory avoids many of the problems the naming theory has met, but it also raises a completely new problem of its own: what is precisely the link between the symbol and the concept?Thought/Reference (refers to concept) :by Ogden and Richards。
语言学第一章笔记和习题

Chapter one 学点语言学语言学是对语言的系统研究,对于一个学习英语的人来说,应该懂一点语言学的知识,它可以在理论上对学习语言有指导作用,有助于更好的学习语言。
The Goals for this CourseTo get a scientific view on language;To understand some basic theories on linguistics;To understand the applications of the linguistic theories, especially in the fields of language teaching & learning (SLA or TEFL), cross-cultural communication……;To prepare for the future research work.The Requirements for this courseClass attendanceClassroom discussionFulfillment of the assignmentMonthly examExaminationReference Books戴炜栋,何兆熊,(2002),《新编简明英语语言学教程》,上海外语教育出版社。
胡壮麟,(2001),《语言学教程》,北京大学出版社。
胡壮麟,李战子,《语言学简明教程》,北京大学出版社刘润清,(1995),《西方语言学流派》,外语教学与研究出版社。
Fromkin,V. & R. Rodman, (1998), An Introduction to Language the sixth edition, Orlando, Florida: Holt, Ranehart & Winston, Inc.许国璋先生认为把语言定义成交际工具不够科学,至少不够严谨.他对语言的定义做了如下概括:语言是一种符号系统.当它作用于人与人之间的关系的时候,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.Teaching aims: let the students have the general idea about language and linguistics.Teaching difficulties: design features of language; some important distinctions in linguisticsWhy do we study language?A tool for communicationAn integral part of our life and humanityIf we are not fully aware of the nature and mechanism of our language, we will be ignorant of what constitutes our essential humanity.What can language mean?Language can meanwhat a person says (e.g. bad language, expressions)the way of speaking or writing (e.g. Shakespeare‘s language, Luxun‘s language)a particular variety or level of speech or writing (e.g. language for special purpose, colloquial language)the abstract system underlying the totality of the speech/writing behavior of a community (e.g. Chinese language, first language)the common features of all human languages (e.g. He studies language)a tool for human communication. (social function)a set of rules. (rule-governed)The origins of language---the myth of languageThe Biblical accountLanguage was God‘s gift to human beings.The bow-wow theoryLanguage was an imitation of natural sounds, such as the cries of animals, like quack, cuckoo.The pooh-pooh theoryLanguage arose from instinctive emotional cries, expressive of pain or joy.The yo-he-ho theoryLanguage arose from the noises made by a group of people engaged in joint labour or effort – lifting a huge hunted game, moving a rock, etc.The evolution theoryLanguage originated in the process of labour and answered the call of social need.To sum up:The divine-origin theory: language is a gift of god to mankind.The invention theory: imitative, cries of nature, the grunts of men working together.The evolutionary theory: the result of physical and psychological development.What is LanguageLanguage is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication.What is communication?A process in which information is transmitted from a source (sender or speaker) to a goal (receiver or listener).A system----elements in it are arranged according to certain rules. They cannot be arranged at will.e.g. He the table cleaned. (×) bkli (×)Arbitrary----there is no intrinsic (logic) connection between a linguistic form and its meaning.Symbols----words are just the symbols associated with objects, actions, and ideas by convention.V ocal--------the primary medium for all languages is sound, no matter how well developed their writing systems are.Writing systems came into being much later than the spoken forms.People with little or no literacy can also be competent language users.Human ----language is human-specific.Human beings have different kinds of brains and vocal capacity.―Language Acquisition Device‖(LAD)Design features of language 语言的结构特征Design features refers to the defining properties of human language that distinguish it from any animal system of communication.a. arbitrariness----the form of linguistic signs bear no natural relationship to their meaning. The link between them is a matter of convention.E.g. ―house‖ uchi (Japanese)Mansion (French)房子(Chinese)conventionality----It means that in any language there are certain sequences of sounds that have a conventionally accepted meaning. Those words are customarily used by all speakers with the same intendedmeaning and understood by all listeners in the same way.There are two different schools of belief concerning arbitrariness. Most people, especially structural linguists believe that language is arbitrary by nature. Other people, however, hold that language is iconic, that is, there is a direct relation or correspondence between sound and meaning, such as onomatopoeia.