考试版语言学

第一部分各章节提纲笔Chapter1InvitationstoLinguistics1.1 Whystudylanguage? 1. Languageisveryessentialtohumanbeings. 2. Inlanguagetherearemanythingsweshouldknow. 3. Forfurtherunderstanding,weneedtostudylanguagescientifically.1.2 Whatislanguage? Languageisameansofverbalcommunication.Itisasystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsusedforhumancommunication.1.3 Designfeaturesoflanguage Thefeaturesthatdefineourhumanlanguagescanbecalleddesignfeatureswhichcandistinguishhumanlanguagefromanyanimalsystemofcommunication.ArbitrarinessArbitrarinessreferstothefactthattheformsoflinguisticsignsbearnonaturalrelationshiptotheirmeanings.DualityDualityreferstothepropertyofhavingtwolevelsofstructures,suchthatunitsoftheprimarylevelarecomposedofelementsofthesecondarylevelandeachofthetwolevelshasitsownprinciplesoforganization.CreativityCreativitymeansthatlanguageisresourcefulbecauseofitsdualityanditsrecursiveness.Recursivenessreferstotherulewhichcanbeappliedrepeatedlywithoutanydefinitelimit.Therecursivenatureoflanguageprovidesatheoreticalbasisforthepossibilityofcreatingendlesssentences.DisplacementDisplacementmeansthathumanlanguagesenabletheiruserstosymbolizeobjects,eventsandconceptswhicharenotpresent(intimeandspace)atthemomentofconversation.1.4 Originoflanguage 1. Thebow-wowtheoryInprimitivetimespeopleimitatedthesoundsoftheanimalcallsinthewildenvironmenttheylivedandspeechdevelopedfromthat. 2. Thepooh-poohtheoryInthehardlifeofourprimitiveancestors,theyutterinstinctivesoundsofpains,angerandjoywhichgraduallydevelopedintolanguage. 3. The“yo-he-ho”theoryAsprimitivepeopleworkedtogether,theyproducedsomerhythmicgruntswhichgraduallydevelopedintochantsandthenintolanguage.1.5 Functionsoflanguage AsisproposedbyJacobson,languagehassixfunctions: 1. Referential:toconveymessageandinformation; 2. Poetic:toindulgeinlanguageforitsownsake; 3. Emotive:toexpressattitudes,feelingsandemotions; 4. Conative:topersuadeandinfluenceothersthroughcommandsandentreaties; 5. Phatic:toestablishcommunionwithothers; 6. Metalingual:toclearupintentions,wordsandmeanings. Halliday(1994)proposesatheoryofmetafunctionsoflanguage.Itmeansthatlanguagehasthreemetafunctions:1. Ideationalfunction:toconveynewinformation,tocommunicateacontentthatisunknowntothehearer;2. Interpersonalfunction:embodyingalluseoflanguagetoexpresssocialandpersonalrelationships;3. Textualfunction:referringtothefactthatlanguagehasmechanismstomakeanystretchofspokenandwrittendiscourseintoacoherentandunifiedtextandmakealivingpassagedifferentfromarandomlistofsentences.AccordingtoHuZhuanglin,languagehasatleastsevenfunctions:Informative Theinformativefunctionmeanslanguageistheinstrumentofthoughtandpeopleoftenuseittocommunicatenewinformation.Interpersonalfunction Theinterpersonalfunctionmeanspeoplecanuselanguagetoestablishandmaintaintheirstatusinasociety.Performative Theperformativefunctionoflanguageisprimarilytochangethesocialstatusofpersons,asinmarriageceremonies,thesentencingofcriminals,theblessingofchildren,thenamingofashipatalaunchingceremony,andthecursingofenemies.Emotivefunction Theemotivefunctionisoneofthemostpowerfulusesoflanguagebecauseitissocrucialinchangingtheemotionalstatusofanaudiencefororagainstsomeoneorsomething.haticcommunion