英语语言学笔记

英语语言学笔记

Whatislinguistics?什么是语言学？

Linguisticsisgenerallydefinedasthescientificstudyof

language.Itstudiesnotanyparticularlanguage,butlanguages

ingeneral.语言学是对语言科学地进行研究的学科。语言学所要研究

的不是某一种特定的语言，而是人类所有语言的特性。

Thescopeoflinguistics语言学研究的范畴

Phonetics语音学\Phonology音系学、Morphology形态学

\Syntax句法学'Semantics语义学'Pragmatics语用学

'Sociolinguistics社会语言学'Psycholinguistics心理语言学\Applied

linguistics应用语言学

Prescriptivevs.descriptive规定性与描述性

Descriptive:alinguisticstudydescribesandanalyzesthe

languagepeopleactuallyuse.

Prescriptive:itaimslaydownrulesfor"correct"behavior.

Modernlinguisticsisdescriptive;itsinvestigationsarebased

onauthentic,andmainlyspokendata.

Traditionalgrammarisprescriptive;itisbasedon"high"

writtenlanguage

Synchronicvs.diachronic共时性与历史性

Thedescriptionofalanguageatsomepointintimeisa

synchronicstudy

Thedescriptionofalanguageasitchangesthroughtimeis

adiachronicstudy

Inmodernlinguistics,synchronicstudyseemstoenjoy

priorityoverdiachronicstudy.

Speechandwriting口头语与书面语

Speechenjoyspriorityoverwritinginmodernlinguistics

studyforthefollowingreasons:

(1)speechprecedeswritingintermsofevolution

(2)alargeamountofcommunicationiscarriedoutinspeech

taninwriting

(3)speechistheforminwhichinfantsacquiretheirnative

language

Languageandparole语言与言语

Languagereferstotheabstractlinguisticsystemsharedby

allthemembersofaspeechcommunity

Parolereferstotherealizationoflanguageinactualuse

Competenceandperformance能力与运用

Chomskydefinescompetenceastheidealusers;

knowledgeoftherulesofhislanguage

Performance:theactualrealizationofthisknowledgein

linguisticcommunication

Whatislanguage?什么是语言？

Languageisasystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsusedfor

humancommunication

Characteristicsoflanguage:语言的特性

Languageisarule-governedsystem

Languageisbasicallyvocal

Languageisarbitrary(thefactdifferentlanguageshave

differentwordsforthesameobjectisagoodillustrationofthe

arbitrarynatureoflanguage.Thisconventionalnatureof

languageiswellillustratedbyafamousquotationfrom

Shakespeare'splay"RomeoandJulief:y/Arosebyanyother

namewouldsmellassweet/)

Languageisusedforhumancommunication

Designfeaturesoflanguage语言的甄别特征

AmericanlinguistCharlesHockettspecified12design

features:

1)arbitrariness武断性

2)productivity创造性

3)duality二重性

4)displacement移位性

5)culturaltransmission文化传递性

二、音系学

语言的声音媒介

什么是语音学

发音器官

音标…

…宽式和严式标音法

英语语音的分类

音系学和语音学

语音、音位、音位变体

音位对立、互补分部、最小对立

几条音系规则

超切分特征

Twomajormediaofcommunication:speechandwriting

Thelimitedrangeofsoundswhicharemeaningfulinhuman

communicationandareofinteresttolinguisticstudiesarethe

phonicmediumoflanguage.用于人类语言交际的声音称为语音，

这些数目有限的一组语音构成了语言的声音媒介。

Phonetics语音学：isdefinedasthestudyofthephonic

mediumoflanguage;itisconcernedwithallthesoundsthat

occurintheworld7slanguage.

