語言學教程第一章

1、School of Foreign Languages, Shandong University of TechnologyWhat do you expect of the course? Textbook:Textbook: 胡壯麟（主編），2011，語言學教程（第四版），北京大學出版社。Time for the courseTime for the course：two sessions, one yearAssessment method:Assessment method: final examination (70%) +attendance+homework Miss more

2、than six classes, fail; Leave of absence for private affairs for more than eleven classes, fail. Aim:Aim:This course will present you with some of the basic knowledge about language, including the nature of language, its system and organization, its relations with other factors such as psychology, c

3、ulture, society, mind, literature, language learning and teaching, etc. Have a basic understanding on the key ideas and main branches of linguistics. Develop the ability of observation and analysisuThe myths of language wait us to reveal:u四川人不怕辣，湖南人辣不怕，貴州人怕不辣。u我激動得說都不會話了。u菊 清平樂 相逢縹緲，窗外又拂曉。長憶清弦弄淺笑，只恨

4、人間花少。黃菊不待清尊，相思飄落無痕。風雨重陽又過，登高多少黃昏。uIs bilingual environment beneficial for childrens IQ?uIs English or Chinese a more developed language than others?uWhy bother to study linguisticsuIt makes you distinct from mere English learners and English speakers.uIt helps to develop your ability to think consci

5、ously, the ability to find and solve problems.uIt is tested if you pursue your graduate study in the English department.Why bother to study linguistics 網(wǎng)絡教學平臺網(wǎng)絡教學平臺 Preview and review Relate it to your daily language use, use it as a tool to explain An official account in Wechat : 語言學語言學午餐午餐Ling-Lun

6、ch Language of commonsense Vs. Language of science The discourse of science cannot translate into commonsense without lost of meaning. In any typical group of science students there will be some who find themselves in difficulty. 人之為學有難易乎？學之，則難者亦易矣；不學，則易者亦難矣。 Chapter 1 Invitations to linguistics Cha

7、pter 2 Speech sounds Chapter 3 Morphology (word formation) Chapter 4 Syntax (sentence structure) Chapter 5 Meaning Chapter 8 Language in use (meaning in use) The basic issues in this chapter:1. What is Linguistics?1. What is Linguistics? 1.1 The definition of linguistics 1.2 Main branches of linguis

8、tics 1.3 Important distinctions in linguistics2. What is Language?2. What is Language? 2.1 The definition of language 2.2. Design features of language 2.3 Functions of language 1. What is Linguistics?1. What is Linguistics? Linguistics is the scientific study of Linguistics is the scientific study o

9、f language.language. Two important messages are conveyed in this definition: first, scientific communicates the method that should be adopted in linguistic study; second, language communicates the proper object of study for linguistics. 1.1 The definition of linguistics1.1 The definition of linguist

10、ics 1. Collect and observe language facts, which are found to display some similarities, and generalizations are made. 2. Hypotheses about the language structure are formulated. 3. The formulated hypotheses are checked against the observed facts to prove their validity. A one year old boy pronounces

11、 some unintelligible sounds. His mom finds it like the sound of ball. (collect and observe) Thirsty? Hungry? Ball? Circles? The boy smiles when mom call circles in a handkerchief ball. Something round is a ball.（hypotheses） Try other round objects. (check the validity of hypotheses) What is language

12、? What are rules there are that govern the structure of language? What do all languages have in common? How social factors are reflected in language? How does a child acquire his mother tongue? 1. Descriptive vs. prescriptive2. Synchronic vs. diachronic3. Langue and parole4. Competence and performan

13、ce5. Speech and writing The descriptivedescriptive study of language is to record linguistic phenomena or rules, to study language as a social phenomenon. The prescriptiveprescriptive study of language is to state that certain linguistic phenomena or rules should or should not be obeyed, like a gram

14、mar book does. Linguists usually use the first method in their study of language. Prescriptive: 網(wǎng)絡語言不標準，不規(guī)范。 Descriptive: 網(wǎng)絡語言的性質(zhì)、詞匯、句法、修辭特征； 網(wǎng)絡語言的規(guī)范以及對待網(wǎng)絡語言的態(tài)度； 網(wǎng)絡語言與語文教學、當代社會文化、網(wǎng)民的社會心理特征、網(wǎng)絡詞語及其意義生成的認知機制等。 SynchronicSynchronic study of language takes a fixed instant as its point of observation. Dia

