1.1. What is language?
“Language is system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication. It is a system, since linguistic elements are arranged systematically, rather than randomly. Arbitrary, in the sense that there is usually no intrins ic connection between a work (like “book”) and the object it refers to. This explains and is explained by the fact that different languages have different “books”: “book” in English, “livre” in French, in Japanese, in Chinese, “check” in Korean. It is symb olic, because words are associated with objects, actions, ideas etc. by nothing but convention. Namely, people use the 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 human l anguages, 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) before 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 language that tell the difference between human language and any system of animal communication. They are arbitrariness, duality, productivity,
displacement, cultural transmission and interchangeability
1.3. What is arbitrariness?
By “arbitrariness”, we mean there is no logical connection between meanings and 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 motivated 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” is less so, or more transparent or motivated than the words that make it. So we can say “arbitrariness” is 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, 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 important 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 about anything within his knowledge. No animal communication system enjoys this duality, or even approaches this honor.
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 langua ge, including those that 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 hotel bed with an African gibbon”, but he can say it when necessary, and he can understand it in right register. Different from artistic 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 easily 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. When a man, for example, is crying to a woman, about something, it might be something that had occurred, or something that 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 lost love or a bone to be lost. The bee’s system, nonetheless, has a small share of “displacement”, but it is an unspeakable tiny share.
1.7.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 for language in human beings (N. Chomsky called it “language acquisition device”, or LAD) has a genetic basis, but the particular 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 Wolf 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?
(1) Interchangeability means that any human being can be both
a producer and 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 tha t there is sex differentiation in the actual language use, in other words, men and women may say different things, 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 speaker is to listen. It is turn-taking that makes social communication possible and acceptable.
(2) 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 neighboring dogs bark. Then people around can hardly tell which dog (dogs) is (are0 “speaking” and which listening.
1.9.Why do linguists say language is human specific?
First of all, human language 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 Chart tha t compares human language with some animals’ systems, from Wang Gang (1998,p.8).
Secondly, linguists have done a lot trying to teach animals such as chimpanzees to speak a human language but have achieved nothing inspiring. Beatnice and Alan Gardner brought up Washoe, a female chimpanzee, like a human child. 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 teaching chimpanzees.
Thirdly, a human child reared among animals cannot speak a human language, not even when he is taken back and 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 per formative. According to Wang Gang (1988,p.11), language has three main functions: a tool 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, recognizes three “Macro-Functions”: ideational, interpersonal and textual (see!
11-17;see 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 English 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.
1.1
2. What is the directive function?
The “directive function” means that language may be used to get the hearer to do something. Most imperative sentences perform this function, e.g., “Tell me the result when you finish.” Other syntactic structures or sen tences of other sorts can, according to J.Austin and J.Searle’s “indirect speech act theory”(see Hu Zhuanglin 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?
Language serves an “informational function” when used to tell something, characterized by the use of declarative sentences. Informative statements are often labeled 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.
1.14.What is the interrogative function?
When language is used to obtain information, it serves an “interrogative fun ction”. 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 know you better.” This may bring forth a lot of personal information. 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 something 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 to pass judgment 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 cr eate certain feelings in the hearer. Its aim 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 evocative 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 per formative function?
This means people speak to “do things” or perform actions. On certain occasions the 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 more than an average social individual may do for the construction. The judge’s i mprisonment sentence, the president’s war or independence declaration, etc., are per formatives as well (see J.Austin’s speech Act Theory, Hu Zhuanglin, ecal.pp271-278).
1.18.What is linguistics?
“Linguistics” is the scientific study of language. It studi es not just one language of any one society, but also 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 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 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 the 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 principles: 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 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 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.Hu Zhuanglin et al., 1988;Wang Gang, 1988). But a linguist sometimes is able to deal with only one aspect of language at a time, thus the arise of various branches: phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, sociolinguistics, applied linguistics, pragmatics, psycholinguistics, lexicology, lexicography, etymology, etc.
1.21.What are synchronic and diachronic studies?
The description of a language at some point of 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 entitle d “On the Use of THE”, for example, may be synchronic, if the author does not recall the past of THE, and it may also be diachronic if he claims to cover a large range or period of time wherein THE has undergone tremendous alteration (see Hu Zhuanglin et al., pp25-27).
1.2
2.What is speech and what is writing?
(1) No one needs the repetition of the general principle of linguistic analysis, namely, the primacy of speech over writing. 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 the speech sounds: individual sounds, as in English and French as in Japanese. (2) In contrast 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 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 intentional or unintentional (causing misunderstanding or malentendu), while written messages allow and encourage repeated unalterable reading.
(3) 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 prescriptive approaches?
A linguistic study is “descriptive” if it only describes and analyses the facts of language, and “prescriptive” if it tries to lay down rules for “correct” language behavior. Linguistic studies before t his century were largely prescriptive because many early grammars were largely prescriptive because many early grammars were based on “high” (literary or religious) written records. 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 vocabulary and structures, need to be explained also.
1.24.What is the difference between langue and parole?
F. De Saussure refers “langue”to the abstract linguistic system shared by all the members of a speech community and refers “parole” to the actual or actualized language, or the realization of langue. Langue is abstract, parole specific to the speaking situation; langue not actually spoken by an
individual, parole always a naturally occurring event; langue relatively stable and systematic, parole is a mass of confused facts, thus not suitable for systematic investigation. What a linguist ought to do, according to Saussure, is to abstract langue from instances of parole, I. e. to discover the regularities governing all instances of parole and make than the subject of linguistics. The langue-parole distinction is of great importance, which casts great influence on later linguists.
