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CHAPTER1INTRODUCTIONDefinition:linguisticscanbedefinedasthescientificorsystematicstudyoflanguage.Itisalwaysguidedbythethreecannonsofscience:exhaustiveness,consistencyandeconomy.LinguisticsLinguisticsversustraditionalgrammar:ScopeMicrolinguisticsPhoneticsPhonologyMorphologySyntaxSemanticsPragmaticsMacrolinguisticsSociolinguisticsPsycholinguisticsNeurolinguisticsStylisticsDiscourseanalysisComputationallinguisticsCognitivelinguisticsDefinition:Ding-DongTheory:humanspeechdevelopedfromprimitivemangivingvocalexpressiontotheobjectsheencountered.Sing-SongTheory:languagedevelopedfromprimitiveritualsongsofpraise.Pooh-PoohTheory:languagecamefrominterjections,whichexpresshespeaker’semotions.OriginsYo-He-HoTheory:languagecamefromthecriesuttered,duringstrainofwork.Ta-TaTheory:languagecamefromthecombinationofcertaingesturesandtonguesmovements.Bow-WowTheory:languagecamefromimitationofanimalcriesandothersoundsheardinnature.DesignfeaturesFunctionsLinguisticsdescribeslanguagesanddoesnotlaydownrulesofcorrectnesswhiletraditionalgrammaremphasizescorrectness.Linguistsregardthespokenlanguageasprimary,notthewrittenwhiletraditionalgrammaremphasizesthepriorityofwrittenlanguage.TraditionalgrammarisbasedonLatinandittriestoimposetheLatincategoriesandstructuresonotherlanguages.Linguisticsdescribeseachlanguageonitsownmerits.languageisasystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsusedforhumancommunication.Languageisasystem---elementsinitarenotarrangedandcombinedrandomly,butaccordingtosomerulesandprinciples.Languageisarbitrary---thereisnointrinsicconnectionbetweentheword(e.g.pen)andthething(e.g.whatwewritewith).Languageisvocal---theprimarymediumforalllanguagesissound.Languageisusedforhumancommunication---itishuman-specific,verydifferentformsystemsofanimalcommunication.Arbitrariness:thisreferstothefactthatthereisnologicalorintrinsicconnectionbetweenaparticularsoundandthemeaningitisassociatedwith.Forexample,Englishshouldusethesounds/dɔg/torefertotheanimaldog,butChineseshoulduse“gou”torefertotesameanimal.Adogmaybecalledapigifthefirstmanhappenstonameitasa“pig”.So,therelationshipbetweenthesoundsandtheirmeaningisquiteaccidental.Ofcourse,onomatopoeticwordssuchas“quack-quack”and“bang”areexceptions,butwordsthesearerelativelyfewcomparedwithethetotalnumberofwordsinlanguage.Duality:languageoperatesontwolevelsofstructure.Atonelevelareelementswhichhavenomeaninginthemselvesbutwhichcombinetoformunitsatanotherlevelwhichdohavemeaning.Productivity:productivityorcreativityreferstoman’slinguisticabilitywhichenableshimtoproduceandunderstandaninfinitelylargenumberofsentencesinournativelanguage,includingthesentenceswhichwereneverheardbefore.Interchangeability:interchangeabilityorreciprocityreferstothefactthatmancanbothproduceandreceivemessages,andhisrolesasaspeakerandahearercanbeexchangedatease.Displacement:displacementisapropertyoflanguageenablingpeopletotalkaboutthingsremoteeitherinspaceorintime.Specialization:specializationreferstothefactthatmandoesnothaveatotalphysicalinvolvementintheactofcommunication.Culturaltransmission:languageisculturallytransmitted.Itcannotbetransmittedthroughheredity.Ahumanbeingbroughtupinisolationssimplydoesn’tacquirelanguage,asisdemonstratedbythestudiesofchildrenbroughtupbyanimalswithouthumancontact.Animalstransmittheircriessimplyfromparenttochild,whilehumanbabydoesn’tspeakanylanguageatbirth.Whatlanguageababyisgoingtospeakisdeterminedbythecultureheisborninto.AChinesebabybornandbroughtupinLondonbyanEnglishfamilywillspeakEnglish,whileanEnglishkidbroughtupinaChinesecommunitywillspeakChinese.Phaticfunction/communionDirectivefunctionInformativefunctionInterrogativefunctionExpressivefunctionEvocativefunctionPerformativefunctionSomemajorconceptsinlinguisticsDescriptiveandprescriptivegrammarDescriptivegrammarsattempttotellwhatisinthelanguage;whileprescriptivegrammarstellpeoplewhatshouldbeinthelanguage.Astraditionalgrammarstriedtolaydownrules,theyareoftencalledprescriptive.Mostmodernlinguisticsisdescriptive.SynchronicanddiachroniclinguisticsWhenwestudylanguageatoneparticulartime,itiscalledsynchroniclinguistics.Whenwestudylanguagedevelopmentsthroughtime,itiscalleddiachronicorhistoricallinguistics.Synchroniclinguisticsfocusesonthestateoflanguageatanypointinhistorywhilediachroniclinguisticsfocusesonhedifferenceintwoormorethantwotatesoflanguageoverdecadesorcenturies.LangueandparoleF.deSaussuremadeanimportantdistinctionbetweenlangueandparole.Languereferstotheabstractlinguisticsystemsharedbyallthemembersofaspeechcommunity.Parolereferstoparticularrealizationsoflangue.Langueisthesocial,conventionalsideoflanguage,whileparoleisindividualizedspeech.CompetenceandperformanceAccordingtoChomsky,competencereferstotheknowledgethatnativespeakershaveoftheirlanguageasasystemofabstractformalrelations,whileperformancereferstotheiractuallinguisticbehavior,thatis,theactualuseofthisknowledge.SyntagmaticandparadigmaticrelationsSaussurehasputforwardanotherpairofconcepts:syntagmaticandparadigmaticrelations.Theformerreferstothehorizontalrelationshipbetweenlinguisticelements,whichformline