英语语言学重难点提示 5页

英语语言学重难点提示LWhatislanguage?"Languageissystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsusedforhumancommunication.Itisasystem,sincelinguisticelementsarearrangedsystematically,ratherthanrandomly.Arbitrary,inthesensethatthereisusuallynointrinsicconnectionbetweenawork(like“bookJandtheobjectitrefersto.Thisexplainsandisexplainedbythefactthatdifferentlanguageshavedifferent“books，，："book"inEnglish,"iivre^inFrench,“shiTinChinese.Itissymbolic,becausewordsareassociatedwithobjects,actions,ideasetc.bynothingbutconvention.Namely,peopleusethesoundsorvocalformstosymbolizewhattheywishtoreferto.Itisvocal,becausesoundorspeechistheprimarymediumforallhumanlanguages.Writingsystemscamemuchlaterthanthespokenforms.Thefactthatsmallchildrenlearnandcanonlylearntospeak(andlisten)beforetheywrite(andread)alsoindicatesthatlanguageisprimarilyvocal,ratherthanwritten.Theterm"humarTinthedefinitionismeanttospecifythatlanguageishumanspecific.2.Whataredesignfeaturesoflanguage?"Designfeatures^hererefertothedefiningpropertiesofhumanlanguagethattellthedifferencebetweenhumanlanguageandanysystemofanimalcommunication.Theyarearbitrariness,duality,productivity,displacement,culturaltransmissionandinterchangeability3.Whatisarbitrariness?By"arbitrariness^,wemeanthereisnologicalconnectionbetweenmeaningsandsounds.Adogmightbeapigifonlythefirstpersonorgroupofpersonshaduseditforapig.Languageisthereforelargelyarbitrary.Butlanguageisnotabsolutelyseemtobesomesound-meaningassociation,ifwethinkofechowords,like“bang",“crash","roar",whicharemotivatedinacertainsense.Secondly,somecompounds(wordscompoundedtobeoneword)arenotentirelyarbitraryeither."Type”and“write”areopaqueorunmotivatedwords,while"type-writer^islessso,ormoretransparentormotivatedthanthewordsthatmakeit.Sowecansay"arbitrariness”isamatterofdegree.4.Whatisduality?Linguistsrefer"duality，，(ofstructure)tothefactthatinalllanguagessofarinvestigated,onefindstwolevelsofstructureorpatterning.Atthefirst,higherlevel,languageisanalyzedintermsofcombinationsofmeaningfulunits(suchasmorphemes,wordsetc.);atthesecond,lowerlevel,itisseenasasequenceofsegmentswhichlackanymeaninginthemselves,butwhichcombinetoformunitsofmeaning.AccordingtoHuZhanglinetal.,languageisasystemoftwosetsofstructures,oneofsoundsandtheotherofmeaning.Thisisimportantfortheworkingsoflanguage.Asmallnumberofsemanticunits(words),andtheseunitsofmeaningcanbearrangedandrearrangedintoaninfinitenumberofsentences(notethatwehavedictionariesofwords,butnodictionaryofsentences!).Dualitymakesitpossibleforapersontotalkaboutanythingwithinhisknowledge.Noanimalcommunicationsystemenjoysthisduality.\n2.Whatisproductivity?Productivityreferstotheabilitytotheabilitytoconstructandunderstandanindefinitelylargenumberofsentencesinone'snativelanguage,includingthosethathasneverheardbefore,butthatareappropriatetothespeakingsituation.Noonehaseversaidorheard“Ared-eyedelephantisdancingonthesmallhotelbedwithanAfricangibbon^,buthecansayitwhennecessary,andhecanunderstanditinrightregister.Differentfromartisticcreativity,though,productivitynevergoesoutsidethelanguage,thusalsocalled"rule-boundcreativity^(byN.Chomsky).3.Whatisdisplacement?"Displacement^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“displacement",butitisanunspeakabletinyshare.4.Whatisculturaltransmission?Thismeansthatlanguageisnotbiologicallytransmittedfromgenerationtogeneration,butthatthedetailsofthelinguisticsystemmustbelearnedanewbyeachspeaker.Itistruethatthecapacityforlanguageinhumanbeings(N.Chomskycalledit"languageacquisitiondevice二orLAD)hasageneticbasis,buttheparticularlanguageapersonlearnstospeakisaculturaloneotherthanageneticonelikethedog'sbarkingsystem.Ifahumanbeingisbroughtupinisolationhecannotacquirelanguage.TheWolfChildrearedbythepackofwolvesturnedouttospeakthewolfsroaring“tongue"whenhewassaved.Helearnedthereafter,withnosmalldifficulty,theABCofacertainhumanlanguage.5.Whatisinterchangeability?Interchangeabilitymeansthatanyhumanbeingcanbebothaproducerandareceiverofmessages.Thoughsomepeoplesuggestthatthereissexdifferentiationintheactuallanguageuse,inotherwords,menandwomenmaysaydifferentthings,yetinprinciplethereisnosound,orwordorsentencethatamancanutterandawomancannot,orviceversa.Ontheotherhand,apersoncanbethespeakerwhiletheotherpersonisthelistenerandastheturnmovesontothelistener,hecanbethespeakerandthefirstspeakeristolisten.Itisturn-takingthatmakessocialcommunicationpossibleandacceptable・Somemalebirds,however,uttersomecallswhichfemalesdonot(orcannot).Whenadogbarks,alltheneighboringdogsbark.Thenpeoplearoundcanhardlytellwhichdog(dogs)is(are)"speaking55andwhichlistening.\n9・Whydolinguistssaylanguageishumanspecific?Firstofall,humanlanguagehassix“designfeatures^whichanimalcommunicationsystemsdonothave,atleastnotinthetruesenseofthem.Secondly,linguistshavedonealottryingtoteachanimalssuchaschimpanzeestospeakahumanlanguagebuthaveachievednothinginspiring.Washoe,afemalechimpanzee,wasbroughtuplikeahumanchildbyBeatniceandAlanGardner.Shewastaught"AmericansignLanguage冷andlearnedalittlethatmadetheteachershappybutdidmotmakethelinguisticscirclehappy,forfewbelievedinteachingchimpanzees.Thirdly,ahumanchildrearedamonganimalscannotspeakahumanlanguage,notevenwhenheistakenbackandtaughttodoso.10>Whatfunctionsdoeslanguagehave?Languagehasatleastsevenfunctions:phatic,directive,Informative,interrogative,expressive,evocativeandperformative.AccordingtoWangGang(198&p.l1),languagehasthreemainfunctions:atoolofcommunication,atoolwherebypeoplelearnabouttheworld,andatoolbywhichpeoplelearnabouttheworld,andatoolbywhichpeoplecreateart.M.A.K.Halliday,representativeoftheLondonschool,recognizesthreeuMacro-Functionsv:ideational,interpersonalandtextual.11.Whatisthephaticfunction?The“phaticfunction^referstolanguagebeingusedforsettingupacertainatmosphereormaintainingsocialcontacts(ratherthanforexchanginginformationorideas).Greetings,farewells,andcommentsontheweatherinEnglishandonclothinginChineseallservethisfunction.Muchofthephaticlanguage(e.g・“Howareyou?”“Fine,thanks：')isinsincereiftakenliterally,butitisimportant.Ifyoudon'tsay“Hello"toafriendyoumeet,orifyoudon'tanswerhis"Hi”，youruinyourfriendship.12.Whatisthedirectivefunction?The"directivefunction59meansthatlanguagemaybeusedtogetthehearertodosomething.Mostimperativesentencesperformthisfunction,e.g・，"Tellmetheresultwhenyoufinish：Othersyntacticstructuresorsentencesofothersortscan,accordingtoJ.AustinandJ.Searle's"Indirectspeechacttheory”atleast,servethepurposeofdirectiontoo,e.g.,“IfIwereyou,Iwouldhaveblushedtothebottomofmyears!v13.Whatistheinformativefunction?Languageservesan"informationalfunction^whenusedtotellsomething,characterizedbytheuseofdeclarativesentences.Informativestatementsareoftenlabelledastrue(truth)orfalse(falsehood).AccordingtoP.Grice，s"CooperativePrinciple'：oneoughtnottoviolatethe"MaximofQuality二whenheisinformingatall.14.Whatistheinterrogativefunction?Whenlanguageisusedtoobtaininformation,itservesan"interrogativefunction^.Thisincludesallquestionsthatexpectreplies,statements,imperativesetc.,accordingtothe\n"indirectspeechacttheory^,mayhavethisfunctionaswell,e.g.,'Tdliketoknowyoubetter：Thismaybringforthalotofpersonalinformation・Notethatrhetoricalquestionsmakeanexception,sincetheydemandnoanswer,atleastnotthereader^s/listener^sanswer.11.Whatistheexpressivefunction?The"expressivefunction^istheuseoflanguagetorevealsomethingaboutthefeelingsorattitudesofthespeaker.Subconsciousemotionalejaculationsaregoodexamples,like“Goodheavens!'5“MyGod!'