Lecture 2 Main branches of linguistics

LectureTwo 1 Whatislinguistics Itisascientificstudyoflanguage oramajorbranchofsocialscience Ithasitspracticalimportanceinspeechtherapy education techniquesoftranslationandmanymore applied concerns Italsohastheimportanceinthestudiesofhumanities suchasliterarystudiesandsocialstudies 2 Howscientificshouldlinguistictheorybe A Exhaustiveness Inprinciple thelinguistshouldgatherallthematerialsrelevanttohisinvestigationandgivethemanadequateexplanation B Consistency Thereshouldbenocontradictionbetweendifferentpartsofthetotalstatement C Economy Otherthingsbeingequal ashorterstatementoranalysisispreferredtoalongerormoreinvolvedone Thebeststatementsaretheshortestpossiblewhich canaccountmostfullyforallfacts D Objectivity alinguistshouldbeasobjectiveaspossibleinhisdescriptionandanalysisofdata allowingnoprejudicetoinfluencehisgeneralizations 3 Mainbranchesoflinguistics Linguisticsincludeatleastsixdisciplines namely phonetics phonology morphology syntax semantics andpragmatics 3 1Phonetics Thisbranchoflinguisticsstudiesspeechsounds includingtheproduction thetransmissionandreception thedescriptionandclassificationofspeechsounds Thisbranchcanalsobedividedintothreesub branches articulatoryphonetics relatedtoplacesandmannersofarticulation acousticphonetics studiesofsoundwaves andauditoryphonetics analysisandperceptionofasoundwave 3 2PhonologyItisthestudyofthepatternsorrulesthatgovernsthestructure distribution andsequencingofspeechsoundsandtheshapeofsyllables Itstartsfromthephonemewhichisthesmallestlinguisticunitofsoundthatcansignaladifferenceinmeaning Englishhasabout44phonemes Thedifferencebetweenphoneticsandphonology Phoneticsisthestudyofspeechsoundsthatthehumanvoiceiscapableofcreatingwhereasphonologyisthestudyofasubsetofthosesoundsthatmakeuplanguageandmeaning Thefirstfocusesonchaoswhilethesecondfocusesonorder 3 2Morphology Itisthestudyoftheinternalorganizationofwords Thesmallestunitofmeaningisthemorpheme Example theword workers canbebrokenintothreemorphemes work er s 3 4Syntax Itisthestudyofhowwordscombinetoformsentencesandtheruleswhichgoverntheformationofsentences Hecamebackhomelateatnight Hecamebackhomelateatnight 3 5Semantics Itstudiesthemeaningsoflanguage includinglexicalmeanings morphologicalmeaningorsententialmeanings Thekeytermsinsemanticsaresemanticcomponents denotationofwords senserelationsbetweenwordssuchasantonymyandsynonymy senserelationsbetweensentencessuchasentailment 蕴涵 andpresupposition 预设 3 6Pragmatics Itisthestudyofmeaningincontext Itdealswiththeinterpretationofutterancesinrelationtothecontextofsituation Howmanyinterpretationsoftheexpression Congratulations WipeYourFeetbeforeEnteringtheRoom Keysterms reference force effect andcooperativeprinciples speechmode pragmaticrules sequentialorganization repairoferrors roleandspeechacts turn taking opening maintainingandclosingaconversation Majortheoriesandfamouslinguistsorphilosophers Speechacttheory JohnLangshawAustin 奥斯汀JohnSearle塞尔 HowtoDoThingswithWordsTheTheoryofConversationalImplicature HerbertGrice 格莱斯 LogicandConversationLevinson Leech 4 Macro linguistics Linguisticsisnottheonlyfieldconcernedwithlanguage Thereareotherfieldssuchaspsychology sociology ethnography 民族学 thescienceoflawandartificialintelligencethatareinvolvedinlanguage Macro linguisticshastheinter disciplinarynature 4 1Psycholinguistics Itstudiestherelationshipsbetweenlanguageandmind inprocessingandproducingutterancesandlanguageacquisition Italsostudiesformsofgrammarfromtheperspectiveofpsychology thedevelopmentinchildren languageacquisition biologicalfoundationsoflanguage andcognition 4 2Socio linguistics Itdealstherelationshipbetweenlanguageandsociety includingthesocialfunctionsoflanguageandthesocialcharacteristicsofitsusers Itsaimistodiscoverthesocietalrulesandnormsthatexplainandconstrainlanguagebehavior Itstudiesthecharacteristicsoflanguagevarieties ofthefunctions andofthespeakersthatareinteractingandchangewithinaspeechcommunity 4 3Anthropologicallinguistics Anthropological 人类 linguistsareinterestedprimarilyinthehistoryandstructureofformerlyunwrittenlanguages Theyaretypicallyconcernedwithsuchquestionsas Didtwoormorecontemporarylanguagesdevelopfromacommonancestrallanguage and