Thephaticcommunionmeanspeoplealwaysusesomesmall,seeminglymeaninglessexpressionssuchasGoodmorning,Godblessyou,Niceday,etc.,tomaintainacomfortablerelationshipbetweenpeoplewithoutanyfactualcontent.Recreationalfunction Therecreationalfunctionmeanspeopleuselanguageforthesheerjoyofusingit,suchasababy’sbabblingorachanter’schanting.Metalingualfunction Themetalingualfunctionmeanspeoplecanuselanguagetotalkaboutitself.E.g.Icanusetheword“book”totalkaboutabook,andIcanalsousetheexpression“thewordbook”totalkaboutthesign“b-o-o-k”itself.1.6 Whatislinguistics? Linguisticsisthescientificstudyoflanguage.Itstudiesnotjustonelanguageofanyonecommunity,butthelanguageofallhumanbeings.1.7 MainbranchesoflinguisticsPhoneticsPhoneticsisthestudyofspeechsounds,itincludesthreemainareas:articulatoryphonetics,acousticphonetics,andauditoryphonetics.honologyPhonologystudiestherulesgoverningthestructure,distribution,andsequencingofspeechsoundsandtheshapeofsyllables.MorphologyMorphologystudiestheminimalunitsofmeaning–morphemesandword-formationprocesses.SyntaxSyntaxreferstotherulesgoverningthewaywordsarecombinedtoformsentencesinalanguage,orsimply,thestudyoftheformationofsentences.Semantics Semanticsexamineshowmeaningisencodedinalanguage.ragmatics Pragmaticsisthestudyofmeaningincontext.1.8 Macrolinguistics Macrolinguisticsisthestudyoflanguageinallaspects,distinctfrommicrolinguistics,whichdealtsolelywiththeformalaspectoflanguagesystem.sycholinguisticsPsycholinguisticsinvestigatestheinterrelationoflanguageandmind,inprocessingandproducingutterancesandinlanguageacquisitionforexample.SociolinguisticsSociolinguisticsisatermwhichcoversavarietyofdifferentinterestsinlanguageandsociety,includingthelanguageandthesocialcharacteristicsofitsusers.nthropologicallinguisticsAnthropologicallinguisticsstudiestherelationshipbetweenlanguageandcultureinacommunity.ComputationallinguisticsComputationallinguisticsisaninterdisciplinaryfieldwhichcentersaroundtheuseofcomputerstoprocessorproducehumanlanguage.1.9 ImportantdistinctionsinlinguisticsDescriptivevs.prescriptiveTosaythatlinguisticsisadescriptivescienceistosaythatthelinguisttriestodiscoverandrecordtherulestowhichthemembersofalanguage-communityactuallyconformanddoesnotseektoimposeuponthemotherrules,ornorms,ofcorrectness.Prescriptivelinguisticsaimstolaydownrulesforthecorrectuseoflanguageandsettlethedisputesoverusageonceandforall.Forexample,“Don’tsayX.”isaprescriptivecommand;“Peopledon’tsayX.”isadescriptivestatement.Thedistinctionliesinprescribinghowthingsoughttobeanddescribinghowthingsare.Inthe18thcentury,allthemainEuropeanlanguageswerestudiedprescriptively.However,modernlinguisticsismostlydescriptivebecausethenatureoflinguisticsasasciencedeterminesitspreoccupationwithdescriptioninsteadofprescription.Synchronicvs.diachronicAsynchronicstudytakesafixedinstant(usuallyatpresent)asitspointofobservation.Saussure’sdiachronicdescriptionisthestudyofalanguagethroughthecourseofitshistory.E.g.astudyofthefeaturesoftheEnglishusedinShakespeare’stimewouldbesynchronic,andastudyofthechangesEnglishhasundergonesincethenwouldbeadiachronicstudy.Inmodernlinguistics,synchronicstudyseemstoenjoypriorityoverdiachronicstudy.Thereasonisthatunlessthevariousstateofalanguagearesuccessfullystudieditwouldbedifficulttodescribethechangesthathavetakenplaceinitshistoricaldevelopment.Langue&paroleSaussuredistinguishedthelinguisticcompetenceofthespeakerandtheactualphenomenaordataoflinguisticsaslangueandparole.Langueisrelativestableandsystematic,paroleissubjecttopersonalandsituationalconstraints;langueisnotspokenbyanindividual,paroleisalwaysanaturallyoccurringevent.Whatalinguistshoulddo,accordingtoSaussure,istodrawrulesfromamassofconfusedfacts,i.e.todiscovertheregularitiesgoverningallinstancesofparoleandmakethemthesubjectoflinguistics.CompetenceandperformanceAccordingtoChomsky,alanguageuser’sunderlyingknowledgeaboutthesystemofrulesiscalledthelinguisticcompetence,andtheactualuseoflanguageinconcretesituationsiscalledperformance.Competenceenablesaspeakertoproduceandunderstandandindefinitenumberofsentencesandtorecognizegrammaticalmistakesandambiguities.Aspeaker’scompetenceisstablewhilehisperformanceisofteninfluencedbypsychologicalandsocialfactors.Soaspeaker’sperformancedoesnotalwaysmatchhissupposedcompetence.Chomskybelievesthatlinguistsoughttostudycompetence,ratherthanperformance.Chomsky’scompetence-performancedistinctionisnotexactlythesameas,thoughsimilarto,Saussure’slangue-paroledistinction.Langueisasocialproductandasetofconventionsofacommunity,whilecompetenceisdeemedasapropertyofmindofeachindividual.SaussurelooksatlanguagemorefromasociologicalorsociolinguisticpointofviewthanChomskysincethelatterdealswithhisissuespsychologicallyorpsycholinguistically.Eticvs.emic[Thesetwotermsarestillveryvaguetome.AfterIreadJiDaohong’sbook,Icanunderstandthembetter,butbecausetheyarevaguelymentionedinHu’sbook,itseemsverydifficultformetounderstandthemfully.–icywarmtea]Beingeticmeansresearchers’makingfartoomany,aswellasbehaviorallyandinconsequential,differentiations,justasoftenthecasewithphoneticsvs.phonemicsanalysisinlinguisticsproper.Anemicsetofspeechactsandeventsmustbeonethatisvalidatedasmeaningfulviafinalresourcetothenativemembersofaspeechcommunityratherthanviaappealtotheinvestigator’singenuityorintuitionalone.Followingthesuffixformationsof(phon)eticsvs(phon)emics,thesetermswereintroducedintothesocialsciencesbyKennethPike(1967)todenotethedistinctionbetweenthematerialandfunctionalstudyoflanguage:phoneticsstudiestheacousticallymeasurableandarticulatorilydefinableimmediatesoundutterances,whereasphonemicsanalyzesthespecificselectioneachlanguagemakesfromthatuniversalcataloguefromafunctionalaspect.Chapter2SpeechSounds2.1 Speechproductionandperception Phoneticsisthestudyofspeechsounds.Itincludesthreemainareas: 1. Articulatoryphonetics–thestudyoftheproductionofspeechsounds2. Acousticphonetics–thestudyofthephysicalpropertiesofthesoundsproducedinspeech 3. Auditoryphonetics–thestudyofperceptionofspeechsounds Mostphoneticiansareinterestedinarticulatoryphonetics.2.2 Speechorgans Speechorgansarethosepartsofthehumanbodyinvolvedintheproductionofspeech.Thespeechorganscanbeconsideredasconsistingofthreeparts:theinitiatoroftheairstream,theproducerofvoiceandtheresonatingcavities.2.3 Segments,divergences,andphonetictranscriptionSegmentsanddivergencesAstherearemoresoundsinEnglishthanitsletters,eachlettermustrepresentmorethanonesound.honetictranscriptionInternationalPhoneticAlphabet(IPA):thesystemofsymbolsforrepresentingthepronunciationofwordsinanylanguageaccordingtotheprinciplesoftheInternationalPhoneticAssociation.Thesymbolsconsistsoflettersanddiacritics.SomelettersaretakenfromtheRomanalphabet,somearespecialsymbols.2.4 