(b) the ability to communicate by this means;
(c) a system of vocal sounds and combinations of such sounds
to which meaning is attributed, used for the expression or communication of thoughts and feelings; (d) the written representation of such a system;
[2] (a)any means of expressing or communicating, as gestures, signs, or animal sounds;
(b) a special set of symbols, letters, numerals, rules etc. used for the transmission of information, as in a computer
Definition in the textbook:
Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication.
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.
Vocal: 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.
Symbols: words are just the symbols associated with objects,
actions, and ideas by convention. Human: language is human-specific.
Human beings have different kinds of brains and vocal capacity. “Language Acquisition Device” (LAD)
Communication: A process in which information is transmitted from a source (sender or speaker) to a goal (receiver or listener).
1.3 Design features of language Charles Hockett (1958) American linguist 1.Arbitrariness(任意性)
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)
2.Productivity (Creativity，能产性)
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:
3.Duality（二层性）
Language is simultaneously organized at two levels or layers, namely, the level of sounds and that of meaning.
the higher level ----words which are meaningful, the lower or the basic level----sounds which are meaningless, but can be grouped and regrouped into words. 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.
4.Displacement（移位性）
Human languages enable their users to symbolize objects, events and concepts which are not present at the moment of communication.
5.Cultural transmission（文化传承性）
People 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.
1.4 Origin of language
? 1. The bow-wow theory（汪汪理论）
People imitated the sounds of the animal calls in the wild environment.
? 2. The pooh-pooh theory（噗噗理论）
Our primitive ancestors uttered instinctive sounds of pain, anger and joy.
? 3. The yo-he-ho theory（哟—嗬---哟理论）
As primitive people worked together, they produced rhythmic grunts
which gradually developed into chants and then into language.
1.5 Functions of language
1.Informative(信息功能): the instrument of thought ideational (Halliday): Language serves for the expression of ?content’.
2.Interpersonal(人际功能): People establish and maintain their status in a society through the use of language, the interaction between the addresser and addressee in the discourse situation and the addresser’s attitude toward what he speaks or writes about
3.Performative(施为功能):to change the social status of persons, as in marriage ceremonies, the sentencing of criminals, the blessing of children, the naming of a ship at a launching ceremony, and the cursing of enemies.
4.Emotive(感情功能): to change the emotional status of an audience
for or against someone or something
5.Phatic communion(交感性谈话): broadly speaking, this function refers to expressions that help define and maintain interpersonal relations, such as slangs, jokes, jargons, ritualistic exchanges, switches to social and regional dialects.
6.Recreational(娱乐性功能): the use of language for the sheer joy of
using it, such as a baby’s babbling or a chanter?s chanting verbal dueling(对歌): for the sheer joy of playing on language
7.Metalingual(元语言功能): Language can be used to talk about itself. Self-reflexive(自我反身性）
1.6 What is linguistics? Definitions:
Linguistics is usually defined as the science of Language or, alternatively, as the scientific study of Language. In order to discover the nature and rules of the underlying language system, what the linguist has to do is:
1 to collect and observe language facts and make generalizations about the facts
2 to formulate some hypotheses about the language structure and to check the hypotheses
语言学及其分类
? 语言学〈1inguistics）：是以人类语言为研究对象的学科。它的探索范围包括语言的结构、语言的运用、语言的社会功能和历史发展，以及其他与语言有关的问题。
? 近几十年来，语言学迅速发展，引起了整个学术界的注意。语言学与许许多多别的东西有千丝万缕的关系，牵涉到生理、物理、心理、数学、地理、哲学、美学、社会学、历史学、民族学、人类学、工程学各方面的问题，范围既广，头绪又多，而