(cuckoo; crash)For the majority of animal signals, there does appear to be a clear connection between the conveyed message and the signal used to convey it, And for them, the sets of signals used in communication is finite.b. duality----language is simultaneously organized at two levels or layers, namely, the level of sounds and that of meaning.the higher level ----words which are meaningfulthe lower or the basic level----sounds which are meaningless, but can be grouped and regrouped into words. Dog: woof (but not ―w-oo-f ‖ )This duality of levels is, in fact, one of the most economical features of human language, since with a limited set of distinct sounds we are capable of producing a very large number of sound combinations (e.g. words) which are distinct in meaning.The principle of economyc. Productivity/Creativity----language is resourceful. It makes possible the construction and interpretation of new signals by its users.(novel utterances are continually being created.)non-human signals ,on the other hand, appears to have little flexibility.e.g. an experiment of bee communication:The worker bee, normally able to communicate the location of a nectar source , will fail to do so if the location is really ‗new‘. In one experiment, a hive of bees was placed at the foot of a radio tower and a food source at the top. Ten bees were taken to the top, shown the food source, and sent off to tell the rest of the hive about their find. The message was conveyed via a bee dance and the whole gang buzzed off to get the free food. They flow around in all directions, but couldn‘t locate the food. The problem may be that bee communication regarding location has a fixed set of signals, all of which related to horizontal distance. The bee cannot create a ‗new ‘ message indicating vertical distance.d. Displacement----human languages enable their users to symbolize objects, events and concepts which are not present at the moment of communication.Bee communication:When a worker bee finds a source of nectar and returns to the hive, it can perform a complex dance routine to communicate to the other bees the location of this nectar. Depending on the type of dance (round dance for nearby and tail-wagging dance, with variable tempo, for further away and how far), The other bees can work put where this newly discovered feast can be found. Bee communication has displacement in an extremely limited form. However, it must be the most recent food source.e. Cultural transmission----genetic transmissionYou acquire a language in a culture with other speakers and not from parental genes.The process whereby language is passed on from one generation to the next is described as cultural transmission.f. interchangeability: it means that individuals who use a language can both send and receive any permissible message within that communication system. Human beings can be a producer as well as receiver of messages.g. human vocal tractFunctions of language (3+6+7+3)1. Three main functionsthe descriptive function: the primary function of language. It is the function to convey factual information, which can be asserted or denied, and in some cases even verified.the expressive function: it supplies information about the user‘s feelings, preferences, prejudices and values. the social function:also referred to as the interpersonal function, serves to establish and maintain social relations between people2. The Russian-born structural linguists Roman Jakobson identifies six elements of a speech event and relates each one of them to one specific language function. That is, in conjunction of the six primary factors of any speech event, he established a well-known framework of language functions based on the six key elements of communication in his famous article: Linguistics and PoeticsAddresser—Emotive (intonation showing anger)Addressee—Conative (imperatives and vocatives)Context—Referential (conveys a message or information)Message—Poetic (indulge in language for its own sake)Contact—Phatic communion (to establish communion with others)Code—Metalinguistic (to clear up intentions, words and meanings)3. In the early 1970s the British linguist M.A.K. Halliday found that child language performed seven basic functions, namely, instrumental, regulatory, representational, interactional, personal, heuristic, and imaginative. This system contains three macrofunctions—the ideational, the interpersonal and the textual function.three meta-functions proposed by M. A. K. Halliday(1) The ideational functionTo identify things, to think, or to record information. It constructs a model of experience and constructs logical relations(2) The interpersonal functionTo get along in a community. It enacts social relationships(3) The textual functionTo form a text. It creates relevance to context.What is Linguistics(语言学)Linguistics is a scientific study of language .It is a major branch of social science.Linguistics studies not just one language of any society, but the language of all human society, language in general.A scientific study is one which is based on the systematic investigation of data, conducted with reference to