[文学]现代语言学自考资料

[文学]现代语言学自考资料 ※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※ 第一章绪论 1/ What is linguistics? 什么是语言学, Linguistics is generally defined as the scientific study of language. It studies not any particular language, but languages in general. 2/ The scope of linguistics 语言学的研究范畴 The study of language as a whole is often called general linguistics. (普通语言学) The study of sounds, which are used in linguistic communication, is called phonetics. (语音学) The study of how sounds are put together and used in communication is called phonology. (音系 学) The study of the way in which morphemes are arranged to form words are called morphology. (形态学) The study of how morphemes and words are combined to form sentences is called syntax. (句法 学) The study of meaning in language is called semantics. (语义学) The study of meaning in context of use is called pragmatics. (语用学) The study of language with reference to society is called socio-linguistics. (社会语言学) The study of language with reference to the working of mind is called psycho-linguistics. (心理 语言学) The study of applications (as the recovery of speech ability) is generally known as applied linguistics. (应用语言学) But in a narrow sense, applied linguistics refers to the application of linguistic principles and theories to language teaching and learning, especially the teaching of foreign and second language. Other related branches include anthropological linguistics, (人类语言学) neurological linguistics, (神经语言学) mathematical linguistics, (数字语言学)and computational linguistics. (计算机语言学) 3/ Some important distinctions in linguistics 语言学研究中的几对基本概念 Prescriptive and descriptive 规定与描写 If a linguistic study describes and analyzes the language people actually use, it is said to be descriptive, if it aims to lay down rules to tell people what they should say and what they should not say, it is said to be prescriptive. Modern linguistics differs from traditional grammar. Traditional grammar is prescriptive while modern linguistics is descriptive. The task of linguists is supposed to describe the language people actually use, whether it is “correct” or not. Synchronic and diachronic 共时和历时 The description of a language at some point in time is a synchronic study; the description of a language as it changes through time is a diachronic study. In modern linguistics, synchronic study is more important. Speech and writing 口头语与面语 Speech and writing are the two major media of communication. Modern linguistics regards the spoken form of language as primary, but not the written form. Reasons are: 1. Speech precedes writing; 2. There are still many languages that have only the spoken form; 3. In terms of function, the spoken language is used for a wider range of purposes than the written, and carries a larger load of communication than the written. Langue and parole 语言和言语 thThe Swiss linguist F. de Saussure made the distinction between langue and parole early 20 century. Langue refers to the abstract linguistic system shared by all the members of a speech community, and parole refers to the realization of langue in actual use. Saussure made the distinction in order to single out one aspect of language for serious study. He believes what linguists should do is to abstract langue from parole, to discover the regularities governing the actual use of language and make them the subjects of study of linguistics. Competence and performance 语言能力和语言运用 Proposed by American linguist N. Chomsky in the late 1950?s. He defines competence as the ideal user?s knowledge of the rules of his language, and performance the actual realization of this knowledge in linguistic communication. He believes the task of the linguists is to discover and specify the language rules. 4/ What is language? 语言的定义 Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication. Sapir uses “ideas” “emotions” and “desires” in his definition. Hall, like Sapir, treats language as a purely human institution. Chomsky?s definition is quite different, it focus on the purely structural properties of languages and to suggest that these properties can be investigated from a mathematically precise point of view. 5/ Design features 语言的甄别性特征 Design features refer to the defining properties of human language that distinguish it from any animal system of communication. American linguist Charles Hockett specified twelve design features, five of which will be discussed here. Arbitrariness 语言的随意性 Arbitrariness means that there is no logical connection between meanings and sounds. It is not entirely arbitrary. Example: different sounds are used to refer to the same object in different languages. Productivity 语言的创造性 Language is productive in that it makes possible the construction and interpretation of new signals by its users. This is why they can produce and understand an infinitely large number of sentences, including sentences they have never heard before. Duality 语言的二重性 The duality nature of language means that language is a system, which consists of two sets of structure, or two levels, one of sounds and the other of meaning. Displacement 语言的移位性 Displacement means that language can be used to refer to things which are present or not present, real or imagined matters in the past, present, or future, or in far-away places. Cultural transmission 语言的文化传递性 While human capacity for language has a genetic basis, i.e., we were born with the ability to acquire language, the details of any language are not genetically transmitted, but instead have to be taught and learned anew. This indicates that language is culturally transmitted. It is passed down from one generation to the next through teaching and learning, rather than by instinct. ※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※ Chapter 2 Phonology 音系学 1. The phonic medium of language 语言的声音媒介 Speech and writing are the two media used by natural languages as vehicles for communication. Of the two media of language, speech is more basic than writing. Speech is prior to writing. The writing system of any language is always “invented” by its users to record speech when the need arises. For linguists, the study of sounds is of greater importance than that of writing. The limited ranges of sounds which are meaningful in human communication and are of interest to linguistic studies are the phonic medium of language (语言的声音媒介) . The individual sounds within this range are the speech sounds (语音). 2(What is phonetics? 什么是语音学, Phonetics is defined as the study of the phonic medium of language;It is concerned with all the sounds that occur in the world?s languages. There are three branches of phonetics. They are: Articulatory phonetics (发音语音学), it studies the speech sounds from the speaker?s point of view. It studies how a speaker uses his speech organs to articulate the sounds. Auditory phonetics (听觉语音学)，it studies the speech sounds from the hearer?s point of view. It studies how the sounds are perceived by he hearer. Acoustic phonetics(声学语音学)，it studies the speech sounds by looking at the sound waves. It studies the physical means by which speech sounds are transmitted through the air from one person to another. 3. Organs of speech 发音器官 The pharyngeal cavity 咽腔 the throat The oral cavity 口腔 the mouth The nasal cavity 鼻腔 the nose The air stream coming from the lungs may be modified in these cavities in many ways. It may also be modified in the larynx (喉) before it reaches any of the cavities. Lying across the glottis (声门) are the vocal cords (声带). Vibration of the vocal cords results in a quality of speech sounds called “voicing”. The speed of the vibration determines the pitch of the sound. The tongue is the most flexible in the oral cavity. 4. Orthographic representation of speech sounds –broad and narrow transcriptions 语音的书写形式,宽式和窄式音标 IPA-International Phonetic Alphabet 国际音标 There are two ways to transcribe speech sounds. One is the transcription with letter-symbols (字母 符号) only, called broad transcription (宽式音标). The other is the transcription with letter-symbols together with the diacritics (变音符号), called narrow transcription (窄式音标). 实例: 对pit/spit中p音的比较: hpit中的p是送气音，在窄式音标中标为上标，写作:[pit] spit中的p是不送气音，在宽式音标中不作标示，写作:[spit] 对leaf/feel/build/health中l音的比较: Leaf中l 在元音前，叫清晰音，在宽式音标中不作标示，写作:[li:f] Feel中l出现在单词结尾，叫模糊音，在窄式音标中加变音符号[~] Build中l出现在另一个辅音前，也叫模糊音，在窄式音标中也加变音符号[~] Health中l出现在齿音前，受其影响叫齿音[l]，在窄式音标中加变音符号[] II 5. Classification of English speech sounds 英语语音的分类 a) Classification of English consonants 英语辅音的分类 按发音方式分 Stop or plosive 塞音或爆破音: [p] [b] [t] [d] [k] [g] Fricative 擦音:[f] [v] [s] [z] [,] [,] [s] [,] [h] Affricate 塞擦音:[t,][d,] Liquid流音:[l] [r] Nasal鼻音:[m] [n] [,] Glide滑音:[w] [j] 按发音部位分 Bilabial双唇音:[p] [b] [m] [w] Labiodental唇齿音:[f] [v] Dental齿音:[,] [,] Alveolar齿龈音:[t] [d] [s] [z] [n] [l] [r] Palatal硬腭音:[,][t,][d,][i] Velar软腭音:[k] [g] [,] Glottal声门音:[h] B) Classification of English vowels 英语元音的分类 按舌头在口中的位置分: Front vowel前元音:[i:] [i] [e] [,] [a] Central vowel中元音:[,:] [,] [,] Back vowel后元音:[u:] [u] [,:] [,] [a:] 按口形的大小分: Close vowel闭元音:[i:] [i] [u:] [u] Semi-close vowel半闭元音:[e] [,:] Open vowel开元音:[,] [a] Semi-open vowel半开元音:[,] [,:] [,] [,] [a:] 按唇形是否为圆分 Unrounded vowel不圆唇元音:[i:] [i] [e] [,] [a] [,:] [,] [,] [a:] rounded vowel圆唇元音:[u:] [u] [,:] [,] 按语音的长短分 Long vowel长元音[i:] [,:][a:] [u:] [,:] Short vowel短元音[i] [e] [,] [a] [,] [,] [u] [,] 在元音中还有一些(diphthong)双元音，包括:[ei] [ai] [,u] [a u] [,i ] [i,] [e,] [u,] 6. Phonology 音系学 Phonology and phonetics 音系学和语音学 Both phonology and phonetics are studies of speech sounds. Phonetics is of a general nature, it is interested in all the speech sounds used in all human languages; Phonology is interested in the system of sounds of a particular language, it aims to discover how speech sounds in a language form patterns and how these sounds are used to convey meaning in linguistic communication. Thus these two are at once related and distinct branches of linguistic studies. Example: [l]音有清晰音和模糊音之分，但音的不同对意义的表达并无关联。所单词leap和peel中的 以，如果从语音学角度来说，这是两个不同的语音，而从音系学角度来说，这是同一基本实 体的两个变体。 音系学家对不引起意义区别的语音间的细微区别并不关注，但语音学家却要对所有的语音进 行描述，不论它们之间的差别对表达意义有没有关系。 7. Phone, phoneme, and allophone 语音(音素)、音位、音位变体 Phone can be simply defined as the speech sounds we use when speaking a language. A phone is a phonetic unit or segment. It does not necessarily distinguish meaning. Phonology is concerned with the speech sounds which distinguish meaning. The basic unit in phonology is called phoneme, it is a unit that is of distinctive value. But it is an abstract unit. A phoneme is not a sound, it is a collection of distinctive phonetic features. 按照惯例，音位被置于两斜线之间，如/p/ /t/，而语音被置于方括号内，如[p] [t]. The different phones which can represent a phoneme in different phonetic environments are called the allophones of that phoneme. 