英语语言学第一章复习资料.docx

1. The definition of linguistics
Linguistics is defined as the scientific study of language,it studies not any particular language, but languages in general.
Q:How do you interpret the definition of linguistics?
(why linguistics is scientific?)
★1.linguistics studies not any particular language, but languages in general.
★2.linguistics is based on the systematic investigation of linguistic data, conducted/with reference to some general theory of language structure.(基于对语料库的系统调查，以关于语言结构的一般理论为指导)
★3.what the linguist has to do first is to
Observe and collect language facts, which are found to display some similarities, and generalizaitions are made about them.
Then, he formulates some hypotheses about the language structure. But the hypotheses thus formed have to be checked repeatedly against the observed facts to fully prove their validity.

2.The scope of linguistics
1.Definition: general linguistics
The study of language as a whole is often called general linguistics.
Q:what are major branches of linguistics? What does each study?
Phonetics---the study of sounds used in linguistic commuication
Phonology—how sounds are put together and used to convey meaning in communication.
Morphology—the sounds used in linguistic communication are represented by symbols. The way in which these symbols are arranged and combined to form words
Syntax-----the combination of words to form grammatically permissible sentences in languages is governed by rules, the study of these rules is syntax.
Semantics—the study of meaning is known as semantics.
Pragmatics-the study of meaning in context of words
It is the study of how speakers of a language use sentences to effect successful communication.
Interdisciplinary branches of linguistic study
1.sociolinguistics
2.psycholinguistics
3.applied linguistics
4.neurolinguistics
5.historicallinguistics
6.corpuslinguisitcs
putational linguistics

3.Distinctions in linguistics
1. prescriptive and descriptive
★If a linguistic study aims to describe and analyze the language people actually use, it is said to be descriptive.
★If the linguistic study aims to lay down rules for “correct and standard” behaviour in using language
★Modern linguistics is mostly descriptive.

2.Synchronic and Diachronic
★The description of a language at some point of time in history is a synchronic study
★The description of a langugage as it changes through time is a diachronic study.
★The modern linguistics is mostly synchronic

3.speech and writing
★Speech and writing are two major media of communicaton.
Q:why spoken language is regarded as the primary medium of human language?
★From the point of view of linguistic evolution, speech is prior to writing.
★In every communication, speech plays a greater role than writing in terms of the amount of information conveyed.
★Speech is always the way in which every native speaker acquires his mother toungue, and writing is learned and taught later when he goes to school.
★Spoken language reveals more true features of human speech while written language is only the ”revised” record of speech.

4. Langue and Parole
★F. de Saussure made the distinciton between langue and parole in 1916(in the early 20th century), the Swiss linguist.
必考！
Definition:
★Langue refers to the abstract linguistic system shared by all members of a speech community.
★Parole refers to the realization of langue in actual use
具体表现：
★Langue is the set of conventions and rules which all language users all have to abide by.
Paroel is the concrete use of the convention and application of the rules.
★Langue is abstract, it is not the language people actually use.
Parole is concrete, it refers to the naturally occuring language events.
★Langue is relatively stable, it doesn’t change frequently
Parole varies from person to person, and from situation to situation.

5. Competence and performance
★N. Chomsky propose the distinction of competence and performance in the late 1950s, the American linguist.
Definition:
★Competence is the ideal user’s knowledge of the rules of his language
★Performance is the actual realization of this knowledge in linguistic communication.
★Saussure took a sociological view of language
Chomsky took a psychological view of language

6.Traditional grammar and modern linguistics.
★The beginnin of modern linguistics was marked by the publication of F. De Saussure’s book”Course in General Linguistics” in the early 20th century.
Distinction:
★Traditional grammar is prescriptive
Modern linguistics is descriptive
★Traditional grammarians regard written word as primary
Modern linguistics regard spoken language as primary.
★Modern linguistics does not force languages into a Latin-based framework. They are opposed to the notion that any one language can provide an adequate framwork for all others.

The definition of Language
Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication