英语语言学知识整理

1、Chapter 1 Introduction语言学的定义：Linguistics is generally defined as the scientific study of language.问题：How do you interpret the following definition of linguistics: Linguistics is the scientific study of language?It is a scientific study because it is based on the systematic investigation of linguisti

2、c data, conducted with reference to some general theory of language structure.What the linguist has to do “first, then, but”:to observe and collect language facts and generalizations are made about them.to formulate some hypotheses about the language structure.to check the hypotheses thus formed rep

3、eatedly against the observed facts to fully prove their validity.The study of language as a whole is often called general linguistics. (普通语言学)问题: What are the major branches of linguistics? What does each of them study?phonetics（语音学）the study of soundsphonology（音位学）study how sounds are put together

4、and used to convey meaningmorphology（形态学）study the way in which symbols or morphemes are arranged and combined to form words.syntax（句法学）the study of rules of forming sentencessemantics（语义学）the study of meaningpragmatics（语用学） the context of language useSociolinguistics（社会语言学）：The studies of all these

5、 social aspects of language and its relation with society form the core of the branch.Psycholinguistics（语言心理学）：Relate the study of language to psychologyApplied linguistics（应用语言学）：In a narrow sense it refers to the application of linguistic theories and principles to language teaching, especially th

6、e teaching of foreign and second languages. Some important distinctions in linguistics:prescriptive（规定性）/descriptive（描写性）synchronic（共时）/diachronic（历时）speech（口语）/writing（书面语）langue（语言）/parole（言语）（the Swiss linguist F. de SaussureCourse in General Linguistics）competence（语言能力）/performance（语言应用）（the Ame

7、rican linguist N. Chomsky）traditional grammar （传统语法）/modern linguistics（现代语言学）问题：in what basic ways does modern linguistics differ from traditional grammar?linguistics is descriptive while traditional grammar is prescriptive.modern linguistics regards the spoken language as primary, not the written.

8、modern linguistics does not force languages into a Latin-based framework.问题：Is modern linguistics mainly synchronic or diachronic? Why? In modern linguistics, a synchronic (不考虑历史演进的, 限于一时的) approach seems to enjoy priority over a diachronic (探求现象变化的, 历时的) one. Because it is believed that unless the

9、various states of a language in different historical periods are successfully studied, it would be difficult to describe the changes that have taken place in its historical development. Synchronic descriptions are often thought of as being descriptions of language in its current existence, and most

10、linguistic studies are of this type.问题：For what reasons does modern linguistics give priority to speech rather than to writing?From the point of view of linguistic evolution, speech is prior to writing. The writing system of any language is always “invented” by its users to record speech when the ne

11、ed arises. Even in todays world there are still many languages that can only be spoken but not written. Then in everyday communication, speech plays a greater role than writing in terms of the amount of information conveyed.Spoken language reveals more true features of human speech while written lan

12、guage is only the “revised” record of speech. And linguists data for investigation and analysis are mostly drawn from everyday speech, which they regarded as authentic.语言的定义：Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication.Design features of language（7个识别特征）arbitrariness

13、任意性 （at the syntactic level）productivity 能产性，创造性 Secondary units（底层结构 sounds）duality 双层性 Primary units （上层结构 units of meaning）displacement 不受时空限制性（handle generalization and abstraction）cultural transmission 文化传递性interchangeability 互换性convention 约定性Functions of language：三大主要功能：The descriptive functio

14、nThe expressive functionThe social functionRoman Jacobson（6种首要因素，结构主义语言学家）speaker addresseremotive 感情功能addresseeconative 意动功能contextreferential所指功能messagepoetic 诗学功能contactphatic communion交感功能codemetalinguistic 元语言功能Other functions:phatic function 问候功能informative f. 信息功能interrogative f. 询问功能expressi

15、ve f. 表达功能evocative f. 感染功能directive f. 指令功能performative f. 行使（权力）功能M.A.K. Hallidayideationalinterpersonal（indicate/establish/maintain/social relationships）textual问题：How is Saussures distinction between langue and parole similar to Chomskys distinction between competence and performance?The distinct

16、ion between langue and parole was made by Saussure, langue is abstract; it is not the language people actually use. Parole is concrete; it refers to the naturally occurring language events. Langue is relatively stable; it does not change frequently, while parole varies from people to people, and fro

17、m situation to situation.The distinction between competence and performance proposed by the American linguists Chomsky, competence is a deal users knowledge of the rules of his language, and the performance is the actual realization of this knowledge in linguistic communication. Imperfect performanc

18、e is caused by social and psychological factors.Saussure makes this distinction in order to single out one aspect of language for serious study. In his opinion, parole is simple a mass of linguistic facts, too varied confusing for systematic investigation, and that linguistics should do is to abstra

19、ct langue from parole, i.e., to discover the regularities governing the actual use of language and make them the subjects of study of linguistics.Similar to Saussure, Chomsky thinks what linguists should study is the ideal speakers competence, not his performance, which is too haphazard to be studie

