英语语言学笔记1何兆熊.docx

英语语言学笔记1何兆熊.docx

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英语语言学笔记1何兆熊

第一章

Chapter1InvitationstoLinguistics

Teachingaims:

letthestudentshavethegeneralideaaboutlanguageandlinguistics.

Teachingdifficulties:

designfeaturesoflanguage;someimportantdistinctionsinlinguistics

Teachingprocedures

1.language

Whystudylanguage?

为什么学习语言

Atoolforcommunication交流的工具

Anintegralpartofourlifeandhumanity人类生活和人性中不可或缺的一部分.

Ifwearenotfullyawareofthenatureandmechanismofourlanguage,wewillbeignorantofwhatconstitutesouressentialhumanity.如果不能完全理解语言的本质和结构,我们就会对人类的本质一无所知.

Whatislanguage?

什么是语言

differentsensesoflanguage语言的不同意义

1.whatapersonsays（concreteactofspeech）

aperson’sconsistentwayofspeakingorwriting

aparticularlevelofspeakingorwritinge.g.colloquiallanguage

anabstractsystem

2.Awebster’sNewDictionraryoffersafrequentlyusedsenseoftheword“language”:

a.humanspeech人类的言语

b.theabilitytocommunicatebythismeans通过言语来交流的能力

c.asystemofvocalsoundsandcombinationsofsuchsoundstowhichmeaningisattributed,usedfortheexpressionorcommunicationofthoughtsandfeelings;用来表达或交流思想和感觉的一套声音及这些声音互相结合的系统

d.thewrittenrepresentationofsuchasystem系统的文字表达

3.thebarestofdefinition,languageisameansofverbalcommunication.最简洁的定义:

语言是言语交流的一种方式.

Languageisinstrumentalinthatcommunicatingbyspeakingorwritingisapurposefulact.Itissocialandconventionalinthatlanguageisasocialsemiosticandcommunicationcanonlytakeplaceeffectivelyifalltheusersshareabroadunderstandingofhumaninteractionincludingsuchassociatedfactorsasnonverbalcues,motivation,andsocio-culturalroles.Languagedistinguishesusfromanimals.因为说和写的交流方式是一种有目的的行为,所以语言是实用性的;因为语言是社会符号,语言的交流只能在所有参与者广泛理解了人类的那些非言语的暗示,动机,社会文化角色等等互相关联的因素之后才能有效进行,因此语言又是社会的,约定俗成的.语言使人类区别于动物.

definitions

Languageisasystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsusedforhumancommunication.

Whatiscommunication?

Aprocessinwhichinformationistransmittedfromasource（senderorspeaker）toagoal（receiverorlistener）.

Asystem----sinceelementsinitarearrangedaccordingtocertainrulessystematically,ratherthanrandomly.Theycannotbearrangedatwill.e.g.Hethetablecleaned.（×）bkli（×）

Whydowesaylanguageisarbitrary?

Arbitrary----thereisnointrinsic（logic）connectionbetweenalinguisticformanditsmeaning,betweenthesoundsthatpeopleuseandtheobjectstowhichthesesoundsrefer.Thisexplainsandisexplainedbythefactthatdifferentlanguagehavedifferentwordsforthesameobject,itisgoodillustrationofthearbitrarynatureoflanguage.itisonlyourtacitagreementofutteranceandconceptatworkandnotanyinnaterelationshipboundupintheutterance.Atypicalexampletoillustratethearbitraryoflanguageisafamousquotationfromshakepeare’splay:

”RomeoandJuliet:

Arosebyanyothernamewouldsmellassweet.一朵玫瑰不管它叫什么名字,闻起来都是一样香的.

Symbols----wordsarejustthesymbolsassociatedwithobjects,actions,andideasbynothingbutconvention.Namely,peopleusethesoundsorvovalformstosymbolizewhattheywishtoreferto.

