语言学：Chapter 1 The origins of language
Origins of language_课件
The Origins of LanguageWhat is the origin of language?How did humans invent this tool?Origin of LanguageThe origin of language is a topic that has been written about for centuries. We know that, at least once during human evolution, a system of verbal communication emerged from proto-linguistic or non-linguistic means of communication, but beyond that little can be said.Speculations on the Origin of Language⏹The divine source⏹The natural-sound source⏹The oral-gesture source⏹Glossogenetics（言语遗传学）The Divine SourceIn most religions, there appears to be a divine source who provides humans with language.The Biblical account in Genesis⏹The Book of Genesis2:19-20 God give Adam the task of assigning names to all the animals and plants he had in Eden.⏹The key Biblical narrative is a later Bible story that God punished human for building the Tower of Babel by confusing the tongues of the builders; the observed variety of human languages is a consequence of that divine judgment:Origin of LanguageGod descended to see the city and the tower that the sons of man had built. God said, 'They are a single people, all having onelanguage, and this is the first thing they do! Now nothing they plan to do will be unattainable for them! Come, let us descend and confuse their speech, so that one person will notunderstand another's speech'.From that place, God scattered them all over the face of the earth, and they stopped building the city. He named it Babel, because this was the place where God confused the world's language.It was from there that God dispersed humanity over all the face of the earth.ExperimentsA few experiments have been carried out on the basis of a hypothesis that if infants were allowed to grow up without hearing any language, then they would spontaneously begin using the original God-given language.Psammetichus’ExperimentAn Egyptian pharaoh Psammetichus tried the experiment with two newborn infants around 600 BC. After two years in the company of goats and a mute shepherd, the children were reported to have spontaneously uttered, not an Egyptian word, but something reported to be the Phrygian words bekos, meaning “bread”.The Experiment of James Ⅳof Scotland⏹He carried out a similar experiment around AD 1500 and the children were reported to have started speaking Hebrew.⏹All other cases of children who have been discovered living without access to human speech in their early years, grow up with no language at all.The natural-sound source⏹This view suggests that primitive words could have been imitations of the natural sounds which early men and women heard around them.⏹The “bow-wow”hypothesis: imitation of animal sounds⏹The “pooh-pooh”hypothesis: instinctive utterance of pain, anger and joy⏹The “yo-he-ho”hypothesis: rhythmic chants and vocalisms uttered in communal labor.The Oral-gesture Source⏹The oral-gesture theory proposes an extremely specific connection between physical and oral gesture.⏹Originally a set of physical gestures were developed as a means of communication. Then a set of oral gestures developed.Glossogentics⏹Glossogentics focuses mainly on the biological basis of the formation and development of human language.⏹In the evolutionary development there are certain physical features, best thought of as partial adaptations, that appear to be relevant for speech.Each of these speculations may account for certain aspects of human language; however,it remains a mystery!。
语言学：Chapter 1 The origins of language
Chapter 1 The origins of language
Lecturer: CAI, Jilang
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I have never met a person who is not interested in language. ——Steven Pinker, The Language Instinct
赫尔德在他的论文里批驳了神创语言的观点，他指出语言的不完 美性绝不能让我们相信语言是出自完美的上帝之手。他肯定上帝的 存在和万能，但他却指出上帝创造了人的心智，而不是人的语言。 人的语言是由人类的心智创造的。
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The natural-sound source
‘bow-wow‟ theory: primitive words could have been imitationsof the natural sounds which early men and women heard around them. onomatopoeic Problem: soundless & abstract things; a language cannot be only a set of words used as „names‟ for things. natural cries of emotion (The pooh-pooh theory) Problem: sudden intakes of breath (interjections) vs. exhaled breath (normal language). „yo-he-ho‟theory: a set of grunts, groans and curses involved in physical effort Problem: It doesnot, however, answer our question regarding the origins of the sounds produced.
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。
语言学：Chapter_1_The_origins_of_language
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Language is a purely human and noninstinctive method of communicating ideas, emotions and desires by means of voluntarily produced symbols.
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Origins of Language
Chapter 4 Origins of language
1150 梁廷琴
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1.2 What is language?
Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human commun a system of signs that express ideas, and is therefore comparable to a system of writing, alphabet of deaf-mutes, symbolic rites, polite formulas, military signals, etc. But it is the most important of all these systems.
bow-wow theory-----, pooh-pooh theory----.
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early humans had already developed musical ability prior to language and were using it “to charm each other.”
