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