英语语言学资料 25页

《英语语言学》学习资料说明：各位童鞋，这个资料是在老版本的基础上编写的，故有些内容现在有了很大的变化和更改，大家要学会有选择性的进行学习和参考啊1・2&Whatisphonetics?"Phonetics”isthesciencewhichstudiesthecharacteristicsofhumansound-making,especiallythosesoundsusedinspeech,andprovidesmethodsfortheirdescription,classificationandtranscription(seeHuZhuanglinetal.,pp39・40),speechsoundsmaybestudiedindifferentways,thusbythreedifferentbranchesofphonetics-(1)Articulatoryphonetics;thebranchofphoneticsthatexaminesthewayinwhichaspeechsoundisproducedtodiscoverwhichvocalorgansareinvolvedandhowtheycoordinateintheprocess.(2)Auditoryphonetics,thebranchofphoneticresearchfromthehearefspointofview,lookingintotheimpressionwhichaspeechsoundmakesonthehearerasmediatedbytheear,theauditorynerveandthebrain.(3)Acousticphonetics:thestudyofthephysicalpropertiesofspeechsounds,astransmittedbetweenmouthandcar.Mostphoneticians,however,areinterestedinarticulatoryphonetics・L29>Howarethevocalorgansformed?Thevocalorgans(seeFigure1,HuZhuanglinetaL,p41),orspeechorgans,areorgansofthehumanbodywhosesecondaryuseisintheproductionofspeechsounds.Thevocalorganscanbeconsideredasconsistingofthreeparts;theinitiatoroftheair-stream,theproducerofvoiceandtheresonatingcavities.1.30.Whatisplaceofarticulation?Itreferstotheplaceinthemouthwhere,forexample,theobstructionoccurs,resultingintheutteranceofaconsonant.Whateversoundispronounced,atleastsomevocalorganswillgetinvolved,e・g・lips,hardpalateetc.,soaconsonantmaybeoneofthefollowing(1)bilabial:[p,b,m];(2)labiodental:[f,v];(3)dental:[J;(4)alveolar:[t,d」,n.s,z];(5)retroflex;(6)palato-alveolar:[J;(7)palatal:[j];(8)velar[k,gj;(9)uvular;(10)glottal:[h].Somesoundsinvolvethesimultaneoususeoftwoplacesofarticulation.Forexample,theEnglish[wjhasbothanapproximationofthetwolipsandthattwolipsandthatofthetongueandthesoftpalate,andmaybetermednlabial-velarn.l<31Howdophoneticiansclassifyvowels?Phoneticians,inspiteofthedifficulty,groupvowelsin5types:(1)longandshortvowels,e.g.,[i:J;(4)roundedandunroundvowels,e.g.[3]；(5)pureandglidingvowels,e.g.[I,].1.33.WhatisIPA?Whendiditcomeintobeing?TheIPA,abbreviationof'internationalPhoneticAlphabet",isacompromisesystemmakinguseofsymbolsofallsources,includingdiacriticsindicatinglength,stressandintonation,indicatingphoneticvariation.Eversinceitwasdevelopedin1888,IPAhasundergoneanumberofrevisions.1.34.Whatisnarrowtranscriptionandwhatisbroadtranscription?Inhandbookofphonetics,HenrySweetmadeadistinctionbetweennnarrownand"broad”transcriptions,whichhecalled"NarrowRomicM.Theformerwasmeanttosymbolizeallthepossiblespeechsounds,includingeventhemostminuteshadesofpronunciationwhileBroadRomicortranscriptionwasintendedtoindicateonlythosesoundscapableofdistinguishingonewordfromanotherinagivenlanguage.L35>Whatisphonology?Whatisdifferencebetweenphoneticsandphonology?(1)"Phonology”isthestudyofsoundsystems-theinventionofdistinctivespeechsoundsthatoccurinalanguageandthepatternswhereintheyfall.Minimalpair,phonemes,allophones,freevariation,complementarydistribution,etc.,arealltobeinvestigatedbyaphonologist.(2)Phonetics,asdiscussedin1.28,isthebranchoflinguisticsstudyingthecharacteristicsofspeechsoundsandprovidesmethodsfortheirdescription,classificationandtranscription.Aphonetistismainlyinterestedinthephysicalpropertiesofthespeechsounds,whereasaphonologiststudieswhathebelievesaremeaningfulsoundsrelatedwiththeirsemanticfeatures,morphologicalfeatures,andthewaytheyareconceivedandprintedinthedepthofthemindphonologicalknowledgepermitsaspeakertoproducesoundswhichfrommeaningfulutterances,torecognizeaforeign"accent役tomakeupnewwords,toaddtheappropriatephoneticsegmentstofrompluralsandpasttenses,toknowwhatisandwhatisnotasoundinone'slanguage.L36>Whatisaphone?Whatisaphoneme?Whatisanallophone?(1)A"phone”isaphoneticunitorsegment.Thespeechsoundswehearandproduceduringlinguisticcommunicationareallphones.Whenwehearthefollowingwordspronounced:[pit],[tip],[spit],etc.,thesimilarphoneswehaveheardare[p]foronething,andthreedifferent[p]!s,readilymakingpossibletheHnarrowtranscriptionordiacritics11.Phonesmayandmaynotdistinguishmeaning・A”phoneme”isaphonologicalunit;itisaunitthatisofdistinctivevalue.Asanabstractunit,aphonemeisnotanyparticularsound,\nbutratheritisrepresentedorrealizedbyacertainphoneinacertainphoneticcontext.Forexample,thephoneme[p]isrepresenteddifferentlyin[pit],[tip]and[spit].