李元胜2013年秋语言学Chapter1invitationstolingu.ppt

Chapter One Invitations to Linguistics,LI Yuansheng About the course Linguistics is a university course for English majors in their 3rd or 4th year and it involves many fields of research (e.g. psychology, sociology, philosophy), so its not surprising if you find it difficult at the beginning. Its a must for language students to learn something about linguistics and very important for those who want to do further study after graduation. The course will be given mainly in English, but in Chinese when necessary.,The Goals for this Course,To get a scientific view on language; To understand some basic theories on linguistics; To understand the applications of the linguistic theories, especially in the fields of language teaching To prepare for the future research work.,Requirements:,Attendance is a “must” for every student. Attend the course regularly since its a compulsory course . Not an optional one. No absence from class without reasonable reasons. Complete all the tasks required. Self-discipline is necessary. Be attentive and interactive in the class. classroom discussion and participation. Self-study is desirable. Preview and review the lessons or do some further reading.,Items you need in the class,Your textbooks A notebook An exercise book,Distribution of Grades:,10 % Attendance 10 % Classroom Behavior 10 % Assignment and oral presentation 70 % Examination Final examination paper will cover all the materials used and all works done during class time and after class time.,A list of reference books: 1.语言学教程 (英语版), 胡壮麟, 北京大学出版社。 2.语言学概论 王德春， 上海外语教育出版社。 3.现代英语语言学概论（英语版）戴炜栋, 上海外语教育出版社。 4.现代语言学何兆熊 梅德明，外语教学与研究出版社 5.简明英语语言学教程（英语版）戴炜栋等， 上海外语教育出版社 6.语言学和语言的应用 王宗炎，上海外语教育出版社 7.语言学 H.G.Widdowson， 上海外语教育出版社 8.语言学入门（英语版） Stuart C. Poole 外语教学与 研究出版社 9.新编简明英语语言学教程， 戴炜栋，何兆熊(2002)，上海外语教育出版社。 10.西方语言学流派，刘润清，(1995)，外语教学与研究出版社。,8,1. Why study language?,2. What is Language?,4. the main functions of language,Add Your Text in here,5. What is linguistics?,6. The main branches of linguistics,3. the define features of language,Focus,Preview questions for 1.1 &1.2,1. Why should we study language? 2. What is the definition of language? 3. What makes human language advantageous over animal language?,10,1.1 Why Study Language?,A tool for communication An integral part of our life and humanity,If not fully aware of the nature and mechanism of our language, we will be ignorant of what constitutes our essential humanity.,11,1.2 What is Language?Saussure,Language “is both a social product of the faculty of speech and a collection of necessary conventions that have been adopted by a social body to permit individuals to exercise that faculty”., Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913): Course in General Linguistics (1916),12,“Language is a purely human and non-instinctive method of communicating ideas, emotions and desires by means of voluntarily produced symbols.”, Edward Sapir (1884-1939): Language: An Introduction to the Study of Speech (1921),Sapir,13,“From now on I will consider language to be a set (finite or infinite) of sentences, each finite in length and constructed out of a finite set of elements.”,-Noam Chomsky (1928- ): Syntactic Structures (1957),Chomsky,Liao, Meizhen (2008) 语言是什么？语言是人。人是什么？人是语 言。We exist because we speak. （我说故我 在）。Man is man only when man does not regard (take) language as a tool.（只有当人不把语言 作工具的时候，人才成为真正意义的人）。,当人把语言当作工具的时候，人以为自己是主人，其实人是奴隶。当人无论是在显意识还是潜意识中都不把语言当作工具的时候，人才能真正地得到解放，人文精神才真正地实现。否则人永远是奴隶。把语言看作工具永远无法得到语言和语言研究的真谛。,Qian Guanlian (2005) 语言是人类的最后家园:人活在语言中,人不得不 活在语言中,人活在程式性语言行为中.语言实际 上是人类的一种社会活动.是一种行为.,顾曰国 (2008) “学一门语言是懂一个人的心声，懂一个文化。就是整个文化的大门给你开放了，整个文明给你开放了。 我感觉语言这个东西，不要把它看成是一个简单的符号。它是一个心。另外对于个人来说，是一个文化的大门，一个文明的大门向你开放了，这个太有意思。我现在正在准备学蒙古语。我想看看蒙古人怎么看世界。” /Archives/News1694.html,18,Websters New Dictionary offers a frequently used sense of the word “language”: a. human speech b. the ability to communicate by this means c. a system of vocal sounds and combinations of such sounds to which meaning is attributed, used for the expression or communication of thoughts and feelings; d. the written representation of such a system,Definitions of Language,“Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication.” Language distinguishes human beings from animals because it is far more sophisticated than any animal communication system.,19,A generally accepted definition,Preview questions: 1. What are the four design features of language? 