Howfarbackintimedidtheybegintodiffer 4 4Computationallinguistics Thisbranchoflinguisticscentersaroundtheuseofcomputerstoprocessorproducehumanlanguage Inthisarea machinetranslationandinformationretrievingareinvolved 5 Importantdistinctionsinlinguistics 5 1descriptivevsprescriptiveA Descriptive descriptivism ist thegeneralsenseofthistermisfoundinlinguistics identifyingoneofthemainaimsofthesubject togiveacomprehensive systematic objectiveandpreciseaccountofthepatternsanduseofaspecificlanguageordialect ataparticularpointintime Theemphasisonobjectivity systematicness etc placesitincontrastwiththeprescriptiveaimsofmuchtraditionalgrammar Theaimof descriptivelinguisticsistodescribefactsoflinguisticusageastheyare andnothowtheyoughttobe withreferencetosomerealorimaginedidealstate Theemphasisonagiventimeplacesitincontrastwithhistoricallinguistics wheretheaimistodemonstratelinguisticchange descriptivelinguisticsaimstodescribealanguagesynchronically ataparticulartime B Prescriptive prescriptivism ist atermusedbylinguiststocharacterizeanyapproachwhichattemptstolaydownRulesofCorrectnessastohowlanguageshouldbeused Usingsuchcriteriaaspurity logic historyorliteraryexcellence Prescriptivism aimstopreserveimaginedstandardsbyinsistingonNormsofUsageandcriticizingdeparturesfromthesenorms e g ItisI themanwhomIsaw Comments Thenatureoflinguisticsasasciencedeterminesitsinvolvementindescriptionratherthanprescription However therearecertainadvantagesofprescriptivisminitsstandardizationofaprincipaldialectthatisusedinacountryorregion becauseineducationandadministration ithelpstoraiseefficiency 5 2Synchronicanddiachronic 树木 SynchronicisoneofthetwomaintemporaldimensionsoflinguisticinvestigationintroducedbytheSwisslinguist FerdinanddeSaussure theotherbeingDiachronic Insynchroniclinguistics languagesarestudiedatatheoreticalpointintime onedescribesa state ofthelanguage disregardingwhateverchangesmightbetakingplace Mostsynchronicdescriptionsareofcontemporarylanguagestates buttheirimportanceasapreliminarytodiachronic studyhasbeenstressedsinceSaussure Indiachroniclinguistics languagesarestudiedfromthepointofviewoftheirhistoricaldevelopment forexample thechangeswhichhavetakenplacebetweenOldEnglishandModernEnglishcouldbedescribedinphonological grammaticalandsemanticterms Indiachronicdescriptions differentstatesoflanguagecomparedshouldberelativelyfarapart Synchronicstudiesshouldbebasedonthediachronicdescriptions becauseweoftenneedtoknowwhatthelanguagewaslikepreviouslyinordertodescribe withinsight whatitisliketoday Comments Thereisnorealsynchronyinlanguagedescription i e thereisnotfixedpointintimeforlanguagestudy becauselanguageisalwayschanging nomatterhowminoritis Butitisessentialtodiachronicstudy 5 3LangueandParole LangueisatermintroducedintolinguisticsbytheSwisslinguistSaussure todistinguishoneofthesensesoftheword Language theothersbeinglangueandparole ItreferstothelanguageSystemsharedbyacommunityofspeakers andisusuallycontrastedwithparole whichistheconcreteactofspeakinginactualsituationsbyanindividualspeaker comments Languagesystemisnotcompleteinanyspeaker itexistsperfectlyonlywithinacollectivity Inusingalanguage wemakeuseofthelanguagesystemandproducecertainutterances Bydoingso weseparate langue from parole andatthesametime weseparatewhatissocialfromwhatisindividual whatisessentialfromwhataaccessoryandmoreorlessaccidental 5 4Competenceandperformance Competencereferstoaperson sknowledgeofhislanguage theSystemofruleswhichhehasmasteredsothatheisabletoproduceandunderstandanindefinitenumberofsentences andtorecognizegrammaticalmistakesandambiguities Itisanidealizedconceptionoflanguage whichisseenasinoppositiontothenotionofperformance thespecificutterancesofspeech b PerformancereferstoLanguageseenasasetofspecificutterancesproducedbynative speakers asencounteredinacorpus Itisopposed inthissense totheidealizedconceptionoflanguageknownasCompetence Theutterancesofperformancewillcontainfeaturesirrelevanttotheabstractrulesystem suchashesitationsandunfinishedstructures arisingfromthevariouspsychologicalandsocialdifficultiesactinguponthespeaker e g lapsesofmemory orbiological limitations suchaspausesbeingintroducedthroughtheneedtobreathe Comments ThisdistinctionisproposedbyanAmericanlinguistN ChomskyinhisAspectsoftheTheoryofSyntax