普通语言学 讲义1

Reference Books
●Dwight Bolinger, Donald A.Sears. Aspects of Language [M]. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, INC.1981
●F.de Saussure. Course in General Linguistics [M]. London: Gerald Duckworth & Co.Ltd.1972
●L. Bloomfield. Language [M]. George Allen & Union Ltd.1933
●R.H.Robins. General Linguistics [M]. London: London Group UK Limited.1989
●Shalom Lappin. The Handbook of Contemporary Semantic Theory [M]. America: Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 2001.
●Andrew Radford, Martin Atkinson… Linguistics: An Introduction [M]. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.2000
●高名凯、石安石．语言学概论[M].北京：中华书局，1985
●王寅．语义理论与语义教学[M].上海：上海外语教育出版社，2003
●孔刃非．汉字全息学[M].北京：华艺出版社，2005
●梁宁建．当代认知心理学[M].上海：上海教育出版社，2003
●王振昆、谢文庆．语言学教程[M].北京：外语教学与研究出版社，2003
0 Background knowledge
0.1 Definition of language
1) Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication.
（communication）
2) Language is a system of symbols designed for the purpose of human communication. （communication）
3) Language is one of the unique possessions of human beings.
(possession)
4) Language is purely human and non-instinctively method of communicating ideas, emotions and desires by means of voluntarily produced symbols.
（E.Sapir, 1921, and （1884-1939 ）(possession)
5) Language is “the institution whereby humans communicate and interact with each other by means of habitually used oral-auditory arbitrary symbols.” （Hall ,1968 ）(an established system or custom)
6) “From now on I will consider language to be a set （finite or infinite ）of sentences, each finite in length and constructed out of a finite set of elements.”
（Chomsky,1957 ）
(sentence structure)
7）Human language is a system of vocal-auditory communication, interacting with the experiences of its users, employing conventional signs composed of arbitrary patterned sound units and assembled according to set rules.
( Bolinger : p.14)
0.2 Quantities of languages
1) The estimates : More than 5,000 languages in the world
2) The top 8 languages (<剑桥语言百科全书>)
A Chinese
B English
C Spanish
D Hindi
E Arabic
F Portuguese
G Bengali H Russian
0.3 Qualities of languages
All the languages are equal.
0.4 Definition of Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of language. It often answers the following questions: ●What is language?
●How does language work?
●What do all languages have in common?
●What range of variation is found among languages?（Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Laotian, Burmese,etc）
●What makes language change?
●To what extent are social class differences reflected in language?
●How does a child acquire his mother tongue?
0.5 Definition of general linguistics
General linguistics is the study of language as a whole.
It studies the common features, structures and rules of human languages. It also probes into research methods of language.
1. Introduction
1.1 Some traits of language
1.1.1 Language is human
Review of design features of language（American linguist Charles Hockette）
●1) Arbitrariness 2) Duality
●3) Productivity
Users can produce and understand sentences they have never heard or spoken before; Language has the mechanism of producing new forms and meanings.
●4) Interchangeability（reciprocity）
addresser-----addressee
●5) Displacement
Language can refer to contexts removed from the immediate situations of the speaker.
●6) Specialization
(Man does not have a total physical involvement in the act of communication. Speech is a specialized activity. We use it in a detached manner. We can talk while we are doing some other things)
●7) Cultural transmission
Language is passed on generation after generation by learning and teaching, rather than by instinct
1.1.2 Language is thought and activity
●Thought---competence
●Activity---performance
●Chomsky: Competence is an ideal language user‟s knowledge of his language.
Performance is the actual realization of this knowledge in utterances.
●1) Language is not a thing, but a way of thinking and acting.
Humbolt: The true implication of speech is: it dies out at any moment when it is uttered. It in itself is not a product, it is a kind of activity.
2) Language and speech
A Language is potential, speech is actual
B Language is code, speech is message
C Language is abstract, speech is concrete
D language is stable and systematic, speech is subject to personal and situational constraint
1.1.3 The medium of language is sound
All languages use the same channel for sending and receiving: sound waves, the vibrations of the atmosphere. All set the vibrations moving by the activity of the speech organs. And all organize the vibrations in essentially the same way, into small units of sound that can be combined and recombined in distinctive ways.