2. Find out the definition of the following terms: Design features Arbitrariness,1.3 Design Features of Language,21,Design features: the distinctive features of human language that essentially make human language distinguishable from languages of animals.,Arbitrariness,Duality,Creativity,Displacement,1.3 Design Features of Language,22,1.3.1 Arbitrariness,Definition: There is no logical connection between meanings and sounds. 语言形式的符号与所表示的意义无天然的联系。 Different sounds are used to refer to the same object in different languages. book buk书shuBuch buh woman wu:mn女nFrau frao; treetri:树shu木().,23,(1) Arbitrary relationship between the sound of a morpheme and its meaning, even with onomatopoeic words: The dog barks wow wow in English but “汪汪汪” in Chinese. Murderous and murmurous Although they both bear more or less resemblance to the genuine natural sound, “murmurous” is chosen to mean the noise while “murderous” is chosen to mean something quite different. They are arbitrary as signifiers.,Arbitrariness (1),24,Onomatopoeic words,Creak Cuckoo Bang Moo clip-clop tick-tack Buzz pit-a-pat,布谷布谷 咯吱咯吱 砰砰作响 得得声 哞哞 嗡嗡、哼哼声 噼噼啪啪的 滴答滴答,25,2) Arbitrariness at the syntactic level: language is not arbitrary at the syntactic level. As the night fell, the wind rose. As the wind rose, the night fell. When the two parts interchange, the focus and the meaning of the sentence is forced to change, because clauses occurring in linear sequence without time indicators will be taken as matching the actual sequence of happening.,Arbitrariness (2),26,3) The link between a linguistic sign and its meaning is a matter of convention. Conventionality It means that in any language there are certain sequences of sounds that have a conventionally accepted meaning.,1.3.1 Arbitrariness (3),27,Arbitrariness and convention,According to Saussure: every linguistic sign is unity of absolute arbitrariness and relative arbitrariness.,Between the sound and its meaning,At the syntactic level,Makes language potentially creative,Click to add Title,Makes language systematic,Language,Arbitrariness,Convention,28,1.3.2 Duality,Preview Questions for you: 1. What does duality mean? 2. What are the two levels in language? 3. Does animal language have two levels too? 4. What is the significance of duality?,29,Duality,Definition: The structural organization of language into two abstract levels: meaningful units (e. g. words in written language) and meaningless segments (e. g. sounds, letters in spoken language).,30,Hierarchy of Language: Expression of Duality,Scores of sounds,Hundreds of morphemes,Thousands of words,Astronomical number of sentences and texts,1. Combine meaningless sounds into meaningful linguistic units 2. Combine small units into big units,Expression of duality:,31,Significance of Duality,Because of duality, the speaker is able to combine the basic linguistic units to form an infinite set of sentences, most of which are never before produced or heard. In other words, language is productive because of its own duality.,32,1.3.3 Creativity,Language is resourceful because of its duality and its recursiveness. We can use it to create new meanings. 创造性指语言的能产性，这来源于语言的二层性和递归性。 人可以通过使用数量有限的语法规则来对数量同样有限的词汇排列组合，生成数量无限的词组、短语和句子，即通过对数量有限的语言基本成分的排列组合来产生新的语言单位。（熊学亮 2003：11）,33,The recursive nature of language,Please write a recursive nature sentence following the example in section 1.3.3: For example: I want to make friends with Nicky who works in a translation company which has employed more than 1,000 people this year when the economy has gone downhill in China where,34,Preview questions: 1. What is displacement? 2. Can you give us an example of displacement? 3. What is the significance of displacement?,1.3.4 Displacement,35,Human languages enable their users to symbolize objects, events and concepts which are not present (in time and space) at the moment of communication.,移位性指人类语言可以让使用者在交际时用语言符号代表时间上和空间上并不可及的物体，时间或观点。,Definition of Displacement,Displacement,Discussion: When a dog barks, is there displacement in its barking too?,37,Difference from animal communication,When a man, for example, is crying to a woman, about something, it might be something that had occurred, or something that is occurring, or something that is to occur. When a dog is barking, however, you can decide it is barking for something or at someone that exists now and there. It couldnt be bow-wowing sorrowfully for lost love or a bone to be lost.,38,Significance of Displacement,语言的置换性使语言具有元语言功能 使得话语对上层建筑和意识形态具有一定的反向影响作用，即话语可以制造意识形态和创造现实。