Threebranchesofphonetics:articulatoryphonetics发音语

音学(mosthighlydeveloped),auditoryphonetics听觉语音学

andacousticphonetics声学语音学

Organsofspeech发音器官

Thearticulatoryapparatusofahumanbeingarecontained

inthreeimportantareasorcavities:

Thepharyngealcavity咽月空——thethroat

Theoralcavity口腔——themouth

Thenasalcavity鼻腔一thenose

Vibrationofthevocalcords(声带)resultsinaqualityof

speechsoundscalled“voicing”浊音,whichisafeatureofall

vowels元音andsomeconsonants辅音。

单词补充：

01)velum:Thesoftpalate.软腭

02)uvula:Asmall,conical,fleshymassoftissuesuspended

fromthecenterofthesoftpalate.小舌，悬雍垂悬垂在软腭中央的

小的圆锥状肉块

03)larynx:n.喉

04)vocalcord:声带

05)membrane:n.Athinzpliablelayeroftissuecovering

surfacesorseparatingorconnectingregions,structures,or

organsofananimaloraplant.膜薄而柔软的组织层,覆盖在表面或

分割连接各种区域、结构或动植物器官

06)thesoftpalate:软腭

07)thehardpalate:硬腭

08)theteethridge:齿龈

09)alveolus:Atoothsocketinthejawbone牙槽颗骨处的牙床

10)theteeth:牙齿

11)thelips:上下唇

12)bladeoftongue:舌面

13)backoftongue:舌根

14)pharyngealcavity:咽腔

15)nasalcavity:鼻腔

16)velar:Articulatedwiththebackofthetonguetouching

ornearthesoftpalate,as(g)ingoodand(k)incup.软腭音的用舌

头后部挂触或靠近软腭清楚地发音的，如在good中的(g)以及在cup

中的(k)

17)thetipofthetongue:舌尖

18)theupperfrontteeth:上齿

19)theroofofthemouth:上颗

20)thelowerlip:下唇

音标……宽式和严式标音法

InternationalPhoneticAlphabet(IPA)

Thevowels(monophthongsanddiphthongs)元音(单元音&

双元音)

Theconstants辅音

Broadtranscription:transcriptionwithletter-symbolsonly.

(indictionariesandteachingtextbooks)

用一个符号来表示一个语音的标音方式叫做宽式标音法，这种音

标法常见于词典和教科书。

Narrowtranscription:thetranscriptionwithdiacritics.

但实际上，同一语音在不通的语音环境中的发音不尽相同，比如

Pit

和spit中的/P/音发音就不一样。

在宽式标音的基础上，再用变音符号表示同一语音在不同的语音

环境下不同发音的标音法叫做窄式标音法。

ClassificationofEnglishspeechsounds

英语语音的分类

Thebasicdifferencebetweenavowelandaconstantisthat

inthepronunciationoftheformertheairthatcomesfromthe

lungsmeetswithnoobstructionofanykindinthethroat,the

nose,orthemouth,whileinthatofthelatteritisobstructedin

onewayoranother.

ClassificationofEnglishconstants

英语辅音分类

此主题相关图片如下：

ClassificationofEnglishvowels

:thepositionofthetongueinthemouth舌位高低

:theopennessofthemouth,口的张开程度

:theshapeofthelips园唇与否

:lengthofthevowels元音的长度

此主题相关图片如下：

Phonology音系学

Phonologyandphonetics

音系学和语音学

Phoneticsisofageneralnature;itisinterestedinallthe

speechsoundsusedinallhumanlanguages.

语音学研究的是人类所有语言的语音，旨在对语音进行描述和分

类。

Phonologyisinterestedinthesystemofsoundsofa

particularlanguage;itaimstodiscoverhowspeechsoundsina

languageformpatternsandhowthesesoundsareusedto

conveymeaninginlinguisticcommunication.

音系学研究的重点是特定语言的语音体系，语音表达意义作用。

Phone,phonemeandallophone

语音，音位，音位变体

Phones,whichcanbesimplydefinedasthespeechsounds

weusewhenspeakingalanguage.

