胡壮麟《语言学教程》(修订版)笔记+练习

InvitationstoLinguistics

1.1Whystudylanguage?

I.Languageisveryessentialiohumanbeings.

2.Inlanguagetherearcmanythingsweshouldknow.

3.Forfurtherunderstanding,weneedtostudylanguagescientifically.

1.2Whatislanguage?

Languageisameansofverbalcommunication.Itisasystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsusedtorhuman

communication.

1.3Designfeaturesoflanguage

Thefeaturesthatdefineourhumanlanguagescanbecalleddesignfeatureswhichcandistinguishhuman

languagefromanyanimalsystemofcommunication.

1.3.1Arbitrariness

Arbitrarinessreferstothefactthattheformsoflinguisticsignsbearnonaturalrelationshiptotheir

meanings.

1.3.2Duality

Dualityreferstothepropertyofhavingtwolevelsofstructures,suchthatunitsoftheprimarylevelarc

composedofelementsofthesecondarylevelandeachof(hetwolevelshasitsownprinciplesoforganization.

1.3.3Creativity

Creativitymeans(hailanguageisresourcefulbecauseofitsdualityanditsrecursiveness.Recursiveness

referstothenilewhichcanbeappliedrepeatedlywithoutanydefinitelimit.Therecursivenatureoflanguage

providesatheoreticalbasisfor(hepossibilityofcreatingendlesssentences.

1.3.4Displacement

Displacementmeansthathumanlanguagesenabletheiruserstosymbolizeobjects,eventsandconcepts

whicharenotpresent(intimeandspace)atthemomentofconversation.

1.4Originoflanguage

I.Thebow-wowtheory

Inprimitivetimespeopleimitatedthesoundsoftheanimalcallsinthewildenvironmenttheylivedand

speechdevelopedfromthat.

2.Thepooh-poohtheory

inthehardlifeofourprimitiveancestors,theyutterinstinctivesoundsofpains,angerandjoywhich

graduallydevelopedintolanguage.

3.The“yo-he-ho”theory

Asprimitivepeopleworkedlogeiher,theyproducedsomerhythmicgruntswhichgraduallydevelopedinto

chantsandthenintolanguage.

1.5Functionsoflanguage

AsisproposedbyJacobson,languagehassixfunctions:

I.Referential:(oconveymessageandinformation;

2.Poetic:toindulgeinlanguageforitsownsake;

3.Emotive:toexpressattitudes,feelingsandemotions;

4Conative:topersuadeandinfluenceothersthroughcommandsandentreaties;

5.Phatic:toestablishcommunionwithothers;

6.Metalingual:toclearupintentions,wordsandmeanings.

Halliday(1994)proposesatheoryofnietafunctionsoflanguage.Itmeansthatlanguagehasthreemetafunctions:

1.Ideationalfunction:toconveynewinformation,tocommunicateacontentthatisunknowntothehearer;

2.Interpersonalfunction:embodyingalluseoflanguagetoexpresssocialandpersonalrelationships;

3.Textualfunction:referringtothefactthatlanguagehasmechanismstomakeanystretchofspokenandwritten

discourseinloacoherentandunifiedtextandmakealivingpassagedifferentfromarandomlistofsentences.

AccordingtoHuZhuanglin,languagehasatleastsevenfunctions:

1.5.1Informative

Theinformativefunctionmeanslanguageistheinstnmientofthoughtandpeopleoftenuseitto

communicatenewinformation.

1.5.2Interpersonalfunction

Theinterpersonalfunctionmeanspeoplecanuselanguagetoestablishandmaintaintheirstatusina

society.

1.5.3Performative

Theperformativefunctionoflanguageisprimarilytochangethesocialstatusofpersons,asinmarriage

ceremonies,thesentencingofcriminals,theblessingofchildren,thenamingofashipatalaunchingceremony,

andthecursingofenemies.

1.5.4Emotivefunction

Theemotivefunctionisoneofthemostpowerfulusesoflanguagebecauseitissocrucialinchangingthe

emotionalstatusofanaudiencefororagainstsomeoneorsomething.

