胡壮麟语言学笔记 第一章.docx

胡壮麟语言学笔记 第一章.docx

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胡壮麟语言学笔记第一章

Linguistics

Chapter1InvitationstoLinguistics

1.1Whystudylanguage?

1.Languageisveryessentialtohumanbeings.

2.Inlanguagetherearemanythingsweshouldknow.

3.Forfurtherunderstanding,weneedtostudylanguagescientifically.

1.2Whatislanguage?

Languageisameansofverbalcommunication.Itisasystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsusedforhumancommunication.

1.3Designfeaturesoflanguage

Thefeaturesthatdefineourhumanlanguagescanbecalleddesignfeatureswhichcandistinguishhumanlanguagefromanyanimalsystemofcommunication.

1.3.1Arbitrariness

Arbitrarinessreferstothefactthattheformsoflinguisticsignsbearnonaturalrelationshiptotheirmeanings.

1.3.2Duality

Dualityreferstothepropertyofhavingtwolevelsofstructures,suchthatunitsoftheprimarylevelarecomposedofelementsofthesecondarylevelandeachofthetwolevelshasitsownprinciplesoforganization.

1.3.3Creativity

Creativitymeansthatlanguageisresourcefulbecauseofitsdualityanditsrecursiveness.Recursivenessreferstotherulewhichcanbeappliedrepeatedlywithoutanydefinitelimit.Therecursivenatureoflanguageprovidesatheoreticalbasisforthepossibilityofcreatingendlesssentences.

1.3.4Displacement

Displacementmeansthathumanlanguagesenabletheiruserstosymbolizeobjects,eventsandconceptswhicharenotpresent（intimeandspace）atthemomentofconversation.

1.4Originoflanguage

1.Thebow-wowtheory

Inprimitivetimespeopleimitatedthesoundsoftheanimalcallsinthewildenvironmenttheylivedandspeechdevelopedfromthat.

2.Thepooh-poohtheory

Inthehardlifeofourprimitiveancestors,theyutterinstinctivesoundsofpains,angerandjoywhichgraduallydevelopedintolanguage.

3.The“yo-he-ho”theory

Asprimitivepeopleworkedtogether,theyproducedsomerhythmicgruntswhichgraduallydevelopedintochantsandthenintolanguage.

1.5Functionsoflanguage

AsisproposedbyJacobson,languagehassixfunctions:

1.Referential:

toconveymessageandinformation;

2.Poetic:

toindulgeinlanguageforitsownsake;

3.Emotive:

toexpressattitudes,feelingsandemotions;

4.Conative:

topersuadeandinfluenceothersthroughcommandsandentreaties;

5.Phatic:

toestablishcommunionwithothers;

6.Metalingual:

toclearupintentions,wordsandmeanings.

Halliday（1994）proposesatheoryofmetafunctionsoflanguage.Itmeansthatlanguagehasthreemetafunctions:

1.Ideationalfunction:

toconveynewinformation,tocommunicateacontentthatisunknowntothehearer;

2.Interpersonalfunction:

embodyingalluseoflanguagetoexpresssocialandpersonalrelationships;

3.Textualfunction:

referringtothefactthatlanguagehasmechanismstomakeanystretchofspokenandwrittendiscourseintoacoherentandunifiedtextandmakealivingpassagedifferentfromarandomlistofsentences.

AccordingtoHuZhuanglin,languagehasatleastsevenfunctions:

1.5.1Informative

Theinformativefunctionmeanslanguageistheinstrumentofthoughtandpeopleoftenuseittocommunicatenewinformation.

1.5.2Interpersonalfunction

Theinterpersonalfunctionmeanspeoplecanuselanguagetoestablishandmaintaintheirstatusinasociety.

1.5.3Performative

Theperformativefunctionoflanguageisprimarilytochangethesocialstatusofpersons,asinmarriageceremonies,thesentencingofcriminals,theblessingofchildren,thenamingofashipatalaunchingceremony,andthecursingofenemies.

1.5.4Emotivefunction

Theemotivefunctionisoneofthemostpowerfulusesoflanguagebecauseitissocrucialinchangingtheemotionalstatusofanaudiencefororagainstsomeoneorsomething.

1.5.5Phaticcommunion

Thephaticcommunionmeanspeoplealwaysusesomesmall,seeminglymeaninglessexpressionssuchasGoodmorning,Godblessyou,Niceday,etc.,tomaintainacomfortablerelationshipbetweenpeoplewithoutanyfactualcontent.

1.5.6Recreationalfunction

Therecreationalfunctionmeanspeopleuselanguageforthesheerjoyofusingit,suchasababy’sbabblingorachanter’schanting.

1.5.7Metalingualfunction

Themetalingualfunctionmeanspeoplecanuselanguagetotalkaboutitself.E.g.Icanusetheword“book”totalkaboutabook,andIcanalsousetheexpression“thewordbook”totalkaboutthesign“b-o-o-k”itself.

1.6Whatislinguistics?

Linguisticsisthescientificstudyoflanguage.Itstudiesnotjustonelanguageofanyonecommunity,butthelanguageofallhumanbeings.

1.7Mainbranchesoflinguistics

1.7.1Phonetics

Phoneticsisthestudyofspeechsounds,itincludesthreemainareas:

articulatoryphonetics,acousticphonetics,andauditoryphonetics.