●1) Sound and speech organs
Human beings are not unique in using sound as the medium for communication.
2) Advantages
A Leave the body free for other activities
B Can be used in the dark
C Can be sent at a distance
3) Is sound involved in any act of communication?
A Reading
B Monologue
C Think
4) Sound as a psychological reality instead of a physical reality.
1.1.4 Language is hierarchical
1) Nature of a system: the reduction of system into units and the units are organized into a system
A A system is composed of a set of several elements or subsystems
B There is a high degree of order or organization in the interrelation between the elements within the system
C The value of the elements in the system is derived from their relationship with other elements in the same system.
D 1+1＞2
2) A picture of the language hierarchy
stratification（stratum）
●text: discourses, paragraphs, articles, sentence group
●syntax: sentences
●morphology: words
●phonology: syllables
●phonetics: human speech sound
However when we talk about the layers of
linguistic structure, we often use the example given by Gleitman.
1.1.5 Language changes to outwit change
Language is changeable and always remains a dynamic equilibrium（balance).
1) Insignificant changes
A Personal
B Temporary
2) Significant changes
A From personal to social
B From temporary to systematic
3) Ranges
A Sound
B V ocabulary
a) Birth and death
b) Changes of old words:
Formal
Semantic
C Syntax: most resistant
4) The problem of stability: the language must remain the same. Language changes to outwit change
1.1.6 Language is embedded in gesture
1) Audible and visible gestures
A: Kinesics: bodylanguage
B: paralanguage/ gesture
（Japanese bowing）
2) The relationship between gesture and language
A Peripheral and dependent
Gestures depend on the language for interpretation. They are not systemic.
B Reinforcement
C Contradictory
3) Types
A Learned
a) Conventional and cultural
b) Iconic: the communicator imitates some aspect of the thing signified.
B Instinctive
a) V oluntary, automatic
b) Involuntary: a sign of adulthood is the “insincerity” or originally autono mous actions, a smile is no longer a betrayal of feeling but a purposive act intended to please.
c) Audible
d) Visible
4) Features of gestures
A Auxiliary
B Interpreted in verbal
C No syntax
D Highly limited
E No independent gesture language
F More iconic than symbolic
G Can overcome language barriers
5) Functions
A Relational marker
B Structural markers
C Content markers
1.1.7 Language is both arbitrary and non-arbitrary
Front vowel [I] ; [I:] indicate smallness. wee; teeny; chip; slip; nib; least but chop; slab; knob; large are different. They are the opposite.（细、小――高、大）
1) Naturalists and conventionalists:
A Naturalists
B Conventionalists
2) The case of onomatopoeia
3) Degrees of arbitrariness
A Sound
B Word
C Syntax: less arbitrary than words, esp. in the order of elements.
e.g. He came in and sat down.