1.5.5Phaticcommunion

Thephaiiccommunionmeanspeoplealwaysusesomesmall,seeminglymeaninglessexpressionssuchas

GoodmorningGodblessyou,Niceday,etc.,tomaintainacomfortablerelationshipbetweenpeoplewithoutany

factualcontent.

1.5.6Recreationalfunction

Therecreationalfunctionmeanspeopleuselanguagefortaesheerjoyofusingit,suchasababy'sbabbling

orachanter'schanting.

1.5.7Metalingualfunction

Themetalingualfunctionmeanspeoplecanuselanguage(otalkaboutitself.E.g.Icanuse(heword

“book”totalkaboutabook,andIcanalsousetheexpression“thewordbook"totalkaboutthesign"b-o-o-k”

itself.

1.6Whatislinguistics?

Linguisticsis(hescientificstudyoflanguage.1(studiesnotjustonelanguageofanyonecommunity,but(he

languageofallhumanbeings.

1.7Mainbranchesoflinguistics

1.7.1Phonetics

Phoneticsisthestudyofspeechsounds,itincludesthreemainareas:articulatoryphonetics,acoustic

phonetics,andaudiloryphonetics.

1.7.2Phonology

Phonologystudiestherulesgoverningthestructure,distribution,andsequencingofspeechsoundsand(he

shapeofsyllables.

1.7.3Morphology

Morphologystudies(heminimalunitsofmeaning-morphemesandword-formationprocesses.

1.7.4Syntax

Syntaxrefersto(herulesgoverningthewaywordsarecombinedtoformsentencesinalanguage,or

simply,thestudyoftheformationofsentences.

1.7.5Semantics

Semanticsexamineshowmeaningisencodedinalanguage.

1.7.6Pragmatics

Pragmaticsisthestudyofmeaningincontext.

1.8Macrolinguistics

Macrolinguisticsisthestudyoflanguageinallaspects,distinctfrommicrolin^uistics,whichdealtsolelywiththe

formalaspectoflanguagesystem.

1.8.1Psycholinguistics

Psycholinguisticsinvestigatestheinterrelationoflanguageandmind,inprocessingandproducing

utterancesandinlanguageacquisitionforexample.

1.8.2Sociolinguistics

Sociolinguisticsisatermwhichcoversavarietyofdifferentinterestsinlanguageandsociety,includingthe

languageandthesocialcharacteristicsofitsusers.

1.8.3Anthropologicallinguistics

Anthropologicallinguisticsstudiestherelationshipbetweenlanguageandcultureinacommunity.

1.8.4Computationallinguistics

Compuiaiionallinguisticsisaninierdisciplinaryfieldwhichcentersaroundiheuseofcomputersioprocess

orproducehumanlanguage.

1.9Importantdistinctionsinlinguistics

1.9.1Descriptivevs.prescriptive

Tosaythatlinguisticsisadescriptivescienceistosaythatthelinguisttriestodiscoverandrecordtherules

towhich(hemembersofalanguage-communityactuallyconformanddoesnotseektoimposeuponthemother

rules,ornorms,ofcorrectness.

Prescriptivelinguisticsaimstolaydownrulesforthecorrectuseoflanguageandsettlethedisputesover

usageonceandforall.

Forexample,"Don'tsayX.”isaprescriptivecommand;"Peopledon'tsayX."isadescriptivestatement.

Thedistinctionliesinprescribinghowthingsoughtlobeanddescribinghowthingsare.Inthe18lhcentury,all

themainEuropeanlanguageswerestudiedprcscriptivcly.However,modernlinguisticsismostlydescriptive

becausethenatureoflinguisticsasasciencedeterminesitspreoccupationwithdescriptioninsteadof

prescription.

1.9.2Synchronicvs.diachronic

Asynchronicstudytakesafixedinstant(usuallyatpresent)asitspointofobservation.Saussure's

diachronicdescriptionisthestudyofalanguagethroughthecourseofitshistory.E.g.astudyofthefeaturesof

theEnglishusedinShakespeare'stimewouldbesynchronic,andastudyofthechangesEnglishhasundergone

sincethenwouldbeadiachronicstudy.Inmodernlinguistics,synchronicstudyseemstoenjoypriorityover

diachronicstudy.Thereasonis(hatunlessthevariousslateofalanguagearesuccessfullystudieditwouldbe

difficulttodescribethechangesthathavetakenplaceinitshistoricaldevelopment.