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Creativity: Language is productive in that users can understand and produce novel sentences that they have never heard before Displacement Interchangeability [,ɪntɚ,tʃendʒə'bɪləti] n. 可交换性，可交替性 Cultural transmission 文化传播；文化传 递
语言学 Chapter 1
Arbitrariness (2)
2) Arbitrariness at the syntactic level: language is not arbitrary at the syntactic level. – As the night fell, the wind rose. – As the wind rose, the night fell. – When the two parts interchange, the focus and the meaning of the sentence is forced to change, because clauses occurring in linear sequence without time indicators will be taken as matching the actual sequence of happening.
—— Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913): Course in General Linguistics (1916)
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Sapir
“Language is a purely human and non-instinctive method of communicating ideas, emotions and desires by means of voluntarily produced symbols.”
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1.2 What is Language?—Saussure
Language “is both a social product of the faculty of speech and a collection of necessary conventions that have been adopted by a social body to permit individuals to exercise that faculty”.
语言学导论第一章ppt课件.ppt
What would happen if human language had only one system of structure?
Does the traffic light system have duality, why?
认识到了贫困户贫困的根本原因，才 能开始 对症下 药，然 后药到 病除。 近年来 国家对 扶贫工 作高度 重视， 已经展 开了“ 精准扶 贫”项 目
2. design features of human language ▪ arbitrariness(任意性):
There is no logical connection between meanings and sounds. e.g.书(汉)----book(英)
▪ duality of structure(结构的二重性):
Human language is a system consisting of two sets of structures or two levels.
the higher level: a structure of meaningful units (morphemes or words)
quack-quack bang roar cuckoo
crash
ding dong ka cha pu tong
*compounds:
rainbow bittersweet
pickpocket
* pictograph (象形文字) /hieroglyph(象形符号)
休
从
北
《语言学导论》重点整理
《语⾔学导论》重点整理1 .An Introduction to Linguistics and language1. What is Linguistics?Linguistics is the scientific study of language. It endeavors to answer the question--what is language and how is represented in the mind? Linguists focus on describing and explaining language and are not concerned with the prescriptive rules of the language.2. Basic criteria for doing Linguistics1. Objectivity2. Explicitness3. Rigorousness4. Adequacy3. The Scope of Linguistics(1)General Linguistics: the study of language as a wholePhonetics: the study of sounds in linguistic communicationPhonology: the study of the sound patterns of language. It is concerned with how sounds are put together and used to convey meaning in communication.Morphology : the study of the way in which the symbols are arranged and combined to form words.4. The Scope of Linguistics (2): Syntax the study of sentence structure. It attempts to describe what is grammatical in a particular language in term of rules Semantics: the study of meaning.Pragmatics: the study of meaning in contextSociolinguistics: the study of social aspects of language and its relation with society.Psycholingustics:the study of language with relation to psychologyApplied linguistics: the study of applications of linguistics.5. Some distinctions in linguisticsPrescriptive vs.descriptiveSynchronic vs. diachronicSpeech and writingLangue and paroleCompetence and performanceTraditional grammar and modern linguistics(linguistics is descriptive while traditional grammar is prescriptive; modern linguistics regards spoken language as primary, not the written; modern linguistics differs from traditional grammar in that it does not force language into a Latin-based framework.)6. What is language?Language is not an abstract construction of the learned, or of dictionary-makers, but is something arising out of the work, needs, ties, joys, affections, tastes, of long generations of humanity, and has its bases broad and low, close to the ground. ? Walt Whitman7. The definition of languageLanguage is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication8. Design features (Properties)Arbitrariness: vast majority of linguistic expressions are arbitraryProductivity: creativity or open-endednessDuality: double articulation(sounds and meanings)Displacement: eg. Santa Claus, Superman, dragonCultural transmission: meme, memics(Discreteness:the sounds used in language are meaningfully distinct. Eg. pack, back)9. AssignmentsComment on the definition of language.Summarize the design features of language.What is your understanding of synchronic study of language2.Chapter 2 Phonetics and phonology1. Phonetics: the sounds of languageThree branches of phoneticsArticulatory Phonetics发⾳语⾳学: the production of speech sounds.Auditory Phonetics听觉语⾳学: the study of the perception of speech soundsAcoustic Phonetics声学语⾳学: the study of the physical production and transmission of speech sounds.2. Organs of speech: 1.The pharyngeal cavity喉腔2.The