语言学的名词解释 考试必备.docx

1、语言学的名词解释 考试必备chapter I what is language?A The origins of languageSome speculations of the origins of language: The divine sourceThe basic hypothesis: if infants were allowed to grow up without hearing any language, then they would spontaneously begin using the original god-given language.Actually, c

2、hildren living without access to human speech in their early years grow up with no language at all. The natural-sound sourceThe bow-wow theory: the suggestion is that primitive words could have been imitations of the natural sounds which early men and women heard around them.The “Yo-heave-ho” theory

3、: the sounds produced by humans when exerting physical effort, especially when co-operating with other humans, may be the origins of speech sounds.Onomatopoeic sounds The oral-gesture sourceIt is claimed that originally a set of physical gestures was developed as a means of communication.The pattern

4、s of movement in articulation would be the same as gestural movement; hence waving tongue would develop from waving hand. Glossogenetics (言语遗传学)This focuses mainly on the biological basis of the formation and development of human language.Physiological adaptationdevelop naming abilityinteractions an

5、d transactionsPhysical adaptation:Human teeth are upright and roughly even in height.Human lips have intricate muscle interlacing, thus making them very flexible.The human mouth is small and contains a very flexible tongue.The human larynx is lowered, creating a longer cavity called the pharynx, and

6、 making it easier for the human to choke on the pieces of food, but making the sound speech possible.The human brain is lateralized. Those analytic functions (tool-using and language) are largely confined to the left hemisphere of the brain for most humans.Two major functions of language:Interaction

7、al: a social function of language.Transactional: a function involving the communication of knowledge and informationB The properties of languageLanguage is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication.a) System: combined together according to rulesb) Arbitrary: no intrinsic conne

8、ction between the word “pen” and the thing in the world which it refers toc) Vocal: the primary medium is sound for all languagesd) Human: language is human-specific (交际性与信息性)Communicative vs. Informative:Communicative: intentionally using language to communicate somethingInformative: through/via a

9、number of signals that are not intentionally sentDesign features (unique properties): the defining properties of human language that distinguish it from any animal system of communication Displacement (跨时空性，移位性)Language can be used to refer to contexts removed from the immediate situations of the sp

10、eaker (refer to past and future time and to other locations) Arbitrariness (任意性)There is no logical or natural connection between a linguistic form (either sound or word) and its meaning.While language is arbitrary by nature, it is not entirely arbitrary.a) echo of the sounds of objects or activitie

11、s: onomatopoeic wordsb) some compound words Productivity (能产性，创造性)Language is productive in that it makes possible the construction and interpretation of new signals by its users. (Creativity or open-endedness) Cultural transition (文化传递性)While human capacity for language has a genetic basis (everyon

12、e was born with the ability to acquire a language), the details of any language system are not genetically transmitted, but instead have to be taught and learnt. Discreteness (可分离性)Each sound in the language is treated as discrete. Duality (双重结构性，两重性或二元性)Language is organized at two levels or layers

13、 simultaneously. The lower or basic level is a structure of sounds which are meaningless. The higher level is morpheme or word (double articulation)The above six properties may be taken as the core features of human language.Vocal-auditory channel, reciprocity, specialization, non-directionality, or

14、 rapid fade, these properties are best treated as ways of describing human language, but not as a means of distinguishing it from other systems of communication.C The development of written language pictograms & ideograms (象形文字和表意文字)Pictogram: when some of the pictures came to represent particular i

15、mages in a consistent way, we can begin to describe the product as a form of picture-writing, or pictograms.Ideogram: the picture developed as more abstract and used other than its entity is considered to be part of a system of idea-writing, or ideogramHieroglyph: 古埃及象形文字 Logograms (语标书写法)When symbo

16、ls come to be used to represent words in a language, they are described as examples of word-writing, or logograms.“Arbitrariness”a writing system which was word-based had come into existence.Cuneiform-楔形文字the Sumerians (5000 and 6000 years ago)Chinese is one example of its modern writing system.Adva