(1)Thephonesrepresentingaphonemearecalledits"allophones役i・e.,thedifferent(i.c.,phones)butdonotmakeonewordsophoneticallydifferentastocreateanewwordoranewmeaningthereof.Sothedifferent[p]fsintheabovewordsaretheallophonesofthesamephoneme[p]Whatareminimalpairs?Whentwodifferentphoneticformsareidenticalineverywayexceptforonesoundsegmentwhichoccursinthesameplaceinthestring，thetwofdrms(i>e.,word)aresupposedtoforma"minimalpair”,e.g.,”pill”and”bill”，”pill”and“till”,”till”andHdiir\ntillnand"kill役etc.Allthesewordstogetherconstituteaminimalset.Theyareidenticalinformexceptfortheinitialconsonants.TherearemanyminimalpairsinEnglish,whichmakesitrelativelyeasytoknowwhatareEnglishphonemes-Itisofgreatimportancetofindtheminimalpairswhenaphonologistisdealingwiththesoundsystemofanunknownlanguagc(sccHuZhuanglinctal.,pp65-66).1.38.Whatisfreevariation?Iftwosoundsoccurringinthesameenvironmentdonotcontrast;namely,ifthesubstitutionofonefortheotherdoesnotgenerateanewwordformbutmerelyadifferentpronunciationofthesameword,thetwosoundsthenaresaidtobeinHfreevariationn.Theplosives,forexample,maynotbeexplodedwhentheyoccurbeforeanotherplosiveoranasal(e.g.,act,apt,goodmorning).Theminutedistinctionsmay,讦necessary,betranscribedindiacritics.Theseunexplodedandexplodedplosivesareinfreevariation.Soundsinfreevariationshouldbeassignedtothesamephoneme・L39.Whatiscomplementarydistribution?Whentwosoundsneveroccurinthesameenvironment,theyarein"complementarydistribution11.Forexample,theaspiratedEnglishplosivesneveroccurafter[s],andtheunsaturatedonesneveroccurinitially.Soundsincomplementarydistributionmaybeassignedtothesamephoneme・Theallophonesforexample,arealsoincomplementarydistribution.Theclear[l]occursonlybeforeavowel,thevoicelessequivalentof[l]occursonlyafteravoicelessconsonant,suchasinthewords”please”,"butler","clear'；etc.,andthedark[l]occursonlyafteravowelorasasyllabicsoundafteraconsonant,suchasinthewordsHfeer\Mhelp'\"middle",etc.\nL40.Whatistheassimilationrule?Whatisthedeletionrule?(1)The"assimilationrule"assimilatesonesegmenttoanotherby"copying”afeatureofasequentialphoneme,thusmakingthetwophonesmoresimilar.Thisruleaccountsfortheraringpronunciationofthenasal[n]thatoccurswithinaword・Theruleisthatwithinawordthenasalconsonant[n]assumesthesameplaceofarticulationasthefollowingconsonant.ThenegativeprefixHin-nservesasagoodexample.Itmaybepronouncedas[in],[i]or[im]whenoccurringindifferentphoneticcontexts:e.g.,indiscrete-[](alveolar)inconceivable-[](velar)input-['imput](bilabial)(1)The”deletionrule”tellsuswhenasoundistobedeletedalthoughisorthographicallyrepresented・Whiletheletterngnismuteinnsign,f9"design"and”paradigm",itispronouncedintheircorrespondingderivatives:"signature”,”designation”and"paradigmatic”.Therulethencanbestatedas:deletea[g]whenitoccursbeforeafinalnasalconsonant.ThisaccountsforsomeoftheseemingirregularitiesoftheEnglishspelling(secDaiWcidong,pp22・23)・l>4LWhatissuprasegmentalphonology?Whataresuprasegmentalfeatures?HSuprasegmentalphonology”referstothestudyofphonologicalpropertiesoflinguisticunitslargerthanthesegmentcalledphoneme,suchassyllable,wordandsentence・HuZhuanglinetaL,(p,73)includesstress,lengthandpitchaswhattheysupposetobe"principalsuprasegmentalfeatures*1,callingtheconcurrentpatterningofthreef,intonation11.DaiWeidong(pp23-25)liststhreealso,buttheyarestress,toneandintonation.L42>Whatismorphology?"Morphology”isthebranchofgrammarthatstudiestheinternalstructureofwords,andtherulesbywhichwordsarcformed・Itisgenerallydividedintotwofields:inflectionalmorphologyandlexical/derivationalmorphology.L43>Whatisinflection/inflexion?"Inflection”isthemanifestationofgrammaticalrelationshipsthroughtheadditionofinflectionalaffixes,suchasnumber,person,finiteness,aspect,andcase,whichdoesnotchangethegrammaticalclassoftheitemstowhichtheyareattached・1.44eWhatisamorpheme?Whatisanallomorph?(1)The"morpheme”isthesmallestunitintermsofrelationshipbetweenexpressionandcontent,aunitwhichcannotbedividedwithoutdestroyingordrasticallyalteringthe\nmeaning,whetheritislexicalorgrammatical.Theword"boxes”，forexample,hastwomorphemes:"box”andn-esf\neitherofwhichpermitsfurtherdivisionoranalysisifwedon'twishtosacrificemeaning.Thereforeamorphemeisconsideredtheminimalunitofmeaning.