Study of language changes through time
“English Language History”
Speech vs. writing “口语”和 “书面语” Finding differences
Whenever I’d visited there before I’d end up feeling that other people might get hurt if I tried to do anything more.
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Time allocation of teaching periods
In this semester, 12 chapters of textbook will be learnt in total 32 teaching periods:
One chapter a week. For difficult chapters, 2 or more weeks will be required (e.g. chapter 1 Introduction).
Prescriptive vs. descriptive “规定式” 和“描写式”
Prescriptive
Descriptive
Prescribe how things should Describe how things are be
Lay down rules e.g. Do/Don’t say …
Synchronic vs. diachronic “共时”和 “历时”
Synchronic
Diachronic
Study of language at some point of time in history
e.g. “The Structure of Shakespeare’s Language”
Special requirements
1. To attend the classes on time 2. To close your mobile phones 3. To get my permission if you want to leave
for a moment while having a class 4. To tell me directly if you have any
Linguistics focuses on the study of language and its use in society. As a linguist, you will learn to make connections between theoretical, descriptive and applied studies which address problems and issues in human communication. Language is one of our most valuable and characteristic assets and Linguistics studies how we make use of language within complex social behaviours and interactions.
Synchronic vs. diachronic “共时”和 “历时”
Speech vs. writing “口语”和 “书面语”
Langue & parole “语言” 和 “言语”
Competence & performance 语言能力和语言运用
Traditional grammar & modern linguistics 传统语法和现代语言学
A film
Emotional because of intonation
A complete picture
Seeking echoes in reader’s mitographic writing 象形文字：drawing pictures to represent events/objects
Every previous visit had left me with a sense of risk to others in future attempts at action on my part.
Spoken language
Written language
Dynamic
Static
Relies heavily on verbs Relies heavily on nouns
polyglot
A polyglot is a person who speaks or understands many languages.
通晓数种语言的人
morphology
Morphology
words
Why study language?
Record facts e.g. People do/don’t say …
It’s wrong to use singlish.
Singaporeans use standard English for formal situations and singlish for informal occasions.
A myth about language: English is more difficult to learn than Chinese???
Important distinctions in linguistics
Prescriptive vs. descriptive “规定式” 和“描写式”
suggestions for my lectures. 5. To write a research paper. (4-5 students
a group) 6. To preview each chapter beforehand.
Teaching Focus for linguistics