ConsonantsConsonantsandvowelsAconsonantisproducedbyconstrictingorobstructingthevocaltractatsomeplacestodivert,impede,orcompletelyshutofftheflowofairintheoralcavity.Avowelisproducedwithoutobstructionsonoturbulenceoratotalstoppingoftheaircanbeperceived.ConsonantsThecategoriesofconsonantareestablishedonthebasisofseveralfactors.Themostimportantofthesefactorsare:1. theactualrelationshipbetweenthearticulatorsandthusthewayinwhichtheairpassesthroughcertainpartsofthevocaltract(mannerofarticulation);2. whereinthevocaltractthereisapproximation,narrowing,ortheobstructionoftheair(placeofarticulation).Mannersofarticulation1. Stop/plosive:Aspeechsoundwhichisproducedbystoppingtheairstreamfromthelungsandthensuddenlyreleasingit.InEnglish,[]arestopsand[]arenasalstops.2. Fricative:Aspeechsoundwhichisproducedbyallowingtheairstreamfromthelungstoescapewithfriction.Thisiscausedbybringingthetwoarticulators,e.g.theupperteethandthelowerlip,closetogetherbutnotclosesenoughtostoptheairstreamscompletely.InEnglish,[]arefricatives.3. (Median)approximant:Anarticulationinwhichonearticulatorisclosetoanother,butwithoutthevocaltractbeingnarrowedtosuchanextentthataturbulentairstreamisproduced.InEnglishthisclassofsoundsincludes[].4. Lateral(approximant):Aspeechsoundwhichisproducedbypartiallyblockingtheairstreamfromthelungs,usuallybythetongue,butlettingitescapeatoneorbothsidesoftheblockage.[]istheonlylateralinEnglish.Otherconsonantalarticulationsincludetrill,taporflap,andaffricate.lacesofarticulation 1. Bilabial:Aspeechsoundwhichismadewiththetwolips.2. Labiodental:Aspeechsoundwhichismadewiththelowerlipandtheupperfrontteeth.3. Dental:Aspeechsoundwhichismadebythetonguetiporbladeandtheupperfrontteeth.4. Alveolar:Aspeechsoundwhichismadewiththetonguetiporbladeandthealveolarridge.5. Postalveolar:Aspeechsoundwhichismadewiththetonguetipandthebackofthealveolarridge.6. Retroflex:Aspeechsoundwhichismadewiththetonguetiporbladecurledbacksothattheundersideofthetonguetiporbladeformsastricturewiththebackofthealveolarridgeorthehardpalate.7. Palatal:Aspeechsoundwhichismadewiththefrontofthetongueandthehardpalate.8. Velar:Aspeechsoundwhichismadewiththebackofthetongueandthesoftpalate.9. Uvular:Aspeechsoundwhichismadewiththebackofthetongueandtheuvula,theshortprojectionofthesofttissueandmuscleattheposteriorendofthevelum.10. Pharyngeal:Aspeechsoundwhichismadewiththerootofthetongueandthewallsofthepharynx.11. Glottal:Aspeechsoundwhichismadewiththetwopiecesofvocalfoldspushedtowardseachother.TheconsonantsofEnglishReceivedPronunciation(RP):ThetypeofBritishStandardEnglishpronunciationwhichhasbeenregardedastheprestigevarietyandwhichshowsnoregionalvariation.Ithasoftenbeenpopularlyreferredtoas“BBCEnglish”or“OxfordEnglish”becauseitiswidelyusedintheprivatesectoroftheeducationsystemandspokenbymostnewsreadersoftheBBCnetwork.AchartofEnglishconsonantsMannerofarticulationPlaceofarticulationBilabialLabio-dentalDentalAlveolarPost-alveolarPalatalVelarGlottalStopNasalFricativeApproximantLateralAffricateInmanycasestherearetwosoundsthatsharethesameplaceandmannerofarticulation.Thesepairsofconsonantsaredistinguishedbyvoicing,theoneappearingontheleftisvoicelessandtheoneontherightisvoiced.Therefore,theconsonantsofEnglishcanbedescribedinthefollowingway:[p]voicelessbilabialstop[b]voicedbilabialstop[s]voicelessalveolarfricative[z]voicedalveolarfricative[m]bilabialnasal[n]alveolarnasal[l]alveolarlateral[j]palatalapproximant[h]glottalfricative[r]alveolarapproximant2.5 