8. Phonemic contrast, complementary distribution, and minimal pair 音位对立、互补分布、最小对立对 Phonetically similar sounds might be related in two ways. They might form a contrast if they are two distinctive phonemes, or they do not form a contrast in meaning if they are allophones of the same phoneme. The former is called phonemic contrast, they can occur in the same environments and they distinguish meaning. 如rope和robe中的/p/和/b/。 The latter is called complementary distribution; they are two allophones of the same phoneme. They only occur in different environments. 如top中的送气的[p]和stop中不送气的[p]。 A basic way to determine the phonemes of a language is to see if substituting one sound for another one results in a change of meaning. If it does, the two sounds then represent different phonemes. An easy way to do this is to find the minimal pairs. When two different forms are identical in every way except for one sound segment which occurs in the same place in the strings, the two words are said to form a minimal pair. 如[pen]和[ben]。 9. Some rules in phonology 几条音系规则 A) sequential rules 系列规则 The rules that govern the combination of sounds in a particular language are called sequential rules. B) assimilation rules 同化规则 The assimilation rule assimilates one sound to another by “copying” a feature of a sequential phoneme, thus making the two phones similar. C) deletion rules 省略规则 The rule tells us when a sound is to be deleted although it is orthographically represented. 10. Suprasegmental features- stress, tone, intonation 超切分特征:重音、声调和语调 Distinctive features can also be found running over a sequence of two or more phonemic segments. The phonemic features that occur above the level of the segments are called suprasegmental features. The main suprasegmental features include stress, intonation, and tone. A) Stress 重音 B) Tone 声调 C) Intonation 语调 When pitch, stress and sound length are tied to the sentence rather than the word in isolation, they are collectively known as intonation. 当音高、重音和音长依附于一个而不是单个单词时，这些音素合起来叫做语调。 English has four basic types of intonation: the falling tone, the rising tone, the fall-rise tone, and the rise-fall tone. The most frequently used are the first three. 英语中有四种基本语调:降调、升调、降升调、升降调。最常用的是前三种。 ※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※ Chapter 3 Morphology 形态学 Definition定义 Morphology is a branch of grammar which studies the internal structure of words and the rules by which words are formed. Morphology is divided into two sub-branches: inflectional morphology and lexical or derivational morphology. The former studies the inflections and the latter is the study of word formation. 形态学可分为两个分支科学:屈折形态学和词汇或派生形态学。前者研究词的屈 折变化，后者研究词的构成。 2. Morpheme 语素 The smallest meaningful unit of language语言最小的意义单位。 The meaning morphemes convey may be of two kinds: lexical meaning and grammatical meaning. 语素表达的意义有两种:词汇意义和语法意义。 3. Types of morphemes 语素的分类 a) Free morphemes 自由语素 Free morphemes are the morphemes which are independent units of meaning and can be used freely all by themselves or in combination with other morphemes. b) Bound morphemes 黏着语素 Bound morphemes are the morphemes which cannot be used independently but have to be combined with other morphemes, either free or bound, to form a word. 4. Types of bound morphemes 黏着语素的分类 Bound morphemes include two types: roots and affixes 词根和词缀。 A root is often seen as part of word; it can never stand by itself although it bears clear, definite meaning; it must be combined with another root or an affix to form a word. Affixes are of two types: inflectional and derivational 屈折词缀和派生词缀 Inflectional affixes or inflectional morphemes manifest various grammatical relations or grammatical categories such as number, tense, degree, and case. The English inflectional affixes include: 屈折词缀或屈折语素表明各种不同的语法关系或语法范畴，如:数、时态、形容 词和副词的级和格。现在英语中的屈折词缀包括: -(e)s, indicating plurality of nouns 表示名词复数 -(e)s, indicating third person singular, present tense 表示现在时的第三人称单数 -(e)d, indicating past tense for all three persons 表示过去时 -ing, indicating progressive aspect 表示进行时 -er, indicating comparative degree of adj. and adverbs表示形容词和副词比较级 -est, indicating superlative degree of adj. and adverbs 表示形容词和副词最高级 -„s, indicating the possessive case of nouns 表示名词的所有格 Derivational affixes are added to an existing form to create a word. This is a very common way to create new words in English. Such a way of word-formation is called derivation and the new word formed by derivation is called a derivative. The existing form to which a derivational affix can be added is called a stem. A stem can be a bound root, a free morpheme, or a derived form itself. 派生词缀加在一个原有的单词上以构成一个新词。这是英语中的一个很常见的构 成新词的方式，这样的方式叫派生法，用派生法构成的新词叫派生词。能够加上 一个派生词缀的原有语素叫做词干。词干可以是一个黏着词根、自由语素或者本 身就是一个派生词。 实例: Tolerate 词根toler- ， 词缀-ate Quickly 自由语素quick ， 词缀-ly Carelessness 自由语素care ，词缀-less 形成的派生词careless ，词缀-ness Affixes are divided into two kinds: prefixes and suffixes 前缀和后缀 Prefixes modify the meaning of the stem, but usually do not change the part of speech of the original word. Exception are the prefixes “be-” and “en (m)-”. Suffixes are added to the end of the stem, they modify=y the meaning of the original word and in many cases change its part of speech. 5. Morphological rules 形态学规则 Morphological rules are the rules that govern which affix can be added to what types of stem to form a new word. 6. Types of compound words 复合词的类型 Noun + noun 名词，名词 如:handbook, sunshine Adjective +noun 形容词，名词 如:highway, sweetheart Adjective +noun +ed 形容词，名词，ed 如:white-haired, green=eyed Verb +noun 动词，名词 如:pickpocket, driveway Adverb +noun 副词，名词 如:downtown, upgrade Noun +verb 名词，动词 如:toothpick, snowfall Verb +adverb 动词，副词 如:follow-up, kick-off Noun +adjective 名词，形容词 如:world-famous, life-long -ing form +noun -ing形式，名词 如:dining-room, reading-glasses Other forms 其它形式 如:go-between, father-in-law, upbringing, have-nots, thank-you note 7. Features of compounds 1) Orthographically, a compound can be written as one word with or without a hyphen in between, or as two separate words. 如armchair, follow-up, thunder bird 2) Syntactically, the part of speech of the compound is generally determined by the part of speech of the second element. 如icy-cold是形容词，head-strong也是形容词，greenhouse是名词。而例外的 情况有:follow-up, crackdown, kickoff都是名词而不是副词，而toothpick, snowfall, facelift都是名词而不是动词。 3) Semantically, the meaning of a compound is often idiomatic, not always being the sum total of the meaning of its components. 如hotdog, greenhouse等。 4) Phonetically, the stress of a compound always falls on the first element, while the second element receives secondary stress. 如running dog 重音在running上，表示“走狗”这一-ing形式，名词的复合 词。如重音在dog上，则表示running用来修饰dog，意为“还在跑的狗”。 ※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※ Chapter 4 Syntax 句法学 1( What is Syntax? Syntax studies the sentence structure of language. The term syntax came originally from Greek. It literally meant arrangement. It means that sentences are structured according to a particular arrangement of words. Well-arranged sentences are considered grammatical sentences. Grammatical sentences are formed following a set of syntactic rules. 2. Syntax as a system of rules 句法是规则系统 Syntax consists of a set of abstract rules that allow words to be combined with other words to form grammatical sentences. A sentence is considered grammatical when it is in agreement with the grammatical knowledge in the mind of native speakers. Universally found in the grammars f all human languages, syntactic rules comprise the system of internalized linguistic knowledge of a language speaker known as linguistic competence. The syntactic rules of any language are finite in number, and yet there is no limit to the number of sentences native speakers of that language are able to produce and comprehend. 3. The basic components of a sentence 句子的构成 A sentence is a structurally independent unit that usually comprises a number of words to form a complete statement, question or command. Normally, a sentence consists of at least a subject(主 语)and its predicate(谓语)which contains a finite verb or a verb phrase. The referring expression(被指称的对象), such as a person, a place, a thing, an idea, or an event, is grammatically called subject. A subject is usually a noun or a noun phrase. The part of sentence which comprises a finite verb or a verb phrase and which says something about the subject is grammatically called predicate. A finite verb, informally called the main verb of a sentence, expresses existence, action or occurrence which is limited by person, number, tense and mood. 4(Types of sentence 句子的类型 a) The simple sentence 简单句 A simple sentence consists of a single clause which contains a subject and a predicate and stands alone as its own sentence. b) The coordinate sentence 并列句 A coordinate sentence contains two clause joined by a linking word called coordinating conjunction, such as “and”but””or”. c) The complex sentence 复合句 A complex sentence contains two or more clauses, one of which is incorporated into the other. That is, the two clauses in a complex sentence hold unequal status, one subordinating the other. The incorporated, or subordinate clause is normally called an embedded clause, and the clause into which it is embedded is called a matrix clause. 5. The linear word order of a sentence 句子的线性词序 When a sentence is uttered or written down, the words of the sentence are produced one after another in a sequence. Meanwhile, they are heard or read as arranged one after another in a sequence. This sequential order of words in a sentence suggests that the structure of a sentence is linear. 6. The hierarchical structure of a sentence 句子的层次结构 The superficial arrangement of words in a linear sequence does not entail that sentences are simply linearly structured. Sentence structure is hierarchical in nature. 7. Tree diagrams of sentence structure 句子结构树形图 The hierarchical order can be best illustrated with a tree diagram of constituent structure. In addition, the hierarchical structure of sentences can also be illustrated by using brackets and subscript labels. 8. Lexical categories 词类 Words are organized into groups of lexical categories, commonly known as parts of speech. A language has major and minor lexical categories. Major lexical categories are open categories that new words are constantly added. Minor lexical categories are closed categories because the number of the lexical items in these categories is fixed and no new members are allowed for. English has four major lexical categories and six minor lexical categories. 主要词类: Noun (N) 名词:student Verb (V) 动词:like Adjective (Adj) 形容词:tall Adverb (Adv) 副词:loudly 次要词类: Determiner (Det) 限定词:the, a, this, his Auxiliary (Aux) 助动词:can, do, will Preposition (Prep) 介词:in, at, over Pronoun (Pron) 代词:he, she, us, mine Conjunction (Conj) 连词:and, or, but, while Interjection (Int) 感叹词:oh, ah, eh 9. Phrasal categories 词组类型 Four phrasal categories are commonly recognized and discussed, namely, noun phrase (NP), verb phrase (VP), prepositional phrase (PP), and adjective phrase (AP). NP and VP are essential components of a sentence, comprising the subject and predicate. Important note: NP just contain a noun, VP just contain a verb, PP just contain a preposition and AP just contain an adjective. 