语言学笔记 Lecture2

语言学笔记

陈银2014/3/8

Lecture 2

Pretest

•Define the following terms:

• 1. design features

• 2. arbitrariness

• 3. duality

• 4. creativity

• 5. displacement

• 6. language

Answers

• 1. design features:the distinctive features of human language that essentially make human language distinguishable from languages of animals.(从本质上将人类语言与动物语言区分开的人类语言的区别性特点。)

• 2. arbitrariness：the absence of any physical correspondence between linguistic signals and the entities to which they refer.(语言符号和这些符号所指的实体间不存在任何物质的联系。)

• 3. duality：the structural organization of language into two abstract levels: meaningful units (eg. words) and meaningless segments (e.g. sounds, letters) 语言的结构组织可分为两个抽象的层面：有意义的单元（如词语）和无意义的片段（如语音.字母）• 4.creativity：also called productivity, refers to the ability to construct and understand an indefinitely large number of sentences in one’s native language, including those which he has never heard before, but which are appropriate to the speaking situation.(亦称“能产性，指人们可以说出（或构造）也可以懂得无穷多的语句，哪怕是从未听说过的句子（只要语境条件充分）。”)

• 5.displacement: the ability of language to refer to contexts removed from the speakers immediate situation. (语言能够指称说话人即时情景以外的语境。) • nguage:Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication.(语言是人类用于交际的有声符号系统。)

What’s the property of language?

•Systematic---- rule-governed, elements in it are arranged according to certain rules; can’t be combined at will. e.g. *bkli, *I apple eat

•Arbitrary---- no intrinsic connection between the word and the thing it denotes, e.g.

“pen” by any other name is the thing we use to write with.

•Symbolic---- words are associated with objects, actions ideas by convention. “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet”----Shakespeare

•V ocal---- the primary medium is sound for all languages; writing system came much later than spoken form.

•Human-specific---- different from the communication systems other forms of life possess,

e.g. bird songs, bee dance, animal cries.

1.4 Origin of Language

How did language come into being?

(1) The Divine Theory endowed by God (Adam’s naming; The Tower of Babel)

(2)The Invention Theory

(3)The Evolutionary Theory

(1). The Divine Theory

Adam’s naming

•And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.

•耶和华神用土造成野地各样走兽和空中各样飞鸟,并把它们都带到亚当面前，看他叫把它们叫什么。亚当怎样叫这些它们，它们就叫什么名字。

•And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.

•那人便给一切牲畜和空中飞鸟，野地走兽都起了名。只是那人没有遇见配偶帮助他。

（2）. The Invention Theory

The Bow-wow theory（咆哮说/拟声说）

imitative of animal calls (mew【猫叫声】, hiss【嘶嘶声】)

The Pooh-pooh theory （啵啵说/感叹说）

instinctive cries out of emotions (interjections)

The “Yo-he-ho”theory（吆嘿嗬说/喘息说）

rhythmic grunts when working (heave【举，投】, haul【拉】)

The Ding-dong theory natural resonance：(ding-dong, bang)

（3）. The Evolutionary Theory

There is certain relationship between the development of language and the evolutionary development of thehuman species.

• 1. Children are born with both thought and language.

• 2. The development of the physical apparatus for speech.

• 3. It is labor that created the necessity for language.

1.5 Functions of Language

Linguists talk about the FUNCTIONS of language in an abstract sense. They summarize practical functions and attempt some broad classifications.

☞Jakobson (1960): referential (context), emotive (addresser), poetic (message), conative (addressee), phatic (contact), meta-lingual (code)

☞Halliday early: instrumental, regulatory, representational, interactional, personal, heuristic and imaginative.