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1、A Course on Linguistics for Students of English -Cheng Zhenquan School of Foreign Studies, SCNU,The Goals for this Course,To get a scientific view on language; To understand some basic theories on linguistics; To understand the applications of the linguistic theories, especially in the fields of lan
2、guage teaching To prepare for the future research work.,The Requirements for this course,Class attendance Classroom discussion Fulfillment of the assignment Examination,Reference Books,戴炜栋，何兆熊，(2002)，新编简明英语语言学教程，上海外语教育出版社。 胡壮麟，(2001)，语言学教程，北京大学出版社。 刘润清，(1995)，西方语言学流派，外语教学与研究出版社。 Fromkin,V. & R. Rodm
3、an, (1998), An Introduction to Language the sixth edition, Orlando, Florida: Holt, Ranehart & Winston, Inc.,Chapter 1. Introduction,1. What is language?,Language can mean,what a person says (e.g. bad language, expressions) the way of speaking or writing (e.g. Shakespeares language, Luxuns language)
4、a particular variety or level of speech or writing (e.g. language for special purpose, colloquial language) the abstract system underlying the totality of the speech/writing behavior of a community (e.g. Chinese language, first language) the common features of all human languages (e.g. He studies la
5、nguage) a tool for human communication. (social function) a set of rules. (rule-governed),Sapirs definition (1921),“Language is a purely human and non-instinctive method of communicating ideas, emotions and desires by means of voluntarily produced symbols.”,Halls definition (1968),Language is “the i
6、nstitution whereby humans communicate and interact with each other by means of habitually used oral-auditory arbitrary symbols.”,Chomskys definition (1957),“From now on I will consider language to be a set of (finite or infinite) sentences, each finite in length and constructed out of a finite set o
7、f elements.”,Language can be generally defined as,a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication.,Language is a system,Systematic- rule-governed, elements in it are arranged according to certain rules; cant be combined at will. e.g. *bkli, *I apple eat.,Language is arbitrary,Arbitr
8、ary- no intrinsic connection between the word and the thing it denotes, e.g. “pen” by any other name is the thing we use to write with.,Language is symbolic in nature,Symbolic- words are associated with objects, actions ideas by convention. “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet”-Shakespeare
9、,Language is primarily vocal,Vocal- the primary medium is sound for all languages; writing system came much later than spoken form.,Language is human-specific,Human-specific- different from the communication systems other forms of life possess, e.g. bird songs, bee dance, animal cries.,The design/de
10、fining features of human language (Charles Hockett),Arbitrariness Productivity/Creativity Duality Displacement Cultural transmission,Arbitrariness,-No logical (motivated or intrinsic) connection between sounds and meanings. Onomatopoeic words (which imitate natural sounds) are somewhat motivated ( E
11、nglish: rumble, crackle, bang, . Chinese: putong, shasha, dingdang ) Some compound words are not entirely arbitrary, e.g. type-writer, shoe-maker, air-conditioner, photocopy,Productivity/creativity,-Peculiar to human languages，users of language can understand and produce sentences they have never he
12、ard before, e.g. we can understand sentence like “ A red-eyed elephant is dancing on the hotel bed”, though it does not describe a common happening in the world. A gibbon call system is not productive for gibbon draw all their calls from a fixed repertoire which is rapidly exhausted, making any nove
13、lty impossible. The bee dance does have a limited productivity, as it is used to communicate about food sources in any direction. But food sources are the only kind of messages that can be sent through the bee dance; bees do not “talk” about themselves, the hives, or wind, let alone about people, an
14、imals, hopes or desires,Duality (double articulation),Lower level-sounds (meaningless) Higher level-meaning (larger units of meaning) A communication system with duality is considered more flexible than one without it, for a far greater number of messages can be sent. A small number of sounds can be
15、 grouped and regrouped into a large number of units of meaning (words), and the units of meaning can be arranged and rearranged into an infinite number of sentences. (we make dictionary of a language, but we cannot make a dictionary of sentences of that language.,Displacement,-Language can be used t
16、o refer to things, which are not present: real or imagined matters in the past, present or future, or in far-away places. A gibbon never utters a call about something he ate last year There is something special about the bee dance though. Bees communicate with other bees about the food sources they
