英语语言学常见名词解释.docx
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英语语言学常见名词解释.docx
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英语语言学常见名词解释
英语语言学常见名词解释
英语语言学常见名词解释
1.Whatislanguage?
“Languageissystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsusedforhumancommunication.Itisasystem,sincelinguisticelementsarearrangedsystematically,ratherthanrandomly.Arbitrary,inthesensethatthereisusuallynointrinsicconnectionbetweenawork(like―book‖)andtheobjectitrefersto.Thise_plainsandise_plainedbythefactthatdifferentlanguageshavedifferent―books‖:
―book‖inEnglish,―livre‖inFrench,―shu‖inChinese.Itissymbolic,becausewordsareassociatedwithobjects,actions,ideasetc.bynothingbutconvention.Namely,peopleusethesoundsorvocalformstosymbolizewhattheywishtoreferto.Itisvocal,becausesoundorspeechistheprimarymediumforallhumanlanguages.Writingsystemscamemuchlaterthanthespokenforms.Thefactthatsmallchildrenlearnandcanonlylearntospeak(andlisten)beforetheywrite(andread)alsoindicatesthatlanguageisprimarilyvocal,ratherthanwritten.Theterm―human‖inthedefinitionismeanttospecifythatlanguageishumanspecific.
2.Whataredesignfeaturesoflanguage?
“Designfeatures‖hererefertothedefiningpropertiesofhumanlanguagethattellthedifferencebetweenhumanlanguageandanysystemofanimalcommunication.Theyarearbitrariness,duality,productivity,displacement,culturaltransmissionandinterchangeability
3.Whatisarbitrariness?
By―arbitrariness‖,wemeanthereisnologicalconnectionbetweenmeaningsandsounds.Adogmightbeapigifonlythefirstpersonorgroupofpersonshaduseditforapig.Languageisthereforelargelyarbitrary.Butlanguageisnotabsolutelyseemtobesomesound-meaningassociation,ifwethinkofechowords,like―bang‖,―crash‖,―roar‖,whicharemotivatedinacertainsense.Secondly,somecompounds(wordscompoundedtobeoneword)arenotentirelyarbitraryeither.―Type‖and―write‖areopaqueorunmotivatedwords,while―type-writer‖islessso,ormoretransparentormotivatedthanthewordsthatmakeit.Sowecansay―arbitrariness‖isamatterofdegree.
4.Whatisduality?
Linguistsrefer―duality‖(ofstructure)tothefactthatinalllanguagessofarinvestigated,onefindstwolevelsofstructureorpatterning.Atthefirst,higherlevel,languageisanalyzedintermsofcombinationsofmeaningfulunits(suchasmorphemes,wordsetc.);atthesecond,lowerlevel,itisseenasasequenceofsegmentswhichlackanymeaninginthemselves,butwhichcombinetoformunitsofmeaning.AccordingtoHuZhanglinetal.,languageisasystemoftwosetsofstructures,oneofsoundsandtheotherofmeaning.Thisisimportantfortheworkingsoflanguage.Asmallnumberofsemanticunits(words),andtheseunitsofmeaningcanbearrangedandrearrangedintoaninfinitenumberofsentences(notethatwehavedictionariesofwords,butnodictionaryofsentences!
).Dualitymakesitpossibleforapersontotalkaboutanythingwithinhisknowledge.Noanimalcommunicationsystemenjoysthisduality.
5.Whatisproductivity?
Productivityreferstotheabilitytotheabilitytoconstructandunderstandanindefinitelylargenumberofsentencesinone‘snativelanguage,includingthosethathasneverheardbefore,butthatareappropriatetothespeakingsituation.Noonehaseversaidorheard―Ared-eyedelephantisdancingonthesmallhotelbedwithanAfricangibbon‖,buthecansayitwhennecessary,andhecanunderstanditinrightregister.Differentfromartisticcreativity,though,productivitynevergoesoutsidethelanguage,thusalsocalled―rule-boundcreativity‖(byN.Chomsky).
6.Whatisdisplacement?
“Displacement‖,asoneofthedesignfeaturesofthehumanlanguage,referstothefactthatonecantalkaboutthingsthatarenotpresent,aseasilyashedoesthingspresent.Inotherwords,onecanrefertorealandunrealthings,thingsofthepast,ofthepresent,ofthefuture.Languageitselfcanbetalkedabouttoo.Whenaman,fore_ample,iscryingtoawoman,aboutsomething,itmightbesomethingthathadoccurred,orsomethingthatisoccurring,orsomethingthatistooccur.Whenadogisbarking,however,youcandecideitisbarkingforsomethingoratsomeonethate_istsnowandthere.Itcouldn‘tbebow-wowingsorrowfullyforabonetobelost.Thebee‘ssystem,nonetheless,hasasmallshareof―displacement‖,butitisanunspeakabletinyshare.
7.Whatisculturaltransmission?
Thismeansthatlanguageisnotbiologicallytransmittedfromgenerationtogeneration,butthatthedetailsofthelinguisticsystemmustbelearnedanewbyeachspeaker.Itistruethatthecapacityforlanguageinhumanbeings(N.Chomskycalledit―languageacquisitiondevice‖,orLAD)hasageneticbasis,buttheparticularlanguageapersonlearnstospeakisaculturaloneotherthanageneticonelikethedog‘sbarkingsystem.Ifahumanbeingisbroughtupinisolationhecannotacquirelanguage.TheWolfChildrearedbythepackofwolvesturnedouttospeakthewolf‘sroaring―tongue‖whenhewassaved.Helearnedthereafter,withnosmalldifficulty,theABCofacertainhumanlanguage.