1.25.What is the difference between competence and performance? (1) According to N. Chomsky, “competence” is the ideal language user’s knowledge of the rules of his language, and “performance” is the actual realization of this knowledge in utterances. The former enables a speaker to produce and understand an indefinite number of sentences and to recognize grammatical mistakes and ambiguities. A speaker’s competence is stable while his performance is often influenced by psychological and social factors. So a speaker’s performance does not always match or equal his supposed competence. (2) Chomsky believes that linguists ought to study competence, rather than performance. In other words, they should discover what an ideal speaker knows of his native language.
(3) Chomsky’s competence-performance distinction is not exactly the same as, though similar to, F. de Saussure’s langue-parole
distinction. Langue is a social product, and a set of conventions for a community, while competence is deemed as a property of the mind of each individual. Sussure looks at language more from a sociological or sociolinguistic point of view than N. Chomsky since the latter deals with his issues psychologically or psycholinguistically.
1.26.What is linguistic potential? What is actual linguistic behavior?
M. A. K. Halliday made these two terms, or the potential-behavior distinction, in the 1960s, from a functional point of view. There is a wide range of things a speaker can do in his culture, and similarly there are many things he can say, for example, to many people, on many topics. What he actually says (i.e. his “actual linguistic behavior”) on a certain occasion to a certain person is what he has chosen from many possible injustice items, each of which he could have said (linguistic potential).
1.27.In what way do language, competence and linguistic potential agree? In what way do they differ? And their counterparts?
Langue, competence and linguistic potential have some similar features, but they are innately different (see 1.25). Langue is a social product, and a set of speaking conventions; competence is a property or attribute of each ideal speaker’s mind; linguis tic potential is all the linguistic corpus or repertoire available from which the speaker chooses items for the
actual utterance situation. In other words, langue is invisible but reliable abstract system. Competence means “knowing”, and linguistic potenti al a set of possibilities for “doing” or “performing actions”. They are similar in that they all refer to the constant underlying the utterances that constitute what Saussure, Chomsky and Halliday respectively called parole, performance and actual linguistic behavior. Paole, performance and actual linguistic behavior enjoy more similarities than differences.
1.28.What is phonetics?
“Phonetics” is the science which studies the characteristics of human sound-making, especially those sounds used in speech, and provides methods for their description, classification and transcription (see Hu Zhuanglin et al., pp39-40), speech sounds may be studied in different ways, thus by three different branches of phonetics. (1) Articulatory phonetics; the branch of phonetics that examines the way in which a speech sound is produced to discover which vocal organs are involved and how they coordinate in the process. (2) Auditory phonetics, the branch of phonetic research from the hearer’s point of view, looking into the impression which a speech sound makes on the hearer as mediated by the ear, the auditory nerve and the brain. (3) Acoustic phonetics: the study of the physical properties of speech sounds, as transmitted between mouth and ear.
Most phoneticians, however, are interested in articulator phonetics.
1.29.How are the vocal organs formed?
The vocal organs (see Figure1, Hu Zhuanglin et al., p41), or speech organs, are organs of the human body whose secondary use is in the production of speech sounds. The vocal organs can be considered as consisting of three parts; the initiator of the air-stream, the producer of voice and the resonating cavities.
1.30.What is place of articulation?
It refers to the place in the mouth where, for example, the obstruction occurs, resulting in the utterance of a consonant. Whatever sound is pronounced, at least some vocal organs will get involved. g. Lips, hard palate etc., so a consonant may be one of the following (1) bilabial: [p, b, m]; (2) labiodental: [f, v]; (3) dental: [,]; (4) alveolar: [t, d, l, n.s, z]; (5) retroflex; (6) palato-alveolar: [,]; (7) palatal: [j]; (8) velar [k, g,]; (9) uvular; (10) glottal: [h].
Some sounds involve the simultaneous use of two places of articulation. For example, the English [w] has both an approximation of the two lips and those two lips and that of the tongue and the soft palate, and may be termed “labial-velar”.
1.31.What is the manner of articulation?
The “manner of articulation” literally means the way a sound is articulated. At a given place of articulation, the airstreams may be obstructed in various ways, resulting in various manners of articulation, are the following: (1) plosive: [p, b, t, d, k, g]; (2) nasal: [m, n,]; (3) trill;
(4) tap or flap; (5) lateral: [l]; (6) fricative: [f, v, s, z]; (7) approximant: [w, j]; (8) affricate: [].
1.3
2.How do phoneticians classify vowels?
Phoneticians, in spite of the difficulty, group vowels in 5 types: (1) long and short vowels, e.g.,[i:,]; (4) rounded and unround vowels,e.g.[,i]; (5) pure and gliding vowels, e.g.[I,].
1.33.What is IPA? When did it come into being ?
The IPA, abbreviation of “International Phonetic Alphabet”, is a compromise system making use of symbols of all sources, including diacritics indicating length, stress and intonation, indicating phonetic variation. Ever since it was developed in 1888, IPA has undergone a number of revisions.
1.34.What is narrow transcription and what is broad transcription?
In handbook of phonetics, Henry Sweet made a distinction between
“narrow” and “broad” transcriptions, which he called “Narrow Romic”. The former was meant to symbolize all the possible speech sounds, including even the most minute shades of pronunciation while Broad Romic or transcription was intended to indicate only those sounds capable of distinguishing one word from another in a given language.
