compounded

语言学讲解和名词解释

第一章

Chapter1InvitationstoLinguistics

Teachingaims:letthestudentshavethegeneralideaaboutlanguageand

linguistics.

Teachingdifficulties:designfeaturesoflanguage;someimportant

ge

1.1Whystudylanguage?为什么学习语言Atoolforcommunication交流的工具

Anintegralpartofourlifeandhumanity人类生活和人性中不可或缺的一部分.

Ifwearenotfullyawareofthenatureandmechanismofourlanguage,we

willbeignorantofwhatconstitutesouresntialhumanity.如果不能完全理解语

言的本质和结构,我们就会对人类的本质一无所知.

1.2Whatislanguage?什么是语言

1.2.1differentnsoflanguage语言的不同意义

ersonsays(concreteactofspeech)aperson‘sconsistentway

ofspeakingorwriting

uiallanguagean

abstractsystem

er‘sNewDictionraryoffersafrequentlyudnoftheword

�Dlanguage‖:peech人类的言语

litytocommunicatebythismeans通过言语来交流的能力

mofvocalsoundsandcombinationsofsuchsoundstowhich

meaningisattributed,

udfortheexpressionorcommunicationofthoughtsandfeelings;用来表

达或交流思想和感觉的一套声音及这些声音互相结合的系统

ttenreprentationofsuchasystem系统的文字表达

estofdefinition,languageisameansofverbalcommunication.

最简洁的定义:语言是

言语交流的一种方式.

Languageisinstrumentalinthatcommunicatingbyspeakingorwritingisa

socialandconventionalinthatlanguageisasocialmiosticand

communicationcanonlytakeplaceeffectivelyifalltheursshareabroad

understandingofhumaninteractionincludingsuchassociatedfactorsas

nonverbalcues,motivation,gedistinguishes

usfromanimals.因为说和写的交流方式是一种有目的的行为,所以语言是实用性的;因为

语言是社会符号,语言的交流只能在所有参与者广泛理解了人类的那些非言语的暗示,动机,

社会文化角色等等互相关联的因素之后才能有效进行,因此语言又是社会的,约定俗成的.

语言使人类区别于动物.

1.2.2definitions一.Languageisasystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsud

communication?Aprocessinwhichinformation

istransmittedfromasource(nderorspeaker)toagoal(receiveror

listener).

Asystem----sinceelements基础initarearrangedaccordingtocertain

rulessystematically,rather

ablecleaned.

(×)bkli(×)

Whydowesaylanguageisarbitrary?

Arbitrary----thereisnointrinsic(logic)connectionbetweenalinguistic

formanditsmeaning,

betweenthesoundsthatpeopleuandtheobjectstowhichthesounds

plainsandixplainedbythefactthatdifferentlanguage

havedifferentwordsforthesameobject,itisgoodillustrationofthe

lyourtacitagreementofutteranceand

conceptatworkandnotanyinnaterelationshipboundupintheutterance.A

typicalexampletoillustratethearbitraryoflanguageisafamous

quotationfromshakepeare‘splay:‖RomeoandJuliet:Arobyanyother

namewouldsmellassweet.一朵玫瑰不管它叫什么名字,闻起来都是一样香的.

Symbols----wordsarejustthesymbolsassociatedwithobjects,actions,

andideasbynothingbut

,peopleuthesoundsorvovalformstosymbolizewhat

theywishtoreferto.

Vocal--------theprimarymediumforalllanguagesissound,nomatterhow

welldevelopedtheir

gsystemscamemuchlaterthanthespokenforms.

Thefactthatsmallchildrenlearnandcanonlylearntospeakandlisten

beforetheywriteorreadalsoindicatesthatlanguageisprimarilyvocal,

ratherthanwritten.

Writingsystemscameintobeingmuchlaterthanthespokenforms.

----languageishuman-specific.

Humanbeingshavedifferentkindsofbrainsandvocalcapacity.

�DLanguageAcquisitionDevice‖(LAD)

二.Whatcharacteristicsoflangaugedoyouthinkshouldbeincludedina

good,comprenhensivedefinitionoflanguage?

Languageisarule-governedsystem;langaugeisbasicallyvocal;langauge

isarbitrary;langagueisudforhumancommunication.