some general theory of language structure.Process of linguistic study:① Certain linguistic facts are observed, generalization are formed;② Hypotheses are formulated;③ Hypotheses are tested by further observations;④ A linguistic theory is constructed.observation------generalization-----hypothesis------tested by further observation------theoryPerson who studies linguistics is known as a linguist.The Scope of LinguisticsGeneral linguistics is the study of language as a whole.Internal branches: intra-disciplinary divisions (micro-linguistics)Phonetics(语音学) is the branch of linguistics which studies the characteristics of speech sounds and provides methods for their description, classification and transcription.Phonology(音韵学) is the branch of linguistics which studies the sound patterns of languages.Morphology(词法) is the branch of linguistics which studies the form of words.Syntax(句法) is the branch of linguistics which studies the rules governing the combination of words into sentences.Semantics(语义学) is the branch of linguistics which studies the meaning of language.Pragmatics(语用学) is the branch of linguistics which studies the meaning of language in use.External branches: inter-disciplinary divisions (macro-linguistics)Applied linguistics(应用语言学) is the study of the teaching of foreign and second languages. Sociolinguistics is the study of the relationship between language and society.Psycholinguistics is the study of the relationship between language and the mind.Historical Linguistics(历史语言学) is the study of language changes.Anthropological linguistics(人文语言学) uses the theories and methods of anthropology to study language variation and language use in relation to the cultural patterns and beliefs of man.Neurolinguistics(神经语言学) studies the neurological basis of language development and use in human beings. Mathematical linguistics(数学语言学) studies the mathematical features of language, often employing models and concepts of mathematics.Computational linguistics(计算语言学) is an approach to linguistics in which mathematical techniques and concepts(概念) are applied, often with the aid of a computer.Features of linguisticsDescriptiveDealing with spoken languageSynchronicSome Basic Distinctions(区分) in Linguistics1. Speech and WritingOne general principle(原则) of linguistic analysis is the primacy of speech over writing. Writing gives language new scope(范畴) and uses that speech does not have.2. Descriptive(描述性) or Prescriptive(说明性)A linguistic study is descriptive if it describes and analyses facts observed; it is prescriptive if it tries to lay down rules for "correct" behavior.3. Synchronic(共时) and Diachronic(历时) StudiesThe description of a language at some point in time is a synchronic study and The description of a language as it changes through time is a diachronic study.4. Langue(语言) and Parole(言语)This is a distinction made by the Swiss linguist F.De Saussure (索绪尔)early last century. langue refers to the abstract linguistic system shared by all the members of a speech community and parole refers to the actualized(实际的) language, or realization of langue.5. Competence(能力)and Performance(行为)Competence is the ideal language user's knowledge of the rules of his language. Performance is the actualrealization of this knowledge in utterances(发声).6. Potential and Behavior: English linguist Halliday makes another similar distinction in the 1960s, namely the distinction between linguistic potential and linguistic behavior. He approaches language from a functional view and concentrates primarily on what speakers do with language which led to the distinction between linguistic potential (what speakers can do with language) and behavior (what speakers actually do with language). In Halliday‘s distinction between potential and behavior, potential is similar to Saussure‘s ―langue‖and Chomsky‘s competence, and behavior is similar to Saussure‘s ―parole‖ and Chomsky‘s performance.7. Modern linguistics started with the public ation of F. de Saussure‘ s book ―Course in General Linguistics‖ in the early 20th century. So Saussure is often described as ―father of modern linguistics‖.The general approach traditionally formed to the study of language before that is roughly referred to as ―traditional grammar.