英语语言学知识整理

Chapter 1 Introduction语言学的定义：Linguistics is generally defined as the scientific study of language.问题：How do you interpret the following definition of linguistics: Linguistics is the scientific study of language?→It is a scientific study because it is based on the systematic investigation of linguistic data, conducted with reference to some general theory of language structure.What the linguist has to do “first, then, but”:①to observe and collect language facts and generalizations are made about them.②to formulate some hypotheses about the language structure.③to check the hypotheses thus formed repeatedly against the observed facts to fully prove their validity.The study of language as a whole is often called general linguistics. (普通语言学)问题: What are the major branches of linguistics? What does each of them study?→phonetics（语音学）→the study of sounds→phonology（音位学）→study how sounds are put together and used to convey meaning→morphology（形态学）→study the way in which symbols or morphemes are arranged and combined to form words.→syntax（句法学）→the study of rules of forming sentences→semantics（语义学）→the study of meaning→pragmatics（语用学）→the context of language useSociolinguistics（社会语言学）：The studies of all these social aspects of language and its relation with society form the core of the branch.Psycholinguistics（语言心理学）：Relate the study of language to psychology Applied linguistics（应用语言学）：In a narrow sense it refers to the application of linguistic theories and principles to language teaching, especially the teaching of foreign and second languages.Some important distinctions in linguistics:①prescriptive（规定性）/descriptive（描写性）②synchronic（共时）/diachronic（历时）③speech（口语）/writing（书面语）④langue（语言）/parole（言语）（the Swiss linguist F. de Saussure——Course in General Linguistics）⑤competence（语言能力）/performance（语言应用）（the American linguist N. Chomsky）⑥traditional grammar （传统语法）/modern linguistics（现代语言学）问题：in what basic ways does modern linguistics differ from traditional grammar?①linguistics is descriptive while traditional grammar is prescriptive.②modern linguistics regards the spoken language as primary, not the written.③modern linguistics does not force languages into a Latin-based framework.问题：Is modern linguistics mainly synchronic or diachronic? Why?In modern linguistics, a synchronic (不考虑历史演进的, 限于一时的) approach seems to enjoy priority over a diachronic (探求现象变化的, 历时的) one.Because it is believed that unless the various states of a language in different historical periods are successfully studied, it would be difficult to describe the changes that have taken place in its historical development.Synchronic descriptions are often thought of as being descriptions of language in its current existence, and most linguistic studies are of this type.问题：For what reasons does modern linguistics give priority to speech rather than to writing?From the point of view of linguistic evolution, speech is prior to writing. The writing system of any language is always “invented” by its users to record speech when the need arises. Even in today’s world there are still many languages that can only be spoken but not written. Then in everyday communication, speech plays a greater role than writing in terms of the amount of information conveyed.Spoken language reveals more true features of human speech while written language is only the “revised”record of speech. And linguists’data for investigation and analysis are mostly drawn from everyday speech, which they regarded as authentic.语言的定义：Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication.Design features of language（7个识别特征）①arbitrariness 任意性（at the syntactic level）②productivity 能产性，创造性Secondary units（底层结构sounds）③duality 双层性Primary units （上层结构units of meaning）④displacement 不受时空限制性（handle generalization and abstraction）⑤cultural transmission 文化传递性⑥interchangeability 互换性⑦convention 约定性Functions of language：三大主要功能：The descriptive functionThe expressive functionThe social functionRoman Jacobson（6种首要因素，结构主义语言学家）①speaker addresser→emotive 感情功能②addressee→conative 意动功能③context→referential所指功能④message→poetic 诗学功能⑤contact→phatic communion交感功能⑥code→metalinguistic 元语言功能Other functions:①phatic function 问候功能②informative f. 信息功能③interrogative f. 询问功能④expressive f. 表达功能⑤evocative f. 感染功能⑥directive f. 指令功能⑦performative f. 