8.Whatisinterchangeability?
Interchangeabilitymeansthatanyhumanbeingcanbebothaproducerandareceiverofmessages.Thoughsomepeoplesuggestthatthereisse_differentiationintheactuallanguageuse,inotherwords,menandwomenmaysaydifferentthings,yetinprinciplethereisnosound,orwordorsentencethatamancanutterandawomancannot,orviceversa.Ontheotherhand,apersoncanbethespeakerwhiletheotherpersonisthelistenerandastheturnmovesontothelistener,hecanbethespeakerandthefirstspeakeristolisten.Itisturn-takingthatmakessocialcommunicationpossibleandacceptable.Somemalebirds,however,uttersomecallswhichfemalesdonot(orcannot).Whenadogbarks,alltheneighboringdogsbark.Thenpeoplearoundcanhardlytellwhichdog(dogs)is(are)―speaking‖andwhichlistening.
9.Whydolinguistssaylanguageishumanspecific?
Firstofall,humanlanguagehassi_―designfeatures‖whichanimalcommunicationsystemsdonothave,atleastnotinthetruesenseofthem.Secondly,linguistshavedonealottryingtoteachanimalssuchaschimpanzeestospeakahumanlanguagebuthaveachievednothinginspiring.Washoe,afemalechimpanzee,wasbroughtuplikeahumanchildbyBeatniceandAlanGardner.Shewastaught―AmericansignLanguage‖,andlearnedalittlethatmadetheteachershappybut
didmotmakethelinguisticscirclehappy,forfewbelievedinteachingchimpanzees.Thirdly,ahumanchildrearedamonganimalscannotspeakahumanlanguage,notevenwhenheistakenbackandtaughttodoso.
10.Whatfunctionsdoeslanguagehave?
Languagehasatleastsevenfunctions:
phatic,directive,Informative,interrogative,e_pressive,evocativeandperformative.AccordingtoWangGang(1988,p.11),languagehasthreemainfunctions:
atoolofcommunication,atoolwherebypeoplelearnabouttheworld,andatoolbywhichpeoplelearnabouttheworld,andatoolbywhichpeoplecreateart.M.A.K.Halliday,representativeoftheLondonschool,recognizesthree―Macro-Functions‖:
ideational,interpersonalandte_tual.
11.Whatisthephaticfunction?
The―phaticfunction‖referstolanguagebeingusedforsettingupacertainatmosphereormaintainingsocialcontacts(ratherthanfore_changinginformationorideas).Greetings,farewells,andcommentsontheweatherinEnglishandonclothinginChineseallservethisfunction.Muchofthephaticlanguage(e.g.―Howareyou?
‖―Fine,thanks.‖)isinsincereiftakenliterally,butitisimportant.Ifyoudon’tsay―Hello‖toafriendyoumeet,orifyoudon‘tanswerhis―Hi‖,youruinyourfriendship.
12.Whatisthedirectivefunction?
The―directivefunction‖meansthatlanguagemaybeusedtogetthehearertodosomething.Mostimperativesentencesperformthisfunction,e.g.,―Tellmetheresultwhenyoufinish.‖Othersyntacticstructuresorsentencesofothersortscan,accordingtoJ.AustinandJ.Searle‘s―Indirectspeechacttheory‖atleast,servethepurposeofdirectiontoo,e.g.,―IfIwereyou,Iwouldhaveblushedtothebottomofmyears!
‖
13.Whatistheinformativefunction?
Languageservesan―informationalfunction‖whenusedtotellsomething,characterizedbytheuseofdeclarativesentences.Informativestatementsareoftenlabelledastrue(truth)orfalse(falsehood).AccordingtoP.Grice‘s―CooperativePrinciple‖,oneoughtnottoviolatethe―Ma_imofQuality‖,whenheisinformingatall.
14.Whatistheinterrogativefunction?
Whenlanguageisusedtoobtaininformation,itservesan―interrogativefunction‖.Thisincludesallquestionsthate_pectreplies,statements,imperativesetc.,accordingtothe―indirectspeechacttheory‖,mayhavethisfunctionaswell,e.g.,―I‘dliketoknowyoubetter.‖Thismaybringforthalotofpersonalinformation.Notethatrhetoricalquestionsmakeane_ception,sincetheydemandnoanswer,atleastnotthereader‘s/listener‘sanswer.
15.Whatisthee_pressivefunction?
The―e_pressivefunction‖istheuseoflanguagetorevealsomethingaboutthefeelingsorattitudesofthespeaker.Subconsciousemotionalejaculationsaregoode_amples,like―Goodheavens!
‖―MyGod!
‖Sentenceslike―I‘msorryaboutthedelay‖canserveasgoode_amplestoo,
thoughinasubtleway.Whilelanguageisusedfortheinformativefunctiontopassjudgmentonthetruthorfalsehoodofstatements,languageusedforthee_pressivefunctionevaluates,appraisesorassertsthespeaker‘sownattitudes.
16.Whatistheevocativefunction?
The―evocativefunction‖istheuseoflanguagetocreatecertainfeelingsinthe
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