20、d. 问题：What are the main features of human language that have been specified by C. Hockett to show that it is essentially different from animal communication system?arbitrariness 任意性 （at the syntactic level）productivity 能产性，创造性 Secondary units（底层结构 sounds）duality 双层性 Primary units （上层结构 units of mean

21、ing）displacement 不受时空限制性（handle generalization and abstraction）cultural transmission 文化传递性interchangeability 互换性convention 约定性Chapter 2 PhonologyPhonetics: （语音学）the study of the phonic medium of languagelook at speech sounds from 3 distinct but related points of view. study the sounds from the speak

22、ers point of viewarticulatory phonetics（发音语音学） look at the sounds from the hearers point of viewauditory phonetics（听觉语音学） study the way sounds travel by looking at the sound wavesacoustic phonetics（声学语音学）study how sounds are produced, transmitted and perceived.Organs of speech:three important areas

23、The pharyngeal cavitythe throat the oral cavitythe mouth the nasal cavitythe nose The pharyngeal cavitywindpipe/glottis/larynx/vocal cords the oral cavitytongue/uvula/soft palate(velum)/hard palate/teeth ridge(alveolus) /teeth/lipsInternational Phonetic Alphabet （IPA）diacritics 附加符号broad transcripti

24、on（宽式标音）the transcription with letter-symbols onlynarrow transcription（严式标音）the transcription with letter-symbols together with the diacriticsClassification of English speech soundstwo broad categories of speech sounds in English: Vowels/consonantstwo ways to classify the English consonants: In term

25、s of manner of articulationIn terms of place of articulationIn terms of manner of articulation: Stops/fricatives/affricates/liquids/nasals/glidesIn terms of place of articulation: Bilabial/labiodental/dental/alveolar/palatal/velar/glottalbilabialLabio-dentaldentalalveolarpalatalvelarglottalstopsVLpt

26、kVDbdgfricativesVLfshVDvzaffricatesVL(t)tVD(d)dnasalsVDmnliquidsVDl/rglidesVDwjClassification of English vowelscriteria :（monophthongs）单元音 The position of the tongue in the mouth: front/central/back The openness of the mouth: close vowels/semi-close vowels/semi-open vowels/open vowels The shape of t

27、he lips: unrounded/rounded The length of the vowels: tense/laxfrontcentralbackclose i:u: i uSemi-close e:Semi-open:open aa:diphthongs 双元音/ ei / / ai / au / u / i / i / u /Phonology 音韵学，语音体系Difference of phonology and phonetics: Phonetics is interested in all the speech sounds used in all human langu

28、ages. Phonology aims to discover how speech sounds in a language form patterns and how these sounds are used to convey meaning in linguistic communication.Phone（音素）: A phone is a phonetic unit or segment.Phoneme（音位）: It is a phonological unit; it is a unit that is of distinctive value. It is an abst

29、ract unit. It is not any particular sound, but rather it is represented or realized by a certain phone in a certain phonetic context.Allophone（音位变体）: The different phones which can represent a phoneme in different phonetic environments are called the allophones of that phoneme.Phonemic contrast（音位对立

30、）Complementary distribution（音位变体的互补分布）Minimal pairs（最小对立体）：含音位的单词的全部音标Minimal set（最小对立集）：is used to find the important sounds in language.Phonological Analysis（音位分析）Principle: certain sounds cause changes in the meaning of a word or phase, whereas other sounds do not.Phonetically similar sounds: 描述音

31、位关系Free variants: 音位的自由变体The difference of pronouncing a sound caused by dialect, habit, individual difference or regional differences instead of by any distribution rule.Some rules in phonology sequential rules: 序列规则If a word begins with a / l / or a / r /, then the next sound must be a vowel.If th

32、ree consonants should cluster together at the beginning of a word, the combination should obey the following three rules:The first phoneme must be / s /The second phoneme must be / p / / t / / k /The third phoneme must be / l / r / w /assimilation rule:同化规则deletion rule：省略规则Suprasegmental features 超

33、音段特征超音段（比音位更大的语言单位） stress （单词，句子层面）：the location of stress in English distinguishes meaning.Syllable音节：A syllable nucleus (often a vowel) with optional initial and final margins (often consonants)单音节词多音节词英语单词都有重读音位学中，单词由音节构成，音节由音位构成。句子里读重音的词：Nouns/main verbs/adjectives/adverbs/numerals/demonstrativ

34、e pronouns tone （词汇层面）English is not a tone languageChinese is a typical tone language: Level/the second rise/the third fall-rise/the fourth fallintonation （句子层面）English has four basic types of intonation:The falling tone/the rising tone/the fall-rise tone/the rise-fall tone问题：What are the two major

35、 media of communication? Of the two, which one is primary and why?Speech and writing Speech Because from the point of view of linguistic evolution, speech is prior to writing. The writing system of any language is always “invented” by its users to record speech when the need arises. Even in todays w

36、orld there are still many languages that can only be spoken but not written. Then in everyday communication, speech plays a greater role than writing in terms of the amount of information conveyed.Spoken language reveals more true features of human speech while written language is only the “revised”

37、 record of speech. And linguists data for investigation and analysis are mostly drawn from everyday speech, which they regarded as authentic.问题：What is voicing and how is it caused?Vibration of the vocal cords results in a quality of speech sounds called “voicing”, which is a feature of all vowels a