（熊学亮 2003：5） 3. In a word, the intellectual benefits of displacement to us is that it makes possible for us to talk and think in abstract terms. (Fowler, 1974: 8),39,Review questions,1. Why should we study language? 2. What is the definition of language? 3. What is arbitrariness of language? 4. What is duality of language? What is the significance of duality? 5. What is creativity of language? 6. What is displacement? Please use one or two examples to illustrate the significance of displacement?,40,41,1.4 Origin of language,Preview question: How did language come into being?,42,1. The Divine-Origin Theory,And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.,耶 和 华 神 用 土 所 造 成 的 野 地 各 样 走 兽 和 空 中 各 样 飞 鸟 都 带 到 那 人 面 前 ， 看 他 叫 什 么 。 那 人 怎 样 叫 各 样 的 活 物 ， 那 就 是 它 的 名 字 。,43,Adams naming,And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.,那 人 便 给 一 切 牲 畜 和 空 中 飞 鸟 ， 野 地 走 兽 都 起 了 名 。 只 是 那 人 没 有 遇 见 配 偶 帮 助 他 。,44,仓颉造字（汉字）,仓颉陵遗址：仓颉、史皇氏，今濮阳市南乐县吴村人，相传是黄帝时期造字的史官，仰观天象、俯察鸟兽虫鱼之迹，总结远古各部落的刻划符号首创文字，从而结束了远古先民结绳纪事的历史，后人尊之为“造字圣人”。仓颉陵遗址上建有仓颉陵墓和仓颉庙，还有藏甲楼、故宅井及部分石刻、碑刻。目前主要修复的建筑有万古一人殿、仰圣门、碑亭、朝天门、六书殿、字圣坊、造书台、碑林。,上古仓颉（cang jie）造字时,飞沙走石,“天雨粟、鬼夜哭”,45,2. The invention theory,a. the bow-wow theory 咆哮说/拟声说 b. The Pooh-pooh theory 啵啵说/感叹说 c. The “Yo-he-ho” theory 吆嘿嗬说/喘息说,46,a. The Bow-wow theory (咆哮说/拟声说),In primitive times people imitate the sounds of the animal calls in the wild environment they lived and speech developed from that. Evidence: Onomatopoeic words,47,b. The Pooh-pooh theory (啵啵说/感叹说),In the hard life of our primitive ancestors, they utter instinctive sounds of pain, anger and joy. Evidence: Interjections such as Oh, Ah, Aiyo,48,c. The “Yo-he-ho” theory (吆嘿嗬说/喘息说),As primitive people worked together, they produced some rhythmic grunts which gradually developed into chants and then into language.,Evidence: Prosodic use of rhythms.,49,1.5 Functions of Language,Preview questions: 1. What are metafunctions of language? 2. What are the main functions of language? 3. Explain each of the functions with an example.,50,M. A. K. Halliday (韩礼德),(1925-), founder of systemic functional grammar (linguistics); 1947-1949 studied at Beijing University;,1955 got doctors degree at Cambridge University with The Language of the Chinese “Secret History of the Mongols”,51,Metafunctions of Language (纯理功能): Hallidays Model,1. Ideational: to convey new information, to communicate a content that is unknown to the hearer; (through transitive system),概念功能指的是人们通过语言来表达现实世界中的各种经历（包括内心世界），即运用语言来反映客观和主观世界中所发生的事情，所涉及到的人物、物体以及相关的时间、地点等因素；,Metafunctions of Language (纯理功能): Hallidays Model,52,2. Interpersonal: enacts social relationships (through mood and modality),Interpersonal Metafunction,人际功能指的是讲话者运用语言来参加社会活动，从而确立自己的身份、地位，表达行事的态度和动机以及对事物的判断，从而建立一定的社会关系；,53,Contextual Metafunction,3. Contextual: referring to the fact that language has mechanisms to make any stretch of spoken and written discourse into a coherent and unified text and make a living passage different from a random list of sentences. (through coherence and cohesion) 语篇功能指的是语言运用（口头表达和书面表达）中的前后连贯，并与相关的语域发生联系，为概念功能和人际功能提供物质基础。,54,Three Metafunctions,About the natural world in the broadest sense, including our own consciousness; Relates to the context of culture.,About the social world, especially the relationship between speaker and hearer ; Relates to the context of situation.,About the verbal world, especially the flow of information in a text; Relates to the verbal context.,Metafunctions of language,Ideational function,Interpersonal function,Contextual function,55,(1) The informative (ideational) function,Informative function (信息功能): the major role of language; language is the instrument of thought and people often use it to communicate new information. Informative statements are often characterized by the use of declarative sentences, and labeled as true (truth) or false (falsehood). Light travels faster than sound (facts). The film is rather boring (opinions).,56,Interpersonal function (人际功能): the most important sociological use of language, by which people establish and maintain their status in a society. For example, the ways in which