语音是语音学研究的单位，是一个个具体的声音。

Phonologyisconcernedwiththespeechsoundswhich

distinguishmeaning.

音位是音系学研究的单位，是抽象的概念，每一个音位是一组语

音特征的集合体，音位具有区别意义的作用。

Thedifferentwhichcanrepresentaphonemeindifferent

phoneticenvironmentsarecalledtheallophonesofthat

phoneme.

音位变体是一个音位在特定的语音环境力的具体体现，同一音位

在不同语音环境里体现为不同的变体，也就是语音。

Phonemiccontrast,complementarydistribution,and

minimalpair

音位对立，互补分布，最小对立对

ropeandrobethat/P/and/b/canoccurinthesame

environmentsandtheydistinguishmeaning;thereforetheyare

inphonemiccontrast.

可以出现在不同语音组合中的同一为止，产生意义差别。

/P/and/Ph/thesetwoallophonesofthesamephonemeare

saidtobeincomplementarydistribution.

Whentwodifferentformsareidenticalineverywayexcept

foronesoundsegmentwhichoccursinthesameplaceinthe

strings,thetwowordsaresaidtoformaminimalpair,[pen]and

[ben]

最小对立对指出现在同一位置上的一个音之外其余都相同的两个

语音组合。

Somerulesinphonology几条音系规则

Sequentialrules序列规则：blik,klib,bilk,kilbispossib

Ie.ButIbki,ilbk,bkilrilkbnotpossible.

Assimilationrules同化规则

Deletionrule省略规则

Sign,design,thereisno{g}sound

Signature,designationthe{g}ispronounced.

Deletea[g]whenitoccursbeforeafinalnasalconstant.

Suprasegmentalfeatures-stress,tone,intonation

超切分特征——重音，声调，语调

thephonemicfeaturesthatoccurabovethelevelofthe

segmentsarecalledsuprasegmentalfeatures;

超切分特征指切分即单音层面以上的音系特征。

三、MORPHOLOGY形态学请结合《词汇学中的构词法》进行

学习。

语素：语言最小的意义单位

语素的类型

复合词的类型

复合词的特征

Morphologyisabranchofgrammarwhichstudiesthe

internalstructureofwordsandtherulesbywhichwordsare

formed.Itisdividedintotwosub-branches:inflectional

morphologyandlexicalorderivationalmorphology.

形态学研究单词的内部结构以及构词期则，有屈折形态学和词汇

形态学两大分支。

Morpheme:thesmallestmeaningfulunitoflanguage.

语素：语言最小的意义单位。

FreeMorpheme:Afreemorphemeisonethatcanstandby

itself.(independent)

自由语素可以作为单词独立使用。

BoundMorpheme:Aboundmorphemeisonethatcannot

standbyitself.

粘着语素必须和其他语素结合成单词

BoundMorphemeincludestwotypes:(1)root(2)Affix(词缀)

l)Inflectionalaffixes(屈折词经殳"inflectionalmorphemes):

affixesattachedtotheendofwordstoindicategrammatical

relationshipsareinflectional

2)Derivationalaffixes(派生词缀)A)prefix:Aprefixcomes

beforewords.B)suffix

Anadjectivesuffix(形容词后缀)thatisaddedtothestem,

whateverclassisbelongsto,theresultwillbeanadjective.

free=freeroot(自由词根)

Morpheme(词素)

Boundrootprefix

boundderivational

affixsuffix

inflectional

Rootandstem(词根和词干)

1)Root2)Stem

Thedifferencesbetweenrootandstem:

Arootisthebasicformofawordwhichcannotbefurther

analyzedwithouttotallossofidentity.

Astemisthesurpluspartafterthecuttingofinflectional

morphemeinawordwithinflectionalmorphemes,canbefurther

analyzed,itsometimescouldbearoot.

