英语语言学笔记1.docx

1、英语语言学笔记1Chapter I Introduction1.1 Why study language? Language is an integral part of our life and humanity. (details) Yet we know little or even have even wrong ideas about language.Where does language come from? How? When?Why is language human-specific? Why can a child learn his/her mother tongue

2、in a short period of time? How can we say one thing but mean another? Language has a form-meaning correspondence.The function of language is to exchange information The subject of language is intriguing and useful for many practical reasons. Language can be used as a way of finding out:How the brain

3、 works.How children learn language.Why people use different varieties of language.What the role of language is in different cultures, etc.1.2 Language1.2.1 Definition Different senses of “language”:Bad language: expressionsShakespeares language: idiolectBusiness language: varietyThe English language

4、: abstract systemA student of language: universal properties of all speech/writing systems Definition of language as a research subject (in a general and abstract sense):Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication.Whatever the definition of language, it must include

5、directly, or by close implication, some main attributes of language as follows:Language is systematic. (Elements are combined according to rules.)Language is arbitrary. (A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.)Language is basically vocalthe primary medium is sound for all languages.Language i

6、s symbolic. It is meaningless by itself.Language is human-specificbird songs and bee dancesLanguage is communicative. That is its major function Questions for discussion:1. Give more senses of “language” (Computer language, body language, sign language)1.2.2 Origin (of speech) The divine theory: end

7、owed by God (The Tower of Babel) The bow-wow theory: imitative of animal calls (mew, hiss) The pooh-pooh theory: instinctive cries out of intense emotions (interjections) The ding-dong theory: natural resonance when struck (ding-dong, bang) The yo-he-yo theory: rhythmic grunts when working together

8、(heave, haul)Summary: Language originated from our experience of the external and internal world, and our contact with others. It evolves within specific historical, social and cultural contexts.Questions for discussion:1. Will the day come when all languages become one?2. What is possibly the first

9、 language?3. Where do you think language came from?1.2.3 Design featuresDesign features refer to the defining properties of language that distinguish it from any animal system of communication. Arbitrariness: no natural relationship between meaning and form.“A rose by any other name would smell as s

10、weet” Duality: two hierarchical structures of sounds and wordsSounds are secondary (meaningless); words are primary (meaningful). Creativity: productivity, infinite use of finite means This answers why we can understand/produce sentences never heard before. Displacement: stimulus free (genereralizat

11、ion and abstraction) It benefits human with the power for generalization and abstraction. Language is free from barriers caused by separation in time and space. Cultural transmission: more cultural than geneticONE more feature: Interchangeability: both a producer and a receiver1.2.4 FunctionsLinguis

12、ts talk about the FUNCTIONS of language in an abstract sense. They summarize practical functions and attempt some broad classifications. Some broad classifications:.Jakobson (1960): referential (context), emotive (addresser), poetic (message), conative (addressee), phatic (contact), meta-lingual (co

13、de)Halliday early: instrumental, regulatory, representational, interactional, personal, heuristic and imaginative. Halliday (1994): ideational (logical), interpersonal (social) and textual (relevant) Sub-classification with reference to Hallidays metafunctions (1994)Informative (ideational): to expr

14、ess the speakers experience of the external and internal world.Interpersonal: to establish and maintain social rulesPerformative: to perform actions (directive)Emotive (expressive): overlapped with expression of the inner experiencePhatic: purely social/interpersonalTextual Recreational: to recreate

15、/play with wordsMetalingual: to describe language itselfQuestions for discussion:1. What do we do with the following expressions? Hello! (Phatic) Get out of my way! (Directive)The earth revolves around the sun. (Informative)Do you know his hobby? (Interrogative)I hate her. (Expressive)How do you lik

16、e Jack? (Evocative)I hereby declare the meeting open. (Performative)Tommy, Dear Friend (Interpersonal)Humor; rhyming; puns (Recreational)What I mean is; in other words (Metalinguistic)1.2.5 Typology1.3 Linguistics1.3.1 DefinitionLinguistics is generally defined as the scientific study of language. A

17、s a science, it now has its own set of established theories, methods and sub-branches.1.3.2 Scope DivisionSub-divisionSubjectLinguistics: the scientific study of languageMicro-linguistics: the study of language in itself(core)Phonetics Sounds/phonePhonology System/phonemeMorphology Word formationSyn

