现代语言学概论.docx

现代语言学概论.docx

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现代语言学概论

Chapter1:

Introduction

1.Whatislinguistics?

1.1Definition

Linguisticsisgenerallydefinedasthescientificstudyoflanguage.

Theword“language”impliesthatlinguisticsstudiesnotanyparticularlanguage,butlanguagesingeneral.

Theword“study”doesnotmean“learn”but“investigation”or“examine”.

“Scientific”referstothewayinwhichthelanguageisstudied.

Basedonsystematicinvestigationoflanguagedata,thestudyisconductedwithreferencetosomegeneraltheoryoflanguagestructure.Instudyinglanguage,thelinguistfirsthastostudylanguagefacts,thenheformulatessomehypothesesaboutlanguagestructurewhichhavetobere-checkedagainsttheobservedfactssoastoprovetheirvalidity.

Theprocessoflinguisticstudy:

1）Certainlinguisticfactsareobserved,andgeneralizationsaremadeaboutthem;

2）Basedonthesegeneralization,hypothesesareformedtoaccountforthesefacts;

3）Hypothesesaretestedbyfurtherobservations;

4）Alinguistictheoryisconstructedaboutwhatlanguageisandhowitworks.

1.2Thescopeoflinguistics

Generallinguistics–thestudyoflanguageasawhole,whichdealswiththebasicconcepts,theories,descriptions,models,methodsapplicableinanylinguisticstudy.

Phonetics–thestudyofsounds,whichareusedinlinguisticcommunication,

Phonology–thestudyofhowsoundsareputtogetherandusedincommunication.

Morphology–thestudyofthewayinwhichmorphemesarearrangedtoformwords.

Syntax–thestudyofhowmorphemesandwordsarecombinedtoformsentences.

Semantics–thestudyofmeaninginlanguage.

Pragmatics–thestudyofmeaningincontextofuse.

Socio-linguistics–thestudyoflanguagewithreferencetosociety.

Psycholinguistics–thestudyoflanguagewithreferencetotheworkingsofmind.

Appliedlinguistics–Findingsinlinguisticstudiescanoftenbeappliedtothesolutionofsuchproblemsastherecoveryofspeechability.Thisstudyiscalledappliedlinguistics.Inanarrowsense,itreferstotheapplicationoflinguisticprinciplesandtheoriestolanguageteachingandlearning,especiallytheteachingofforeignandsecondlanguages.

Anthropological/neurological/mathematical/computationallinguistics

1.3Someimportantdistinctionsinlinguistics

1.3.1Prescriptivevs.Descriptive

Ifalinguisticstudydescribesandanalyzesthelanguagepeopleactuallyuse,itissaidtobedescriptive（modern）;ifitaimstolaydownrulesfor“correct”behavior,i.e.totellpeoplewhattheyshouldsayandwhattheyshouldnotsay,itissaidtobeprescriptive（traditional）.

（Question:

howismodernlinguisticsdifferentfromtraditionalgrammar?

）

1.3.2Synchronicvs.Diachronic

Thedescriptionofalanguageatsomepointintimeisasynchronicstudy;thedescriptionofalanguageasitchangesthroughtimeisadiachronicstudy.Inmodernlinguistics,synchronicstudyseemstoenjoypriorityoverdiachronicstudy.

1.3.3Speechandwriting

Astwomajormediaofcommunication,modernlinguisticsregardsspokenformasprimary,becausethespokenformispriortothewrittenformandmostwritingsystemsarederivedfromthespokenform.Inthepast,traditionalgrammarianstendedtoover-emphasizetheimportanceofthewrittenword,partlybecauseofitspermanence.

（Whydoesmodernlinguisticsregardthespokenformofalanguageasprimary?

）

1.3.4Langueandparole（语言和言语）

ThedistinctionwasmadebyfamousSwissFerdinanddeSaussureearlythiscentury.BothareFrenchwords.

1）Languereferstotheabstractlinguisticsystemsharedbyallthemembersofaspeechcommunity,andparolereferstorealizationoflangueinactualuse.

2）Langueisthesetofconventionsandruleswhichlanguageusersallhavetofollowwhileparoleistheirconcreteuse.

3）Langueisabstract;itisnotthelanguagepeopleactuallyuse,butparoleisconcrete;itreferstothenaturallyoccurringlanguageevents.

4）Langueisrelativelystableanddoesnotchangefrequently;whileparolevariesfrompersontoperson,andfromsituationtosituation.

Saussuremadethisdistinctioninordertosingleoutoneaspectoflanguageforseriousstudy.Inhisopinion,paroleissimplyamassoflinguisticfacts,toovariedandconfusingforsystematicinvestigation,andlinguistsaresupposedtoabstractlanguefromparole.

1.3.5Competenceandperformance（语言能力和语言运用）

Similarto1.3.4,AmericanNoamChomskydefinescompetenceastheidealuser’sknowledgeoftherulesofhislanguage,andperformancetheactualrealizationofthisknowledgeinlinguisticcommunication.Chomskythinksthatlinguistsshouldstudycompetencebutnotperformance.

SimilartoSaussure,Chomskythinksthatlinguistsshouldstudytheidealspeaker’scompetence,butnothisperformance.Asonedifference,Saussuretookasociologicalviewoflanguageandhisnotionoflanguageisamatterofsocialinventions,whereasChomskylooksatlanguagefromapsychologicalpointofviewandtohimcompetenceisapropertyofthemindofeachindividual.