15、chronic Diachronic study examines language through the course of time. It studies the development or history of language. 近代漢語副詞研究60年（1949-2009） 漢語基本顏色詞的進化階段與顏色范疇 離合詞形成的歷史及成因分析 主觀化對句法限制的消解 國外話語標記研究及其對漢語研究的啟示 中英文前言作者自稱語語用對比研究 Saussure made the distinction between languelangue and paroleparole. Langue

16、Langue refers to the abstract linguistic system shared by all the members of a speech community. It is a social phenomenon. ParoleParole is the actual speaking of language by an individual speaker. It is an individual linguistic phenomenon. LangueParole1set of conventions and rules which language us

17、ers all have to abide bythe concrete use of the conventions and the application of the rules2abstractconcrete3relatively stablevaries from person to person, from situation to situation Chomskys competencecompetence refers to the ideal users knowledge of the rules of his language. It stresses the psy

18、chological or mental property of language. PerformancePerformance refers to the actual use of the language by a speaker in a real communicational context. It is the external realization of the internal linguistic competence. How is Chomskys distinction between competence and performance similar to S

19、aussures langue and parole? Similarity: the study object of linguists Differences: sociological view vs. psychological view Is speech or writing the primary medium of human languages according to modern linguists? Why? From the point of view of linguistic evolution From the ways that are gotten by u

20、sers From the information conveyed2. What is Language?2. What is Language? Language is a system of arbitrary Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human vocal symbols used for human communication. communication. Design features Design features refer to the defining properties of h

21、uman language that distinguish it from any animal system of communication. They are devised to distinguish the communication system as possessed by human, which we term language, from communication systems as possessed by other life forms. By arbitrarinessarbitrariness we mean that there is no logic

22、al or intrinsic connection between a particular sound and the meaning it is associated with.e.g. A is called a “l(fā)aoshu” in Chinese, while a “rat” or “mouse” in English. And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see wh

23、at he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. Genesis 2:19 OnomatopoeicOnomatopoeic words, as direct imitations of natural sounds, are not in conflict with this feature. e.g. a Chinese dog barks wangwangwang, while an English dog barks bowwow. Al

24、though they describe the same sound, the forms are different. Arbitrariness at the syntactic levele.g. He came in and sat down. He sat down and came in. He sat down after he came in. Arbitrariness and conventionThe link between a linguistic sign and its meaning is a matter of convention. “When I I u

25、se a word,” Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I I choose it to mean neither more nor less.” “The question is,” said Alice, “whether you cancan make words mean so many different things.” By arbitrariness it means that there is no logical or intrinsic relation between s

26、ound and meaning for human language. However, this does not entail that speakers of human language can use language in his own manner, regardless of what other speakers would think. If language can be used to express meaning and exchange information, a mutual agreement as for what sound can express

27、what meaning has to be reached at the first place, otherwise language would not exist at all. We call this mutual agreement conventionality. This is exactly what Alice remarks in the dialogue, i.e. you cannot use language in whatever way you yourself like it to be used. b k t l s f r : e u Old, sad,

28、 glad, let, back, farBy dualityduality we mean that each language is organized at two levels, one is sound and the other is meaning. The sounds at the basic level are meaningless by themselves, but they can be grouped into a large number of units of meaning at higher level of language. 山東soundsounds

29、wordsLower levelHigher level The advantage of this division is that we can use limited number of sounds to produce unlimited number of sound combinations with distinctive meanings.e.g. in the language of English we use around 48 sounds to produce almost infinite number of sound combinations (words).