4) From arbitrariness to conventions
1.1.8 Language is vertical（system）as well as horizontal（structure）
●paradigmatic; syntagmatic（Saussure1857-1913）&（langue-parole; signifier-signified; synchronic-diachronic）
●paradigmatic relation（associative relations; vertical relations; choice relations）
●syntagmatic relation（sequential relations; horizontal relations; chain relations）
●Horizontal
A Combination
B Syntactical
C Obligatory
●Vertical
A Selection
B Association
Semantic
Formal
Functional
C Optional
1.2 Functions of Language
Malinowski (1923)
1) Pragmatic 2) Magic 3) Phatic
Finch (1998)
1) Physiological 2) Phatic 3) Recording
4) Discriminating 5) Reasoning
6) Communicating 7) Pleasing
Buhler (1879-1963)
1) Symbolic 言事2) Symptom 3) Signal
Lyons (1977)
1) descriptive 2) expressive
Halliday 1) Ideational
2) Interpersonal 3) Textual
Jakobson:six factors are involved in any act of communication:
reference
Addresser --- message --- addressee
channel
code
According to which factor is the focus of attention, we have the following function:
1) Informative
2) Phatic
3) Directive
4) Emotive
5) Poetic
6) Metalingual
1.3 Linguistics
1.3.1 Definition
1.3.2 The Scope of linguistics
The internal studies of language
●Phonetics
●Phonology
●Morphology
●Syntax
●Semantics
●Pragmatics
The external study of language
●Sociolinguistics
●Psycholinguistics
●Computational linguistics
●Neurolinguistics
●Applied linguistics
●Stylistics
●Philosophical linguistics
●Anthropological linguistics
1.4 Distinctions in linguistics
●Syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations
syntagmatic（structure）paradigmatic（system）
●Synchronic and diachronic
●Langue and parole
●Descriptive and prescriptive
●Competence and performance
●Functionalism and formalism
●1.5 The academic position of linguistics in social sciences and humanities
●Linguistics is a pilot science.
●The linguistics turn in philosophy in the 20th century.
●The shift of focus of attention in philosophy.
A Ontology: What is the universe made of?
B Epistemology: How we get to know the world?
C Logic: The study of the form of thought and rules and principles that govern the calculation of the thought.
D Ethics: Also termed moral philosophy, the study of the theoretic foundations of social behaviors and institutions.
●Analytical philosophy : linguistic analysis, the study of meaning.
( 伍铁平《语言学是一门领先的科学》北京语言学院出版社）
nguage as Distinctive Sound
2.1 Phonetics and phonology
2.1.1 Phonetics
1) Phonetics is the study of human speech sounds. It provides the means for describing speech sounds.
2) It is the science which studies the characteristics of human sound making, especially those sounds used in speech, and provides methods for their description, classification and transcription. (胡)
2.1.2 Classification of phonetics
2.1.2.1 Three kinds of phonetics
●1) Articulatory phonetics: to study the human speech organs and the way in which the speech sounds are produced.
●2) Auditory phonetics: to study the perception of sounds by the human ear.
●3) Acoustic phonetics: to study the physical properties of the speech sounds: sound waves by a machine called spectrograph.
2.1.2.2 Six subjects of phonetics
●1) General phonetics: common features of human speech sounds
●2) Special phonetics: a certain language phonetics
●3) Historical phonetics: change of the sound of a language
●4) Comparative phonetics: comparative study of the sounds between two or several languages
●5) Applied phonetics: phonetics used in society to solve problems
●6) Laboratory phonetics: used in physics, mathematics, biology etc
2.2 Phonology (phonemics)
Phonology studies the ways in which speech sounds form systems and patterns in human languages.
●1) Phonological knowledge permits a speaker to produce sounds which form meaningful utterances;
●2) To recognize a foreign accent;
●3) To make up new words;
●4) To add the appropriate phonetic segments to form plurals and tenses;
●5) To know what is and what is not a sound in one‟s language.
2.3 Articulation
2.3.1 Consonants
1) V oiced or voiceless
2) Manner of articulation: the degrees of obstruction, complete, partial, or a mere narrowing. (Hu.P.46) Stops/plosives/explosives
●Fricatives
●Affricates
●Nasals
●Laterals/liquids
●Semivowels/glides
3) Place of articulation: the different vocal organs or more exactly the different parts of the vocal organs, which are involved in the production of consonants.
●Labial/bilabial /p/ /b/ /m/ /w/
●Labio-dental /f/ /v/
●Dental/lingual-dental /θ/ / ð/
●Alveolar /t/ /d/ /s/ /z/ /n/ /l/
●Back-alveolar /r/ /ts/ /tr/ /dz/ /dr/
●Palatal/palatal-alveolar / / / / / / / / /j /
Any consonant can be described in a set of these three features.
2.3.2 V owels: vowel sounds are made by shaping the column of air rather by obstructing it, it has the following features:
1) Vertical : high and low
2) Horizontal : front and back
Any vowel can be described in these two features.