1.9.3Langue&parole

Saussuredistinguishedthelinguisticcompetenceofthespeakerandtheactualphenomeraordataof

linguisticsaslangueandparole.Langueisrelativestableardsystematic,paroleissubjecttopersonaland

situationalconstraints;langueisnotspokenbyanindividual,paroleisalwaysanaturallyoccurringevent.What

alinguistshoulddo,accordingtoSaussure,istodrawrulesfnmamassofconfusedfacts,i.c.todiscoverthe

regularitiesgoverningallinstancesofparoleandmakethemthesubjectoflinguistics.

1.9.4Competenceandperformance

AccordingtoChomsky,alanguageuser'sunderlyingknowledgeaboutthesystemofrulesiscalled(he

linguisticcompetence,andtheactualuseoflanguageinconcretesituationsiscalledperformance.Competence

enablesaspeakerioproduceandunderstandandindefinitenumberofsentencesandtorecognizegrammatical

mistakesandambiguities.Aspeaker'scompetenceisstablewhilehisperformanceisofteninfluencedby

psychologicalandsocialfactors.Soaspeaker'sperformancedoesnotalwaysmatchhissupposedcompetence.

Chomskybelievesthatlinguistsoughttostudycompetence,ratherthanperformance.Chomsky\competence-

performancedistinctionisnotexactlythesameas,thoughsimilarto,Saussurc'slanguc-parolcdistinction.

Langueisasocialproductandasetofconventionsofaconimunity,whilecompetenceisdeemedasaproperty

ofmindofeachindividual.Saussurelooksatlanguagemorefromasociologicalorsociolinguisticpointofview

thanChomskysincethelatterdealswithhisissuespsychologicallyorpsycholinguistically.

1.9.5Eticvs.emic

[tutUrta*gtittHrfCtM./RM/Ji'thttl,/v/fitbttl,

itttuttwy稀&^A***打编＜-]

Beingeticmeansrcscarchcrs,makingfartoomany,aswellasbchaviorallyandinconsequential,

differentiations,justasoften(hecasewithphoneticsvs.phonemicsanalysisinlinguisticsproper.

Anemicsetofspeechactsandeventsmustbeonethatisvalidatedasmeaningfulviafinalresourcetothe

nativemembersofaspeechcommunityrather(hanviaappealiotheinvestigator'singenuityorinluilionalone.

Followingthesuffixformationsof(phon)eticsvs(phon)emics,thesetermswereintroducedintothesocial

sciencesbyKennethPike(1967)iodenotethedisiinciionbetweenihematerialandfunctionalstudyoflanguage:

phoneticsstudiestheacousticallymeasurableandarticulatorilydefinableimmediatesoundutterances,whereas

phonemicsanalyzesthespecificselectioneachlanguagemakesfromthatuniversalcataloguefromafunctional

aspect.

EXERCISES

I.Choosethebestanswer.(20%)

1.Languageisasystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsusedforhuman.

A.contactB.communicationC.relationD.community

2.V/hichofthefollowingwordsisentirelyarbiiary?

A.treeB.typewriterC.creshD.bang

3.Thefunctionofthesentence"Waterboilsat100degreesCentigrade."is________•

A.interrogativeB.directiveC.informativeD.performative

4.InChinesewhensomeonebreaksabowloraplatethehostorthepeoplepresentarelikelytosay"碎碎(岁岁)平安”asameansofcontrolling

theforceswhichtheybelievesfeelmightafecttheirlives.Whichfunctionsdoesitperorm?

A.InterpersonalB.EmotiveC.PerformativeD.Recreational

5.Whichofthefollowingpropertyoflanguageenableslanguageuserstoovercomethsbarrierscausedbytimeandplace,duetothisfeatureof

language,speakersofalanguagearefreelotalkaboutanythinginanysituation?

A.TransferabilityB.DualityC.DisplacementD.Arbitrariness

6.Studythefollowingdialogue.Whatfunctiondoesitplayaccordingtothefunctionsoflanguage?

—Aniceday,isn'tit?

—Right!Ireallyenjoythesunlight.