(1)Allomorphs,likeallophonesvs.phones,arethealternateshapes(andthusphoneticforms)ofthesamemorphemes.Somemorphemes,though,havenomorethanoneinvariableforminallcontexts,suchas"dog”，"cat",etc.ThevariantsofthepluralityM-sHmaketheallomorphsthereofinthefollowingexamples:map-maps,mousc-micc,shccp-shccpetc・L45WhatisICanalysis?Whatareimmediateconstituents(andultimateconstituents)?nICanalysis11isanewapproachofsentencestudythatcutsasentenceintotwo(ormore)segments.Thiskindofpuresegmentationissimplydividingasentenceintoitsconstituentelementswithoutevenknowingwhattheyreallyare.Whatremainofthefirstcutarecalled"immediateconstituents11,andwhatareleftatthefinalcutarecalled"ultimateconstituents11.Forexample,"Johnleftyesterday11canbethussegmented:nJohn|left||yesterday11.Wegettwoimmediateconstituentsforthefirstcut(I),andtheyare"John”andnleftyesterday1*.Furthersplit(||)thissentencegeneratesthree”ultimateconstituents11:nJohnM,"left,fand"yesterday".\nl>54Whatisnumber?Whatisgender?Whatiscase?(1)nNumbernisagrammaticalcategoryusedfortheanalysisofwordclassesdisplayingsuchcontrastsassingular,dual,plural,etc.InEnglish,numberismainlyobservedinnouns,andthereareonlytwoforms:singularandpluralNumberisalsoreflectedinthe\ninflectionsofpronounsandverbs.(1)nGenderHdisplayssuchcontrastsas"masculine役nfemininef\nneuterf\or"animate"and”inanimate役etc.,fortheanalysisofwordclasses・Whenworditemsrefertothesexofthereal-worldentities,wenaturalgender(theoppositeisgrammaticalgender).(2)”Case”identifiesthesyntacticrelationshipbetweenwordsinasentence.InLatingrammar,casesarebasedonvariationsinthemorphologicalformsoftheword,andaregiventheterms"accusative","nominative",ndativef\etc.InEnglish,thecasecategoryisrealizedinthreeways:byfollowingaprepositionandbywordorder.1.58eWhatisconcord?Whatisgovernment?HConcordMmaybedefinedasrequirementthattheformsoftwoormorewordsofspecificwordclassesthatstandinspecificsyntacticrelationshipwithoneanothershallbecharacterizedbythesameparadigmaticallymarkedcategoryorcategories,e.g.,”manruns","menrun11."Government”requiresthatonewordofaparticularclassinagivensyntacticclassshallexhibittheformofaspecificcategory.InEnglish,governmentappliesonlytopronounsamongthevariablewords.thatis,prepositionsandverbsgovernparticularformsoftheparadigmsofpronounsaccordingtotheirsyntacticrelationwiththem,c.g.,nIhelpedhim;hehelpedmc.nL59eWhatisaphrase?Whatisaclause?(1)A"phrase"isasingleelementofstructurecontainingmorethanoneword,andlackingthesubject-predicatestructuretypicalof"clauses".Traditionally,itisseenaspartofastructuralhierachy,fallingbetweenaclauseandword,e.g.,"thethreetallestgirls"(nominalphrase).Thereisnowatendencytomakeadistinctionbetweenwordgroupsandphrases.A"wordgroup11isanextensionofawordofaparticularclassbywayofmodificationwithitsmainfeaturesoftheclassunchanged・Thuswehavenominalgroup,verbalgroup,adverbialgroup,conjunctiongroupandprepositiongroup.(2)A"clause”isgroupofwordswithitsownsubjectandpredicateincludedinalargersubject-verbconstruction,namely,inasentence・Clausescanalsobeclassifiedintotwokinds:finiteandnon-finiteclauses,thelatterreferringtowhataretraditionallycalledinfinitivephrase,participlephraseandgerundialphrase.(For”sentence役see1.51.)L60>Whatisconjoining?Whatisembedding?Whatisrecursiveness?"Conjoining"referstoaconstructionwhereoneclauseisco-ordinatedorconjoinedwithanother,e.g.,"Johnboughtacatandhiswifekilledher.n"Embedding"referstotheprocessofconstructionwhereoneclauseisincludedinthesentence(ormainclause)insyntacticsubordination,e.g・,HIsawthemanwhohadkilledachimpanzee/1ByHrecursivenessHwemeanthatthereistheoreticallynolimittothenumberoftheembeddedclausesinacomplexsentence・Thisistruealsowithnominalandadverbialclauses,e.g.,nIsawthemanwho\nkilledacatwho...aratwhich…thatl>61L62Howmanykindsofmeaningdidlinguistsfindandstudy?(1)C.C.Fries(1952)makesatraditionaldistinctionbetweenlexicalmeaningandstructuralmeaning.Theformerisexpressedbythose"meaningful”partsofspeech,suchasnouns,verbs,adjectives,andadverbs,andisgiveninthedictionaryassociatedwithgrammar.Thelatterexpressesthedistinctionbetweenthesubjectandtheobjectofasentence,oppositionsofdefiniteness,tensethenumber,andthedifferencebetweenstatements,questionsandrequests.Inaword,Mthetotallinguisticmeaningofanyutteranceconsistsofthelexicalmeaningoftheseparatewordsplussuchstructuralmeaning../1(2)G.Leech(1981)categorizessevenkindsofmeaning,fiveofwhicharebroughtunderthe"associativemeaning11(seethefollowingchart).