英语语言学笔记.doc

英语语言学笔记 Linguistics Chapter 1 Introduction: Language and Linguistics lWhat is language? nDifferent definitions of language uLanguage is a system whose parts can and must be considered in their synchronic solidarity. (de Saussure, 1916) uLanguage is a set (finite or infinite) of sentences, each finite in length and constructed out of a finite set of elements. (Chomsky, 1957) uLanguage is a purely human and non-instinctive method of communicating ideas, emotions and desires by means of voluntarily produced symbols. nEach of the definitions above has pointed out some aspects of the essence of language, but all of them have left out something. We must see the multi-faceted nature of language. nAs is agreed by linguists in broad terms, language can be defined as a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication. lFeatures of human language nCreativity uLanguage provides opportunities for sending messages that have never been sent before and for understanding brand new messages. uThe grammar rules and the words are finite, but the sentences are infinite. Every speaker uses language creatively. nDuality uLanguage contains two subsystems, one of sounds and the other of meanings. uCertain sounds or sequences of sounds stand for certain meanings. uCertain meanings are conveyed by certain speech sounds or sequences of speech sounds. nArbitrariness uThe relationship between the two subsystems of language is arbitrary. uThere is no logical connection between sound and meaning. nDisplacement uThere is no limit in time or space for language. uLanguage can be used to refer to things real or imagined, past, present or future. nCultural transmission uCulture cannot be genetically transmitted. Instead, it must be learned. uLanguage is a way of transmitting culture. nInterchangeability uAll members of a speech community can send and receive messages. nReflexivity uHuman languages can be used to describe themselves. uThe language used to talk about language is called meta-language. lFunctions of language three meta-functions nThe ideational function uTo identify things, to think, or to record information. nThe interpersonal function uTo get along in a community. nThe textual function uTo form a text. lTypes of language nGenetic classification nTypological classification uAnalytic language no inflections or formal changes, grammatical relationships are shown through word order, such as Chinese and Vietnamese uSynthetic language grammatical relationships are expressed by changing the internal structure of the words, typically by changing the inflectional endings, such as English and German uAgglutinating language words are built out of a long sequence of units, with each unit expressing a particular grammatical meaning, such as Japanese and Turkish lThe myth of language language origin nThe Biblical account uLanguage was Gods gift to human beings. nThe bow-wow theory uLanguage was an imitation of natural sounds, such as the cries of animals, like quack, cuckoo. nThe pooh-pooh theory uLanguage arose from instinctive emotional cries, expressive of pain or joy. nThe yo-he-ho theory uLanguage arose from the noises made by a group of people engaged in joint labour or effort lifting a huge hunted game, moving a rock, etc. nThe evolution theory uLanguage originated in the process of labour and answered the call of social need. lWhat is linguistics? nLinguistics is the scientific study of language. uObserving & questioning uFormulating hypotheses uVerifying the hypotheses uProposing a theory nBranches of linguistics uInternal branches: intra-disciplinary divisions lPhonetics lPhonology lMorphology lSyntax lSemantics uExternal branches: inter-disciplinary divisions lPragmatics lPsycholinguistics lSociolinguistics lApplied linguistics lComputational linguistics lNeurolinguistics nFeatures of linguistics uDescriptive uDealing with spoken language uSynchronic Chapter 2 Phonetics lWhat is phonetics? nPhonetics is termed as the study of speech sounds. nSub-branches of phonetics uArticulatory phonetics the production of speech sounds uAcoustic phonetics the physical properties of speech sounds uAuditory phonetics the perceptive mechanism of speech sounds lThe speech organs nWhere does the air stream come from? uFrom the lung nWhat is the function of vocal cords? uControlling the air stream nWhat are the cavities? uOral cavity uPharyngeal cavity uNasal cavity lTranscription of speech sounds nUnits of representation uSegments (the individual sounds) nPhonetic symbols uThe widely used symbols for phonetic transcription of speech sounds is the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). uThe IPA attempts to represent each sound of human speech with a single symbol and the symbols are enclosed in brackets to distinguish phonetic transcriptions from the spelling system of a language. uIn more detailed transcription (narrow transcription) a sound may be transcribed with a symbol to which a smaller is added in order to mark the finer distinctions. lDescription of speech sounds nDescription of English consonants uGeneral feature: obstruction uCriteria of consonant description lPlaces of articulation lManners of articulation lVoicing of articulation uPlaces of articulation lThis refers to each point at which the air stream can be modified to produce a sound. nBilabial: p b m w nLabiodental: f v nInterdental: W T nAlveolar: t d s z l n r nPalatal: F V tF dV j nVelar: k g N nGlottal: h uManners of articulation This refers to how the air stream is modified, whether it is completely