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