general linguistics

《general linguistics》由会员上传分享，免费在线阅读，更多相关内容在教育资源-天天文库。

1、LinguisticsforStudentsofEnglishChapter1.Introduction1.Whatislanguage?Languagecanmeanwhatapersonsays(e.g.badlanguage,expressions)thewayofspeakingorwriting(e.g.Shakespeare’slanguage,Luxun’slanguage)aparticularvarietyorlevelofspeechorwriting(e.g.languageforspecialpurpose,col

2、loquiallanguage)theabstractsystemunderlyingthetotalityofthespeech/writingbehaviorofacommunity(e.g.Chineselanguage,firstlanguage)thecommonfeaturesofallhumanlanguages(e.g.Hestudieslanguage)atoolforhumancommunication.(socialfunction)asetofrules.(rule-governed)Sapir’sdefiniti

3、on(1921)“Languageisapurelyhumanandnon-instinctivemethodofcommunicatingideas,emotionsanddesiresbymeansofvoluntarilyproducedsymbols.”Hall’sdefinition(1968)Languageis“theinstitutionwherebyhumanscommunicateandinteractwitheachotherbymeansofhabituallyusedoral-auditoryarbitrarys

4、ymbols.”Chomsky’sdefinition(1957)“FromnowonIwillconsiderlanguagetobeasetof(finiteorinfinite)sentences,eachfiniteinlengthandconstructedoutofafinitesetofelements.”Languagecanbegenerallydefinedasasystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsusedforhumancommunication.LanguageisasystemSystema

5、tic----rule-governed,elementsinitarearrangedaccordingtocertainrules;can’tbecombinedatwill.e.g.*bkli,*Iappleeat.LanguageisarbitraryArbitrary----nointrinsicconnectionbetweenthewordandthethingitdenotes,e.g.“pen”byanyothernameisthethingweusetowritewith.Languageissymbolicinnat

6、ureSymbolic----wordsareassociatedwithobjects,actionsideasbyconvention.“Arosebyanyothernamewouldsmellassweet”----ShakespeareLanguageisprimarilyvocalVocal----theprimarymediumissoundforalllanguages;writingsystemcamemuchlaterthanspokenform.Languageishuman-specificHuman-specif

7、ic----differentfromthecommunicationsystemsotherformsoflifepossess,e.g.birdsongs,beedance,animalcries.Thedesign/definingfeaturesofhumanlanguage(CharlesHockett)ArbitrarinessProductivity/CreativityDualityDisplacementCulturaltransmissionArbitrariness----Nological(motivatedori

8、ntrinsic)connectionbetweensoundsandmeanings.Onomatopoeicwords(whichimitatenaturalsounds)aresomew