1.7.2Phonology

Phonologystudiestherulesgoverningthestructure,distribution,andsequencingofspeechsoundsandtheshapeofsyllables.

1.7.3Morphology

Morphologystudiestheminimalunitsofmeaning–morphemesandword-formationprocesses.

1.7.4Syntax

Syntaxreferstotherulesgoverningthewaywordsarecombinedtoformsentencesinalanguage,orsimply,thestudyoftheformationofsentences.

1.7.5Semantics

Semanticsexamineshowmeaningisencodedinalanguage.

1.7.6Pragmatics

Pragmaticsisthestudyofmeaningincontext.

1.8Macrolinguistics

Macrolinguisticsisthestudyoflanguageinallaspects,distinctfrommicrolinguistics,whichdealtsolelywiththeformalaspectoflanguagesystem.

1.8.1Psycholinguistics

Psycholinguisticsinvestigatestheinterrelationoflanguageandmind,inprocessingandproducingutterancesandinlanguageacquisitionforexample.

1.8.2Sociolinguistics

Sociolinguisticsisatermwhichcoversavarietyofdifferentinterestsinlanguageandsociety,includingthelanguageandthesocialcharacteristicsofitsusers.

1.8.3Anthropologicallinguistics

Anthropologicallinguisticsstudiestherelationshipbetweenlanguageandcultureinacommunity.

1.8.4Computationallinguistics

Computationallinguisticsisaninterdisciplinaryfieldwhichcentersaroundtheuseofcomputerstoprocessorproducehumanlanguage.

1.9Importantdistinctionsinlinguistics

1.9.1Descriptivevs.prescriptive

Tosaythatlinguisticsisadescriptivescienceistosaythatthelinguisttriestodiscoverandrecordtherulestowhichthemembersofalanguage-communityactuallyconformanddoesnotseektoimposeuponthemotherrules,ornorms,ofcorrectness.

Prescriptivelinguisticsaimstolaydownrulesforthecorrectuseoflanguageandsettlethedisputesoverusageonceandforall.

Forexample,“Don’tsayX.”isaprescriptivecommand;“Peopledon’tsayX.”isadescriptivestatement.Thedistinctionliesinprescribinghowthingsoughttobeanddescribinghowthingsare.Inthe18thcentury,allthemainEuropeanlanguageswerestudiedprescriptively.However,modernlinguisticsismostlydescriptivebecausethenatureoflinguisticsasasciencedeterminesitspreoccupationwithdescriptioninsteadofprescription.

1.9.2Synchronicvs.diachronic

Asynchronicstudytakesafixedinstant（usuallyatpresent）asitspointofobservation.Saussure’sdiachronicdescriptionisthestudyofalanguagethroughthecourseofitshistory.E.g.astudyofthefeaturesoftheEnglishusedinShakespeare’stimewouldbesynchronic,andastudyofthechangesEnglishhasundergonesincethenwouldbeadiachronicstudy.Inmodernlinguistics,synchronicstudyseemstoenjoypriorityoverdiachronicstudy.Thereasonisthatunlessthevariousstateofalanguagearesuccessfullystudieditwouldbedifficulttodescribethechangesthathavetakenplaceinitshistoricaldevelopment.

1.9.3Langue&parole

Saussuredistinguishedthelinguisticcompetenceofthespeakerandtheactualphenomenaordataoflinguisticsaslangueandparole.Langueisrelativestableandsystematic,paroleissubjecttopersonalandsituationalconstraints;langueisnotspokenbyanindividual,paroleisalwaysanaturallyoccurringevent.Whatalinguistshoulddo,accordingtoSaussure,istodrawrulesfromamassofconfusedfacts,i.e.todiscovertheregularitiesgoverningallinstancesofparoleandmakethemthesubjectoflinguistics.

1.9.4Competenceandperformance

AccordingtoChomsky,alanguageuser’sunderlyingknowledgeaboutthesystemofrulesiscalledthelinguisticcompetence,andtheactualuseoflanguageinconcretesituationsiscalledperformance.Competenceenablesaspeakertoproduceandunderstandandindefinitenumberofsentencesandtorecognizegrammaticalmistakesandambiguities.Aspeaker’scompetenceisstablewhilehisperformanceisofteninfluencedbypsychologicalandsocialfactors.Soaspeaker’sperformancedoesnotalwaysmatchhissupposedcompetence.Chomskybelievesthatlinguistsoughttostudycompetence,ratherthanperformance.Chomsky’scompetence-performancedistinctionisnotexactlythesameas,thoughsimilarto,Saussure’slangue-paroledistinction.Langueisasocialproductandasetofconventionsofacommunity,whilecompetenceisdeemedasapropertyofmindofeachindividual.SaussurelooksatlanguagemorefromasociologicalorsociolinguisticpointofviewthanChomskysincethelatterdealswithhisissuespsychologicallyorpsycholinguistically.

1.9.5Eticvs.emic

[Thesetwotermsarestillveryvaguetome.AfterIreadJiDaohong’sbook,Icanunderstandthembetter,butbecausetheyarevaguelymentionedinHu’sbook,itseemsverydifficultformetounderstandthemfully.–icywarmtea]

Beingeticmeansresearchers’makingfartoomany,aswellasbehaviorallyandinconsequential,differentiations,justasoftenthecasewithphoneticsvs.phonemicsanalysisinlinguisticsproper.

Anemicsetofspeechact