English Linguistics
College of Foreign Languages
Why bother to study
1. It is a required course for English majors. 2. It is tested when you pursue your graduate study. 3. It is practically useful for studying literature and translation. 4. It is practically useful in helping you understand the relation between what you speak and where you live.
Arbitrariness can also be demonstrated on the syntactic level. e.g. for this sentence “小羊上山吃草”, which has only six Chinese characters, at least eight new sentences with distinctive meanings can be derived by altering the sequence of these characters.
3. Language is vocal
The primary medium of language is sound rather than word. written forms came much later than the spoken forms; we speak more everyday; we learn to speak first.
4. Use other related materials. 5. Relate it to your daily life.
General Linguistics
This is a general linguistics course. General linguistics is the study of the universal properties of language as they manifest themselves in the language system, or the study of the characteristics of language in general rather than of a particular language, from a theoretical, rather than applied, perspectivlity we mean that each language is organized at two levels or layers, one is sound and the other is meaning. The advantage of this division is that we can use limited number of sounds to produce unlimited number of sound combinations with distinctive meanings. e.g. in the language of English we use around 48 sounds to produce almost infinite number of sound combinations (words). This feature is very economical for the system of language.
Onomatopoeic words, as direct imitations of natural sounds, are not in conflict with this feature. e.g. a Chinese dog barks wangwangwang, while an English dog barks wowwow. Although they describe the same sound, the forms are different.
5. Language is human-specific
Language is possessed only by human beings, other communication systems as possessed by animals or many other life forms are not languages, i.e. they do not manifest such features as the so-called design features as possessed by human language.
The definition of language
Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication.
1. Language is a system
A basic observation is that each language contains two systems, a system of sound and a system of meaning, and language is a rulegoverned system.
Chapter One
The basic issues in this chapter: 1. What is Linguistics? 2. What is Language? 3. Design features of language. 4. Functions of language. 5. Four pairs of important distinctions.
4. Language is symbolic
Language is symbolic in the sense that all the sounds people produce and the ideas, concepts, objects, etc. that these sounds can refer to are bound up by convention. Linguistic units are conventional signs.
6. Language is for communication
The main and primary function of language is for human beings to communicate. People say things to each other to express their communicational needs, and language functions to communicate general attitudes toward life and others. In American linguist (1916-2000) Charles Hockett‟s words: specialization.
小羊上山吃草。小羊山上吃草。 小羊吃山上草。小羊吃上山草。 小羊吃草上山。小羊吃草山上。 小山上羊吃草。小山上草羊吃。 羊吃山上小草。羊吃小山上草。 羊吃小草山上。羊上山吃小草。 羊山上吃小草。山上吃草羊小。 小山上吃羊草。吃草小羊山上。 小山羊吃上草。小山羊吃草上。 吃草山上小羊。羊吃小草上山。
How to study
1. Preview and review 2. Discuss with your classmates & ask your teacher 3. Use the Internet
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1. Arbitrariness
By arbitrariness we mean that there is no logical or intrinsic connection between a particular sound and the meaning it is associated with. In animal communication systems, there are no arbitrary relations. e.g. In the 8-figure dance that a bee uses to indicate the honey source, there are fixed patterns (the direction of the bee‟s head and the way that it dances indicate the quantity and distance of the honey source)
What is linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of language.
Two important messages are conveyed in this definition: first, „scientific‟ communicates the method that should be adopted in linguistic study; second, „language‟ communicates the proper object of study for linguistics.
2. Language is arbitrary
The relation between expression and content is not natural but conventional. And this conventional relation varies from language to language. e.g. A is called a “老鼠” in Chinese, while a “rat” or “mouse” in English.