英语语言学笔记

第1页，－共40页 第一章 【2 】

Chapter 1 Invitations to Linguistics

Teaching aims: let the students have the general idea about language and linguistics.

Teaching difficulties: design features of language ; some important distinctions in linguistics

Teaching procedures

1. language

1.1 Why study language?为什么进修说话

A tool for communication交换的对象

An integral part of our life and humanity 人类生涯和人道中不可或缺的一部分.

If we are not fully aware of the nature and mechanism of our language, we will be

ignorant of what constitutes our essential humanity.假如不能完整懂得说话的本质和构造,我们就会对人类的本质一窍不通.

1.2 What is language?什么是说话

1.2.1 different senses of language 说话的不赞成义

1. what a person says( concrete act of speech)

a person’s consistent way of speaking or writing

a particular level of speaking or writing e.g. colloquial language

an abstract system

2. A webster’s New Dictionrary offers a frequently used sense of the word “language”:

a. human speech 人类的言语

b. the ability to communicate by this means 经由过程言语来交换的才能

c. a system of vocal sounds and combinations of such sounds to which meaning is

attributed, used for the expression or communication of thoughts and feelings; 用来表达或交换思惟和感到的一套声音及这些声音互相联合的体系

d. the written representation of such a system 体系的文字表达

3. the barest of definition, language is a means of verbal communication.最简练的界

第2页，－共40页 说:说话是言语交换的一种方法.

Language is instrumental in that communicating by speaking or writing is a

purposeful act. It is social and conventional in that language is a social semiostic

and communication can only take place effectively if all the users share a broad

understanding of human interaction including such associated factors as

nonverbal cues, motivation, and socio-cultural roles. Language distinguishes us

from animals.因为说和写的交换方法是一种有目标的行动,所以说话是适用性的;因为说话是社会符号,说话的交换只能在所有参与者广泛懂得了人类的那些非言语的暗示,念头,社会文化脚色等等互相接洽关系的身分之后才能有用进行,是以说话又是社会的,商定俗成的.说话使人类差别于动物.

1.2.2 definitions

Language is a system of arbitraryvocalsymbols used for human communication.

What is communication?

A process in which information is transmitted from a source (sender or speaker) to a goal

(receiver or listener).

A system----since elements in it are arranged according to certain rules systematically,

rather than randomly. They cannot be arranged at will. e.g. He the table

cleaned. (×) bkli (×)

Why do we say language is arbitrary?

Arbitrary----there is no intrinsic (logic) connection between a linguistic form and its

meaning, between the sounds that people use and the objects to which these

sounds refer. This explains and is explained by the fact that different

language have different words for the same object, it is good illustration of the

arbitrary nature of language . it is only our tacit agreement of utterance and

concept at work and not any innate relationship bound up in the utterance. A

typical example to illustrate the arbitrary of language is a famous quotation

from shakepeare’s play:” Romeo and Juliet: A rose by any other name would

第3页，－共40页 smell as sweet.一朵玫瑰不管它叫什么名字,闻起来都是一样喷鼻的.

Symbols----words are just the symbols associated with objects, actions, and ideas by

nothing but convention. Namely, people use the sounds or voval forms to

symbolize what they wish to refer to.

Vocal-------- the primary medium for all languages is sound, no matter how well

developed their writing systems are. 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 or read also indicates that language is

primarily vocal, rather than written.

Writing systems came into being much later than the spoken forms.

People with little or no literacy can also be competent language users.

Human ----language is human-specific.

Human beings have different kinds of brains and vocal capacity.

“Language Acquisition Device”(LAD)

二.What characteristics of langauge do you think should be included in a

good ,comprenhensive definition of language?

Language is a rule-governed system; langauge is basically vocal; langauge is arbitrary ;

langague is used for human communication.

1.3 Design features of language 说话的构造特点

Design features------ refers to the defining properties of human language that distinguish it

from any animal system of communication. They are arbitrariness, duality, creativity/

productivity, displacement, clutural transmission and interchangeability.

Design features----- are features that define our human languages,such as

arbitrariness,duality,creativity,displacement,cultural transmission,etc.(指决议了人类说话性质的特点.例如随意率性性,二重性,创造性,移位性,文化转移性等.)The American linguist

Charles Hockett specified twelve design features.