10. Grammatical relations 语法关系 The structural and logical function relations of constituents are called grammatical relations. The grammatical relations of a sentence concern the way each noun phrase in the sentence relates to the verb. In English and many other languages, the subject usually precedes the verb and the direct object usually follows the verb. Strictly speaking, this statement is true only in terms of the structural subject(结构主语) and the structural object(结构宾语). The logical subject (逻 辑主语)and the logical object(逻辑宾语) may have different positions. 11. Phrasal structure rules 短语结构规则 The combinational pattern in a linear formula may be called a phrase structural rule, or rewrite rule. Example 1: S ? NP VP. The arrow is read as “consist of”, or “is rewritten as” 。 The rule is: a sentence consists of, or is rewritten as, a noun phrase and a verb phrase. Example 2: NP ? (Det)(Adj)N(PP)(S) A noun phrase consists of, or is rewritten as, an optional determiner, an optional adjective, an obligatory noun, an optional prepositional phrase, and/or an optional sentence. Example 3: VP ? V(NP)(PP)(S) AP ? A(PP)(S) PP ? P NP 12. The recursiveness of phrase structure rules 短语结构规则的循环 性 Significantly, these rules can generate an infinite number of sentences, and sentences with infinite length, due to their recursive properties. Although these rules are part of the rules and regulations of the grammar, they suffice to explain how language is “creative”, and how speakers with “finite” minds have the ability to produce and understand an infinite set of sentences. That is, the recursive property captures the ability of language to generate more constituents to a sentence and enables speakers to repeat syntactic constituents within the same sentence. 13. X-bar theory X标杆理论 NP/VP/AP/PP all must contain one obligatory word, we call XP. This means that XP must contain X, where XP stands respectively for NP/VP/AP/PP and X stands for N/V/A/P. The rule modified as: XP ? (Specifier)X(Complement). 14. Syntactic movement and movement rules 句法位移和移位规则 a) NP movement 名词词组位移 NP-movement occurs when a sentence changes from the active voice to the passive voice. Example: The man beat the child. / The child was beaten by the man. Not all NP-movement are related to changing a sentence from the active voice to the passive voice. Example: It seems they are quite fit for the job. / They seem quite fit for the job. NP “they” has moved from the subject position of the embedded clause to the matrix clause. b) WH movement WH位移 WH-movement is obligatory in English which changes a sentence from affirmative to interrogative. WH-movement is syntactically required when the sentence changes from a statement into a question. c) Other types of movement 其它类型的位移 (1) General questions (一般疑问句) in English may also involve syntactic movement with AUX-movement. AUX-movement is the movement of an auxiliary verb, such as be/have/do/will/can/should, to the sentence-initial position. Example: She is an English professor. / Is she an English professor? (2) For stylistic purposes, a post-verb adjective in an adverbial clause beginning with “though” may propose to the sentence initial position. Example: Though she was sick, the woman fought with the wolf and saved her children. / Sick though she was, the woman fought with the wolf and saved her children. 15. D-structure and S-structure 深层结构和表层结构 What syntactic movement suggests for the study of the grammar is that a sentence structure may have two levels of syntactic representation, one that exists before movement takes place, and the other that occurs after movement takes place. In formal linguistic exploration, these two syntactic representations are commonly termed as D-structure (the deep structure) and S-structure (the surface structure). It is believed that phrase structure rules, with the insertion of the lexicon, generate sentences at the level of D-structure, while the application of syntactic movement rules transforms a sentence from the level of D-structure to that of S-structure. Since syntactic movement does not occur to all sentences, the D-structure and S-structure of some sentences look exactly the same at different levels of representation. 16. Move α – a general movement rule 移动α规则 Just as there is a general rule for all phrase structure rules, that is, the X-bar schema, there is a general movement rule accounting for the syntactic behavior of any constituent movement. This movement rule is called Move Alpha. Alpha is a Greek symbol used here to represent any constituent, and what Move Alpha says is “move any constituent to any place”. It is too powerful, so the grammar should include some conditions which will restrain the movement power of the rule and which will stimulate that only “certain constituents” can move to only “certain positions.” 17(Theory of universal grammar 普遍语法理论 Since early 1980s Noam Chomsky developed a theory of universal grammar (UG) know as the principle-an-parameters theory. UG is a system of linguistic knowledge and a human species-specific gift which exists in the mind or brain of a normal human being. UG consists of a set of general conditions, or general principles and also contains a set of parameters. 18. General principles of universal grammar 普遍语法的广义原则 a) Case Condition. As is required by the Case Condition principle, a noun phrase must have Case and Case is assigned by verb or preposition to the object position, or by auxiliary to the subject position. The theory of Case Condition accounts for the fact that noun phrases appear only in subject and object positions. b) Adjacency Condition. As is required by Adjacency Condition principle, a Case assignor and a Case recipient should stay adjacent to each other. This condition explains why no other phrasal category can intervene between a verb and its direct object. 19. The parameters of universal grammar 普遍语法的参数 Parameters are syntactic options of UG that allow general principles to operate in one way or another and contribute to significant linguistic variations between and among natural languages. Set in one of the permissible ways, a parameter acquires a particular value, for example, a plus or minus value, which allows the grammar of a language to behave in a way very different from that of another language. a) UG is believed to contain a parameter wit the values (+ strict adjacency) and (- strict adjacency) set on the Adjacency Condition. With English-type languages, the Adjacency Parameter is set to the (+ strict adjacency) value, while for French-type languages, the parameter is set to the other. b) Another parameter, the one that involves word order, concerns the directionality of Case assignment, known as the Directionality Parameter. This parameter offers a neat and consistent account for the typological difference in the word order within the VP category between English and Japanese. In English, VP ? V NP while in Japanese, VP ? NP V. ※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※ Chapter 5 Semantics 语义学 1. What is semantics,什么是语义学, Semantics can be simply defined as the study of meaning in language. 2. Some views concerning the study of meaning 语义研究的几种主要理论 1) The naming theory 命名论 It was proposed by the ancient Greek scholar Plato. According to this theory, the linguistic forms or symbols, in other words, the words used in a language are taken to be labels of the objects they stand for. So words are just names or labels for things. 2) The conceptualist view 意念论 The conceptualist view holds that there is no direct link between a linguistic form and what it refers to; rather, in the interpretation of meaning they are linked through the mediation of concepts in the mind. 3) Contextualism 语境论 Contextualism is based on the presumption that one can derive meaning from or reduce meaning to observable contexts. Two kinds of context are recognized: the situational context and the linguistic context. 4) Behaviorism 行为主义论 Behaviorists attempted to define the meaning of a language form as the “situation in which the speaker utters it and the response it calls forth in the hearer.” This theory, somewhat close to contextualism, is linked with psychological interest. 3. Sense and reference 意义和所指 They are two related but different aspects of meaning. 它们是词汇意义的既相互联系又有所不同的两个方面。 1) Sense is concerned with the inherent meaning 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 compliers are interested in. 2) Reference means what a linguistic form refers to in the real, physical world; it deals with the relationship between the linguistic element and non-linguistic world of experience. 4. Major sense relations 主要意义关系 1) Synonymy 同义关系 Synonymy refers to the sameness or close similarity of meaning. Words that are close in meaning are called synonyms. According to the way they differ, synonyms can be divided into the following groups: a) Dialectal synonyms – synonyms used in different regional dialects. British English and American English are the two major geographical varieties of the English language. 示例: 英国英语 美国英语 Autumn fall Lift elevator Flat department Windscreen windshield Torch flashlight b) Stylistic synonyms – synonyms differing in style. Words having the same meaning may differ in style, or degree of formality. In other words, some words tend to be more formal, others casual, and still others neutral in style. 示例: Old man, daddy, dad, father, male parent Start, begin, commence Kid, child, offspring c) Synonyms that differ in their emotive or evaluative meaning There are words that bear the same meaning but express different emotions of the user, indicating the attitude or bias of the user toward what he is talking about. 示例: Collaborator 合作者/ Accomplice 同谋者，帮凶 Like, love, admire, adore, worship Economical, frugal, thrifty, mean, miserly, stingy d) Collocational synonyms – synonyms differing in their collocation. Some synonyms differ in their collocation, i.e., in the words they go together with. This is a matter of usage. Accuse…of charge…with rebuke…for e) Semantically different synonyms –synonyms that differ slightly in what they mean. 示例: Amaze 暗示困惑和迷惑 astound 暗示难以置信 Escape 意味逃离不愉快或者危险的事 flee 意味匆匆离开 2) Polysemy 多义关系 The same one word may have more than one meaning. This is what we call polysemy, and such a word is called a polysemic word. The fact is the more commonly used a word is, the more likely it has acquired more than one meaning. 示例: Table 3) Homonymy 同音/同形异义关系 Homonymy refers to the phenomenon that word having different meaning have the same form, i.e., different words are identical in sound or spelling, or in both. When two words are identical in sound, they are homophones. When two words are identical in spelling, they are homographs. When two words are identical in both sound and spelling, they are complete homonyms. 