(3)Differentfromthetraditionalandthefunctionalapproach,F.R.Palmer(1981)andJ.Lyons(1977)suggestwedrawadistinctionbetweensentencemeaningandutterancemeaning,theformerbeingdirectlypredictablefromthegrammaticalandlexicalfeaturesofthesentence,whilethelatterincludesallthevarioustypesofmeaningnotnecessarilyassociatedthereto.L68>Whatissynonymy?"Synonymy”isusedtomeansamenessorclosesimilarityofmeaning.Dictionarymakers(lexicographers)relyontheexistenceofsynonymyfortheirdefinitions.Somesemanticiansmaintain,however,thattherearenorealsynonyms,becausetwoormorewordsnamedsynonymsareexpectedwithoutexceptiontodifferfromoneanotherinoneofthefollowingaspects:(1)Inshadesofmeaning(e.g.,finish,complete,close,conclude,terminate,finalize,end5etc.);\n(1)Instylisticmeaning(see1.67);(2)Inemotivemeaning(oraffectivemeaning,see1.67);(3)Inrangeofuse(orcollocativemeaning,see1.67);(4)InBritishandAmericanEnglishusages[e.g.,autumn(BrE),fall(AmE)].SimeonPottersaid/1Languageislikedress.Wevaryourdresstosuittheoccasion.Wedonotappearatafriend'ssilver-weddinganniversaryingardeningclothes,nordowegopuntingontheriverinadinner-jacket.nThismeansthelearningIfsynonymsisimportanttoanyonethatwishestousehislanguagefreelyandwell.L69Whatishyponymy?Whatisahyponym?Whatissuperordinate?"Hyponymy”involvesusinthenotionofmeaninginclusion.Itisamatterofclassmembership.Thatistosay,whenXidakindofY，thelowertermXisthe"hyponym",andtheuppertermYistheHsuperordinaten.Twoormorehyponymssharingthesameonesuperordinatearecallednco-hyponymstf-Forexample,"flower”isthesuperordinateof"tulip”，”violet”andlose”，whicharetheco-hyponymsof”flower”.1.71.Whatispolysemy?Whatishomonymy?"Polysemy”referstothesemanticphenomenonthatawordmayhavethanonemeaning.Forexample,"negative役means(l)astatementsayingormeaning"no",(2)arefusalordenial,(3)oneofthefollowingwordsandexpressions:no,not,nothing,never,notatall,etc.,(4)anegativephotographorfilm・ButwecansometimeshardlytellifaformhasseveralmeaningsoritisadifYerentwordtakingthisform;hencethedifferencebetweenpolysemyandhomonymy.1.72.Whatisentailment?HEntailmentMcanbeillustratedbythefollowingtwosentences,withSentenceAentailingSentenceB:A:Hemarriedablondeheiress.B:Hemarriedablonde.Intermsoftmthvalue,thefollowingrelationshipsexistbetweenthesetwosentences:(l)WhenAistrue,Bisnecessarilytrue;(2)WhenBisfalse,too;(3)whenAisfalse,Bmaybetrueorfalse;(4)WhenBistrue,Amaybetrueorfalse.Entailmentisbasicallyasemantic\nrelationorlogicalimplication,butwehavetoassumeco-referenceof"He"insentenceAandsentenceB,beforewehaveAentailB.L73smokc+fog,boate—boat+hotel,etc.(2)"Abbreviation”,alsocalledinsomecases"clipping”,meansthatawordthatseemsunnecessarilylongisshortened,usuallybyclippingeitherthefrontorthebackpartofit,c.g.,tclcphonc—phonc,professor^prof.,etc.Broadlyspeaking,abbreviationincludesacronymsthataremadeupfromthefirstlettersofthelongnameofanorganization,e.g.?WorldBank—>WB9EuropeanEconomicCommunity—>EEC,etc.Otherexamplesofacronymscanbefoundwithterminologies,tobereadlikeoneword,e.g.,radiodetectingandranging^radar[]•TestofEnglishasaForeignLanguage—>TOEFL[],etc.(3)nBack-fbrmationHreferstoanabnormaltypeofword-formationwhereashorterwordisderivedbydetectinganimaginedaffixfromalongerformalreadypresentinthelanguage.Itisaspecialkindofmetanalyais,combinedwithanalogicalcreation(see1.85),e.g.,editor—>edit,enthusiasm—>enthuse,etc.L85eWhatisanalogicalcreation?Whatisborrowing?Theprocessof"analogicalcreation役asoneoftheEnglishtendenciesinEnglishword-formation,referstothephenomenonthatanewwordoranewphraseiscoinedbyanalogybetweenanewlycreatedoneandanexistingone.Forexample,HmarathonnappearedattheFirstOlympicGamesandbyanalogymodemEnglishcreatedsuchwordsas"telethon",ntalkthon!\etc.Analogymaycreatesinglewords(e.g.?sunrise-moonrise,earthrise,etc.;earthquake-starquake,youthquake,etc.)andphrases(e.g.,environmentalpollution-soundpollution,airpollution,culturalpollution,etc.)."Borrowing”meanstheEnglishlanguageborrowedwordsfromforeignlanguages,whichfallinfourcategories:aliens,denizens,translation-loansandsemanticborrowings."Aliens"areforeignloansthatstillkeeptheiralienshapes,i.e.,morphologicalandphonologicalfeatures,e.g.，"elite","coupdetatH,Hcoupe,\etc.