2.Whatislanguage

2.1Definitions

Nowadays,thegenerallyaccepteddefinitionoflanguageisthatlanguageisasystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsusedforhumancommunication.

1）Languageisasystem,aselementsoflanguagearecombinedaccordingtorules;

2）Arbitrary,asnointrinsicconnectionbetweenformandmeaning,orbetweensignandwhatitstandsfor.

3）Vocal,asprimarymediumissoundforalllanguages.

“Human”indicatesthedifferencefromthecommunicationsystemsofotherlivingcreatures.“Communication”meansthatlanguagemakesitpossibleforitsuserstotalktoeachotherandfulfilltheircommunicativeneeds.

2.2Designfeatures

Refertothedefiningpropertiesofhumanlanguagethatdistinguishitfromanyanimalsystemofcommunication.TheAmericanCharlesHockettspecified12designfeatures,5ofwhichwillbediscussedhere.

1）Arbitrariness

Nologicalconnectionbetweenmeaningsandsounds,symbols,words.Notentirelyarbitrary,therearesomewordsineverylanguagethatimitatenaturalsounds.Somecompoundwordsarenotentirelyarbitrary.Butthismakesuponlyasmallpercentage.

Thisnatureisasignofsophistication,whichonlyhumanbeingsarecapableofanditmakesitpossibleforlanguagetohaveanunlimitedsourceofexpressions.

2）Productivity

3）Duality

Languageisasystem,whichconsistsoftwosetsofstructure,ortwolevels,oneofsoundsadtheotherofmeanings.Atthelowerorthebasiclevel,thereisthestructureofsounds,whicharemeaningless.Butthesoundsoflanguagecanbegroupedandregroupedintoalargenumberofunitsofmeaningsuchasmorphemesandwords.Thenatthehigherlevel,theunitscanbearrangedandrearrangedintoaninfinitenumberofsentences.

4）Displacement

Languagecanbeusedtorefertothings,whicharepresentornotpresent,realorimaginedmatterinthepast,present,orfuture,orinfar-awayplaces.Inotherwords,languagecanbeusedtorefertocontextsremovedfromtheimmediatesituationsofthespeaker.

5）Culturaltransmission

Wearebornwiththeabilitytoacquirelanguage,thedetailsofanylanguagearenotgeneticallytransmitted,butinsteadhavetobetaughtandlearnedanew.

Inlinguistics,asinanyotherdiscipline,dataandtheorystandinadialectalcomplementation.

Chapter2:

Phonology

1.Thephonicmediumoflanguage

Oftwomediaoflanguage,speechismorebasicthanwriting,forthereasons:

1）Inlinguisticevolution,speechispriortowriting;

2）Ineverydaycommunication,speechplaysagreaterroleintermsoftheamountofinformationconveyed;

3）Speechisalwaysthewayinwhicheverynativespeakeracquireshismothertongue,andwritingislearnedandtaughtlaterinschool.

Thislimitedrangeofsoundswhicharemeaningfulinhumancommunicationandareofinteresttolinguisticarethephonicmediumoflanguage;andtheindividualsoundswithinthisrangearethespeechsounds（语音）.

2.Phonetics

2.1Whatisphonetics?

Phoneticsisdefinedasthestudyofthephonicmediumoflanguage;itisconcernedwithallthesoundsthatoccurintheworld’slanguages.Threebranches:

（themostimportantconclusionisthatphoneticidentityisonlyatheoreticalideal.）

1）Articulatoryphonetics

Howaspeakeruseshisspeechorganstoarticulatethesounds.Longestestablished,highlydeveloped.

2）Auditoryphonetics

Howthesoundsareperceivedbythehearer.

3）Acousticphonetics

Studiesspeechsoundsbylookingatthesoundwaves（recordernamedspectrographs）.Itstudiesthephysicalmeansbywhichspeechsoundsaretransmittedthroughairfromonepersontoanother.

2.2Organsofspeech

Thearticulatoryapparatusofahumanbeingarecontainedinthreeimportantareasorcavities,wheretheairstreamcomingfromthelungsmaybemodifiedbycompleteorpartialinterference.Itmayalsobemodifiedinthelarynx（喉）beforeitreachesanyofthecavities.Theyare:

Pharyngealcavity–thethroat

Airstream:

lung→windpipe→glottis（vocalcord）

Vibrationofthevocalcordsresultsinaqualityofspeechsoundscalled“voicing”,whichisafeatureofallvowelsandsomeconsonants.Otherwise“voiceless”

Oralcavity–themouth

Thegreatestsourceofmodificationoftheairstream.Tongueisthemostflexibleorgan.

Nasalcavity–thenose

Thevelumcanbedrawnbacktoclosethepassageoftheairstreamsothatallairexitingfromthelungscanonlypassthroughtheoralcavity.Producedareoralsounds.Otherwise,nasalizedsoundssuchasthreenasalconsonants.Generally,thepassageisdefinitelyopenorclosed.

2.3Orthographicrepresentationofspeechsounds–broadandnarrowtranscriptions

InternationalPhoneticAlphabet（IPA）cameintobeingattheendof