v1.0 可编辑可修改 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
Definition : linguistics can be defined as the scientific or systematic study of language. It is always
guided by the
three cannons of science:exhaustiveness, consistency and economy.
Linguistics describes languages and does not lay down rules of correctness while
Linguistics
traditional grammar emphasizes correctness.
Linguists regard the spoken language as primary, not the written while Linguistics versus traditional grammar emphasizes the priority of written language. traditional grammar:
Scope Microlinguistics Phonetics Phonology Morphology Syntax Semantics Pragmatics
Macrolinguistics Sociolinguistics Psycholinguistics Neurolinguistics Stylistics
Discourse analysis Computational linguistics Cognitive linguistics
Definition:
language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication.
Language is a system---elements in it are not arranged and combined randomly, but according to some rules and principles. Language is arbitrary --- there is no intrinsic connection between the word .
Ding-Dong Theory: human speech developed from primitive man giving vocal expression to the objects
he encountered.
Sing-Song Theory: language developed from primitive ritual songs of praise.
Pooh-Pooh Theory: language came from interjections, which express he speaker’s emotions. Origins Yo-He-Ho Theory: language came from the cries uttered, during strain of work.
Ta-Ta Theory : language came from the combination of certain gestures and tongues movements. Bow-Wow Theory: language came from imitation of animal cries and other sounds heard in nature.
Arbitrariness: this refers to the fact that there is no logical or intrinsic connection between a particular
is quite accidental. Of course, onomatopoetic words such as “quack-quack” and “bang” are exceptions, but words these are relatively few compared withe the total number of words in language.
to the animal dog, but Chinese should use “gou” to refer to te same animal. A dog may be called a pig if the first man happens to name it as a “pig”. So, the relationship between the sounds and their meaning sound and the meaning it is associated with. For example, English should use the sounds/d?g/ to refer
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v1.0 可编辑可修改 Design features
Phatic function/communion Directive function Informative function
Functions
Some major concepts in linguistics
Descriptive and prescriptive grammar
Descriptive grammars attempt to tell what is in the language; while prescriptive grammars tell people what should be in the traditional grammars tried to lay down rules, they are often called prescriptive. Most modern linguistics is descriptive.
Synchronic and diachronic linguistics
When we study language at one particular time, it is called synchronic linguistics. When we study language developments through time, it is called diachronic or historical linguistics. Synchronic linguistics focuses on the state of language at any point in history while diachronic linguistics focuses on he difference in two or more than two tates of language over decades or centuries.
Langue and parole
Saussure made an important distinction between langue and parole. Langue refers to the abstract linguistic system shared by all the members of a speech community. Parole refers to particular realizations of langue. Langue is the social, conventional side of language, while parole is individualized speech.
Competence and performance
According to Chomsky, competence refers to the knowledge that native speakers have of their language as a system of
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v1.0 可编辑可修改 abstract formal relations, while performance refers to their actual linguistic behavior, that is , the actual use of this knowledge.
Syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations
Saussure has put forward another pair of concepts: syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations. The former refers to the horizontal relationship between linguistic elements, which form linear sequences. The later means the vertical relationship between forms, which might occupy the same particular place in a structure.
Functionalism and formalism
Functionalism or functional linguistics refers to the study of the forms of language in reference to their social function in communication. Formalism or formal linguistics is the study of the abstract forms of language and their internal relations.
课后练习
If language is partially defined as communication, can we call the noises that dogs make language Why or why not
No,we can’t call the noises that dogs make as language even though language is partially defined as communication. There are two reasons for that: first, language is human-specific,it is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used only for human communication. Second, language has design features which are totally lack in animal communication systems. For example, language has two levels of structures: at one level are elements which have no meaning in themselves but which combine to form units at another level which do have meaning. Noises made by dogs represent certain meaning but can not be further analyzed into smaller units.