Vocal--------theprimarymediumforalllanguagesissound,nomatterhowwelldevelopedtheirwritingsystemsare.Writingsystemscamemuchlaterthanthespokenforms.Thefactthatsmallchildrenlearnandcanonlylearntospeakandlistenbeforetheywriteorreadalsoindicatesthatlanguageisprimarilyvocal,ratherthanwritten.

Writingsystemscameintobeingmuchlaterthanthespokenforms.

Peoplewithlittleornoliteracycanalsobecompetentlanguageusers.

Human----languageishuman-specific.

Humanbeingshavedifferentkindsofbrainsandvocalcapacity.

“LanguageAcquisitionDevice”（LAD）

二.Whatcharacteristicsoflangaugedoyouthinkshouldbeincludedinagood,comprenhensivedefinitionoflanguage?

Languageisarule-governedsystem;langaugeisbasicallyvocal;langaugeisarbitrary;langagueisusedforhumancommunication.

1.3Designfeaturesoflanguage语言的结构特征

Designfeatures------referstothedefiningpropertiesofhumanlanguagethatdistinguishitfromanyanimalsystemofcommunication.Theyarearbitrariness,duality,creativity/productivity,displacement,cluturaltransmissionandinterchangeability.

Designfeatures-----arefeaturesthatdefineourhumanlanguages,suchasarbitrariness,duality,creativity,displacement,culturaltransmission,etc.（指决定了人类语言性质的特征.例如任意性,二重性,创造性,移位性,文化转移性等.）

TheAmericanlinguistCharlesHockettspecifiedtwelvedesignfeatures.

Whatisarbitrariness?

任意性

a.arbitrariness【'ɑːbɪtrərɪnɪs】----arbitrariness（任意性）:

onedesignfeatureofhumanlanguage,whichreferstothefactthattheformsoflinguisticsignsbearnonaturalrelationshiptotheirmeaning.（人类语言的本质特征之一,指语言符号的形式与意义之间没有自然的联系.）

ItwasdiscussedbySaussurefirst.Thelinkbetweenthemisamatterofconvention.

E.g.“house”uchi（Japanese）

Mansion（French）

房子（Chinese）

（1）arbitrarybetweenthesoundofamorphemeanditsmeaning语言的音和义之间的任意性

a.By“arbitrary”,wemeanthereisnologicalconnectionbetweenmeaningsandsounds.语言的意义和语音之间没有逻辑关系。

Agogmightbeapigifonlythefirstpersonorgroupofpersonshaduseditforagig.Languagethereforeislargelyarbitrary.

b.Butlanguageisnotabsolutelyseemtobesomesound-meaningassociation,ifwethinkofechowords,like“bang””crash””roar””rumble””cakle”,whicharemotivatedinacertainsense.”

onomatopoeia拟声词---wordsthatsoundlikethesoundstheydescribe那些发音像它们的描写的声音的词

c.somecompounds（wordscompoundedtobeoneword）arenotentirelyarbitaryeither.“type”and”write”areopaqueorunmotivatedwords,while“type-writer”islessso,ormoretransparentormotivatedthanthewordsthatmakeit.sowecansay“arbitrariness”isamatterofdegree.

arbitraryandonometopoeiceffectmayworkatthesametime.任意性和拟声可以同时起作用。

Eg.Themurmuroushauntoffliesonsummereves.夏日黄昏，群蝇嗡嗡地非。

（2）Arbitraryatthesyntacticlevel句法上的任意性

Accordingtosystematic-functionalistsandAmericanfunctionlists,languageisnotarbitraryatthesyntacticlevel.对于系统功能语言学家和美国功能语言学家来说，语言在句法上是非任意的。

Syntax-----itreferstothewaysthatsentencesareconstructedaccordingtothegrammarofarrangement.句法就是依据语法安排造句之法。

（3）Aribrtaryandconvention任意性和约定性

Thelinkbetweenalinguisticsignanditsmeaningisamatterofconvention.语言学上的符号和它的意义之间是约定俗成的关系。

Theothersideofcoinofarbitrariness,namely,conventionality.任意性的相反面，即约定性。

conventionality----Itmeansthatinanylanguagetherearecertainsequencesofsoundsthathaveaconventionallyacceptedmeaning.Thosewordsarecustomarilyusedbyallspeakerswiththesameintendedmeaningandunderstoodbyalllistenersinthesameway.

