《英语语言学》导学手册
程可拉主编
英语语言学教学大纲
一、教学目的和要求
英语语言学是英语本科专业的自考课程。本课程的目的是帮助学生系统地学习语言学基本理论知识和研究方法，为从事英语语言教学与研究打下良好的基础。 本课程教学的具体要求是：
１．系统掌握语言学的基本理论和基本知识。 ２．能应用语言学知识分析各种语言现象。
３．能应用语言学的基本理论来指导中学英语教学。 二、教学内容 I. Introduction 1. Linguistics
1.1 What is linguistics?
1.2 Linguistics vs. traditional grammar 1.3 The scope of linguistics 2. Language
2.1 What is language?
2.2 The defining properties of human language II. Phonology
1. The phonic medium of language 2. Phonetics
2.1 What is phonetics? 2.2 The speech organs
2.3 Narrow and broad transcriptions 2.4 Some major articulatory variables
2.5 Classification of English speech sounds 3. Phonology
3.1 Phonetics and phonology
3.2 Phone, phoneme and allophone
3.3 Phonemic contrast, complementary distribution, and minimal pair 3.4 Some rules of phonology
3.5 Suprasegmental features---Stress, tone, intonation III. Morphology 1. Morphology
1.1 Open classes and closed classes
1.2 Internal structure of words and rules for word formation 2. Morphemes---the minimal units of meaning 3. Derivational and inflectional morphemes 4. Morphological rules of word formation 5. Compounds IV. Syntax 1. Syntax
1.1 What is syntax? 1.2 Sentence
2. Structuralist approach 2.1 Form classes
2.2 Constituent structure
2.3 Immediate constituent analysis
2.4 Endocentric and exocentric constructions 2.5 Advantage of IC analysis 2.6 Labelled tree diagram
2.7 Discontinuous constituents
3. Transformational-generative grammar 3.1 Competence and performance 3.2 Criteria for judging grammars 3.3 Generative aspect
3.4 Transformational aspect 3.5 Deep and surface structures 4. The Standard Theory 4.1 Components of a TG 4.2 The base
4.3 Transformations 4.4 The form of T-rules
4.5 The phonological component 4.6 The semantic component V. Semantics 1. Semantics
1.1 What is semantics? 2. Some views on semantics
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2.1 Naming things 2.2 Concepts
2.3 Context and behaviourism 2.4 Mentalism 3. Lexical meaning
3.1 Sense and reference 3.2 Synonymy
3.3 Polysemy and homonymy 3.4 Hyponymy 3.5 Antonymy
3.6 Relational opposites 4. Componential analysis
4.1 Componets of meaning
4.2 Meaning relations in terms of componential analysis 5. Sentence meaning
5.1 How to define the meaning of a sentence? 5.2 Selectional restrictions
5.3 Basic statements about meaning 6. The semantic structure of sentences
6.1 Extended use of componential analysis 6.2 Prediction analysis
6.3 Subordinate and downgraded predictions 6.4 Advantages of predication analysis VI. Pragmatics
1. What does pragmatics study? 2. Speech act theory
3. Principles of conversation
3.1 The co-operative principle 3.2 The politeness principle VII. Language change 1. Introduction 2. Sound change
3. Morphological and syntactic change 3.1 Change in “agreement” rule 3.2 Change in negation rule 3.3 Process of simplification 3.4 Loss of inflections 4. Vocabulary change
4.1 Addition of new words 4.2 Loss of words
4.3 Changes in the meaning of words
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5. Some recent trends
5.1 Moving towards greater informality 5.2 The influence of American English
5.3 The influence of science and technology 6. Causes of language change VIII. Language and society
1. The scope of sociolinguistics
1.1 Indications of relatedness between language and society 1.2 Sociolinguistics vs. traditional linguistic study 1.3 Two approaches in sociolinguistics 2. Varieties of language
2.1 Varieties of language related to the user 2.2 Standard dialect
2.3 Varieties of language related to the use 3. Communicative competence 4. Pidgin and creole
5. Bilingualism and diglossia IX. Language and culture 1. Introduction 2. What is culture?
3. Language and meaning
4. Interdependence of language and culture
5. The significance of cultural teaching and learning 6. Linguistics evidence of cultural differences 6.1 Greetings
6.2 Thanks and compliments 6.3 Terms of address 6.4 Colour words
6.5 Privacy and taboos 6.6 Rounding off numbers 7. Cultural overlap and diffusion 8. Conclusion
X. Language acquisition 1. Introduction
1.1 Language acquisition
1.2 The beginning of language
1.3 Stages in first language acquisition 1.4 Age and native language acquisition
1.5 Common order in the development of language 1.6 Different rate of language development 2. Phonological development
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2.1 Regular sound development 2.2 Mother and father words 2.3 Grammatical development 2.4 Vocabulary development 2.5 Sociolinguistic development 3. Theories of child language acquisition
3.1 A behaviorist view of language acquisition 3.2 A nativist view of language acquisition
XI. Errors analysis and second language acquisition
1. Differences and similarities between first and second language acquisition 2. The inadequacy of imitation theory 3. Interference
3.1 Phonological evidence 3.2 Lexical evidence
3.3 Grammatical evidence 4. Cross-association 5. Overgeneralization
6. Strategies of communication 7. Performance errors 三、教学原则和方法
１．启发式教学原则：教师积极引导学生理解分析问题，发挥学生的主观能动性，培养他们综合分析问题解决问题的能力。
２．精讲多练的原则：教师精选教学重点，抓住关键问题和基本内容进行重点讲解，然后让学生多作有针对性的练习，培养学生的自学能力和思考能力。
３．讨论式教学原则：针对本学科的不同理论体系，组织学生在广泛阅读的基础上进行讨论，把握各体系的利弊。 四、教材
１．戴炜栋等编著：《简明英语语言学教程》，上海外语教育出版社19年版。
1. INTRODUCTION 绪论
本章学习目的要求
本章是全书的绪论，学习的目的是弄清语言学是一门什么样的学科， 以及人类语言的本质和特点。学习本章要求认识、理解语言研究的对象和方法、语言研究的各个层面以及语言学的各个分支，弄清语言学研究中的几对基本概念；此外，通过学习还要求对人类语言的本质有一个清楚的认识，通过对人类语言特点的学习，对人类语言交际和动物传递信息方式之间的根本 5
不同有一个正确的认识。
I 语言学基本知识
1. Linguistics 语言学
1.1 What is linguistics? 什么是语言学？
Linguistics is generally defined as the systematic (or scientific ) study of language. It tries to answer the basic questions “What is language?” and “How does language work?”
A linguist is a person who studies linguistics. His task is basically to study and understand the general principles upon which all languages are built.
1.2 Linguistics vs. traditional grammar 语言学与传统语法
Linguistics differs from traditional grammar in several basic ways.
a) Linguistics is descriptive, not prescriptive 语言学是描写性的而非规定性的
A linguist is interested in what people actually say, not what people should say. He tries to describe language in all aspects, but not prescribe rules of “correctness”. He would prefer to be an observer and recorder of facts, but not a judge. He regards the changes in language and language use as the result of a natural and continuous process, not something to be feared.
b) Linguistics regards the spoken language as primary, not the written. 语言学认为语是第一性的而非书面语
Linguistics gives priority to the spoken language for a number of reasons. Historically, speech existed long, long before writing systems came into being. Genetically, children always learn to speak before they learn to write. Therefore, speech is considered as the primary medium. That is: the spoken first, then the written.
c) Linguistics differs from traditional grammar in that it does not force languages into a Latin-based framework. 语言学与传统语法的差别还在于它不是把语言都放在拉丁语法框架里。
Traditional grammar assumes that Latin provides a universal framework into which all languages fit. Whereas, linguists are opposed to the notion that any one language can provide an adequate framework for all the others. They are trying to set up a universal framework based on the features shared by most of the languages.
1.3 The Scope of Linguistics 语言学的范围
The scope of linguistics includes phonetics（speech sound）, phonology (sound patterning),
morphology (the form of words), syntax (the arrangements of words), semantics (meaning), psycholinguistics (the relationship between language and mind), sociolinguistics (the relationship between language and society), and historical linguistics (language change).
Synchronic linguistics studies the description of a language at a particular point in time. Diachronic linguistics studies the description of language development through time.
2. Language 语言
2.1 What is language? 什么是语言？
Language is a system of symbols designed for the purpose of human communication. 2.2 The Defining Properties of Human Language 语言的结构特征
The design features refer to the defining properties of human language as against animal
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communication. They are: a) Creativity 创造性
It refers to the ability that we all have to construct and understand an indefinitely large number of sentences in our native language, including sentences that we have never heard before, but that are appropriate to the situation in which they are uttered. b) Arbitrariness 任意性
Since the time of Saussure, it has been accepted that the linguistic sign (the word) is arbitrary. This means that there is no motivated relationship between the sign and what it is a sign for. The symbols have been chosen arbitrarily for the message.
C) Duality of Structure (or Double Articulation) 结构两重性
It refers to that language consists of two levels of structures . At a higher level, language is analyzed in terms of combinations of meaningful units (such as morphemes, words); at a lower level, it is seen as a sequence of segments which lack any meaning in themselves. The organization of language from a lower level of sounds into a higher level of meaning is known as duality of structure. d) Displacement 移位性
Human language can communicate about things that are absent as easily as about things that are present. In other words, human language can be used to refer to real or imagined matters in the past, present, or future. It can even be used to talk about language itself. c) Cultural Transmission (the need for learning) 文化迁移性
It refers to the fact that the details of the linguistic system must be learned anew. They are not biologically transmitted from generation to generation. Though the capacity for language has a genetic basis, the particular language a human being learns is a cultural fact.
Exercises
I. Match each of the following terms in column A with one of appropriate definitions in column B: Column A Column B
1. synchronic linguistics A. The design features refer to the defining properties of human language as against animal communication. 2. Language B. Linguistics is generally defined as the systematic (or scientific ) study of language.
