Chapter 1 Language语言1.★What is language?(ok)linguisticsymbol and what the symbol stands for. Itbecause words are associated with objects, actions, ideas etc. by nothing but2.★What are the design features of language? (ok)Design feature (识别特征) refers to the defining properties of human language that distinguish it from any animal system of communication(Charles Hockett). They are arbitrariness, duality, productivity, displacement, cultural transmission and interchangeability.3.What are the design features of language? （具体）I.Productivity (能产性) refers to the ability that people have in making and comprehendingindefinitely large quantities of sentences in their native language，including sentencesthey never heard before, but that are appropriate to the speaking situation. No one hasever said or heard “A red-eyed elephant is dancing on the small hotel bed with an Africangibbon”, but he can say it when necessary, and he can understa nd it in right register.Different from artistic creativity, though, productivity never goes outside the language,thus also called “rule-bound creativity” (by N.Chomsky).II.arbitrariness (任意性) （核心）Arbitrariness refers to the phenomenon that there is no motivated relationship between a linguistic form and its meaning. By “arbitrariness”, wemean there is no logical connection between meanings and sounds (see I .1). A dog mightbe a pig if only the first person or group of persons had used it for a pig. Language istherefore largely arbitrary. But language is not absolutely seem to be somesound-meaning association, if we think of echo words, like “bang”, “crash”, “roar”, whichare motivated in a certain sense. Secondly, some compounds (words compounded to beone word) are not entirely arbitrary either. “Type” and “write” are opaque or unmotivatedwords, while “type-writer” is less so, or more transparent or motivated than the wordsthat make it. So we can say “arbitrariness” is a matter of degree.III.（symbol (符号) Symbol refers to something such as an object, word, or sound that represents something else by association or convention.）IV.discreteness(离散性) Discreteness refers to the phenomenon that the sounds in a language are meaningfully distinct.V.displacement (不受时空限制的特性) “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, aseasily 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 somethingthat had occurred, or something that is occurring, or something that is to occur. When adog is barking, however, you can decide it is barking for something or at someone thatexists now and there. It couldn’t be bow wowing sorrowfully for dome lost love or a boneto be lost. The bee’s system, nonetheless, has a small share of “displacement”, but it is anunspeakable tiny share.VI.duality of structure (结构二重性) Linguists refer “duality” (of structure) to the fact that in all languages so far investigated, one finds two levels of structure or patterning. At thefirst, 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 ofsegments which lack any meaning in themselves, but which combine to form units ofmeaning. According to Hu Zhanglin et al. (p.6), language is a system of two sets ofstructures, one of sounds and the other of meaning. This is important for the workings oflanguage. A small number of semantic units (words), and these units of meaning can bearranged and rearranged into an infinite number of sentences (note that we havedictionaries of words, but no dictionary of sentences!). Duality makes it possible for aperson to talk about anything within his knowledge. No animal communication systemenjoys this duality, or even approaches this honor.VII.culture transmission (文化传播) Culture transmission refers to the fact that language is passed on from one generation to the next through teaching and learning, rather thanby inheritance. This means that language is not biologically transmitted from generationto generation, but that the details of the linguistic system must be learned anew by eachspeaker. 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 aperso n learns to speak is a cultural one other than a genetic one like the dog’s barkingsystem. If a human being is brought up in isolation he cannot acquire language. The WolfChild reared by the pack of wolves turned out to speak the wolf’s roaring “tongue” whenhe was saved. He learned thereafter, with no small difficulty, the ABC of a certain humanlanguage.VIII.interchangeability (互换性) Interchangeability means that any human being can be both a producer and a receiver of messages. (1) Interchangeability means that anyhuman being can be both a producer and a receiver of messages. We can say, and onother occasions can receive and understand, for example, “Please do something to makeme happy.” Though some people (including me) suggest that there is sex differe ntiationin the actual language use, in other words, men and women may say different things, yetin principle there is no sound, or word or sentence that a man can utter and a womancannot, or vice versa. On the other hand, a person can be the speaker while the otherperson is the listener and as the turn moves on to the listener, he can be the speaker andthe first speaker is to listen. It is turn-taking that makes social communication possibleand acceptable.(2) Some male birds, however, utter some calls, which females do not (or cannot?), andcertain kinds of fish have similar haps mentionable. When a dog barks, all the neighboringdogs bark. Then people around can hardly tell which dog (dogs) is (are0 “speaking” andwhich listening.4.Why do we say language is a system?Because elements of language are combined according to rules, and every language contains a set of rules. By system, the recurring patterns or arrangements or the particular ways or designs in which a language operates. And the sounds, the words and the sentences are used in fixed patterns that speaker of a language can understand each other.5.What functions does language have?6.★(Function of language.) According to Halliday, what are the initial functions ofchildren’s language? And what are the three functional components of adult language?I.Halliday uses the following terms to refer to the initial functions of children’s langua●Instrumental function(工具功能)refers to the fact that language allows speakers to getthings done. It allows them to control things in the environment .people can cause thingsto be done and happen through the use of words alone.●Regulatory function(调节功能)refers to language used in an attempt to control eventsonce they happen. Those events may involve the self as well as others . People do try tocontrol themselves through language.●Representational function(表现功能)refers to the use of language to communicateknowledge about the world ,to report events ,to make statements ,to give accounts , toexplain relationships, to relay messages and so on. This function of language isrepresented by all kinds of record-keeping .●Interactional function(互动功能)refers to language used to ensure social maintenance.Phatic communication is a part of it .●Personal function(自指性功能)refers to language used to express the individual’sfeelings ,emotions and personality. A person’s individuality is usually characterized byhis or her use of personal of communication.●Heuristic function(启发功能) [osbQtq`kf`h] refers to language used in order toacquire knowledge and understanding of the world .language may be used for learning.Questions can lead to answers , argumentation to conclusion and hypothesis-testing tonew discoveries. It provides a basis for the structure of knowledge in the differentdisciplines .Language allows people to ask questions about the nature of the world theylived in and to construct possible answers.●Imaginative function(想象功能)refers to language used to create imaginary system,whether these are literary works ,philosophical systems or utopian visions one the onehand ,or daydreams and idle musings on the other hand .II.Adult language has three functional components as following:1) Interpersonal components. 人际2) Ideational components.概念3) Textual components.语篇◆phatic function（寒暄功能）: The “phatic function” refers to language being used for settingup a certain atmosphere or maintaining social contacts (rather than for exchanginginformation 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.◆directive function: The “directive function” means that language may be used to get thehearer to do something. Most imperative sentences perform th is function, e.g., “Tell me the result when you finish.” Other syntactic structures or sentences 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 direct ion too, e.g., “If I were you, I would have blushed to the bottom of my ears!”◆informative function(信息功能): Language serves an “informational function” when used totell 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.◆interrogative function: When language is used to obtain information, it serves an“interrogative function”. 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 thatrhetorical questions make an exception, since they demand no answer, at least not the reader’s/listener’s answer.◆expressive function: The “expressive function” is the use of language to reveal somethingabout 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.◆evocative function(感情功能): The “evocative function” is the use of language to createcertain 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.◆performative function（表达功能）: This means people speak to “do things” or performactions. 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 imprisonment sentence, the president’s war or independence declaration, etc., are pe r formatives as well (see J.Austin’s speech Act Theory, Hu Zhuanglin, ecal.pp271-278).Chapter 2 Linguistics语言学1.What is linguistics?1）“Linguistics” is the scientific study of language. It may be a study of language ,the history of history of language ,the function of language ,etc. It studies 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)./2）Linguistics can be defined as the scientific or systematic study of language.It is a science in the sense that it scientifically studies the rules, systems and principles of human languages, guided by three canons of science:(i) exhaustiveness: it strives for thorough-goingness in the examination of relevant materials;(ii)consistency: there should be no contradiction between different parts of the total statement;(iii)economy: other things being equal, a shorter statement or analysis is to be preferred to one that is longer or more complex.The subject matter of linguistics is all natural languages, living or dead. It studies the origin, growth, organization, nature and development of language and discovers the general rules and principles governing language.It has two main purposes. One is that it studies the nature of language and tries to establish a theory of language, and describes languages in the light of the theory established. The other is that it examines all the forms of language in general and seeks a scientific understanding of the ways in which it is organized to fulfill the needs it serves and the functions it performs in human life.2.★How does John Lyons classify linguistics?✧general linguistics and descriptive linguistics(普通语言学与描写语言学) The formerdeals with language in general whereas the latter is concerned with one particular language.✧synchronic linguistics and diachronic linguistics(共时语言学与历时语言学) Diachroniclinguistics traces the historical development of the language and records the changes that have taken place in it between successive points in time. And synchronic linguistics presents an account of language as it is at some particular point in time.✧theoretical linguistics and applied linguistics (理论语言学与应用语言学) The formercopes with languages with a view to establishing a theory of their structures and functions whereas the latter is concerned with the application of the concepts and findings of linguistics to all sorts of practical tasks.✧microlinguistics and macrolinguistics(微观语言学与宏观语言学)at its narrowest. theformer studies only the structure of language system. at its broadest , the latter deals with everything that is related in any way at all to languages and language .3.Linguistics :the scienceThe scientific method of linguistic study involves the following steps(Wen Qiufang):1)Gather data concerning languages ;2)Construct a tentative rule based on the data obtained;3)Examine the tentative rule against the further data and make necessary changes;4)Finalize the rule which must be able to account for all the relevant data.Mei Deming gives a similar summarization of the process of linguistic study:1)Linguistic facts observed ;2)Generalizations made about the linguistic facts;3)Hypotheses formulated to explain the linguistic facts;4)The hypotheses tested and examined by more and further observations;5) A certain linguistic theory of language constructed.Explain the three principles by which the linguist is guided: consistency, adequacy and simplicity.1) Consistency means that there should be no contradictions between different parts of thetheory and the description.2) Adequacy means that the theory must be broad enough in scope to offer significantgeneralizations.3) Simplicity requires us to be as brief and economic as possible.4.