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chapter1handoutandexercisesforstudents
Chapter1Introduction
1.1Whatislinguistics?
1.1.1Definition:
Linguisticsisthescientificstudyoflanguage.
language:
languageingeneral,notanyparticularlanguage,e.g.English,Chinese,Arabic,andLatin.
1.1.2TheScopeoflinguistics
A)generallinguistics
Thestudyoflanguageasawholeisoftencalledgenerallinguistics.
basicconcepts:
language;sentence;words
theories:
descriptions:
models:
methodsapplicableinanylinguisticstudy:
B)mainbranchesoflinguistics
LanguagestudyfocusesonMeaningandForm.
i)Form:
sound
phonetics语音学
phonology音系学
written
morphology形态学
syntax句法学
ii)Meaning:
semantics语义学
pragmatics语用学
iii)introductiontothemainbranches
1)Phonetics
Thestudyofsoundsusedinlinguisticcommunication.
2)Phonology
Thestudyofthewayinwhichthesoundsareputtogetherandusedtoconveymeaningincommunication.
3)Morphology
Thestudyofthewayinwhichthesymbolsarearrangedandcombinedtoformwords.
4)Syntax
Thestudyofruleswhichgovernthecombinationofwordstoformgrammaticallypermissiblesentencesinlanguages.
5)Semantics:
meaninginlanguage
Thestudyofmeaningisknownassemantics.
6)Pragmatics:
meaningincontext
Whenthestudyofmeaningisconducted,notinisolation,butinthecontextoflanguageuse,itbecomesanotherbranchoflinguisticstudycalledpragmatics.
C)Macrolinguistics
Linguisticsisnottheonlyfieldconcernedwithlanguage.Otherdisciplinessuchaspsychology,sociology,anthropology,artificialintelligence,medicineandeducationetc.arealsopreoccupiedwithlanguage.
1)Sociolinguistics
Thestudyofthesocialaspectsoflanguageanditsrelationwithsocietyformsthecoreofthebranchcalledsociolinguistics.
Forexample,
LatininEurope
2)Psycholinguistics
Itrelatesthestudyoflanguagetopsychology.
e.g.tostudylanguagedevelopmentinchildren,suchasthetheoriesoflanguageacquisition;
3)Appliedlinguistics
a)thestudyofsecondandforeignlanguagelearningandteaching.
Atwhatageisanoptimalageforachildtostudyaforeignlanguage?
b)thestudyoflanguageandlinguisticsinrelationtopracticalproblems.Itusesinformationfromsociology,psychology,anthropologyandinformationtheoryaswellaslinguisticsinordertodevelopitsowntheoreticalmodelsoflanguageandlanguageuse,andthenusesthisinformationandtheoryinpracticalareas.
1.1.3LinguisticsasaScience
Threeadequacies
Howcanweappraisetheextentofsuccessinscientificstudy?
Therearethreelevelstoconsider,namelyobservation,description,andexplanation.Whatalinguistseeksforcanbesummarizedasthreeadequaciescorrespondingly.
a)observationaladequacy
Asuccessfulresearchisexpectedtobeadequateinobservationatfirst.
Itischaracterizedbycorrectlyspecifyingwhatisobservedtobephonologically,morphologically,syntactically,semantically,orpragmaticallywell-formedorill-formed.
b)descriptiveadequacy
Properdescriptionisbasedonadequateobservation,andapieceofscientificworkisdescriptivelyadequateifitprovidesaprincipledaccountofthenativespeaker’sintuitionsaboutthestructureofthelinguisticphenomenonobserved.
c)explanatoryadequacy
Explanatoryadequacyistheultimategoalofanyscientificexploration.
Inlinguistics,atheoryattainsexplanatoryadequacyjustincaseitprovidesadescriptivelyadequategrammarforeverynaturallanguage,anddoessointermsofamaximallyconstrainedsetofuniversalprincipleswhichrepresentpsychologicallyplausiblenaturalprinciplesofmentalcomputation.
1.2Whatislanguage?
1.2.1Designfeatures(识别特征)
Designfeaturesrefertothedefiningpropertiesofhumanlanguagethatdistinguishitfromanyanimalsystemofcommunication.
TheframeworkofthedesignfeatureswasproposedbytheAmericanlinguistCharlesHockett.
1)Arbitrariness(任意性)
Arbitrarinessmeansthatthereisnologicalconnectionbetweenmeaningsandsounds.
Why?
a)differentlanguagesmayhavedifferentsoundstorepresentthesameobjectthatexistsinsociety.
b)thesamesoundmayexpressdifferentmeanings
exception:
onomatopoeia:
basedonthenaturalvoices.
2)Duality(结构双重性)
DEFINITION:
Languageisasystem,whichconsistsoftwosetsofstructures,ortwolevels.Atthelowerorthebasiclevelthereisastructureofsounds,whicharemeaninglessbythemselves.Butthesoundsoflanguagecanbegroupedandregroupedintoalargenumberofunitsofmeaning,whicharefoundatthehigherlevelofthesystem.
3)Productivity(创造性)
DEFINITION:
Languageisproductiveorcreativeinthatitmakespossibletheconstructionandinterpretationofnewsignalsbyitsusers.
comparingwithanimalcommunicationsystems
e.g.anexperimentonbeedance:
Beecommunicationregardinglocationhasafixedsetsignals,allofwhichrelatetohorizontaldistance.Thebeecannotmanipulateitscommunicatingsystemtocreatea“new”messageindicatingverticaldistance.