1.3Designfeaturesoflanguage语言的结构特征

Designfeatures------referstothedefiningpropertiesofhumanlanguage

e

arbitrariness,duality二元性,creativity创造性/productivity,displacement,

cluturaltransmissionandinterchangeability.

Designfeatures-----arefeaturesthatdefineourhumanlanguages,suchas

arbitrariness,duality,creativity,displacement,culturaltransmission,etc.(指决

定了人类语言性质的特征.例如任意性,二重性,创造性,移位性,文化转移性等.)

TheAmericanlinguistCharlesHockettspecifiedtwelvedesignfeatures.

Whatisarbitrariness?任意性

ariness----arbitrariness(任意性):onedesignfeatureofhuman

language,whichreferstothe

factthattheformsoflinguisticsignsbearnonaturalrelationshipto

theirmeaning.(人类语言的本质特征之一,指语言符号的形式与意义之间没有自然的联

系.)

kbetweenthemisamatterof

convention.

E.g.�Dhou‖uchi(Japane)Mansion(French)

房子(Chine)

(1)arbitrarybetweenthesoundofamorpheme（词）anditsmeaning语言的音

和义之间的任意性�Darbitrary‖,wemeanthereisnological

connectionbetweenmeaningsandsounds.语言的意义和语音之间没有逻辑关系。

Agogmightbeapigifonlythefirstpersonorgroupofpersonshadud

ge

thereforeislargelyarbitrary.

guageisnotabsolutelyemtobesomesound-meaning

association,ifwethinkofechowords,like�Dbang‖‖crash‖‖roar‖‖

rumble‖‖cakle‖,whicharemotivatedinacertainn.‖

onomatopoeia拟声词---wordsthatsoundlikethesoundstheydescribe那些发

音像它们的描写的声音的词

mpounds(wordscompoundedtobeoneword)arenotentirely

arbitaryeither.�Dtype‖and‖write‖areopaqueorunmotivatedwords,

while�Dtype-writer‖islessso,ormoretransparentormotivatedthanthe

nsay�Darbitrariness‖isamatterofdegree.

arbitraryandonometopoeiceffectmayworkatthesametime.任意性和拟声可以同

时起作用。muroushauntoffliesonsummereves.夏日黄昏，群蝇嗡嗡

地非。(2)Arbitraryatthesyntactic（句法的）level句法上的任意性

Accordingtosystematic-functionalistsandAmericanfunctionlists,

languageisnotarbitraryatthe

syntacticlevel.对于系统功能语言学家和美国功能语言学家来说，语言在句法上

是非任意的。Syntax-----itreferstothewaysthatntencesareconstructed

accordingtothegrammarofarrangement.句法就是依据语法安排造句之法。(3)

Aribrtaryandconvention任意性和约定性

Thelinkbetweenalinguisticsignanditsmeaningisamatterof

convention.语言学上的符号和它的意义之间是约定俗成的关系。

Theothersideofcoinofarbitrariness,namely,conventionality.任意性的

相反面，即约定性。

conventionality----Itmeansthatinanylanguagetherearecertain

ords

arecustomarilyudbyallspeakerswiththesameintendedmeaningand

understoodbyalllistenersinthesameway.

Arbitrainessoflangaugemakesitpotentiallycreative,and

conventionalityoflanguagemakeslearningalanguagelaborious.任意性赋予语言

潜在的创造力，而语言的约定性又使学习语言变得费力。

people,especiallystructurallinguistsbelievethatlanguageisarbitraryby

eople,however,holdthatlanguageisiconic,thatis,thereis

adirectrelationorcorrespondencebetweensoundandmeaning,suchas

onomatopoeia.(cuckoo;crash)

Forthemajorityofanimalsignals,theredoesappeartobeaclear

connectionbetweentheconveyedmessageandthesignaludtoconveyit,And

forthem,thetsofsignalsudincommunicationisfinite.

y(二重性):---onedesignfeatureofhumanlanguage,whichrefers

tothepropertyofhavingtwo

levelsofstructures,suchasunitsoftheprimarylevelarecompodof

ndeachofthetwolevelshasitsown

principlesoforganization.(人类语言的本质特征之一,指拥有两层结构的这种特性,底

层结构是上层结构的组成成分,每层都有自身的组合规则.)

duality----languageissimultaneously同时地organizedattwolevelsor

layers,namely也就是说,the

levelofsoundsandthatofmeaning.

thehigherlevel----wordswhicharemeaningful

thelowerorthebasiclevel----soundswhicharemeaningless,butcanbe

groupedandregrouped

intowords.