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.Within the language system there are six sub-branches as following:1) Phonetics. 语音学is a study of speech sounds of all human languages. ///// It is the scientific study of speech sounds, including the articulation, transmission and reception of specch sounds, the description and classification of speech sounds.2) Phonology. 音位学studies about the sounds and sound patterns of a speaker’s native language.//// it is the study of how speech sounds function in a language. It studies the ways speech sounds are organized, the rules governing the structure, distribution, and sequencing of speech sounds and shape of syllables. It can be considered the functional pnonetics of a particular languange.3) Morphology. 形态学studies about how a word is formed./// It is concerned with the internal organization, the formation of words. It studies the minimal units of meaning—morphemes and word-formation processes.Syntax: it is the grammar of sentence construction, dealing with the combination of words into phrases, clauses and sentences.4) Syntax. 句法学studies about whether a sentence is grammatical or not. ///5) Semantics. 语义学studies about the meaning of language, including meaning of words and meaning of sentences./// It is concerned with the study of meaning in all its aspects, examines how meaning is encoded in a language. It is not only concerned with meanings of words, but also with levels of language below the word and above it.6) Pragmatics. 语用学/// it is the study of meaning in context, in use. It deals with particularutterances in particular situations and is especially concerned with the various ways in which the many social contexts of language performance can influence interpretation. In other words, pragmatics is concerned with the way language is used to communicate rather than with the way language is structured.5.some distinction in linguisticslangue and parole (语言与言语) The former refers to the abstract linguistics system shared by all the members of a speech community whereas the latter refers to the concrete act of speaking in actual situation by an individual speaker.F. De Saussure refers “langue”to the abstrac t 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.competence and performance (语言能力与语言运用) The former is one’s knowledge of all the linguistic regulation systems whereas the latter is the use of language in concrete situation.(1) According to N. Chomsky, “competence” is the ideal language user’s knowledge of the rulesof 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. Inother 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 similarto, 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.synchronic and diachronic(共时与历时) 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 entitled “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).speech and writing (口头语与书面语) Speech is the spoken form of language whereas writing is written codes, gives language new scope. (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 newscope 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 lastcentury and theretofore.linguistics behavior potential and actual linguistic behavior (语言行为潜势与实际语言行为) People actually says on a certain occasion to a certain person is actual linguistics behavior. And each of possible linguistic items that he could have said is linguistic behavior potential.syntagmatic relation and paradigmatic relation(横组合关系与纵聚合关系) The former describes the horizontal dimension of a language while the latter describes the vertical dimension of a language.verbal communication and non-verbal communication (言语交际与非言语交际) Usual use of language as a means of transmitting information is called verbal communication. The ways we convey meaning without using language is called non-verbal communication.6.Traditional grammar and modern linguisticsWhat 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 this 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.Chapter 3 Phonetics语音学1.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.2.Phonetics sub-branchess◆articulatory phonetics(发音语音学) The study of how speech organs produce the sounds iscalled articulatory phonetics.◆acoustic phonetics (声学语音学) The study of the physical properties and of the transmission ofspeech sounds is called acoustic phonetics.◆auditory phonetics (听觉语音学) The study of the way hearers perceive speech sounds is calledauditory phonetics.3.How are the vocal organs formed?(p29-30)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.4.the definition of consonant and vowelconsonant (辅音) Consonant is a speech sound where the air form the language is either completely blocked, or partially blocked, or where the opening between the speech organs is so narrow that the air escapes with audible friction.vowel (元音) is defined as a speech sound in which the air from the lungs is not blocked in any way and is pronounced with vocal-cord vibration.5.The place of articulation:（辅音分类）◆bilabials (双唇音) Bilabials means that consonants for which the flow of air is stopped orrestricted by the two lips.◆Labiodentals: consonant brought about by bringing the bottom lip to the upper teeth.◆Dentals/interdentals: consonant for which the flow of air is restricted by catching the tonguebetween the teeth .◆Alveolars: consonant produced by bringing the tip of the tongue into contact with the upperteeth-ridge to create the obstruction.◆Post-alveolars: consonant produced by bringing the tip of the tongue to the rear part of thealveolar ridge.◆Alveo-palatals: consonants formed by putting the tongue at the very front part of the hardpalate,near the alveolar ridge. Palatals: consonants made by bringing the back of the tongue to the hard palate.◆Velars: consonants made by bringing the back of the tongue to the soft palate.◆Glottals: sounds produced by bringing the vocal cords momentarily together to create theobstruction.6.classifications of English consonants7.★How are consonants classified in terms of different criteria?The consonants in English can be described in terms of four dimensions.1)The position of the soft palate.2)The presence or the absence of vocal-cord vibration.3)The place of articulation.4)The manner of articulation.8.★How are vowels classified in terms of different criteria?。