IndividualisticUndesirables

Individualist(stem)undesirable(stem)

Individual(stem)desirable(stem)

dividual(stem)desire(root,stem)

divide(rootstem)

Affixation词缀法(Derivation派生法):addingword-

formationorderivationalaffixestostem.

Prefixation前缀@:It'stheformationofnewwordsby

addingaprefixestostems.

1)'表示否定'nagativeprefixes:un-,non,in-,dis,a-etc.

2）"reversativeorprivativeprefixes:un^de-disetc.

表示贬义

3）''pejorativeprefixes:mis-fmal-,pseudo-etc.

4）'表示程度'degreeorsizeprefixes:arch-,

super-Qut-,sub-,over-,under-,hyper-,ultra-,mini-etc.

5）'表示方向、态度'orientation&attitudeprefixesic

ounter-,contra-,anti・,pro-etc.

6）locativeprefixes:super-,sub・,inter-,trans-etc.

7）'表示时间、次序'timeandorder

prefixes:fore-,pre-,post-,ex-,re-etc.

表示数量

8）''numberprefixes:uni-/mono-,bi-/di-/tri-/multi-

/poly-etc.

9）5昆杂'miscellaneousprefixes:auto-,neo-,pan-,vice­

Suffixation后缀@:It'stheformationofanewwordbyadding

suffixestostems.

l）nounsuffixes2）adjectivesuffixes3）Adverbsuffixes4）verb

suffixes

Compounding复合法（alsocalledcomposition）

Compounding:istheformationofnewwordsbyjoiningtwo

ormorestems

Formationofcompounds

Noun+noun（名词+名词）------handbook,sunshine

Adjective+noun（形容词+名词）------highway,deadline

Adjective+noun+-ed（形容词+名词+ed）-------white-

haired,red-eyed

Verb+noun（动词+名词）------driveway,breakwater（挡水板）

Adverb+noun（副词+名词）------downtown,overburden

Noun+verb（名词+动词）------toothpick,snowfall

Verb+adverb（动词+副词）------follow-up,kick-off

Noun+adjective（名词+形容词）------world-famous,

lifelong

-ingform+noun（ing+名词）------bakingpower;dining­

room

otherforms（其他）-------go-between,father-in-law

Featuresofcompounds复合词的特征

1.Orthographically书写特征

（Compoundsarewritteninthreeways:solid（airmail）

hyphenated（air-conditioning）open（airforce,airraid）

2.Syntactically句法特征（复合词的词性一般取决于复合词最后一

个成分的词性）

3.Semantically语义特征（复合词的意义具有习语性质，许多复

合词的意义都不是其构成成分意义和总和）

4.Phonetically语音特征（复合词的单词重音落在第一个构成成分

±）

四、句法学

句子的构成

句子的类型

句子的线性排列与层次结构

词类

词组类

短语结构规则

短语结构规则的循环性

X标杆理论

名词词组移位与WH移位

其他类型的移位

深层结构与表层结构

移动a规则

普遍语法原则

普遍语法参数

Syntaxisasubfieldoflinguisticsthatstudiesthesentence

structureoflanguage.

Asamajorcomponentofgrammacsyntaxconsistsofaset

ofabstractrulesthatallowwordstobecombinedwithother

wordstoformgrammaticalsentences.

句法是一个由一套数量有限的抽象规则组成的系统。

Normallyasentenceconsistsofatleastasubjectandits

predicatewhichcontainsafiniteverboraverbphrase.

句子通常由主语和谓语两大部分构成。谓语通常由限定动词或动

词词组构成。

Thereferringexpressionisgrammaticallycalledsubject.主语

是指句子中所被指称的对象。

Typesofsentences句子的类型

Thesimplesentence:consistsofasingleclausewhich

containsasubjectandapredicateandstandsaloneasitsown

sentence.简单句含一个主语和一个谓语的独立句子

Thecoordinatesentence:con

tainstwoclausesjoinedbyalinkingwordcalledcoordinating

conjunction.并列句含由连接词串联起来的两个句子成分

Thecomplexsentence:containstwo,ormore,clauses,one

ofwhichisincorporatedintotheother.