3. design features C. A linguist is a person who studies linguistics.
4. diachronic study D. Language is a system of symbols designed for the purpose of human communication.
5. linguistics E. Diachronic linguistics studies the description of language development through time.
6. the basic task for a linguist F. Synchronic linguistics studies the description of a language at a particular point in time. II.Explain each of the following terms in no more than 50 words:
1 creativity 2. arbitrariness 3. duality of structure 4. cultural transmission 5. displacement 6. linguistics III.Develop the topic into a 200-word essay:
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1. The differences between linguistics and traditional grammar.
II Phonology 音系学
本章学习目的要求
本章学习的中心内容是语音，包括语音学音系学两大部分。通过语音部分的学习，要求对各种发音器官及其作用有所了解，对英语的元音和辅音的发音方式和特点能进行描述,并能根据它们发音上的特点进行分类,能分清宽式标音法和窄式标音法的区别。通过音系学部分的学习，首先要弄清音系学和语音学的联系和区别，对音系学中的一些最基本的概念如音位、音位对立、互补分布、最小对立对等有所了解，知道几条音系学规则，譬如序列规则、同化规则，对重音、语调、声调等几种超切分音系特征的表意作用能举例说明。
音系学基本知识
1. The Phonic Medium of Language 语言的声音媒介
Speech and writing are the two major media of linguistic communication. Of the two media, speech is more basic than writing. The linguist is not interested in all sounds, but in speech sounds that convey meaning in linguistic communication. 2. Phonetics 语音学
2.1 What is phonetics? 什么是语音学？
Phonetics is the study of the phonic medium of language. Phonetics has three branches:
a) Articulatory phonetics 发音语音学
It studies the speech organ, and the way in which speech sounds are produced.
b) Acoustic phonetics 声学语音学
It deals with the physical properties of the speech sounds.
c) Auditory phonetics 听觉语音学
It is the study of the perception of sounds by the human ear. 2.2 The Speech Organs 发音器官
The articulatory apparatus contains three important areas: the pharyngeal (the throat), the oral cavity (the mouth) and the nasal cavity (the nose).
a) The pharyngeal cavity 咽腔
Across the glottis in the throat lie the vocal cords (声带). The vibration of the vocal cords gives the quality of voicing to the sounds produced. When the vocal cords are not vibrating, a voiceless sound is produced.
b) The oral cavity 口腔
The oral cavity provides the greatest source of modification. The places involved are the tongue, the uvula, the soft palate, the hard palate, the teeth ridge, the teeth and the lips.
c) The nasal cavity 鼻腔
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The nasal cavity is connected to the oral cavity at the back of the mouth. When the air is led pass through the nasal cavity, nasal sounds are produced. The nasal cavity is hardly able to provide any other modification apart from this.
1.3 Narrow and Broad Transcriptions 严式标音和宽式标音
The International Phonetic Alphabet is a standardized and internationally accepted system of phonetic transcription.
Narrow transcription refers to the phonetic transcription with diacritics. Otherwise, it is a broad transcription, which is used in dictionaries and textbooks.
2.4 Some Major Articulatory Variables 一些主要的发音变量
a) Voicing 浊音化
Voicing is caused by the vibration of the vocal cords. All the vowels and some of the consonants are voiced.
b) Nasality 鼻音化
When the airstream passes through the nasal cavity instead of oral, the sound produced is nasal.
c) Aspiration 送气
A sound is aspirated when its production is accompanied by a puff of breath. 2.5 Classification of English Speech Sounds 英语语音分类
The basic difference between vowels and consonants is that in the production of the former the airstream meats with no obstruction (absence of obstruction) of any kind in the throat, the nose, or the mouth, while in that of the latter it is somehow obstructed.
2.5.1 Classification of English Consonants 英语辅音分类
The English consonants can be classified in terms of manner of articulation and also in terms of place of articulation.
a) According to manner of articulation 发音方法
English consonants can be classified into: stops (total obstruction), fricatives (partial obstruction), affricates (total obstruction first, then partial obstruction), liquids (the escaping of airstream between part(s) of the tongue and the roof of the mouth), nasals ( with the soft palate lowered), glides (semivowels)
b) According to place of articulation 发音部位
English consonants can be classified into: bilabial (lips brought together), dental (between the tip and the upper teeth), alveolar (between the tip and the teeth-ridge), palatal (between the back of the tongue and the hard palate), velar (between the back of the tongue and the velum and glottal (the vocal cords) .
2.5.2 Classification of English vowels 英语元音分类
Vowels can be differentiated by a number of factors: a) According to the place of the tongue 舌头的部位 Vowels can be distinguished as front, central or back.. b) According to the shape of the tongue 舌头的形状
Vowels can be classified as rounded vowels (with lip-rounding) and unrounded vowels (with no lip-rounding).
c) According to the openness of the mouth 张口度
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Vowels can be classified into open vowels, close vowels, semi-open vowels, semi-close vowels. d) According to the length of the vowels 元音的长度 Vowels can be described as long vowels and short vowels. 2. Phonology 音系学
3.1 Phonetics and Phonology 语音学与音系学
Both phonetics and phonology are concerned with the same aspect of language---the speech sounds. But they approach the subject from different point of view.
Phonetics is general, descriptive and classificatory; it studies speech sounds as they are. On the contrary, phonology is concerned with the sound system of language; it studies the functioning of the speech sounds.
Phonetics provides the means for describing speech sounds while phonology studies the ways in which speech sounds form systems and patterns in human languages. Thus, the phonology of a language is the system and pattern of the speech sounds used in that particular language.
Phonological knowledge permits a speaker to produce sounds which form meaningful utterances, to recognize a foreign “accent”, to make up new words, to know what is and what is not a sound in one’s language.
3.2 Phone, phoneme and allophone 语音、音位与音位变体
A phone is a phonetic unit or segment. The speech sounds we hear and produce are all phones. But phones do not necessarily distinguish meaning.
A phoneme is a phonological unit, a unit of distinctive value. It is abstract unit. It is not any particular sound, but rather it is represented by a certain phone in a certain phonetic context.
Allophones refer to the phones that can represent a phoneme. How a phoneme is represented by a phone, or which allophone is to be used, is determined by the phonetic context in which it occurs. 2.3 Phonemic Contrast, Complementary Distribution, and Minimal Pair 语音对立、互补分布与
最小对立体
a) Phonemic contrast 语音对立
If phonetically similar sounds are two distinctive phonemes, they are said to form a phonemic contrast.
b) Complementary distribution、互补分布
If phonetically similar sounds are allophones of the same phoneme, then they do not distinguish meaning, but complement each other in distribution. The allophones are said to be in complementary distribution.
c) Minimal Pair 最小对立体
When two different phonetic forms are identical in every way except for one sound segment which occurs in the same place in the string, the two forms are said to form a minimal pair. 2.4 Some Rules of Phonology 音系学规则 a) Sequential rules 序列规则
There are rules that govern the combination of sounds in a particular language. These rules are called sequential rules.
b) Assimilation Rule 同化规则
The assimilation rule assimilates one segment to another by “copying” a feature of a sequential
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phoneme, thus making the two phones more similar. c) Deletion Rule 省略规则
The deletion rule tells us when a sound is to be deleted although it is orthographically represented. 2.5 Suprasegmental Features 超音段特征
The phonemic features that occur above the level of the segment are called supramental features. They include stress, tone, and intonation. a) Stress 重音
Stress, including both word stress and sentence stress, distinguishes meaning in English. b) Tone 声调
In some languages the pitches of words can make a difference in their meaning. Such languages are called tone language. c) Intonation 语调
Intonation plays an important role in the conveyance of meaning in almost every language. Three tones are frequently used in English: the falling tone, the rising tone, and the fall-rise tone.
Exercises
I.Match each of the following terms in column A with one of the appropriate definitions in column B: Column A Column B
1. acoustic phonetics A. The phonemic features that occur above the level of the segment are called suprasegmental features. They include stress, tone, and intonation.
2. International Phonetic Alphabet B. The assimilation rule assimilates one segment to another by “copying” a feature of a sequential phoneme, thus making the two phones more similar.
3. articulatory phonetics C. If phonetically similar sounds are two distinctive phonemes, they are said to form a phonemic contrast.
4. sequential rule D. It refers to the phonetic transcription with diacritics.
5. phonemic contrast E. It deals with the physical properties of the speech sounds. 6. suprasegmental features F. There are rules that govern the combination of sounds in a particular language.
7. auditory phonetics G. A sound is aspirated when its production is accompanied by a puff of breath.
8. Narrow transcription H. It is a standardized and internationally accepted system of phonetic transcription.
9. Aspiration I. It studies the speech organ, and the way in which speech sounds are produced.
10. assimilation rule J. It is the study of the perception of sounds by the human ear. II. Explain each of the following terms in no more than 50 words: 1. phonetics 2. phonology 3. phone
4. phoneme 5. minimal pair 6. complementary distribution
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7. allophone 8. Distinctive features 9. the difference between vowels and consonants III. Develop each of the following topics into a 200-word essay:
1. How do a phone, a phoneme, and allophones differ from each other? 2. How do we classify the English consonants? And the vowels? 3. The similarity and difference between phonetics and phonology.
III Morphology 形态学
本章学习目的要求
形态学研究单词的内部结构以及构词规则。本章要求对构成单词的最小意义单位------语素有所了解，包括语素的类型、常见词根和词缀的意义，并通过对词素的学习加强对英语派生词和复合词的理解和运用能力。
形态学基本知识点
1. Morphology 形态学
It refers to the study of the internal structure of words, and the rules by which words are formed. 2. Open Classes and Closed Classes 开放性词类和封闭性词类
Open classes are the classes to which we can regularly add new words; nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs belong to these classes which make up the largest part of vocabulary. The other syntactic categories are closed classes. The number of them is hardly alterable, if they are changeable at all. 3. Morphemes 词素
It refers to the minimal units of meaning. a) Prefixes and suffixes 前缀和后缀
Morphemes which occur before other morphemes are called prefixes. Morphemes which occur after other morphemes are called suffixes. b) Bound morphemes and free morphemes 粘着语素
Morphemes which can be used on its own are called free morphemes.
