语言学概论考试要点(2009版)(1)

语言学概论考试复习要点(2009-12-28)1. Definition of languageLanguage is a system of arbitrary(随意的) vocal symbols used for human communication..2. Design features(辨别特征)Arbitrariness (随意性) and non-arbitrariness:productivity（创造性）duality(二重性)：displacement(移位性)genetic-cultural transmission.discreteness of language(分离性, 离散性)：.3. microlinguistics and macrolinguisticsmicrolinguistics: is concerned with the study of language or languages per se, not concern other field of study such as sociology, psychology, literature, computer science, etc. Macrolinguistics:is concerned with the study of language which involves other discipline (interdisciplinary) sociolinguistics: Psycholinguistics: Applied linguistics:4 l angue and parole(语言和言语) 由Swiss linguist F. de Saussure 提出的Langue r efers to the abstract linguistic system shared by all the members of a speech community.(conventions and rules; abstract; relatively stable;)Parole refers to the realization of a langue in actual use.(the concrete use of the conventions and rules; concrete, refers to the naturally occurring language events; varies from person to person, situation to situation)区别的目的：parole is simple a mass of linguistic facts, too varied andconfusing for systematic investigation and what linguists should do is toabstract langue from parole(发现规律)。

Descriptive vs prescriptivepetence and performance(能力和运用)：American linguist A. Chomsky proposed in the late 1950s.Competence: the ideal user‟s knowledge of the rules of his languagePerformance: the actual realization of this knowledge in linguistic communication.犯错误的原因是：though internalised, but with social and psychological factors such as stress, anxiety and embarrassment. .Synchronic Linguistics vs. Diachronic Linguistics6. Definition of morphology and morphemesMorphology is a branch of grammar which studies the internal structure of words and the rules by which words are formed.（simplify, identify, beautify）Definition of Morpheme: the smallest meaningful unit of language (boyish, boy---young, male human being; ish---having the quality of…)Free vs bound7. syntaxSyntax: it is a central part of grammar, which studies how to combine words to form sentences in a language.8. The linear and hierarchical structures of sentences(1) The sequential order of words in a sentence suggests that the structure of asentence is linear. Change the order, the meaning will be changed or may lead to no sentence.The hierarchical structure of a sentenceThe superficial arrangement of words in a linear sequence does not mean that sentences are simply linearly-structured, adding one word onto another, following a simple arithmetic logic. 但是，intuitively, English speakers divide these sentences in the way that obviously follows a particular hierarchical order.For example, The company// wanted a// new advertising campaign. (this division is rediculous). Instead, we divide it into meaningful segments such asThese meaningful segments are called constituents (组成成分)。

And the smaller constituents can group together to form a bigger constituents. And the biggest is the sentence. So the constituent structure is hierarchical.9. Deep structure and surface structureDeep structure: the abstract syntactic representation of a sentence. It is believed that phrase structure rules, with the insertion of the lexicon, generate sentences at the level of deep structure.Surface structure: the directly observable syntactic form of the sentence. The application of transformational rules transforms a sentence from the level of deep structure to that of surface structure.Surface StructureFor example: The boy ate the cake. The cake was eaten by the boy. ( these two are all surface structure). The same deep structure is: The boy eat the cake.What we utter and write is the surface structure, not deep structure, which shows the grammatical relationship among base components (phrases) or the internal relation of a sentence. This relationship cannot be detected from the linear structure of the sentence.For example: The newspaper was not delivered today. 其深层结构是：10. Universal GrammarA theory which claims to account for the grammatical competence of every adult no matter what language he or she speaks. It claims that every speaker knows a set of principles (原理)which apply to all languages and also a set ofParameters(参量)that can vary from one language to another, but only within certain limits.According to UG theory, acquiring a language means applying the principles of UG toa particular language and learning which value is appropriate for each parameter.11. The naming theory(命名论):One of the oldest notions concerning meaning, and also a very primitive one, proposed by the ancient Greek scholar Plato. According to this theory, the l inguistic forms or symbols, in other words, the word s used in a language are taken to be l abels of the objects they stand for.Pen object used for writing12 The conceptualist view（意念观）symbol/form---linguistic element referent---object in the worldThe conceptualist view holds that there is no direct link between a linguistic form and what it refers to (i.e. between language and the real world); rather, in the interpretation of meaning they are linked through the mediation of concepts in the mind.The symbol of a word relates to “things ” by virtue of the concept which is associatedwith the form of the word in the minds , and the concept looked at from this point of view is the meaning of the word.Dog-------the concept of dog (what a dog is like), not the dog in the sentence …the dog over there looks unfriendly‟.13 Contextualism （语境论）Contextualism is based on the presumption that one can derive meaning from observable contexts: situational context and the linguistic context.(1) Situational contex t: Every utterance occurs in a particular spatiotemporal situation, the main components of which include, apart from the place and time of the utterance, the speaker and the hearer, the actions they are performing at the time, the various objects and events existent in the situation.e.g. Do you know the meaning of war?a. It may mean Do you know the meaning of the word wa r? ,when said by a language teacher to a class of students.b. It may mean War produces death, injury and suffering, when said by an injured soldier to a politician who favours war.(2) Linguistic context: is concerned with the probability of a word‟s collocation with another word, which forms part of the “meaning‟ of the word, i.e. its collocative meaning, and also with the part of text that precedes and follows a particular utterance.Collocative meaning: Black hair,// black coffee(浓咖啡)Text position: The seal could not be found. The zoo keeper became worried.The seal could not be found,. The king became worried.14. Sense(系统意义) and reference（所指意义）(1) Sense: It refers to the meaning that lies in the relation or the lexical contrasts among linguistic forms themselves. It is concerned with all the features of the linguistic form; it is the collection of all the features of the linguistic form; it is abstract and de-contextualized. It is the aspect of meaning dictionary compilers are interested in.Sense is intra-linguistic in nature.系统意义是指附加意义，涉及语言内部关系，一个词的系统意义通过语别的词的对照关系表现出来。