(fromFrench).MDeniensH,alsoforeignwords,havetransformedtheirforeignappearance,ie,theyhavebeenAngolcized(orAmericanized),e.g.,ngetM(aScandinavianborrowing),"theater”(aFrenchloan),etc."Hybrids"arealsodenizens,becausetheyarewordsmadeupoftwopartsbothfromforeignsoil,suchas"sociology”("socio」fromFrenchand・logyfromGreek).HTranslation-loansMarewordsimportedbywayoftranslation,e.g・，"blackhumor11from\nFrench(nhumornoir”),Hfoundobject11formFrench,too("objecttrouveH),etc.Finally,semanticborrowingshaveacquirednewmeaningundertheinfluenceoflanguageorlanguagesotherthanthesourcetongue•Forexample,"gift”mean"thepriceofawifeninOldEnglish(450-1150AD),andafterthesemanticborrowingofthemeaningof”giftorpresent11oftheScandinaviantermHgiptf\itmeantandstillmeansHgiftninthemodernsenseofit.L86eWhatisassimilation^dissimilationandmetathesis?(1)"Assimilation”referstochangeofasoundastheresultoftheinfluenceofanadjacentsound,whichiscalled"contact”or"contiguous”assimilation.Theassimitativeprocessesatwordinlanguagecouldbeexplainedbythe”theoryofleasteffbrtninspeakingwetendtoexertaslittleeffortaspossiblesothatwedonotwanttovarytoooftenplacesofarticulationinutteringasequenceofsounds-Assimilationtakesplaceinquickspeechveryoften.Inexpressionssuchas"immobile”，^illegal11,etc.,thenegativeprefixesshouldbeorhavebeenetymologically.(2)"Dissimilation",oppositeofassimilation,istheinfluenceexercisedbyonesoundsegmentuponthearticulationofanothersound,sothatthesoundsbecomelessalikethanexpected・Astherearetwo[r]soundsintheLatinword^peregrines11,forinstance,thefirstsegmenthadtodissimilateinto[l],hencetheEnglishword”pilgrim”.(3)"Metathesis”isaprocessinvolvinganalterationinthesequenceofsounds.Metathesishadoriginallybeenaperformanceerror,whichwasoverlookedandacceptedbythespeechcommunity.Forinstance,thewordnbirdMwasnbirdHinOldEnglish•Theword"ask”usedtobepronounced[ask]inOldEnglish,asstilloccursinsomeEnglishdialects.\nQuestions&AnswersonKeyPointsofLinguistics《英语语言学概论》重、难点问与答1.1.Whatislanguage?"Languageissystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsusedforhumancommunication.Itisasystem,sincelinguisticelementsarearrangedsystematically,ratherthanrandomly・Arbitrary,inthesensethatthereisusuallynointrinsicconnectionbetweenawork(like"book”)andtheobjectitrefersto.Thisexplainsandisexplainedbythefactthatdifferentlanguageshavedifferent"books”："book”inEnglish,HlivreHinFrench,inJapanese,inChinese,"check"inKorean.Itissymbolic,becausewordsareassociatedwithobjects,actions,ideasetc.bynothingbutconvention.Namely,peopleusethesoundsorvocalformstosymbolizewhattheywishtoreferto.Itisvocal,becausesoundorspeechistheprimarymediumforallhumanlanguages,developedor"new”.Writingsystemscamemuchlaterthanthespokenforms.Thefactthatsmallchildrenlearnandcanonlylearntospeak(andlisten)beforetheywrite(andread)alsoindicatesthatlanguageisprimarilyvocal,ratherthanwritten.Theterm"human”inthedefinitionismeanttospecifythatlanguageishumanspecific.1.2.Whataredesignfeaturesoflanguage?"Designfeatures11hererefertothedefiningpropertiesofhumanlanguagethattellthedifferencebetweenhumanlanguageandanysystemofanimalcommunication.Theyarcarbitrariness,duality,productivity,displacement,culturaltransmissionandinterchangeability1.3.Whatisarbitrariness?By"arbitrariness役wemeanthereisnologicalconnectionbetweenmeaningsandsounds(seeI.1).Adogmightbeapigifonlythefirstpersonorgroupofpersonshaduseditforapig.Languageisthereforelargelyarbitrary.Butlanguageisnotabsolutelyseemtobesomesound-meaningassociation,ifwethinkofechowords,like”bang蔦"crash”，nroarf\whicharemotivatedinacertainsense.Secondly,somecompounds(wordscompoundedtobeoneword)arenotentirelyarbitraryeither."Type"and"write”areopaqueorunmotivatedwords,while"type-writer”islessso,ormoretransparentormotivatedthanthewordsthatmakeit.Sowecansaynarbitrariness0isamatterofdegree.1.4.Whatisduality?Linguistsrefer"duality”(ofstmeture)tothefactthatinalllanguagessofarinvestigated,onefindstwolevelsofstructureorpatterning.Atthefirst,higherlevel,languageisanalyzedintermsofcombinationsofmeaningfulunits(suchasmorphemes,wordsetc.);atthesecond,lowerlevel,itisseenasasequenceofsegmentswhichlackanymeaninginthemselves,butwhichcombinetoformunitsofmeaning.AccordingtoHuZhanglinetal.