英语专业,考研,期末,语言学必备

Lecture2WhatisLanguage?----ThenatureofhumanlanguageContentsofthislecture1.Definitionsoflanguage2.Featuresoflanguage(chapter2)3.Originsoflanguage(chapter1)4.Functionsoflanguage5.FormsofLanguage(chapter16)6.Gesturesandsignsoflanguage(chapter15)Questions:1.Whatislanguage2.Whatifwehadnolanguage?3.Islanguageimportant?Isitmoreimportantthan(lessimportant,asimportantas)oureyes,hands,earsorlegs?1.Definitions《辞海》（1989年版，第446页）人类最重要的交际工具。它同思维有密切的联系，是人类思维和表达思想的手段，也是人类社会最基本的信息载体。人们借助语言保存和传递人类文明的成果。语言是人区别于其他动物的本质特征之一。共同的语言又常是民族的特征。语言是以语音为物质外壳，以语词为建筑材料，以语法为结构规律而构成的符号体系。语言是一种特殊的社会现象，它随着社会的产生而产生，发展而发展。语言没有阶级性，一视同仁地为社会各阶层服务。社会各阶级，阶层或社会集群也会影响到语言，因而造成语言在使用上的不同特点或差异。Language“isnottobeconfusedwithhumanspeech,ofwhichitisonlyadefinitepart,thoughcertainlyanessentialone.Itisbothasocialproductofthefacultyofspeechandacollectionofnecessaryconventionsthathavebeenadoptedbyasocialbodytopermitindividualstoexercisethatfaculty”.(FerdinanddeSaussure1857-1913)[Languageis]asetofsentences,eachinfiniteinlengthandconstructedoutofafinitesetofelements.(Chomsky,1957)Languageisapurelyhumanandnon-instinctivemethodofcommunicatingideas,emotionsanddesiresbymeansofvoluntarilyproducedsymbols.(Sapir,1921)“Alanguageisasystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsbymeansofwhichasocialgroupco-operates.”--BernardBloch(1907-1965)&GeorgeTrager(1906-1992):OutlineofLinguisticAnalysis(1942)“Alanguageisasystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsbymeansofwhichthemembersofasocietyinteractintermsoftheirtotalculture.”--GeorgeTrager:TheFieldofLinguistics(1949)“Languageisameansofverbalcommunication.Itisinstrumentalinthatcommunicatingbyspeakingorwritingisapurposefulact.Itissocialandconventionalinthatlanguageisasocialsemioticandcommunicationcanonlytakeplaceeffectivelyifalltheusersshareabroadunderstandingofhumaninteractionincludingsuchassociatedfactorsasnonverbalcues,motivation,andsocio-culturalroles.--Huzhuanglin(2006)Liao,Meizhen(2008)语言是什么？语言是人。人是什么？人是语言。Weexistbecausewespeak.（我说故我在）。Manismanonlywhenmandoesnotregard(take)languageasatool.（只有当人不把语言作工具的时候，人才成为真正意义的人）。当人把语言当作工具的时候，人以为自己是主人，其实人是奴隶。当人无论是在显意识还是潜意识中都不把语言当作工具的时候，人才能真正地得到解放，人文精神才真正地实现。否则人永远是奴隶。把语言看作工具永远无法得到语言和语言研究的真谛。QianGuanlian(2005)语言是人类的最后家园:人活在语言中,人不得不活在语言中,人活在程式性语言行为中.语言实际上是人类的一种社会活动.是一种行为.顾曰国(2008)“学一门语言是懂一个人的心声，懂一个文化。就是整个文化的大门给你开放了，整个文明给你开放了。我感觉语言这个东西，不要把它看成是一个简单的符号。它是一个心。另外对于个人来说，是一个文化的大门，一个文明的大门向你开放了，这个太有意思。我现在正在准备学蒙古语。我想看看蒙古人怎么看世界。”:Definedassuch,languageisseenasuniquetohumanbeings.Inbroadterms,linguistsallagreetodefinelanguageasasystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsusedforhumancommunication(theprimaryfunctionoflanguage).Languageisasocialact.Questions:1.Doothercreatureshavetheirowncommunicationsystems?2.Arecommunicationsystemspossessedbyothercreaturesqualitativelydifferentfromhumanlanguages?1)Communicationcanbeachievedbytwosignals:----specificallycommunicativesignals----unintentionallyinformativesignalsHumanlanguageisameansofintentionalcommunication.2)Humanlanguagepossessessomedesignfeatureswhichdifferentiateitfromallotherformsofsignalingandmakelanguageauniquetypeofcommunicationsystem.2.DesignFeaturesofhumanlanguages1)reflexivity2)arbitrariness3)duality4)displacement5)productivity6)culturaltransmissionReflexivityHumanbeingscanreflectonthewaytheycreatetheircommunicativemessagesorreviewinghowtheywork.Wecanuselanguagetotalkandthinkaboutlanguageitself.e.g.1)Whatdoyoumean?2)Imean…..3)word,sentence,this,that…..4)Iwishhewouldn’tusesomemanytechnicalterms.ArbitrarinessLanguageisarbitrary.Alllanguagesarearbitrary.ArbitrarinessTherelationshipbetweenspeechsoundsandthemeaningstheyrepresentinthelanguagesoftheworldis,forthemostpart,anarbitraryone.TheSwisslinguistdeSaussureregardedthelinguisticsignascomposedofsignifier(soundimage)andsignified(referent).Inhisview,thereisnoinherentrelationbetweenthetwo.Forthemajorityofanimalsignals,theredoesappeartobeaclearconnectionbetweentheconveyedmessageandthesignalusedtoconveyit.Animalsignalingisnon-arbitrary.DualityLanguageisorganizedattwolevelsorlayerssimultaneously.Thispropertyiscalledduality.Or‘doublearticulation’.Atonelevel,wehavedistinctsounds,and,atanotherlevel,wehavedistinctmeanings.Thisisimportantfortheworkingsoflanguage.Asmallnumberofsoundscanbegroupedandregroupedintoalargenumberofunitsofmeaning(words),andtheunitsofmeaningcanbearrangedandrearrangedintoaninfinitenumberofsentences.Noanimalcommunicationsystemhasduality.Thebarksofadogarenotanalyzable.Animalcommunicationsystemscannotbecutintosegmentsandthenbereorganizedintomeaningfulsequences.Inotherwords,humanlanguagesarediscretewhileanimalcommunicationsystemsarenon-discrete.Creativity/productivityLanguageisresourcefulbecauseofitsdualityanditsrecursiveness.Wecanuseittocreatenewmeanings.Wordscanbeusedinnewwaystomeannewthings,andcanbeinstantlyunderstoodbypeoplewhohavenevercomeacrossthatusagebefore.Creativity/productivityLanguageprovidesopportunitiesforsendingmessagesthathaveneverbeensentbeforeandforunderstandingnovelmessages.Thegrammaticalrulesandthewordsofalanguagearefinite,butthesentences