What is the difference between a prescriptive and a descriptive approach to language
Descriptive approach to language attempt to tell what is in the language, while prescriptive approach to language tells people what should be in the language. Most contemporary linguists believe that whatever occurs naturally in the language should be described. Certain forms are sued more regularly than others and by different people. Though some forms occur less frequently they should not be ignored. They can all be recorded and explained as aspects of the languages since hey are actually used.
A wolf is able to express subtle gradations of emotion by different positions of the ears, the lips, and the tail. There are eleven postures of the tail that express such emotions as self-confidence, confident threat, lack of tension, uncertain threat, depression, defensiveness, active submission, and complete submission. This system seems to be complex. Suppose there were a thousand different
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v1.0 可编辑可修改 emotions that the wolf could express in this way. Would you then say a wolf had a language similar to man’s If not, why not
No, we can not say a wolf has a language similar to that of men even though there were a thousand different emotions that the wolf could express with his positions of body parts. There are two reasons for that:
First, language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication. Language is human-specific. Second, language has design features which are lack in animals’ communication systems. For example, language has two levels of structures: at one level are elements which have no meaning in themselves but which combine to form units at another level which do have meaning. But in wolf’s communication system, one position stands for one certain meaning, and can not be further analyzed into smaller units. And no the other hand, human linguistic units can be grouped and regrouped, arranged and rearranged according to certain rules but those positions owned by wolf have no such features. Therefore, wolf’s this system is not so productive as human languages.
Chapter 2 THE SOUNDS OF LANGUAGE
INTRODUCTION
Phonology : is the description of the systems and patterns of speech sounds in a language.
Phoneme is the phonological units of language, and it is an abstract collection of phonetic features
Phoneme:
Minimal pairs are pairs of words which differ from each other only by one sound. For example, chunk
Minimal pairs
and junk ,ban and bin, be and bat, fan and van, fine and vine, sink and zinc, site and side are minimal and
pairs in English.
minimal sets \\
when two or more sounds occur in the same positon without any apparent change of meaning, they which and distinguish meaning.
For example, sip and zip is signaled by the fact that the initial sound of the first word is s/s/ With some phonetic knowledge we can give a much more precise description to speech sounds. And with some phonological knowledge we can become more aware of the functions of sounds in different
are said to be in free variation. Free variation
When a feature distinguishes one phoneme from another it is a distinctive feature (or a phonemic feature).
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v1.0 可编辑可修改 Distinctive features syllables
Nucleus(peak
In English some words may contain a sequence of two or more consonants in one syllable, for
Consonant cluster
example, /spl/ in /’splendid/. Sequences of consonants like this are called consonant clusters.
Suprasegmentals
When a word has more than one syllable, one
of them will be pronounced with more prominence than others. This brings us to
When sounds which are identical as to their place or manner features may differ in length, pitch or loudness. When speaking, people generally raise
Sound contrasts that extend over several segments (phonemes),and such contrasts are called suprasegmentals.
cluster: /str/ in /’pe?str?/ pastry
Initial cluster: /spl/ in /’spl??/ splash Final cluster: /st/ in /test/ test Medial
Consonant(s)
vowel coda
The English word beautiful consists of three speech units: beau-ti-ful. These units, which are often longer than one sound and smaller than a whole word, are called syllables.
Syllable structure syllable onset
Rime(rhyme)
Definition: The study of the speech sounds that occur in all human languages is called phonetics. Articulatory phonetics, which is the study of how speech sounds are produced, or “articulated”.
Three research fields Acoustic phonetics, which deals with the transmission of speech sounds through the air.
Auditory phonetics, which deals with how speech sounds are perceived by the listener.
Pharynx Articulators is a tube which begins just above the larynx.
and functions
Velum or soft palate is seen in the position that allows air to pass through the nose and
the mouth.
Hard palate is often called the “roof of the mouth”, you can feel its smooth curved surface
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with your tongue.
新编语言学教程刘润清版1,2章复习大纲