1.35.What is phonology? What is difference between phonetics and phonology?
(1) “Phonology” is the study of sound systems- the invention of distinctive speech sounds that occur in a language and the patterns wherein they fall. Minimal pair, phonemes, allophones, free variation, complementary distribution, etc., are all to be investigated by a phonologist.
(2) Phonetics, as discussed in I.28, is the branch of linguistics studying the characteristics of speech sounds and provides methods for their description, classification and transcription. A phonetist is mainly interested in the physical properties of the speech sounds, whereas a phonologist studies what he believes are meaningful sounds related with their semantic features, morphological features, and the way they are conceived and printed in the depth of the mind phonological knowledge permits a speaker to produce sounds which from meaningful utterances, to recognize a foreign “accent”, to make up new words, to add the
appropriate phonetic segments to from plurals and past tenses, to know what is and what is not a sound in one’s language.
1.36.What is a phone? What is a phoneme? What is an allophone?
(1) A “phone” is a p honetic unit or segment. The speech sounds we hear and produce during linguistic communication are all phones. When we hear the following words pronounced:[pit], [tip], [spit], etc., the similar phones we have heard are [p] for one thing, and three
differe nt[p]’s, readily making possible the “narrow transcription or diacritics”. Phones may and may not distinguish meaning. A “phoneme” is a phonological unit; it is a unit that is of distinctive value. As an abstract unit, a phoneme is not any particular sound, but rather it is represented or realized by a certain phone in a certain phonetic context. For example, the phoneme[p] is represented differently in [pit], [tip] and [spit].
(2) The phones representing a phoneme are called its “allophones”, i. e., the different (i.e., phones) but do not make one word so phonetically different as to create a new word or a new meaning thereof. So the different[p]’s in the above words are the allophones of the same phoneme[p]. How a phoneme is represented by a phone, or which allophone is to be used, is determined by the phonetic context in which it occurs. But the choice of an allophone is not random. In most cases it is
第12章现代语言学理论与流派 12.1 复习笔记 本章要点： 1. The Prague School and Functional Sentence Perspective (FSP) 布拉格学派与功能句子观 2. The London School and context of situation 伦敦学派与语境观 3. Halliday and Systemic-Functional Grammar 韩礼德与系统——功能语法 4. Bloomfield and American Structuralism 布隆菲尔德与美国结构主义 5. Chomsky and Transformational-Generative Grammar 乔姆斯基与转换——生成语法 常考考点： 各流派的代表人物、理论基础、特点、主要观点、重要概念；语言普遍性和人类行为关系等。 本章内容索引：
I. Saussure and modern linguistics II. The Prague School 1. Main points and contribution 2. Functional Sentence Perspective (FSP) 3. Communicative Dynamism (CD) III. The London School 1. Introduction 2. Malinowski’s theories 3. Firth’s theories 4. Halliday and Systemic-Functional Grammar 5. Systemic grammar and Functional grammar (1) Systemic grammar (2) Functional grammar IV. American Structuralism 1. Introduction 2. Three stages of the development V. Transformational-Generative Grammar 1. Introduction 2. The Innateness Hypothesis 3. Generative Grammar 4. Stage of development of TG Grammar 5. Main features of TG Grammar