Dog:woof(butnot“w-oo-f”)

alimitedtofdistinctsoundswearecapableofproducingaverylarge

numberofsoundcombinations()whicharedistinctinmeaning.

Linguistsrefer�Dduality‖(ofstructure)tothefactthatinall

languagesofarinvestigated,onefindstwolevelsofstructureorpatterning.

Atthefirst,higherlevel,languageisanalyzedintermsofcombinationsof

meaningfulunits(suchasmorphemes,wordtc.).Atthecond,lowerlevel,

itisenasaquenceofgmentswichlackanymeaninginthemlves,but

whichcombinetoformunitsofmeaning.

AccordingtoHUZHUANGLIN,languageisasystemoftwotsofstructures

ortwolevels,improtantfor

theworkingsoflanguage.

Asamllnumberofnmanticwords/units,andtheunitsofmeaningcan

bearrangedandrearrangedintoaninfinitenumberofntences.这些意义单位组

成无数个句子。(notethatwehavedictionariesofwords,butnodictionaryof

ntences!).

Dualitymakesitpossibleforapersontotalkaboutanythingwithinhis

al

Thisdualityoflevelsis,infact,oneofthemosteconomicalfeaturesof

humanlanguage,sincewith

Theprincipleofeconomy

communicationsystemenjoysthisduality.

Totalkaboutdualitywemustnoticethatlanguageishierarchical.说到语

言的二重性，我们必须注意语言的等级性。

vity----Creativityisthefirstandforemoststrikingfeatureof

spossibletheconstructionand

interpretationofnewsignalsbyitsurs.(novelutterancesarecontinually

beingcreated.)non-humansignals,ontheotherhand,appearstohavelittle

vity(创造性):onedesignfeatureofhumanlanguage,by

creativitywemeanlanguageisresourcefulbecauofitsdualityandits

recursiveness.(指语言的能产性,因为语言有二重性和递归性.)

productivity----productivityreferstotheabilitytoconstructand

understandanindefinitelylargenumberofntencesinone‘snative

language,includingthothathasneverheardbefore,butthatare

appropriatetothespeakingsituation.人们能够利用语言中原有的规则来理解从未碰

到过的语言符号的特征。

rimentofbeecommunication:

Theworkerbee,normallyabletocommunicatethelocationofanectar

source,willfailtodosoif

thelocationisreally?new‘.

Inoneexperiment,ahiveofbeeswasplacedatthefootofaradiotower

andafoodsourceatthe

sweretakentothetop,shownthefoodsource,andntoff

sagewasconveyedviaa

owaround

inalldirections,butcouldn‘blemmaybethatbee

communicationregardinglocationhasafixedtofsignals,allofwhich

cannotcreatea?new‘message

indicatingverticaldistance.

Noonehasneversaidorheard�DAred-eyedelephantisdancingonthe

smallhotelbedwithan

Africangibbon‖,buthecansayitwhennecessary,andhecanunderstand

itinrightregister.

Differentfromartisticcreativity,productivitynevergoesoutsidethe

language,thusproductivityis

alsocalled�Drule-boundcreativity‖(y)

Productivityisuniquetohumanlanguage.创造性是人类语言的独一无二的特征。

cement(移位性):onedesignfeatureofhumanlanguage,whichmeans

humanlanguage

enabletheirurstosymbolizeobjects,eventsandconceptswhicharenot

prentcintimeandspace,atthemomentofcommunication.(指人类语言可以让使

用者来表示在说话时(时间和处所)并不存在的物体,时间和观点.)

Beecommunication:

Whenaworkerbeefindsasourceofnectarandreturnstothehive,itcan

performacomplexdance

routinetocommunicatetotheotherbeesthelocationofthisnectar.

Dependingonthetypeofdance(rounddancefornearbyandtail-waggingdance,

withvariabletempo,forfurtherawayandhowfar),Theotherbeescanwork

municationhas

r,itmustbethemostrecent

foodsource.

