第二讲 what is language
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A language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols by means of which the members of a society interact in terms of their total culture.‖ -- George Trager: The Field of Linguistics (1949)
顾曰国 (2008) ―学一门语言是懂一个人的心声，懂一个文化。就是整个文 化的大门给你开放了，整个文明给你开放了。
我感觉语言这个东西，不要把它看成是一个简单的符号。它 是一个心。另外对于个人来说，是一个文化的大门，一个文 明的大门向你开放了，这个太有意思。我现在正在准备学蒙 古语。我想看看蒙古人怎么看世界。” /Archives/News1694.html
No animal communication system has duality. The barks of a dog are not analyzable. Animal communication systems cannot be cut into segments and then be reorganized into meaningful sequences. In other words, human languages are discrete while animal communication systems are non-discrete.
For
the majority of animal signals, there does appear to be a clear connection between the conveyed message and the signal used to convey it . Animal signaling is non-arbitrary.
―Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication.‖ --Ronald Wardhaugh: Introduction to Linguistics (1977)
Language is a means of verbal communication. It is instrumental in that communicating by speaking or writing is a purposeful act.
Arbitrariness
The relationship between speech sounds and the meanings they represent in the languages of the world is, for the most part, an arbitrary one. The Swiss linguist de Saussure regarded the linguistic sign as composed of signifier (sound image) and signified (referent). In his view, there is no inherent relation between the two.
2. Design Features of human languages
Design features of language differentiate it from all other forms of signaling and which make it a unique type of communication system.
A language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols by means of which a social group co-operates.‖ -- Bernard Bloch (1907-1965) & George Trager (1906-1992): Outline of Linguistic Analysis (1942)
Defined
as such, language is seen as unique to human beings. Animal communication systems (bird chips, bee dances, dog barks, and so on), are all excluded. Is this justified? Are communication systems possessed by other creatures qualitatively different from human languages?
Discreteness
The fact that the pronunciation of the forms pack and back leads to a distinction in meaning can only be due to the difference between the p and b sounds in English. This property of language is described as discreteness. We have a very discrete view of the sounds of our language and wherever a pronunciation falls within the physically possible range of sounds, it will be interpreted as a linguistically specific and meaningfully distinct sound.
当人把语言当作工具的时候，人以为自己是 主人，其实人是奴隶。当人无论是在显意识 还是潜意识中都不把语言当作工具的时候， 人才能真正地得到解放，人文精神才真正地 实现。否则人永远是奴隶。把语言看作工具 永远无法得到语言和语言研究的真谛。
Qian
Guanlian (2005)
语言是人类的最后家园:人活在语言中,人不得不 活在语言中,人活在程式性语言行为中.语言实际 上是人类的一种社会活动.是一种行为.
Questions: 1. What if we had no language? 2. What is language? 3. Is language important? Is it more important than (less important, as important as) our eyes, hands, ears or legs?
Duality
Language is organized at two levels or layers simultaneously. This property is called duality. Or ‗double articulation‘. At one level, we have distinct sounds, and, at another level, we have distinct meanings.
It is social and conventional in that language is a social semiotic 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. -- Hu zhuanglin(2006)
语言是一种特殊的社会现象，它随着社会 的产生而产生，发展而发展。语言没有阶 级性，一视同仁地为社会各阶层服务。社 会各阶级，阶层或社会集群也会影响到语 言，因而造成语言在使用上的不同特点或 差异。
Language ―is not to be confused with human speech, of which it is only a definite part, though certainly an essential one. It is both a social product of the faculty of speech and a collection of necessary conventions that have been adopted by a social body to permit individuals to exercise that faculty‖.
Arbitrariness Duality Productivity Displacement Cultural transmission Discreteness Interchangeability Reflexivity
Arbitrariness
Language is arbitrary. All languages are arbitrary.
This is important for the workings of language. A small number of sounds can be grouped and regrouped into a large number of units of meaning (words), and the units of meaning can be arranged and rearranged into an infinite number of sentences.
1. Definitions
《辞海》（1989年版，第446页）
人类最重要的交际工具。它同思维有密切的联 系，是人类思维和表达思想的手段，也是人类社 会最基本的信息载体。人们借助语言保存和传递 人类文明的成果。语言是人区别于其他动物的本 质特征之一。共同的语言又常是民族的特征。语 言是以语音为物质外壳，以语词为建筑材料，以 语法为结构规律而构成的符号体系。
Байду номын сангаас(Ferdinand de Saussure 1857-1913)
[Language is] a set of (finite or infinite) sentences, each infinite in length and constructed out of a finite set of elements. (Chomsky, 1957)
Language is a purely human and noninstinctive method of communicating ideas, emotions and desires by means of voluntarily produced symbols. (Sapir, 1921)
In broad terms, linguists agree to define language as a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication.
Liao, Meizhen (2008)
语言是什么？语言是人。人是什么？人是语 言。We exist because we speak. （我说故我 在）。Man is man only when man does not regard (take) language as a tool.（只有当人不把语言 作工具的时候，人才成为真正意义的人）。
它同思维有密切的联系是人类思维和表达思想的手段也是人类社系是人类思维和表达思想的手段也是人类社会最基本的信息载体
Lecture 2: What is Language?
Aims for this lecture
1.