oral cavity⼝腔3.The nasal cavity⿐腔3. Two kinds of transcriptionBroad transcription宽式标⾳: transcription with letter-symbolsNarrow transcription窄式标⾳: transcription with letter-symbols and the diacritics4. Classification of English consonants5. Classification of English vowels6. Phonology : the sound patterns of languageDifference Phone, phoneme, allophonePhonemic contrast, complementary distribution, minimal pair7. Phones, phonemes, and allophonesPhonology is the study of sound patterns of language( i.e. how sounds are arranged to form meaningful units) and the function of each sound. It reveals what are the possible combinations of sounds in a language and explains why certain words take the form they do.8. Phone ⾳素phone: the smallest perceptible discrete segment of sound in a stream of speechi) phonetic unit ii) not distinctive of meaning iii) physical as heard or produced iv) marked with [ ]9. Phoneme ⾳位the minimal unit in the sound system of a language. With phonemes, we establish the patterns of organization within the infinitely large number of sounds. Each language can be shown to operate with a relatively small number of phonemes (15-80). No two languages have the same phonemic system.10. Phoneme ⾳位i) phonological unit ii) distinctive of meaning iii) abstract, not physical iv) marked with / /.11.Three requirements for identifying minimal pairs:1) different in meaning; 2) only one phoneme different; 3) the different phonemes occur in the same phonetic environment. Minimal set: pat, mat, bat, fat, cat, hat, etc.11. Allophone ⾳位变体: phonic variants/realizations of a phoneme12. Phonological rules:Phonological patterning is rule-governed. [blik] and [kilb], though not found in English, can be possible combinations, while [kbil] or [lkib] cannot. Sequential rules are those that account for the combination of sounds in a particular language. They are language-specific, as in thefollowing cases:* [tlait] [iltrit]13.Sequential ruleIf three consonants should cluster together at the beginning of a word, the combination should follow the order/sequence below:a. The first phoneme must be /s/b. The second phoneme must be /p/, /t/ or /k/c. The third phoneme must be /l/, /r/, or /w/. spring, string, squirrel, split, screen14. Assimilation ruleA sound may change by assimilating/copying a feature of a sequential/neighboring sound, e.g. impossible, irresistible, illegal [in-]Question: What other examples?sink /since pan cake sun glasses five past seven has to15. Deletion ruleA sound may be deleted even though it may be orthographically represented.16.Stress, tone, and intonationSuprasegmental （超切分）phonology Suprasegmental phonemes:stress, tone and intonation17.Stress重⾳Word stress/sentence stress Primary stress/secondary stressStress of compounds: ‵blackbird / black ‵bird; ‵greenhouse / green ‵ houseSentence stress: Depending on the relative importance of the words; contrastive stress18. Tone (声调）Different rates of vibration produce different frequencies, which are termed as different pitches. Pitch variations are distinctive of meaning.In some languages like Chinese, pitch variations are called tones. Languages using tones are tone languages.19. Intonation（语调）When pitch, stress and length variations are tied to the sentence, they combine to become known as intonation.Three major types of English intonation: a. falling tone/tune b. rising tone/tune c. fall-rise tone/tune20. Assignments:Difference between phonetics and phonologyPhone, phoneme, allophonePhonemic contrast, complementary distribution, minimal pair3. Morphology（词法）1. Morphology is the study of word formation and structure. It studies how words are put together from their smaller parts and the rules governing this process.2. Two kinds of words1. Open class words: content words .e.g. nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs2. Closed class words: grammatical words or functional words. E.g. conjunctions, prepositions, articles and pronouns Words can be related to other words, e.g. "happy" — "unhappy".The rules that relate such sets of words are called Word Formation Rules. Thus, the morphology containsfundamental elements – morphemes rules of combination -- Word Formation Rules4. MorphemesThe elements that are combining to form words are called morphemes. A morpheme is the smallest unit of meaning you can have in a language.we know three things about every morpheme:1. its meaning2. its form (the sounds that make it up)3. a rule of combination (put it before/after/inside the stem)5. A case: Unhappy Happier unhappier6. Bound and Free Morphemes" In the word doors" there are two morphemes: "door" and "-s".The morpheme "door" can be used by itself, so it is called a FREE morpheme.But the morpheme "s" cannot be used by itself: ? "How many doors did you shut?" "More than one." OK "s" Not OK Therefore, "-s" is called a BOUND morpheme.7. AffixesMorphemes added to free forms to make other free forms are called affixes. There