Chapter1Theoriginsoflanguage

1、12I have never met a person who is not interested in language. Steven Pinker, The Language Instinct34Warming up: some linguistic phenomena*very deadvery oldMy, Damn itGood morning!你吃饭了没有？小季，老季，季老你现在漂亮多了。A.有水吗？B. 我烧水的壶坏了。5A man that is eating a flower is in the garden.Is a man that is eating a flower

2、 in the garden?*Is a man that eating a flower is in the garden?Hei asks Tom to take care of himi.He asks Tomi to take care of himselfi. 张三i问李四是否喜欢他ij。张三i问李四j是否喜欢自己ij。张三叫李四i要照顾好自己i。爸爸，你自己在家是否无聊？*无吗？6What is the course about?This course provides some answers to basic questions about the nature of huma

3、n language. We will study some core aspects of language in detail, such as the sound of language, the word formation of language, the sentence structure of language, etc. In addition, wee will address a variety of questions, i.e. how language is related to cultures and society, and how language is u

4、sed in context, etc. 7Goals of the CourseBy the end of the course, you may be able tohave fun learning about human language;be familiar with some basic concepts of language and the research objects of linguisticsget a knowledge of the main theories of modern linguistics;explain some linguistic pheno

5、mena with relevant linguistic theories.8RequirementsDo the assigned readings before each class meeting;Be an active participant in classroom discussions;Present a team-work report on a certain topic;Good attendance at classes is mandatory;A course paper on a certain linguistic problem is required;A

6、final exam will be covered.Schedule of Class9中国知网http:/ What is language?11What do we know when we know a language?Knowing the sound system of a languageThe inventory of soundsWhich sounds may start a word, end a word, and follow each other. Ex. Nkrumah (The name of the former presedent of Ghana), s

7、ink, *nking (not possible for English)12Knowledge of wordsWhat concepts of meanings certain sound sequences signify. odun (wood in Turkish)wartawan (reporter in Indonesian) asa (morning in Japanese)Yuyan (语言)Arbitrary relation between words and meaning13OnomatopoeicBuzz/murmur嗡嗡Bowwow in English; 汪汪

8、汪in ChineseCock-a-doodle-doo: the crow of a roster in English; kukkokiekuu in Finish14Knowing how to combine words to form phrases, and phrases to form sentences.This is the house.This is the house that Jack built.This is the house that Jack built.This is malt that lay in the house that Jack built.1

9、5Knowledge of sentence and non-sentencesJohn kissed the little old lady who owned the shaggy dog.*Who owned the shaggy dog John kissed the little old lady .16“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with god, and the Word was God.” (The Gospel according to John 1:1) “And the Lord said, Behol

10、d, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do; and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.” (Genesis, Chapter 11:6)God created Adam and “whatsoever Adam called everyliving creature, that was the name thereof”. Alternatively, followi

11、ng a Hindu tradition, language came from Sarasvati, wife of Brahma, creator of the universe.The divine source17Is it possible to do experiments on that?Experiments on The divine sourceEgyptian pharaoh Psammetichus (600 BC) Two new born babies; Phrygian word bekos breadKing James the Fourth of Scotla

12、nd (AD 1500) HebrewProblem: “It is unfortunate that all other cases of children who have been discovered living inisolation, without coming into contact with human speech, tend not to confirmthe results of these types of divine-source experiments.” p218Condillac Rousseau Herder 卢梭说需要造就了第一句手语，激情逼出第一句

13、言语。孔狄亚克认为人创造了言语是为了表达他们的需要，卢梭认为这是站不住脚的。 他认为，语言起源于精神的需要，也就是激情，激情促使人们联合，生存之必然性迫使人们互相逃避。逼迫人类说出第一个词的不是饥渴而是爱、憎、怜悯、愤怒（卢梭，论语言的起源） 赫尔德在他的论文里批驳了神创语言的观点，他指出语言的不完美性绝不能让我们相信语言是出自完美的上帝之手。他肯定上帝的存在和万能，但他却指出上帝创造了人的心智，而不是人的语言。人的语言是由人类的心智创造的。19The natural-sound sourcebow-wow theory: primitive words could have been imi

14、tationsof the natural sounds which early men and women heard around them. onomatopoeicProblem: soundless & abstract things; a language cannot be only a set of words used as names for things.natural cries of emotion (The pooh-pooh theory)Problem: sudden intakes of breath (interjections) vs. exhaled b

15、reath (normal language).yo-he-hotheory: a set of grunts, groans and curses involved in physical effortProblem: It does not, however, answer our question regarding the origins of the sounds produced.20The oral-gesture source: a link between physical gesture and orally produced sound.Glossogenetics (言

16、语遗传学)At some early stage, our ancestors made a very significant transition to an upright posture, with bi-pedal (on two feet) locomotion, and a revised role for the front limbs.physical differences between the skull of a gorilla and that of a Neanderthalmanfrom around 60,000 years ago.Physiological

17、adaptationTeeth, lips, mouth, larynx and pharynxLateralized human brainThe key point for human language: producing a specific and consistent noise/combination of soundsInteractions and transactions (参看人类沟通的起源，迈克尔.托马塞洛，商务印书馆，2012)212223242526272829303132333435363738394041424344COMPUTATIONAL LINGUISTI

18、CS is an interdisciplinary field which centers around the use of computers to process or produce human language (i.e. natural language).45Some Important DistinctionsPrescriptive(规定式规定式) VS descriptive（描述式）（描述式）l9a Dont say X.l9b People do not say X.Prescriptive: If the linguistics aims to lay down t

19、he rules for “correct and standard” behavior in using language, i.e. to tell people what they should and should not say. It is prescribing how things ought to be.Descriptive: If a linguistic study aims to describe and analyze the language people actually use, it is descriptive. It is describing how

20、things are. Modern linguistics is descriptive, whereas traditional grammar was strongly prescriptive.46Synchronic and DiachronicSynchronic(共时共时): The description of language at some point of time in history. e.g. A Grammar of Modern Greek, Shakespeares language, etc.Diachronic(历时历时):The description

21、of language as its changes through time. It is historical study of language. It studies the historical development of language over a period of time. e.g. How is the Indo-European family develops through history? 47Langue and ParoleMade by Saussure（Father of modern linguistics）Abstract vs. concrete:

22、llangue(语言),is the abstract linguistic system shared by all the members of a speech community, or the set of conventions and rules that the language users all have to abide by.lparole（言语）, the actual phenomena or data of linguistics, refers to the realization of language in actual use, the concrete

23、use of the conventions and the application of rules. It is the naturally occurring of language events.48Stable vs. varyingLangue is stable. It does not change frequently. But parole is not. It varies from person to person and from situation to situation.The distinction is for the systemic study of l

24、anguage. The objects of linguists is the langue of each community.49Competence and PerformanceMade by Chomsky NoamCompetence: an ideal language users underlying knowledge about the system of rules.Performance: the actual use of language in concrete situation.( Chomsky, 1965:3)As a language user we have the intuitive to grasp the rules of the language, and though we may not be able to state the rules ex