示例: 同音异义词: rain/ reign; night/ knight; piece/ peace 同形异义词: bow v./ bow n.; tear v./ tear n.; lead v./ lead n. 完全同形异义词:fast adj./ fast v.; scale n./ scale v. 4) Hyponymy 上下义关系 Hyponymy refers to the sense relation between a more general more inclusive word and a more specific word. The word which is more general in meaning is called the super-ordinate, and the more specific words are called its hyponyms. Hyponyms of the same super-ordinate are co-hyponyms to each other. 示例: 上义词: flower 下义词: rose(玫瑰花), tulip(郁金香), carnation(康乃馨), lily(百合花), morning glory (牵牛花) 上义词: animal 下义词: dog, cat, tiger, lion, wolf, elephant, fax, bear 5) Antonymy 反义关系 The term antonymy is used for oppositeness of meaning, words that are opposite in meaning are antonyms. a) Gradable antonyms 分级反义词 Some antonyms are gradable because there are often intermediate forms between the two members of a pair. So it is a matter of degree. 示例: Old 和 young 是反义词，但它们代表两个极端，中间还存在着代表年老和年轻的不同程度 的其它语言形式，如 middle-aged, mature, elderly. b) Complementary antonyms 互补反义词 A pair of complementary antonyms is characterized by the feature that the denial of one member of the pair implies the assertion of the other. 示例: Male/ female alive/dead c) Relational opposites 关系反义词 Pairs of words that exhibit the reversal of a relationship between the two items are called relational opposites. 示例: Wife/ husband father/ son teacher/ pupil doctor/ patient buy/ sell above/ below 5. Sense relations between sentences 句子间的意义关系 1) X is synonymous with Y. X和Y 是同义关系 示例: X: He is a bachelor all his life. Y: He never married all his life. 如果X是真的，Y也是真的，如果X是假的，Y也是假的。 2) X is inconsistent with Y. X和Y是前后矛盾关系 示例: X: John is married. Y: John is a bachelor. 如果X是真的，Y就是假的，如果X是假的，Y就是真的。 3) X entails Y (Y is an entailment of X) X蕴涵Y (Y是X的蕴涵) 示例: X: John married a blond heiress (女继承人). Y: John married a blond. 蕴涵是一种包含关系。如果X蕴涵Y，X的意义就为Y所包含。 4) X presupposes Y. (Y is a prerequisite of X) X预示Y (Y是X的先决条件) 示例: X: John?s bike needs repairing. Y: John has a bike. 5) X is a contradiction. X是个矛盾句 示例: X: My unmarried sister is married to bachelor. X句子本身自相矛盾，它永远是假的。 6) X is semantically anomalous. 句子X在语义上反常 示例: X: The table has bad intentions. X 在语义上反常，它就是荒唐的。 6. Analysis of meaning 1) Componential analysis – a way to analyze lexical meaning The approach is based upon the belief that the meaning of a word can be dissected into meaning components, called semantic features. Plus and minus signs are used to indicate whether a certain semantic feature is present or absent in the meaning of a word, and these feature symbols are usually written in capitalized letters. One advantage of componential analysis is that by specifying the semantic features of certain words, it will be possible to show how these words are related in meaning. 示例: Man 和 woman 这两个单词有 ，HUMAN, + ADULT, + ANIMATE这些共同的特征，但在 MALE这一特征上不同。 Man 和 boy这两个单词有 ，HUMAN, +ANIMATE, +MALE这些共同的特征，但在ADULT 这一特征上不同。 2) Predication analysis – a way to analyze sentence meaning 述谓结构 , 一种句义分析法 Linguists have proposed different ways to analyze the meaning of sentences. They might differ in their framework of analysis, but they share the aim to abstract the meaning of sentences. What we are going to introduce briefly is the predication analysis proposed by the linguist G Leech. In grammatical analysis, the sentence is taken to be the basic unit, and it is analyzed into such grammatical components as subject, predicate, and attribute. In semantic analysis of a sentence, the basic unit is called predication, which is the abstraction of the meaning of a sentence. This applies to all forms of sentence, including statements, imperative and interrogative forms. A predication consists of argument(s) and predicate. An argument is a logical participant in a predication, largely identical with the nominal element(s) in a sentence. A predicate is something said about an argument or it states the logical relation linking the arguments n a sentence. 句子的语法形式不影响其语义述谓，下列所有句子具有同样的述谓: Tom smokes. Tom is smoking. Tom has been smoking. Tom, smoke! Does Tom smoke? 这是同一语义述谓TOM(SMOKE)在语法上的多种体现。 According to the number of arguments contained in a predication, we classify the predications into two-place predication (containing two arguments), one-place predication (containing one argument), and no-place predication (containing no argument). 示例: The building is next to the library. (Two-place predication) He is snoring. (One-place predication) It is late. (No-place predication) ※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※ Chapter 6 Pragmatics 语用学 1. What is pragmatics? 什么是语用学, Pragmatics can be defined as the study of how speakers of a language use sentences to effect successful communication. As the process of communication is essentially a process of conveying meaning in a certain context, pragmatics can also be regarded as a kind of meaning study. It places the study of meaning in the context in which language is used. 2. Pragmatics and semantics 语用学和语义学 Pragmatics and semantics are both linguistic studies of meaning, but they are different. What essentially distinguishes semantics and pragmatics is whether in the study of meaning, the context of use is considered. If it is not considered, the study is restricted to the area of traditional semantics; if it is considered, the study is being carried out in the area of pragmatics. 3. Context 语境 Context is essential to the pragmatic study of language. It is generally considered as constituted by the knowledge shared by the speaker and the hearer. The shared knowledge is of two types: the knowledge of the language they use, and the knowledge about the world, including the general knowledge about the world and the specific knowledge about the situation in which linguistic communication is taking place. 4. Sentence meaning and utterance meaning 句子意义和话语意义 The meaning of a sentence is abstract, and de-contextualized, while utterance meaning is concrete, and context-dependent. Utterance is based on sentence meaning; it is the realization of the abstract meaning of a sentence in a real situation of communication, or simply in a context. 5. Speech act theory 言语行为理论 Speech act theory is an important theory in the pragmatic study of language. It was originated with ththe British philosopher John Austin in the late 50?s of the 20 century. According to speech act theory, we are performing actions when we are speaking. According to speech act theory, a speaker might be performing three acts simultaneously when speaking: locutionary act, illocutionary act, and perlocutionary act. a) A locutionary act is the act of uttering words, phrases, clauses. It is the act of conveying literal meaning by means of syntax lexicon and phonology. b) An illocutionary act is the act of expressing the speaker?s intention; it is the act performed in saying something. c) A perlocutionary act is the act performed by or resulting from saying something; it is the consequence of, or the change brought about the utterance; it is the act performed by saying something. American philosopher-linguist John Searle classified illocutionary acts into five general types. Each type has a common, general purpose. a) representatives: stating or describing, saying what the speaker believes to be true 示例: I have never seen the man before. / the earth is globe. b) directives: trying to get the hearer to do something 示例: Open the window! / Would you like to go to the picnic with us? c) commissives: committing the speaker himself to some future course of action 示例: I promise to come. / I will bring you the book tomorrow without fail. d) expressives: expressing feelings or attitude towards an existing state 示例: I?m sorry for the mess I have made. / It?s really kind of you to have thought of me. e) declarations: bringing about immediate changes by saying something 示例: I now declare the meeting open. / I fire you. Important remark: All the acts that belong to the same category share the same purpose or the same illocutionary point, but they differ in their strength or forth. 6. Principle of conversation 会话原则 American philosopher Paul Grice concluded that natural language had its own logic. His idea is that in making conversation, the participants must first of all be willing to cooperate. This general principle is called the Cooperative Principle (CP). To be more specific, there are four maxims under this general principle: 在最高原则，即合作原则下，人们在交际中要遵守如下四个准则: a) The maxim of quantity 数量准则 , Make your contribution as informative as required (for the current purpose of the exchange). , Do not make your contribution more informative than is required. b) The maxim of quality 质量准则 , Do not say what you believe to be false. 不要说自己认为不真实的话。 , Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence. 不要说自己缺乏足够证据的话。 c) The maxim of relation 关联准则 , Be relevant. 说话要贴切，有关联。 d) The maxim of manner 方式准则 , Avoid obscurity of expression. 避免晦涩的词语。 , Avoid ambiguity. 避免歧义。 , Be brief (avoid unnecessary prolixity). 说话要简要(避免累赘)。 , Be orderly. 说话要有条理。 It is interesting and important to note that while conversation participants nearly always observe the CP, they do not always observe these maxims strictly. For various reasons these maxims are often violated, or “flouted”. Most of these violations give rise to what Grice calls “conversational implicature”. In other word, when we violate any of these maxims, our language becomes indirect. 示例1: Do you know where Mr. X lives? Somewhere in the southern suburbs of the city. 违反数量准则 示例2: Would you like to come to our party tonight? I?m afraid I?m not feeling so well today. 违反质量准则 示例3: The hostess is an awful bore. Don?t you think? The roses in the garden are beautiful, aren?t they? 违反关联准则 示例4: Shall we get something for the kids? Yes. But I veto I-C-E-C-R-E-A-M. 违反方式准则 ※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※ Chapter 7 Historical Linguistics 历史语言学 1. The purpose and significance of the historical study of language 研究语言变化的目的和意义 The historical study of language is of great importance to our understanding of human languages and human linguistic competence. Researches in historical linguistics shed light on prehistoric development in the evolution of language and the connections of earlier and later variants of the same language, and provide valuable insights into the kinship patterns of different languages. The historical study of language also enables us to determine how non-linguistic factors, such as social, cultural and psychological factors, interact over time to trigger linguistic change. 