are four principle kinds of affixes:1. prefixes (at beginning) — "un-" in "unable"2. suffixes (at end) — "-ed" in "walked"3. circumfixes (at both ends) — "en--en" in "enlighten" (These always seem to consist ofotherwise attested independent prefixes and suffixes.)4. infixes (in the middle) -- "-bloody-" in "inbloody- credible"8.Derivational morphemesDerivational morphemes may or may not change the category, or grammatical class of words.E.g. Noun--- Adjective affection + ate alcohol+ ic9. Inflectional MorphologyMorphology that interacts with syntax (sentence structure) is called INFLECTIONAL MORPHOLOGY Some examples are: ? person? number? gender ? noun class ? case ? tenseInflectional morphemes never change the category. Inflectional morphemes do not change the "core" meaning of the word. Inflectional morphemes usually occur "outside" derivational ones. 10. A Rule for Forming some English Words 11. Compounds12. Other ways of Forming Words13. Word-formation:the creation of new words on the basis of existing structural devices in the language derivation compounding derivational affixation clipping, abbreviation, acronyms conversion* affixation * coinage: Ford, Kodak* compounding/composition: hot-line, keep-fit* conversion /functional shift : knee, cool, trigger, brake* derivation: alcoholic, affectionate* back-formation:edit, babysit, massproduce, laze* blending: smog, motel, globesity* shortening (clipped words, acronym) * borrowing: tea, algebra15. Compare the following derived words: in how far do they differ? Lab OED16. Compare the following derived words: in how far do they differ?lab babysit (from: babysitter)17. Compare the following derived words: in how far do they differ? institution-al skin-deep18. Compare the following derived words: in how far do they differ?to strength-en to house (e.g. this building houses 500 families)19. AssignmentsDistinguish the following terms: Open class words and closed class wordsBound morpheme and free morphemeInflectional morpheme and derivational morpheme List some rules of word formation 4. syntax1. Syntax is a branch of linguistics that studies how words are combined to form sentences and the rules that govern the formation of sentences.2. Syntactic rulesHow do we COMBINE WORDS to make SENTENCES? Syntax uses trees (just as in morphology) but the trees are built on WORDS instead of morphemes. Words are the fundamental units of sentences. The laws of combination for words are the syntactic rules.3. Sentence StructureWe know that there is structure in sentences separate from the meaning of the sentence because of the difference between "well formed nonsense" (1) and "total gibberish" (2) :(1) Colorless green ideas sleep furiously. (2) Green sleep furiously ideas colorless.Which sounds better ?4. Word-level categoriesMajor lexical categoriesN( Noun) book, boy V(Verb) run, buy A(Adjective) happy, heavyP (Preposition) about, in Minor lexical categories Det (determiner) the, a thisDeg (Degree word) quite, very Qual (Qualifier) often, always Aux(Auxiliary) must, should Con (Conjunction) and, but 5. Three criteria for judging the word’s categories1.meaning Noun—entity2.inflection -ed, -s3.distribution the girl Det+ N6. Phrase categoriesPhrases are constructed out of a "head" plus other material into:Noun Phrase (NP) Verb Phrase (VP) Adjective Phrase (AP) Prepositional Phrase (PP)7. Head, specifier, complementHead: the word around which a phrase is formedSpecifier: the words on the left side of the headscomplement: the words on the right side of the headsE.g. a touching story about a sentimental girl8. Phrase Structure RulesNP → (Det)N (PP) ? VP → (Qual) V ( NP) ? AP → (Deg)A (PP) ? PP → (Deg) P (NP)9. XP rule X= N, V, A or P XP →(specifier) X (complement)10. X – theory XP →(specifier) X X - → X(complement)11. Co-ordination rules X → X Con X12. XP rule (revised): XP →(specifier) X (complement ) Matrix clauseComplement phrase (CP) Complement clause Complementizers (Cs)13. ModifierAP PP AdvP The expanded XP rules XP →(spec)(Mod) X (complement*)(Mod)14. The S ruleS NP VPDet N V P Det N| | | | | |The cat is on the mat15. Transformational RulesOnce we have built a basic tree, we then might want to change it, for example to turn it into a question.1. John is going to school.2. Is John going to school?What happened between (1) and (2)? "Is" moved to the front. How did we make the yes/no question? What change did we make?16.Deep structure and surface structure:Deep structure is a level of syntactic representation that results from insertion of lexical items into the tree structure generated by the phrase structure rules.Surface structure is a level of syntactic representation that results from the application of whatever transformations are needed to yield the final syntactic form of the sentence.17. The organization of the syntactic componentThe XP ruleDeep structuretransformationsSurface structure18. Wh MovementMove the wh phrase to the beginning of the sentenceMove a wh phrase to the specifier position under CP19. Word OrderRecall that languages can choose the order of the constituents in a phrase structure rule. ? English: PP → P NP ? Japanese: PP → NP P20. SVOWe can say that the overall word-order in a simple sentence is Subject-Verb-Object or SVO.There are two choices for each rule:1. Sentence: S → NP VP S → VP NP2. Verb Phrase: VP → V NP VP → NP V21. AssignmentsDraw two possible trees for the sentence “The boy saw the man with the telescope. ”5. Semantics1. Semantics is the study of meaning.2. The Meanings of MeaningEveryday use and ambiguity of the word mean(ing)(1) Daddy, what does 'unique' mean? (2) When Mary talks about "her ex" she means me.