17、have found when they are no longer in the presence of the food. In this sense, the bee dance has a component of displacement. But this component is very insignificant. For the bees must communicate about the food immediately on returning to the hive. They do not dance about the food they discovered
18、last month nor do they speculate about future discoveries.,Cultural transmission,-Language is culturally transmitted (through teaching and learning; rather than by instinct). Animal call systems are genetically transmitted. All cats, gibbons and bees have systems which are almost identical to those
19、of all other cats, gibbons and bees. A Chinese speaker and an English speaker are not mutually intelligible. This shows that language is culturally transmitted. That is, it is pass on from one generation to the next by teaching and learning, rather than by instinct. The story of a wolf child, a pig
20、child shows that a human being brought up in isolation simply does not acquire human language.,Functions of language,Phatic: establishing an atmosphere or maintaining social contact. Directive: get the hearer to do something. Informative: give information about facts. Interrogative: get information
21、from others. Expressive: express feelings and attitudes of the speaker. Evocative: create certain feelings in the hearer (amuse, startle, soothe, worry or please) Performative: language is used to do things, to perform actions.,The origin of language,The divine-origin theory- Language is a gift of G
22、od to mankind. The invention theory- imitative, cries of nature, the grunts of men working together. The evolutionary theory- the result of physical and psychological development.,许国璋先生认为把语言定义成交际工具不够科学,至少不够严谨.他对语言的定义做了如下概括:语言是一种符号系统.,当它作用于人与人之间的关系的时候,它是表达相互反应的中介; 当它作用于人与客观世界的关系的时候,它是认知事物的工具; 当它作用于文化
23、的时候,它是文化的载体.,2. What is linguistics?,-Linguistics is the scientific study of language. -A person who studies linguistics is known as a linguist.,Four principles of linguistic studies,Exhaustiveness/adequacy Consistency Economy Objectivity,The scope or major branches of linguistics,Theoretical lingui
24、stics Phonetics Phonology Morphology Syntax Semantics Use of linguistics Applied linguistics Sociolinguistics Psycholinguistics ,Theoretical linguistics,Phonetics-speech sound (description, classification, transcription): articulatory phonetics, acoustic phonetics, auditory phonetics. Phonology-soun
25、d patterns of languages Morphology-the form of words Syntax-the rules governing the combination of words into sentence. Semantics-the meaning of language (when the meaning of language is conducted in the context of language use-Pragmatics),Use of linguistics,Applied linguistics-linguistics and langu
26、age teaching Sociolinguistics- social factors (e.g. class, education) affect language use Psycholinguistics-linguistic behavior and psychological process Stylistics-linguistic and literature,Some other applications,Anthropological linguistics Neurolinguistics Computational linguistics (e.g. machine
27、translation),Some important distinctions in linguistics,Descriptive vs prescriptive,Descriptive - describe/analyze linguistic facts observed or language people actually use (modern linguistic) Prescriptive -lay down rules for “correct” linguistic behavior in using language (traditional grammar),Sync
28、hronic vs diachronic,Synchronic study- description of a language at some point of time (modern linguistics) Diachronic study- description of a language through time (historical development of language over a period of time),Speech vs writing,Speech - primary medium of language Writing - later develo
29、ped,Langue vs parole (F. de Saussure),Langue - the abstract linguistic system shared by all members of the speech community. Parole - the realization of langue in actual use. Saussure takes a sociological view of language and his notion of langue is a matter of social conventions.,Competence and per
30、formance (Chomsky),Competence - the ideal users knowledge of the rules of his language Performance - the actual realization of this knowledge in linguistic communication Chomsky looks at language from a psychological point of view and to him competence is a property of the mind of each individual.,T
31、raditional grammar vs modern linguistics,Traditional grammar - prescriptive, written, Latin-based framework Modern linguistics - descriptive, spoken, not necessarily Latin-based framework,Chapter 2 Phonology,Language is primarily vocal. The primary medium of human language is sound. Linguists are no
32、t interested in all sounds, but in speech sounds-sounds that convey meaning in human communication.,Phonetics,-A branch of linguistics which studies the characteristics of speech sounds and provides methods for their description, classification and transcription, e.g. p bilabial, stop.,Three branche