30、 This feature is very economical for the system of language. A large number of words can be formed out of a small set of sounds. And out of the huge number of words, there can be endless number of sentences, which in turn can form unlimited number of texts. Sounds (small number) words (large number)

31、 sentences (large number) texts (large number) Does the traffic light system have duality? Can you explain by drawing a simple graph? Does the traffic light system have duality? Can you explain by drawing a simple graph? 蒜你狠、富二代、裸婚、低頭族 A red-eyed elephant is dancing on a hotel bed By creativitycreat

32、ivity we mean that speaker of a language can produce new expressions and understand utterances that they have never heard before. Can you tell which feature of language makes it a creative system? duality My goal for 2016 is to accomplish the goals of 2015 which I should have done in 2014 because I

33、made a promise in 2013 & planned in 2012 Another sense of creativity of language is due to its potential to create endless sentences. （recursiveness遞歸性） Attention: 我騙了你。 我知道你騙了我。 我知道你知道我騙了你。 張三知道我知道你知道我騙了你。 Where is the book? 相對論的基本假設是相對性原理，即物理定律與參照系的選擇無關。 Journey to the West By displacementdisp

34、lacement we mean that language can be used to refer to things that are present or not present, real or imagined. In other words, language can be use to refer to contexts removed from the immediate situations of the speaker. This feature enables speakers to communicate free of the barriers caused by

35、time and space. It also gives human beings the ability to generalize and abstract. It refers to the fact that details of the linguistic system must be learned anew by each speaker. Language is not transmitted biologically from generation to generation. e.g. A Chinese-American child brought up in the

36、 States may not be able to say one single Chinese word if he is not purposefully taught to speak Chinese, he can only speak English. Linguists talk about the functions of language in an abstract sense, that is, not in terms of using language to chat, to think, to buy and sell, to praise and condemn

37、etc. They summarize these practical functions and attempt some broad classifications of the basic functions of language.Comprehensive theories Jakobsons theory Hallidays theory Informative function Interpersonal function Emotive function Performative function Phatic function Recreational function Me

38、talingual function1. InformativeThe use of language to record facts, to state what things are like, and to exchange information. This serves as the primary function of language.e.g. 2. Interpersonal FunctionlThe most important sociological use of language, which serves to establish and maintain peop

39、les status in a society (through expressing identity).lEg. honorable guests; dear teacher;lCan you think of other examples that performing the interpersonal function of language? Do you like my new hair style? Its terrible. I apologize for The interpersonal function is such a broad category that it

40、is often discussed under various other terms as performative, emotive (expressive), phatic, recreational. 3. Performative Function Language can be used to do things (Austin and Searle), to change the social status or the immediate state of affairs of people. e.g. in Western countries, when the pries

41、t says: “I thereby pronounce you husband and wife.” The marriage status of the couple is recognized legally. Can you think of other examples showing performative function? 4. Emotive Function Language can be used to express the emotional state of the speaker. e.g. exclamation. The expressions of gra

42、titude and apology are also examples of this function. Expressive function 5. Phatic Communion Ritual exchanges, exchanges that have little meaning but help to maintain our relationships with other people. e.g. Speaker A: Whats up?” Speaker B: Hey, man, hows it going? (And each just walks on.) Can y

43、ou mention some typical expressions of phatic communion in Chinese? 6. Recreational Function1. （初入江湖）化肥會揮發(fā)2. （小有名氣）黑化肥發(fā)灰，灰化肥發(fā)黑3. （名動一方）黑化肥發(fā)灰會揮發(fā)；灰化肥揮發(fā)會發(fā)黑4. （天下聞名）黑化肥揮發(fā)發(fā)灰會花飛；灰化肥揮發(fā)發(fā)黑會飛花5. （一代宗師）黑灰化肥會揮發(fā)發(fā)灰黑諱為花飛；灰黑化肥會揮發(fā)發(fā)黑灰為諱飛花Word play, word for words sake, the use of language to have fun. e.g. Tongue twi

44、sters such as she sells sea-shells on the sea-shore, and the shells that she sells on the sea-shore are sea-shells is uttered only for the sheer joy of language. The Chinese crosstalk and mini-comedy also belong to this category of language use. 7. Metalingual Function Language can be used to explai

45、n or describe itself or other languages. e.g. Man is bipedal hairless primate. Man is a noun. It is composed of 3 phonemes. How is Jakobsons theory similar to language functions we learned just now? Can you give examples for each function according to Jakobsons theory ? We use language to talk about our experience of the We use language to talk about our experience of the world, including the world in our own minds, to world, including the world in our own minds, to describe events and states and entities involved in describe events and