Itappearstohavesomeconnectionswiththe langueandparole distinctionsbydeSaussure Chomsky smaininterestisinlanguagecompetence thatis theknowledgeofthelanguagesystem inhowhumanbeingscreatelimitlesssentencesoutofasetoflimitedlanguagerules andinthelogicprocessesinthelanguageproduction Hepayslittleattentiontothelanguageperformance Thenotionofcompetencecanbeextendedtoincludesocio cultureaspectstoformcommunicativecompetencethatisbasicinpragmatictheory 1 Synchronic diachronic prescriptive descriptive competence performance langueandparole 2 Items10 and11 Inmakingadefinitionwenormallygive thespecificconceptbeingdefinedtheclasstowhichthespecificconceptbelongsthespecificcharacteristicsoftheconceptwhichmakeitdifferentfromothermembersofthesameclass conceptclasscharacteristicsExample Aparasiteisanorganism class whichlivesforallorpartofitslifeonorinanotherorganismfromwhichitderivessomebenefit suchasfood shelterorprotection characteristics 孟武伯问孝 子曰 父母唯其疾之忧 WhenMengWuboaskedaboutbeingfilial Confuciousreplied Asonshouldshowspecialconcernforthehealthofhisparents 子游问孝 子曰 今之孝者 是谓能养 至于犬马 皆能有养 不敬 何以别乎 ZiYouaskedaboutbeingfilial Confuciussaid Nowadays oneiscalledafilialsononlybecauseoneisabletosupportone sparents Actually however evendogsandhorsesarenolessabletodothis Ifonedoesnottreatone sparentswithreverentrespect whatisthenthedifferencebetweenhimandanimals 子夏问孝 子曰 色难 有事 弟子服其劳 有酒食 先生馔 曾是以为孝乎 ZiXiaaskedaboutbeingfilial Confuciussaid itismostdifficultforasontoservehisparentswithaconsistentlyjoyfulexpressiononhisface Ifhedoesnothingmorethanlaboringforhisparentswheneverneededandsharingfoodanddrinkwiththemwheneverhehassome howcouldhedeservetobecalledfilial 孝 Itisatermthatreferstothewayinwhichasonordaughtershouldbehavetowardstheirparents 孝 孝顺 孝顺 尽心奉养父母 顺从父母的意志 Abouttheexercise Meta language 元语言 Itreferstothelanguageusedtoanalyzeordescribealanguage Forexample thesentence InEnglish thephoneme b isavoicedbilabialstopisinmeta language Itexplainsthattheb soundinEnglishismadewithvibrationofthevocalcordsandwiththetwolipsstoppingtheair streamfromthelungs Langueandparole LangueisaFrenchwordfor language ThetermwasusedbythelinguistSaussuretomeanthesystemofalanguage thatisthearrangementofsoundsandwordswhichspeakersofalanguagehaveasharedknowledgeofor asSaussuresaid agreetouse Langueisthe ideal formofalanguage Parolereferstotheactualuseoflanguagebypeopleinspeechorwriting Saussure sdistinctionbetween langue and Parole issimilartoChomsky sdistinctionbetweenCompetenceandPerformance ButwhereasforSaussuretherepositoryof langue istheSpeechCommunity forChomskytherepositoryofcompetenceisthe ideal speaker hearer SoSaussure sdistinctionisbasicallysociolinguisticwhereasChomsky sisbasicallypsycholinguistic DiachronicandSynchroniclinguistics Diachroniclinguisticsisanapproachtolinguisticswhichstudieshowalanguagechangesoveraperiodoftime forexample thechangeinthesoundsystemofEnglishfromEarlyEnglishtoModernBritishEnglish Diachroniclinguisticshasbeencontrastedwithsynchroniclinguisticswhichisthestudyofalanguagesystematoneparticularpointintime forexample thesoundsystemofModernBritishEnglish DiachronicandSynchronic Time1descriptionofthesoundsystemofEarlyEnglishTime2descriptionofthesoundsystemofModernBritishEnglish synchronic synchronic diachronic Descriptiveandprescriptivelinguistics grammar Descriptivegrammar Itisagrammarwhichdescribeshowalanguageisactuallyspokenand orwritten anddoesnotstateorprescribehowitoughttobespokenorwritten Forexample Iseen im Not Isawhim imnmedoneit Not HeandIdidit Ifadescriptivegrammarofanon prestigevarietyofEnglishwerewritten itmightshow forexample thatspeakersofthisvarietysometimessaid Prescriptivegrammar Itisagrammarwhichstatesrulesforwhatisconsideredthebestormostcorrectusage Prescriptivegrammarsareoftenbasednotondescriptionsofactualusagebutratheronthegrammarian sviewsofwhatisbest Samplefromthestudents exercises A 一点小意思 请笑纳 B 那么客气啊 还带点礼物来 A 就意思意思 没别的意思 B 啊 真是太客气 怎么好意思呢 Theimportanceofphaticcommunion Afterhavinghadtheclass Ihavecometoandunderstandtheimportanceofphaticcommunion Andatthesametime IrecallquitealotofthingsthatIhaveexperienced WhenIwastenyearsold myfriendcametomyhometowaitformetogotogetherwithhertoschool Butanaccidenthappened mydog HeiHei bitherinthele