英语语言学教程胡壮麟版.docx

1、英语语言学教程胡壮麟版英语语言学教程（胡壮麟版）Chapterone.InvitationtoLinguistic.1. Whatislanguage?“Languageissystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsusedforhumancommunication.Itisasystem,sincelinguisticelementsarearrangedsystematically,ratherthanrandomly.Arbitrary,inthesensethatthereisusuallynointrinsicconnectionbetweenawork(like“b

2、ook”)andtheobjectitrefersto.Thisexplainsandisexplainedbythefactthatdifferentlanguageshavedifferent“books”:“book”inEnglish,“livre”inFrench,“shu”inChinese.Itissymbolic,becausewordsareassociatedwithobjects,actions,ideasetc.bynothingbutconvention.Namely,peopleusethesoundsorvocalformstosymbolizewhattheyw

3、ishtoreferto.Itisvocal,becausesoundorspeechistheprimarymediumforallhumanlanguages.Writingsystemscamemuchlaterthanthespokenforms.Thefactthatsmallchildrenlearnandcanonlylearntospeak(andlisten)beforetheywrite(andread)alsoindicatesthatlanguageisprimarilyvocal,ratherthanwritten.Theterm“human”inthedefinit

4、ionismeanttospecifythatlanguageishumanspecific.2. DesignFeaturesofLanguage.“Designfeatures”hererefertothedefiningpropertiesofhumanlanguagethattellthedifferencebetweenhumanlanguageandanysystemofanimalcommunication.Theyarearbitrariness,duality,productivity,displacement,culturaltransmissionandinterchan

5、geability(1) Arbitrariness:By“arbitrariness”,wemeanthereisnologicalconnectionbetweenmeaningsandsounds.(2) Duality:Thepropertyofhavingtwolevelsofstructures(phonologicalandgrammatical),unitsoftheprimarylevelbeingcomposedofelementsofthesecondarylevelandeachlevelhavingitsownprinciplesoforganization.(3)

6、Productivity:Productivityreferstotheabilitytotheabilitytoconstructandunderstandanindefinitelylargenumberofsentencesinonesnativelanguage,includingthosethathasneverheardbefore,butthatareappropriatetothespeakingsituation.Thepropertythatenablesnativespeakerstoconstructandunderstandanindefinitelylargenum

7、berofutterances,includingutterancesthattheyhaveneverpreviouslyencountered.(4) Displacement:“Displacement”,asoneofthedesignfeaturesofthehumanlanguage,referstothefactthatonecantalkaboutthingsthatarenotpresent,aseasilyashedoesthingspresent.Inotherwords,onecanrefertorealandunrealthings,thingsofthepast,o

8、fthepresent,ofthefuture.Languageitselfcanbetalkedabouttoo.(5) Culturaltransmission:Thismeansthatlanguageisnotbiologicallytransmittedfromgenerationtogeneration,butthatthedetailsofthelinguisticsystemmustbelearnedanewbyeachspeaker.(6) Interchangeability:Interchangeabilitymeansthatanyhumanbeingcanbeboth

9、aproducerandareceiverofmessages.3. FunctionsofLanguage.Languagehasatleastsevenfunctions:phatic,directive,Informative,interrogative,expressive,evocativeandperformative.(1) Phaticfunction:The“phaticfunction”referstolanguagebeingusedforsettingupacertainatmosphereormaintainingsocialcontacts(ratherthanfo

10、rexchanginginformationorideas).Greetings,farewells,andcommentsontheweatherinEnglishandonclothinginChineseallservethisfunction.(2) Directivefunction:The“directivefunction”meansthatlanguagemaybeusedtogetthehearertodosomething.Mostimperativesentencesperformthisfunction,e.g.,“Tellmetheresultwhenyoufinis

11、h.”(3) Informativefunction:Languageservesan“informationalfunction”whenusedtotellsomething,characterizedbytheuseofdeclarativesentences.Informativestatementsareoftenlabeledastrue(truth)orfalse(falsehood).(4) Interrogativefunction:Whenlanguageisusedtoobtaininformation,itservesan“interrogativefunction”.