语言学教程笔记 第一章语言学导论 语言的定义特征：从本质上将人类语言与动物语言区分开的人类语言的区别性特点。 1. 任意性：任意性是指语言符号的形式与所表示的意义没有天然的联系，任意性是语言的核 心特征。例如，我们无法解释为什么一本书读作 a /buk/，一支钢笔读作a /pe n/。 任意性具有不同层次：（1）语素音义关系的任意性。（2）句法层面上的任意性。 （3） 任意性和规约性。 2. 二层性：二层性是指拥有两层结构的这种特性，上层结构的单位由底层结构的元素构成， 每层都有自身的组合规则。话语的组成元素是本身不传达意义的语音，语音的唯一作用就是 相互组合构成有意义的单位，比如词。因为底层单位是无意的，而上层单位有明确的意义，所以我们把语音叫做底层单位，与词等上层单位相对。二层性使语言拥有了一种强大的能产 性。 3. 创造性：创造性指语言的能产性，指语言有制造无穷长句的潜力，这来源于语言的二层性 和递归性。利用二重性说话者可以通过组合基本语言单位，无止境地生成句子，大多数都是以前没有过的或没有听过的。 4. 移位性：是指人类语言可以让使用者在交际时用语言符号代表时间上和空间上并不可及的 物体、时间或观点。因此我们可以提及孔子或北极，虽然前者已经去世两千五百五十多年而 后者位置距我们非常之远。语言使我们能够谈及已不存在或还未出现的事物。移位性赋予人 们的概括与抽象能力使人类受益无穷。词在指称具体物体时，并不总是出现在即时、形象化 的语境中。他们通常为了体现指称含义而被使用。 5. 文化传递性：语言不是靠遗传，而是通过文化传递的。 6. 互换性：指人可以是信息的发出者，也可以是信息的接受者，即人作为说话者和听话者的 角色是可以随意更换的。 元语言功能：我们的语言可以用来讨论语言本身。比如说，我可以用“书”指代一本书，也可以用“书这个词”来指代“书”这个词本身。这使语言具有无限的自我反身性：人类可以谈论“说话”，也可以思考“思考"。所以只有人类才能提问：元语言功能对交际、思考及人类的意义是什么？
Chapter 6 Pragmatics 语用学 1.What is pragmatics? 什么是语用学？ Pragmatics can be defined as the study of how speakers of a language use sentences to effect successful communication. As the process of communication is essentially a process of conveying meaning in a certain context, pragmatics can also be regarded as a kind of meaning study. It places the study of meaning in the context in which language is used. 语用学研究的是说某种语言的人怎样用句子去实现成功的交际。 由于交际的过程从本质来说是在一定的语境中表达意义的过程，因而语用学的本质是一种意义研究。它是一种将语言置于使用的语境中去的意义研究。 2.Pragmatics and semantics 语用学和语义学 Pragmatics and semantics are both linguistic studies of meaning, but they are different. What essentially distinguishes semantics and pragmatics is whether in the study of meaning, the context of use is considered. If it is not considered, the study is restricted to the area of traditional semantics; if it is considered, the study is being carried out in the area of pragmatics. 语用学和语义学都是对意义的语言学研究，但两者是不同的。它们的本质区别在于研究意义时是否考虑了语言使用的语境。没有考虑到语境进行的研究就没有超出传统语义学的研究范围；相反，考虑到语境进行的研究就属于语用学的研究范围。 3.Context 语境 Context is essential to the pragmatic study of language. It is generally considered as constituted by the knowledge shared by the speaker and the hearer. 语境是语言的语用研究中不可缺少的概念。它一般被理解为说话者和听话者所共有的知识。The shared knowledge is of two types: the knowledge of the language they use, and the knowledge about the world, including the general knowledge about the world and the specific knowledge about the situation in which linguistic communication is taking place. 共有的知识包括他们所使用的语言方面的知识和双方对世界的认识，包括对世界的总的认识和对正在进行的语言交际所处的环境的具体认识。 4.Sentence meaning and utterance meaning 句子意义和话语意义The meaning of a sentence is abstract, and de-contextualized, while utterance meaning is concrete, and context-dependent. Utterance is based on sentence meaning; it is the realization of the abstract meaning of a sentence in a real situation of communication, or simply in a context. 句子的意义是抽象的，非语境化的，而话语的意义是具体的，受语境制约的。话语意义基于句子意义；它是一个句子的抽象意义在特定语境中的具体体现，或简而言之，在一个语境中的具体化。 5.Speech act theory 言语行为理论 Speech act theory is an important theory in the pragmatic study of language. It was originated with the British philosopher John Austin in the late 50’s of the 20th century. 言语行为理论是语言语用研究中的一个重要理论。它最初是由英国哲学家约翰.奥斯汀在20世纪50年代提出的。 According to speech act theory, we are performing actions when we are speaking.