‖ They differ in several basic ways:Firstly, linguistics is descriptive while traditional grammar is prescriptive. A linguist is interested in what is said, not in what he thinks ought to be said. He describes language in all its aspects, but does not prescribe rules of ―correctness‖.Secondly, modern linguistics regards the spoken language as primary, not the written. Traditional grammarians, on the other hand, tend to emphasize, may be over-emphasize, the importance of the written word, partly because of its permanence.Then, modern linguistics differs from traditional grammar also in that it does not force languages into a Latin-based framework. To modern linguists ,it is unthinkable to judge one language by standards of another. They are trying to set up a universal framework, but that would be based on the features shared by most of the languages used by mankind.Chapter I IntroductionI. Decide whether each of the following statements is True or False:1. Linguistics is generally defined as the scientific study of language.2.Linguistics studies particular language, not languages in general.3. A scientific study of language is based on what the linguist thinks.4. In the study of linguistics, hypotheses formed should be based on language facts and checked against the observed facts.5. General linguistics is generally the study of language as a whole.6. General linguistics, which relates itself to the research of other areas, studies the basic concepts, theories, descriptions, models and methods applicable in any linguistic study.7. Phonetics is different from phonology in that the latter studies the combinations of the sounds to convey meaning in communication.8. Morphology studies how words can be formed to produce meaningful sentences.9. The study of the ways in which morphemes can be combined to form words is called morphology.10. Syntax is different from morphology in that the former not only studies the morphemes, but also the combination of morphemes into words and words into sentences.11. The study of meaning in language is known as semantics.12. Both semantics and pragmatics study meanings.13. Pragmatics is different from semantics in that pragmatics studies meaning not in isolation, but in context.14.Social changes can often bring about language changes.15. Sociolinguistics is the study of language in relation to society.16. Modern linguistics is mostly prescriptive, but sometimes descriptive.17. Modern linguistics is different from traditional grammar.18. A diachronic study of language is the description of language at some point in time.19 Modern linguistics regards the written language as primary, not the written language.20. The distinction between competence and performance was proposed by F. de Saussure.II. Fill in each of the following blanks with one word which begins with the letter given:21. Chomsky defines ― competence‖ as the ideal user's k__________ of the rules of his language.ngue refers to the a__________ linguistic system shared by all the members of a speech community while the parole is the concrete use of the conventions and application of the rules.23.D_________ is one of the design features of human language which refers to the phenomenon that language consists of two levels: a lower level of meaningless individual sounds and a higher level of meaningful units.nguage is a system of a_________ vocal symbols used for human communication.25. The discipline that studies the rules governing the formation of words into permissible sentences in languages is called s________.26. Human capacity for language has a g ____ basis, but the details of language have to be taught and learned.27. P ____ refers to the realization of langue in actual use.28. Findings in linguistic studies can often be applied to the settlement of some practical problems. The study of such applications is generally known as a________ linguistics.nguage is p___________ in that it makes possible the construction and interpretation of new signals by its users. In other words, they can produce and understand an infinitely large number of sentences which they have never heard before.30. Linguistics is generally defined as the s ____ study of language.III. There are four choices following each statement. Mark the choice that can best complete the statement.31. If a linguistic study describes and analyzes the language people actually use, it is said to be ______________.A. prescriptiveB. analyticC. descriptiveD. linguistic32.Which of the following is not a design feature of human language?A. ArbitrarinessB. DisplacementC. DualityD. Meaningfulness33. Modern linguistics regards the written language as ____________.A. primaryB. correctC. secondaryD. stable34. In modern linguistics, speech is regarded as more basic than writing, because ___________.A. in linguistic evolution, speech is prior to writingB. speech plays a greater role than writing in terms of the amount of information conveyed.C. speech is always the way in which every native speaker acquires his mother tongueD. All of the above35. A historical study of language is a ____ study of language.A. synchronicB. diachronicC. prescriptiveD. comparative36.Saussure took a (n)__________ view of language, while Chomsky looks at language from a ________ point of view.A. sociological…psychologicalB. psych ological…sociologicalC. applied… pragmaticD.semantic and linguistic37. According to F. de Saussure, ____ refers to the abstract linguistic system shared by all the members of a speech community.A. paroleB. performanceC. langueD. Language38. Language is said to be arbitrary because there is no logical connection between _________ and meanings.A. senseB. soundsC. objectsD. ideas39. Language can be used to refer to contexts removed from the immediate situations of the speaker. This feature is called_________,A. displacementB. dualityC. flexibilityD. cultural transmission40. The details of any language system is passed on from one generation to the next through ____ , rather than by instinct.A. learningB. teachingC. booksD. both A and B。