(3) 'Purchase' means the same as 'buy'. (4) Gwailou means "foreign devil".(5) When he drinks it means he's depressed. (6) I didn't mean to hurt you.3. Ogden and Richards' The Meaning of Meaning (1923)sixteen different meanings of the words "mean/meaning" were distinguished. Here are some of them:John means to write. 'intends’A green light means go. 'indicates' Health means everything. 'has importance'His look was full of meaning. 'special import'What is the meaning of life? 'point, purpose'What does 'capitalist' mean to you? 'convey'What does ‘cornea‘(⾓膜)mean? 'refer to in the world'4. What does meaning mean in linguistics?It is the last kind of use that comes closest to the focus of linguistic semantics. In modern linguistics, the meaning is studied by making detailed analyses of the way words and sentences are used in specific contexts ("meaning" is not some kind of "entity" separate from language - any more than measures such as "height" or "length" have some kind of independent existence). This is an approach shared by a number of philosophers and psychologists. Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889- 1951), in particular, stressed its importance in his dictum: "The meaning of a word is its use in the language."5. 4 views concerning the study of meaningThe naming theory The conceptual theory Contextualism behaviorism6. The naming theoryPlato Words are names or labels for things.Limitations of the theory: it can be applicable to nouns only, but verbs, adjectives, and adverbs are not names or labels; imaginary things like “dragon”;abstract nouns like “joy”7. The conceptual theoryOgden & Richards' TriangleTHOUGHT (concepts, images, schemas)/ \(Sense) / \/ \(language) WORDS - - - - - - - - WORLD(things, situations)(Reference)Note: (i) Reference as an indirect relation(ii) Sense as a psychological notionWhat is the link between the language and concept?8. ContextualismLudwig Wittgenstein Malinowski J.R.Firth2 kinds of contexts: the situational context and the linguistic context9. BehaviorismBloomfield 1926, 1935 Behaviorism vs. mentalismHuman and animal behaviorStimulus and responseS -> r ... s -> R Jack and Jill10. Lexical meaningSense and referenceSense refers to the meaning of a Noun Phrase which determines its referent;Reference refers to that part of meaning of a Noun Phrase which is its referent.Sense is abstract and de-contextualized;Reference is concrete and contextualized.11. sense relations between words1.synonymy2.polysemy3.homonymy4.hyponymy5.antonymy11.1. synonymytwo words, same meaning never complete; tendency toward divergence,e.g small - little, but cf. small change and little sistera) dialectal synonymsb) stylistic synonymsc) synonyms that differ in their emotive or evaluative meaningd) collocational synonymse) semantically different synonyms11.2. polysemyone word, many meaningseye 'organ of sight', 'center of hurricane' , 'hole in needle'11.3.homonymydifferent words, same soundbear 'carry' bear 'furry creature' bare 'naked'cf. Homonymy, Homography: different words, same spelling bow 'knotted ribbon' bow 'front of ship'11.4.hyponymysuperordinate (hyponym) to subordinate Also: co-hyponymsProblematic superordinates:aunt - uncle > none sweet - sour - bitter > Tastes , but no Adj chair - sofa - couch > ? sitting furniture (Sitzm?bel) 11.5. antonymy(1) Gradable (scalar) antonyms: cold. . hot(2) Complementary antonyms: dead - alive(3) Relational opposites: teach - learn husband - wife12. six sense relations between sentencesa) X is synonymous with Yb) X is inconsistent with Yc) X entails Y (Y is an entailment of X)d) X presupposes Y (Y is a prerequisite of X)e) X is a contradiction?f) X is semantically anomalous?13. Analysis of meaningComponential analysisPredication analysisgrammatical meaningsemantic meaning13.1 Componential analysisFeatures in Semantic Theoryman = [+human] [+adult] [+male]woman = [+human] [+adult] [+female]girl = [+human] [-adult] [+female]boy = [+human] [-adult] [+male]stool = [+sitting] [+legs] [-back] [-arms] [+single person]chair = [+sitting] [+legs] [+back] [+/- arms] [+single person]sofa = [+sitting] [+/-legs] [+back] [+arms] [-single person] etccow = [+bovine] [+adult] [+female]ewe = [+ovine] [+adult] [+female] bull = [+bovine] [+adult] [+male]ram = [+ovine] [+adult] [+male] calf = [+bovine] [- adult]lamb = [+ovine] [-adult]But should calf = [+/-female] [+/-male] or simply unspecified?And what about: steer? = [+bovine] [+adult] [-male] [-female]13.2Predication analysisIt is proposed by G. Leech. In his framework of analysis, the basic unit is called predication, which is the abstraction of the meaning of a sentence. A predication consists of arguments and predicate. An argument is a logical participant in a predication. A predicate is something said about an argument or it states the logical relation linking the arguments in a sentence.14.Interdisciplinary nature of semantics (1)philosophy: definitions, truth, logiclinguistics: lexical, grammatical meaning; structural ambiguitypsychology: concepts, categorization, learninglaw: interpretation, entailment translation: translatability, paraphrasecomputer science: processing and representation of information15. Interdisciplinary nature of semantics(2)musicology: musical meaning (Joseph Swain: Musical Languages, 1997)anthropology: cultural meaning, relativityliterary criticism: interpretation, ambiguity, metaphorreligion (Anna Wierzbicka, What did Jesus mean?, 2001)16. Assignments:Summarize the four approaches to the studies on meaning.Specify the five major sense relations1.synonymy2.polysemy3.homonymy4.hyponymy5.antonymyDefine the following terms: componential analysis Predication analysis6 Pragmatics1. Pragmatics is the study of meaning in context2. Contextualist viewLudwig WittgensteinMalinowskiJ.R.Firth2 kinds of contexts: the situational context and the linguistic context3. Some issues in PragmaticsDeixis指⽰ Speech acts⾔语⾏为 Indirect language间接语⾔Conversation会话 Politeness礼貌 Cross-cultural communication跨⽂化交际Presupposition预设4. Pragmatics and Semanticsa There is continuum between Semantics (things that are true by theDEFINITIONS and RULES) and Pragrmatics (things that are true by virtue of the REAL WORLD Complementarism: semantics studies meaning in the abstract; pragmatics studies meaning in the context/use.5. Consider the following sentences:The rock ate my lunch. Semantically false, because "eat" requires anANIMATE subject.The giraffe ate the hyena. Grey area, does SEMANTICS include the concept VEGETARIANThe giraffe ate one hundred pounds of grass today.Pragmatics, how much DOES a giraffe eat in a day?6. ContextAccording to Firth, context includes the relevant features of participants: persons, personalities, the verbal and non-verbal action of the participants, the relevant objects and the effect of the verbal action. Hymes’ notion of context includes addressor, addressee, topic, setting, channel, code, message form, event, key and purpose.Shared knowledge7. Sentence meaning vs. utterance meaningSentence is often studied as the abstract, intrinsic property of the sentence itself in terms of predication. Utterance is the issuance in an actual context.The meaning of a sentence is abstract and decontextualized,while the meaning of an utterance is concrete and contextdependent.8. Speech Act TheoryAustin noticed that some sentences are special in that they DO things. One class is PERFORMATIVES. When spoken such sentences do the work:I (hereby) declare the fair open. ("hereby" is a good diagnostic of performatives)Performatives⾏事: Performatives were sentences that did not state a fact or describe a state, and were not verifiable. Constatives⾔事: constatives were statements that either state or describe, and were thusverifiable9. Three kinds of actsLocutionary act⾔内⾏为: locutionary act is the act of uttering words, phrases, clauses. It is the act of conveying literal meaning by means of syntax, lexicon and phonology.Illocutionary act⾔外⾏为: an illocutionary act is the act of expressing the speaker’s intention. It is an act performed in saying something.Perlocutionary act⾔后⾏为: perlocutionary act is the act performed by saying something. 10. Searle’s classification of speech actsRepresentatives: stating or describing, saying what the speaker believes to be true;Directives: trying to get the hearer to do something;Commissives: committing the speaker himself to future course of action;Expressives: expressing feelings or attitude towards an existing state;Declarations: bringing about immediate changes by saying something11. Principle of ConversationGrice discovered a number of conversational maxims (rules) that people generally obey.Two of them are: ? Be cooperative ? Be relevantThe following discourse represents a failure of cooperation:A: Do you know what time it isB: Yes.Or, if you know for sure that you're leaving on Tuesday it's misleading to say: "I'm leaving on Monday or Tuesday."12. Four maximsThe maxim of quantity The maxim of qualityThe maxim of relation The maxim of manner13. Conversational Implicatureconversational implicature: Conversational implicature occurs only when the maximsof Cooperative Principle are “flouted”. A: Do you know where Mr. X lives?B: Somewhere in the southern suburbs of the city.