2.4 phone, phoneme, allophone, complementary distribution
2.4.1 Phone
Phone is a phonetic unit or segment. /lif/ /dubai/ /sa:g/ /la:d/
2.4.2 Phoneme
●Phoneme is a phonological unit.
●It is a unit of distinctive value.
●It is an abstract unit.
●It is not any particular sound.
●It is represented or realized by a certain phone in a certain phonetic context.
2.4.3 Allophone
●/p it/ /p/
●/ti p/ /p/ } are allophones of the same
●/s p it/ /p/
phoneme /p/
2.4.4 Complementary distribution
Phonologically speaking, similar sounds might be related in two ways:
1) If they are two distinctive phonemes they are phonemic contrast.
●/pit/ /dig/
●/bit/ /big/
2) If they are allophones of the same phoneme and they do not distinguish meaning, but complement each other in distribution they are said to be complementary distribution.
e.g. /l/ in the following l ow ow l
3. Sounds and Words
3.1 Systemic phonemes and distinctive features
3.1.1 Two conceptions
1) Autonomous phoneme ( 自主音位)
In the early time the children learned the words and sounds, those sounds in a certain language are called phonemes or autonomous phonemes. E.g./papa/ /daidi/ /lai/
2) Morphophonemes(形态音位)
When autonomous phonemes are used to describe any particular word-phones, they are called morphophonemes.
●n. /f/ v. /v/
●life to live
●half to halve
●grief to grieve
●staff（杖）to stave（击穿）
●calf to calve
3.1.2 Sequential rule
●stfog stmijik sksel
●splash scratch strip
3.1.3 Deletion rule
stron g lon g youn g我告（诉）你
3.1.4 Assimilation rule
●in discrete /n/
●in put /m/
Sequential rules
●Sequential rules ---- the rules that govern the combination of sounds in a particular language, e.g. in Eng lish, “k b i I” might possibly form blik, klib, bilk, kilb.
●If a word begins with a [l] or a [r], then the next sound must be a vowel.
Sequential rules
●If three consonants should cluster together at the beginning of a word, the combination should obey the following three rules, e.g. spring, strict, square, splendid, scream.
a) the first phoneme must be /s/,
b) the second phoneme must be /p/ or /t/ or /k/,
c) the third phoneme must be /l/ or /r/ or /w/.
* [ŋ] never occurs in initial position in English and standard Chinese, but it does occur in some dialects, e.g. in Cantonese: “牛肉，我，俄语……”
Assimilation rule
●Assimilation rule----assimilates one sound to another by “copying” a feature of a sequential phoneme, thus making the two phones similar, e.g. the prefix in is pronounced differently when in different phonetic contexts:
●indiscreet alveolar [ n]
●inconceivable velar [ ]
●input bilabial [ ]
Assimilation in Mandarin
●好啊hao wa
●海啊hai ya
●看啊kan na
●唱啊chang
●跳啊tiao wa
Deletion rule
●Deletion rule---- it tells us when a sound is to be deleted although it is orthographically represented, e.g. sign,design, paradigm, there is no [g] sound; but the [g] sound is pronounced in their corresponding forms signature, designation, paradigmatic.
3.2 Word shape
●con fer aqui fer ous (含水的)
●de fer auri fer ous（含金的）
●dif fer calci fer ous（含钙的）
●in fer carbon i fer ous（含碳的）
●of fer cruc i fer ous（饰有十字架的）
●pre fer
●re fer
●trans fer
3.3 Morph ；morpheme；allomorph
Morph：the smallest sequence of phonological units into which words are divided in an analysis of morphemes. E.g. un stretch ed
●In Chinese: 组祖租诅俎阻助咀------偏旁(Chinese character component)
杲（日上三杆）；杳（日落西山）；莫（古同暮）（日没草中）；旦（太阳升起）●Some western Chinese experts say 船――诺亚方舟坐八人；和――鸽子口衔橄榄枝Morpheme: A unit of grammar smaller than the word. E.g. dis taste ful
Allomorph: The morphs that can represent the same morpheme are called the morpheme‟s allomorph.
