英语语言学自编教材第八章.docx
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英语语言学自编教材第八章
Chapter8LanguageandSociety
1.SpeechCommunity
●RelevantLanguageUseObservationsandQuestionstoPonderover
1)Peopleontheearthformdifferentgroups.Thegroupsmaybeaslargeascountriesorassmallasconsistingofonlyafewpeople.Canyoulistsomeofthesocialgroupsyouhaveobserved?
2)Peoplecanbegroupedaccordingtoeducationalbackground,theoccupation,thegender,theage,ortheethnicaffiliationofitsmember.Canyoucitesomeexamplestoshowthatpeoplewhobelongtodifferentsocialgroupsmayhavesomewordsorexpressionspeculiartotheirgroups.
3)AsChinese,wespeakthesamelanguage,butwespeakChinesedifferently.Whydoyouthinkwespeakdifferently?
Canyouoffersomeexplanationsforthisphenomenon?
4)Apersonmaybelongtoseveralsocialgroups.Listsomeofthesocialgroupstowhichyoubelong.
●SummariestoMakeandLinguisticViewpointstoLearn
Socialgroupsaredynamic.Theycanbeverylargeorverysmall.Peopleofthesamesocialgroupusuallysharesomesimilarities,formingaspeechcommunity.Intermsofage,wehavethespeechcommunitiesofyoungsters,adults,etc..Intermsofoccupations,workersformaspeechcommunitywhileteachersformanotherspeechcommunity.Aspeechcommunitymaydistinguishitselffromotherspeechcommunitiesbytheeducationalbackground,theoccupation,thegender,theage,ortheethnicaffiliationofitsmember,etc..Speechcommunitiescanbemembersofaprofessionwithaspecializedjargon,distinctsocialgroupslikehighschoolstudentsorhiphopfans,oreventight-knitgroupslikefamiliesandfriends.Inaddition,onlineandothermediatedcommunities,suchasmanyinternetforums,oftenconstitutespeechcommunities.Membersofspeechcommunitieswilloftendevelopslangorjargontoservethegroup’sspecialpurposesandpriorities.Sincesocialgroupsaredynamic,soarethespeechcommunities.Withinthesamespeechcommunity,theremightbedifferentsocialgroups.Forexample,weChineseformaspeechcommunity,becausewespeakthesamelanguage,interactwitheachotherandhavesimilarorthesameattitudetothelanguagenorms.However,wearealsodividedintodifferentsocialgroupsbecauseofthedifferencesinsocialfactorslikeeducationalbackground,gender,etc.Apersoncan(andalmostalwaysdoes)belongtomorethanonespeechcommunity.Thenotionofspeechcommunityisimportantwhenweanalyzelanguagevariationandchange.
●Definitionstoclarify
Speechcommunity:
Aspeechcommunityisdefinedas agroupofpeoplewhoformacommunity,sharethesamelanguageoraparticularvarietyofalanguage,havetheopportunitytointeractwitheachotherandsharelinguisticnormssuchasthesharingofunderstanding,valuesandattitudesaboutlanguagevarietiespresentintheircommunity.
2.Relationshipsbetweenlanguageandsociety
●RelevantLanguageUseObservationsandQuestionstoPonderover
Certainlinguisticphenomenacannotbeaccountedforunlesstheyareplacedinthegeneralcontextofsociety.
1)EveryoneknowswhatissupposedtohappenwhentwoEnglishmenwhohavenevermetbeforecomefacetofaceinarailwaycompartment---theystarttalkingabouttheweather.Insomecasethismaysimplybebecausetheyhappentofindthesubjectinteresting.Mostpeople,though,arenotparticularlyinterestedinanalysesofclimaticconditions,sotheremustbeotherreasonsforconversationsofthiskind.Whatdoyouthinkarethepossiblereasonsforconversationsofthiskind?
2)Youmighthavenoticedwespeakthesamelanguage,say,Chinese,butdowespeakthesamelanguage,Chinese,inthesameway?
Discusswithyourclassmatestofindsomeofthereasonswhywespeakthesamelanguagedifferently.
3)Socialenvironmentinwhichwelivemayinfluenceourlanguageuses.Inthetraditionalsociety,womenwereprejudicedagainst.WemayfindintheEnglishlanguageorotherlanguagestherearesomewordsandexpressionswhichshowtheprejudiceagainstwomen.Canyoucitesomeexamplestoillustrateonthispoint?
4)Insomecountriesinsometropicalregionsoftheworld,thereisnoword“snow”intheirlanguages,however,Eskimohasseveralsinglewordstorefertodifferenttypesofsnow.Trytooffersomeexplanationforthisphenomenon.
5)Withthedevelopmentofscienceandtechnology,eachday,therearenewwordscreated.Doyouknowsomeofthewordscoinedbecauseofsocialchanges?
Givesomeexamplesifpossible.
6)Weoftenevaluatelanguagesanddialectsspokenaroundusindifferentways.Forexample,BlackEnglishisoftenregardedas“incorrect”,“vulgar”,“corrupt”or“lazy”whileStandardEnglishisconsideredtobe“correct”,“beautiful”,“nice”,“pure”andsoon.DoyouagreewiththiskindofvaluesattributedtoBlackEnglishorStandardEnglish?