Thetwoclausesinacomplexsentenceholdunequalstatus,

onesubordinatingtheother.复合句由两个或两个以上的子句组成，

其中之一为主要子句，其余为从属子句。

Thelinerandhierarchicalstructureofsentences句子的线性

排列与层次结构

Thelinerwordorderofasentence:whenasentenceis

utteredorwrittendown,thewordsofthesentenceareproduced

oneafteranother*insequence.句子的线性^列，句子无论就其口头

或书面表现形式看，所含的次都按线性次序排列。(表面上的排列)

Thehierarchicalstructureofasentence:sentencesare

organizedwithwordsofthesamesyntacticcategory,suchas

nounphrase(NP),orverbphrase(VP),groupedtogether.

句子的结构是一种由名词词组和动词词组等句法成分单位构成的

层次性结构。

Treediagramsofsentencestructure

S

NPVP

VS

NPVP

VNP

Johnsuggested(that)Marytakethelinguisticsclass.

Thepointsatwhichthetreebranchesatvariouslevelsare

calledbranchingnodes.(分节点)

Syntacticcategories句法类型

Wordsandphrasesareorganizedaccordingtothesyntactic

categoriestheybelongto.

Lexicalcategories词类

MajorLexicalCategories主要词类

Noun(N)\Verb(V)\Adjective(Adj)\Adverb(Adv)名词、动词、

形容词、副词

MinorLexicalCategories

Determiner(Det)\Auxiliary(Aux)\Preposition(Prep)\Pronoun(

Pron)\Conjunction(Conj)\Interjection(Int)限定词、助动词、介词、

代名词、连接词、感叹词

Phrasalcategories词组类

Nounphrase(NP)Werbphrase(VP)\Prepositional

phrase(PP)\Adjectivephrase(AP)

名词短语、动词短语、介词短语、形容词短语

Grammaticalrelations语法关系

Ourlinguisticknowledgeincludesanawarenessofa

distinctionbetweenthestructuralandlogicalfunctionalrelations

ofconstituentscalledgrammaticalrelations.

语法关系是指句子中名词词组与动词的关系，其中涉及到主语和

宾语的结构性和逻辑性。

Thestructuralsubjectandthestructuralobject结构主语与结

构宾语

Thelogicsubject(thedoeroftheaction)andthelogical

object(therecipientoftheaction)

逻辑主语(行动的执行者)与逻辑宾语(彳亍动的接受者)

Combinationalrules组合规则

Phrasestructurerules(rewriterule)短语结构规则

短语结构规则是一组句法重写规则。

NP?DetN(a/theman)

NP—DetAdjNPPS(thetallmanwithglassesthatImet)

TherecursivenessofPhrasestructurerules短语结构规则的循

环性

Theserulescangenerateaninfinitenumberofsentences,

andsentencewithinfinitelength,duetotheirrecursive

properties根据短语结构

规则，短语和句子可以无限循环地组合起来。

1.1.Whatislanguage?

°Languageissystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsusedfor

humancommunication.Itisasystem,sincelinguisticelements

arearrangedsystematically,ratherthanrandomly.Arbitrary,in

thesensethatthereisusuallynointrinsicconnectionbetweena

work(like"book")andtheobjectitrefersto.Thisexplainsand

isexplainedbythefactthatdifferentlanguageshavedifferent

“books":"book"inEnglish,“livre“inFrench,inJapanese,

inChinese,“check“inKorean.Itissymbolic,becausewordsare

associatedwithobjects,actions,ideasetc.bynothingbut

convention.Namely,peopleusethesoundsorvocalformsto

symbolizewhattheywishtoreferto.Itisvocal,becausesound

orspeechistheprimarymediumforallhumanlanguages,

developedor"new”.Writingsystemscamemuchlaterthanthe

spokenforms.Thefactthatsmallchildrenlearnandcanonly

learntospeak(andlisten)beforetheywrite(andread)also

indicatesthatlanguageisprimarilyvocal,ratherthanwritten.The

term"human"inthedefinitionismeanttospecifythat

languageishumanspecific.