33、s of phonetics,Articulatory phonetics-from the speakers point of view, “how speakers produce speech sounds” Auditory phonetics-from the hearers point of view, “how sounds are perceived” Acoustic phonetics-from the physical way or means by which sounds are transmitted from one to another.,Articulator
34、y phonetics,Speech organs: three important areas,Pharyngeal cavity - the throat; The oral cavity - the mouth; Nasal cavity - the nose.,The diagram of speech organs,Lips Teeth Teeth ridge (alveolar) Hard palate Soft palate (velum) Uvula Tip of tongue Blade of tongue Back of tongue Vocal cords Pharyng
35、eal cavity Nasal cavity,Orthographic representation of speech sounds,- A standardized and internationally accepted system of phonetic transcription is the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). The basic principle of the IPA is using one letter to represent one speech sound. Broad transcription - us
36、ed in dictionary and textbook for general purpose, without diacritics, e.g. clear l , pit Narrow transcription - used by phonetician for careful study, with diacritics, e.g. dark l , aspirated p ,Some major articulatory variables,- dimensions on which speech sounds may vary: Voicing- voiced & voicel
37、ess Nasality - nasal & non-nasal Aspiration - aspirated & unaspirated,Classification of English speech sounds,- English speech sounds are generally classified into two large categories: Vowels Consonants Note: The essential difference between these two classes is that in the production of the former
38、 the airstream meets with no obstruction of any kind in the throat, the nose or the mouth, while in that of the latter it is somehow obstructed.,Classification of consonants,- English consonants may be classified according to two dimensions: The manner of articulation The place of articulation,The m
39、anner of articulation,stops/plosives: p, b, t, d, k, g; fricatives: f, v, s, z, W, T, F, V, h; affricates: tF, dV; liquids: l(lateral), r; nasals: m, n, N; glides/semivowels: w, j.,The place of articulation,bilabial: p, b, m, w; labiodental: f , v; dental: W, T; alveolar: t, d, s, z, n, l, r; palata
40、l: F, V, tF, dV, j ; velar: k, g, N; glottal: h.,The place of articulation,Bilabial; Labiodental; Dental or interdental; Alveolar; Palatoalveolar; Palatal; Velar; Uvular; Glottal.,The description of English consonants,Classification of vowels,- English vowels can be divided into two large categories
41、: Monophthongs or pure/single vowels Diphthongs or gliding vowels,Monophthongs or pure/single vowels,-According to which part of the tongue is held highest in the process of production, the vowels can be distinguished as: front vowels: I:, I, e, Z, A, B; central vowels: E:, E, Q; back vowels: u:, u,
42、 C:, C, B:.,According to the openness of the mouth,Close: I:, I, u:, u. Semi-close: e, E:; Semi-open: E, C; Open: A, B, C, B:, Q;,The diagram of single vowel classification by applying the two criteria so far mentioned:,According to the shape of the lips or the degree of lip rounding,rounded: u:, u,
43、 C:, C; unrounded: I:, I, e, Z, A, B, E:, E, Q, B:.,According to the length of the vowels,long: I:, E:, u:, C:, B: short: I, e, Z, A, E, Q, B, u, C.,Diphthongs/gliding vowels,ei, ai, aU, EU, Ri, iE, ZE, UE.,Exercises: underline the words that begin with a sound as required.,A bilabial consonant: mad
44、 sad bad cad pad had lad A velar consonant: nod god cod pod rod Labiodental consonant: rat fat sat mat chat vat pat An alveolar consonant: nick lick sick tick kick quick A palato-alveolar consonant: sip ship tip chip lip zip A dental consonant: lie buy thigh thy tie rye A glide: one war yolk rush,Un
45、derline the words that end with a sound as required:,A fricative pay horse tough rice breath push sing wreathe hang cave message A nasal train bang leaf limb A stop drill pipe fit crab fog ride laugh rack through tip An affricate: rack such ridge booze,Underline the words that contain the sound as r
46、equired:,A central vowel: mad lot but boot word A front vowel: reed pad load fate bit bed cook A rounded vowel: who he bus her hit true boss bar walk A back vowel: paid reap fool top good father,Describe the underlined consonants according to three dimensions:,vd/vl place manner Letter Brother Sunny
47、 Hopper Itching Lodger Calling Singing Robber either,Phonology,Phonology studies the patterning of speech sounds, that is, the ways in which speech sounds form systems and patterns in human languages.,Phonetics & phonology,Both are concerned with the same aspect of language-the speech sounds. But th
48、ey differ in their approach and focus. Phonetics is of general nature; it is interested in all the speech sounds used in all human languages; it aims to answer questions like: how they are produced, how they differ from each other, what phonetic features they have, how they can be classified, etc. Phonology aims to discover how speech sounds in a language form patterns and how these sounds are used to convey meaning in linguistic communic