Whyorwhynot?
●SummariestoMakeandLinguisticViewpointstoLearn
Languagesandsocietyarerelatedinmanyways.Therelationshipbetweenlanguageandsocietycanbefirstlydisplayedintheuseoflanguagetomaintainorestablishrelationshipsbetweeneachother.Whenwemeeteachother,weusuallygreeteachother.Wegreeteachothernotbecausewewanttoconveysomenewinformationtoothers,buttokeeporstrikeuparelationship.Ifwedonotgreetourfriends,relationshipwillbecometense.
WhentwoEnglishmenwhohavenevermetbeforecomefacetofaceinarailwaycompartment,theystarttalkingabouttheweather.Itcanoftenbequiteembarrassingtobealoneinthecompanyofsomeoneyouarenotacquaintedwithandyoudonotwanttospeakto.Ifnoconversationtakesplace,theatmospherecanbecomeratherstrained.Probablythemostimportantthingabouttherailway-compartmentconversationsofthiskindisnotthewordstheyareusing,butthefactthattheyaretalkingatall.Languageisnotsimplyameansofcommunicatinginformation;itisalsoaveryimportantmeansofestablishingandmaintainingrelationshipswithotherpeople.
Anotherindicationoftherelationshipbetweenlanguageandsocietyisthatthoughwespeakthesamelanguage,we,inasense,speakthesamelanguagedifferently.Thisisbecauseoursocialbackgroundmayaffectthewaywespeak.Thekindoflanguagewechoosetouseisinpartdeterminedbysuchsocialfactorsasourbirthplace,age,sex,educationalbackground,occupations,andsocialclasses,etc..Whenwespeakwecannotavoidgivingourlistenerscluesaboutouroriginandourbackground.
Thethirdindicationoftherelationshipbetweenlanguageandsocietyisthatsocialenvironmentcanbereflectedintheuseoflanguage.InthetraditionalEnglishsociety,womenwereprejudicedagainst.Thisprejudicialattitudecanbefoundinthechangeofmeaningsofthesametermswhenappliedtoeachgender.Forexample,whenwesayamanisatramp,wemeanheishomeless,joblessandpoor,butwhenthesametermisappliedtoafemale,sheisaprostitute.Theprejudicialattitudecanalsobereflectedintheuseofamasculinepronountorefertosomebodywhosesexisunspecifiedorunknown.WhenweconsiderthecounterpartsintheEnglishvocabulary,wefindwhilemasterisarespectableterm,mistress,atitlewhichusedtobethecounterpartofmaster,isnowawomanwhoamanhasasexualrelationshipwithbutisnotmarriedto.
Thereflectionofsocialenvironmentintheuseoflanguagecanalsobeseeninthestructuresofvocabulary,forexample,inthestructureofkinshiptermsinourlanguage.Itisgenerallybelievedthatifathing,arelationship,oraconcept,etc.isimportanttoasociety,then,inthelanguageofthatsociety,wecanfindalexicalizedwordorasinglewordtorefertothatimportantthing,orrelationshiporconcept.WecanassumethattheimportantkinrelationshipsinEnglish-speakingsocietiesarethosethataresignaledbysinglevocabularyitems.Forexample,intheEnglishsociety,thedistinctionbetweenbrotherandsisterisimportantbecausetheserelationshipsarelexicalized,whilethedistinctionbetweenelderbrotherandyoungerbrotherisnotsignificantbecausetheyareexpressedinaroundaboutway.
Thefourthpossibilityfortherelationshipbetweenlanguageandsocietycanbeviewedfromtheembodimentofphysicalenvironmentespeciallyinthelexicalstructureofalanguage.Insomecountriesinsometropicalregionsoftheworld,thereisnoword“snow”intheirlanguages,however,Eskimohasseveralsinglewordstorefertodifferenttypesofsnow.Thereasonsforthisareobvious.ItisessentialforEskimostobeabletodistinguishefficientlybetweendifferenttypesofsnow.English,ofcourse,isquiteabletomakethesamedistinctions:
finesnow,drysnow,softsnow,andsoon,butinEskimothissortofdistinctionislexicalized---madebymeansofindividualwords.
Therelationshipbetweenlanguageandsocietycanalsobeseenfromeffectsofsocialchangesonlanguageuses.Withthedevelopmentofsociety,manynewthingscomeintobeing,thusthecreationofnewwordsfortheirreferences.
Asasocialphenomenon,theevaluationofalinguisticformisentirelysocial.StandardEnglishisonlyonevarietyamongmany,althoughapeculiarlyimportantone.Linguisticallyspeaking,itcannotevenlegitimatelybeconsideredbetterthanothervarieties.Alllanguages,andcorrespondinglyalldialects,areequally“good”aslinguisticsystems.Allvarietiesofalanguagearestructured,complex,rule-governedsystemswhicharewhollyadequatefortheneedsoftheirspeakers.Thevaluejudgmentsconcerningthecorrectnessandpurityoflinguisticvarietiesaresocialratherthanlinguistic.Thereisnothinginherentinnon-standardvarietieswhichmakestheminferior.Anyapparentinferiorityisdueonlytotheirassociationwithspeake