38、nd some consonants in English.Chapter 3 Morphology 词法形态学1 定义和知识点：the part of the grammar that is concerned with word formation and word structurethe branch of linguistics that studies the internal structure of words, and the rules by which words are formed.it is essentially synchronic, primarily con

39、cerned with the forms of words through the use of morpheme construct.it overlaps with the other sub-branches as a word is a sound unit that has meaning and syntactic function.four facets: Sounds (phonology) Constructions (syntax) Meanings (semantics) Forms of words2 词性分类open class words: 名、动、形、副 are

40、 the content words of a language closed class words: 连、介、冠、代 are small and stable since few new words are added3 词素有关 Morpheme: 词素构成单词的最小意义单位，包括声音和意义，abstract units(任意性) Morph: 形素 the sound of a morpheme 声音 Allomorphs: 语素变体 The variant forms of a morpheme4 分类morphemes Free morpheme(自由词素): A morpheme

41、 which can be a word by itself bound morpheme(粘着词素)：A morpheme that must be attached to another one lexical morphemes/ derivational morphemes(派生词素,包括前后缀): They are used to derive new words, also known as derivational morphemes inflectional morphemes(屈折词素)：词类不发生变化5 单词定义：WordA word is a unit of expres

42、sion which is intuitively recognized by native speakers in both spoken and written language.A word is a basic and minimal units of a language to make sentences, which are combinations of words according to syntactic rules. A word is a lexeme(词位). A lexeme is a word in an abstract sense.A word can be

43、 defined as a grammatical unit.6 单词结构：Structure Root: the root constitutes the core of the word and carries the major component of its meaning. Roots belong to lexical category.Stem: it is the form of the word to which both inflectional and derivational morphemes can be added.Base: 词基Affixes: they a

44、re forms that are attached to words or word elements to modify meaning or function. All of them are bound morphemes and dont belong to a lexical category.7 单词合成：Word formationmorphological rulesproductive morphological rulesderivationcompounds 几点注意：When the two words are in the same grammatical cate

45、gory, the compound will be like this: n. + n. / adj. + adj.When the two words fall into different categories: n. + adj. / v. + n. （不总是这样）The meaning of a compound is not always the sum of the meanings of its parts.8 单词合成过程：compoundingaffixation or derivation Blends 混合词 Abbreviation 缩略语shortening acr

46、onyms 按音节拼读首字母的单词 Initials 按字母拼读的单词 Clippings 缩写词backformation 逆构词法9 要点Grammatical morphemes are grammatical in nature, functioning as grammatical markers or show syntactic relations.They consist of both inflectional morphemes and some free ones like in, and, do, they, while, where, but and that, wh

47、ich are traditionally known as functional words.Chapter 4 Syntax 句法1 定义It is a branch of linguistics that studies the rules that govern the formation of sentences.2 四大派别traditional syntax 传统学派structural syntax 结构主义学派（索绪尔）transformational syntax 生成学派（乔姆斯基）（本书重点学习）functional syntax 功能学派（哈里德）3 范畴Catego

48、ries Noun (N) Verb (V) Major lexical categories Adjective (A) Preposition (P)Word-level categories Determiner (Det) 限定词/成分 Degree words (Deg) 程度词 Minor lexical categories Qualifier (Qual) 修饰语 Auxiliary (Aux) 助词 Conjunction (Con) 连词Syntactic categories 句法范畴的定义：The fact that words in all human languag

49、es can be grouped together into a relatively small number of classes.注：The word-level categories are the most central categories to the syntactic study.Major lexical categories (主要词汇范畴) play a very important role in sentence formation and they are often assumed to be the heads around which phrases a

50、re built.Minor lexical categories (次要词汇范畴) Meaning 意义Three criteria to determine a words category inflection 屈折变化 Distribution 分布? It is misleading to assume that a words category can be told straightforward from its meaning:nouns do not concretely reveal their entities.some words tend to be verbs b

51、ut they can also be used as nouns.words with the same or similar meanings sometimes belong to different word categories. Phrases are syntactic units that are built around a certain word category.The phrase is built around the word category.The word category determines the category of phrase.4 要点生成学派

52、认为句子由短语构成。短语单词词素音节 短语层面任何短语都有2个层面 单词层面5 the most commonly recognized and discussed phrasal categories:NP: noun phraseVP: verb phraseAP: adjective phrasePP: prepositional phrase6 the elements of phrases that are formed of more than one word:head/termed head 中心语/中心成分: The word around which a phrase is

53、 formedspecifiers 标志语/标志成分：The words on the left side of the heads complements 补语/补足语/补足成分：The words on the right side of the heads7 phrase structure rule 短语结构规则定义：A special type of grammatical mechanism that regulates the arrangement of elements that makes up a phrase.The phrase structure rule for NP, VP, AP, PPNP(Det) N (PP) VP(Qual) V (NP) AP(Deg) A (PP) PP(Deg) P (NP) XP rule公式一：XP (specifier) X (complement)X Theory （X 标杆理论）X : The intermediate l