2. The nature of language change 语言变化的本质 All living languages change with time. Unless a language is no longer spoken by the general public of a society, such as Latin, its change is inevitable. As a general rule, language change is universal, continuous and, to a considerable degree, regular and systematic. Language change is extensive, taking place in virtually all aspects of the grammar. Although language change is universal, inevitable, and in some cases, vigorous, it is never an overnight occurrence. Language development may be regarded as linguistic evolution from one stage to another. 3. Major periods in the history of English 英语历史发展的主要阶段 a) Old English (450-1100) 古英语阶段 b) Middle English (1100-1500) 中古英语阶段 c) Modern English (1500-今) 现代英语阶段 Most Modern English speakers find Middle English only partially comprehensible, and Old English simply unintelligible, just like a foreign language hardly recognizable as the native language they speak. Old English dates back to the mid-fifth century when Anglo-Saxons invaded the British Isles from northern Europe. Middle English began with the arrival of the Norman French invaders in England. Middle English had been deeply influenced by Norman French in vocabulary and grammar. Modern English is separated with Middle English with European renaissance movement. As British influence reached other continents, the “British Empire” established English-speaking colonies in many parts of the world. English is now the native language in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. 4. Linguistic change in English 英语语言系统的变化 Language change is essentially a matter of change in the grammar. We refer to the change in the grammar of a language as linguistic change. Linguistic change occurs in all components of the grammar, including changes in the sound, morphological, syntactic, lexical and semantic systems. a) sound change 语音变化 , Vowel sound change 元音变化 The change occurred at the end of the Middle English period, approximately 1400-1600. These changes led to one of the major discrepancies between the phonemic representations of words and morphemes, that is, between the pronunciation and the spelling system of Modern English. Known as the Great Vowel Shift in the history of English, these changes involve seven long, or tense, vowels. Refer to P132 of the test book for examples. , Sound loss 语音消失 Not only did types of vowel sounds change, but some sounds simply disappeared from the general pronunciation of English. , Sound addition 语音增加 While some sounds were lost in the course of the historical development of English, other sounds were added. Sound addition includes the gain or insertion of a sound. A change that involves the insertion of a consonant or vowel sound to the middle of a word is known as epenthesis. Refer to P134 of the text book for examples. , Sound movement 语音移位 Sound change as a result of sound movement, known as metathesis, involves a reversal in position of two adjoining sound segments. b) Morphological change 形态变化 , Affix loss 词缀消失 , Affix addition 词缀增加 c) Syntactic change 句法变化 , Rule loss 规则消失 消失的规则包括: 1》Morphosyntactic rule of adjective agreement. The rule stipulated that the endings of adjectives must agree with the head noun in case, number, and gender. 2》Old English syntax contained a double-negation rule, which would negate a sentence with both negators of “ne” (“not”) and “n?fre”(“never”). , Rule addition 规则增加 增加的规则有: 1》Particle movement rule. 实例: John threw out the ball through the window. 其中throw out 中的小品词out 可以移位 John threw the ball out through the window. 2》Another syntactic rule gain in English concerns the distinction between auxiliary verbs and main verbs. In modern English the syntactic behavior of auxiliary verbs differs from that of main verbs in that only auxiliary verbs can be fronted in interrogative sentences. , Rule change 规则变化 发生变化的规则有: 1》A negative sentence could be formed by merely adding “not? at the end of an affirmative sentence prior to Shakespeare?s time. 2》Languages vary in the order of the subject, the verb and the object. d) Lexical change 词汇变化 , Lexical loss 词汇消失 , Lexical addition 词汇增加 The history of English lexical expansion is one that is characterized with heavy borrowing and word formation. Although English has borrowed most heavily from French, other languages as Latin and Greek have also made their contributions. In addition to borrowing, new words have made their entry into English via word formation rules such as compounding, derivation, acronym formation, blending, abbreviation, clipping, back-formation, and coinage. e) Semantic change 语义变化 , Semantic broadening 语义扩大化 , Semantic narrowing 语义狭义化 , Semantic shift 语义演变 5. Language Family 语系 Language family is a group of historically (or genetically) related languages that have developed from a common ancestral language. For example, most of the languages of Europe, Persia, and the north part of India belong to the Indo-European language family, and they have the same origin known as Proto-Indo-European. 6. Classifying genetically related languages It is estimated that over five thousand languages are spoken in the world today. There are about 30 language families with four main ones: the Indo-European Family, the Sino-Tibetan Family, the Austronesian Family, and the Afroasiatic Family. 世界上大概有五千多中语言，30个语系，其中最重要的4个语系是:印欧语系、汉藏语言、 澳斯特罗尼亚语系和非亚语系。 The Indo-European family has a membership of about 150 languages. The Sino-Tibetan family consists of about 300 East Asian languages. The Austronesian Family comprises up to 1000 different languages scattered over one third of the Southern Hemisphere. The Afroasiatic Family is made up of about 250 languages spread across the northern part of Africa and western Asia. English is belonged to the Indo-European Family. Many seemingly different languages are actually genetically related as sisters or cousins of a big language family and have developed from a common, possibly “dead”, ancestral language. Historical linguists have to identify and classify families of related languages in a genealogical family tree, and to reconstruct the protolanguage. A language family is established by the use of a method known as comparative reconstruction. By identifying and comparing similar linguistic forms with similar meanings across related languages,, historical linguists reconstruct the proto form in the common ancestral language. Work on the systematic form-meaning resemblance in cognates, words that have descended from a common source, lies at the core of comparative reconstruction. 7. The Indo-European language family The Indo-European language family is the first and most widely investigated language family of the world. The discovery of Indo-European began with the work of British scholar Sir William Jones. In 1822, the German scholar Jacob Grimm specified in his treatise the regular sound correspondences among Sanskrit, Greek, Latin, and the Germanic languages. Grimm?s major contribution to historical linguistics is his explanation of the relationships among cognates in terms of a sound shift, the systematic modification of a series of phonemes. Because these sound changes were so strikingly regular and law-like, they became collectively as Grimm?s Law. 8. The causes of language change 语音变化的原因 a) Sound assimilation 语音的同化 Sound assimilation refers to the physiological effect of one sound on another. Assimilation processes are phonological changes due to physiological mechanisms. In an assimilative process, successive sound is made identical, or more similar, to one another in terms of place or manner of articulation, or of haplology- the loss of one of two phonetically similar syllables in sequence. Another example of sound assimilation involves vowel nasalization. Another example of sound assimilation that results in morpho-logical and lexical changes is the /k/ sound as in the word “key”. b) Rule simplification and regularization 规则的简化与统一 Rule simplification and regularization involves exceptional plural forms of nouns. c) Internal borrowing 内部借用 Another kind of change that is motivated by the need to lessen the burden on memory is called internal borrowing. d) Elaboration 规则的细化 Rule elaboration occurs when there is a need to reduce ambiguity and increase communicative clarity or expressiveness. Language seems to maintain a balance in expressiveness and grammatical elaboration over time. If a particular grammatical feature is lost as a result of, say, a change in the phonological system, some other feature may be added in another component of the grammar, such as in the syntax. e) Sociological triggers 社会因素 Linguistics have become increasingly aware of sociological triggers for language change. Radical socio-political changes such as wars, invasions, occupation, colonialization, and language planning and standardization policies lead to vigorous language changes. f) Cultural transmission 文化传播 Although a new generation has to find a way of using the language of the previous generation, it has to find expressions that can best communicate the views and concepts of the time and the changed and ever-changing social life, and re-create the languages of the community. Many young speakers have the desire to sound different from the older generation. g) Children?s approximation toward the adult grammar 儿童语法接近成年人语法 Children acquire their native language not through formal instruction of grammatical rules. Children usually construct their personal grammars by themselves and generalize rules fro the linguistic information they hear. They are exposed to diverse linguistic information. Children have a strong desire to simplify and regularize grammatical rules, particularly when they see adults use certain rules optionally. In such cases, a change in the grammar occurs. ※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※ Chapter 8 Socio-linguistics 社会语言学 1. What is socio-linguistics? 什么是社会语言学, Sociolinguistics is the sub-discipline of linguistics that studies language in social contexts. 