(said when it is known to both A and B that B has Mr. X’s address.)A: Would you like to come to our party tonight?B: I’m afraid I’m not feeling so well today.A: The hostess is an awful bore. Don’t you think?B: The roses in the garden are beautiful, aren’t they?(said when it is known to both A and B that it is entirely possible for B to make a comment on the hostess)A: Shall we get something for the kids?B: yes. But I veto I-C-E-C-R-E-A-M.(said when it is known to both A and B that B has no difficulty in pronouncing the word“ice-cream”).14. Leech’s Politeness PrincipleTact maxim Generosity maxim Approbation maximModesty maxim Agreement maxim Sympathy maxim15. The 6 maxims of Leech’s PPtact generosityapprobation modestyagreementsympathy16. Tact Maxim:1. Minimize cost to other 2.Maximize benefit to other Generosity Maxim:1. Minimize benefit to self 2. Maximize cost to self Approbation Maxim: 1. Minimize dispraise of other 2. Maximize praise of other Modesty Maxim:1. Minimize praise of self 2. Maximize dispraise of self17. Agreement Maxim: 1.Minimize disagreement between self and other2.Maximize agreement between self and otherSympathy Maxim: 1. Minimize antipathy between self and other2. Maximize sympathy between self and other18. Politeness scale: DirectnessdirectCould you possibly answer the phone?Would you mind answering the phone?Can you answer the phone?Will you answer the phone?I want you to answer the phone.Answer the phone.indirect19. Politeness scale: Cost – benefitbenefitHave another sandwich.Enjoy your holiday.Look at that.Sit down.Hand me the newspaper.Peel these potatoes.Cost20. PresuppositionsStatements or questions that presuppose a related sentence. "Leading" questions or statements. "When did you stop beating your donkey?" presupposes:You stopped beating your donkey.You did beat your donkey.You beat something.You have a donkey...."I'll have some more coffee." presupposes that you have already had some.21. assignmentsSpeech act theorycoperative principleconversational implicature7. Language Change1. ReviewPrescriptive vs.descriptive (Chapter 1)The definition of language: Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication (Chapter 1) Word formation: affixation, composition, conversion, back formation, blend, shortening , coinage (Chapter 3) Contextualism (Chapter 5) Context (Chapter 6)2. All languages change through timeLanguages change in the phonology, morphology, syntax, lexicon and semantic components of the grammar.3. The changes of language at different levels (1)Sound changeMorphological and syntactic changea) change in “agreement” ruleb) change in negation rulec) process of simplificationd) loss of inflections4. The changes of language at different levels (2)Vocabulary changea) addition of new words(coinage, clipped words, blending, acronyms, backformation, functional shift, borrowing)b) loss of wordsc) changes in the meaning of words (widening of meaning, narrowing of meaning,meaning shift)5. Some recent trendsMoving towards greater informalityThe influence of American EnglishThe influence of science and technologya) space travel b) computer and internet language c) ecology6. Causes of language changea) The rapid development of science and technology has led to the creation of many new words: fax, laser, telecomb) As more and more women have taken up activities formerly reserved for men, more neutral job titles have been created: chairman-chairperson, fireman-fire fighter.c) The way children acquire the language provides a basic cause of change.d) “economy of memory ” and “theory of least effort”. foe/foes, cow/cows (kine)cheap-cheaplye) other factors, e.g. elaboration of grammar7. SummaryThe linguistic change is complex.The linguistic change is gradual.The exact reasons for language change are still elusive and need to be further investigated. 8. Assignments1. Illustrate the vocabulary change with examples.2. What are the possible causes of language change?8. Language and Society1. The relatedness between language and societyLanguage is used to establish and maintain social relationship.The kind of language the users choose is in part determined by his/her social background.Language is closely related to the structure of the society in which it is used, and the evaluation of a linguistic form is entirely social.2. Speech communityFor general linguists, a speech community is defined as a group of people who form a community and share the same language or a particular variety of a language.。
语言学导论 Unit 1 Preliminaries about language
• There are some 6,800 known languages spoken
in the 200 countries of the world. In 2003, the total number of languages in the world was estimated to be 6,809, of which 2,261 have writing systems (the others are only spoken). What if there were only one language the world over? (Pபைடு நூலகம் 11 No. 2)
language.