VowelsThecriteriaofvoweldescription 1. Thepartofthetonguethatisraised–front,center,orback.2. Theextenttowhichthetonguerisesinthedirectionofthepalate.Normally,threeorfourdegreesarerecognized:high,mid(oftendividedintomid-highandmid-low)andlow.3. Thekindofopeningmadeatthelips–variousdegreesofliproundingorspreading.4. Thepositionofthesoftpalate–raisedfororalvowels,andloweredforvowelswhichhavebeennasalized.Thetheoryofcardinalvowels [Icywarmteadoesn’tquiteunderstandthistheory.] Cardinalvowelsareasetofvowelqualitiesarbitrarilydefined,fixedandunchanging,intendingtoprovideaframeofreferenceforthedescriptionoftheactualvowelsofexistinglanguages. Byconvention,theeightprimarycardinalvowelsarenumberedfromonetoeightasfollows:CV1[],CV2[],CV3[],CV4[],CV5[],CV6[],CV7[],CV8[]. Asetofsecondarycardinalvowelsisobtainedbyreversingthelip-roundingforagiveposition:CV9–CV16.[IamsorryIcannottypeoutmanyofthese.Ifyouwanttoknow,youmayconsultthetextbookp.47.–icywarmtea]VowelglidesPure(monophthong)vowels:vowelswhichareproducedwithoutanynoticeablechangeinvowelquality.Vowelglides:Vowelswherethereisanaudiblechangeofquality.Diphthong:Avowelwhichisusuallyconsideredasonedistinctivevowelofaparticularlanguagebutreallyinvolvestwovowels,withonevowelglidingtotheother.ThevowelsofRP []highfronttenseunroundedvowel []highbacklaxroundedvowel []centrallaxunroundedvowel []lowbacklaxroundedvowel2.6 CoarticulationandphonetictranscriptionCoarticulationCoarticulation:Thesimultaneousoroverlappingarticulationoftwosuccessivephonologicalunits.Anticipatorycoarticulation:Ifthesoundbecomesmorelikethefollowingsound,asinthecaseoflamp,itisknownasanticipatorycoarticulation.Perseverativecoarticulation:Ifthesounddisplaystheinfluenceoftheprecedingsound,asinthecaseofmap,itisperseverativecoarticulation.Nasalization:Changeorprocessbywhichvowelsorconsonantsbecomenasal.Diacritics:Anymarkinwritingadditionaltoaletterorotherbasicelements.BroadandnarrowtranscriptionsTheuseofasimplesetofsymbolsinourtranscriptioniscalledabroadtranscription.Theuseofmorespecificsymbolstoshowmorephoneticdetailisreferredtoasanarrowtranscription.Theformerwasmeanttoindicateonlythesesoundscapableofdistinguishingonewordfromanotherinagivenlanguagewhilethelatterwasmeanttosymbolizeallthepossiblespeechsounds,includingeventheminutestshadesofpronunciation.2.7 Phonologicalanalysis Phoneticsisthestudyofspeechsounds.Itincludesthreemainareas:articulatoryphonetics,acousticphonetics,andauditoryphonetics.Ontheotherhand,phonologystudiestherulesgoverningthestructure,distribution,andsequencingofspeechsoundsandtheshapeofsyllables.Thereisafairdegreeofoverlapinwhatconcernsthetwosubjects,sosometimesitishardtodrawtheboundarybetweenthem.Phoneticsisthestudyofallpossiblespeechsoundswhilephonologystudiesthewayinwhichspeakersofalanguagesystematicallyuseaselectionofthesesoundsinordertoexpressmeaning.Thatistosay,phonologyisconcernedwiththelinguisticpatterningofsoundsinhumanlanguages,withitsprimaryaimbeingtodiscovertheprinciplesthatgovernthewaysoundsareorganizedinlanguages,andtoexplainthevariationsthatoccur.2.8 