2. Language variation 语言变异 a) Speech community 言语社区 In sociolinguistic studies, speakers are treated as members of social groups. The social group isolated for any given study is called speech community. A speech community thus defined as a group of people who form a community (which may have as few members as a family or as many member as a country), and share the same language or a particular variety of language. The important characteristic of a speech community is that the members of the group must, in some reasonable way, interact linguistically with other members of the community. They may share closely related language varieties, as well as attitudes toward linguistic norms. b) Speech variety 言语变体 Speech variety refers to any distinguishable form of speech used by a speaker or group of speakers. A speech variety may be lexical, phonological, morphological, syntactic, or a combination of linguistic features. Considered a more neutral term, speech variety is sometimes used instead of standard language, vernacular language, dialect, pidgin, creole, etc. Speech variation moves on a scale of the national language, dialect, and individual ways of communication. Sociolinguists are particularly interested in there types of speech variety, or dialects, namely, regional dialects, sociolects or social dialects, and functional speech varieties known as registers. The term dialect, as a technical term in linguistics, carries no value judgment and simply refers to a distinct form of language. c) Regional variation 地域变异 Regional variation is speech variation according to the particular area where a speaker comes from. Regional variation of language is the most discernible and definable. The most distinguishable linguistic feature of a regional dialect is its accent. Often speakers of the same language but of different regional dialects of the language have a very difficult time communicating. One way out of the communication dilemma is language standardization known as language planning. d) Social variation 社会变异 Social variation gives rise to sociolects which are subdivisible into smaller speech categories which reflect their socioeconomic, educational, occupational and ethnic background, as well as their sex and age. e) Stylistic variation 文体变异 There are differences associated with the speech situation: who is speaking to whom about under what circumstances for what purpose. Stylistic variation in a person?s speech, or writing, usually ranges on continuum from casual or colloquial to formal or polite according to the type of communicative situation. Style can also refer to a particular person?s use of speech or writing at all times, or to a way of speaking or writing at a particular period of time, e.g., Dickens? style, Hemingway?s style. f) Idiolectal variation 个人言语变异 When an individual speaks, what is actually produced is a unique language system of the speaker, expressed within the overall system of a particular language. Such a personal dialect is referred to as idiolect. Idiolect is, thus, a personal dialect of an individual speaker that combines aspects of all the elements regarding regional, social, and stylistic variation, in one form or another. In a narrower sense, what makes up one?s idiolect includes also such factors as voice quality, pitch and speech rhythm, which all contribute to the identifying features in an individual?s speech. 3. Standard and nonstandard language The standard language is a superposed, socially prestigious dialect of a language. It is the language employed by the government and the judiciary system, used by the mass media, and taught in educational institutions, including school settings where the language is taught as a foreign or second language. The standard language of many countries is also designated as the national or official language. 许多国家的语同时被指定为全国语或官方语。 Language varieties other than the standard are called nonstandard, or vernacular, languages. 不同于标准语的变体叫做非标准语，其发音、语法和词汇明显有别于公认的标准。 All dialects of a language are equally effective in expressing ideas. 标准语和非标准语无优劣之分。 4. Diglossia and bilingualism 双言与双语现象 a) Diglossia 双言现象 Diglossia describes a situation in which two very different varieties of language co-exist in a speech community, each with a distinct range of purely social function and appropriate for certain situations. Usually, one is more standard variety called the high variety, or H-variety, which is used for more formal or serious matter, such as speeches made in government, the media, school, or church. And the other is a non-prestige variety called the low variety, or L-variety, which is used in colloquial and other informal situations, such as conversations with family or friends, or instructions given to servants, waiters, or workmen. Often the high variety is regarded as a literary standard called a classical language, whereas the low variety remains a local vernacular. b) Bilingualism 双语现象 Bilingualism refers to a linguistic situation in which two standard languages are used either by an individual or by a group of speakers. A typical example of a bilingual community is an ethnic ghetto where most, if not all, of its inhabitants are either immigrants or children of immigrants. Bilingualism also occurs to countries which have designated two official languages for nation or regional use. Perfect bilingualism, however is uncommon. A bilingual speaker often uses two languages alternatively during a conversation with another bilingual speaker. 5. Ethnic dialect 少数民族方言 a) Black English 黑人英语――少数民族方言个案研究 Black English is an ethnic variety of the English language. It is spoken mostly by a large section of non-middle-class American Blacks. Black English is stigmatized as “bad English”, a purely social attitude that has no linguistic basis. Like other varieties, Black English has some vocabulary of its own. It has a number of distinctive features in its phonological, morphological and syntactic systems which are rule-governed and systematic. 黑人英语与标准英语的区别的具体见课本182,184页。 b) The social environment of Black English 黑人英语的社会环境 The assumption that Black English is “genetically inferior”, “deficient”, and “incomplete”, is simply ungrounded. The distinctive features of Black English persist not for racial reasons, but for social, educational, and economic reasons. Racial discrimination, accompanied by social isolation, intensified some dialectal differences between Black English and Standard English. 6. Social dialect 社会方言 a) Education varieties 教育变体 Social dialects, or sociolects, are varieties of language used by people belonging to particular social classes. The speakers of a social dialect usually share a similar social background. Many differences in languages use persist for educational reasons. It is, therefore, important to know, for example, whether a group of speakers share similar educational backgrounds. b) Age varieties 年龄变体 The way language is used correlates with the age of individual speakers. The importance of age as a social factor in language variation is strikingly demonstrated by children?s language as it develops with age. While some differences in pronunciation are found to correlate with different generation of speakers, the most striking differences are lexical. c) Gender varieties 性别变体 Variation in language use is also associated with the sex of individual speakers. Sex-preferential differentiation in terms of speech varieties of males and females exists in all natural language across the word. In particular, the intentional or unintentional use of sexist language in speech or writing reflects gender-biased cultural traditions in many societies. d) Register varieties 语域变体 Registers are language varieties appropriate for use in particular speech situations, for that reason, registers are also known as situational dialects. A formal situation may condition a formal register, characterized by formal, standard lexical items and grammatical rules, and speech patterns; while an informal setting may be reflected in a less formal register that exhibits more causal vocabulary, nonstandard grammatical features, and stigmatized speech patterns. e) Address terms 称谓语 One specific aspect of situational use of language is that of address term usage. An address term, or address form, refers to the word or words used to address somebody in speech or writing. It is apparent that the way in which people address one another usually depends on their age, sex, social group, and personal relationship. The English system of frequently used address terms includes first name, last name, title + last name, title alone, and kin term. f) Slang 俚语 Slang is a casual use of language that consists of expressive but nonstandard vocabulary, typically of arbitrary, flashy and often ephemeral coinages and figures of speech characterized by spontaneity and sometime by raciness. The central characteristic of slang comes from the motive for its use: a desire for novelty, for vivid emphasis, for membership in a particular group or class of people, or for being up with the times or a little ahead. Although slang is often very vivid and expressive, the term slang has traditionally carried a negative connotation: it is deemed to be undesirable in formal style of language. Most slang terms come and go like fads and fashion, only few remain and become acceptable language by the whole society. g) Linguistic taboo 禁忌语 A linguistic taboo refers to a word or expression that is prohibited by the “polite” society from general use. In sociolinguistics, taboo, or rather linguistic taboo, denotes any prohibition on the use of particular lexical items to refer to objects or acts. As language use is contextualized in particular social settings, linguistic taboo originates from social taboo. When an act is taboo, reference to this act may also become taboo. Taboo words and expressions reflect the particular social customs and views of a particular culture. h) Euphemism 委婉语 Euphemism comes from the Greek word euphemismos, meaning “to speak with good words.” A euphemism, then, is a mild, indirect or less offensive word or expression substituted when the speaker or writer fears more direct wording might be harsh, unpleasantly direct, or offensive. ※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※ Chapter 9 Psycholinguistics 心理语言学 1. The biological foundations of language 语言的生理基础 a) The case of Phineas Gage 盖奇案例 One afternoon in September 1848, a tragedy happed to Gage. A huge metal rod had gone through the front part of Gage?s brain, but his language abilities were unaffected. The point of this amazing case is that, if our language ability is located in the brain, it is clear that it is not situated right at the front. b) The human brain 人的大脑 The human brain is the most complicated organ of the body. Lying under the skull, the human brain contains an average of ten billion nerve cells called neurons. The most important part of the brain is the outside surface of the brain, called the cerebral cortex. The cortex is the decision-making organ of the body, receiving messages from all the sensory organs and initiating all voluntary action. Many of the cognitive abilities that distinguish humans from other mammals, such as sophisticated reasoning, linguistic skills, and musical ability, are believed to reside in the cortex. The brain is divided into two roughly symmetrical halves, called hemispheres, one on the right and one on the left. These hemispheres are connected like twins right down the middle by a number of interconnecting nerve pathways. In general, the right hemisphere controls voluntary movement of, and responds to signals from, the left side of the body, whereas the left hemisphere controls voluntary movement of, and responds to signals from, the right side of the body. c) Brain lateralization 大脑的侧化 The left hemisphere has primary responsibility for language, while the right hemisphere controls and spatial skills as well as the perception of nonlinguistic sounds and musical melodies. The localization of the cognitive and perceptual functions in a particular hemisphere of the brain is called lateralization. Because each cerebral hemisphere has unique functional superiority, it is more accurate to conceive of the hemispheres as complementarily specialized. The process of lateralization is believed to be maturational. That is, brain lateralization is genetically programmed, but takes time to develop. 