12、Thisincludesallquestionsthatexpectreplies,statements,imperativesetc.(5) Expressivefunction:The“expressivefunction”istheuseoflanguagetorevealsomethingaboutthefeelingsorattitudesofthespeaker.(6) Evocativefunction:The“evocativefunction”istheuseoflanguagetocreatecertainfeelingsinthehearer.Itsaimis,forex

13、ample,toamuse,startle,antagonize,soothe,worryorplease.(7) Performativefunction:Thismeanspeoplespeakto“dothings”orperformactions.4.Whatislinguistic?“Linguistics”isthescientificstudyoflanguage.Itstudiesnotjustonelanguageofanyonesociety,butthelanguageofallhumanbeings.Inshort,linguisticsstudiesthegenera

14、lprincipleswhereuponallhumanlanguagesareconstructedandoperateassystemsofcommunicationintheirsocietiesorcommunities.5.Mainbranchesoflinguistics.Thestudyoflanguageasawholeisoftencalledgenerallinguistics.Butalinguistsometimesisabletodealwithonlyoneaspectoflanguageatatime,thustheariseofvariousbranches:p

15、honetics,phonology,morphology,syntax,semantics,pragmatics,sociolinguistics,appliedlinguistics,psycholinguisticsetc.6.Importantdistinctionsinlinguistic.(1)synchronicstudyvs.diachronicstudyThedescriptionofalanguageatsomepointoftime(asifitstoppeddeveloping)isasynchronystudy(synchrony).Thedescriptionofa

16、languageasitchangesthroughtimeisadiachronicstudy(diachronic).(2)Speechvs.writingSpeechisprimary,becauseitexistedlongbeforewritingsystemscameintobeing.Geneticallychildrenlearntospeakbeforelearningtowrite.Secondly,writtenformsjustrepresentinthiswayorthatthespeechsounds:individualsounds,asinEnglishandF

17、renchasinJapanese.Incontrasttospeech,spokenformoflanguage,writingaswrittencodes,giveslanguagenewscopeandusethatspeechdoesnothave.Mostmodernlinguisticanalysisisfocusedonspeech,differentfromgrammariansofthelastcenturyandtheretofore.(3)Descriptivevs.prescriptiveAlinguisticstudyis“descriptive”ifitonlyde

18、scribesandanalysesthefactsoflanguage,and“prescriptive”ifittriestolaydownrulesfor“correct”languagebehavior.Linguisticstudiesbeforethiscenturywerelargelyprescriptivebecausemanyearlygrammarswerelargelyprescriptivebecausemanyearlygrammarswerebasedon“high”(literaryorreligious)writtenrecords.Modernlinguis

19、ticsismostlydescriptive.(4).languevs.paroleF.deSaussurerefers“langue”totheabstractlinguisticsystemsharedbyallthemembersofaspeechcommunityandrefers“parole”totheactualoractualizedlanguage,ortherealizationoflangue.Langueisabstract,parolespecifictothespeakingsituation;languenotactuallyspokenbyanindividu

20、al,parolealwaysanaturallyoccurringevent;languerelativelystableandsystematic,paroleisamassofconfusedfacts,thusnotsuitableforsystematicinvestigation.Whatalinguistoughttodo,accordingtoSaussure,istoabstractlanguefrominstancesofparole,i.e.todiscovertheregularitiesgoverningallinstancesofparoleandmakethant

21、hesubjectoflinguistics.Thelangue-paroledistinctionisofgreatimportance,whichcastsgreatinfluenceonlaterlinguists.(5).competencevs.performanceAccordingtoN.Chomsky,“competence”istheideallanguageusersknowledgeoftherulesofhislanguage,and“performance”istheactualrealizationofthisknowledgeinutterances.Thefor

22、merenablesaspeakertoproduceandunderstandanindefinitenumberofsentencesandtorecognizegrammaticalmistakesandambiguities.Aspeakerscompetenceisstablewhilehisperformanceisofteninfluencedbypsychologicalandsocialfactors.Soaspeakersperformancedoesnotalwaysmatchorequalhissupposedcompetence.Chomskybelievesthat