1.2.Whataredesignfeaturesoflanguage?

"Designfeatures"hererefertothedefiningpropertiesof

humanlanguagethattellthedifferencebetweenhuman

languageandanysystemofanimalcommunication.Theyare

arbitrariness,duality,productivity,displacementcultural

transmissionandinterchangeability

1.3.Whatisarbitrariness?

By^arbitrariness",wemeanthereisnologicalconnection

betweenmeaningsandsounds(see1.1).Adogmightbeapigif

onlythefirstpersonorgroupofpersonshaduseditforapig.

Languageisthereforelargelyarbitrary.Butlanguageisnot

absolutelyseemtobesomesound-meaningassociation,ifwe

thinkofechowords,like"bang","crash","roar"zwhichare

motivatedinacertainsense.Secondly,somecompounds(words

compoundedtobeoneword)arenotentirelyarbitraryeither.

"Type"and"write“areopaqueorunmotivatedwords,while

“type-writer“islessso,ormoretransparentormotivatedthan

thewordsthatmakeit.Sowecansay"arbitrariness"isamatter

ofdegree.

1.4.Whatisduality?

Linguistsrefer"duality"(ofstructure)tothefactthatinall

languagessofarinvestigated,onefindstwolevelsofstructureor

patterning.Atthefirst,higherlevel,languageisanalyzedinterms

ofcombinationsofmeaningfulunits(suchasmorphemes,words

etc.);atthesecond,lowerlevel,itisseenasasequenceof

segmentswhichlackanymeaninginthemselves,butwhich

combinetoformunitsofmeaning.AccordingtoHuZhanglinet

al.(p.6),languageisasystemoftwosetsofstructures,oneof

soundsandtheotherofmeaning.Thisisimportantforthe

workingsoflanguage.Asmallnumberofsemanticunits(words),

andtheseunitsofmeaningcanbearr

angedandrearrangedintoaninfinitenumberofsentences

(notethatwehavedictionariesofwords,butnodictionaryof

sentences!).Dualitymakesitpossibleforapersontotalkabout

anythingwithinhisknowledge.Noanimalcommunication

systemenjoysthisduality,orevenapproachesthishonour.

1.5.Whatisproductivity?

Productivityreferstotheabilitytotheabilitytoconstruct

andunderstandanindefinitelylargenumberofsentencesin

one'snativelanguage,includingthosethathasneverheard

before,butthatareappropriatetothespeakingsituation.Noone

haseversaidorheard〃Ared-eyedelephantisdancingonthe

smallhotelbedwithanAfricangibbon",buthecansayitwhen

necessary,andhecanunderstanditinrightregister.Different

fromartisticcreativity,though,productivitynevergoesoutside

thelanguage,thusalsocalled“rule-boundcreativity”(by

N.Chomsky).

1.6.Whatisdisplacement?

“Displacement”,asoneofthedesignfeaturesofthe

humanlanguage,referstothefactthatonecantalkaboutthings

thatarenotpresent,aseasilyashedoesthingspresent.Inother

words,onecanrefertorealandunrealthings,thingsofthepast,

ofthepresentofthefuture.Languageitselfcanbetalkedabout

too.Whenaman,forexample,iscryingtoawoman,about

something,itmightbesomethingthathadoccurred,or

somethingthatisoccurring,orsomethingthatistooccur.When

adogisbarking,however,youcandecideitisbarkingfor

somethingoratsomeonethatexistsnowandthere.Itcouldn't

bebow-wowingsorrowfullyfordomelostloveorabonetobe

lost.Thebee'ssystem,nonetheless,hasasmallshareof

“displacement”,butitisanunspeakabletinyshare.