Arbitrainessoflangaugemakesitpotentiallycreative,andconventionalityoflanguagemakeslearningalanguagelaborious.任意性赋予语言潜在的创造力，而语言的约定性又使学习语言变得费力。

Therearetwodifferentschoolsofbeliefconcerningarbitrariness.Mostpeople,especiallystructurallinguistsbelievethatlanguageisarbitrarybynature.Otherpeople,however,holdthatlanguageisiconic,thatis,thereisadirectrelationorcorrespondencebetweensoundandmeaning,suchasonomatopoeia.（cuckoo;crash）

Forthemajorityofanimalsignals,theredoesappeartobeaclearconnectionbetweentheconveyedmessageandthesignalusedtoconveyit,Andforthem,thesetsofsignalsusedincommunicationisfinite.

b.duality【djuː'ælətɪ】（二重性）:

---onedesignfeatureofhumanlanguage,whichreferstothepropertyofhavingtwolevelsofstructures,suchasunitsoftheprimarylevelarecomposedofelementsofthesecondarylevelandeachofthetwolevelshasitsownprinciplesoforganization.（人类语言的本质特征之一,指拥有两层结构的这种特性,底层结构是上层结构的组成成分,每层都有自身的组合规则.）

duality----languageissimultaneouslyorganizedattwolevelsorlayers,namely,thelevelofsoundsandthatofmeaning.

thehigherlevel----wordswhicharemeaningful

thelowerorthebasiclevel----soundswhicharemeaningless,butcanbegroupedandregroupedintowords.

Dog:

woof（butnot“w-oo-f”）

Thisdualityoflevelsis,infact,oneofthemosteconomicalfeaturesofhumanlanguage,sincewithalimitedsetofdistinctsoundswearecapableofproducingaverylargenumberofsoundcombinations（e.g.words）whicharedistinctinmeaning.

Theprincipleofeconomy经济原则

Linguistsrefer“duality”（ofstructure）tothefactthatinalllanguagesofarinvestigated,onefindstwolevelsofstructureorpatterning.Atthefirst,higherlevel,languageisanalyzedintermsofcombinationsofmeaningfulunits（suchasmorphemes,wordsetc.）.Atthesecond,lowerlevel,itisseenasasequenceofsegmentswhichlackanymeaninginthemselves,butwhichcombinetoformunitsofmeaning.

AccordingtoHUZHUANGLIN,languageisasystemoftwosetsofstructuresortwolevels,oneofsoundandtheotherofmeaning.Thisisimportantfortheworkingsoflanguage.

Asmallnumberofsemanticwords/units,andtheseunitsofmeaningcanbearrangedandrearrangedintoaninfinitenumberofsentences.这些意义单位组成无数个句子。

（Notethatwehavedictionariesofwords,butnodictionaryofsentences!

）.

Dualitymakesitpossibleforapersontotalkaboutanythingwithinhisknowledge.Noanmialcommunicationsystemenjoysthisduality.

Totalkaboutdualitywemustnoticethatlanguageishierarchical.说到语言的二重性，我们必须注意语言的等级性。

li

c.Creativity----languageisresourceful.Itmakespossibletheconstructionandinterpretationofnewsignalsbyitsusers.（novelutterancesarecontinuallybeingcreated.）non-humansignals,ontheotherhand,appearstohavelittleflexibility.

creativity（创造性）:

onedesignfeatureofhumanlanguage,bycreativitywemeanlanguageisresourcefulbecauseofitsdualityanditsrecursiveness.（指语言的能产性,因为语言有二重性和递归性.）

productivity----productivityreferstotheabi