Chapter 1 Introduction Ⅰ.What is language? 1. Different definitions of language (1) Language is a system whose parts can and must be considered in their synchronic solidarity. (de Saussure, 1916) (2) [Language is] a set (finite or infinite) of sentences, each finite in length and constructed out of a finite set of elements. (Chomsky, 1957) (3) Language is a purely human and non-instinctive method of communicating ideas, emotions and desires by means of voluntarily produced symbols. 2. Each of the definitions above has pointed out some aspects of the essence of language, but all of them have left out something. We must see the multi-faceted nature of language. 3. As is agreed by linguists in broad terms, language can be defined as a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication. Ⅱ.Features of human language 1. Creativity (1) Language provides opportunities for sending messages that have never been sent before and for understanding brand new messages. (2) The grammar rules and the words are finite, but the sentences are infinite. Every speaker uses language creatively. 2. Duality (1) Language contains two subsystems, one of sounds and the other of meanings. (2) Certain sounds or sequences of sounds stand for certain meanings. (3) Certain meanings are conveyed by certain speech sounds or sequences of speech sounds. 3. Arbitrariness (1) The relationship between the two subsystems of language is arbitrary. (2) There is no logical connection between sound and meaning. 4. Displacement (1) There is no limit in time or space for language. (2) Language can be used to refer to things real or imagined, past, present or future. 5. Cultural transmission (1) Culture cannot be genetically transmitted. Instead, it must be learned. (2) Language is a way of transmitting culture. 6. Interchangeability All members of a speech community can send and receive messages. 7. Reflexivity (1) Human languages can be used to describe themselves. (2) The language used to talk about language is called meta-language. Ⅲ.Functions of language – three meta-functions 1. The ideational function
Chapter 1 What is language? [A] The origins of language Some speculations of the origins of language: ①The divine source The basic hypothesis: if infants were allowed to grow up without hearing any language, then they would spontaneously begin using the original god-given language. Actually, children living without access to human speech in their early years grow up with no language at all. ②The natural-sound source The bow-wow theory: the suggestion is that primitive words could have been imitations of the natural sounds which early men and women heard around them. The “Yo-heave-ho” theory: the sounds produced by humans when exerting physical effort, especially when co-operating with other humans, may be the origins of speech sounds. Onomatopoeic sounds ③The oral-gesture source It is claimed that originally a set of physical gestures was developed as a means of communication. The patterns of movement in articulation would be the same as gestural movement; hence waving tongue would develop from