blocked or partially obstructed. nStops: p b t d k g nFricatives: s z F V f v W T h nAffricates: tF dV nLiquids: l r nGlides: w j nNasals: m n N uVoicing of articulation lThis refers to the vibrating of the vocal cords when sounds are produced. nVoiced sounds nVoiceless sounds nDescription of English vowels uGeneral feature: without obstruction uCriteria of vowel description lPart of the tongue that is raised nFront nCentral nBack Extent to which the tongue rises in the direction of the palate nHigh nMid nLow lKind of opening made at the lips lPosition of the soft palate uSingle vowels (monophthongs) and diphthongs lPhonetic features and natural classes nClasses of sounds that share a feature or features are called natural classes. nMajor class features can specify segments across the consonant-vowel boundary. nClassification of segments by features is the basis on which variations of sounds can be analyzed. Chapter 3 Phonology lWhat is phonology? nPhonology is the study of sound systems and patterns. nPhonology and phonetics are two studies different in perspectives, which are concerned with the study of speech sounds. nPhonology focuses on three fundamental questions. uWhat sounds make up the list of sounds that can distinguish meaning in a particular language? uWhat sounds vary in what ways in what context? uWhat sounds can appear together in a sequence in a particular language? lPhonemes and allophones nA phoneme is a distinctive, abstract sound unit with a distinctive feature. nThe variants of a phoneme are termed allophones. nWe use allophones to realize phonemes. lDiscovering phonemes nContrastive distribution phonemes uIf sounds appear in the same environment, they are said to be in contrastive distribution. uTypical contrastive distribution of sounds is found in minimal pairs and minimal sets. lA minimal pair consists of two words that differ by only one sound in the same position. lMinimal sets are more than two words that are distinguished by one segment in the same position. The overwhelming majority of the consonants and vowels represented by the English phonetic alphabet are in contrastive distribution. uSome sounds can hardly be found in contrastive distribution in English. However, these sounds are distinctive in terms of phonetic features. Therefore, they are separate phonemes. nComplementary distribution allophones uSounds that are not found in the same position are said to be in complementary distribution. uIf segments are in complementary distribution and share a number of features, they are allophones of the same phoneme. nFree variation uIf segments appear in the same position but the mutual substitution does not result in change of meaning, they are said to be in free variation. lDistinctive and non-distinctive features nFeatures that distinguish meaning are called distinctive features, and features do not, non-distinctive features. nDistinctive features in one language may be non-distinctive in another. lPhonological rules nPhonemes are abstract sound units stored in the mind, while allophones are the actual pronunciations in speech. nWhat phoneme is realized by what allophones in what specific context is another major question in phonology. nThe regularities that what sounds vary in what ways in what context are generalized and stated in phonology as rules. nThere are many phonological rules in English. Take the following ones as examples. l+voiced +consonant -voiced/-voiced +consonant_ l-voiced +bilabial +stop unaspirated/-voiced +alveolar +fricative_ lSyllable structure nA syllable is a phonological unit that is composed of one or more phonemes. nEvery syllable has a nucleus, which is usually a vowel. nThe nucleus may be preceded by one or more consonants called the onset and followed by one or more consonants called the coda. lSequence of phonemes nNative speakers of any language intuitively know what sounds can be put together. nSome sequences are not possible in English. The impossible sequences are called systematic gaps. Sequences that are possible but do not occur yet are called accidental gaps. nWhen new words are coined, they may fill some accidental gaps but they will never fill systematic gaps. lSuprasegmental features nFeatures that are found over a segment or a sequence of two or more segments are called suprasegmental features. nThese features are distinctive features. nStress uStress is the perceived prominence of one or more syllabic elements over others in a word. uStress is a relative notion. Only words that are composed of two or more syllables have stress. uIf a word has three or more syllables, there is a primary stress and a secondary stress. uIn some languages word stress is fixed, i.e. on a certain syllable. In English, word stress is unpredictable. nIntonation uWhen we speak, we change the pitch of our voice to express ideas. uIntonation is the variation of pitch to distinguish utterance meaning. uThe same sentence uttered with different intonation may express different attitude of the speaker. In English, there are three basic intonation patterns: fall, rise, fall-rise. nTone uTone is the variation of pitch to distinguish words. uThe same sequence of segments can be different words if uttered with different tones. uChinese is a typical tone language. Chapter 4 Morphology lWhat is morphology? nThe total number of words stored in the brain is called the lexicon. nWords are the smallest free units of language that unite sounds with meaning. nMorphology is defined as the study of the internal structure and the formation of word