17、ntages: two different dialects can be based on the same writing system.Disadvantages: vast number of different written forms. Syllabic writing (音节书写法)When a writing system employs a set of symbols which represent the pronunciations of syllables, it is described as syllabic writing.The Phoenicians: t

18、he first human beings that applied the full use of a syllabic writing system (ca 1000 BC) Alphabetic writing (字母书写法)Semitic languages (Arabic and Hebrew): first applied this ruleThe Greeks: taking the inherently syllabic system from the Phoenicians via the RomansLatin alphabet and Cyrillic alphabet

19、(Slavic languages) Rebus writingRobus writing evolves a process whereby the symbol used for an entity comes to be used for the sound of the spoken word used for that entity.Chapter II what is linguistics?A The definition of linguisticsLinguistics is generally defined as the scientific study of langu

20、age.Process of linguistic study:Certain linguistic facts are observed, generalization are formed;Hypotheses are formulated;Hypotheses are tested by further observations;A linguistic theory is constructed.Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication.B The scope of ling

21、uisticsGeneral linguistics: the study of language as a wholePhonetics: the general study of the characteristics of speech sounds (or the study of the phonic medium of language) (How speech sounds are produced and classified)Phonology: is essentially the description of the systems and patterns of spe

22、ech sounds in a language. (How sounds form systems and function to convey meaning)Morphology: the study of the way in which morphemes are arranged to form words (how morphemes are combined to form words)Syntax: the study of those rules that govern the combination of words to form permissible sentenc

23、es (how morphemes and words are combined to form sentences)Semantics: the study of meaning in abstractionPragmatics: the study of meaning in context of useSociolinguistics: the study of language with reference to societyPsycholinguistics: the study of language with reference to the workings of the m

24、indApplied linguistics: the application of linguistics principles and theories to language teaching and learningAnthropological linguistics, neurological linguistics; mathematical linguistics; mathematical linguistics; computational linguisticsC Some important distinctions in linguisticsPrescriptive

25、 vs. DescriptiveSynchronic vs. DiachronicThe description of a language at some point in time;The description of a language as it changes through time.Speech and writingSpoken language is primary, not the writtenLangue and paroleProposed by Swiss linguists F. de Sausse (sociological)Langue: refers to

26、 the abstract linguistic system shared by all the members of a speech communityParole: refers to the realization of langue in actual useCompetence and performanceProposed by the American linguist N. Chomsky (psychological)Competence: the ideal users knowledge of the rules of his languageChapter III

27、Phonetics and phonologyA The definition of phoneticsPhonetics: the study of the phonic medium of language: it is concerned with all the sounds that occur in the worlds languages.Articulatory phonetics: the study of how speech sounds are made, or articulated.Acoustic phonetics: deals with the physica

28、l properties of speech as sound waves in the air.Auditory (or perceptual) phonetics: deals with the perception, via the ear, of speech sounds.Forensic phonetics: has an application in legal cases involving speaker identification and the analysis of recorded utterances.B Organs of speechVoiceless: wh

29、en the vocal cords are spread apart, the air from the lungs passes between them unimpeded.Voiced: when the vocal cords are drawn together, the air from the lungs repeated pushes them apart as it passes through, creating a vibration effect.All the English vowels are typically voiced (voicing).The imp

30、ortant cavities:The pharyngeal cavityThe oral cavityThe nasal cavityLips, teeth, teeth ridge (alveolus), hard palate, soft palate (velum), uvula, tip of tongue, blade of tongue, back of tongue, vocal cordsC Orthographic representation of speech soundsBroad and narrow transcriptionsIPA (International

31、 Phonetic Alphabet/Association)Broad transcription: the transcription with letter-symbols onlyNarrow transcription: the transcription with diacriticsE.g.:lli:f- a clear l (no diacritic)lbild-a dark l ()lhelW-a dental l ()ppit-an aspirated ph(h)pspit-an unaspirated p (no diacritic)n5bQtna syllabic nasal n (7)D Classification of English consonantsIn terms of manner of articulation (the manner in which obstruction is created) Stops: the obstruction is total or complete, and then going abruptlyp/, t/d, k/g Fricatives: the obstruction is partial, and the air is forced through a narro