语言学概论 第一章、绪论 1.语言学定义：专门以语言为研究对象的一门独立的科学。语言学的任务就是研究语言的性质、功能、结构及其运用等问题，揭示语言存在和发展的规律，使人们理解并掌握语言的理性知识。 第一节、语言研究与语言学 1.神话传说 2.语文学研究 ①语文学：是从文献角度研究语言文字学科的总称。它以文献评审为主，目的在于解释、 注疏和考订。 ②东方语言学：古印度、古中国 古印度语言学：公元前4、5世纪时，口语和《吠陀》时代的语言差别越来越大，甚至许多地方已经不能为一般人所读懂了。为了确保准确无误地理解《吠陀》的宗教内容，就必须对《吠陀》的语言作注释。著名的《巴尼尼经》（Pāninisūtra）正是当时从解说《吠陀》语言开始，进而研究梵语的整个结构的产物。《巴尼尼经》又名《八章书》，是巴尼尼在前人研究的基础上撰写的一部梵语语法。巴尼尼用3，983条经句极其概括地叙述了梵语的语音结构、语词的构成和变化规则。巴尼尼语法是一部汇集了许多世纪的语法学家研究成果的语法法典，对梵语的语音、语法现象分析和描写得十分细致，代表了古代印度语言研究的水平。印度语言研究的最初动力，是必须把梵语文化中最古老的吠陀时期由口头流传下来的一些宗教和礼仪文献保存下去,巴尼尼的工作在一定程度上帮助了后人学习和研究梵语。布龙菲尔德说：巴尼尼的著作是“人类智慧的丰碑之一”。 ③西方语言学：古希腊语言学、古罗马语言学、中世纪至18世纪末的西方语言学 谈谈语文学和语言学的关系： 语言学就是专门以语言为研究对象的一门独立的科学。语言学的任务就是研究语言的性质、功能、结构及其运用等问题，揭示语言存在和发展的规律，使人们理解并掌握语言的理性知识。语言学还没有成为一门独立的学科之前，人们对于语言的学习和研究只是为了给古代经典文献作注释，我们称那段时期的语言研究为语文学。语文学是从文献角度研究语言文字学科的总称。它以文献评审为主，目的在于解释、注疏和考订。 3.历史比较语言学：威廉琼斯的论文拉开19世纪历史比较语言学研究的序幕 4.现代语言学： ①瑞士语言学家索绪尔的《普通语言学教程》 索绪尔：现代语言学的历史，是从瑞士语言学家费尔迪南·德·索绪尔开始的。索绪尔的代表作是《普通语言学教程》。索绪尔被誉为“现代语言学之父”，《普通语言学教程》是现代语言学的奠基之作。索绪尔的语言学思想和19世纪以前的语文学最根本的区别在于：把语言看成是由各个符号之间的关系组成的有价值的结构系统。 《普通语言学课程》是一部什么样的书？ 《普通语言学教程》是由索绪尔的两位弟子兼同事根据学生们的听课笔记整理而成的。《普通语言学教程》是现代语言学的奠基之作。索绪尔区分了语言和言语，语言属于全社会，是抽象的；言语属于个人，是具体的。索绪尔认为语言是符号系统，“是一个纯粹的价值系统”。每个符号是由“能指”和“所指”构成的，所指和能指之间的关系是任意的。符号之间存在着线性的句段关系和联想的聚合关系。索绪尔把语言现象分为“共时”和“历时”两种，“共时”是指时间历程中的某一点上的语言状态，“历时”是指以时间历程中的某一点到以后的语言现象。索绪尔认为，语言学的对象是语言，由于语言有它的内部要素，也有它的外部要素，所以语言学也可以分为内部语言学和外部语言学。总之，《普通语言学教程》的语言学
语言学考研笔记整理 一、语言和语言学 1．语言的本质 （1）自然属性：语言从本质上来说是一套符号系统。 （2）社会属性：是人类最重要的交际工具。 （3）心理属性：是人类进行思维的工具。 语言的自然属性从本质上来说是一套符号系统。 2．什么是符号？语言符号和其它符号的不同特点。 符号：用甲事物指代乙事物，甲即乙的符号。 语言符号的特点：①有声的；②成系统的；③分层次的装置，语音→音素→音节→语素→词；④音义结合是任意的，是约定俗成的（不可论证，无理据）；⑤线条性：语言符号在输出时是一个接一个的，不能全盘端出。 语言符号与客观事物的关系。 3．语言最基本的社会功能：交际功能。 文字：是在语言的基础上产生的，是记录语言的书写符号。 符号：是形式和内容（意义）的统一体。 （1）语言符号的形式：声音（语音）是语言的物质外壳，听觉可感知。 （2）语言符号的内容：意义（语义）是人们对现实现象的概括反映。 （99年填空） 4．语言符号的特点：①任意性和强制性；②线条性；③系统性。 人的语言和动物语言有何不同？ 简要说明语言符号的任意性和强制性。 答：①任意性：语言符号的音与义之间没有必然的、本质的联系，它们的结合是由社会“约定俗成”的。表现：某种具体语言的音义结合关系；形成人类语言多样性的一个重要原因。②强制性：符号的任意性知识是就创制符号时的情形说的。符号一旦进入交际，也就是某一语音形式与某一意义结合起来，表示某一特定的现实现象以后，它对使用它的社会成员来说就具有了强制性。任何人不能借口任意性而随意改变音义之间的结合关系。符号的音义结合是社会约定俗成的，它们之间的关系改变也要由社会来决定。
语言学概论第一节课官方笔记目录 一、课件下载及重播方法 二、本章/教材结构图 三、本章知识点及考频总结 四、配套练习题 五、其余课程安排 一、课件下载及重播方法 二、教材节构图
三、本章知识点及考频总结 第一部分语言和语言学 ◆模块一认识人类的语言 知识点一语言的性质和类型 （一）语言的概念 语言是一种符号系统，是由语音和语义构成的符号系统，是人类进行社会交际和思维认知的工具。 （二）人类语言与其他动物鸣叫系统的区别是： 1、内容更多： 表达无极限（时间、空间），想说、可说、能说。 2、用处更大： 交际、标志、记录、思维、认知等功能。 3、能够创造： 极强的生成能力和极高的运转效率。
注意：只有人类才有语言人类具有语言能力，是人跟其他动物区别的最重要的标志 （二）语言和民族、国家的关系 确定不同的语言，首先涉及的是语言跟民族和国家的关系 1.语言是识别民族和国家的标志——“相互能够听懂”（欧洲国家） 相同民族——相同语言；同一国家——同一语言 2.语言并非识别民族和国家的标志（欧洲以外的国家） 犹太人的语言与民族身份；海外华人的民族身份与语言；满族与满语 3.西方学界的双重标准——“相互能够听懂” 弱国——用语言识别民族；对“汉语”的看法。 强国——不用语言识别民族，美国、英国、澳大利亚和加拿大 （三）语言的特点和语言类型 1、语言的特点 不同的语言有自己的特点，各种语言在语音、词汇、语法方面差距显著。根据语言的特点，把语言进行分类，主要有“语言的谱系分类”和“语言的形态分类” 2、语言的类型 （1）语言的谱系分类
从语言的“历时”角度划分不同的语言，建立“语言的谱系分类”, 即语言的亲属关系分类。根据各种语言在语音、语汇、语法等方面是否有共同的来源和相似性的大小对语言进行的分类。 谱系分类是一个层级系统：语系—语族—（语支）—语言—方言—次方言（土语） 语系：语系是谱系分类中最大的类，语系、语族、语支、语群这种谱系分类的层级体系，反映了原始基础语随着社会的分化而不断分化的历史过程和结果。 世界上的语言大致分为七、八个语系。印欧语系和汉藏语系（区别在于是否有区分意义的声调和词的形态变化）语族：语系的下一级叫语族，同一语族的语言不但有相同的来源，相似点也更多，如印欧语系下分印度语族、伊朗语族、日耳曼语族等。 （2）语言的形态分类 即语言的结构类型分类。主要分为两种： ①形态语（综合性语言） 通过词的形态变化来体现各种结构意义的语言，主要有屈折语（词的形态变化丰富，如德语、俄语）、黏着语（词的形态变化为前后词缀，如维吾尔语、日语） ②孤立语（分析性语言）——汉语 语法手段无需谓词词形变化表现“时、体、态”；无需
Chapter 1 Invitations to Linguistics 1.1 Why study language? 1. Language is very essential to human beings. 2. In language there are many things we should know. 3. For further understanding, we need to study language scientifically. 1.2 What is language? 1.3 Design features of language The features that define our human languages can be called design features which can distinguish human language from any animal system of communication. 1.3.1 Arbitrariness 1.3.2 Duality 1.3.3 Creativity Creativity means that language is resourceful because of its duality and its recursiveness. Recursiveness refers to the rule which can be applied repeatedly without any definite limit. The recursive nature of language provides a theoretical basis for the possibility of creating endless sentences. 1.3.4 Displacement 1.4 Origin of language
