胡壯麟語言學筆記無私分享

1、胡壯麟語言學筆記無私分享（全；免“支持”版：）語言學教程重難點學習提示第一章 語言的性質(zhì)語言的定義：語言的基本特征（任意性、二重性、多產(chǎn)性、移位、文化傳遞和互換性）；語言的功能（寒暄、指令、提供信息、詢問、表達主觀感情、喚起對方的感情和言語行為）； 語言的起源（神授說，人造說，進化說）等。第二章 語言學語言學定義；研究語言的四大原則（窮盡、一致、簡潔、客觀）；語言學的基本概念（口語與書面語、共時與歷時、語言與言學、語言能力與言行運用、語言潛勢與語言行為）；普通語言學的分支（語音、音位、語法、句法、語義）；語言學的應用（語言學與語言教學、語言與社會、語言與文字、語言與心理學、人類語言學、神經(jīng)語言

2、學、數(shù)理語言學、計算語 言學）等。第三章 語音學發(fā)音器官的英文名稱；英語輔音的發(fā)音部位和發(fā)音方法； 語音學的定義；發(fā)音語音學； 聽覺 語音學；聲學語音學；元音及輔音的分類；嚴式與寬式標音等。第四章 音位學音位理論； 最小對立體； 自由變異； 互補分布； 語音的相似性； 區(qū)別性特征； 超語段音位學；音節(jié)；重音（詞重音、句子重音、音高和語調(diào)）等。第五章 詞法學詞法的定義； 曲折詞與派生詞； 構(gòu)詞法 （合成與派生） ；詞素的定義； 詞素變體； 自由詞素；粘著詞素（詞根，詞綴和詞干）等。第六章 詞匯學詞的定義；語法詞與詞匯詞；變詞與不變詞；封閉詞與開放詞；詞的辨認；習語與搭配。第七章 句法句法的定義；

3、句法關(guān)系；結(jié)構(gòu)；成分；直接成分分析法；并列結(jié)構(gòu)與從屬結(jié)構(gòu)；句子成分； 范疇（性，數(shù)，格）；一致；短語，從句，句子擴展等。第八章 語義學語義的定義；語義的有關(guān)理論；意義種類（傳統(tǒng)、功能、語用）；里奇的語義分類；詞匯意 義關(guān)系（同義、反義、下義）；句子語義關(guān)系。第九章 語言變化語言的發(fā)展變化（詞匯變化、語音書寫文字、語法變化、語義變化）；第十章 語言、思維與文化語言與文化的定義；薩丕爾 - 沃夫假說；語言與思維的關(guān)系；語言與文化的關(guān)系；中西文化 的異同。第十一章 語用學語用學的定義；語義學與語用學的區(qū)別；語境與意義；言語行為理論（言內(nèi)行為、言外行為和言后行為）；合作原則。1.1. What is

4、language?“Language is system of arbitrary vocal symbols usedfor human communication. Itis a system, since linguistic elements are arranged systematically, rather than randomly. Arbitrary, in the sense that there is usually no intrinsic connection between a work (like“book”) and the object it refers

5、to. This explains and isexplained by the fact that different languages have different“books”: “book”in English, “l(fā)ivre ” in French, in Japanese, in Chinese,“check” in Korean. Itis symbolic, because words are associated with objects, actions, ideas etc. by nothing but convention. Namely, people use t

6、he sounds or vocal forms to symbolize what they wish to refer to. It is vocal, because sound or speech is the primary medium for all humanlanguages, developed or “new”. Writing systems came much later than the spoken forms. The fact that small children learn and can only learn to speak(and listen) b

7、efore they write (and read) also indicates that language is primarily vocal, rather than written. The term “human” in the definition is meant to specify that language is human specific.1.2. What are design features of language?“Design features ” here refer to the defining properties of human languag

8、e thattell the difference between human language and any system of animal communication. They are arbitrariness, duality, productivity, displacement, cultural transmission and interchangeability1.3. What is arbitrariness?By “arbitrariness ”, we mean there is no logical connection between meanings an

9、d sounds (see I .1). A dog might be a pig if only the first person or group of persons had used it for a pig. Language is therefore largely arbitrary. But language is not absolutely seem to be some sound-meaning association, if we think of echo words, like “bang”, “crash ”, “roar ”, which are motiva