1.7.Whatisculturaltransmission?

Thismeansthatlanguageisnotbiologicallytransmitted

fromgenerationtogeneration,butthatthedetailsofthe

linguisticsystemmustbelearnedanewbyeachspeaker.Itistrue

thatthecapacityforlanguageinhumanbeings(N.Chomsky

calledit'languageacquisitiondevice”,orLAD)hasagenetic

basis,buttheparticularlanguageapersonlearnstospeakisa

culturaloneotherthanageneticonelikethedog'sbarking

system.Ifahumanbeingisbroughtupinisolationhecannot

acquirelanguage.TheWolfChildrearedbythepackofwolves

turnedouttospeakthewolf,sroaring“tongue“whenhewas

saved.Helearnedthereafter;withnosmalldifficulty,theABCof

acertainhumanlanguage.

1.8.Whatisinterchangeability?

Interchangeabilitymeansthatanyhumanbeingcanbeboth

aproducerandareceiverofmessages.Wecansay,andonother

occasionscanreceiveandunderstand,forexample,“Pleasedo

somethingtomakemehappy/Thoughsomepeople(including

me)suggestthatthereissexdifferentiationintheactual

languageuse,inotherwords,menandwomenmaysaydifferent

things,yetinprinciplethereisnosound,orwordorsentence

thatamancanutterandawomancannotorviceversa.On

theotherhand,apersoncanbethespeakerwhiletheother

personisthelistenerandastheturnmovesontothelistener,he

canbethespeakerandthefirstspeakeristolisten.Itisturn­

takingthatmakessocialcommunicationpossibleandacceptable.

Somemalebirds,howeveruttersomecallswhichfemalesdo

not(orcannot?),andcertainkindsoffishhavesimilarhaps

mentionable.Whenadogbarks,alltheneighbouringdogsbark.

Thenpeoplearoundcanhardlytellwhichdog(dogs)is(areO

“speaking“andwhichlistening.

1.9.Whydolinguistssaylanguageishumanspecific?

Firstofall,humanlanguagehassix"designfeatures"which

animalcommunicationsystemsdonothave,atleastnotinthe

truesenseofthem(see1.2-8).Let'sborrowC.F.HocketxsChart

thatcompareshumanlanguagewithsomeanimals1systems,

fromWangGang(1998,p.8).

Secondly,linguistshavedonealottryingtoteachanimals

suchaschimpanzeestospeakahumanlanguagebuthave

achievednothinginspiring.Washoe,afemalechimpanzee,was

broughtuplikeahumanchildbyBeatniceandAlanGardner.She

wastaught"AmericansignLanguage"zandlearnedalittlethat

madetheteachershappybutdidmotmakethelinguisticscircle

happy,forfewbelievedinteachingchimpanzees.

Thirdly,ahumanchildrearedamonganimalscannotspeaka

humanlanguage,notevenwhenheistakenbackandtaughtto

Iotoso(seethe"WolfChild//in1.7)

l.lO.Whatfunctionsdoeslanguagehave?

Languagehasatleastsevenfunctions:phatic,directive,

Informative,interrogative,expressive,evocativeand

performative.AccordingtoWangGang(1988,p.11),language

hasthreemainfunctions:atoolofcommunication,atool

wherebypeoplelearnabouttheworld,andatoolbywhich

peoplelearnabouttheworld,andatoolbywhichpeoplecreate

art.M.A.K.Halliday,representativeoftheLondonschool,

recognizesthree“Macro-Functions”:ideational,interpersonal

andtextual(see!.ll-17;seeHUZhuanglinetal.zppl0-13rpp394-

396).

l.llWhatisthephaticfunction?

The“phaticfunction"referstolanguagebeingusedfor

settingupacertainatmosphereormaintainingsocial

contacts(ratherthanforexchanginginformationorideas).