行使（权力）功能M.A.K. Halliday①ideational②interpersonal（indicate/establish/maintain/social relationships）③textual问题：How is Saussure’s distinction between langue and parole similar to Chomsky’s distinction between competence and performance?The distinction between langue and parole was made by Saussure, langue is abstract; it is not the language people actually use. Parole is concrete; it refers to the naturally occurring language events. Langue is relatively stable; it does not change frequently, while parole varies from people to people, and from situation to situation.The distinction between competence and performance proposed by the American linguists Chomsky, competence is a deal user’s knowledge of the rules of his language, and the performance is the actual realization of this knowledge in linguistic communication. Imperfect performance is caused by social and psychological factors. Saussure makes this distinction in order to single out one aspect of language for serious study. In his opinion, parole is simple a mass of linguistic facts, too varied confusing for systematic investigation, and that linguistics should do is to abstract langue from parole, i.e., to discover the regularities governing the actual use of language and make them the subjects of study of linguistics.Similar to Saussure, Chomsky thinks what linguists should study is the ideal speaker’s competence, not his performance, which is too haphazard to be studied.问题：What are the main features of human language that have been specified by C. Hockett to show that it is essentially different from animal communication system?①arbitrariness 任意性（at the syntactic level）②productivity 能产性，创造性Secondary units（底层结构sounds）③duality 双层性Primary units （上层结构units of meaning）④displacement 不受时空限制性（handle generalization and abstraction）⑤cultural transmission 文化传递性⑥interchangeability 互换性⑦convention 约定性Chapter 2 PhonologyPhonetics: （语音学）①the study of the phonic medium of language②look at speech sounds from 3 distinct but related points of view.Ⅰstudy the sounds from the speaker’s point of view→articulatory phonetics（发音语音学）Ⅱlook at the sounds from the hearer’s point of view→auditory phonetics（听觉语音学）Ⅲstudy the way sounds travel by looking at the sound waves→acoustic phonetics （声学语音学）③study how sounds are produced, transmitted and perceived.Organs of speech:⒈three important areas①The pharyngeal cavity→the throat②the oral cavity→the mouth③the nasal cavity→the nose⒉The pharyngeal cavity→windpipe/glottis/larynx/vocal cords⒊the oral cavity→tongue/uvula/soft palate(velum)/hard palate/teeth ridge(alveolus)/teeth/lipsInternational Phonetic Alphabet （IPA）①diacritics 附加符号②broad transcription（宽式标音）→the transcription with letter-symbols only③narrow transcription（严式标音）→the transcription with letter-symbols togetherwith the diacriticsClassification of English speech sounds①two broad categories of speech sounds in English: V owels/consonants②two ways to classify the English consonants: In terms of manner of articulationIn terms of place of articulation③In terms of manner of articulation:Stops/fricatives/affricates/liquids/nasals/glides④In terms of place of articulation:Bilabial/labiodental/dental/alveolar/palatal/velar/glottalClassification of English vowels⒈criteria :（monophthongs）单元音The position of the tongue in the mouth: front/central/backThe openness of the mouth: close vowels/semi-close vowels/semi-openvowels/open vowelsThe shape of the lips: unrounded/rounded⒉diphthongs 双元音/ei //ai //au //əu //ɔi //iə //εə// uə /Phonology 音韵学，语音体系Difference of phonology and phonetics:①Phonetics is interested in all the speech sounds used in all human languages.②Phonology aims to discover how speech sounds in a language form patterns andhow these sounds are used to convey meaning in linguistic communication. Phone（音素）: A phone is a phonetic unit or segment.Phoneme（音位）: It is a phonological unit; it is a unit that is of distinctive value. It is an abstract unit. It is not any particular sound, but rather it is represented or realized by a certain phone in a certain phonetic context.Allophone（音位变体）: The different phones which can represent a phoneme in different phonetic environments are called the allophones of that phoneme. Phonemic contrast（音位对立）Complementary distribution（音位变体的互补分布）Minimal pairs（最小对立体）：含音位的单词的全部音标Minimal set（最小对立集）：is used to find the important sounds in language. Phonological Analysis（音位分析）Principle: certain sounds cause changes in the meaning of a word or phase, whereas other sounds do not.Phonetically similar sounds:描述音位关系Free variants: 音位的自由变体The difference of pronouncing a sound caused by dialect, habit, individual difference or regional differences instead of by any distribution rule.Some rules in phonology①sequential rules: 序列规则If a word begins with a / l / or a / r /, then the next sound must be a vowel.If three consonants should cluster together at the beginning of a word, the combination should obey the following three rules:The first phoneme must be / s /The second phoneme must be / p / / t / / k /The third phoneme must be / l // r // w /②assimilation rule:同化规则③deletion rule：省略规则Suprasegmental features 超音段特征≠超音段（比音位更大的语言单位）①stress（单词，句子层面）：the location of stress in English distinguishes meaning. Syllable音节：A syllable nucleus (often a vowel) with optional initial and final margins (often consonants)单音节词多音节词英语单词都有重读音位学中，单词由音节构成，音节由音位构成。