Morphemes which is never used alone but must be used with other morphemes are called bound morphemes.
4. Derivational and inflectional morphemes 派生词素和屈折词素 a) Inflectional morphemes
Inflectional morphemes manifest various grammatical relations such as number, degree, and case. They are attached to words or morphemes, but they never change their syntactic categories. b) Derivational morphemes
Derivational morphemes are affixes which are added to other morphemes (or words) to create a new word.
5. Morphological rules of word formation 词素音位规则
The ways words are formed are called morphological rules. These rules determine how morphemes combine to form words.
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Some of the morphological rules can be used quite freely to form new words. We call them productive morphological rules. 6. Compounds 复合词
Compounding can be viewed as the combination of two or more words to create new words. The following points are noteworthy:
a) When the two words are in the same grammatical category, the compound will be in this category.
b) In many cases, when two words fall into different categories, the class of the second word will be the grammatical category.
c) It is often the case that compounds have different stress patterns from the noncompounded word sequence.
d) The meaning of a compound is not always the sum of the meanings of its parts.
Morphological rules thus reveal the means for forming new words. It is these rules that enable us to coin new words. Compounding is then a very common and frequent process for enlarging the vocabulary.
Exercises
I. Match each of the following terms in column A with one of the appropriate definitions in column B: Column A Column B
1. morpheme A. Morphemes occur before other morphemes.
2. free morpheme B. The rules determine how morphemes combine to form words. 3. bound morpheme C. It refers to the minimal units of meaning
4. prefixes D. It refers to the morphological rules which can be used quite freely to form new words.
5. Suffix E. Morphemes occur after other morphemes.
6. morphological rules F. It refers to the morpheme which is never used alone but must be used with other morphemes.
7. productive morphological rules G. It refers to the morpheme which can be used on its own. II. Explain Define the following terms
open and close classes morphology morphemes
free and bound morphemes prefixes and suffixes derivational morphemes
inflectional morphemes morphological rules productive morphological rules compounds
III. Develop the following topic into a 200-word essay: When we form compounds, what points are noteworthy?
IV. Syntax 句法
本章学习目的要求
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本章学习的中心内容是句法。全章含规则系统、句子结构、语法关系、组合规则、移位规则和普遍语法等七部分，目的是让学生深刻认识到语言的句法体系是一套高度抽象的自律性规则系统。本章要求学生通过对句法的学习，理解并能够描述句子的语法性，明确句子的基本成分和类型，弄清句子的线性与层次性、形式性与逻辑、深层与表层等关系，初步了解普遍语法这一当代句法研究的中心课题。
句法学基本知识点
1. Syntax 句法
1.1 What is syntax? 什么是句法？
Syntax is the study of how sentences are constructed or in other words, it tries to state what words can be combined with others to form sentences and in what order. 1.2 Sentence 句子
Traditionally, scholars depended on the use of punctuation or a semantic criterion (the expression of a complete thought) to define it.
Bloomfield, a famous structural linguist, defined sentence as an independent linguistic form not included by some grammatical marks in any other linguistic form. 2. Structural approach 结构法
Bloomfield and his followers established some fixed methods and principles in the investigation of languages, which are now called discovering procedures. It was claimed that by following these procedures, one could arrive at an appropriate phonological and grammatical description of the language under investigation. 2.1 Form Classes 形式类
Bloomfield’s theory of syntax has two central ideas: form classes and constituent structure. He defined form classes in terms of some common ‘recognizable phonetic or grammatical features’ shared by all the members.
a) phonetic features 语音特征
Members of one form class all have the same pitch, pauses, etc.
b) grammatical features 语法特征
Members of one form class all have the same grammatical function in a sentence. 2.2 Constituent Structure 成分结构
Traditionally, sentences are assumed to be made of individual words in a linear direction with these words in a certain order.
To structural linguists, sentences are not composed of sequences of words in a simple linear, additive fashion. Instead, they are composed of hierarchies of constructions. That is to say, sentences have an additional dimension to their obvious linear dimension. 2.3 Immediate Constituent Analysis 直接成分分析
Structural linguists view ‘sentence’ as the largest independent grammatical unit which is composed of a sequence of smaller linguistic forms. To find out what these linguistic forms are and how they are combined in a sentence, they propose to do a kind of pure segmentation. The principle is that we take a sentence and cut it into two and then cut these parts into two and continue with these
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segmentation until we reach the smallest grammatical unit, the morphemes. a) Constituent 成分
This refers to any linguistic form or group of linguistic forms after segmentation. b) Immediate constituent 直接成分
This refers to the two parts that are yielded after each cut. An immediate constituent can be further segmented until we obtain the smallest grammatical unit. c) Ultimate constituent 最终成分
This refers to the smallest grammatical unit obtained through segmentation. d) Construction 结构
This refers to any linguistic form which is composed of constituents and is able to be segmented. In other words, a construction is a relationship between constituents. A sentence can be a construction and an immediate constituent can also be a construction.
2.4 Endocentric and Exocentric Constructions 向心结构与离心结构
Construction are generally divided into the following two: a) endocentric constructions向心结构
Endocentric constructions refer to any construction that belongs to the same form class as all or at least one of its immediate constituents. It can further be divided into two types: subordinating and coordinating. The former refers to those in which only one immediate constituent is of the same form class as the whole construction, whereas the latter means those in which both constituents are of the same form class as the whole construction. b) exocentric constructions离心结构
Exocentric constructions refer to any construction that does not belong to the same form class as any one of its immediate constituents.
2.5 Advantage of IC Analysis 直接成分分析的优点
The advantage of IC analysis is that it helps to account for the ambiguity of certain constructions. This is because IC analysis not only shows linear relationship, but also hierarchical one. However, dividing a sentence into ICs itself does not always provide much information. IC analysis at this stage has only a restricted function.
2.6 Discontinuous Constituents 非连续成分
Not every string of linguistic forms can readily be cut into two. We shall find either ultimate or immediate constituents whose component parts are separated. These constituents are called discontinuous constituents.
3. Transformational-generative grammar 转换生成语法
TG grammar was introduced by Chomsky (1957), who is much interested in the study of the similarities between languages and the finding of language universal.
He holds the view that linguists should first attempt to find a grammatical framework which will suitable for all languages. Secondly, within this framework they should concentrate on finding elements and constructions that are available to all languages. Thirdly, there likely to be universal constraints on the way in which linguistic elements can be combined. And it is the task of linguists to discover these constraints.
Chomsky proposes that the grammars of all human languages share a common framework,
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which he calls a transformational grammar.
3.1 Competence and Performance 语言能力与语言运用
a) competence 语言能力
It refers to the ideal language user’s knowledge of the rules of his language or a person’s internalized grammar of his language.
b) performance语言运用
It is the actual realization of this knowledge in utterance, or a person’s actual use of his language. 3.2 Criteria for Judging Grammars 判断语法的标准
a) observational adequacy 观察合适性
A grammar must account for all and only the permitted sentences of a language. This is called observational adequacy.
b) descriptive adequacy 描写合适性
There might be several models which can account for the permitted sequences in English. So we should choose the one which coincides with the intuitions of native speakers. This requirement is called descriptive adequacy.
3.3 Generative Aspect 生成方面
This means that a grammar must ‘generate all and only the grammatical sentences of a language’. To generate is thus to predict what could be sentences of the language or to specify precisely what are the possible sentences of the language.
A generative grammar is not concerned with any actual set of sentences of the language, but with the possible set of sentences. It has a finite number of rules which allow us to generate an infinite number of sentences.
3.4 Transformational aspect 转换方面
Transformation, the more fundamental and revolutionary aspect of TG, refers actually to a kind of process that transforms one sentence into another. It is concerned largely with the analysis of sentences and the relationship between them.
3.4 Deep and Surface Structures 底层结构与表层结构
According to Chomsky, every sentence has two levels of structure, one which is obvious on the surface, and the other which is deep and abstract. In other words, one structure is that of the sentence as it is pronounced or written and the other structure contains all the units and relationships that are necessary for interpreting the meaning of the sentence. 4. the Standard Theory 标准理论
4.1 Components of a TG 转换生成语法的成分
A transformational grammar has three major components: a syntactic component (dealing with syntax), a phonological component (dealing with sounds) and a semantic component (dealing with meaning).
4.2 The syntactic Component 句法成分
The syntactic component is formed by two parts: the base, and the transformational rules. 4.2.1The Base 基础部分
This part is concerned with the generation of deep structures. It contains, on the one hand, a set of phrase structure rules (PS-rules), which set up the basic sentence patterns of the language, and on the
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other hand, a lexicon---a full list of vocabulary items which are slotted into the tree diagram set up by the PS-rule.
a) PS-rules 短语结构规则
They are also called rewrite rules. We can use these PS-rules to generate the deep structure of sentences.
b) The lexicon 词符
It is a list of vocabulary items. Attached to each item is information about its word class (eg. N, V, etc.), and the syntactic ‘slot’ into which it can be placed.
Lexicon should contain restrictions on the type of noun that can be selected with each verb. This is now commonly referred to as selectional restrictions. 4.2.2 Transformations 转换规则
According to the Standard Theory, transformation cannot change meaning. However, they can do four things: they can delete, copy, add and reorder. 4.2.3The form of T-rules 转换规则形式
Each T-rule has two parts to it. They are Structural Analysis and Structural Change. a) Structural Analysis 结构分析
It is also called an applicability check, which states the structure to which the rule can be applied. b) Structural Change 结构变化
It refers to the instructions which will bring about changes in the structure. 4.3 The phonological Component 语音成分
The task of the phonological component is to convert each surface structure into a phonetic representation.