\n(p.6),languageisasystemoftwosetsofstructures,oneofsoundsandtheotherofmeaning.Thisisimportantfortheworkingsoflanguage.Asmallnumberofsemanticunits(words),andtheseunitsofmeaningcanbearrangedandrearrangedintoaninfinitenumberofsentences(notethatwehavedictionariesofwords,butnodictionaryofsentences!).Dualitymakesitpossibleforapersontotalkaboutanythingwithinhisknowledge.Noanimalcommunicationsystemenjoysthisduality,orevenapproachesthishonour.leSeWhatisproductivity?Productivityreferstotheabilitytotheabilitytoconstructandunderstandanindefinitelylargenumberofsentencesinone'snativelanguage,includingthosethathasneverheardbefore,butthatareappropriatetothespeakingsituation.NoonehaseversaidorheardnAred-eyedelephantisdancingonthesmallhotelbedwithanAfricangibbon役buthecansayitwhennecessary,andhecanunderstanditinrightregister.Differentfromartisticcreativity,though,productivitynevergoesoutsidethelanguage,thusalsocalled”rule-boundcreativity11(byN.Chomsky).16Whatisdisplacement?"Displacement蔦asoneofthedesignfeaturesofthehumanlanguage,referstothefactthatonecantalkaboutthingsthatarenotpresent,aseasilyashedoesthingspresent.Inotherwords,onecanrefertorealandunrealthings,thingsofthepast,ofthepresent,ofthefuture.Languageitselfcanbetalkedabouttoo.Whenaman,forexample,iscryingtoawoman,aboutsomething,itmightbesomethingthathadoccurred,orsomethingthatisoccurring,orsomethingthatistooccur.Whenadogisbarking,however,youcandecideitisbarkingforsomethingoratsomeonethatexistsnowandthere・Itcouldn!tbebow-wowingsorrowfiillyfordomelostloveorabonetobelost.Thebccfssystem,nonetheless,hasasmallshareof"displacement；butitisanunspeakabletinyshare.le7>Whatisculturaltransmission?Thismeansthatlanguageisnotbiologicallytransmittedfromgenerationtogeneration,butthatthedetailsofthelinguisticsystemmustbelearnedanewbyeachspeaker.Itistruethatthecapacityforlanguageinhumanbeings(N.ChomskycalleditHlanguageacquisitiondevice”，orLAD)hasageneticbasis,buttheparticularlanguageapersonlearnstospeakisaculturaloneotherthanageneticonelikethedog'sbarkingsystem・Ifahumanbeingisbroughtupinisolationhecannotacquirelanguage.TheWolfChildrearedbythepackofwolvesturnedouttospeakthewolfsroaring"tongue"whenhewassaved.Helearnedthereafter,withnosmalldifficulty,theABCofacertainhumanlanguage.le8.Whatisinterchangeability?(1)Interchangeabilitymeansthatanyhumanbeingcanbebothaproducerandareceiverofmessages.Wecansay,andonotheroccasionscanreceiveandunderstand,forexample,\n"Pleasedosomethingtomakemehappy.11Thoughsomepeople(includingme)suggestthatthereissexdifferentiationintheactuallanguageuse,inotherwords,menandwomenmaysaydifferentthings,yetinprinciplethereisnosound,orwordorsentencethatamancanutterandawomancannot,orviceversa.Ontheotherhand,apersoncanbethespeakerwhiletheotherpersonisthelistenerandastheturnmovesontothelistener,hecanbethespeakerandthefirstspeakeristolisten.Itisturn-takingthatmakessocialcommunicationpossibleandacceptable.(1)Somcmalebirds,however,uttersomecallswhichfemalesdonot(orcannot?)、andcertainkindsoffishhavesimilarhapsmentionable.Whenadogbarks,alltheneighbouringdogsbark.Thenpeoplearoundcanhardlytellwhichdog(dogs)is(areOnspeakingHandwhichlistening.L9>Whydolinguistssaylanguageishumanspecific?Firstofall,humanlanguagehassixHdesignfeatures11whichanimalcommunicationsystemsdonothave,atleastnotinthetruesenseofthem(seeI.2-8).Let'sborrowC.F.HockefsChartthatcompareshumanlanguagewithsomeanimals1systems,fromWangGang(1998,p.8).Secondly,linguistshavedonealottryingtoteachanimalssuchaschimpanzeestospeakahumanlanguagebuthaveachievednothinginspiring.Washoe,afemalechimpanzee,wasbroughtuplikeahumanchildbyBeatniceandAlanGardner.ShewastaughtnAmericansignLanguage蔦andlearnedalittlethatmadetheteachershappybutdidmotmakethelinguisticscirclehappy,forfewbelievedinteachingchimpanzees・Thirdly,ahumanchildrearedamonganimalscannotspeakahumanlanguage,notevenwhenheistakenbackandtaughttolotoso(seetheHWolfChikTin1.7)lelO>Whatfunctionsdoeslanguagehave?Languagehasatleastsevenfunctions:phatic,directive,Informative,interrogative,expressive,evocativeandperformative.AccordingtoWangGang(198&p.l1),languagehasthreemainfunctions:atoolofcommunication,atoolwherebypeoplelearnabouttheworld,andatoolbywhichpeoplelearnabouttheworld,andatoolbywhichpeoplecreateart•MAK.Halliday,representativeoftheLondonschool,recognizesthreenMacro-FunctionsM:ideational,interpersonalandtcxtual(scc!.ll-17;sccHUZhuanglinctal.,pp10-13,pp394-396).1.11Whatisthephaticfunction?The"phaticfunction11referstolanguagebeingusedforsettingupacertainatmosphereormaintainingsocialcontacts(ratherthanforexchanginginformationorideas).Greetings,farewells,andcommentsontheweatherinEnglishandonclothinginChineseallservethisfunction.Muchofthephaticlanguage(e.g.HHowareyou?”"Fine,thanks.11)isinsincereiftakenliterally,butitisimportant.Ifyoudon'tsaynHclloHtoafriendyoumeet,orifyou