PhonemesandallophonesMinimalpairsMinimalpairsaretwowordsinalanguagewhichdifferfromeachotherbyonlyonedistinctivesoundandwhichalsodifferinmeaning.E.g.theEnglishwordstieanddieareminimalpairsastheydifferinmeaningandintheirinitialphonemes/t/and/d/.Byidentifyingtheminimalpairsofalanguage,aphonologistcanfindoutwhichsoundsubstitutionscausedifferencesofmeaning.ThephonemetheoryAllophonesAphonemeisthesmallestlinguisticunitofsoundthatcansignaladifferenceinmeaning.Anyofthedifferentformsofaphonemeiscalleditsallophones.E.g.inEnglish,whenthephoneme//occursatthebeginningofthewordlikepeak//,itissaidwithalittlepuffofair,itisaspirated.Butwhen//occursinthewordlikespeak//,itissaidwithoutthepuffoftheair,itisunaspirated.Boththeaspirated[]inpeakandtheunaspirated[=]inspeakhavethesamephonemicfunction,i.e.theyarebothheardandidentifiedas//andnotas//;theyarebothallophonesofthephoneme//.2.9 PhonologicalprocessesAssimilationAssimilation:Aprocessbywhichonesoundtakesonsomeorallthecharacteristicsofaneighboringsound.Regressiveassimilation:Ifafollowingsoundisinfluencingaprecedingsound,wecallitregressiveassimilation.Progressiveassimilation:Ifaprecedingsoundisinfluencingafollowingsound,wecallitprogressiveassimilation.Devoicing:Aprocessbywhichvoicedsoundsbecomevoiceless.DevoicingofvoicedconsonantsoftenoccursinEnglishwhentheyareattheendofaword.honologicalprocessesandphonologicalrulesThechangesinassimilation,nasalization,dentalization,andvelarizationareallphonologicalprocessesinwhichatargetoraffectedsegmentundergoesastructuralchangeincertainenvironmentsorcontexts.Ineachprocessthechangeisconditionedortriggeredbyafollowingsoundor,inthecaseofprogressiveassimilation,aprecedingsound.Consequently,wecansaythatanyphonologicalprocessmusthavethreeaspectstoit:asetofsoundstoundergotheprocess;asetofsoundsproducedbytheprocess;asetofsituationsinwhichtheprocessapplies.Wecanrepresenttheprocessbymansofanarrow:voicedfricative→voiceless/__________voiceless.Thisisaphonologicalrule.Theslash(/)specifiestheenvironmentinwhichthechangetakesplace.Thebar(calledthefocusbar)indicatesthepositionofthetargetsegment.Sotherulereads:avoicedfricativeistransformedintothecorrespondingvoicelesssoundwhenitappearsbeforeavoicelesssound.Ruleordering [Nomuchtosay,soomitted–icywarmtea]2.10 Distinctivefeatures Distinctivefeature:Aparticularcharacteristicwhichdistinguishesonedistinctivesoundunitofalanguagefromanotheroronegroupofsoundsfromanothergroup. Binaryfeature:Apropertyofaphonemeorawordwhichcanbeusedtodescribethephonemeorword.Abinaryfeatureiseitherpresentorabsent.Binaryfeaturesarealsousedtodescribethesemanticpropertiesofwords.2.11 Syllables Suprasegmentalfeatures:Suprasegmentalfeaturesarethoseaspectsofspeechthatinvolvemorethansinglesoundsegments.Theprincipalsuprasegmentalfeaturesaresyllables,stress,tone,andintonation. Syllable:Aunitinspeechwhichisoftenlongerthanonesoundandsmallerthanawholeword. Opensyllable:Asyllablewhichendsinavowel. Closedsyllable:Asyllablewhichendsinaconsonant. Maximalonsetprinciple:Theprinciplewhichstatesthatwhenthereisachoiceastowheretoplaceaconsonant,itisputintotheonsetratherthanthecoda.E.g.Thecorrectsyllabificationofthewordcountryshouldbe//.Itshouldn’tbe//or//accordingtothisprinciple.2.12 Stress Stressreferstothedegreeofforceusedinproducingasyllable.Intranscription,araisedverticalline[]isusedjustbeforethesyllableitrelatesto.Chapter3Lexicon3.1 Whatisword? 