，Sentenceslike'Tmsorryaboutthedelayscanserveasgoodexamplestoo,thoughinasubtleway.Whilelanguageisusedfortheinformativefunctiontopassjudgmentonthetruthorfalsehoodofstatements,languageusedfortheexpressivefunctionevaluates,appraisesorassertsthespeakersownattitudes.16>Whatistheevocativefunction?The"evocativefunction^istheuseoflanguagetocreatecertainfeelingsinthehearer.Itsaimis,forexample,toamuse,startle,antagonize,soothe,worryorplease.Jokes(notpracticaljokes,though)aresupposedtoamuseorentertainthelistener;advertisingtourgecustomerstopurchasecertaincommodities;propagandatoinfluencepublicopinion.Obviously,theexpressiveandtheevocativefunctionsoftengotogether,i.e.,youmayexpress,forexample,yourpersonalfeelingsaboutapoliticalissuebutendupbyevokingthesamefeelingin,orimposingiton,yourlistener.That'salsothecasewiththeotherwayround.17>Whatistheperformativefunction?Thismeanspeoplespeakto"dothings^orperformactions.Oncertainoccasionstheutteranceitselfasanactionismoreimportantthanwhatwordsorsoundsconstitutetheutteredsentence.Thejudge'simprisonmentsentence,thepresident'swarorindependencedeclaration,etc.，areperformatives.18eWhatislinguistics?"Linguistics”isthescientificstudyoflanguage.Itstudiesnotjustonelanguageofanyonesociety,butthelanguageofallhumanbeings.Alinguist,though,doesnothavetoknowandusealargenumberoflanguages,buttoinvestigatehoweachlanguageisconstructed.Heisalsoconcernedwithhowalanguagevariesfromdialecttodialect,fromclasstoclass,howitchangesfromcenturytocentury,howchildrenacquiretheirmothertongue,andperhapshowapersonlearnsorshouldlearnaforeignlanguage.Inshort,linguisticsstudiesthegeneralprincipleswhereuponallhumanlanguagesareconstructedandoperateassystemsofcommunicationintheirsocietiesorcommunities.19.Whatmakeslinguisticsascience?Sincelinguisticsisthescientificstudyoflanguage,itoughttobaseitselfuponthesystematic,investigationoflanguagedatawhichaimsatdiscoveringthetruenatureoflanguageanditsunderlyingsystem.Tomakesenseofthedata,alinguistusuallyhas\nconceivedsomehypothesesaboutthelanguagestructure,tobecheckedagainsttheobservedorobservablefacts.Inordertomakehisanalysisscientific,alinguistisusuallyguidedbyfourprinciples:exhaustiveness,consistency,andobjectivity.Exhaustivenessmeansheshouldgatherallthematerialsrelevanttothestudyandgivethemanadequateexplanation,inspiteofthecomplicatedness.Heistoleavenolinguistic“stone"unturned・Consistencymeansthereshouldbenocontradictionbetweendifferentpartsofthetotalstatement.Economymeansalinguistshouldpursuebrevityintheanalysiswhenitispossible.Objectivityimpliesthatsincesomepeoplemaybesubjectiveinthestudy,alinguistshouldbe(orsoundatleast)objective,matter-of-face,faithfultoreality,sothathisworkconstitutespartofthelinguisticsresearch.20>Whatarethemajorbranchesoflinguistics?Thestudyoflanguageasawholeisoftencalledgenerallinguistics.Butalinguistsometimesisabletodealwithonlyoneaspectoflanguageatatime,thustheariseofvariousbranches:phonetics,phonology,morphology,syntax,semantics,pragmatics,sociolinguistics,appliedlinguistics,psycholinguisticsetc.