语言学期末考试重点.docx

What is language? “ Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication.” System: linguistic elements are arranged systematically, rather than randomly. Arbitrary: e.g. book Symbolic: people use the sounds or vocal forms to symbolize what they wish to refer to. Vocal: language is primarily vocal, rather than written Human-specific:Design features of language语言的本质特征Arbitrariness （任意性）Saussure: the forms of linguistic signs bear no natural relationship to their meaning Arbitrary relationship between the sound of a morpheme and its meaning, even with onomatopoeic words:The dog barks bow wow in English but “汪汪汪” in Chinese. Onomatopoeia: words that sound like the sounds they describeDuality （二重性）Language consists of two levels of structures. The lower (secondary) level is a definite set of meaningless sounds which combine to form meaningful units (morphemes, words, such as he, left) which constitute a higher (primary) level.Productivity or Creativity （创造性）Because of duality the human 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. Words can be used in new ways to mean new things, and can be instantly understood by people who have never come across that usage before. Displacement（移位性）One can talk about things that are not present, as easily as he does things present. In other words, one can refer to real and unreal things, things of the past, of the present, of the future. Our language enables us to communicate about things that do not exist or do not yet exist.e.g. A dog cannot tell people that its master will be home in a few days.Cultural transmission（文化传递性）Language is culturally transmitted. It cannot be transmitted through heredity.e.g. a person learns to speak is a cultural one other than a genetic one like the dogs barking system.e.g. a Chinese baby born and brought up in London an English child brought up in Beijing Interchangeability（互换性）It refers to that man can both produce and receive message. One can be a speaker or a hearerSpecialization （专门性）It refers to the fact that man does not have a total physical involvement in the act of communicationFunction of language(语言功能)Phatic function/communion（寒暄功能）Language is used to establish an atmosphere or maintain social contact between the speaker and the hearer.e.g. Greetings, farewell and commentsDirective function （指令功能Language is used to get the hearer to do something. Most imperative sentences are of this function.e.g. open the door Informative function（信息功能）Language is used to tell something, to give information, or to reason things out. Declarative sentences:e.g. I saw her yesterday on the streetInterrogative function （疑问功能）Language is used to ask for information from others. All questions expecting replies serve this function.e.g. whats your name? what time is it now?Expressive function（表达功能）Language is used to reveal the speakers attitudes and feelings. e.g. Oh, my God!Evocative function（唤起功能）Language is used to create certain feelings in the hearers.e.g. Jokes, advertising, and propagandaPerfomative function（施为功能）Language is used to do things or to perform acts.e.g. I now pronounce you husband and wife.Descriptive and prescriptive grammars （描写式和规定式语法）Descriptive grammars attempt to tell what is in the language, while prescriptive grammars tell people what should be in the language. As traditional grammars tried to lay down rules, they are often called prescriptive.Most modern linguistics is descriptive.e.g. A: who is that? B: Its me. / Its I.Synchronic and diachronic linguistics （共时与历时语言学）When we study language at one particular time, it is called synchronic linguistics. When we study language developments through time, it is called diachronic or historical linguistics.Synchronic linguistics focuses on the state of language at any point in history while diachronic linguistics focuses on the differences in two or more than two states of language over decades or centuries.Langue and parole （语言与言语F. de Saussure make an important distinction between langue and parole.Langue refers to the abstract linguistic system shared by all the members of a speech community. Parole refers to particular realizations of langue.Langue is the social, conventional side of language, while parole is individualized speech.Competence and performance （语言能力和语言应用）According to Chomsky, competence refers to the knowledge that native speakers have of their language as a system of abstract formal relations, while performance refers to their actual linguistic behavior, that is, the actual use of this knowledge. Chapter 2 The Sounds of LanguagePhoneticsThe study of the speech sounds that occur in all human languages is called phonetics. The study of sounds can be divided into three main areas: Articulatory Phonetics; Acoustic Phonetics; Perceptual or Auditory PhoneticsClassification of English speech soundsSpeech sounds of all languages