2. Linguistic lateralization 语言侧化 a) Left hemispheric dominance for language 左半球的语言优势 Linguistic lateralization in terms of left hemispheric dominance for language is found to exist in an overwhelming majority of human beings. Although both right and left hemispheres are lateralized complementarily in many aspects of human cognitive and perceptual activities, language functions are believed to be lateralized primarily in the left hemisphere of the brain. Research has shown that different aspects of language processing appear to be more characteristic of the left hemisphere than the other. b) Dichotic listening research 两耳分听实验 Evidence in supporting of lateralization for language in the left hemisphere comes from researches in dichotic listening tasks. Dichotic listening research makes use of the generally established fact that anything experienced on the right-hand side of the body is processed in the left hemisphere of the brain, and vice versa. A basic assumption, thus, would be that a signal coming in the right ear will go to the left hemisphere and a signal coming in the left ear will go to the right hemisphere. By means of dichotic listening task, we can analyze the characteristics of incoming stimuli processed by the individual hemisphere. Research shows that the left hemisphere is not superior for processing all sounds, but only for those that are linguistic in nature, thus providing evidence in support of the view that the left side of the brain is specialized for language and that it is where language centers reside. 3. The language centers 语言中枢 a) Broca?s area 布罗卡区 In 1861, a Frenchman named Paul Broca found the damage to a specific area of the brain results in speech production deficit. This area was now known as Broca?s area. Language disorder resulting from a damage to Broca?s area in the brain reveals word-finding difficulties and problems with syntax. b) Wernicke?s area 韦尼克区 In 1874, a young German Carl Wernicke found another different area of the left hemisphere now known as Wernicke?s area. The damage to Wernick?s area will result in speech comprehension deficit. c) The angular gyrus 角形脑回 Angular gyrus lies behind Wernicke?s area. It is the language center responsible for converting a visual stimulus into an auditory form and vice versa. This area is crucial for the matching of a spoken form with a perceived object, for the naming of objects, and for the comprehension of written language, all of which require connections between visual and speech regions. d) Language perception, comprehension and production 语言的感知、理解与表达 The brain activity involved in hearing, understanding and then saying a word would follow a definite pattern. When we listen, the word is heard and comprehended via Wernicke?s area. This signal then transferred to Broca?s area where preparations are made to produce it. A signal is then sent to the motor area controlling the vocal tract to physically articulate the word. When we speak, words are drawn from Wernicke?s area and sent to Broca?s area, which determines the details of their form and pronunciation. The appropriate instructions are then sent to the motor area. 4. The critical period for language acquisition 语言习得关键期 a) The critical period hypothesis 关键期假设 The critical period hypothesis refers to a period in one?s life extending from about age two to puberty, during which the human brain is most ready to acquire a particular language and language learning can proceed easily, swiftly, and without explicit instruction. It is generally thought that the development of lateralization in the brain may be connected to the language learning abilities of children in that critical age fro the acquisition of the first language coincides with the period of brain lateralization. It is believed that language acquisition begins at about the same time as lateralization does and is normally complete, as far as the essentials are connected, by the time that the process of lateralization comes to an end. It becomes progressively more difficult to acquire language after the age at which lateralization is complete. b) The case of Genie and the degeneration of language faculty with age 吉妮案例与语言机制的退化 The case of Genie confirms the critical period hypothesis. A safe conclusion that we can draw from Genie?s case for the moment is that the language faculty of an average human degenerates after the critical period and consequently, most linguistic skills cannot develop. 5. Language and thought 语言与思维 a) Early views on language and thought 有关语言与思维关系的一些早期观点 Early views on language and thought include two contrasting views: mentalist and empiricist. Mentalist stated that language and thought were the same thing. Thinking involved the same motor activities used in speaking. That is, when we “think aloud”, it is called speech; when we “speak covertly”, it is called thinking. Empiricist argued that mankind could not have the same languages and that languages were but signs of psychological experience. b) The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis 萨丕尔,沃尔夫假设 The American anthropologist-linguist Edward Sapir and his student Benjamin Lee Whorf proposed a sweeping, two-pronged hypothesis concerning language and thought. Whorf proposed first that all higher levels of thinking are dependent on language. Or put it more bluntly, language determines thought, hence the strong notion of linguistic determinism. Because languages differ in many ways, Whorf also believed that speakers of different languages perceive and experience the world differently, that is, relative to their linguistic background, hence the notion of linguistic relativism. If follows from this strong version of the hypothesis that there is no real translation and that it is impossible to learn the language of a different culture unless the learner abandons his or here own mode of thinking and acquires the thought patterns of the native speakers of the target language. c) Arguments against the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis 对萨丕尔,沃尔夫假设的批判 , Words and meaning. It is widely accepted that the vocabulary of a language consists of nothing more than meaningless labels which are manipulated by language users to elicit emotional reactions or behavioral responses, to impart information or to direct the listener?s attention. The meaning of a word or phrase depends largely on the communicative context. As the context of a word or sentence changes, its effect and meaning also change. , Grammatical structure. The syntactic system of a language and the perceptual system of the speakers of that language do not have the kind of interdependent relationship that the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis claimed to have. Many grammatical features of a language are purely superficial aspects of linguistic structure. , Translation. Another major argument against the hypothesis comes from the fact that successful translation between languages can be made. The translation argument is supported by the very fact that conceptual uniqueness of a language such as Hopi can nonetheless be explained in English. , Second language acquisition. If languages have different conceptual systems, then someone who speaks one language will be unable to learn the other language because he lacks the right conceptual system. However, since people can learn radically different languages, those languages couldn?t have different conceptual systems. , Language and world views. The language system does not necessarily provide specifics of one?s world views. On the one hand, people speaking the same language may have different world views, including political, social, religious, scientific and philosophical views. On the other hand, people speaking different languages may share similar political, social, religious, scientific or philosophical views. Moreover, one language can describe many different world views, as is evident in the case of successful translation. 语言与世界观。语言体系并不一定能影响一个人对世界的看法。一方面，说同一语言的 d) Understanding the relation of language and thought 对语言与思维关系的再认识 , Major functions of language 语言的主要功能 Language provides a means for the expression or communication of thought and in particular, as serving two major functions, namely, interpersonal communication and intrapersonal communication. 语 , The development and blending of language and thought 语言与思维的发展和融合 Although language and thought are two different systems that develop along two different routes, part of the language system is actually part of the thought system. The thought and language systems are joined through meaning and ideas. , Thinking without language 脱离语言的思维 There are occasions when one can think without language, just as one may speak without thinking. People may communicate their feelings or thoughts via nonverbal signals such as facial expressions, gestures. , Language as a conventional coding system to express thought 语言,表达思维的约定俗成 的编码系统 Recall that in Chapter 1, we defined language as a system of arbitrary codes used for human communication. What that means is that the relationship between the coding system of language on the one hand and the conceptualizing system of thought on the other is conventional rather than genetic. For some historical reasons that are not completely understood, natural languages have developed into different coding systems, in spite of the fact that all humans share a general conceptualizing capacity. However, a particular coding system comprises a particular set of arbitrary verbal symbols which do not arise from, nor do they give birth to, a particular conceptual system. , The ways in which language affects thought 语言影响思维的方式 Although language is not always a necessary condition for thought, the use of it is indispensable to the content, direction, and elaboration of particular thoughts. While we reject the strong version of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, its weaker version is generally accepted by most scholars. We recognize that language does not so much determine the way we think as it influences the way we perceive the world and recall things, and affects the ease with which we perform mental tasks. ※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※ Chapter 10 Language Acquisition 语言习得 1. First language acquisition 第一语言习得 a) The biological basis of language acquisition 语言习得的生物基础 Language acquisition is