10、ted in a certain sense. Secondly, some compounds (words compounded to be one word ) are not entirely arbitrary either. “Type” and “write ” are opaque or unmotivated words, while“type - writer ” isless so, or more transparent or motivated than the words that make it. So we cansay “arbitrariness ” is

11、a matter of degree.1.4. What is duality?Linguists refer “duality ” (of structure) to the fact that in all languages so far investigated, one finds two levels of structure or patterning. At the first, higher level, language is analyzed in terms of combinations of meaningful units (such as morphemes,

12、words etc.) ; at the second, lower level, it is seen as a sequence of segments which lack any meaning in themselves, but which combine to form units of meaning. According to Hu Zhanglin et al. (p.6) , language is a system of two sets of structures, one of sounds and the other of meaning. This is imp

13、ortant for the workings of language. A small number of semantic units (words), and these units of meaning can be arranged and rearranged into an infinite number of sentences (note that we have dictionaries of words, but no dictionary of sentences!). Duality makes it possible for a person to talk abo

14、ut anything within his knowledge. No animalcommunication system enjoys this duality, or even approaches this honour.1.5. What is productivity?Productivity refers to the ability to the ability to construct and understand an indefinitely large number of sentences in one's native language, includin

15、g thosethat has never heard before, but that are appropriate to the speaking situation. No one has ever said or heard“A red -eyed elephant is dancing on the small hotelbed with an African gibbon ”, but he can say it when necessary, and he can understand it in right register. Different from artistic

16、creativity, though, productivity never goes outside the language, thus also called “rule - bound creativity ” (by N.Chomsky).1.6. What is displacement?“Displacement ”, as one of the design features of the human language, refers to the fact that one can talk about things that are not present, as easi

17、ly as he does things present. In other words, one can refer to real and unreal things, things of the past, of the present, of the future. Language itself can be talked about too. Whena man, for example, is crying to a woman, about something, it might be something that had occurred, or something that

18、 is occurring, or something that is to occur.When a dog is barking, however, you can decide it is barking for something or at someone that exists now and there. It couldn 't be bow-wowing sorrowfully for dome of “displacement ”, but it is an unspeakable tiny share.lost love or a bone to be lost.

19、 The bees system, nonetheless, has a small share1.7. What is cultural transmission?This means that language is not biologically transmitted from generation to generation, but that the details of the linguistic system must be learned anew by each speaker. It is true that the capacity forlanguage in h

20、uman beings(N. Chomskycalled it“l(fā)anguage acquisition device”, or LAD) has a genetic basis, but theparticular language a person learns to speak is a cultural one other than a genetic one like the dog 's barking system. If a human being is brought up in isolation he cannot acquire language. The Wo

21、lf Child reared by the pack of wolves turned out to speak the wolf 's roaring “tongue ” when he was saved. He learned thereafter, with no small difficulty, the ABC of a certain human language.1.8. What is interchangeability?Interchangeability means that any human being can be both a producer and

22、 a receiver of messages. We can say, and on other occasions can receive and understand, for example, “Please do something to make me happy. ” Though some people (including me) suggest that there is sex differentiation in the actual language use, in other words, men and women may say different things

23、, yet in principle there is no sound, or word or sentence that a man can utter and a woman cannot, or vice versa. On the other hand, a person can be the speaker while the other person is the listener and as the turn moves on to the listener, he can be the speaker and the first speakeris to listen. I

24、t is turn-taking that makes social communication possible andacceptable.Some male birds, however, utter some calls which females do not (or cannot?) , and certain kinds of fish have similar haps mentionable. When a dog barks, all the neighbouring dogs bark. Then people around can hardly tell which d

25、og (dogs) is (are0 “speaking ” and which listening.1.9. Why do linguists say language is human specific?First of all, humanlanguage has six “design features ” which animal communication systems do not have, at least not in the true sense of them(see I .2- 8). Let's borrow C. F. Hocket's Char

26、t that compares humanlanguage with some animals ' systems, from Wang Gang(1998,p.8).Secondly, linguistshave done a lot trying to teach animals such as chimpanzees tospeak a human language but have achieved nothing inspiring. Washoe, a femalechimpanzee, was brought up like a human child by Beatni