e.g. in correct
im possible
il legal in
ir regular
ad mire
ad dress
ad join } ad=to
ad here
ad mire
mir aculous
mir acle } mir=mire
s mil e
3.4 Phonological and morphological conditioning(音位制约和形态制约)
3.4.1 When a phone gets the feature of the neighboring sound, it is called phonological conditioning. E.g. ten percent-----/m/
3.4.2 When allophones do not depend on neighboring sound, we call morphological conditioning. dear-----darling; foot---feet; goose---geese
3.4.3 Suppletion（异干互补）
●go---wen t
●do---di d
●write-wro te }They are allomorphs of
talk- talk ed the same morph.
3.4.4 Stylistic conditioning
●What‟s cooking?--------What‟s cookin?
(informal style)
●I suppose.----------------I s‟pose.
(informal style)
3.5 Complexity of English morphology
●full----------------- to fill
●strong-------------- to strength
●old------------------ to age
●lively-------------- to enliven
●uncomfortable---- to discomfort
4.Words and Their Make-up
4.1 Introduction
When the language is supplied with subatomic particles (distinctive features), atoms (phonemes), and molecules (syllables), the next step is to go from physics to biology, to find the cells and their assemblies that make up the living matter of language. Life needs more than form; it must have meaning.
●Meaning seems to emerge as the units of sound in the language are structured into ever large units:
Distinctive features--phonemes--syllables--morphemes--words--collocations and idioms
.
●Distinctive features-- at the smallest end of the scale—are meaningless. At the stage of phonemes, some non-arbitrary meaning may occur; but meaning really begins to emerge only as phonemes are grouped into syllables that take the form of morphemes. With words we are on familiar ground: they are …the smallest elements that are independently coded‟, the common pieces of the language that are constantly regrouped to form messages
This relationship between words and meanings is understood by every speaker. It is the one thing about the practical use of language that we know children can be effectively taught. People struggling with an idea will say I can’t think of the right word, but they are never heard to say I can’t think of the right prefix or I can’t think of the right sound( though they may say I can’t think of the right way to put it, which has to do with something higher up on scale than words).
4.2 Collocation and idioms
Words as we understand them are not the only elements that have a more or less fixed correlation with meanings. In fact they are not the first units that a child learns to imbue with this association, i.e. when a child learns something the situation is not broken down. On the other hand the child learns something with external reality. And if asked to define a hole, he will say a hole in the ground. The associations are horizontal (are expressed in the syntax). Such habitual association of words is known as collocation.
4.2.1 Idiom
Idiom is a set of expression in which two or more words are syntactically related, but with a meaning like that of a single lexical unit.
It means groups of words with set meanings that can not be calculated by adding up the
meanings of the parts.
●as drunk as a lord/sow;
●run riot;
●put one‟s foot in it;
●spill the beans
●Degrees of tightness
A: Some unchangeable
Example:
Hold your horses.
﹡: They hold their horses.
﹡: He was holding his horses.
﹡: Hold your horse.
B: With limited amount of manipulation.
Example:
He‟s dead to the world.
(meaning: He is fast asleep.)
She‟s dead to the world.
(Change of subject pronoun.)
They were dead to the world.
(Subject and tense change)
﹡: He was dead to the universe.
●C: With certain transformations.
Example:
He found fault with them.
Fault was found with them.
It is fault that was found with them.
2) Features of idioms
A Stability: Structural stability is due to their fixed and ready-made nature.
B Syntactic inseparability: The part-of-speech meaning of an idiom is considered as belonging to the idiom as a whole irrespective of the part-of-speech meaning of the member words, e. g:
in the long run=finally: adverb
C Stylistically: terse, vivid and forcible
a Strong appeal to emotion
b Strong appeal to imagination
c Strong appeal to aesthetic perception
※Idioms may be studied from the following aspects:
A Origin
B Image (colour, animal, natural phenomena)
C Cultural connotations
D Comparative studies between languages, esp. between English and Chinese.