4.4 The Semantic Component 语义成分
Deep structures contain all the information necessary for the semantic interpretation of sentences, and the sole input to the semantic component. Therefore, after the deep structure is set up, it will be fed straight into the semantic component. The semantic component will then interpret the meaning of each sentence.
Exercise
I. Match each of the following terms in column A with one of the appropriate definitions in column B: Column A Column B
1. structural analysis A. Syntax is the study of how sentences are constructed or in other words.
2. Performance B. The task of the phonological component is to convert each
surface structure into a phonetic representation.
3. PS-rules C. He defined form classes in terms of some common ‘recognizable phonetic or grammatical features’ shared by all the members. 4. Syntactic components D. It refers to the ideal language user’s knowledge of the rules of his language or a person’s internalized grammar of his language. 5. Observational adequacy E. It is also called an applicability check, which states the structure
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to which the rule can be applied.
6. Competence F. The syntactic component is formed by two parts: the base, and the transformational rules.
7. syntax G. It refers to the instructions which will bring about changes in the structure.
8. Form classes H. They are also called rewrite rules. We can use these PS-rules to generate the deep structure of sentences.
9. Phonological component I. A grammar must account for all and only the permitted
sentences of a language. This is called observational adequacy. 10. structural change J. It is the actual realization of this knowledge in utterance, or a person’s actual use of his language. II. Explain each of the following terms in no more than 50 words:
1. discovering procedures 2. constituent structure 3. constituent 4. immediate constituent 5. ultimate constituent 6. construction
7. endocentric construction 8. exocentric construction 9. discontinuous constituent 10. descriptive adequacy 11. generative aspect 12. transformation 13. deep and surface structures 14. selectional restrictions 15. semantic component III.Develop the each of the following topics into a 200-word essay: 1. Immediate Constituent Analysis
2. Transformational Generative Grammar.
V. Semantics
本章学习目的要求
本章是对语义的研究，近代语言学家对语义研究有多种途径，通过对本章的学习要求对几种主要的途径有所了解。对语言意义的研究包括对词义和句义两个方面，通过学习要求了解词汇之间和句子之间的主要语义关系。本章还介绍了近代语言学中对词义研究的一种方法---成分分析法，以及对句子抽象意义的分析方法。
语义学基本知识点
1. Semantics 语义学
1.1 What is semantics? 什么是语义学
Semantics is generally considered to be the study of meaning in language. 2. Some Views on Semantics 一些有关语义学的观点 2.1 Naming 命名观
One of the oldest notions concerning meaning is the naming theory. According to this theory, the form is a word in a language and the meaning is the object in the world that it ‘stands for’ or ‘refers to’. Words are ‘names’ or ‘labels’ for things. In other words, the semantic relationship holding between words and ‘things’ is the relationship of naming.
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2.2 Conceptualism 概念观
The conceptualist view holds that there is no direct link between words and things; rather they are linked through the mediation of concepts of the mind.
Ogden and Richards saw the relationship between words and things as a semantic triangle. In the diagram, the ‘symbol’ refers to the linguistic element (the word, sentence), the ‘referent’ refers to the object in the world of experience, and ‘thought or ‘reference’ refers to concept. 2.3 Contextualism 语境观
Contextualism is based on the presumption that one can derive meaning from observable context: the situational context and the linguistic context. 2.4 Behaviourism 行为观
The contextualist view was further strengthened by Bloomfield. He argued that the meaning of a linguistic form should be viewed as ‘the situation in which the speaker utters it, and the response which it calls forth in the hearer.’ This view is illustrated by his story about Jack and Jill. Bloomfield argued that the meaning consists in the relation between speech (which is shown by r……s) and the practical events S and R that precede and follow it. 2.5 Mentalism 心灵观
The mentalists view the primary function of language as the communication of ideas and have adopted the assumption that the data needed about language can be supplies by direct resort to intuition. The task of semantics is to explain those data by direct resort to intuition by constructing theories and descriptive rules and categories from which they can be deduced. III. Lexical Meaning 词汇意义 Sense and Reference 词义和指称
Sense and reference are two terms refer to two very different, though related, aspects of meaning. Sense relates to the complex system of relationships that hold between the linguistic elements themselves; it is concerned only with intra-linguistic relations. Sense relationships have formed an important part of the study of language. For example, Duck and ducking form a pattern indicating a relationship between adult and young. This shows that sense relations are in fact a part of the semantic structure.
Reference deals with the relationship between the linguistic elements (words, sentences) and the non-linguistic world of experience. Linguists hold the view that reference is essential element of semantics, for semantics concerned largely with the way we relate our language to our experience. Knowledge of semantic structure in a language alone is not sufficient to handle a number of kinds of meaning.
Some linguists suggest that we have two kinds of semantics, one that deals with semantic structure and the other that deals with meaning in terms of our experience outside language. In other words, one is intra-linguistic, which we call sense or sense relations; the other relates to non-linguistic entities, which we call reference. Synonymy 同义现象
Synonymy is used to mean ‘sameness of meaning’. Strictly speaking, there are no real synonyms and no two words have exactly the same meaning.
a) Dialectal Synonyms 方言同义词
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Synonyms belong to different dialects of the language (e.g. Autumn and fall). b) Words Differing in ‘Styles’ or ‘Registers’ 语体或语域差异的同义词
These words have the same cognitive meaning but different stylistic meanings. They often express different degrees of formality (e.g. gentleman, man, and chap).
c) Words Differing in Emotive or Evaluative Meanings 感情或评价意义不一的同义词
These words have the same cognitive meaning but different emotive or evaluative meanings. (e.g. statesman and politician).
d) Collocationally-restricted Synonyms 搭配同义词
These words can be considered as synonyms only when they occur in conjunction with certain words (e.g. beautiful and handsome).
e) Near Synonyms 近义词
They are close in meaning or their meanings overlap. Polysemy and Homonymy 多义现象和同音异义现象
a) Polysemy
It refers to the phenomenon that the same word may have a set of different meanings. b) Homonymy
It refers to the case that two, or more meanings may be associated with the same linguistic form. When two words are identical in sound, they are homophones. When two words are identical in spelling, they are homographs. Hyponymy 上下义关系
It refers to a paradigmatic relation between a more specific, or subordinate, lexeme and a more general, or superordinate, lexeme. This relation indicates the notion of inclusion in the sense that cow is included in animal. The ‘upper’ term like animal is called superordinate and the ‘lower’ term like cow is called the hyponym. All the members that can be grouped under the same superordinate are called co-hyponyms. Antonymy 反义现象
Antonymy refers to the ‘oppositeness of meaning’ between lexemes. There are several types of lexical opposites in language.
a) Gradable Opposites 可分等级的反义词
Some antonyms are gradable because there are often intermediate forms between the two members of a pair. So it is a matter of degree.
b) Complementary Antonyms 互补反义现象
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.
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.
4. Componential Analysis 成分分析法
Componential analysis refers to an approach adopted by semanticists in describing the meaning of words and phrases. This approach rests upon the thesis that the total meaning of a word can be analysed in terms of a number of distinct elements or components of meaning (semantic features).
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4.1 Components of Meaning ( a way to analyse lexical meaning) 意义成分
Componential analysis is often seen as a process aiming at breaking down the meaning of a word into its minimal distinctive features, which are also called components by some linguists. 4.2 Meaning Relation in terms of Componential Analysis 成分分析法中的意义关系
According to Leech, there are in general four componential relationships, which can be separated into two pairs.
a) The Relations between Form and Meaning 形式与意义的关系
i) Synonymy --- more than one form having the same meaning. ii) Polysemy --- the same form having more than one meaning. b) The relations between Two Meanings 意义间的关系
i) Hyponymy is the inclusion of one meaning in another. ii) Incompatibility is the exclusion one meaning from another.
Of the four types, Leech concentrates on two types: hyponymy and incompatibility. Hyponymy refers to the relationship which exists between two meanings if one componential formula contains all the features present in the other formula. Incompatibility refers to the relationship which exists between two meanings if one componential formula contains at least one feature contrasting with a feature in the other.
5. Sentence Meaning 句子意义
5.1 How to define the meaning of a sentence? 什么是句子的意义？
The meaning of a sentence is the product of both lexical and grammatical meaning. In other words, it is the product of the meaning of the constituent lexemes and of the grammatical constructions that relate one lexeme, syntactically, to another. 5.2 Selectional restrictions 选择性
In discussing the meaning of a sentence, people often need to consider the question of meaningfulness and grammaticality.
Grammaticality means whether a sequence of lexical items constitute an utterance which is grammatically well-formed, or whether it is grammatically acceptable to native speakers according to their intuition.
Meaningfulness, on the other hand, refers to the semantic well-formedness of a sentence. Such a sentence is semantically acceptable to native speakers, or in other words, it is a sentence the native speakers can interpret and understand.
There are many constraints on what lexical items can combine with what others. Such constraints are called selectional restrictions because they govern the selection of lexical items for insertion into underlying structures.
5.3 Basic Statements about Meaning 意义的基本表述
There are certain relations between sentences and also between constituents of the same sentence. (i) X is synonymous with Y.
e.g. X: He was a bachelor all his life.
Y: He never married all his life.
In terms of truth condition, if X is true, Y is true, and if X is false, Y is false. (ii) X entails Y.
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e.g. X: John married a blond heiress. Y: John married a blond.
Entailment is a relation of inclusion. If X entails Y, the meaning of X is included in Y. (iii) X is inconsistent with Y. e.g. X: John is married. Y: John is a bachelor.
In terms of truth condition, if X is true, Y is false, and if X is false, Y is true. (iv) X is a tautology.
e.g. X: This bachelor is not married. (v) X is a contradiction.
e.g. X: This bachelor is married. (vi) X is presupposes Y.
e.g. X: The girl John married was an heiress. Y: John married a girl. (vii) X is semantically anomalous. e.g. The table has bad intentions.
