Trends-in-linguistics-theory

TrendsinLinguisticTheoryBloomfieldTheoryTheprincipalrepresentativeofAmericandescriptivelinguisticsisL.BloomfieldwhoisalsooneofthegreatestfounderofAmericanStructuralism.ForBloomfield,linguisticsisabranchofpsychology,andspecificallyofthepositivisticbrandofpsychologyknownasBehaviourism.Behaviorismisaprincipleofscientificmethod,basedonthebeliefthathumanbeingcannotknowanythingtheyhavenotexperienced.Stimulus-Response-Reinforcement(StimulusResponseTheory)S-r--------------------s-R•Fromthat,Bloomfieldputforwardthewellknownformula:•S→r---------------------s→R•HereSstandsforpracticalstimulus,rstandsforthesubstitutereactionofspeech,sstandsforthesubstitutestimulus,andRstandsforexternalpracticalreaction.•S—外部刺激r—言语的代替反应•s—言语的代替性刺激R—外部的实际反应Contributions1.AmericanStructuralism:Descriptive,notexplanatory;–Empirical,butnotveryproductive;–Concentratesonparticulars,payinglittleattentiontomeaning(universals);–Doingexhaustiveanalysisofallcontrasts2.LanguageTeaching:constantpracticeandrepitition(drilling)3.LinguisticSocietyofAmerica(1924)&itsjournalLanguage4.LanguageAhistorical(historicalfactorsnotforegroundedinstructuralism):Synchronicmodeofthinkingexcludesthehistoricalcontingencies.Anti-human(ignoranceofthecreativityoftheauthor):Theauthor’sintentionisignoredforthemeaning(s)ofaliteraryworkshouldbedeterminedwithinthatstructureofwhichitisapart.Lossoftheoriginalaestheticinformation:Whileseekingtheunderlyingstructuralpattern,lotsofaestheticmeaningsmightbelostinthisprocess.CommentsonstructuralismFomfield,linguisticsisabranchofpsychology,andspecificallyofthepositivisticbrandofpsychologyknownasBEHAVIOURISM.Malinowskisaidthatlanguage“istoberegardedasamodeofaction,ratherthanasacounterpartofthought”.语言应该被当作一种行为模式，而不是什么与思维相对应的东西。Accordingtohim,themeaningofanutterancedoesnotcomefromtheideasofthewordscomprisingitbutfromitsrelationtothesituationalcontextinwhichtheutteranceoccurs.根据他的观点，语言的意义并不是来自于构成语言的词的意义，而是来自于话语所发生的上下文之间的关系。Malinowski’sTheoriesNeo-FirthianTheory▪Firthregardedlanguageasasocialprocess,asameansifsociallife,ratherthansimplyasasetofagreed-uponsemioticsandsigns.▪Heheldthatinordertolivehumanbeingshavelearn,andlearninglanguageisameansofparticipationinsocialactivities.▪Languageisameansofdoingthingsandofmakingothersdothings.Itmeansofactingandliving.•Firth’ssecondimportantcontributiontolinguisticsishismethodofprosodicanalysis,calledprosodicphonology.•弗斯对语言学的第二个重要贡献是韵律分析，叫做韵律音位学。•Firthpointedoutthatinactualspeech,itisnotphonemesthatmakeuptheparadigmaticrelations,butphonematicunits.•在实际话语中构成聚合关系的并不是音位，而是准音位单位.FeaturesofChomskyanTG•Rationalism(vs.empiricism)–Empiricistevidenceisoftenunreliable•Innateness(vs.behaviorism)–Childrencanacquireacomplicatedlanguageonthebasisofverylimitedexposuretospeech.–ThisindicatesthatsomeUGisinnatefaculty.Deductivemethodology(vs.inductive)FromhypothesestodataComputationsystemEmphasisonexplanation(vs.description)Degreesofadequacyforlinguistictheories:observational,descriptive,explanatoryFormalizationSymbols,rules,andcomputationsGenerativeFromdeeplevel(universal)tosurfacelevelFeaturesofChomskyanTGEmphasisonlinguisticcompetence-ObjectofstudyEmphasisonlinguisticuniversals-Studyinguniversalsinordertorevealtheessenceofhuman(inherited)languagefacultyFeaturesofChomskyanTGTGGrammarhascausedplentyofcontroversyanddispute