1. Whatisalexeme?Alexemeisthesmallestunitinthemeaningsystemofalanguagethatcanbedistinguishedfromothersimilarunits.Itisanabstractunit.Itcanoccurinmanydifferentformsinactualspokenorwrittensentences,andisregardedasthesamelexemeevenwheninflected.E.g.theword“write”isthelexemeof“write,writes,wrote,writingandwritten.” 2. Whatisamorpheme?Amorphemeisthesmallestunitoflanguageintermsofrelationshipbetweenexpressionandcontent,aunitthatcannotbedividedintofurthersmallerunitswithoutdestroyingordrasticallyalteringthemeaning,whetheritislexicalorgrammatical.E.g.theword“boxes”hastwomorphemes:“box”and“es,”neitherofwhichpermitsfurtherdivisionoranalysisshapesifwedon’twanttosacrificeitsmeaning. 3. Whatisanallomorph?Anallomorphisthealternateshapesofthesamemorpheme.E.g.thevariantsoftheplurality“-s”makestheallomorphsthereofinthefollowingexamples:map–maps,mouse–mice,ox–oxen,tooth–teeth,etc. 4. Whatisaword?Awordisthesmallestofthelinguisticunitsthatcanconstitute,byitself,acompleteutteranceinspeechorwriting.Threesensesof“word” 1. Aphysicallydefinableunit 2. Thecommonfactorunderlyingasetofforms 3. AgrammaticalunitIdentificationofwords 1. StabilityWordsarethemoststableofalllinguisticunits,inrespectoftheirinternalstructure,i.e.theconstituentpartsofacomplexwordhavelittlepotentialforrearrangement,comparedwiththerelativepositionalmobilityoftheconstituentsofsentencesinthehierarchy.Takethewordchairmanforexample.Ifthemorphemesarerearrangedas*manchair,itisanunacceptablewordinEnglish. 2. RelativeuninterruptibilityByuninterruptibility,wemennewelementsarenottobeinsertedintoawordevenwhenthereareseveralpartsinaword.Nothingistobeinsertedinbetweenthethreepartsoftheworddisappointment:dis+appoint+ment.Norisoneallowedtousepausesbetweenthepartsofaword:*disappointment. 3. AminimumfreeformThiswasfirstsuggestedbyLeonardBloomfield.Headvocatedtreatingsentenceas“themaximumfreeform”andword“theminimumfreeform,”thelatterbeingthesmallestunitthatcanconstitute,byitself,acompleteutterance.Classificationofwords 1. VariableandinvariablewordsInvariablewords,onecanfindorderedandregularseriesofgrammaticallydifferentwordform;ontheotherhand,partofthewordremainsrelativelyconstant.E.g.follow–follows–following–followed.Invariablewordsrefertothosewordssuchassince,when,seldom,through,hello,etc.Theyhavenoinflectiveendings. 2. Grammaticalwordsandlexicalwordsandpronouns,aregrammaticalwords.i.e.thosewhichrefertosubstance,actionandquality,suchasnouns,verbs,adjectives,andadverbs,arelexicalwords. 3. Closed-classwordsandopen-classwordsClosed-classword:Awordthatbelongstotheclosed-classisonewhosemembershipisfixedorlimited.Newmembersarenotregularlyadded.Therefore,pronouns,prepositions,conjunctions,articles,etc.areallcloseditems.Open-classword:Awordthatbelongstotheopen-classisonewhosemembershipisinprincipleinfiniteorunlimited.Nouns,verbs,adjectivesandmanyadverbsareallopen-classitems. 4. WordclassThisisclosetothenotionofpartsofspeechintraditionalgrammar.Today,wordclassdisplaysawiderrangeofmorepreciselydefinedcategories.Herearesomeofthecategoriesnewlyintroducedintolinguisticanalysis.(1) Particles:Particlesincludeatleasttheinfinitivemarker“to,”thenegativemarker“not,”andthesubordinateunitsinphrasalv