A.EmotiveB.PhaticC.PerformativeD.Interpersonal

7.referstotheactualrealizationoftheideallanguageuser'sknowledgeoftherulesofhislanguageinutterances.

A.PerformanceB.CompetenceC.LangueD.Parole

8.Whenadogisbarking,youassumeitisbarkingforsomethingoratsomeonethatexistshearandnow.Itcouldn'tbesorrowfulforsomelostlove

crlostbone.Thisindicatesthedesignfeatireof.

A.culturaltransmissionB.prcductivity

C.displacementD.duality

9.answerssuchquestionsashowweasinfantsacquireourfirstlanguage.

A.PsycholinguisticsB.An:hropologicallinguistics

C.SociolinguisticsD.Apoliedlinguistics

10.dealswithlanguageapplicationtootherfields,particularlyeducation.

A.LinguistictheoryB.Practicallinguistics

C.AppliedlinguisticsD.Comparativelinguistics

II.Decidewhetherthefollowingstatementsaretrueorfalse.(10%)

11.Languageisameansofverbalcommunication.Therefore,thecommunicationwayusedbythedeaf-muteisnotlanguage.

12.Languagechangeisuniversal,ongoingardarbitrary.

13.Speakingisthequickestandmostefficientwayofthehumancommunicationsystems.

14.Languageiswrittenbecausewritingistheprimarymediumforalllanguages.

15.Wewereallbornwiththeabilitytoacquirelanguage,whichmeansthedetailsofanylanguagesystemcanbegeneticallytransmitted.

16.Onlyhumanbeingsareabletocommunicate.

17.F.deSaussure,whomadethedistinctionbetweenlangueandparoleintheearly20lhcentury,wasaFrenchlinguist.

18.AstudyofthefeaturesoftheEnglishusedinShakespeare'stimeisanexampleofthediachronicstudyoflanguage.

19.Speechandwritingcameintobeingatmuchthesametimeinhumanhistory.

20.Allthelanguagesintheworldtodayhavebothspokenandwrittenforms.

HI.FillIntheblanks.(10%)

21.Language,broadlyspeaking,isameanscfcommunication.

22.Inanylanguagewordscanbeusedinnewwaystomeannewthingsandcanbecombinedintoinnumerablesentencesbaseconlimitedrules.

Thisfeatureisusuallytermed.

23.Languagehasmanyfunctions.Wecanusslanguagetotalkaboutitself.Thisfunctionis.

24.Theorythatprimitivemanmadeinvoluntaryvocalnoiseswhileperformingheavyworkhasbeencalledthetheory.

25.Linguisticsisthestudyoflanguage.

26.Modernlinguisticsisinthesensethatthelinguisttriestodiscoverwha:languageisratherthanlaydownsomerulesforpeopleto

ebserve.

27.Onegeneralprincipleoflinguisticanalysisistheprimacyofoverwriting.

28.Thedescriptionofalanguageasitchangesthroughtimeisastudy.

29.Saussureputforwardtwoimportantconcepts.referstotheabstractlinguisticsystemsharedbyallmembersofaspeech

community.

30.LinguisticpotentialissimilartoSaussure'slangueandChomsky's.

IV.Explainthefollowingterms,usingexamples.(20%)

31.Designfeature

32.Displacement

33.Competence

34.Synchroniclinguistics

V.Answerthefollowingquestions.(20%)

35.Whydopeopletakedualityasoneoftheimportantdesignfeaturesofhumanlanguage?Canyoutelluswhatlanguagewillbeifithasnosuch

cesignfeature?(南开大学，2004)

36.Whyisitdifficulttodefinelanguage?(北京第二外国语学院,2004)

VI.Analyzethefollowingsituation.(20%)

37.Howcanalinguistmakehisanalysisscientific?(青岛海洋大学,1999)

KEYTOTHEEXERCIS丽

1.1-5BACCC6-10BACAC

TJ.11-15FFTFF16-20FFFFF

m.

21.verbal22.produclivity/creativity23.metalingualfunction

24.yo-he-ho25.scientific26.descriptive

27.speech28.diachroniclinguistic29.langue

30.competence

IV.