18、tax Sentence structureSemantics Textual meaningPragmatics Contextual meaningMacro-linguistics: the study of language in relation to other disciplines (periphery)Psycholinguistics Mind Sociolinguistics Society Anthropological linguistics Human historyComputational linguisticsComputerApplied linguisti

19、csEducation Comparative linguisticsLanguages Neurolinguistics Brain Cognitive linguisticsCognition Table 1 the Scope of General LinguisticsQuestions for discussion:1. In what ways can foreign language learners benefit from linguistics?2. What other fields have close relations with the science of lan

20、guage?1.3.3 Important distinctions Descriptive vs. prescriptive: be/should beThis distinction lies in prescribing how things ought to be and describing how things are. Synchronic vs. diachronic: usually current/historicalThe former takes a fixed instant, usually the present, as its point of observat

21、ion; the latter studies a language through the course of its history. Speech vs. writing: Speech is primary over writing, which in turn gives language new scope and uses. Langue vs. parole: abstract/social rules and concrete/personal use Saussure distinguished the linguistic competence of the speake

22、r and the actual phenomena or data of linguistics (utterances) as langue and parole. Competence vs. performance: ideal knowledge and actual useA language users underlying knowledge about the system of rules is called his linguistic competence. And performance refers to the actual use of language in

23、concrete situations (Chomsky)Saussures distinction is sociological, while Chomskys is psychological. Traditional grammar vs. modern linguistics: approach: Prescriptive vs. descriptiveemphasis: Writing vs. speechframework: with / for a universal framework(The end of Chapter I)Chapter Speech Sounds2.1

24、 Speech sound Speech sounds: meaningful sounds in human linguistic communication Related linguistics branches: phonetics and phonology Phonetics and phonology are both concerned with the same aspect of language speech sounds. The distinction between the two fields is as follows: phonetics deals prim

25、arily with all the speech sounds in all human languages, including the way in which they are produced, transmitted, and perceived; while phonology deals more with the organization of speech sounds into sound systems of different languages. 2.2 Phonetics2.2.1 Definition: the study of speech sounds as

26、 they are, namely their production, transmission and perception.2.2.2 Branches Speech SpeechProduction speech transmission perceptionFigure 1 The process of speech transmission A speech sound is produced by a speaker and transmitted to and received by a listener. This is a three-step process- produc

27、tion (articulation), transmission, and perception. Thus the study falls into three main areas: articulatory phonetics, acoustic phonetics and auditory phonetics.2.2.3 Phonetic production - speech (vocal) organsLips, teeth, tongue (tip, blade, front, back, root) teeth ridge (alveolus), hard palate, s

28、oft palate (velum), uvula, pharynx, larynx, vocal folds (cords), trachea (windpipe), lung. 1 上唇； 2 上齿； 3 上齿背； 4 上齿龈； 5 硬腭；6 软腭； 7 悬雍垂； 8 鼻腔； 9 咽部； 10 声带；11 下唇； 12 舌尖； 13 舌前； 14 口腔； 15 舌中； 16 舌后。（此图参照了David Crystal，The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language，p157，外语教学与研究出版社，北京，2002）Figure 2 Speech organsS

29、peech organs(Articulatory apparatus)Oral cavity (mouth):tongue (tip, blade, back, front, root)teeth (upper, lower, ridge/alveolus)lips (upper, lower)uvula, palate (soft/velum, hard)Nasal cavity (nose):nosePharyngeal cavity (throat):Larynx (vocal cords/folds) and pharynx Others: Lung, trachea (windpi

30、pe)Table 2 Speech organs清辅音元音非鼻音浊辅音voicelessvoicedPharynx apart closeclosedLarynxTracheaLunginitiator of airstreamOral cavityNasal cavity Pharyngeal cavity (throat)鼻音 注： organ airstream vocal cords obstructionFigure 3 The flow of airstream in speech production2.2.4 Phonetic transcription Divergence

31、between sounds/pronunciation and symbols/spelling (necessity)Reasons: more sounds than symbols, changes of sounds, borrowed words International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)History and development: The idea proposed (1886), the first version published (1888), International Phonetic Association known (1897), rudimental system of IPA (1920s), the latest version revised (1993), updated twice (1996, 2005).Main principle