\ndon'tanswerhis"Hi'：youruinyourfriendship.1.12.Whatisthedirectivefunction?The"directivefunctionnmeansthatlanguagemaybeusedtogetthehearertodosomething.Mostimperativesentencesperformthisfunction,e.g.,nTellmetheresultwhenyoufinish.nOthersyntacticstructuresorsentencesofothersortscan,accordingtoJ.AustinandJ.Searle'snindrectspeechacttheoryn(seeHuZhuanglinetal.,pp271-278)atleast,servethepurposeofdirectiontoo,e.g.,HIfIwereyou,Iwouldhaveblushedtothebottomofmyears!n1.13.Whatistheinformativefunction?Languageservesanninfbrmationalfunction11whenusedtotellsomething,characterizedbytheuseofdeclarativesentences・Informativestatementsareoftenlabelledastrue(truth)orfialse(falsehood).AccordingtoP.Gricefs"CooperativePrinciplen(seeHuZhuanglinetal.,pp282-283),oneoughtnottoviolatethe"MaximofQuality",whenheisinformingatall.l・14・Whatistheinterrogativefunction?Whenlanguageisusedtoobtaininformation,itservesanninterrogativefunction11.Thisincludesallquestionsthatexpectreplies,statements,imperativesetc.,accordingtothetfindirectspeechacttheory11,mayhavethisfunctionaswell,e.g.,"I'dliketoknowyoubetter/1Thismaybringforthalotofpersonalinfbrmation.Notethatrhetoricalquestionsmakeanexception,sincetheydemandnoanswer,atleastnotthereadefs/listenefsanswer.l>15Whatistheperformativefunction?Thismeanspeoplespeaktondothings11orperformactions.Oncertainoccasionstheutteranceitselfasanactionismoreimportantthanwhatwordsorsoundsconstitutetheutteredsentence・WhenaskedifathirdYangtzebridgeoughttobebuiltinWuhan,themayormaysayHOK!\whichmeansmorethanspeech,andmorethananaveragesocialindividualmaydofortheconstruction.Thejudge'simprisonmentsentence,thepresidentswarorindependencedeclaration,etc.,areperformativesaswell(seeJ.Austin^speechActTheory、HuZhuanglin,ecal.,pp271-278).1.18.Whatislinguistics?"Linguistics"isthescientificstudyoflanguage.Itstudiesnotjustonelanguageofanyonesociety,butthelanguageofallhumanbeings・Alinguist,though,docsnothavetoknowandusealargenumberoflanguages,buttoinvestigatehoweachlanguageisconstructed.Heisalsoconcernedwithhowalanguagevariesfromdialecttodialect,fromclasstoclass,howitchangesfromcenturytocentury,howchildrenacquiretheirmothertongue,andperhapshowapersonlearnsorshouldlearnaforeignlanguage.Inshort,linguisticsstudiesthegeneralprincipleswhereuponallhumanlanguagesareconstructedandoperateassystemsofcommunicationintheirsocietiesorcommunities(seeHuZhuanglinetal.，pp20・22)1.19・Whatmakeslinguisticsascience?Sincelinguisticsisthescientificstudyoflanguage,itoughttobaseitselfuponthesystematic,investigationoflanguagedatawhichaimsatdiscoveringthetruenatureoflanguageanditsunderlyingsystem.Tomakesenseofthedata,alinguistusuallyhasconceivedsomehypothesesaboutthelanguagestructure,tobecheckedagainsttheobservedorobservablefacts.Inordertomakehisanalysisscientific,alinguistisusuallyguidedbyfourprinciples:exhaustiveness,consistency,andobjectivity.Exhaustivenessmeansheshouldgatherallthematerialsrelevanttothestudyandgivethemanadequateexplanation,inspiteofthecomplicatedness.Heistoleavenolinguistic"stone"unturned・Consistencymeansthereshouldbenocontradictionbetweendifferentpartsofthetotalstatement.Economymeansalinguistshouldpursuebrevityintheanalysiswhenitispossible.Objectivityimpliesthatsincesomepeoplemaybesubjectiveinthestudy,alinguistshouldbe(orsoundatleast)objective,matter-of-face,faithfultoreality,sothathisworkconstitutespartofthelinguisticsresearch.1.202LWhataresynchronicanddiachronicstudies?Thedescriptionofalanguageatsomepointoftime(asifitstoppeddeveloping)isasynchronystudy(synchrony).Thedescriptionofalanguageasitchangesthroughtimeisadiachronicstudy(diachronic).AnessayentitledHOntheUseofTHE役forexample,maybesynchronic,iftheauthordoesnotrecallthepastofTHE,anditmayalsobediachronicifheclaimstocoveralargerangeorperiodoftimewhereinTHEhasundergonetremendousalteration(seeHuZhuanglinetal.,pp25・27).1.22.Whatisspeechandwhatiswriting?(1)Nooneneedstherepetitionofthegeneralprincipleoflinguisticanalysis,namely,theprimacyofspeechoverwriting・Speechisprimary,becauseitexistedlonglongbeforewritingsystemscameintobeing.Geneticallychildrenlearntospeakbeforelearningtowrite.Secondly,writtenformsjustrepresentinthiswayorthatthespeechsounds:individualsounds,asinEnglishandFrenchasinJapanese.