1. introduction(配戴炜栋版语言学).doc

课 程 提 纲课程名称： 语言学概论 任课教师： 孟智君 教 材： 新编简明英语语言学教程 Chapter 1. Introduction1. The Goals for Linguistics StudyTo 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 and learning (SLA or TEFL), cross-cultural communication;To prepare for the future research work.2. The Requirements for Linguistics StudyClass attendance (10%)Classroom discussion Fulfillment of the assignment (10%)Examinations Mid-term (20%)Final (60%)3. References戴炜栋，何兆熊，新编简明英语语言学教程，上海：上海外语教育出版社，2002.胡壮麟，語言学教程（修订版），北京：北京大学出版社，2001.胡壮麟，李战子，語言学简明教程（英文版），北京：北京大学出版社，2004.刘润清，西方語言学流派，北京：外語教学与研究出版社，1998./iol/donhe/04192096/NEWindex.htm4. What is language?4.1 Language can meanwhat a person says (e.g. bad language expressions)the way of speaking or writing (e.g. Shakespeares language, Luxuns language)a particular variety or level of speech or writing (e.g. language for special purpose, colloquial language)the abstract system underlying the totality of the speech / writing behavior of a community (e.g. Chinese language, first language)the common features of all human languages (e.g. He studies language.)a special set of symbols, letters, numeral, rules etc. used for the transmission of information (e.g. computer language)4.2 Definition of languageLanguage is a purely human and non-instinctive method of communicating ideas, emotions and desires by means of voluntarily produced symbols. (Sapir, 1921)Language is the institution (惯例) whereby humans communicate and interact with each other by means of habitually used oral-auditory arbitrary (任意的) symbols. (Hall, 1968)From now on I will consider language to be a set of (finite or infinite) sentences, each finite in length and constructed out of a finite set of elements. (Chomsky, 1957) Language can be generally defined as a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication. (see 4.3 to 4.5)4.3 Language is a systemSystematic rule-governed, elements in it are arranged according to certain rules; cannot be combined at will. E.g. *bldi, *I apple eat. Arbitrary no intrinsic (固着的) connection between the word and the thing it denotes, e.g. “pen” by any other name is the thing we use to write with. Symbolic words are associated with objects, actions, ideas by convention. A rose by any other name would smell as sweet. (Shakespeare) 4.4 Language is primarily vocal Vocal the primary medium is sound for all languages; writing system came much later than spoken form. 4.5 Language is human-specific Human-specific different from the communication systems other forms of life possess, e.g. bird songs, bee dance, animal cries. 5. The design / defining features of human language unique properties (Charles Hockett)Arbitrariness (任意性) No logical (motivated or intrinsic) connection between sounds and meanings.Onomatopoeic words (which imitate natural sounds) are somewhat motivated (English: rumble, crackle, bang; Chinese: putong, shasha, dingdang)Some compound words are not entirely arbitrary, e.g. type-writer, shoe-maker, air-conditioner, photocopyProductivity / Creativity (创造性) Peculiar to human languages，users of language can understand and produce sentences they have never heard before, e.g. we can understand sentence like “ A red-eyed elephant is dancing on the hotel bed”, though it does not describe a common happening in the world.A gibbon call system is not productive for gibbon draw all their calls from a fixed repertoire (指令) which is rapidly exhausted, making any novelty impossible. The bee dance does have a limited productivity, as it is used to communicate about food sources in any direction. But food sources are the only kind of messages that can be sent through the bee dance; bees do not “talk” about themselves, the hives, or wind, let alone about people, animals, hopes or desires. Duality / Double articulation (二重性)Lower level sounds (meaningless)Higher level meaning (larger units of meaning)A communication system with duality is considered more flexible than one without it, for a far greater number of messages can be sent. A small number of sounds can be grouped and regrouped into a large number of units of meaning (words), and the units of meaning can be arranged and rearranged into an infinite number of sentences. (we make dictionary of a language, but we cannot make a dictionary of sentences of that language.)Displacement (移位性) Language can be used to refer to things, which are not present: real or imagined matters in the past, present or future, or in far-away places. A gibbon never utters a call about something he ate last year.There is something special about the bee dance though. Bees communicate with other bees about the food sources they have found when they are no longer in the presence of the food. In this sense, the bee dance has a component of displacement. But this component is very insignificant, for the bees must communicate about the food immediately on returning to the hive. They do not dance about the food they discovered last month nor do they speculate about future discoveries.Cultural transmission (文化传递性) Language is culturally transmitted (through teaching and learning; rather than by instinct).Animal call systems are genetically transmitted. All cats, gibbons and bees have systems which are almost identical to those of all other cats, gibbons and bees.A Chinese speaker and an English speaker are not mutually intelligible. This shows that language is culturally transmitted. That is, it is passed on from one generation to the next by teaching and learning, rather than by instinct.The story of a wolf child, a pig child shows that a human being brought up in isolation simply does not acquire human language. Interchangeability (交换性)Reflexivity (自反性) meta-language (元语言)6. Functions of languagePhatic (交流情感): establishing an atmosphere or maintaining social contact.Directive: get the hearer to do something. Informative: give information about facts. Interrogative: get information from others.Expressive: express feelings and attitudes of the speaker. Evocative: create certain feelings in the hearer (amuse, startle, soothe, worry or please) Performative: language is used to do things, to perform actions. 7. The origin of languageThe divine-origin theory (Biblical account) Language is a gift of God to mankind. The invention theory (bow-wow theory, yo-he-ho theory) Language was an imitation of natural sounds, such as the cries of animals, like quack, cuckoo, the grunts of men working together. The evolutionary theory the result of physical and psychological development.附：许国璋先生认为把语言定义成交际工具不够科学，至少不够严谨。他对语言的定义做了如下概括：语言是一种符号系统。 当它作用于人与人之间的关系的時候，它是表达相互反应的中介； 当它作用于人与客观世界的关系的時候，它是认知事物的工具； 当它作用于文化的时候，它是文化的载体。8. What is linguistics?Linguistics is the scientific study of language. A person who studies linguistics is known as a linguist. FOUR principles of linguistic studies: Exhaustiveness / Adequacy (详尽)Consistency (连贯)Economy (系统)Objectivity (客观)The scope or major branches of linguistics Theoretical LinguisticsPhonetics (语音学)Phonology (音系学)Morphology (形态学)Syntax (句法学)Semantics (语义学)Pragmatics (语用学)Use of Linguistics Applied linguistics (应用语言学)Sociolinguistics (社会语言学)Psycholinguistics (心理语言学) Theoretical linguisticsPhonetics speech sound (description, classification, transcription): articulatory phonetics (发音语言学), acoustic phonetics (声学语言学), auditory phonetics (听觉语言学)Phonology sound patterns of languagesMorphology the form of wordsSyntax the rules governing the combination of words into sentenceSemantics the meaning of language (when the meaning of language is conducted in the context of language use: Pragmatics)Use of linguisticsApplied linguistics linguistics and language teaching Sociolinguistics social factors (e.g. class, education) affect language use Psycholinguistics linguistic behavior and psychological process Stylistics (文体学) linguistic and literature Anthropological linguistics (人类语言学)Neurolinguistics (神经语語言学)Computational linguistics (计算语言学) e.g. machine translation9. Some important distinctions in linguistics Descriptive vs. Prescriptive Descriptive (描述性) describe / analyze linguistic facts observed or language people actually use modern linguisticsPrescriptive (規定性) lay down rules for “correct” linguistic behavior in using language traditional grammarSynchronic vs. DiachronicSynchronic study (共時性) description of a language at some point of time modern linguisticsDiachronic study (歷時性) description of a language throu