Definitions for language 2. Features of language 3. Origins of language 4. Forms of Language 5. Functions of language
顾曰国 (2008) ―学一门语言是懂一个人的心声，懂一个文化。就是整个文 化的大门给你开放了，整个文明给你开放了。
我感觉语言这个东西，不要把它看成是一个简单的符号。它 是一个心。另外对于个人来说，是一个文化的大门，一个文 明的大门向你开放了，这个太有意思。我现在正在准备学蒙 古语。我想看看蒙古人怎么看世界。” /Archives/News1694.html
No animal communication system has duality. The barks of a dog are not analyzable. Animal communication systems cannot be cut into segments and then be reorganized into meaningful sequences. In other words, human languages are discrete while animal communication systems are non-discrete.
For
the majority of animal signals, there does appear to be a clear connection between the conveyed message and the signal used to convey it . Animal signaling is non-arbitrary.
―Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication.‖ --Ronald Wardhaugh: Introduction to Linguistics (1977)
Language is a means of verbal communication. It is instrumental in that communicating by speaking or writing is a purposeful act.
Arbitrariness
The relationship between speech sounds and the meanings they represent in the languages of the world is, for the most part, an arbitrary one. The Swiss linguist de Saussure regarded the linguistic sign as composed of signifier (sound image) and signified (referent). In his view, there is no inherent relation between the two.
2. Design Features of human languages
Design features of language differentiate it from all other forms of signaling and which make it a unique type of communication system.
A language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols by means of which a social group co-operates.‖ -- Bernard Bloch (1907-1965) & George Trager (1906-1992): Outline of Linguistic Analysis (1942)
Defined
as such, language is seen as unique to human beings. Animal communication systems (bird chips, bee dances, dog barks, and so on), are all excluded. Is this justified? Are communication systems possessed by other creatures qualitatively different from human languages?
Discreteness
The fact that the pronunciation of the forms pack and back leads to a distinction in meaning can only be due to the difference between the p and b sounds in English. This property of language is described as discreteness. We have a very discrete view of the sounds of our language and wherever a pronunciation falls within the physically possible range of sounds, it will be interpreted as a linguistically specific and meaningfully distinct sound.
当人把语言当作工具的时候，人以为自己是 主人，其实人是奴隶。当人无论是在显意识 还是潜意识中都不把语言当作工具的时候， 人才能真正地得到解放，人文精神才真正地 实现。否则人永远是奴隶。把语言看作工具 永远无法得到语言和语言研究的真谛。
Qian
Guanlian (2005)
语言是人类的最后家园:人活在语言中,人不得不 活在语言中,人活在程式性语言行为中.语言实际 上是人类的一种社会活动.是一种行为.
Questions: 1. What if we had no language? 2. What is language? 3. Is language important? Is it more important than (less important, as important as) our eyes, hands, ears or legs?
Duality
Language is organized at two levels or layers simultaneously. This property is called duality. Or ‗double articulation‘. At one level, we have distinct sounds, and, at another level, we have distinct meanings.
It is social and conventional in that language is a social semiotic 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. -- Hu zhuanglin(2006)
语言是一种特殊的社会现象，它随着社会 的产生而产生，发展而发展。语言没有阶 级性，一视同仁地为社会各阶层服务。社 会各阶级，阶层或社会集群也会影响到语 言，因而造成语言在使用上的不同特点或 差异。
Language ―is not to be confused with human speech, of which it is only a definite part, though certainly an essential one. It is both a social product of the faculty of speech and a collection of necessary conventions that have been adopted by a social body to permit individuals to exercise that faculty‖.
Arbitrariness Duality Productivity Displacement Cultural transmission Discreteness Interchangeability Reflexivity
Arbitrariness
Language is arbitrary. All languages are arbitrary.
This is important for the workings of language. A small number of sounds can be grouped and regrouped into a large number of units of meaning (words), and the units of meaning can be arranged and rearranged into an infinite number of sentences.
1. Definitions
《辞海》（1989年版，第446页）
人类最重要的交际工具。它同思维有密切的联 系，是人类思维和表达思想的手段，也是人类社 会最基本的信息载体。人们借助语言保存和传递 人类文明的成果。语言是人区别于其他动物的本 质特征之一。共同的语言又常是民族的特征。语 言是以语音为物质外壳，以语词为建筑材料，以 语法为结构规律而构成的符号体系。
Байду номын сангаас(Ferdinand de Saussure 1857-1913)
[Language is] a set of (finite or infinite) sentences, each infinite in length and constructed out of a finite set of elements. (Chomsky, 1957)
Language is a purely human and noninstinctive method of communicating ideas, emotions and desires by means of voluntarily produced symbols. (Sapir, 1921)
In broad terms, linguists agree to define language as a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication.
Liao, Meizhen (2008)
语言是什么？语言是人。人是什么？人是语 言。We exist because we speak. （我说故我 在）。Man is man only when man does not regard (take) language as a tool.（只有当人不把语言 作工具的时候，人才成为真正意义的人）。
它同思维有密切的联系是人类思维和表达思想的手段也是人类社系是人类思维和表达思想的手段也是人类社会最基本的信息载体
Lecture 2: What is Language?
Aims for this lecture
1.
Definitions for language 2. Features of language 3. Origins of language 4. Forms of Language 5. Functions of language