6. Predication Analysis (a way to analyze sentence meaning) 述谓结构分析 6.1 Predication, argument and Predicate 述谓结构、变元和谓项
In semantic analysis of a sentence, the basic unit is called predication, which is not identical to the proposition, but is rather the common category shared by propositions, questions, commands, etc. 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 in a sentence 6.2 Predication Analysis 述谓结构分析
Predication analysis refers to the kind of analysis which involves the breaking down of predications into their constituents --- arguments and predicates. There are three general types of predication --- two-place, one-place and no-place predications.
6.3 Subordinate and Downgraded Predications 从属述谓结构和降格述谓结构
a) Subordinate Predications 从属述谓结构
It is suggested in the theory that a predicate may govern not only arguments, but other predicates. These other predicates can form subordinate predications within the main predication.
b) Downgraded Predications 降格述谓结构
There is a second way in which one predication may be included within another. It is realized by reducing the predication still further to the status of a feature instead of that of an argument.
There are two main types of downgraded predications:
(i) Qualifying Predication（起形容词作用的述谓结构）: It occurs within an argument and
underlies many of the ‘adjectival’ functions of syntax: adjectives, relative clauses, qualifying prepositional phrases, etc.
(ii) Modifying Predication（起副词作用的述谓结构）: It occurs within an argument and underlies
many of the ‘adverbial’ functions of syntax: adverbs, adverbial prepositional phrases, adverbial clauses, etc.
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6.4 Advantages of Predication Analysis 述谓结构的优点
The theory of predication analysis is believed to be able to explain a number of meaning relations existing between sentences, especially those commonly viewed as semantic deviations. a) Entailment 蕴涵
Entailment means that a relation of entailment exists between two propositions which differ only in that an argument of one is hyponymous to an argument of the other. b) Inconsistency 自相矛盾
Inconsistency means that a relation of inconsistency exists between two propositions whenever the predicate of one is incompatible with that of the other. c) Tautology 同义反复
Tautology usually arises when the information contained in an argument of a predication includes the information contained in the rest of the predication. d) Contradiction 自相矛盾的说法
Contradiction arises when the information contained in an argument of a predication is incompatible with information contained in the predicate. e) Semantic Anomaly 意义反常
Semantic anomaly arises when one of the arguments or the predicate of the main predication is self-contradictory
f) Presupposition 前提
Presupposition refers to the kind of meaning which the speaker does not assert but assumes the hearer can identify from the sentence.
In a word, the componential analysis with the addition of predication analysis can serve as an adequate semantic theory to provide semantic representations for whole sentences. It can also enable us to make predications regarding entailment, inconsistency, contradiction and other meaning relations.
Exercises
I. Match each of the following terms in column A with one of the appropriate definitions in column B:
Column A Column B
1. Semantics A. Synonymy is used to mean ‘sameness of meaning’.
2. Inconsistency B. Pairs of words that exhibit the reversal of a relationship between the two items are called relational opposites.
3. Synonymy C. Some antonyms are gradable because there are often intermediate forms between the two members of a pair.
4. subordinate predication D. It refers to the case that two, or more meanings may be associated with the same linguistic form.
5. polysemy E. Presupposition refers to the kind of meaning which the speaker does not assert but assumes the hearer can identify from the sentence. 6. Antonymy F. It is suggested in the theory that a predicate may govern not only arguments, but other predicates.
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7. relational opposites G. It refers to the phenomenon that the same word may have a set of different meanings.
8. homonymy H. Inconsistency means that a relation of inconsistency exists between two propositions whenever the predicate of one is incompatible with that of the other.
9. gradable opposites I. Semantics is generally considered to be the study of meaning in language.
10. presupposition J. Antonymy refers to the ‘oppositeness of meaning’ between lexemes. II. Explain each of the following terms in no more than 50 words:
1. reference 2. entailment 3. semantic triangle 4. hyponymy 5. predication 6. behaviorism
7. downgraded predication 8. sentence meaning 9. selectional restriction 10. naming theory 11. sense
III. Develop each of the following topics into a 200-word essay 1. What distinction, would you drawn between sense and reference? 3. Explain and exemplify componential analysis and predication analysis.
VI. Pragmatics 语用学
本章学习目的要求
语用学是语言学研究中一个比较新的领域,语用学的兴起是语言学,特别是语义学发展和深入的结果。通过本章的学习，首先要对语用学和传统语义学研究之间的关系，以及诸如语境和话语意义等语用研究中的一些基本概念有所了解。同时，还要求对语用研究中最重要的理论———言语行为理论，和最主要的一条原则———会话原则有初步的了解，并能用来解释一些语言现象。
语用学基本知识
1. What does pragmatics study? 语用学是什么？
Pragmatics is the study of how speakers use the sentences of a language to effect successful communication.
The development of pragmatics within linguistics is the necessary consequence of the development of linguistic studies, especially that of semantics. Although both pragmatics and semantics basically study meaning, pragmatics differs from traditional semantics in that it studies meaning not in isolation but in context.
1.1 sentence meaning vs. utterance meaning 句子意义与话语意义
Sentence meaning refers to the abstract context-independent entity called semantic proposition. On the other hand, utterance meaning is context-dependent. It is generally regarded as the product of sentence meaning and context; therefore the meaning of an utterance is richer than the meaning of the sentence from which it is derived. Utterance meaning is identical with the purpose for which the
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speaker utters the sentence. 1.2 Context 语境
Context is an important notion in the pragmatic study of meaning. It is generally considered as constituted by the knowledge shared by the speaker and the hearer. It includes background knowledge, i.e. knowledge of the world, knowledge specific to the situation of communication, as well as knowledge of the language they use. 2. Speech Act Theory 言语行为理论
The speech act theory proposed by John Austin is an important theory in the study of meaning as related to the context. According to this theory, we are performing various kinds of acts when we are speaking; thus linguistic communication is composed of a succession of acts. 2.1 Constative and Performative Utterances 陈述性话语与行为性话语
Austin first made the primary distinction between two types of utterances: constative and performative. The constative utterance is verifiable and it is either true or false. The performative utterance is used o perform an action and has no true value. But Austin was not satisfied with it; he finally conducted a new model.
2.2 Austin’s New Model 奥斯汀的新模式
According to Austin’s new model, a speaker, while making an utterance, is in most cases performing three acts simultaneously.
a) A Locutionary Act 以言指事行为
A locutionary act is the act of saying something; it is the act of conveying literal meaning by means of syntax, lexicon and phonology.
b) An Illocutionary Act 以言做事行为
An illocutionary act is the act performed in saying something; its force is identical with the speaker’s intention.
c) A Perlcutionary Act 以言成事行为
A perlocutionary act is the act performed by or resulting from saying something; it is the consequence of, or the change brought about by the utterance.
2.3 Searle’s Contributions to the Speech Act Theory 斯尔对言语行为理论的贡献
a) The Distinction and Relatedness between the Propositional Content and Illocutionary Act The propositional content of an utterance is constituted by what object is being referred to in the utterance and what action is predicated about the object.
b) The Classification of Illocutionary Act 以言做事行为的分类 Searle specifies five general types of Illocutionary acts (1) Representatives 阐述类
The illocutionary point of the representatives is to commit the speaker to something’s being the are, to the truth of the expressed proposition. In other words, while performing this type of act, the speaker is making a statement or giving a description which he himself believes to be true. Stating, believing, swearing, hypothesizing are among the most typical of the representatives.
(2) Directives 指令类
Directives are attempts by the speaker to get the hearer to do something. Inviting, suggesting, requesting, warning, threatening, ordering are all specific instance of this class.
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(3) Commissives 承诺类
Commissives are those illocutionary acts whose point is to commit the speaker to some future course of action. Promising, undertaking, vowing are the most typical cases.
(4) Expressives 表达类
The illocutionary point of expressives is to express the psychological state specified in the propositional content. The speaker is expressing his feelings and attitudes towards the existing state of affairs, e.g. apologizing, thanking, congratulating.
(5) Declarations 宣布类
The last class ‘declarations’ has the characteristic that the successful performance of an act of this type brings about the correspondence between the propositional content and reality. 3. Principles of Conversation 会话原则 3.1 The Co-operative Principle 合作原则
In making conversation, there is, as Grice holds, a general principle which all participants are expected to observe. He calls this guiding principle the Cooperative Principle. He further specifies four maxims:
a) The Maxim of Quantity 量的准则
(1) Make your contribution as informative as required.
(2) Do not make your contribution more informative than is required. b) The Maxim of Quality 质的准则
(1) Do not say what you believe to be false.
(2) Dot not say that for which you lack adequate evidence. c) The Maxim of Relation 关系准则 Be relevant
d) The Maxim of Manner 方式准则 (1) Avoid obscurity of expression. (2) Avoid ambiguity (3) Be brief. (4) Be orderly.
These maxims are not always strictly observed. Rather, for various reasons they are often violated. Some of these violations give rise to what Grice terms “conversational implicatures”. In other words, when we violate any of these maxims, our language might become indirect. 3.2 The Politeness Principle 礼貌
The cooperative principle explains how conversational implicature is given rise to but it does not tell us why people are often so indirect in conveying what they want to say. This is where the politeness principle comes in. In the most general terms, the politeness principle can be formulated as “maximize” the expression of polite beliefs”, or, in its negative form, “Minimize the expression of impolite beliefs.
The politeness principle seems to have a higher regulative role than the cooperative principle because it requires for smooth and effective communication.
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Exercises
I. Match each of the following terms in column A with one of the appropriate definitions in column B: Column A column B
1. locutionary act A. The speaker is expressing his feelings and attitudes towards the existing state of affairs,
2. illocutionary act B. The last class ‘declarations’ has the characteristic that the successful performance of an act of this type brings about the correspondence between the propositional content and reality. 3. perlocutionary act C. The constative utterance is verifiable and it is either true or false. 4. representatives D. The performative utterance is used o perform an action and has no true value.
5. directives E. Commissives are those illocutionary acts whose point is to commit the speaker to some future course of action.