23、linguistsoughttostudycompetence,ratherthanperformance.(6).linguisticpotentialvs.linguisticbehaviorThesetwoterms,orthepotential-behaviordistinction,weremadebyM.A.K.Hallidayinthe1960s,fromafunctionalpointofview.Thereisawiderangeofthingsaspeakercandoinhisculture,andsimilarlytherearemanythingshecansay,f

24、orexample,tomanypeople,onmanytopics.Whatheactuallysays(i.e.his“actuallinguisticbehavior”)onacertainoccasiontoacertainpersoniswhathehaschosenfrommanypossibleinjusticeitems,eachofwhichhecouldhavesaid(linguisticpotential).Chapter2Phonetics1.Whatisphonetics?“Phonetics”isthesciencewhichstudiesthecharacte

25、risticsofhumansound-making,especiallythosesoundsusedinspeech,andprovidesmethodsfortheirdescription,classificationandtranscription,speechsoundsmaybestudiedindifferentways,thusbythreedifferentbranchesofphonetics.(1)Articulatoryphonetics;thebranchofphoneticsthatexaminesthewayinwhichaspeechsoundisproduc

26、edtodiscoverwhichvocalorgansareinvolvedandhowtheycoordinateintheprocess.(2)Auditoryphonetics,thebranchofphoneticresearchfromthehearerspointofview,lookingintotheimpressionwhichaspeechsoundmakesonthehearerasmediatedbytheear,theauditorynerveandthebrain.(3)Acousticphonetics:thestudyofthephysicalproperti

27、esofspeechsounds,astransmittedbetweenmouthandear.Mostphoneticians,however,areinterestedinarticulatoryphonetics.2.TheIPATheIPA,abbreviationof“InternationalPhoneticAlphabet”,isacompromisesystemmakinguseofsymbolsofallsources,includingdiacriticsindicatinglength,stressandintonation,indicatingphoneticvari

28、ation.Eversinceitwasdevelopedin1888,IPAhasundergoneanumberofrevisions.3.PlaceofarticulationItreferstotheplaceinthemouthwhere,forexample,theobstructionoccurs,resultingintheutteranceofaconsonant.4.MannerofarticulationThe“mannerofarticulation”literallymeansthewayasoundisarticulated.5.Phonology“Phonolog

29、y”isthestudyofsoundsystems-theinventionofdistinctivespeechsoundsthatoccurinalanguageandthepatternswhereintheyfall.Minimalpair,phonemes,allophones,freevariation,complementarydistribution,etc.,arealltobeinvestigatedbyaphonologist.6.Narrowtranscriptionandbroadtranscription.Theformerwasmeanttosymbolizea

30、llthepossiblespeechsounds,includingeventhemostminuteshadesofpronunciationwhileBroadtranscriptionwasintendedtoindicateonlythosesoundscapableofdistinguishingonewordfromanotherinagivenlanguage.7.PhonePhonemeAllophoneA“phone”isaphoneticunitorsegment.Thespeechsoundswehearandproduceduringlinguisticcommuni

31、cationareallphones.Whenwehearthefollowingwordspronounced:pit,tip,spit,etc.,thesimilarphoneswehaveheardarepforonething,andthreedifferentps,readilymakingpossiblethe“narrowtranscriptionordiacritics”.Phonesmayandmaynotdistinguishmeaning.A“phoneme”isaphonologicalunit;itisaunitthatisofdistinctivevalue.Asa

32、nabstractunit,aphonemeisnotanyparticularsound,butratheritisrepresentedorrealizedbyacertainphoneinacertainphoneticcontext.Forexample,thephonemepisrepresenteddifferentlyinpit,tipandspit.Thephonesrepresentingaphonemearecalledits“allophones”,i.e.,thedifferent(i.e.,phones)butdonotmakeonewordsophoneticallydifferentastocreateanewwordoranewmeaningthereof.Sothedifferentpsintheabovewordsistheallophonesofthesamephonemep.Howaphonemeisrepresentedbyaphone,orwhichallophoneistobeused,isdeterminedbythephoneticcontextinwhichitoccurs.Butthechoiceofanallophoneisnotrandom