4)Displacement(移位性)
DEFINITION:
Languagecanbeusedtorefertothingswhicharepresentornotpresent,realorimaginedmattersinthepast,present,orfuture,orinfar-awayplaces.
Animalsareunder“immediatestimuluscontrol”.
Humanlanguageis,unlikeanimalcommunicationsystems,stimulusfree.
5)Culturaltransmission(文化传递)
Languageculturaltransmissionmeansthatlanguageisculturallytransmitted.Itispassedonfromonegenerationtothenextthroughteachingandlearning,ratherthanbyinstinct.
1.2.2Definitionsoflanguage
Languageisasystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsusedforhumancommunication.
1.2.2.1Languageisasystem
elementsoflanguagearecombinedaccordingtorules.
a)rulesofsoundsystem
b)rulesofwrittensystem
1.2.2.2Languageisarbitraryandsymbolic
1.2.2.3Languageisvocal
a)theprimarymediumforalllanguagesissound.
b)writingsystemscameintobeingmuchlaterthanthespokenforms.
c)somelanguageonlyhavesoundsystemsandnowritingsystems
1.2.2.4Languageishuman-specific
1.2.2.5communicationvsinformation
1.2.3Knowledgeoflanguage:
endowedorconventional?
TIME-HONOREDPROBLEMS
•WHATISKNOWLEDGEOFLANGUAGE?
•WHEREDOESITCOMEFROM?
Aristotle(384-322B.C.):
Languageisarrivedatbyconventionandagreementofthespeakersofagivenlanguage.
BEHAVIORISM
EMPIRICISM
Ourbrainwasblankwhenwewereborn.Languageisasocial,empiricalentity.
B.F.Skinner:
theAmericanpsychologistandafamousHarvardbehaviourist
Thefamousquotation“languageisbehaviour”
Verbalbehaviouristhesameasanyotherfundamentalrespectofnon-verbalbehaviour.
Theoccurrenceofbehavioursisdependentuponthreecrucialelements:
astimulus,whichservestoelicitbehaviour;
aresponsetriggeredbyastimulus;
reinforcement,whichservestomarktheresponseasbeingappropriate(orinappropriate)andencouragestherepetition(orsuppression)oftheresponseinthefuture.
Verbalbehaviour:
thestimulusaswhatistaught(languageinput),
theresponseasthelearner’sreactiontothestimulus,
thereinforcementastheapprovalorpraise(ordiscouragement)oftheteacherorfellowstudents.
Argumentfor“povertyofthestimulus”
●a)Thechild’slinguisticexperience(stimulus)isnotsufficienttojustifytheadultgrammar.
●b)Asfarasachildisconcerned,anutterancecontainingamistakeisjustanotherpieceoflinguisticexperiencetobetreatedonaparwitherror-freeutterance.Buttheystillknowthecorrectgrammar.
●c)Achildandachimpanzeebothliveinthesamelanguageenvironment,onlythechildcanlearnthelanguage.
Plato(427?
-347B.C.)
Thereisauniversallycorrectandacceptablelogicoflanguageformantofollowinexpressinghisideas.
NATIVISM先天论
MENTALISM心灵主义
Thereisabiological,physiologicalentityinsideourbrainwhichdecidesthatwespeak.
Languagefaculty/(LAD=LanguageAcquisitionDevice):
Humanbeingsdohaveaninbornknowledgeoflanguagewhichmustbeuniversallycorrectandacceptable,thelocationofsuchinnateknowledgejustinourgenes.
ExperienceofL—LF—GrammarofL
Chomsky’sepistemologyoftheknowledgeoflanguage
●TheinitialstateofhumanlanguagefacultyiscalledUG(UniversalGrammar).
●UG(universalgrammar):
Everyspeakerknowsasetofprincipleswhichapplytoalllanguagesandalsoasetof(binary)parametersthatcanvaryfromonelanguagetoanother.
principles:
allhumanlanguageshavethesubject,verb,andobject.
reflexiblepronounprinciple:
thereflexiblepronounshouldtakethenouninthesameclauseasantecedent.
parameters:
binaryparameter:
thepositionofthewh-elementinthesentence
●Duetotheeffectoflaterexperience,ourbrain/minddevelopsfromtheinitialstateintothesteadystate,whichcorrespondstothecompetenceofspeakingahumanlanguage.
experience
UG----------------PG(ParticularGrammar)
PG=a.UG
1.3Someimportantdistinctionsinlinguistics
1.3.1Prescriptivevs.descriptive
Prescriptiveanddescriptiverepresenttwodifferenttypesoflinguisticstudy.
Descriptivestudy:
Ifalinguisticstudyaimstodescribesandanalyzethelanguagepeopleactuallyuse,itissaidtobedescriptive.
Prescriptivestudy:
Ifalinguisticstudyaimstolaydownrulesfor“correctandstandard”behaviorinusinglanguage,itissaidtobeprescriptive.
1.3.2Synchronicvs.diachronic
--byFerdinanddeSaussure.
synchronicstudy(共时研究):
thedescriptionofalanguageatsomepointoftimeinhistory.
diachronicstudy(历时研究):
thedescriptionofalanguageasitchangesthroughtime.Adiachronicstudyoflanguageisahistoricalstudy;itstudiesthehistoricaldevelopmentoflanguageoveraper