英語語言學(xué)常見名詞解釋

#/9英語語言學(xué)常見名詞解釋英語語言學(xué)常見名詞解釋W(xué)hatislanguage?“Languageissystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsusedforhumancommunication.Itisasystem,sincelinguisticelementsarearrangedsystematically,ratherthanrandomly.Arbitrary,inthesensethatthereisusuallynointrinsicconnectionbetweenawork(like—bookII)andtheobjectitrefersto.Thisexplainsandisexplainedbythefactthatdifferentlanguageshavedifferent—booksII:—bookIIinEnglish,一livreIIinFrench,—shuIIinChinese.Itissymbolic,becausewordsareassociatedwithobjects,actions,ideasetc.bynothingbutconvention.Namely,peopleusethesoundsorvocalformstosymbolizewhattheywishtoreferto.Itisvocal,becausesoundorspeechistheprimarymediumforallhumanlanguages.Writingsystemscamemuchlaterthanthespokenforms.Thefactthatsmallchildrenlearnandcanonlylearntospeak(andlisten)beforetheywrite(andread)alsoindicatesthatlanguageisprimarilyvocal,ratherthanwritten.Theterm—humanIinthedefinitionismeanttospecifythatlanguageishumanspecific.Whataredesignfeaturesoflanguage?“DesignfeaturesIhererefertothedefiningpropertiesofhumanlanguagethattellthedifferencebetweenhumanlanguageandanysystemofanimalcommunication.Theyarearbitrariness,duality,productivity,displacement,culturaltransmissionandinterchangeabilityWhatisarbitrariness?By—arbitrarinessI,wemeanthereisnologicalconnectionbetweenmeaningsandsounds.Adogmightbeapigifonlythefirstpersonorgroupofpersonshaduseditforapig.Languageisthereforelargelyarbitrary.Butlanguageisnotabsolutelyseemtobesomesound-meaningassociation,ifwethinkofechowords,like—bangII,—crashII,—roarII,whicharemotivatedinacertainsense.Secondly,somecompounds(wordscompoundedtobeoneword)arenotentirelyarbitraryeither.—TypeIand—writeIareopaqueorunmotivatedwords,while—type-writerIislessso,ormoretransparentormotivatedthanthewordsthatmakeit.Sowecansay—arbitrarinessIisamatterofdegree.Whatisduality?Linguistsrefer—dualityI(ofstructure)tothefactthatinalllanguagessofarinvestigated,onefindstwolevelsofstructureorpatterning.Atthefirst,higherlevel,languageisanalyzedintermsofcombinationsofmeaningfulunits(suchasmorphemes,wordsetc.);atthesecond,lowerlevel,itisseenasasequenceofsegmentswhichlackanymeaninginthemselves,butwhichcombinetoformunitsofmeaning.AccordingtoHuZhanglinetal.,languageisasystemoftwosetsofstructures,oneofsoundsandtheotherofmeaning.Thisisimportantfortheworkingsoflanguage.Asmallnumberofsemanticunits(words),andtheseunitsofmeaningcanbearrangedandrearrangedintoaninfinitenumberofsentences(notethatwehavedictionariesofwords,butnodictionaryofsentences!).Dualitymakesitpossibleforapersontotalkaboutanythingwithinhisknowledge.Noanimalcommunicationsystemenjoysthisduality.Whatisproductivity?Productivityreferstotheabilitytotheabilitytoconstructandunderstandanindefinitelylargenumberofsentencesinone‘snativelanguage,includingthosethathasneverheardbefore,butthatareappropriatetothespeakingsituation.Noonehaseversaidorheard—Ared-eyedelephantisdancingonthesmallhotelbedwithanAfricangibbonI,buthecansayitwhennecessary,andhecanunderstanditinrightregister.Differentfromartisticcreativity,though,productivitynevergoesoutsidethelanguage,thusalsocalled—rule-boundcreativityH(byN.Chomsky).Whatisdisplacement?“DisplacementH,asoneofthedesignfeaturesofthehumanlanguage,referstothefactthatonecantalkaboutthingsthatarenotpresent,aseasilyashedoesthingspresent.Inotherwords,onecanrefertorealandunrealthings,thingsofthepast,ofthepresent,ofthefuture.Languageitselfcanbetalkedabouttoo.Whenaman,forexample,iscryingtoawoman,aboutsomething,itmightbesomethingthathadoccurred,orsomethingthatisoccurring,orsomethingthatistooccur.Whenadogisbarking,however,youcandecideitisbarkingforsomethingoratsomeonethatexistsnowandthere.Itcouldn‘tbebow-wowingsorrowfullyforabonetobelost.Thebee‘ssystem,nonetheless,hasasmallshareof—displacementII,butitisanunspeakabletinyshare.Whatisculturaltransmission?Thismeansthatlanguageisnotbiologicallytransmittedfromgenerationtogeneration,butthatthedetailsofthelinguisticsystemmustbelearnedanewbyeachspeaker.Itistruethatthecapacityforlanguageinhumanbeings(N.Chomskycalledit—languageacquisitiondeviceI,orLAD)hasageneticbasis,buttheparticularlanguageapersonlearnstospeakisaculturaloneotherthanageneticonelikethedog‘sbarkingsystem.Ifahumanbeingisbroughtupinisolationhecannotacquirelanguage.TheWolfChildrearedbythepackofwolvesturnedouttospeakthewolf‘sroaring—tongueIwhenhewassaved.Helearnedthereafter,withnosmalldifficulty,theABCofacertainhumanlanguage.Whatisinterchangeability?Interchangeabilitymeansthatanyhumanbeingcanbebothaproducerandareceiverofmessages.Thoughsomepeoplesuggestthatthereissexdifferentiationintheactuallanguageuse,inotherwords,menandwomenmaysaydifferentthings,yetinprinciplethereisnosound,orwordorsentencethatamancanutterandawomancannot,orviceversa.Ontheotherhand,apersoncanbethespeakerwhiletheotherpersonisthelistenerandastheturnmovesontothelistener,hecanbethespeakerandthefirstspeakeristolisten.Itisturn-takingthatmakessocialcommunicationpossibleandacceptable.Somemalebirds,however,uttersomecallswhichfemalesdonot(orcannot).Whenadogbarks,alltheneighboringdogsbark.Thenpeoplearoundcanhardlytellwhichdog(dogs)is(are)—speakingIIandwhichlistening.Whydolinguistssaylanguageishumanspecific?Firstofall,humanlanguagehassix—designfeaturesIIwhichanimalcommunicationsystemsdonothave,atleastnotinthetruesenseofthem.Secondly,linguistshavedonealottryingtoteachanimalssuchaschimpanzeestospeakahumanlanguagebuthaveachievednothinginspiring.Washoe,afemalechimpanzee,wasbroughtuplikeahumanchildbyBeatniceandAlanGardner.Shewastaught—AmericansignLanguageI,andlearnedalittlethatmadetheteachershappybutdidmotmakethelinguisticscirclehappy,forfewbelievedinteachingchimpanzees.Thirdly,ahumanchildrearedamonganimalscannotspeakahumanlanguage,notevenwhenheistakenbackandtaughttodoso.Whatfunctionsdoeslanguagehave?Languagehasatleastsevenfunctions:phatic,directive,Informative,interrogative,expressive,evocativeandperformative.AccordingtoWangGang(1988,p.11),languagehasthreemainfunctions:atoolofcommunication,atoolwherebypeoplelearnabouttheworld,andatoolbywhichpeoplelearnabouttheworld,andatoolbywhichpeoplecreateart.M.A.K.Halliday,representativeoftheLondonschool,recognizesthree—Macro-FunctionsII:ideational,interpersonalandtextual.Whatisthephaticfunction?The—phaticfunctionIIreferstolanguagebeingusedforsettingupacertainatmosphereormaintainingsocialcontacts(ratherthanforexchanginginformationorideas).Greetings,farewells,andcommentsontheweatherinEnglishandonclothinginChineseallservethisfunction.Muchofthephaticlanguage(e.g.—Howareyou?I—Fine,thanks.I)isinsincereiftakenliterally,butitisimportant.Ifyoudon'tsay—HelloItoafriendyoumeet,orifyoudon‘tanswerhis—HiI,youruinyourfriendship.Whatisthedirectivefunction?The—directivefunctionImeansthatlanguagemaybeusedtogetthehearertodosomething.Mostimperativesentencesperformthisfunction,e.g.,—Tellmetheresultwhenyoufinish.IOthersyntacticstructuresorsentencesofothersortscan,accordingtoJ.AustinandJ.Searle‘s—IndirectspeechacttheoryIatleast,servethepurposeofdirectiontoo,e.g.,—IfIwereyou,Iwouldhaveblushedtothebottomofmyears!IWhatistheinformativefunction?Languageservesan—informationalfunctionIwhenusedtotellsomething,characterizedbytheuseofdeclarativesentences.Informativestatementsareoftenlabelledastrue(truth)orfalse(falsehood).AccordingtoP.Grice‘s—CooperativePrincipleI,oneoughtnottoviolatethe—MaximofQualityI,whenheisinformingatall.Whatistheinterrogativefunction?Whenlanguageisusedtoobtaininformation,itservesan—interrogativefunctionI.Thisincludesallquestionsthatexpectreplies,statements,imperativesetc.,accordingtothe—indirectspeechacttheoryII,mayhavethisfunctionaswell,e.g.,—I'dliketoknowyoubetter.IIThismaybringforthalotofpersonalinformation.Notethatrhetoricalquestionsmakeanexception,sincetheydemandnoanswer,atleastnotthereader‘s/listener‘sanswer.Whatistheexpressivefunction?The—expressivefunctionIIistheuseoflanguagetorevealsomethingaboutthefeelingsorattitudesofthespeaker.Subconsciousemotionalejaculationsaregoodexamples,like—Goodheavens!I—MyGod!ISentenceslike—I‘msorryaboutthedelayIcanserveasgoodexamplestoo,thoughinasubtleway.Whilelanguageisusedfortheinformativefunctiontopassjudgmentonthetruthorfalsehoodofstatements,languageusedfortheexpressivefunctionevaluates,appraisesorassertsthespeaker‘sownattitudes.Whatistheevocativefunction?The—evocativefunctionIistheuseoflanguagetocreatecertainfeelingsinthehearer.Itsaimis,forexample,toamuse,startle,antagonize,soothe,worryorplease.Jokes(notpracticaljokes,though)aresupposedtoamuseorentertainthelistener;advertisingtourgecustomerstopurchasecertaincommodities;propagandatoinfluencepublicopinion.Obviously,theexpressiveandtheevocativefunctionsoftengotogether,i.e.,youmayexpress,forexample,yourpersonalfeelingsaboutapoliticalissuebutendupbyevokingthesamefeelingin,orimposingiton,yourlistener.That‘salsothecasewiththeotherwayround.Whatistheperformativefunction?Thismeanspeoplespeakto—dothingsIorperformactions.Oncertainoccasionstheutteranceitselfasanactionismoreimportantthanwhatwordsorsoundsconstitutetheutteredsentence.Thejudge‘simprisonmentsentence,thepresident‘swarorindependencedeclaration,etc.,areperformatives.Whatislinguistics?“LinguisticsIIisthescientificstudyoflanguage.Itstudiesnotjustonelanguageofanyonesociety,butthelanguageofallhumanbeings.Alinguist,though,doesnothavetoknowandusealargenumberoflanguages,buttoinvestigatehoweachlanguageisconstructed.Heisalsoconcernedwithhowalanguagevariesfromdialecttodialect,fromclasstoclass,howitchangesfromcenturytocentury,howchildrenacquiretheirmothertongue,andperhapshowapersonlearnsorshouldlearnaforeignlanguage.Inshort,linguisticsstudiesthegeneralprincipleswhereuponallhumanlanguagesareconstructedandoperateassystemsofcommunicationintheirsocietiesorcommunities.Whatmakeslinguisticsascience?Sincelinguisticsisthescientificstudyoflanguage,itoughttobaseitselfuponthesystematic,investigationoflanguagedatawhichaimsatdiscoveringthetruenatureoflanguageanditsunderlyingsystem.Tomakesenseofthedata,alinguistusuallyhasconceivedsomehypothesesaboutthelanguagestructure,tobecheckedagainsttheobservedorobservablefacts.Inordertomakehisanalysisscientific,alinguistisusuallyguidedbyfourprinciples:exhaustiveness,consistency,andobjectivity.Exhaustivenessmeansheshouldgatherallthematerialsrelevanttothestudyandgivethemanadequateexplanation,inspiteofthecomplicatedness.Heistoleavenolinguistic—stoneIIunturned.Consistencymeansthereshouldbenocontradictionbetweendifferentpartsofthetotalstatement.Economymeansalinguistshouldpursuebrevityintheanalysiswhenitispossible.Objectivityimpliesthatsincesomepeoplemaybesubjectiveinthestudy,alinguistshouldbe(orsoundatleast)objective,matter-of-face,faithfultoreality,sothathisworkconstitutespartofthelinguisticsresearch.Whatarethemajorbranchesoflinguistics?Thestudyoflanguageasawholeisoftencalledgenerallinguistics.Butalinguistsometimesisabletodealwithonlyoneaspectoflanguageatatime,thustheariseofvariousbranches:phonetics,phonology,morphology,syntax,semantics,pragmatics,sociolinguistics,appliedlinguistics,psycholinguisticsetc.Whataresynchronicanddiachronicstudies?Thedescriptionofalanguageatsomepointoftime(asifitstoppeddeveloping)isasynchronystudy(synchrony).Thedescriptionofalanguageasitchangesthroughtimeisadiachronicstudy(diachronic).Anessayentitled—OntheUseofTHEII,forexample,maybesynchronic,iftheauthordoesnotrecallthepastofTHE,anditmayalsobediachronicifheclaimstocoveralargerangeorperiodoftimewhereinTHEhasundergonetremendousalteration.Whatisspeechandwhatiswriting?Nooneneedstherepetitionofthegeneralprincipleoflinguisticanalysis,namely,theprimacyofspeechoverwriting.Speechisprimary,becauseitexistedlonglongbeforewritingsystemscameintobeing.Geneticallychildrenlearntospeakbeforelearningtowrite.Secondly,writtenformsjust representin this wayor thatthespeechsounds:individualsounds, asinEnglishand French asinJapanese.Incontrasttospeech,spokenformoflanguage,writingaswrittencodes,giveslanguagenewscope andusethat speechdoes nothave.Firstly,messagescanbecarriedthroughspaceso that people canwritetoeachother.Secondly,messagescanbecarriedthroughtimethereby,sothatpeopleofourtimecanbecarriedthroughtimethereby,sothatpeopleofourtimecanreadBeowulf,SamuelJohnson,andEdgarA.Poe.Thirdly,oralmessagesarereadilysubjecttodistortion,eitherintentionalorunintentional,whilewrittenmessagesallowandencouragerepeatedunalterablereading.Mostmodernlinguisticanalysisisfocusedonspeech,diff