a genetically determined capacity that all humans are endowed with. Human is biologically programmed to acquire at least one language. Any child who is capable of acquiring some particular human language is capable of acquiring any human language spontaneously and effortlessly. b) Language acquisition as the acquisition of grammatical rules 语言习得即语法规则的习得 Language acquisition is primarily the acquisition of the grammatical system of language. It doesn?t mean that every specific rule allowed by the grammatical system of a language must be acquired. What is actually acquired by young children are some general principle that are fundamental to the grammaticality of speech. c) The role of input and interaction 语言输入与交流的作用 Although human beings are genetically predetermined to acquire language, this genetic predisposition is not a sufficient condition for language development. For language to be eventually acquired, children must be provided with an appropriate linguistic environment which they have access to language data and opportunities to interact with the input. d) The role of instruction 语言教学的作用 For the vast majority of children, language development occurs spontaneously and requires little conscious instruction. In fact, parents often fail in their attempt to teach children grammatical rules. e) The role of correction and reinforcement 纠错与强化的作用 Correction and reinforcement are not key factors in child language development. Reinforcement has been found to occur usually in children?s pronunciation or reporting of the truthfulness of utterances, rather than in the grammaticality of sentences. f) The role of imitation 模仿的作用 Selective imitation suggests that children do not blindly mimic adult speech in a parrot fashion, but rather exploit it in very restricted way to improve their linguistic skills. The point is that imitation plays at best a very minor role in the child?s mastery of language. 2. Stages of first language acquisition 第一语言习得的发展阶段 a) The prelinguistic stage 前语言阶段 The earliest sounds produced by infants cannot be considered early language. The noises such as cries and whimpers of the new born in all language communities sound the same. Such noises are b) The one-word stage 独词句阶段 At some point in the late part of the first year or the early part of the second year, the babbling stage gradually gives way to the earliest recognizable stage of language, often referred to as the one-word stage. Children?s one-word utterances are also called holophrastic sentences, because they can be used to express a concept or predication that would be associated with an entire sentence in adult speech. One-word utterances sometimes show an overextension or under-extension of reference. Typically, children use the same word for things that have a similar appearance. c) The two-word stage 双词句阶段 In general, the two-word stage begins roughly in the second half of he child?s second year. At this stage, children are heard uttering two-word expressions in a variety of combinations; express a certain variety of grammatical relations. In addition, the language at this stage begins to reflect the distinction between sentence types, such as negative sentences, imperative and questions. d) The multiword stage 多词句阶段 Between two and three years old, children begin to produce longer utterances with more complex grammatical structures. When a child starts stringing more than two words together, the utterances may be two, three, four, or five words or longer, hence the multiword stage. The early multiword utterances typically lack inflectional morphemes and most minor lexical categories as “to”, “the”, “can”. These multiword utterances are usually the “substantive” or “content” words that carry the main message. Because of their resemblance to the style of language found in telegrams, utterances at this acquisition stage are often referred to as telegraphic speech. Although they lack grammatical morphemes, telegraphic sentences are not simply words that are randomly strung together, but follow the principles of sentence formation. As this type of telegram-format speech increases, a number of grammatical morphemes begin to appear in children?s speech, such as “-s”, “-ed” and prepositions. It is normally assumed that by the age of five, with an operating vocabulary of more than 2000 words, children have completed the greater part of the language acquisition process. 3. The development of the grammatical system 语法体系的发展 a) The development of phonology 音系学的发展 It?s suggested that even before children master the phonemic contrasts of their language, they begin to develop the articulatory movements needed to produce these distinctions in speech. As they develop their native language, children must master a systematic set of patterns and learn how to fit given sounds into those patterns. Children first acquire the sounds found in all languages of the world, no matter what language they are exposed to, and in later stage acquire the “more difficult” sounds. It has been noted that certain sounds that occur in babbling are lost when children begin to speak the language, and then reappear at a later stage. b) The development of syntax 句法的发展 As children produce sentences that more and more closely approximate the adult grammar, they begin to use functional words as well as inflectional and derivational morphemes of the language. c) The development of morphology 词形的发展 Children?s early words are simply a bunch of bare stems without affixes. By the time they are going beyond the telegraphic stage, children?s begin to incorporate some of the inflectional morphemes which indicate the grammatical function of nouns and verbs used. –ing/-s/-ed. d) The development of vocabulary and semantics 词汇与语义的发展 It is estimated that during the first two years, a child have a very limited vocabulary ranging from 50 to 100 words. At this stage, the semantic referent of a word expands. Overgeneralization can be observed in children?s acquisition of the semantic system, as they acquire more and more words, the “over-generalized” meaning narrows down. By the age of two and a half years, children?s vocabulary is expanding rapidly and they are actually initiating more talks. By five, children?s utterances average about 4.6 words per sentence, and their vocabulary increases by about twenty words each day. Six-7800 Eight-17600 (28000 if derived forms included) In general, children have virtually acquired the basic fabric of their native language at the age of five or six. It is agreed that the pre-school years are a crucial period for first language acquisition. 4. Second language acquisition 第二语言习得 a) Acquisition and learning 习得与学习 Acquisition refers to the gradual and subconscious development of ability in the first language by using it naturally in daily communicative situations. Learning, however, is defined as a conscious process of accumulating knowledge of a second language usually obtained in school settings. b) Transfer and interference 转移与干扰 Naturally, learners will subconsciously use their L1 knowledge in learning a second language. This is known as language transfer. Transfer can be positive or negative. Presumably, positive transfer occurs when an L1 pattern is identical with, or similar to, a target language pattern. Conversely, negative transfer occurs when an L1 pattern is different from the counterpart pattern of the target language. Negative transfer is a process more commonly known as interference. In order to identify the areas of learning difficulty, an inter-lingual contrastive procedure called Contrastive Analysis was developed. It was found that a large proportion of grammatical errors could not be explained by mother tongue interference. Many actual errors are attributable to overgeneralization instead of negative transfer. c) Error analysis and the natural route of SLA development 错误分析与第二语言习得的自然 发展轨道 The Error Analysis approach shows that there are striking similarities in the ways in which different L2 learners acquire a new language. A large proportion of developmental-type errors in learners? L2 utterances provide support for the claim that these similarities point to a natural route of L2 development which resembles that reported for L1 development. Evidence from a number of morpheme and longitudinal studies also lend support for the claim that L2 learners follow broadly similar routes, although minor differences exist due to variable learner factors and learning situations. d) Inter-language and fossilization 语际语与语言僵化现象 SLA is viewed as a process of creative construction, in which a learner constructs a series of internal representations that comprises the learner?s interim knowledge of the target language, known as inter-language, that is, the language that a learner constructs at a given stage of SLA. Specifically, inter-language consists of a series of interlocking and approximate linguistic systems in-between and yet distinct form the learner?s native and target language. It represents the learner?s transitional competence moving along a learning continuum stretching from one?s L1 competence to the target competence. Learner?s inter-language fossilized some way short of target language competence while the internalized rule system contained rules that are different from those of the target language system. The fossilization of the learner?s inter-language is believed to be a major source of incorrect forms resistant to further instruction. e) The role of input 语言输入的作用 It is evident that SLA takes place only when the learner has access to L2 input and the opportunity to interact with the input. f) The role of formal instruction 正规教学的作用 A great number of adults learn a second language through formal instruction. Formal instruction occurs in classrooms when attempts are made to raise learner?s consciousness about the nature of target language rules in order to aid learning. Although it is found that formal instruction hardly affects the natural route of SLA, it does provide opportunities to receive comprehensible input, and in so doing enables the classroom learner to perform a wide range of linguistic tasks than the naturalistic learner and thereby accelerates the rate of acquisition. Studies suggest that formal instruction may not easily influence a particular type of language task, such as casual and spontaneous conversation, but it may help learners perform other types of tasks, such as those associated with planned speech, writing or career-oriented examination. g) Individual learner factors 学习者的个人因素 It is known that there is no uniform way in which learners acquire the knowledge of a second language. There are a number of factors pertaining to the learner that potentially influence the way in which a second language is acquired. The learner factors include age, aptitude, motivation, personality, and cognitive style.