• Both Jane and John like
Shakespeare’s language. • the language of bees
• Language contributes to the success of
our everyday life and the survival of human beings.
another by teaching and learning, rather than by instinct.
• Question: Can we deny that human language has a
genetic basis? What is the implication of the story about “wolf child”? What about those patients with neurological lesions in areas like Broca area (named after a French scientist) and Wernicke area (named after a German scientist) [aphasia] ?
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A man that is eating a flower is in the garden. Is a man that is eating a flower in the garden? *Is a man that eating a flower is in the garden? Hei asks Tom to take care of himi. He asks Tomi to take care of himselfi. 张三i问李四是否喜欢他ij。 张三i问李四j是否喜欢自己ij。 张三叫李四i要照顾好自己i。 爸爸，你自己在家是否无聊？*无吗？
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What is language?
Knowledge of sentence and non-sentences John kissed the little old lady who owned the shaggy dog. *Who owned the shaggy dog John kissed the little old lady .
What do we know when we know a language? Knowing the sound system of a language The inventory of sounds Which sounds may start a word, end a word, and follow each other. Ex. Nkrumah (The name of the former presedent of Ghana), sink, *nking (not possible for English)
Chapter 1 The origins of language
Lecturer: CAI, Jilang
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I have never met a person who is not interested in language. ——Steven Pinker, The Language Instinct
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Condillac Rousseau Herder
卢梭说需要造就了第一句手语，激情逼出第一句言语。孔狄亚克 认为人创造了言语是为了表达他们的需要，卢梭认为这是站不住脚 的。 他认为，语言起源于精神的需要，也就是激情，激情促使人们 联合，生存之必然性迫使人们互相逃避。逼迫人类说出第一个词的 不是饥渴而是爱、憎、怜悯、愤怒（卢梭，《论语言的起源》）
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What is language?
Knowing how to combine words to form phrases, and phrases to form sentences. This is the house. This is the house that Jack built. This is the house that Jack built. This is malt that lay in the house that Jack built.
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1.2 What is language?
A definition: Language is a means of verbal communication. What else should we know about language?
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What is language?
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The Origins of language
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with god, and the Word was God.” (The Gospel according to John 1:1) “And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do; and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.” (Genesis, Chapter 11:6) God created Adam and “whatsoever Adam called everyliving creature, that was the name thereof”. Alternatively, following a Hindu tradition, language came from Sarasvati, wife of Brahma, creator of the universe. The divine source
赫尔德在他的论文里批驳了神创语言的观点，他指出语言的不完 美性绝不能让我们相信语言是出自完美的上帝之手。他肯定上帝的 存在和万能，但他却指出上帝创造了人的心智，而不是人的语言。 人的语言是由人类的心智创造的。
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The natural-sound source
‘bow-wow‟ theory: primitive words could have been imitationsof the natural sounds which early men and women heard around them. onomatopoeic Problem: soundless & abstract things; a language cannot be only a set of words used as „names‟ for things. natural cries of emotion (The pooh-pooh theory) Problem: sudden intakes of breath (interjections) vs. exhaled breath (normal language). „yo-he-ho‟theory: a set of grunts, groans and curses involved in physical effort Problem: It doesnot, however, answer our question regarding the origins of the sounds produced.
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Goals of the Course
By the end of the course, you may be able to have fun learning about human language; be familiar with some basic concepts of language and the research objects of linguistics get a knowledge of the main theories of modern linguistics; explain some linguistic phenomena with relevant linguistic theories.
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Is possible to do experiments on that?
Experiments on The divine source Egyptian pharaoh Psammetichus (600 BC) Two new born babies; Phrygian word bekos „bread‟ King James the Fourth of Scotland (AD 1500) Hebrew Problem: “It is unfortunate that all other cases of children who have been discovered living inisolation, without coming into contact with human speech, tend not to confirmthe results of these types of „divine-source‟ experiments.” p2
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What is the course about?
This course provides some answers to basic questions about the nature of human language. We will study some core aspects of language in detail, such as the sound of language, the word formation of language, the sentence structure of language, etc. In addition, wee will address a variety of questions, i.e. how language is related to cultures and society, and how language is used in context, etc.
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Requirements
Do the assigned readings before each class meeting; Be an active participant in classroom discussions; Present a team-work report on a certain topic; Good attendance at classes is mandatory; A course paper on a certain linguistic problem is required; A final exam will be covered. Schedule of Class