27.书面语：书面语是用文字记录的语言形式，它是文字产生或在口语的基础上产生的，书面语是经过加工、提炼和发展了的口语的书面形式。 26.口语：就是有声的口头语言，任何一种语言都有口头存在形式。它是书面产生的基础。 28．语言相关论：语言相关论是萨丕尔和沃尔夫提出的关于语言与思维关系的观点，主张语言决定思维，不同的语言就有不同的思维方式。 29．大脑语言功能临界期：大脑语言功能临界期是指大脑的单侧化，大脑左半球的分区以及语言的遗传机制，都只提供人具有语言能力的潜在可能性，这些潜能必须在一定期限内被一定的语言环境激活才可能起作用。26．语言符号的所指 :语言符号的所指是符号的形式所指的意义内容。 29．机器翻译：通过计算机把一种语言自动翻译成另一种或多种自然语言的信息处理技术。 26.语音：语音是人的发音器官发出的、用于人与人之间交际并表达一定意义的声音。 27.词：词是最小的、有意义的、能够独立运用的语言单位。 28.语用：语用指语言运用，即人们在一定的交际环境中对语言的实际运用。 29.文字：文字是记录语言的书写符号系统。 27．单纯词：单纯词是由一个构词语素构成的词。 29．屈折：屈折是通过词的内部发生语音的交替变换来改变词的语法意义的手段。 28．意译词：是用本族语言的构词材料和规则构成新词，把外语中某个词的意义翻译过来。 27.仿译词：是用本族语言的语素逐个对译外语原词的语素造成的词，它不仅把原词的词义翻译过来，而且保持了原词的内部构成方式。 29．主谓词组：两个成分之间具有被说明和说明关系的词组是主谓词组。 27．复辅音：一个音节内处于同一个肌肉紧张的渐强阶段或渐弱阶段上的两个或两个以上辅音的组合。 27.双语现象：某一言语社团使用两种或多种语言的社会现象，具体而言是社团内的全体成员或部分成员双语并用的现象。 28.亲属语言：从同一种语言中分化出来的各个语言叫亲属语言，亲属语言之间具有历史同源关系。 26．调位：利用音节内的音高差别来起辩义作用的语音单位叫做调位，调位是一种非音质音位，依附在音位的组合序列上。 29.词组：实词与实词之间具有直接联系的相对独立的词群。 28．语素：语素是语言中音义结合的最小单位。 28．词尾：附着在词干后的，能改变词的语法形式，但不能构成新词的语素。 29．语素：音义结合的最小语言单位。 26．词类：词类是词在语法上的分类。它指可以替换出现在语法结构某些共同组合位置上的词的类，即具有聚合关系的词的类。 27．词法：（1）词法主要描写词的形态特征和词形变化规则。例如，俄语的名词在形式上有单数和复数的区别，有阳性、阴性、中性等性的区别，有主格、宾格、属格等格的区别，这些都是典型的词法现象。（2）由于印欧语言中构词单位、构词方式和词类都与词的形态变化相关，因此构词和词类问题也成为词法的一部分。27．语法意义：语法意义是语法形式所体现的意义，是语言中通过一类形式或功能所获得的意义。二者相辅相成，不可分离。如“动词+名词”有动宾关系的意义，汉语所有的同类组合都是如此，这种意义就是一种语法意义。 27.语法形式：语法形式就是能体现表达某种语法意义的形式。表示某一类语法意义或者有共同作用的形式，如词类形式、组合形式、虚词形式，就是语法形式。语法形式不是个别的语音形式和词语形式，但能产生某一类意义或者有共同作用的语音表现形式或者词形变化形式也是语法形式。 27.语法手段：根据语法形式的共同特点所归并的语法形式的基本类别叫做语法手段。语法手段可分为词法手段和句法手段两大类。通过词形的变化来表现语法意义的形式是词法手段；通过结构的变化来表现语法意义的形式是句法手段；例如英语名词后加s表示复数，英语动词后面加ed表示过去时，就是词法手段中的词形变化。 28．自源文字：自源文字指独立发展起来的文字。如古埃及文字、苏美尔文字、汉字，这些文字的形体、体系都是由最早使用该文字的人们独创的。 29．语音合成（1）语音合成是语音信息处理研究中的主要工作。 （2）语音合成就是让计算机模拟人的发音器官的动作并发生类似的声音。如汉语的语音合成目前已初步实现自动生成声韵调结合的音节。 26．句子:句子是词或词组按一定规则组合成的、能表达相对完整的意义、前后有较大停顿并带有一定的语气和句调的语言单位。 27．异化：语流中两个相同或相近的音，其中一个因受另一个影响而变得不相同或不相近。
第6章语言与认知 6.1 复习笔记 本章要点： 1. Psycholinguistics 心理语言学 2. Language acquisition, language comprehension, language production 语言习得，语言的理解，语言的生成 3. First language acquisition 第一语言习得 4. Cognitive linguistics 认知语言学 常考考点： 语言习得；第一语言习得；语言的理解和生成；范畴；隐喻；整合理论等。 本章内容索引： I. Definition of cognition II. Definition of Psycholinguistics III. Language acquisition 1. The Behaviorist Approach
2. The Innateness Hypothesis IV. Language comprehension 1. Sound Comprehension 2. Word recognition 3. Comprehension of sentences 4. Comprehension of text V. Language Production 1. Access to words 2. Generation of sentences 3. Written language production VI. Cognitive Linguistics 1. Definition 2. Construal and Construal Operations (1) Attention/ Salience (2) Judgment/ Comparison (3) Perspective/ Situatedness 3. Categorization (1) Basic level (2) Superordinate level (3) Subordinate level 4. Image Schemas 5. Metaphor