6. Commisives F. A locutionary act is the act of saying something; it is the act of conveying literal meaning.
7. expressives G.The illocutionary point of the representatives is to commit the speaker to something’s being the are, to the truth of the expressed proposition.
8. Declarations H. A perlocutionary act is the act performed by or resulting from saying something; it is the consequence of, or the change brought about by the utterance.
9. constative utterance I. Directives are attempts by the speaker to get the hearer to do something.
10. performative utterance J. An illocutionary act is the act performed in saying something; its force is identical with the speaker’s intention. II. Explain each of the following terms in no more than 50 words:
1. pragmatics 2. utterance meaning 3. representatives 4. expressives 5. commissives 6. politeness principle 7. locutionary act 8. Illocutionary act 9. Perlocutionary act III. Develop one of the following topics into a 200-word essay: 1. Austin’s speech act theory. 2. Cooperative principle.
VIII. Language Change 语言的变化
本章的学习目的要求
本章学习的中心内容是语言的变化。全章含研究语言变化的目的与意义、语言变化的本质、英语的历史发展、语系和语言变化的原因等五部分。本章的学习目的是让学生了解语言的发展史及其变迁规律。通过学习本章，学生可以从历史发展的角度来深刻认识语言的过去、现在和 27
未来之间的关系，掌握语言历史演变的成因和规律，了解语言群体在其历史变迁中所形成的旁系与直系关系。
语言变化的基本知识
1. Introduction 引言
It is a fact that all languages change through time, though they do so rather slowly. Where languages have written records, it is possible to see the actual changes that have taken place. 2. Sound Change 语音变化
Sound changes tend to be systematic; it is possible to see a regular pattern of pronunciation changes throughout the language. For example,
Words Middle English Modern English Mice [mi:s] [mais] Mouse [mu:s] [maus] 3. Morphological and Syntactic Change 形态和句法变化
Morphological and syntactic changes also take place in progress, for example, change in “agreement” rule, in negation rule, process of simplification, loss of inflections, etc. 4. Vocabulary Change 词汇变化
Vocabulary change can include: addition of new words, loss of words and changes in the meaning of words.
4.1 Addition of New Words 增加新词
a) Coinage 创新词
A new word can be coined or invented outright to fit some purpose, e.g. dacron koda xerox b) Clipped Words 缩略词
Clipping refers to the abbreviation of longer words or phrases, e.g. gym (gymnastics) fridge (refrigerator) disco (discotheque) c) Blending 紧缩法
A blend is a word formed by combining parts of other words, e.g.
smog (smoke+fog) motel (motor+hotel) flurry (flutter+hurry) d) Acronyms 词首字母缩略词
Acronyms are words derived from the initials of several words, e.g.
Radar (Radio detecting and ranging) U.S.A (the United States of America) e) Back-formation 逆生成法
New words may be coined from already existing words by “subtracting” an affix thought to be part of the old word, e.g.
Edit (derived from editor) f) Functional Shift 功能转移
Words may shift from one part of speech to another without the addition of affixes, e.g. g) Borrowing 借用
When cultures come into contact, words are often “borrowed” from one language to another, e.g.
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education (from Latin) cycle (from Greek) question (from French) 4.2 Loss of Words 词的消失
The loss of words takes place gradually over the course of several generations. One of the most common causes for the loss of lexical items is the discontinuation of the object they name. 4.3 Widening of Meaning 词义的扩大
When the meaning of a word becomes broader, that word means everything it used to mean, and then some more, e.g.
holiday holy day [specific] any rest day [general]
tail the tail of a horse [specific] the tail of any animal [general] 4.4 Narrowing of Meaning 词义的缩小
In the course of several generations, semantic change has narrowed the meaning of a word to what it is in Modern English, e.g.
deer any animal [general] a particular species [specific] meat food [general] edible part of an animal [specific] 5. Some Recent Trends 最近变化的趋势
5.1 Moving towards Greater Informality 倾向非正式化
Since the last war there has been a trend towards much greater informality of expression. Most people will agree that this trend towards greater informality in the use of the written word is to be welcomed rather than deplored.
5.2 The Influence of American English 美国英语的影响
For many years American English has been assaulting the British Isles with ever-increasing weight and persistence, through films, magazines, radio and television. 5.3 The Influence of Science and Technology 科学与技术的影响
As science and technology develop, they use new words to express new concepts and new techniques as well as new inventions; and they have developed more rapidly during the last 30 years.
Exercises
I. Match each of the following terms in column A with one of the appropriate definitions in column B: Column A Column B
1. Coinage A. New words may be coined from already existing words by “subtracting” an affix thought to be part of the old word
2. Blending B. Clipping refers to the abbreviation of longer words or phrases. 3. back-formation C. Acronyms are words derived from the initials of several words. 4. borrowing D. When cultures come into contact, words are often “borrowed” from one language to another.
5. clipping E. A new word can be coined or invented outright to fit some purpose. 6. acronyms F. A blend is a word formed by combining parts of other words. 7. functional shift G. Words may shift from one part of speech to another without the addition of affixes II. Explain each of the following terms in no more than 50 words:
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1. semantic change 2. Sound change 3. Vocabulary change III.Develop the topic into a 200-word essay: 1. Some recent trends of language change
VIII. Language and Society 语言与社会
本章的学习目标要求
本章学习的中心内容是社会语境中的语言主。全章含语言变异与语用情景、方言及方言的社会功能、双言与双语现象、少数民族方言、社会方言等部分。
本章的学习目的是弄清语言与社会的关系。通过对本章的学习，要求学生认识语言使用的社会属性，了解语言在社会语境中作为一种交际工具的多样性，明确交际场境中各种社会因素对语言使用所产生的影响。
语言与社会基本知识
1. The Scope of Sociolinguistics 社会语言学的范围
1.1 Indications of Relatedness between Language and Society 语言与社会关系的标示
Certain linguistic phenomena cannot be accounted for unless they are related to society. In other words, social factors cannot be excluded in our description of language.
An obvious indication of the inter-relationship between language and society is the fact that language is not always used to exchange information as is generally assumed, but rather it is sometimes used to fulfil an important social function-to maintain social relationship between people.
Another indication is that users of the same language in a sense all speak differently. The kind of language each of them chooses to use is in part determined by his social background.
To some extent, language, especially the structure of its lexicon, reflects both the physical and the social environments of a society.
As a social phenomenon language is closely related to the structure of the society in which it is used, and the evaluation of a linguistic form is entirely social.
1.2 Sociolinguistics vs. Traditional Linguistic Studies 社会语言学与传统语言学研究
Sociolinguistics relates linguistics study to society.
Traditionally linguistic study emphasizes the study of the rules which govern the formation of language. Its aim is to discover the structure of language.
Saussure proposed the classic distinction between langue and parole. “Parole” is the realization of the language system in speech.
Chomsky proposed the theory of competence and performance. Competence is an ideal language user’s knowledge of his language, and performance is the actual realization of this knowledge in utterances.
1.3 Two Approaches in Sociolinguistics 社会语言学的两种研究方法
a) Macro-sociolinguistics 宏观社会语言学
We can look at society as a whole and consider how language functions in it and how it reflects the social differentiations.
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b) Micro-sociolinguistics 微观社会语言学
The other approach is to look at society from the point of view of an individual member within it. 2. Varieties of Language 语言的变体
It is an obvious fact that people who claim to be users of the same language do not speak the language in the same manner. The language used by the same individual varies as circumstances vary. The varieties of a language are actual manifestations of the general notion of the language and they are assumed to be related both to the language user and to the use to which language is put. Varieties related to the user are known as dialects and varieties related to use as registers. 2.1 Varieties of Language Related to the User 与语言使用者有关的变体
a) Regional dialect 地域方言
Regional dialects are linguistic varieties used by people living in different regions. Regional dialect boundaries often coincide with geographical barriers such as mountains, rivers, or swamps.
b) Social-class Dialect 社会阶级方言
Just as regional dialect is associated with separation caused by physical conditions, social dialect has to do with separation brought about by different social conditions. Social-class dialect, or sociolect, refers to the linguistic variety characteristic of a particular social class.
Received Pronunciation (RP), a non-localized form of pronunciation, refers to the particular way of pronouncing standard English, which is an indicator of a public school education and thus a high social status on the part of the speaker.
c) Language and Sex 语言与性别
It is interesting to know that the language used by men and women have some special features of their own. Women are usually more status-conscious than men in English speaking world. Sex differentiation is also reflected in the use of certain intonation patterns and certain lexical items.
d) Language and Age 语言与年龄
In many communities the language used by the older generation differs from that used by the younger generation in certain ways. Certain linguistic features occur more frequently in the speech of one generation than that of the other. 2.2 Standard Dialect 标准方言
The standard dialect is a particular variety of a language. It is not related to any particular group of language users; it is possible for any member of a speech community to use the standard variety regardless of his social and geographical backgrounds, his sex and age.
The standard dialect has a number of features:
(1) The standard dialect is based on a selected variety of the language.
(2)The standard dialect has a widely accepted codified grammar and vocabulary. It is a superimposed variety and it is the variety which is taught and learnt in schools, not the variety of a language any child acquires naturally.
(3)The standard dialect is usually used in print, and spoken by educated native speakers and used in news broadcasts, official documents and publications and on other formal occasions. 2.3 Varieties of Language related to the use 与语言使用有关的变体
a) Register 语域
Language is a very variable phenomenon, and this variability is not haphazard as is usually
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assumed, but it is also rule-governed, and constrained by social variables. It varies with the circumstances under which the language is used.
Any native speaker of a language is in possession of a variety of ways in using the language. The totality of linguistic varieties possessed by an individual constitutes his linguistic repertoire.