27、ce and Alan Gardner. She was taught “American sign Language”, and learned a little that made the teachers happy but did mot make the linguistics circle happy, for few believed in teachingchimpanzees.Thirdly, a human child reared among animals cannot speak a human language, not even when he is taken

28、back an d taught to lo to so (see the “Wolf Child ”in I.7)1.10. What functions does language have?Language has at least seven functions: phatic, directive, Informative,interrogative, expressive, evocative and performative. According to Wang Gang (1988,p.11), language has three main functions: a tool

29、 of communication, a tool whereby people learn about the world, and a tool by which people learn about the world, and a tool by which people create art . M .A. K.Halliday, representative of the London school, recogni zes three “Macro- Functions ”: ideational, interpersonal and textual(see !.11-17;se

30、e HU Zhuanglin et al.,pp10-13,pp394-396). 1. 11What is the phatic function?The “phatic function ” refers to language being used for setting up a certain atmosphere or maintaining social contacts(rather than for exchanging information or ideas). Greetings, farewells, and comments on the weather in En

31、glish and on clothing in Chinese all serve this function. Much of the phatic language (e.g. “How are you?” “Fine, thanks. ”) is insincere if taken literally, but it is important. If you don't say “Hello ” to a friend you meet, or if you don't answer his “Hi”, you ruin your friendship.1.12. W

32、hat is the directive function?The “directive function” means that language may beused to get the hearer to dosomething. Most imperative sentences perform this function, e. g.,“Tell me theresult when you finish.” Other syntactic structures or sentences of other sortscan, according to J.Austin and J.S

33、earle's “indrect speech act theory”(see HuZhuanglin et al.,pp271- 278) at least, serve the purpose of direction too, e.g., “If I were you, I would have blushed to the bottom of my ears!”1.13. What is the informative function?l something,Language serves an “informational function” when used to te

34、l labelled as true(truth) or false(falsehood). According to P.Grice 's “Cooperative Principle ”(see Hu Zhuanglin et al., pp282- 283), one ought not to violate the “Maxim of Quality ”, when he is informing at all.characterizedby the use of declarativesentences. Informativestatements are often1.14

35、. What is the interrogative function?Whenlanguage is used to obtain information, it serves an “interrogativefunction ”.This includes all questions that expect replies, statements, imperatives etc., according to the “indirect speech act theory”, may have this function as well,e.g., “I'd like to k

36、now you better.” This may bring forth a lot of personalinformation. Note that rhetorical questions make an exception, since they demand no answer, at least not the reader 's/listener 's answer.1.15. What is the expressive function?The “expressive function ” is the use of language to reveal s

37、omething about the feelings or attitudes of the speaker. Subconscious emotional ejaculations are good examples, like “Good heavens! ” “My God!” Sentences like “I'm sorry about the delay ” can serve as good examples too, though in a subtle way. While language is used for the informative function

38、to pass judgement on the truth or falsehood of statements, language used for the expressive function evaluates, appraises or asserts the speaker 's own attitudes.1.16. What is the evocative function?The “evocative function ” is the use of language to create certain feelings in the hearer. Its ai

39、m is , for example, to amuse, startle, antagonize, soothe, worry or please. Jokes(not practical jokes, though) are supposed to amuse or entertain the listener; advertising to urge customers to purchase certain commodities; propaganda to influence public opinion. Obviously, the expressive and the evo

40、cative functions often go together, i.e., you may express, for example, your personal feelings about a political issue but end up by evoking the same feeling in, or imposing it on, your listener. That 's also the case with the other way round.1.17. What is the performative function?This means pe

41、ople speak to“do things ” or perform actions. On certain occasionsthe utterance itself as an action is more important than what words or sounds constitute the uttered sentence. When asked if a third Yangtze bridge ought to be built in Wuhan, the mayor may say“OK”, which means more than speech, and m

42、orethan an average social individual may do for the construction. The judgeimprisonment sentence, the president 's war or independence declaration, etc., are performatives as well(see J.Austin's speech Act Theory, Hu Zhuanglin,ecal.,pp271-278).1.18. What is linguistics?“Linguistics ” is the