are broadly classified into vowels and consonants.Vowels: there is no obstruction to the flow of air as it passes from the larynx to the lips.Consonants: we are making it difficult or impossible for the air to pass through the mouth.ConsonantsEnglish consonant can be classified according to the manner of articulation and the place of articulation.The manner of articulation: it refers to the type of stricture involved in the production of a consonant (the particular way the airstream is obstructed).The place of articulation: it refers to the involvement of the articulators in the production of a particular consonant (where the airstream is most obstructed).The manner of articulationPlosives /stops (爆破音) /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/Fricatives （摩擦音） /f/, /v/, /s/, /z/, /, /, /, /, /h/Affricates (破擦音) /t/, /d/Liquids （流音） /l/, /r/ Nasals （鼻音） /m/, /n/, /Glides (median approximants) （滑音） /j/, /w/The place of articulationBilabials （双唇音）: /p/, /b/, /m/, /w/ Labiodentals （唇齿音）: /f/, /v/Dentals （齿音）: /, / Alveolars （齿龈音）: /t/, /d/, /n/, /s/, /z/, /r/, /l/Palatals （上颚音）: /j/, /, /, /d/, /t/ Velars （软腭音）: /k/, /g/, /Glottal （声门音，喉音）: /h/Phonology （音系学/音位学）Phonology is the description of the systems and patterns of speech sounds in a language.Minimal pairs 最小对立体Minimal pairs: are pairs of words which differ from each other only by one sound (occurs in the same place). Minimal sets 最小对立体集 Minimal sets: when a group of words can be differentiated each one from the others, by changing one phoneme (always in the same position), then we have a minimal set. On the vowel phonemes e.g. feat, fit, fate, fat, fought, foot On the consonants e.g. big, pig, rig, fig, dig, wig Suprasegmentals （超语段音位学） Suprasegmental features refers to the phonemic features that occur above the level of sound segment. The major suprasegmental features in english include word stress, sentence stress, tone, and intonation. STRESS TONE INTONATION。StressStress refers to the degree of force used in producing a syllable. In transcription, a raised vertical line is often used just before the syllable it relates to. A basic distinction is made between stressed and unstressed syllables, the former being more prominent than the latter, which means that stress is a relative notion. Verb NounCONvict conVICTINsultinSULTPROduceproDUCEREbelreBELIntonation （语调）Intonation: when pitch, stress and sound length are tied to the sentence rather than the word in isolation.The falling tone：what is said is a straight-forward, matter of fact statement.the rising tone: often makes a question of what is said the fall-rise tone: there is an implied message in what is said the rise-fall tone.Chapter 3 MorphologyMorphology （词法学）Morphology: the study of word-formation, or the internal structure of words, or the rules by which words are formed from smaller components morphemes.Morphemes ：is a minimal unit of meaning or grammatical function, a unit that cannot be divided into further smaller units without destroying or drastically altering the meaning, whether it is lexical or grammatical.The following list shows that in English a single word may consist of one or more morphemes.One morpheme: desireTwo morphemes: desire + ableThree morphemes: desire + able + ityFour morphemes: un + desire + able + ityTypes of morphemesFree vs. Bound morphemes: Free morphemes （自由词素）: those which can stand alone as words, that is, those which may constitute words by themselves. eg boy, girl, table, in, the Free morphemes:Lexical Morphemes The set of ordinary nouns, verbs and adjectives. e.g. book, desk, house, love, look, long, happy.Functional morphemes. e.g. and, but, because, if, when, on, above, in, it, the, thatBound MorphemesBound morphemes （粘附词素）: those which cannot normally stand alone, that is, those which must appear with at least another morpheme. eg -s, -ed, dis-, un-.Inflectional Morphemes （屈折词缀）& Derivational Morphemes （派生词缀）Inflectional Morphemes/ affix, which are not used to produce new words, but rather to show aspects of the grammatical function of a word, e.g. singular or plural, past tense or present tense, possessive or comparative form.All inflectional morphemes listed here are suffixes: Noun + -s, -s (workers, workers) Verb + -s, -ing, -ed, -en (works, working, worked, taken) Adjective + -er, -est (later, latest)Root, Affix and Stem Root: the base form of a word that cannot be further analyzed without total loss of identity. eg internationalism inter-, nation, al and ism nation rootRoot free morphemes eg slow in slowly Root bound morphemes, e.g. re-ceive, per-ceive, de-ceive Affix: the type of formative that can be used only when added to another morpheme. Normally divided into prefix (dis-, un-) and suffix (-en, -ity).Stem: a morpheme or combination of morphemes to which an inflectional affix may be added. e.g. friends; friendships.The former shows that a stem can be equivalent to a root, whereas the latter shows that a stem may contain a root and a derivational affix.Stem: a morpheme or combination of morphemes to which can add an affix.Types of word formation InflectionClipping: the process by which parts of a word have been cut off is called Clipping. Cllipping occurs when a word of more than one syllable is reduced to a short form, often in casual speech.Back-clippings: ad(vertisement), (omni)bus, exam(ination), lab(oratory), piano(forte)Fore-clippings: (ham)burger, (air)plane, (heli)copter, (tele)phone, (earth)quakeFore-and-aft clippings: (in)flu(enza), (de)tec(tive)Blending：a single new word can also be formed by combining two separate forms.transfer+resistortransistorsmoke+fogsmogmotorist+hotelmotelbreakfast+lunchbrunchmodulator+demodulatormodemdance+exercisedancerciseadvertisement+editorialadvertorialeducation+entertainmentedutainmentinformation+commercialinfomercialChapter 4 SyntaxSyntax ：Syntax is the study of the rules governing the ways different constituents are combined to form sentences in a language, or the study of the interrelationships between elements in sentence structures.Immediate Constituent Analysis(IC Analysis) 直接成份分析法Binary division / cutting 二元切分 Ultimate constituents 最终成份 S NP VP Art N V NP Art N A man bought a carWord-levelPhrasalN=nounAdj=adjectiveV=verbPrep=prepositionDet=determinerArt = articleAdv=adverbConj=conjunction S NP VPArt N V Art N A man bought a carNP=noun phraseAP=adjective phraseVP=verb phrasePP=preposition phraseS=sentence or clauseTransformational- Generative Grammar (转换生成语法）NOAM CHOMSKY (1928- ), institute professor at MIT. Linguist, philosopher, and political activist. Chapter 5 Semantics Semantics: is a branch of linguistics which is concerned with the study of meaning in all its formal aspects.The meaning of words: Lexical semanticsThe meaning of sentences: Propositional meaning, compositional meaningLinguistic semantics vs. Logical semantics/philosophical semanticsPragmatics: The meaning of utterances Semantic relationship between wordsMajor sense relations 涵义关系Homonymy & Homophony （同形/音异义）Polysemy （多义关系）Synonymy （同义关系）Antonymy （反义关系）Hyponymy （上下义关系）Meronymy （整体-部分关系）Polysemy（多义关系）When a word has two or more meanings that are related conceptually or historically, it is said to be polysemous or polysemic. Words of this kind are called polysemic or polysemous words.e.g. head the part of the body the part on top of a glass or beer the person on top of a company or departmentHomonymy & Homophony（同形/音异义）There are words which have the same linguistic form but are different in meaning.Complete homonyms: （完全同音同形异义，音同拼写同，意义不同） e.g. bank, raceHomographs: when two words are identical in spelling. （同形异音异义，拼写一样， 意义不同） e.g. tear (n.)tear (v.); lead (n.)lead（v.）Homophones: when two words are identical in sound. （同音异形异义，发音一样，形不同，意义不同） e.g. Rainreign, nightknightAntonymy（反义关系）Words that are opposite in meaning are often called antonyms. The oppositeness of meaning is called antonym. 1) Gradable antonym （等级反义词） There are often intermediate forms between the two members of a pair. E.g. oldyoung, hotcold, tallshort.2）ungradable antonym (非等级反义词) e.g. alivedead，malefemale，presentabsent.Sense relations between SentenceX entails YX presupposes YX is synonymous with YX is inconsistent with YImplicature2）X presupposes Y (预设)X: his bike needs repairing. Y: he has a bike.X: Paul has given up smoking.Y: Paul once smoked.If X is true, Y must be true; If X is false, Y is still true Chapter 6 Pragmatics Semantics VS PragmaticsSemantics：the study of the literal meaning of a sentence (without taking context into consideration).Pragmatics：the study of the intended meaning of a speaker (taking context into consideration).e.g. Today is Sunday.Semantics is the branch of linguistics which studies meaning in language.Pragmatics is the branch of linguistics that studies how context influences the way speakers interpret sentences.Definition of PragmaticsPragmatics is the study of speakers intended meaning, or even the “invisible” meaning, that is, how hearers recognize what is meant even when it isnt actually said or written.The study of language in use.The study of meaning in context.The study of speakers meaning, utterance meaning, & contextual meaning.Macropragmatics-speech act theorySpeech act theoryThe first major theory in pragmatics, originated with the Oxford philosopher John L. Austin. His book “how to do Things with Words (1962)”It is a theory which analyzes the role of utterances in relation to the behavior of the speaker and the hearer in interpersonal communication. It aims to answer the question “what do we do when using language?”Austin classified utterance into two types: constatives and performatives.Speech act theoryThe locutionary act （发话行为）: an act of saying something, and act of making a meaningfu