Greetings,farewells,andcommentsontheweatherinEnglish

andonclothinginChineseallservethisfunction.Muchofthe

phaticlanguage(e.g."Howareyou?”"Fine,thanks/)is

insincereiftakenliterally,butitisimportant.Ifyoudon'tsay

“Hello“toafriendyoumeet,orifyoudon,tanswerhis"Hi",

youruinyourfriendship.

1.12.Whatisthedirectivefunction?

TheHdirectivefunction0meansthatlanguagemaybeused

togetthehearertodosomething.Mostimperativesentences

performthisfunction,e.g.,“Tellmetheresultwhenyoufinish."

Othersyntacticstructuresorsentencesofothersortscan

,accordingtoJ.AustinandJ.Searle's"indrectspeechact

theory”(seeHuZhuanglinetal.,pp271-278)atleast,servethe

purposeofdirectiontoo,e.g.,〃IfIwereyou,Iwouldhave

blushedtothebottomofmyears!"

1.13.Whatistheinformativefunction?

Languageservesan^informationalfunction"whenusedto

tellsomething,characterizedbytheuseofdeclarativesentences.

Informativestatementsareoftenlabelledastrue(truth)or

false(falsehood).AccordingtoRGrice/s"Cooperative

Principle,/(seeHuZhuanglinetal.,pp282-283),oneoughtnot

toviolatethe"MaximofQuality”,whenheisinformingatall.

1.14.Whatistheinterrogativefunction?

Whenlanguageisusedtoobtaininformation,itservesan

"interrogativefunction”.Thisincludesallquestionsthatexpect

replies,statements,imperativesetc.,accordingtothe“indirect

speechacttheory”,mayhavethisfunctionaswell,e.g.,'Td

liketoknowyoubetter/Thismaybringforthalotofpersonal

information.Notethatrhetoricalquestionsmakeanexception,

sincetheydemandnoanswer,atleastnotthe

reader1s/listener'sanswer.

1.15.Whatistheexpressivefunction?

The"expressivefunction"istheuseoflanguagetoreveal

somethingaboutthefeelingsorattitudesofthespeaker.

Subconsciousemotionalejaculationsaregoodexamples,like

“Goodheavens!""MyGod!"Sentenceslike"Ymsorry

aboutthedelay"canserveasgoodexamplestoo,thoughina

subtleway.Whilelanguageisusedfortheinformativefunction

topassjudgementonthetruthorfalsehoodofstatements,

languageusedfortheexpressivefunctionevaluates,appraisesor

assertsthespeaker*sownattitudes.

1.16.Whatistheevocativefunction?

The“evocativefunction“istheuseoflanguagetocreate

certainfeelingsinthehearer.Itsaimis,forexample,toamuse,

startle,antagonize,soothe,worryorplease.Jokes(notpractical

jokes,though)aresupposedtoamuseorentertainthelistener;

advertisingtourgecustomerstopurchasecertaincommodities;

propagandatoinfluencepublicopinion.Obviously,the

expressiveandtheevocativefunctionsoftengotogether;i.e.,you

mayexpress,forexample,yourpersonalfeelingsaboutapolitical

issuebutendupbyevokingthesamefeelingin,orimposingit

onzyourlistener.That'salsothecaseVi/iththeotherwayround.

1.17.Whatistheperformativefunction?

Thismeanspeoplespeakto"dothings"orperformactions.

Oncertainoccasionstheutteranceitselfasanactionismore

importantthanwhatwordsorsoundsconstitutetheuttered

sentence.WhenaskedifathirdYangtzebridgeoughttobebuilt

inWuhan,themayormaysay"OK”,whichmeansmorethan

speech,andmorethananaveragesocialindividualmaydofor

theconstruction.Thejudge'simprisonmentsentence,the

presidentswarorindependencedeclaration,etc.,are

performativesas

well(seeJ.Austin'sspe