英语语言学复习总结

1、How do you interpret the following definition of linguistics: linguistics is the scientific study of language.

It is a scientific studies because it is based on the systematic investigation of linguistic data, conducted with reference to some general theory of language structure. In order to discover the nature and rules of the underlying language system, what the linguist has to do first is to collect and observe language facts, which are found to display some similarities, and generalizations are made about them; then he formulates some hypotheses about the language structure. But the hypotheses, thus formed have to be checked repeatedly against the observed facts to fully prove their validity.

In linguistics, as in any other discipline, data and theory stand in a dialectical complementation; that is, a theory without the support of data can hardly claim validity, and data without being explained by some theory remain a muddled mass of things.

2、The design/defining features of human language (Charles Hockett) (1) Arbitrariness

----No logical (motivated or intrinsic) connection between sounds and meanings.

----- No natural and inevitable link between the sound and the meaning Exception: Onomatopoeic words and Some compound words.

(2) Productivity/creativity

We can speak an endless number of sentences with a limited vocabulary and one sentence can expand into endless theoretically possible sentences in the way of recurring

Exception: and bee dancing is used only to indicate food sources, which is the only kind of message that can be sent through the dancing.

(3) Duality

▪Lower level----sounds (meaningless)

▪Higher level----meaning (larger units of meaning)

Exception: the grouping of the three sounds/k/,/a:/,and/p/ can mean either a kind of fish(crap), or a public place for rest and amusement(park).

(4) Displacement

Displacement means that human languages enable their users to symbolize objects, events and concepts which are not present (in time and space) at the moment of communication.

Exception: Yesterday which book did you read?

(5) Cultural transmission

Language can transmit Culture which the language contains.

Exception；an English speaker and a Chinese speaker are both able to use a language, but they are not mutually intelligible. This shows that language is culturally transmitted.

3、word formation

(1)Compound

It refers to those words that consist of more than one lexical morpheme, or the way to join two separate words to produce a single form. icecream, sunrise, paperbag

(2) Derivation

It refers to the formation of new words by adding affixes to other words or morphemes.

Unconscious, national, nationalize

(3) Blending