语言学纲要讲义笔记 导言 一、语言的定义 语言是人类最重要的交际工具和思维工具、是由音义结合的词汇和语法构成的一种符号系统。 二、语言学的对象和任务 语言学是研究语言的科学。 要把语言学跟语文学区分开来 中国传统语文学——“小学” 小学是我国古代语文学的统称，由训诂学、文字学、音韵学三部分组成。 在古印度，公元前4世纪，著名学者潘尼尼在整理、注释婆罗门教经典《吠陀》时，写了一本《梵语语法》，提出3996条规则，被人们称为最完备的语法书。在古希腊，伯拉图和亚里斯多德是从哲学的角度来研究语言的，他们讨论了词为什么具有意义等内容。 三、语言学在科学体系中的地位 语言学既是一门古老的科学，又是一门年轻的科学。 1、与社会科学、自然科学的联系 语言研究的成果是哲学、历史学、考古学、文学、政治学、经济学、逻辑学、社会学、民族学、计算机科学等学科所必须利用的，可见语言研究在这些社会科学中已占重要地位。 语言学与其他学科相交叉产生社会语言学、心理语言学、计算语言学、生物语言学、模糊语言学、实验语音学等。如：运用语言传递信息的过程，可分为五个阶段： 编码——发送——传递——接收——解码 对这一具体过程的解释需要结合物理学、生理学、心理学等其他学科的知识。三、语言学的基本类别 总体上，根据研究对象的不同，语言学可以分为理论语言学和应用语言学两大类。（一）理论语言学可分为： 1、一般/普通语言学
2、个别/具体语言学 具体语言学 （1）历时语言学 （2）共时语言学 （二）应用语言学 1、社会语言学：研究语言与社会集团的关系。如地域方言、社会方言、语言的接触、语言规划等。 2、心理语言学：研究儿童语言习得、语言的接收和发生过程，等。 3、神经语言学 最近二十年才从心理语言学中分离出来的一门新的学科，主要研究语言和大脑结构的关系，中心是大脑如何生成语言。 此外，还有数理语言学、统计语言学、实验语音学等。 第一章语言的功能 第一节语言的社会功能 一、语言的信息传递功能 信息传递功能是语言的最基本的社会功能。 人类还借助语言之外的其他形式传递信息，它们是文字，旗语，信号灯，电报代码，数学符号，化学公式等等。 身势等伴随动作等是非语言的信息传递形式。 身势等非语言的形式多半是辅助语言来传递信息； 文字是建立在语言基础之上的最重要的再编码形式； 旗语之类是建立在语言或文字基础之上的再编码形式； 语言是人类社会信息传递第一性的、最基本的手段，是最重要的交际工具。二、语言的人际互动功能 语言的社会功能的另一个重要方面是建立或保持某种社会关联，这就是语言的人际互动功能。互动包括两个方面：一个是说话者在话语中表达自己的情感、态度、意图，另一方面这些又对受话者施加了影响，得到相应的语言或行动上的反馈，从而达到某种实际效果。
科目：语言学概论 1.1．能指 1.2．所指 1.3．普通语言学 1.4．应用语言学 1.5．传统语言学 2.1．语音 2.2．音质 2.3．基音和陪音 2.4．语音的生理基础 2.5．口音、鼻音、鼻化音 2.6．主动的发音器官和被动的发音器 官 2.7．宽式标音和严式标音 2.8．标准元音 2.9．口元音和鼻化元音 2.10．音位的条件变体和音位的自由 变体 2.11．音渡 2.12．音节结构的元辅音分析法 2.13．韵头和韵尾 2.14．语流音变 2.15．时位 2.16．调值和调类 2.17．连续变调 2.18．调位 2.19．固定重音和自由重音 2.20．主重音和次重音 2.21．重位 2.22．语调 2.23．发音部位 2.24．音素 2.25．韵律特征 3.1．语汇学 3.2．古语词 3.3．方言词 3.4．外来词 3.5．科技术语和行业语 3.6．歇后语 3.7．变形成词中的逆序成词3.8．变形成词中的简缩成词 3.9．复合构词 3.10．附加构词 3.11．离合词和词组词 4.1．语法 4.2．历时语法和共时语法 4.3．普遍语法和个别语法 4.4．核心语法和外围语法 4.5．虚词 4.6．辅助词和功能词 4.7．向心词组 5.1．语义 5.2．词汇意义和语法意义 5.3．语义的民族性 5.4．词义 5.5．词的感情色彩 5.6．义素 5.7．单义词和多义词 5.8．述谓结构 5.9．语义角色 5.10．语义指向 5.11．蕴含 6.1．他源文字 6.2．单纯字符和复合字符 6.3．词语文字和语素文字 6.4．音位文字 6.5．表意文字和表音文字 6.6．假借字 6.7．楔形文字 6.8．象形字和会意字 6.9．独体字和合体字 6.10．音节文字 7.1．语音对应关系 7.2．语言的亲属关系 7.3．原始基础语和子语 7.4．标准语 7.5．双言现象 7.6．克里奥耳语 7.7．语言政策 7.8．语言规范化 7.9．语言规划 7.10．基础方言 7.11．语系 8.1．语言思维和非语言思维、形象思 维 8.2．语言能力问题 8.3．失语症 8.4．语言遗传机制 8.5．文化局限词语 9.1．第一语言教学 9.2．外语教学的翻译法 9.3．外语教学的听说法 9.4．母语语言教学和语文教学 9.5．词典 9.6．语言词典 9.7．应用语言学 9.8．第二语言教学 9.9．语言迁移 9.10．语言获得 9.11．中介语 名词解释题答案 1.1．能指是语言符号的物质实体，能 够指称某种意义的成分。 1.2．所指是语言符号所指称的意义内 容，是语言符号的物质实体。 1.3．语言学界把研究人类社会的语言 这种社会现象的一般理论称为普通 语言学。 1.4．语言学界把语言学的理论和具体 成果用来为社会实际生活中的某个 领域服务，这是广义的应用语言学； 狭义的应用语言学是指专门研究语 言教学中的理论和方法。 1.5．传统语言学一般泛指20世纪以 前的语言学，特别是指索绪尔开创 的结构主义语言学以前的语言学。 2.1．语音是由人的发音器官发出的， 负载着一定的意义，并作为语言符 号系统载体的声音。 1.1．如何理解言语交际是一个编码和 解码的过程? 1.2．简述书面语产生的重大意义。 1.3．为什么说语言符号是形式和意义 的统一体? 1.4．在汉语和英语中可以发现：①作 为初始符号，“猫”这个意思，汉语 用“猫”(māo)来表示，而英语用 cat来表示；“书”这个意思，汉语 用“书”(shū)来表示，而英语用 book来表示。②汉语的复合符号， “新书”不同于初始符号“书”；英 语的复合符号newbook不同于初始 符号book。请用语言符号性质的理 论对上述现象作出简要说明。 1.5．举例说明语言符号的任意性。 1.6．为什么语言符号既具有强制性又 具有可变性?
. What is language？ “Language is system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication. It is 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 to. This explains and is explained by the fact that different languages have different “books”: “book” in English, “livre” in French, in Japanese, in Chinese, “check” in Korean. It is symbolic, because words are associated with objects, actions, ideas etc. by nothing but convention. Namely, people use the 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 human lan guages, 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) before 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. . What are design features of language？ “Design features” here refer to the defining properties of