31.Designfeature:Itreferstothedefiningpropertiesofhumanlanguagethattellthedifferencebetweenhumanlanguageandanysystemofanimal

communication.

32.Displacement:itmeansthuthumanlanguagescnublctheiruserstosymbolizeobjects,eventsundconcepts,whichurcnotpresent(intimeund

space)atthemomentofcommunication.

33.Competence:Ilisanessentialpartofpcrlormancc.Itisthespeaker'sknowledgeofhisorherlanguage;thatis,ofitssoundstracturc,itswords,

anditsgrammaticalrules.Competenceis.inaway,anencyclopediaoflanguage.Moreover,theknowledgeinvolvedincompefenceisgenerally

unconscious.Atransformational-generativegrammarisamodelofcompetence.

34.Synchroniclinguistics:Itreferstothestudyofalanguageatagivenpointintime.Thetimestudiedmaybeeitherthepresentoraparticular

pointinthepast;synchronicanalysescanalsobemadeofdeadlanguages,suchasLatin.Synchroniclinguisticsiscontrastecwithdiachronic

linguistics,thestudyofalanguageoveraperiodoflime.

V.

35.Dualitymakesourlanguageproductive.Alargenumberofdifferentunitscanbeformedoutofasmallnumberofelemenis-forinstance,lens

ofthousandsofwordsoutofasmallsetofsounds,around48inthecaseoftheEnglishlanguage.Andoutofthehugenumberofwords,therecan

beastronomicalnumberofpossiblesentencesandphrases,whichinturncancombinetoformunlimitednumberoftexts.Mostanimal

communicationsystemsdonothavethisdesignfeatureofhumanlanguage.

Iflanguagehasnosuchdesignfeature,thenitwillbelikeanimalcoinmunicationalsystemwhichwillbehighlylimited.Itcannotproducea

verylargenumberofsoundcombinations,e.g.words,whicharedistinctinmeaning.

36.Itisdifficulttodefinelanguage,asitissuchageneraltermthatcoverstoomanythings.Thus,definitionsforitallhave(heirownspecial

emphasis,andarcnotloiallyfreefromlimitations.

VI.

37.Itshouldbeguidedbythefourprinciplesofscience:exhaustiveness,consistency,economyandobjectivityandfollowihcscientificprocedure:

formhypothesis—collectdata—checkagainsttheobservablefacts-come(oaconclusion.

2

SpeechSounds

2.1Speechproductionandperception

Phoneticsisthestudyofspeechsounds.Itincludesthreemainareas:

I.Articulatoryphonetics-thestudyoftheproductionofspeechsounds

2.Acousticphonetics—thestudyofthephysicalpropertiesofthesoundsproducedinspeech

3.Auditoryphonetics-thestudyofperceptionofspeechsounds

Mostphoneticiansareinterestedinarticulatoryphonetics.

2.2Speechorgans

Speechorgansarethosepartsofthehumanbodyinvolvedintheproductionofspeech.Thespeechorganscanbe

consideredasconsistingofthreeparts:(heinitiatoroftheairstream,(heproducerofvoiceand(heresonatingcavities.

2.3Segments,divergences,andphonetictranscription

2.3.1Segmentsanddivergences

AstherearemoresoundsinEnglish(hanitsletters,eachlettermustrepresentmorethanonesound.

2.3.2Phonetictranscription

InternationalPhoneticAlphabet(IPA):thesystemofsymbolsfbrrepresentingthepronunciationofwordsin

anylanguageaccordingtotheprinciplesoftheInternationalPhoneticAssociation.Thesymbolsconsistsofletters

anddiacritics.SomelettersaretakenfromtheRomanalphabet,somearespecialsymbols.

2.4Consonants

2.4.1Consonantsandvowels

Aconsonantisproducedbyconstrictingorobstructingthevocaltractatsomeplacestodivert,impede,or

completelyshutofftheflowofairintheoralcavity.

Avowelisproducedwithoutobstructionsonoturbulenceoratotalsloppingoftheaircanbeperceived.

2.4.2Consonants

Thecategoriesofconsonantareestablishedonthebasisofseveralfactors.Themostimportantofthesefactors

are:

1.theactualrelationshipbetweenthearticulatorsandthus(hewayinwhich(heairpassesthroughcertain

partsofthevocaltract(mannerofarticulation);

2.whereinthevocaltractthereisapproximation,narrowing,ortheobstructionoftheair(placeof

articulation).

