“discover, for each language under study, its own particular grammatical structure ”
“to develop descriptive categories appropriate to it” but not impose the rules of other it。 languages or traditional grammar on it。
Descriptive VS Prescriptive
• describing shows are” “how things are • the prescribing lays down “how things ought to be”.
For instance A descriptive one would say, “People do/don’t say X ”, while the latter one would present as “Do/Don’t say X ”
Three Principles
• When one individual is stimulated, his speech can make another individual react accordingly • The division of labor and all human activities based on the division of labor are dependent on language • The distance between the speaker and hearer, two separate nervous systems, is bridged up by sound waves
Comparison between Traditional and Structural Grammar
• The structural approach to analyze “how words form and how those words are used together to form larger structures” structures • the traditional grammar focuses mainly on “the meaning of the collection of words portrayed”
American Structuralism
潘超博 惠 玲 王 倩 李婷婷
Contents
• • • • • • Background Three Periods Features Advantages Disadvantages Influences
Background
Brief Introduction
BACK
Edward Sapir
• 1884-1939 • Anthropological linguist who was influenced by Boas • Book: Language: An Introduction to the study of Speech( in 1921)
non“a purely human and non-instinctive method of communicating ideas, emotions and desires by means of a system voluntarily produced symbols.” basic views on relationship between language, race and culture are: race, language and culture are not evenly distributed; the history of language and culture cannot be accounted for in terms of race. race
S r……….s R
• “S” stands for practical stimulus, • “r” stands for the substitute reaction of speech, • “s” stands for the substitute stimulus, • “R” stands for external practical reaction reaction.
“linguistic is a branch of psychology, and specifically of the positivistic brand of psychology known as behaviorism.” stimuluslanguage is “a chain of stimulus-response” behavior and believes that the linguistic description should base on the observation of language.
• American descriptive linguistic • a branch of synchronic linguistics • the beginning of 1900
•
Reason
American anthropologists and linguists • Features of American Indian language • War and Preaching • Drawback of traditional ways
• A Synchronic description means taking “a fixed instant as its point of observation” observation” • The Diachronic description means studying “a language through the course of its history”
Three Periods
Boas-Sapir Period (1911-1932) Franz Boas Edward Sapir Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis The Bloomfieldian Period (1933-1950) The Bloomfield the man Bloomfield and Behaviourism The Post-Bloomfieldian Period (19521956)
Disadvantages of American Structuralism
• Neglected Syntax • Ignored Meaning • Bottom-Up
The Post-Bloomfieldian Period
• 1952-1956 • Representatives C. Hockett Pike Z. Harris • Characters a strict empiricism
Z. Harris
• most distinguished one • His Methods in Structural Linguistics published in 1951 marks “the maturity of American descriptive linguistics. ”
His Influences
Leading the development of structural linguistics in the United States during the 1930s and the 1940s. In the history of American linguistics, these years between 1933 - 1950 is called "the century of Bloomfield “
Features of American Structuralism
• ห้องสมุดไป่ตู้ynchronic vs. Diachronic
• Descriptive VS Prescriptive
• Structuralism VS Traditional Grammar
Synchronic vs. Diachronic
His works
• An Introduction to the Study of Language （《语言 究导论》 研 究导论》 ） published in 1919 based on the psychology to illustrate the language • Language (《语言论》） (《语言论》 published in 1933 a revised version of An Introduction to the Study of Language
Advantages of American Structuralism
a great landmark in the linguistics history vividly important in documenting the diversity of human languages”
describing techniques
Background
Theoretical foundation
• 哲学基础：经验主义 哲学基础： • 心理学基础：行为主义 心理学基础：
• 结构主义三大流派中影响最 大的一个（布拉格学派、 大的一个（布拉格学派、哥 本哈根学派和美国描写语言 学派）。 学派）。 • 以鲍阿斯为代表，对美洲的 以鲍阿斯为代表， 本土语言———印第安语系 本土语言 印第安语系 诸语言调查和研究 • 彻底摆脱欧洲的历史比较语 言学的传统， 言学的传统，完全以描写的 方法对所调查的语言进行整 理，将语言的结构系统清楚 地呈现出来， 地呈现出来，不讲语言的历 史渊源和系属关系， 史渊源和系属关系，所以称 为描写语言学。 为描写语言学。