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English Linguistics:An Introduction 英语语言学概论(王永强支永碧)Chapter One language• 1 What is language?• 2 What are the features of language?• 3 What are the functions of language?The definition of language•Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication.语言是用于人类交际的任意性的发音的符号系统。
•First ,language is a system: sound ,words, rules, meaningsElements of language are combined according to rules. Every language contains a set of rules. By system ,we mean the recurring patterns or arrangement or the particular ways or designs in which a language operates. The sounds and the words which form sentences are used in fixed patterns that speakers of a language can understand each other. It is because every language has its system that it conveys the same meaning to its speakers. 语言的元素组合根据规则。
每一种语言包含一组规则。
通过系统中,即我们所指的语言运用中反复出现的模式或安排或特定的方式或识别。
组成句子的声音和单词是用于固定模式,某种语言的人可以相互理解。
也就是说因为每一种语言都有其系统,它传达了使用者的相同含义。
•Arbitrary(任意的):no logical or intrinsic connection(无逻辑的固有的联系);homophone(同形异义词see/sea, to /too), synonym(同义词, beautiful, pretty) •Symbol: words are symbols fixed by convention, Lg is conventional(单词是按惯例固定的符号,语言是约定俗成的); “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet”by Shakespeare.•Vocal(声音的): speech/writing: Lg is primarily vocal, secondly writing: the fact that children acquire spoken language before they are able to read or write .儿童在读写前先学会讲话。
•Human: Lg is possessed only by human beings .systems of animal communication can only indicate simple things such as source of food and express simple emotions such anger or happiness,but human language can express very complex ideas such as theory devising and hypothesis making.语言只有人类具有,动物的交流体系只能表示简单事物和情感,但是人类语言可以表达非常复杂的想法比如理论发明和做假设。
•Communication: language is a unique system of communication. it is the cement of society. It allows people to live,work and play together ,to tell the truth or to tell lies. 语言是一种独特的交流系统,是社会的巩固。
它可以….1.2 Design features of human Lg(识别性特征)Design features refer to以下都省略这个词the defining properties of human lg that distinguis h it from any animal system of communication.识别性特征是人类语言区别于任何动物的语言系统的定义特征1 Productivity or Creativity(能产性,创造性): the ability that people have in making and understanding indefinitely large number of sentences in their native lg, including sentences they have never heard before. 能产性是指人们在本土语言中创造和理解大量无限的包括从未听过的句子的能力.2 Discreteness(离散性): the phenomenon that the sounds in a lg are meaningfully distinct and specific,离散性是指语言中的声音是有明显和特别意义的现象。
•Separated 区分: put/but; fit/hit; book/boot3 displacement(位移性):the human Lg can be used to talk about things that are not i n the immediate situations of its users.位移性是指人类的语言可以用来谈论并不在说话者眼前的事情。
4, Arbitrariness(任意性):the phenomenon that there is no motivated relationship bet ween a linguistic form and its meaning.任意性是指一个语言形式和其意义间没有理据关系的现象no logical relation between form and meaning.形态和意义间无逻辑关系Even onomatopoeic words is Lg specific: bang, quackquack, cuckoo除了拟声词5 Cultural transmission(文化传递性): the fact that lg is culturally transmitted.文化传递性指出语言是文化传递的事实。
Lg is passed on from one generation to another by teaching and learning, rather than inheritance(遗传). 语言是通过教学和学习而不是继承地从一代传到另一代的.LAD(Language Acquisition Device)(语言习得机制): the special ability that enables the child to learn any Lg exposed to him.即孩子学习任何他所接触到的语言的特别的能力,6. Duality or double articulation(结构二重性): the organization of lg into two levels ,one of sounds ,the other of meaning .结构二重性是指语言结构分两个层次,一个声音层次,一个意义层次(sound level 、meaning level)7. Interchangeability(互换性): any human beings can be both a producer and a receiv er of messages;人类既可以是语言的发出者又可以是接收者.listener and speaker.总结:语言的识别性特征分为:productivity; discreteness; displacement; arbitrariness; cultural transmission; duality or double articulation and interchangeability.Lg is a tool of human communication; tool of learning about the world, tool of creating art (Wang Gang)王刚说语言是人类交流的工具,是学习世界的工具,是创造艺术的工具1.3 Functions of human lg(语言的功能)The seven functions for children by M.A.K. Halliday:英国语言学家韩礼德认为幼儿语言有七大功能。
1. instrumental(工具功能): the fact that lg allows speakers to get things done.说话人可以使用语言做事情.get things done: pass me the salt, I name this ship Liberty Bell, I pronounce you husband and wife2. regulatory(调节功能):lg used in an attempt to control events once they happen.语言可以试图控制事件一旦它们发生.regulate the behaviours and encounters among people.调节人类行为和人们之间的接触3. representational(表现功能):the use of lg to communicate knowledge about the world,to report events ,to make statements,to give accounts,to explain relationships ,to relay messages and so on.语言可用来传达知识、汇报事件、进行陈述、说明、解释关系、传递信息等。