2.4.3Mannersofarticulation

1.Stop/plosive:Aspeechsoundwhichisproducedbystoppingtheairstreamfromthelungsandthen

suddenlyreleasingit.InEnglish,[TC®p®&西K®y]arestopsand[口削v京N]are

nasalstops.

2.Fricative:Aspeechsoundwhichisproducedbyallowingtheairstreamfromthelungstoescapewith

friction.Thisiscausedbybringingthetwoarticulators,c.g.theupperteethandthelowerlip,close

togetherbutnotclosesenoughtostoptheairstreamscompletely.InEnglish,

仲专国出Ae《用b萌&琅rj]arefricatives.

3.(Median)approximant:Anarticulationinwhichonearticulatorisclosetoanother,butwi:hou(thevocal

tractbeingnarrowedtosuchanextentthataturbulentairstreamisproduced.InEnglishthisclassof

soundsincludes。®p密q)].

4.Lateral(approximant):Aspeechsoundwhichisproducedbypartiallyblockingtheairstreamfromthe

lungs,usuallybythetongue,butlettingitescapeatoneorbothsidesoftheblockage.[X]istheonly

lateralinEnglish

Otherconsonantalarticulationsincludetrill,taporflap,andaffricate.

2.4.4Placesofarticulation

1.Bilabial:Aspeechsoundwhichismadewiththetwolips.

2.Labiodental:Aspeechsoundwhichismadewiththebwerlipand【heupperfromteeth.

3.Dental:Aspeechsoundwhichismadebythetonguetiporbladeandtheupperfrontteeth.

4.Alveolar:Aspeechsoundwhichismadewiththetongue(iporbladeandthealveolarridge.

5.Postalveolar:Aspeechsoundwhichismadewiththelonguetipandthebackofthealveolarridge.

6.Retroflex:Aspeechsoundwhichismadewiththetonguetiporbladecurledbacksothattheunderside

ofthetonguetiporbladeformsastricturewiththebaskofthealveolarridgeorthehardpalate.

7.Palatal:Aspeechsoundwhichismadewiththefrontofthetongueandthehardpalate.

8.Velar:Aspeechsoundwhichismadewiththebackofthetongueand(hesoftpalate.

9.Uvular:Aspeechsoundwhichismadewiththebackofthetongueandtheuvula,theshortprojectionof

thesofttissueandmuscleattheposteriorendofthevelum.

10.Pharyngeal:Aspeechsoundwhichismadewiththerootofthetongueandthewallsofthepharynx.

11.Glottal:Aspeechsoundwhichismadewiththetwopiecesofvocalfoldspushedtowardseachother.

2.4.5TheconsonantsofEnglish

ReceivedPronunciation(RP):ThetypeofBritishStandardEnglishpronunciationwhichhasbeenregardedas

theprestigevarieiyandwhichshowsnoregionalvariaiion.IlhasoftenbeenpopularlyreferredioasBBCEnglish"

or"OxfordEnglish,,becauseitiswidelyusedintheprivatesectoroftheeducationsystemandspokenbymost

newsreadersoftheBBCnetwork.

AchartofEnglishconsonants

Placeofarticulation

Mannerof

Labio­Post-

articulationBilabialDentalAlveolarPalatalVelarGlottal

dentalalveolar

Stop珅T8»/0)

NasalUVN

Fricative<}>UJTAZZ

Approximant(0per

LateralX

AffricateTS5Z

Inmanycasestherearetwosoundsthatsharethesameplaceandmannerofarticulation.Thesepairsof

consonantsaredistinguishedbyvoicing,theoneappearingontheleftisvoicelessand(heoneontherightisvoiced.

Therefore,theconsonantsofEnglishcanbedescribedinthefollowingway:

[TC]voicelessbilabialstop

[p|voicedbilabialstop

[c]voicelessalveolarfricative

voicedalveolarfricative

[p]bilabialnasal

[v]alveolarnasal

pt]alveolarlateral

|(p]palatalapproximam

[?]]g