E The creative use of idioms.
F Figures in the Chinese idioms
G Translation of idioms.
4.2.2 Collocation
Collocation is a relation within a syntactic unit between individual lexical elements, i.e. words specifically or habitually go together. E.g. blond collocates with hair---blond hai r. In the sense of definition, idioms are a particular kind of collocation. The difference between idioms and collocation is that in collocation, the meaning of the parts are still there.
4.2.3 The range and variety of collocations
The range and variety of collocations is enormous. Some examples follow. Not all persons will agree with every judgment of acceptability that is marked here with an asterisk, question mark, or no symbol at all; but the important thing is that such judgment is made. Since it is our experience of expressions that are repeated over and over in given circumstances that makes for collocations, it would be remarkable if that experience were uniform all over the English-speaking world. Consider:
1) Stereotyping of the definite article
●I heard it on the radio. ? I saw it on the TV.
●? I heard it on radio. I saw it on TV.
2) Set coordination
●There was plenty of food and drink.
●There was plenty of food.
●﹡There was plenty of drink.
3) Linked function words
●I thought he would help me.
But no, he was busy, he said.
●I thought he would help me.
﹡And yes, he was willing to.
4) Nouns stereotyped with particular adjectives
●good likelihood strong likelihood ﹡high likelihood
●﹡good probability strong probability high probability
●good possibility strong possibility ﹡high possibility
●good chance ﹡strong chance ﹡high chance
5) Item-to-category stereotype
●I regarded them with curiosity. (adverb of manner)
●﹡I regarded them.
●﹡I regarded them for ten minutes.
6) Adjective and noun
●She was there the livelong day.
●﹡She was there the livelong morning (week, year)
7) Preposition and noun
●His methods are above reproach.
●﹡His methods are below (beneath, far from, near) reproach.
4.2.4 Compared with Chinese
个:Different collocations will have different interpretations.
●1) 你们说话吧，我乐得喝个杯干盏净．
●这姑娘太横了，还没有说上一句话就把人家的脸抓个稀巴烂．
●管它生与熟，先吃它个痛快．
●2) 这个女人不寻常．
●你个傻瓜．
●3) 点火时一个不留神，把爷爷的胡子烧着了．
●4) 一口一个馒头，一口一个鸡蛋．
●5)一口一个老师，一口一个教授．
4.3 Lexical morphemes: the fabrication of prefabs
4.3.1 Unproductive
-ate v. concentrate; agitate; stimulate; liberate; separate; dictate
adj. private; fortunate;
4.3.2 Productive
-able/-ible movable; suitable; sensible; admissible; adaptable; lovable; resistible; perceptible
4.4 The make-up of words
Compared with Chinese:
Morpheme: 天，雷，水，鸟．马
derivative word：１）老师，老虎．老鹰，老鼠，阿姨，阿哥，阿妹
２）胖子，麦子；石头，甜头；学者，作者；弹性，药性compound word：１）离别，世代，来往，子女，伟大
２）酒窝，暗杀，重视
３）爱国，知己，扩音，绑腿
４）挫伤，申明，扩大
５）地震，政变，霜降，雪崩
4.5 Some knowledge of etymology
4.5.1 Some bound morphemes
●anthrop anthropocentric
●antho anthology
●chron chronograph
●chrom chromophotography
●hydro hydrophobia
●lith zoolith
●cephal macrocephalic
●ped pedicure
●dent dentiform
●phon euphonious
●sol solar
●lun lunatic
●astro astrolatry
●cosmo cosmopolitanism
●bio biosphere
4.5.2 Sound change within a word
●a---e d a me---cond e mn
●i---e decl i ne---decl e nsion
●a---I: l a nguage---l i nguist
●ai---e maint ai n---maint e nance
●o---u: cr o ss---cr u sade
4.6 Ambiguity of some words
•The letter is unsealable.（unmasked; unlockable; undressable; unstickable; undoable）2）Gentlemen should overlook women‟s bathe.。