语言学期末考试重点

What is language?➢“ Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication.”System: linguistic elements are arranged systematically, rather than randomly.Arbitrary: e.g. bookSymbolic: people use the sounds or vocal forms to symbolize what they wish to refer to.V ocal: language is primarily vocal, rather than writtenHuman-specific:Design features of language语言的本质特征Arbitrariness （任意性）Saussure: the forms of linguistic signs bear no natural relationship to their meaning Arbitrary relationship between the sound of a morpheme and its meaning, even with onomatopoeic words:The dog barks bow wow in English but “汪汪汪”in Chinese. Onomatopoeia: words that sound like the sounds they describeDuality （二重性）Language consists of two levels of structures. The lower (secondary) level is a definite set of meaningless sounds which combine to form meaningful units (morphemes, words, such as he, left) which constitute a higher (primary) level.Productivity or Creativity （创造性）Because of duality the human speaker is able to combine the basic linguistic units to form an infinite set of sentences, most of which are never before produced or heard.Words can be used in new ways to mean new things, and can be instantly understood by people who have never come across that usage before.Displacement（移位性）One can talk about things that are not present, as easily as he does things present. In other words, one can refer to real and unreal things, things of the past, of the present, of the future.Our language enables us to communicate about things that do not exist or do not yet exist.e.g. A dog cannot tell people that its master will be home in a few days.Cultural transmission（文化传递性）Language is culturally transmitted. It cannot be transmitted through heredity.e.g. a person learns to speak is a cultural one other than a genetic one like the dog’s barking system.e.g. a Chinese baby born and brought up in Londonan English child brought up in BeijingInterchangeability（互换性）It refers to that man can both produce and receive message.One can be a speaker or a hearerSpecialization （专门性）It refers to the fact that man does not have a total physical involvement in the act of communicationFunction of language(语言功能)Phatic function/communion（寒暄功能）Language is used to establish an atmosphere or maintain social contact between the speaker and the hearer.e.g. Greetings, farewell and commentsDirective function （指令功能Language is used to get the hearer to do something. Most imperative sentences are of this function.e.g. open the doorInformative function（信息功能）Language is used to tell something, to give information, or to reason things out.Declarative sentences:e.g. I saw her yesterday on the streetInterrogative function （疑问功能）Language is used to ask for information from others.All questions expecting replies serve this function.e.g. what’s your name?what time is it now?Expressive function（表达功能）Language is used to reveal the speaker’s attitudes and feelings.e.g. Oh, my God!Evocative function（唤起功能）Language is used to create certain feelings in the hearers.e.g. Jokes, advertising, and propagandaPerfomative function（施为功能）Language is used to do things or to perform acts.e.g. I now pronounce you husband and wife.Descriptive and prescriptive grammars （描写式和规定式语法）Descriptive grammars attempt to tell what is in the language, while prescriptive grammars tell people what should be in the language.As traditional grammars tried to lay down rules, they are often called prescriptive. Most modern linguistics is descriptive.e.g. A: who is that?B: It’s me. / It’s I.Synchronic and diachronic linguistics （共时与历时语言学）When we study language at one particular time, it is called synchronic linguistics. When we study language developments through time, it is called diachronic or historical linguistics.Synchronic linguistics focuses on the state of language at any point in history while diachronic linguistics focuses on the differences in two or more than two states of language over decades or centuries.Langue and parole （语言与言语F. de Saussure make an important distinction between langue and parole.Langue refers to the abstract linguistic system shared by all the members of a speech community. Parole refers to particular realizations of langue.Langue is the social, conventional side of language, while parole is individualized speech.Competence and performance （语言能力和语言应用）According to Chomsky, competence refers to the knowledge that native speakers have of their language as a system of abstract formal relations, while performance refers to their actual linguistic behavior, that is, the actual use of this knowledge.Chapter 2 The Sounds of LanguagePhoneticsThe study of the speech sounds that occur in all human languages is called phonetics. The study of sounds can be divided into three main areas: Articulatory Phonetics; Acoustic Phonetics; Perceptual or Auditory PhoneticsClassification of English speech soundsSpeech sounds of all languages are broadly classified into vowels and consonants.V owels: there is no obstruction to the flow of air as it passes from the larynx to the lips.Consonants: we are making it difficult or impossible for the air to pass through the mouth.ConsonantsEnglish consonant can be classified according to the manner of articulation and the place of articulation.The manner of articulation: it refers to the type of stricture involved in the production of a consonant (the particular way the airstream is obstructed).The place of articulation: it refers to the involvement of the articulators in the production of a particular consonant (where the airstream is most obstructed).The manner of articulationPlosives /stops (爆破音)——/p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/Fricatives （摩擦音）——/f/, /v/, /s/, /z/, /θ/, /ð/, /∫/, /ʒ/, /h/Affricates (破擦音) —— /t∫/, /dʒ/Liquids （流音）——/l/, /r/Nasals （鼻音）——/m/, /n/, /ŋ/Glides (median approximants) （滑音）——/j/, /w/The place of articulationBilabials （双唇音）: /p/, /b/, /m/, /w/ Labiodentals （唇齿音）: /f/, /v/Dentals （齿音）: /θ/, /ð/Alveolars （齿龈音）:/t/, /d/, /n/, /s/, /z/, /r/, /l/Palatals （上颚音）: /j/, /∫/, /ʒ/, /dʒ/, /t∫/Velars （软腭音）: /k/, /g/, /ŋ/Glottal （声门音，喉音）: /h/Phonology （音系学/音位学）Phonology is the description of the systems and patterns of speech sounds in a language.Minimal pairs 最小对立体Minimal pairs: are pairs of words which differ from each other only by one sound (occurs in the same place).Minimal sets 最小对立体集Minimal sets: when a group of words can be differentiated each one from the others, by changing one phoneme (always in the same position), then we have a minimal set.On the vowel phonemese.g. feat, fit, fate, fat, fought, footOn the consonantse.g. big, pig, rig, fig, dig, wigSuprasegmentals （超语段音位学）Suprasegmental features refers to the phonemic features that occur above the level of sound segment. The major suprasegmental features in english include word stress, sentence stress, tone, and intonation. STRESS TONE INTONATION。