A well-known model describing the relationship between social variables and linguistic features is Halliday’s register theory. According to Halliday, Language varies as its function varies; it differs in different situations. The type of language which is selected as appropriate to a type of situation is a register. Register is determined by the following three social variables:
(1) Field of Discourse 话语范围
It refers to what is going on: to the area of operation of the language activity. It is concerned with the purpose and subject-matter of communication. It answers the questions of ‘why’ and ‘about’ what’ communication takes place. Field of discourse may be non-technical (shopping, personal letters) and technical (scientific report…).
Field of register determines to a great extent the vocabulary to be used in communication and it also determines the phonological and grammatical features of the language.
(2) Tenor of Discourse 话语风格
It refers to the role of relationship in the situation in question: who the participants in the communication group are and in what relationship they stand to each other. It answers the question of ‘to whom’ the speaker is communicating. To a great extent, it determines the level of formality and the level of technicality of the language we use.
(3) Mode of Discourse 话语方式
It mainly refers to the means of communication. It is concerned with ‘how’ communication is carried out. Fundamental to the mode of discourse is the distinction between speaking and writing. Spoken language may be spontaneous or prepared beforehand and written language may be intended to be read with the eye or to be spoken.
The three variables are the features of the context of situation which determine the features of language appropriate to the situation, i.e. register.
b) Scales of Formality 正式程度
Language used on different occasions differs in the degree of formality, which is determined by the social variables. Martin Joos distinguishes five stages of formality: intimate, casual, consultative, formal, and frozen.
Different styles of the same language can be characterized through differences at three levels, namely, syntactic, lexical and phonological. 3. Communicative Competence
Dell Hymes defined in 1970 communicative competence as consisting of four sectors:
(1) the ability to judge whether something is formally possible, i.e. whether something is
grammatical.
(2) the ability to judge whether something is feasible, i.e. whether something is psychologically
acceptable.
(3) the ability to judge whether something is appropriate, i.e. whether something is suitable in a
certain social context.
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(4) the ability to judge whether something is done, i.e. how often something occurs.
Hymes’ competence covers a wider range than Chomsky’s. While Chomsky takes competence to mean the knowledge of a user about his language. Hymes extends it to cover both tacit knowledge and ability for use.
4. Pidgin and Creole 皮钦语和克里奥耳语
Pidgins are mixed or blended languages used by people who speak different languages for restricted purposes such as trading. Pidgins typically have a limited vocabulary and a very reduced grammatical structure characterized by the loss of inflections, gender and case.
When a pidgin has become the primary language of a speech community, and is acquired by the children of the speech community as their native language, it is said to be a creole. The structure of the original pidgin is expanded to enable it to fulfil its new functions. The vocabulary is vastly enriched, and new syntactic-semantic concepts developed. 5. Bilingualism and Diglossia 双语现象和双语
In some speech communities, two languages are used side by side with each having a different role to play; and language switching occurs when the situation changes. This constitute the situation of bilingualism.
The term diglossia refers to a sociolinguistic situation similar to bilingualism. But instead of two different languages, in a diglossic situation two varieties of a language exist side by side throughout the community, with each having a definite role to play.
Exercises
I. Match each of the following terms in column A with one of the appropriate definitions in column B: Column A Column B
1. macro-sociolinguistics A. Pidgins are mixed or blended languages used by people who speak different languages for restricted purposes such as trading. 2. social class dialect B. Regional dialects are linguistic varieties used by people living in different regions.
3. standard dialect C. When a pidgin has become the primary language of a speech
community, and is acquired by the children of the speech community as their native language
4. diglossia D. Two languages are used side by side with each having a different role to play; and language switching occurs when the situation changes. 5. bilingualism E. It is possible for any member of a speech community to use the standard variety regardless of his social and geographical backgrounds, his sex and age.
6. Pidgin F. The other approach is to look at society from the point of view of an individual member within it.
7. creole G. Social-class dialect, or sociolect, refers to the linguistic variety characteristic of a particular social class.
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8. micro-sociolinguistics H Two varieties of a language exist side by side throughout the community, with each having a definite role to play.
9. regional dialect We can look at society as a whole and consider how language functions in it and how it reflects the social differentiations. II. Explain each of the following terms in no more than 50 words:
1. field of discourse 2. tenor of discourse 3. mode of discourse 4. scales of formality 5. standard dialect 6. register III. Develop each of the following topics into a 200-word essay: 1. Varieties of language
2. Hymes’ communicative competence 3. Halliday’s Register theory
IX. Language and Culture 语言与文化
语言与文化基本知识
1. Introduction 引言
Language and culture evolved together and have been mutually dependent through their history. Much of the recent work has revealed that language is related to cognition, and cognition in turn is related to the cultural setting.
2. What is culture? 什么是文化？
Culture means the total way of life of a people. This simple definition implies that culture refers to the patterns of customs, traditions, social habits, values, beliefs and language of a society.
As culture is so inclusive, it permeates virtually every aspect of human life and it conditions and determines all of man’s behaviour, including linguistic behaviour.
In broad terms there are two types of culture: material and spiritual. Material culture is concrete, substantial and observable. In contrast with material culture, only a small part of spiritual culture, the products of mind, is tangible, and most spiritual culture is indiscernible, that is implicit, hidden and abstract, including ideologies, beliefs, values and concepts of time and space.
The abstract areas of culture not only present problems to foreign language learners, but may constitute potential trouble spots in inter-cultural communication. 3. Language and Meaning 文化与意义
When we learn a new word we tend to look for meaning in the word itself. It is more accurate to say that people have meaning and that words stir up meanings in people. Various backgrounds and experiences can alter meanings.
4. Interdependence of Language and Culture 语言与文化相互依赖
We have seen that language meaning is directly related to our experiences. These experiences are unique to each of us not only because of the differences we encountered as individuals while we were growing up and learning to use language, but also because of what our culture gas exposed us to.
Language is the primary means by which a culture transmits its beliefs, values, and norms. It gives people a mean of interacting with other members of the culture.
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If we extend the notion that our culture teaches us an internalized response to a word, then various cultures will have specialized responses to the same words. English-speaking culture teaches its people to name what is practical, useful and important. In general sense, the important things in the English-speaking environment take on specific names while the less important things have more general names that must be modified through additional words to become specific.
In short, each culture presents to its members, in conscious and subconscious ways through words, the ideas and concepts that the culture transmits from generation to generation. It is culture that leads to different interpretations and reactions to language.
Language and culture are not independent of mutually exclusive cognitive systems composed of analogous structure and process. Rather, culture is a wider system that completely includes language as a subsystem. The relation of language to culture is then a relation of part to whole. 5. The Significance of Cultural Teaching and Learning 文化教与学的意义
For teaching purposes, let us classify culture into “culture” v. “Culture”.
The former refers to culture in an anthropological sense, i.e. the total way of life of a people. It includes everyday culture patterns and is highly recommended in selecting culture content for foreign language teaching. It can be subdivided into:
a) Active every day patterns which students need to know to function in everyday use of the target language.
b) Patterns of politics, education, economics, marriage, customs which do not call for active command, but which the learner just needs to know because they facilitate cultural understanding.
The other “Culture” denoting culture in the sociohistorical sense can be defined as the products and contributions of a society. Recent study has revealed the fact: While a little knowledge of the target culture will enable a foreign language learner to observe and analyse his own culture, a little knowledge about the learner’s own culture will also promote foreign language learning.
The differences across cultures can be great barriers to communication. 6. Linguistic Evidence of Cultural Differences 文化差异的语言例证
Cultural differences in language are manifest in many aspects of human life. 6.1 Greetings 寒暄
It is established that in English there are at least a dozen different greetings, from “Hi” and “Hello” to more specific and longer ones like “How are you getting on?” or “How is everything with you?”. While greetings in Chinese culture form a very limited system, those in English culture a much longer system.
6.2 Thanks and Compliments 致谢和恭维语
It is noted that people in the West tend to verbalise their gratitude and compliments more than Chinese speakers and that they tend to accept thanks and compliments more than we Chinese. 6.3 Terms of Address 称呼语
While in our society, “tongzhi” is used for all people irrespective of sex, position, or marital status, in English speaking communities “Mr, Mrs, Miss, Ms” would be appropriate in similar situations.
The extension of kinship terms is another feature of Chinese culture, i.e. uncle, aunt, grandpa,
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granny for strangers. Native speakers of English would puzzled if they are called such by people outside the immediate family. 6.4 Color Words 颜色语
Some languages have only two color terms: black and white. If a language has three color terms, this third term is invariably red. The other colors most commonly entering linguistic systems are yellow, green, blue and brown, making a total of seven. Even though languages vary somewhat in their color terminology, the variation is apparently not random. It appears to follow a pattern related to the human capacity for perceiving colors. 6.5 Privacy and Taboos 隐私和禁忌语
Although people of different culture have many common areas of privacy or taboos, there are areas where our culture differs from Western culture. It is not appropriate for us to ask questions related to personal information like age, family background, money matters or questions on personal activities when we converse with English-speaking people. To great native English speakers, we should say “How are you?”, “How are you getting on?”, “How is everything?”. 6.6 Rounding off Numbers 数字禁忌
The way a speech community rounds off its numbers is not haphazard, rather, it is explainable as interplay between language and culture.
Members of a speech community often gives preference to those numbers that their community regards as significant.
That the way speakers round off numbers is often a linguistic convenience is clearly seen by comparing how the Chinese and the Europeans state their age differently. 7. Cultural Overlap and Diffusion 文化交溶与文化扩散
As result of similarities in natural environment and psychology of human beings, there is greater or lesser degree of cultural overlap between two societies. In many English speaking societies, there are circumstances in which (as is more generally the case in Japanese and Chinese) the superior, but not the inferior, may refer to himself by means of the same kinship-term or tittle with which he is addressed.
Through communication, some elements of culture A enter culture B and become part of culture B, thus creating cultural diffusion, which has been shaped gradually but unceasingly.
Cultural diffusion leads to the creation of loan words Borrowing reflects the routes of cultural imports. Although many languages of the world have borrowed, through cultural diffusion, their vocabularies from other languages, they maintain their identity by preserving their onw grammatical structures.