43、scientific study of language. It studies not just one language of any one society, but the language of all human beings. A linguist, though, does not have to know and use a large number of languages, but to investigate how each language is constructed. He is also concerned with how a language varies

44、 from dialect to dialect, from class to class, how it changes from century to century, how children acquire their mother tongue, and perhaps how a person learns or should learn a foreign language. In short, linguistics studies the general principles whereupon all human languages are constructed and

45、operate as systems of communication in their societies or communities (see Hu Zhuanglin et al.,pp20-22)1.19. What makes linguistics a science?Since linguistics is the scientific study of language, it ought to base itself upon the systematic, investigation of language data which aims at discovering t

46、he true nature of language and its underlying system. To make sense of the data, a linguist usually has conceived some hypotheses about the language structure, to be checked against the observed or observable facts. In order to make his analysis scientific, a linguist is usually guided by four princ

47、iples: exhaustiveness, consistency, and objectivity. Exhaustiveness means he should gather all the materials relevant to the study and give them an adequate explanation, in spite of the complicatedness.He is to leave no linguistic “stone ” unturned. Consistency means there should be no contradiction

48、 between different parts of the total statement. Economy means a linguist should pursue brevity in the analysis when it is possible. Objectivity implies that since some people may be subjective in the study, a linguist should be (or sound at least) objective, matter-of-face, faithful to reality, so

49、that his work constitutes part of the linguistics research.1.20. What are the major branches of linguistics?The study of language as a whole is often called general linguistics (e.g.HuZhuanglin et al.,1988;Wang Gang,1988).But a linguist sometimes is able to deal with only one aspect of language at a

50、 time, thus the arise of various branches :phonetics ,phonology ,morphology, syntax, semantics, sociolinguistics, appliedlinguistics, pragmatics, psycholinguistics, lexicology, lexicography, etymology,etc.1.21. What are synchronic and diachronic studies?The description of a language at some point of

51、 time (as if it stopped developing)is a synchrony study (synchrony). The description of a language as it changes through time is a diachronic study (diachronic). An essay entitled“On the Use of THE ”,for example, may be synchronic, if the author does not recall the past of THE, and it mayalso be dia

52、chronic if he claims to cover a large range or period of time whereinTHE has undergone tremendous alteration (see Hu Zhuanglin et al.,pp25-27).1.22. What is speech and what is writing?No one needs the repetition of the general principle of linguistic analysis, namely, the primacy of speech over writ

53、ing. Speech is primary, because it existed long long before writing systems came into being. Genetically children learn to speak before learning to write. Secondly, written forms just represent in this way or that thespeech sounds : individual sounds, as in English and French as in Japanese.In contr

54、ast to speech, spoken form of language, writing as written codes, gives language new scope and use that speech does not have. Firstly, messages can be carried through space so that people can write to each other. Secondly, messages can be carried through time thereby, so that people of our time can

55、be carried through time thereby, so that people of our time can read Beowulf, Samuel Johnson, and Edgar A.Poe. Thirdly, oral messages are readily subject to distortion, either intentionalor unintentional (causing misunderstanding or malentendu),while written messagesallow and encourage repeated unal

56、terable reading. Most modern linguistic analysis is focused on speech, different from grammarians of the last century and theretofore.1.23. What are the differences between the descriptive and the prescriptiveapproaches?A linguistic study is“descriptive ” if it only describes and analyses the factso

57、f language, and “prescriptive ” if it tries to lay down rules for“correct ”language behavior. Linguistic studies before this century were largely prescriptive because many early grammars were largely prescriptive because many early grammars were based on “high ” (literaryor religious) written record

58、s. Modern linguistics is mostly descriptive, however. It (the latter) believes that whatever occurs in natural speech (hesitation, incomplete utterance, misunderstanding, etc.) should be described in the analysis, and not be marked as incorrect, abnormal, corrupt, or lousy. These, with changes in vo

59、cabulary and structures, need to be explained also.1.24. What is the difference between langue and parole?F. de Saussure refers “l(fā)angue ”to th e abstract linguistic system shared by all the members of a speech community and refers“parole ” to the actual or actualizedlanguage, or the realization of langue. Langue is abstract, parole specific to the speaking situation; langue not actually