people address others and refer to themselves: Dear Sir, Dear Professor, Johnny, yours, your obedient servant,(2) Interpersonal Function,57,The performative function (施事功能): This means people speak to “do things” or perform actions. On certain occasions the utterance itself as an action is more important than what words or sounds constitute the uttered sentence.,(3) The Performative function,For example: I now declare the meeting open. I bet you two pounds it will rain tomorrow.,58,(4) The emotive function,The emotive function (情感功能): one of the most powerful uses of language because it is crucial in changing the emotional status of an audience for or against someone or something. God, Damn it, What a sight, Wow, Ugh 我的妈呀，老天爷啊，晕,59,吃了吗？家里都还好吧？ 这是到哪里去呢？,(5) Phatic communion,The use of language to establish an atmosphere or maintaining social contact. E.g. Greetings, Farewells, and Comments on the weather, etc.,60,the well-known movie刘三姐features a scene of “对歌” (song dueling) mostly for the sheer joy of playing on language.,(6) The recreational function,The use of language for the sheer joy of using it such as a babys babbling or a chanters chanting.,61,Metalingual function (元语言功能): our language can be used to talk about itself, talking about talk and thinking about thinking. To be honest; on second thought; to tell you the truth; as a matter of fact; that is to say; Such expressions are used most frequently when we want to expatiate the meaning of former clauses in another way in argumentation. It makes the language infinitely self-reflexive (自我反身性),(7) The metalingual function,HAPPY Teachers DAY!,3RD CLASS,62,Review questions,1. What are the two levels of language? 2. What does creativity owe to? 3. Give some examples to explain displacement of human language. 4. What are the main functions of language? Give some examples to illustrate these functions.,63,1.6 What is Linguistics?,Definition: the scientific study of human languages. It studies not just one language of any one society, but the language of all human beings. A linguist, though, does not have to know and use a large number of languages, but to investigate how each language is constructed.,64,What is Linguistics?,A linguist is also concerned with how a language varies from dialect to dialect, from class to class, how it changes from century to century, how children acquire their mother tongue, and perhaps how a person learns or should learn a foreign language.,65,What is Linguistics?,In short, linguistics studies the general principles whereupon all human languages are constructed and operated as systems of communication in their societies or communities.,66,1.7 Main branches of Linguistics,1. Sound phonetics 2. Sounds phonology 3. Word morphology 4. Words/sentence syntax 5. Meaning semantics 6. Meaning in a context pragmatics,67,The scope or major branches of linguistics,1.9 Some important distinctions in linguistics,Preview questions: 1. What is the difference between prescriptive and descriptive? 2. Give some examples to show the differences between synchronic and diachronic? 3. Find out the differences between langue and parole? 4. What is the major difference between competence and performance?,70,1.9.1 Descriptive vs. Prescriptive,1. If a linguistic study aims to describe and analyze the language people actually use, it is said to be descriptive. 2. If the linguistic study aims to lay down rules for correct and standard behavior in using language, i.e. to tell people what they should say and what they should not say, it is said to be prescriptive.,71,Descriptive,Prescriptive,To describe the linguistic facts observed 1) what is in language (describe actual speech behaviors) 2) What people actually say (modern linguistic),To lay down rules for “correct” linguistic behavior 1) What should be in language (lay down rules for) 2) What people should say (traditional linguistics),Descriptive vs. Prescriptive,Descriptive vs. Prescriptive,Linguistic studies before this century were largely prescriptive because many early grammars were based on “high” (literary or religious) written records.,73,Modern linguistics is mostly descriptive, however. It (the latter) believes that whatever occurs in natural speech (hesitation, incomplete utterance, misunderstanding, etc.) should be described in the analysis, and not be marked as incorrect, abnormal,