(2)Incontrasttospeech,spokenformoflanguage,writingaswrittencodes,giveslanguagenewscopeandusethatspeechdoesnothave.Firstly,messagescanbecarriedthroughspacesothatpeoplecanwritetoeachother.Secondly,messagescanbecarriedthroughtimethereby,sothatpeopleofourtimecanbecarriedthroughtimethereby,sothatpeopleofourtimecanreadBeowulf,SamuelJohnson,andEdgarA.Poe・Thirdly,oralmessagesarereadilysubjecttodistortion,eitherintentionalorunintentional(causingmisunderstandingormalentendu),whilewrittenmessagesallowandencouragerepeatedunalterablereading.(3)Mostmodernlinguisticanalysisisfocusedonspeech,differentfromgrammariansofthelastcenturyandtheretofore・L23eWhatarethedifferencesbetweenthedescriptiveandtheprescriptiveapproaches?Alinguisticstudyis"descriptive"ifitonlydescribesandanalysesthefactsoflanguage,and"prescriptive”ifittriestolaydownrulesforncorrectnlanguagebehavior.Linguisticstudiesbeforethiscenturywerelargelyprescriptivebecausemanyearlygrammarswerelargelyprescriptivebecausemanyearlygrammarswerebasedon"high”(literaryorreligious)writtenrecords・Modemlinguisticsismostlydescriptive,however.It(thelatter)believesthatwhateveroccursinnaturalspeech(hesitation,incompleteutterance,misunderstanding,etc.)shouldbedescribedintheanalysis,andnotbemarkedasincorrect,abnormal,corrupt,orlousy.These,withchangesinvocabularyandstructures,needtobeexplainedalso.\n1.24・Whatisthedifferencebetweenlangueandparole?F.deSaussurerefersHlanguentotheabstractlinguisticsystemsharedbyallthemembersofaspeechcommunityandrefers”parole"totheactualoractualizedlanguage,ortherealizationoflangue.Langueisabstract,parolespecifictothespeakingsituation;languenotactuallyspokenbyanindividual,parolealwaysanaturallyoccurringevent;languerelativelystableandsystematic,paroleisamassofconfusedfacts,thusnotsuitableforsystematicinvestigation.Whatalinguistoughttodo,accordingtoSaussure,istoabstractlanguefrominstancesofparole,i.e.todiscovertheregularitiesgoverningallinstancesofparoleandmakethanthesubjectoflinguistics.Thelangue-paroledistinctionisofgreatimportance,whichcastsgreatinfluenceonlaterlinguists・L25eWhatisthedifferencebetweencompetenceandperformance?(1)AccordingtoN.Chomsky,"competence"istheideallanguageuser'sknowledgeoftherulesofhislanguage,andHperfbrmanceHistheactualrealizationofthisknowledgeinutterances.Theformerenablesaspeakertoproduceandunderstandanindefinitenumberofsentencesandtorecognizegrammaticalmistakesandambiguities.Aspeaker'scompetenceisstablewhilehisperformanceisofteninfluencedbypsychologicalandsocialfactors・Soaspeaker'sperformancedocsnotalwaysmatchorequalhissupposedcompetence.(2)Chomskybelievesthatlinguistsoughttostudycompetence,ratherthanperformance・Inotherwords,theyshoulddiscoverwhatanidealspeakerknowsofhisnativelanguage・frommanypossibleinjusticeitems,eachofwhichhecouldhavesaid(linguisticpotential).l・27.Inwhatwaydolanguage,competenceandlinguisticpotentialagree?Inwhatwaydotheydiffer?Andtheircounterparts?Langue,competenceandlinguisticpotentialhavesomesimilarfeatures,buttheyareinnatelydifferent(see1.25).Langueisasocialproduct,andasetofspeakingconventions;competenceisapropertyorattributeofeachidealspeaker'smind;linguisticpotentialisallthelinguisticcorpusorrepertoireavailablefromwhichthespeakerchoosesitemsfortheactualutterancesituation.Inotherwords,langueisinvisiblebutreliableabstractsystem.Competencemeans"knowing；andlinguisticpotentialasetofpossibilitiesfor"doing”or^performingactions11.TheyaresimilarinthattheyallrefertotheconstantunderlyingtheutterancesthatconstitutewhatSaussure,ChomskyandHallidayrespectivelycalledparole,performanceandactuallinguisticbehavior.Paole,performanceandactuallinguisticbehaviorenjoymoresimilaritiesthandifferences・(3)Chomsky'scompetence-performancedistinctionisnotexactlythesameas,thoughsimilarto,F.deSaussure^langue-paroledistinction.Langueisasocialproduct,andasetofconventionsforacommunity,whilecompetenceisdeemedasa\npropertyofthemindofeachindividual.SussurelooksatlanguagemorefromasociologicalorsociolinguisticpointofviewthanN.Chomskysincethelatterdealswithhisissuespsychologicallyorpsycholinguistically・l>26.Whatislinguisticpotential?Whatisactuallinguisticbehaviour?Thesetwoterms,orthepotential-behaviordistinction,weremadebyM.A.K.Hallidayinthe1960s,fromafunctionalpointofview.Thereisawiderangeofthingsaspeakercandoinhisculture,andsimilarlytherearemanythingshecansay,forexample,tomanypeople,onmanytopics・Whatheactuallysays(i.e.his"actuallinguisticbehavior3*******11)onacertainoccasiontoacertainpersoniswhathehaschosen