Chapter 1 Introduction (1) about language
1. A generally accepted definition:
Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication. Language must be a system. Language is arbitrary. Language is symbolic.
Language is primarily vocal. Language is human-specific.
许国璋先生对‘语言’的定义做了如下概括: 语言是人类特有的一种符号系统,
当它作用于人与人的关系的时候,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,它是文化的载体和容器。
design features of human languages: arbitrariness creativity duality of structure displacement cultural transmission
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)
A rose by any other name would smell as sweet (Shakespeare). Find some cases in which the language we use is not arbitrary. *onomatopoeia(拟声): quack-quack bang crash roar cuckoo ding dong ka cha pu tong *compounds: rainbow bittersweet pickpocket * pictograph (象形文字) /hieroglyph(象形符号) 休 从 北
? Arbitrariness and convention ? productivity/creativity (创造性): We can produce and understand an infinitely large number of sentences, including sentences we have never heard before. We can create endless sentences. e.g. He bought a book which was written by a teacher who taught in a school which was known for its graduates who…
? 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) the lower level: a structure of sounds, which are meaningless by themselves e.g. pen cake [p] [e] [n] [k] [ei] [k]
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? displacement(不受时空限制的特征): Language can be used to refer to things which are present or absent, real or imagined matters in the past, present, or future, or in far-away places. e.g. A: When are you moving to America? B: I‘m not sure yet. Maybe next month. ? cultural transmission: Language is culturally transmitted. It is passed on from one generation to the next through teaching and learning, rather than by instinct. e.g. the story of a wolf child 3. functions of language ? phatic: Hello.
Good morning. Lovely weather, isn‘t it? 吃饭了吗? 去哪里呀? ? directive: Pass me the salt, please. Don‘t do that any more. You‘d better do it yourself. ? informative: Water freezes at 32 degrees and boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit. ? interrogative: What time is it now? ? performative: e.g.(the chairman): Now I declare the meeting open. (the judge):I sentence you to 10 years in prison. ? expressive: I‘m sorry to hear that. I‘m glad to meet you. Thank you very much! Congratulations! ? evocative: The use of language to create certain feeling in the hearer. Its aim is to amuse, startle, anger or please. e.g. jokes, threat, warning ? metalingual: Words like ―I, you, he‖ are pronouns. *other classifications: A. descriptive function expressive function social function
B. ideational function概念功能 interpersonal function人际功能 textual function语篇功能 C. addresser --- emotive情感的 addressee --- conative意动的 context --- referential所指的
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message --- poetic诗学的 contact --- phatic communion交感的 code --- metalinguistic元语言的 4. the origin of language
? the divine-origin theory: According to Christian belief, God gave Adam the power to name all things. ―So he (God) took some soil from the ground and formed all the animals and all the birds. Then he brought them to the man to see what he would name them, and that is how they got their names. ? the invention theory: Many people think that man invented language. Some people believe that language at its earliest stage consisted of ―cries of nature‖. Others suggest that language arose out of the grunts of men working together. ? the evolutionary theory: In the long process of evolution, men gradually stood up. Free use of the lungs and the vocal cords made it possible for men to articulate sounds. Some believe that it is labor that created the necessity for language. (2) about linguistics Linguistics can be defined as the scientific or systematic study of language. A person who studies linguistics is usually referred to as a linguist. 1. main branches of linguistics
phonetics, phonology morphology syntax semantics pragmatics stylistics sociolinguistics neurolinguistics psycholinguistics applied linguistics computational linguistics 2. some important distinctions:
? descriptive (描述性的) vs. prescriptive(规定性的): If a linguistic study aims to describe and analyze the language people actually use, it is said to be descriptive; if the linguistic study aims to lay down rules for“correct and standard”behavior in using language, it is said to be prescriptive. People say X. Don‘t say X, say Y. ? synchronic(共时的) vs. diachronic(历时的): The description of a language at some point of time in history is a synchronic study; the description of a language as it changes through time is a diachronic study. Old English s Middle English s Modern English s d
? langue (语言系统)and parole (言语) (Saussure)
Langue refers to the abstract linguistic system shared by all the members of a speech community, and parole
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refers to the realization of langue in actual use.