Displacement,asoneofthedesignfeaturesofthehumanlanguag,refers

tothefactthatonecantalk

aboutthingsthatarenotprent,

otherwords,onecanrefertorealorunrealthings,thingsofthepast,of

theprent,ofthefuture.人类语言可以被用来指不在当时当地发生的事情，这就使

得人类能够谈论许多事情而不受时空限制。

Languagecanbeudtorefertocontextsremovedfromtheimmediate

situationsofthespeak,that

meanslanguagehasthefeatureofdisplacement.

an,foresxample,is

cryingtoawoman,about

something,itmightbesomethingthathadoccurred,orsomethingthatis

occuring,or

ogisbarking,however,youcan

counldn‘‘ssystem,

nonetheless,hasasamllshareof�Ddisplacement‖,butit‘sanunspeakable

tinyshare

altransmission----genetictransmission

Youacquirealanguageinaculturewithotherspeakersandnotfrom

parentalgenes.

Theprocesswherebylanguageispasdonfromonegenerationtothenext

isdescribedasculturaltransmission.

Thismeansthatlanguageisnotbiologicallytransmittedfromgeneration

togeneration,butthatthedetailsofthelinguisticsystemmustbelearned

uethatthecapacityforlanguageinhuman

beings(ycalledit�Dlanguageacquisitiondevice‖,orLAD)hasa

geneticbasis,buttheparticularlanguagapersonlearnstospeakisa

culturaloneotherthanageneticonelkiethedog‘sbarkingsystem.（人类学

习语言的能力有遗传基础，但任何详细的语言系统都必须通过教授和学习才能获得，这说

明语言具有文化传递性，它不是靠人类的本能而获得的。）

Ifahumanbegingisbroughtupinisolationhecannotacquirelangauge.

TheWolfChildrearedbythepackofwolvesturnedouttospeakthewolf‘s

roaring�Dtongue‖nedthereafter,withnosmall

difficulty,callsystemsare

geneticallytransmitted.动物是靠其基因来传递其呼叫系统的。f.

interchangeability互换性

interchangeablitymeansthatanyhumanbegingcanbebothaproduceranda

somepeoplesuggestthatthereisdifferatiation

intheactuallanguageu,inotherwords,menandwomenmaysaydifferent

things,yetinprinciplethereisnosound,orwordorntencethataman

canutterandawomancannot,therhand,apersoncan

bethespeakerwhiletheotherpersonisthelistenerandastheturnmoveson

tothelistener,

malebirds,however,uttersomecallswhichfemalesdonot(orcannot).Whena

dogbarkds,oplearoundcanhardlytell

whichdog/dogsis/are�Dspeaking‖andwhichlistening.

ttoshow

thatitisntiallydifferentfromanyanimalcommunicationsystem?

Arbitrainess----asignofsophisticationonlyhumansarecapableof.

Duality----afeaturetotallylackinginanyanimalcommunication.

Creativity----animalsarequitelimitedinthemessagestheyareableto

nd.

Displacement----noanimalcantalkaboutthingsremovedfromtheimmediate

situation.

Culturaltransmission-----detailsofhumanlanguagesystemaretaughtand

learnedwhileanimalsarebornwiththecapacitytondoutcertainsignals

asameansoflimitedcommunicaiton.

Whydolinguistssaylangaugeishumanspecific?

Firstofall,huanlanguagehassix�Ddesignfeatures‖whichanimal

communicationsysmtensdonothave,atleastnotinthetruenofthem.

Secondly,linguistshavedonealottryingtoteachanimalssuchas

chimpanzeestospeakahumanlanguagebuthaveachievednothinginspiring.

Washoe,afemalechimpanzee,wasbroughtuplikeahumanchildbyBeatniceand

taught�DAmericansignlanguage‖,andlearnedalittle

thatmadetheteacehrshappybutdidnotmakethelinguistscirclehappy,for

fewbelievedinteachingchampanzees.

Thirdly,ahumanchildrearedamonganimalscannotspeakahumanlanguage,

notenenwhenheistakenbackandtaughttodoso.1.4Originoflanguage语

言的起源

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