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Chapter1InvitationstoLinguistics1.3DesignfeaturesoflanguageThefeaturesthatdefineourhumanlanguagescanbecalleddesignfeatureswhichcandistinguishhumanlanguagefromanyanimalsystemofcommunication.1.3.1ArbitrarinessArbitrarinessreferstothefactthattheformsoflinguisticsignsbearnonaturalrelationshiptotheirmeanings.1.3.2DualityDualityreferstothepropertyofhavingtwolevelsofstructures,suchthatunitsoftheprimarylevelarecomposedofelementsofthesecondarylevelandeachofthetwolevelshasitsownprinciplesoforganization.1.3.3CreativityCreativitymeansthatlanguageisresourcefulbecauseofitsdualityanditsrecursiveness.Recursivenessreferstotherulewhichcanbeappliedrepeatedlywithoutanydefinitelimit.Therecursivenatureoflanguageprovidesatheoreticalbasisforthepossibilityofcreatingendlesssentences.1.3.4DisplacementDisplacementmeansthathumanlanguagesenabletheiruserstosymbolizeobjects,eventsandconceptswhicharenotpresent(intimeandspace)atthemomentofconversation.加1Discreteness（可分离性）Eachsoundinthelanguageistreatedasdiscrete.加2Iconicity拟象性:thedirect/non-arbitrary/non-symbolicrelationbetweenmeaningandform.Thereareresemblancesbetweenthelanguageformandwhattheyreferto.Thatrelationshipiscalledicon.Iconicityexistsinsounds,lexiconsandsyntax.Itisthemotivationbetweenlanguageformsandmeanings.Itisarelationofresemblancebetweenlanguageformandwhattheyreferto.1.5FunctionsoflanguageAsisproposedbyJacobson,languagehassixfunctions:1.Referential:toconveymessageandinformation;2.Poetic:toindulgeinlanguageforitsownsake;3.Emotive:toexpressattitudes,feelingsandemotions;4.Conative:topersuadeandinfluenceothersthroughcommandsandentreaties;5.Phatic:toestablishcommunionwithothers;6.Metalingual:toclearupintentions,wordsandmeanings.Halliday(1994)proposesatheoryofmetafunctionsoflanguage.Itmeansthatlanguagehasthreemetafunctions:1.Ideationalfunction:toconveynewinformation,tocommunicateacontentthatisunknowntothehearer;-–12.Interpersonalfunction:embodyingalluseoflanguagetoexpresssocialandpersonalrelationships;3.Textualfunction:referringtothefactthatlanguagehasmechanismstomakeanystretchofspokenandwrittendiscourseintoacoherentandunifiedtextandmakealivingpassagedifferentfromarandomlistofsentences.AccordingtoHuZhuanglin,languagehasatleastsevenfunctions:1.5.1InformativeTheinformativefunctionmeanslanguageistheinstrumentofthoughtandpeopleoftenuseittocommunicatenewinformation.1.5.2InterpersonalfunctionTheinterpersonalfunctionmeanspeoplecanuselanguagetoestablishandmaintaintheirstatusinasociety.1.5.3PerformativeTheperformativefunctionoflanguageisprimarilytochangethesocialstatusofpersons,asinmarriageceremonies,thesentencingofcriminals,theblessingofchildren,thenamingofashipatalaunchingceremony,andthecursingofenemies.1.5.4EmotivefunctionTheemotivefunctionisoneofthemostpowerfulusesoflanguagebecauseitissocrucialinchangingtheemotionalstatusofanaudiencefororagainstsomeoneorsomething.1.5.5PhaticcommunionThephaticcommunionmeanspeoplealwaysusesomesmall,seeminglymeaninglessexpressionssuchasGoodmorning,Godblessyou,Niceday,etc.,tomaintainacomfortablerelationshipbetweenpeoplewithoutanyfactualcontent.1.5.6RecreationalfunctionTherecreationalfunctionmeanspeopleuselanguageforthesheerjoyofusingit,suchasababy’sbabblingorachanter’schanting.1.5.7MetalingualfunctionThemetalingualfunctionmeanspeoplecanuselanguagetotalkaboutitself.E.g.Icanusetheword“book”totalkaboutabook,andIcanalsousetheexpression“thewordbook”totalkaboutthesign“b-o-o-k”itself.1.6Whatislinguistics?Linguisticsisthescientificstudyoflanguage.Itstudiesnotjustonelanguageofanyonecommunity,butthelanguageofallhumanbeings.1.7Mainbranchesoflinguistics1.7.1PhoneticsPhoneticsisthestudyofspeechsounds,itincludesthreemainareas:articulatoryphonetics,acousticphonetics,andauditoryphonetics.1.7.2Phonology-–2Phonologystudiestherulesgoverningthestructure,distribution,andsequencingofspeechsoundsandtheshapeofsyllables.1.7.3MorphologyMorphologystudiestheminimalunitsofmeaning–morphemesandword-formationprocesses.1.7.4SyntaxSyntaxreferstotherulesgoverningthewaywordsarecombinedtoformsentencesinalanguage,orsimply,thestudyoftheformationofsentences.1.7.5SemanticsSemanticsexamineshowmeaningisencodedinalanguage.1.7.6PragmaticsPragmaticsisthestudyofmeaningincontext.1.8Macrolinguistics1.8.1Psycholinguistics1.8.2Sociolinguistics1.8.3Anthropologicallinguistics1.8.4Computationallinguistics1.9Importantdistinctionsinlinguistics1.9.1Descriptivevs.prescriptiveTosaythatlinguisticsisadescriptivescienceistosaythatthelinguisttriestodiscoverandrecordtherulestowhichthemembersofalanguage-communityactuallyconformanddoesnotseektoimposeuponthemotherrules,ornorms,ofcorrectness.Prescriptivelinguisticsaimstolaydownrulesforthecorrectuseoflanguageandsettlethedisputesoverusageonceandforall.Forexample,“Don’tsayX.”isaprescriptivecommand;“Peopledon’tsayX.”isadescriptivestatement.Thedistinctionliesinprescribinghowthingsoughttobeanddescribinghowthingsare.Inthe18thcentury,allthemainEuropeanlanguageswerestudiedprescriptively.However,modernlinguisticsismostlydescriptivebecausethenatureoflinguisticsasasciencedeterminesitsp