? competence(语言能力) and performance (语言运用) (Chomsky) Chomsky defines competence as the ideal user‘s knowledge of the rules of his language, and performance the actual realization of this knowledge in linguistic communication. ? traditional grammar and modern linguistics: 1. Modern linguistics is descriptive while traditional grammar is prescriptive. 2. Modern linguistics regards the spoken language as primary, not the written. 3. Modern linguistics differs from traditional grammar also in that it does not force languages into a Latin-based framework.
Chapter 2 Phonology
The primary medium of human language is sound. phonetics(语音学)---the science which studies the characteristics of speech sounds and provides methods for their description, classification and transcription speech sounds --- sounds that convey meaning in human communication (1) three branches of phonetics:
? Articulatory phonetics (发音语音学)studies how speaker uses his speech organs to articulate the sounds. ? Auditory phonetics (听觉语音学)studies how sounds are perceived by the hearer. ? Acoustic phonetics (声学语音学)studies the physical properties of sounds. (2) articulatory phonetics: 1) speech organs:
1. three important areas: the pharyngeal cavity (the pharynx/throat) the oral cavity (the mouth) the nasal cavity (the nose) 2. the throat: glottis(声门) vocal cords(声带) larynx---Adam‘s apple 3. the mouth: lips tongue teeth teeth ridge (alveolous) hard palate(硬腭) soft palate (velum软腭) uvula IPA: the International Phonetic Alphabet
2) narrow transcription and broad transcription: There are two ways to transcribe speech sounds. One is the transcription with letter-symbols only and the other is the transcription with letter-symbols together with the diacritics（变音符号）. The former is called broad transcription(宽式标音), which is normally used in dictionaries and teaching textbooks. The latter is called narrow transcription(严式标音). e.g. narrow broad pit /p? it/ /pit/ speak /sp=i:k/ /spi:k/
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feel /fi:? / /fi:l/ 3) some major articulatory variables: voicing: voiced/voiceless e.g. [l, r, m, i:]/ [f, p, k] nasality: nasal/ nonnasal e.g. [m,n, ?]/[s,z,v,f] aspiration: aspirated/ unaspirated e.g. [p, t, k]/ [b, d, g]
pit (strongly aspirated) tip (weakly aspirated) sports, steel (unaspirated)
(3) classification of English speech sounds: consonants(辅音) and vowels(元音)
1) classification of English consonants: 1. in terms of manner of articulation: stops爆破音: [p, b, t, d, k, g] fricatives擦音: [f, v, s, z, ?, ? , ?, ? , h] affricates塞擦音: [ t?, d?] nasals鼻音: [m, n, ?] liquids边音 : [l] [r] glides滑音 :( semivowels [w, j] ) 2. in terms of place of articulation: bilabial双唇音: [p, b, m, w] labiodental唇齿音: [f, v] dental齿音: [?, ? ] alveolar齿龈音: [t, d, s, z, n, l, r] palatal腭音: [?, ?, t?, d?, j] velar软腭音: [k, g, ? ] glottal喉音: [h]
2) classification of English vowels: ? monophthongs单元音:
1. the part of the tongue that is held highest: front: [i:, i, e, ?, ɑ ] central: [?: , ?, ? ] back: [u:, u, ?: , ?, ɑ:] 2. width of the mouth: open: [ ?, ? , ?, ɑ, ɑ:] close: [i: ,i, u:, u ] semi-open /semi-close: [?: , e, ?, ?:] 3. shape of the lips: rounded: [u:, u, ?: , ?] unrounded: [i:, i, e, ?, ?: , ?, ?, ɑ:] ? diphthongs双元音: [ei, ai, ?i, ?u, au, i?, ??, u?]
The long vowels are all tense vowels and the short vowels are lax vowels.
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