现代语言学考试复习要点1. Definition of languageLanguage is a system of arbitrary(随意的) vocal symbols used for human communication..2. microlinguistics and macrolinguisticsmicrolinguistics: is concerned with the study of language or languages per se, not concern other field of study such as sociology, psychology, literature, computer science, etc.Macrolinguistics:is concerned with the study of language which involves other discipline (interdisciplinary) sociolinguistics: Psycholinguistics: Applied linguistics:3 langue and parole(语言和言语) 由Swiss linguist F. de Saussure 提出的Langue r efers to the abstract linguistic system shared by all the members of a speech community.(conventions and rules; abstract; relatively stable;)Parole refers to the realization of a langue in actual use.(the concrete use of the conventions and rules; concrete, refers to the naturally occurring language events; varies from person to person, situation to situation)区别的目的：parole is simple a mass of linguistic facts, too variedand confusing for systematic investigation and what linguistsshould do is to abstract langue from parole(发现规律)。

4．competence and performance(能力和运用)：American linguist A. Chomsky proposed in the late 1950s.Competence: the ideal user’s knowledge of the rules of his language Performance: the actual realization of this knowledge in linguistic communication.犯错误的原因是：though internalized, but with social and psychological factors such as stress, anxiety and embarrassment. .5．prescriptive VS descriptive(规定性和描述性):descriptive: describes and analyses the language people actuallyuse, // descriptive is a distinctive feature in modern linguisticstudies.prescriptive:aims to lay down rules for ‘correct’behaviour(whatshould say or not say, grammar and usage), 18th century prescriptiveapproach to prescribe a set of rules for the native speakers to learnto follow, but it played an important role in the standardisation ofthe English language.6synchronic vs diachronic（共时性和历时性）：Synchronic: the description of a language at some point in time // isfocused on a particular phase, usually the current phase, of thedevelopment of the language, paying little attention to its relation tothe prior phases in its history of development. Linguistic studiestoday are usually synchronic in nature.Diachronic: the description of a language as it changes throughtime(historical or evolutionary study of language), known ashistorical linguistics. Linguistic studies in the 19th century wereusually classified as studies of Historical Linguistics.7speech vs writing(口语和书面语)Modern linguistics gives priority to the spoken form of language,which is considered as more basic than the written form for anumber of reasons----speech precedes writing; more spokenlanguage; spoken language for a wider purpose and larger load ofcommunication.8. Deep structure and surface structureDeep structure: the abstract syntactic representation of a sentence. It is believed that phrase structure rules, with the insertion of the lexicon, generate sentences at the level of deep structure.Surface structure: the directly observable syntactic form of the sentence. The application of transformational rules transforms a sentence from the level of deep structure to that of surface structure.9. Universal GrammarA theory which claims to account for the grammatical competence of every adult no matter what language he or she speaks. It claims that every speaker knows a set of principles (原理)which apply to all languages and also a set of Parameters(参量)that can vary from one language to another, but only within certain limits.According to UG theory, acquiring a language means applying the principles of UG to a particular language and learning which value is appropriate for each parameter.10. The naming theory(命名论):According to this theory, the l inguistic forms or symbols, in other words, the word s used in a language are taken to be l abels of the objects they stand for. 11．The conceptualist view（意念观）The conceptualist view holds that there is no direct link between a linguistic form and what it refers to (i.e. between language and the real world); rather, in the interpretation of meaning they are linked through the mediation of concepts in the mind.12 Contextualism （语境论）Contextualism is based on the presumption that one can derive meaning from observable contexts: situational context and the linguistic context.(1) Situational contex t: Every utterance occurs in a particular spatiotemporal situation, the main components of which include, apart from the place and time of the utterance, the speaker and the hearer, the actions they are performing at the time, the various objects and events existent in the situation.e.g. Do you know the meaning of war?a. It may mean Do you know the meaning of the word wa r? ,when said by a language teacher to a class of students.b. It may mean War produces death, injury and suffering, when said by an injured soldier to a politician who favours war.(2) Linguistic context: is concerned with the probability of a word’s collocation with another word, which forms part of the “meaning’ of the word, i.e. its collocative meaning, and also with the part of text that precedes and follows a particular utterance.Collocative meaning: Black hair,// black coffee(浓咖啡)Text position: The seal could not be found. The zoo keeper became worried.The seal could not be found,. The king became worried.13. Sense(系统意义) and reference（所指意义）(1) Sense: It refers to the meaning that lies in the relation or the lexical contrasts among linguistic forms themselves. It is concerned with all the features of the linguistic form; it is the collection of all the features of thelinguistic form; it is abstract and de-contextualized. It is the aspect of meaning dictionary compilers are interested in.For example: The word dog is given the definition -----A domesticated carnivorous mammal (Canis familiaris) related to the foxes and wolves and raised in a wide variety of breeds. This does not refer to any particular dog that exists in the real world, but apply to any animal that meets the features described in the definition. So this is the sense of the word dog. Sense is intra-linguistic in nature.系统意义是指附加意义，涉及语言内部关系，一个词的系统意义通过语别的词的对照关系表现出来。