8. Conclusion 结束语
Full understanding of the several kinds of meaning that are encoded in the grammar and vocabulary of a language comes only with a full understanding of the culture, or cultures, in which it operates. Language must be learnt as an integral part of learning about the target culture in order to gain a deeper insight into the target language. Cultural learning, on the other hand, will help promote language learning.
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Exercise
I. Explain each of the following terms in no more than 50 words:
1. Culture 2. Language and meaning 3. Cultural overlap 4. cultural diffusion 5. Greeting
II. Develop each of the following topics into a 200-word essay:
1. Comment with examples the following statement “Differences across culture can be great barriers
to communication.
2. What is the significance for cultural teaching and learning?
3. Explain with example the difference between culture and Culture.
X. Language Acquisition 语言习得
本章学习目的要求
本章学习的中心内容是人类语言能力的获得及其发展过程。全章含第一语言习得的原则、第一语言习得的阶段、语法知识的形成及第二语言习得等部分。本章的学习目的是让学生深刻认识语言的本质，了解人类习得本族语与外族语的过程和规律。本章要求学生通过对语言习得的学习，理解儿童习得母语的天赋能力以及这种能力的生物基础，弄清语言习得的内部机制与外部环境的关系，明白语言习得即语法规则习得的涵义，了解儿童语言习得的自然路径及发展阶段，并对成人习得第二语言所涉及的一些主要问题有一清楚的认识。
语言习得基本知识
1. Introduction 引言
1.1 Language Acquisition 语言习得
Language acquisition refers to the child’s acquisition of his mother tongue. Human children everywhere develop a language without instruction, unless they are isolated during the critical acquisition years or unless they suffer from extreme mental deficiency. Some child do not have parents to instruct them but they learn to speak. 1.2 The Beginning of Language 语言的起始
The basic essentials of the first language are acquired in the short period between the age of one and a half years and 4 years. This is called the critical period for first language acquisition. 1.3 Stages in First Language Acquisition 第一语言习得阶段
a) Between birth and around six months --- children produce a series of sounds and this called the “babbling period”.
b) Around eight months --- babbling is replaced by syllables.
c) One year --- the child attempts to carry out simple commands and can speak a few words.
d) Eighteen months --- this age is cited as onset of speech. His vocabulary consists of between three and fifty words.
e) Two years --- two years --- the child can name most things which are familiar to him in his surroundings. He often utters two-word phrases.
f) Two and a half years --- the child seems to understand almost everything said to him.
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g) Three years --- the child now has a vocabulary of about a thousand words. The grammatical complexity of the utterance is about equal to that of colloquial adult speech.
h) About four years --- the child has now mastered the essentials of his mother tongue. 1.4 Age and Native Language Acquisition 年龄与本族语习得
Whether or not a child will speak a foreign language with an accent depends largely upon the age at which he learns the second language. A child who enters a foreign language speech community by the age of three or four learns the new language rapidly and without the trace of an accent. Around the age of puberty (10---13), the child loses his ability to learn a second language without an accent. Thus, there is a critical period for first language acquisition, and for acquiring a language with native-like control.
1.5 Common Order in the Development of Language 语言发展的一般顺序
In English, as in all languages, the sound (phonology) and the structures (grammar) develop in regular stages for all children.
In phonology, certain sounds will be produced before others ([m] or [d] before [s] or [z]).
In grammar, all children begin with simple one word utterances and proceed in regular stages to more complex sentences.
1.6 Different Rate of Language Development 语言发展的不同速度
Although there is a common order in first language acquisition, this does not mean that all children learn at the same rate.
So whenever an age guide is given (e.g. at 14 months children produce their first word), a variation of +6months is quite normal. 2. Phonological Development 语音发展
2.1 Regular Sound Development 正常的语音发展
The sequence in which the sounds are acquired works like a system of pre-requisites, or like a mastery system. That is to say, the child must pass each stage before he can proceed to the next one. Thus, for example, the presence of palatal and velar sounds presupposes the presence of labials and dentals. But the presence of labials and dentals does not imply the presence of palatal and velar sounds.
2.2 Grammatical Development 语法发展
Around the time of their second birthday, children begin to produce two-word utterances. During this stage there are no syntactic or morphological markers.
About 6 months after the two-word utterances begin, sentences are developed which contain three main elements (daddy kick ball). These sentences are examples of telegraphic speech. They contain content words and lack the functor elements.
The child’s utterances are not simply randomly-strung-together words but, from a very early stage, reveal his or her grasp of the principles of sentence formation. 2.3 Vocabulary Development 词汇发展
When a child learns a word, he does not just learn how to pronounce the word. He must learn the meaning of each form, that is, the features of meaning associated with each word.
a) Over-extension 扩展过头
In the early stages, child only knows one or two features of meaning, he will use the word much
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more widely than an adult would use it. This incorrect wide use of a word is called over-extension. For example, if the child calls all men “Daddy”, he “over-extend” the meaning of the word.
b) Overgeneralization过度概括
An important point is that child speech is systematically different from the structure of adult speech. This means that the child is developing his own structures of speech, and that as he advances the structures develop until they are similar to those of an adult. That is to say, children talk according to their own rules rather than by producing the utterances of their parents. 2.4 Sociolinguistic Development 社会语言的发展
At the same time as the child is acquiring grammatical rules, he is also learning rules of the appropriate social use of the language. These include the greetings, the taboo words, the polite forms of address, the various styles appropriate to different speech situations of his community. 2.5 A Behaviorist View of Language Acquisition 语言习得的行为主义观
The behaviorist or empiricist answer holds that language is learnt in much the same way as anything else is learnt and that the essential similarities among environments in which general laws of learning operate accounts for observed sameness.
The chief exponent of the behaviorist view is Skinner. He argues that language is of special interest because language behavior is behavior which human beings alone can reinforce and which reinforces only its effect on others. He believes that reinforcement of selected responses is the key to understanding language development.
According to “reinforcement” theory, children learn to produce correct sentences because they are positively reinforced when they say something wrong.
However, a number of studies have revealed that all attempts to “correct” a child’s language are doomed to failure. Neither can “imitation” theory explain how children manage to acquire the adult language.
3.3 A Nativist View of Language Acquisition 语言习得的天赋观
The nativist, rationalist or mentalist answer holds that children are born with an innate ability to acquire languages of a specific type, and that they go about that learning using principles unique to language learning.
Chomsky sides with the rationalists. He explains the ability to acquire language in the following way:
a) Language serves for the expression of thought.
b) Human beings are innately endowed with the capacity to form some concepts rather than others. It is this human capacity to acquire language that has led to the “innateness hypothesis” of child language acquisition.
Exercises
I. Explain each of the following terms in no more than 50 words:
1. language acquisition 2. over–extension 3. over-generalization 4. vocabulary development
II. Develop each of the following topics into a 200-words: 1. Stages in first language acquisition.
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2. A behaviorist view of language acquisition.
XI. Error Analysis and Second Language Acquisition 错误分析与第二语言习得
错误分析与第二语言习得基本知识
1. Differences and Similarities between First and Second Language Acquisition 第一语言习得与第二语言习得的异同
While the first language is acquired, i.e. subconsciously, the second (or foreign) language is, more commonly, learned, i.e. consciously. We also note in acquiring their first language, children always concentrate on meaning, not on pattern, i.e. structure. The second language acquisition, however, concentrates on code, i.e. the system of the thought. Besides, one learns his first language directly from reality. The second language is learnt in manageable sequence, i.e. syllabus and course books. Furthermore, in the first language acquisition children apply the rules subconsciously, while the second language learners, after a period of training, are able to verbalise the rules. 2. The Inadequacy of Imitation Theory 模仿理论之不足
It has been proved that children are not simply imitating the speech of their parents, for adults do not produce sentences like “What she can read?”. In other words, the child forms his own rule in a systematic way as he teaches himself his mother tongue. It has been suggested that the differences between the way a second language is often spoken and the way the language is spoken by native speakers are systematic, just as children’s language follows a definite norm and developmental sequence of its own. 3. Interference 干扰
Language interference can be defined as the use of elements from one language while speaking another. Instances of mother tongue interference can be found at the level of pronunciation, morphology, syntax, vocabulary and meaning, and can be predicted by contrasting the grammatical or other systems of two languages. In other words, we can predict and describe the patterns that will cause difficulty in learning and those that will not, by comparing systematically the language and culture to be learned with the language and culture of the student. 3.1 Phonological Evidence 语音例证
a) Substitution of [t] for [ ] and [d] for [ ] b) Shortening of long Vowels 3.2 Lexical Evidence 词汇例证
Often a beginner may utter a sentence like I lost my rice bowl. What he actually means is I lost my job.
3.3 Grammatical Evidence 语法例证
a) Indefinite Article Deletion
i.e. You got to have proper system here.
b) Subject + verb structure replaced by a single verb or complement
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i.e. A: Are you coming? B: Coming.
4. Cross-association 相互联系
When two words are similar in meaning, and their spelling and pronunciation are alike, the close association of the two often leads to confusion. This aspect of internal interference is often referred to as cross-association.
5. Overgeneralization 过度概括
Overgeneralization is defined as the use of previously available strategies in new situation. 6. Strategies of Communication 交际策略
We may include errors that derive from the fact the communicative demands made on the second language may far outpace the speaker’s actual competence in second language learning. Thus the learners may simplify the syntax of the language in an effort to make the language into an instrument of his own intentions. Errors derived from such effort may be attributed to strategies of communication.
7. Performance Errors 语言运用错误
The speaker realized the mistake as he said it but forgot to correct it --- he would have corrected it if he had had more time to think about it.
Exercises
I. Explain each of the following terms in no more than 50 words:
1. Overgeneralization 2. Cross-association 3. Interference 4. performance errors
II. Develop each of the following topics into a 200-word essay:
1. Differences and similarities between first and second language acquisition.
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