语言学ppt课件专题培训

ChapterOne

InvitationstoLinguistics11.WhyStudyLanguage?21.1SomemythsaboutlanguageLanguageisonlyameansofcommunication.Languagehasaform-meaningcorrespondence.Thefunctionoflanguageistoexchangeinformation.EnglishismoredifficulttolearnthanChinese.BlackEnglishisnotstandardandshouldbereformed.31.2SomefundamentalviewsaboutLChildrenlearntheirnativelanguageswiftly,efficientlyandwithoutinstruction.Languageoperatesbyrules.Alllanguageshavethreemajorcomponents:asoundsystem,asystemoflexicogrammarandasystemofsemantics.Everyonespeaksadialect.Languageslowlychanges.4Speakersofalllanguagesemployarangeofstylesandasetofjargons.Languagesareintimatelyrelatedtothesocietiesandindividualswhousethem.Writingisderivativeofspeech.52.WhatisLanguage?Language“isnottobeconfusedwithhumanspeech,ofwhichitisonlyadefinitepart,thoughcertainlyanessentialone.Itisbothasocialproductofthefacultyofspeechandacollectionofnecessaryconventionsthathavebeenadoptedbyasocialbodytopermitindividualstoexercisethatfaculty”.--FerdinanddeSaussure(1857-1913):CourseinGeneralLinguistics(1916)6“Languageisapurelyhumanandnon-instinctivemethodofcommunicatingideas,emotionsanddesiresbymeansofvoluntarilyproducedsymbols.”--EdwardSapir(1884-1939):Language:AnIntroductiontotheStudyofSpeech(1921)7“Alanguageisasystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsbymeansofwhichasocialgroupco-operates.”--BernardBloch(1907-1965)

&GeorgeTrager(1906-1992):OutlineofLinguisticAnalysis(1942)“Alanguageisasystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsbymeansofwhichthemembersofasocietyinteractintermsoftheirtotalculture.”--GeorgeTrager:TheFieldofLinguistics(1949)8“FromnowonIwillconsiderlanguagetobeaset(finiteorinfinite)ofsentences,eachfiniteinlengthandconstructedoutofafinitesetofelements.”--NoamChomsky(1928-):SyntacticStructures(1957)9Languageis“theinstitutionwherebyhumanscommunicateandinteractwitheachotherbymeansofhabituallyusedoral-auditoryarbitrarysymbols.”--RobertA.Hall(1911-1997):IntroductoryLinguistics(1964)“Languageisasystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsusedforhumancommunication.”--RonaldWardhaugh:IntroductiontoLinguistics(1977)10“Thequestion‘Whatislanguage?’iscomparablewith--and,somewouldsay,hardlylessprofoundthan--

‘Whatislife?’,thepresuppositionsofwhichcircumscribeandunifythebiologicalsciences...itisnotsomuchthequestionitselfastheparticularinterpretationthatthebiologistputsuponitandtheunravellingofitsmoredetailedimplicationswithinsomecurrentlyacceptedtheoreticalframeworkthatnourishthebiologist'sday-to-dayspeculationsandresearch.Soitisforthelinguistinrelationtothequestion‘Whatislanguage?’”--JohnLyons(1932-):LanguageandLinguistics(1981)

11“...inasensealldefinitions[oflanguage]are,bythemselves,inadequate,since,iftheyaretobemorethantrivialanduninformative,theymustpresuppose...somegeneraltheoryoflanguageandoflinguisticanalysis.”--R.H.Robins(1921-2023):GeneralLinguistics(1989)12“Languageisaformofhumancommunicationbymeansofasystemofsymbolsprincipallytransmittedbyvocalsounds.”--StuartC.Poole:AnIntroductiontoLinguistics(1999)13“Languageisameansofverbalcommunication.”Itisinstrumentalinthatcommunicatingbyspeakingorwritingisapurposefulact.Itissocialandconventionalinthatlanguageisasocialsemioticandcommunicationcanonlytakeplaceeffectivelyifalltheusersshareabroadunderstandingofhumaninteractionincludingsuchassociatedfactorsasnonverbalcues,motivation,andsocio-culturalroles.

--Ourtextbook(2023)143.DesignFeaturesofLanguageLanguagedistinguisheshumanbeingsfromanimalsinthatitisfarmoresophisticatedthananyanimalcommunicationsystem.15Humanlanguageis‘unique’ArbitrarinessDualityCreativityDisplacement

163.1Arbitrarines

Saussure:theformsoflinguisticsignsbearnonaturalrelationshiptotheirmeaningArbitraryrelationshipbetweenthesoundofamorphemeanditsmeaning,evenwithonomatopoeicwords:ThedogbarkswowwowinEnglishbut“汪汪汪”inChinese.

17Arbitrarinessatthesyntacticlevel:languageisnotarbitraryatthesyntacticlevel.

Hecameinandsatdown.Hesatdownandcamein.Hesatdownafterhecamein.Thelinkbetweenalinguisticsignanditsmeaningisamatterofconvention.183.2Duality

Thepropertyofhavingtwolevelsofstructures,suchthatunitsoftheprimarylevelarecomposedofelementsofthesecondarylevelandeachofthetwolevelshasitsownprinciplesoforganization:Primaryunits‘words’(meaningful)consistofsecondaryunits‘sounds’(meaningless).19Hierarchyoflanguage:stratificationas‘theinfiniteuseoffinitemeans’.Sounds>syllables>morphemes>words>phrases>clauses>sentences/utterances>texts/discourses203.3Creativity

Languageisresourcefulbecauseofitsdualityanditsrecursiveness.Wecanuseittocreatenewmeanings.

Wordscanbeusedinnewwaystomeannewthings,andcanbeinstantlyunderstoodbypeoplewhohavenevercomeacrossthatusagebefore.

21Birds,bees,crabs,spiders,andmostothercreaturescommunicateinsomeway,buttheinformationimpartedisseverelylimitedandconfinedtoasmallsetofmessages.Becauseofdualitythehumanspeakerisabletocombinethebasiclinguisticunitstoformaninfinitesetofsentences,mostofwhichareneverbeforeproducedorheard.

22Therecursivenatureoflanguageprovidesapotentialtocreateaninfinitenumberofsentences.Forinstance:Heboughtabookwhichwaswrittenbyateacherwhotaughtinaschoolwhichwasknownforitsgraduateswho...233.4Displacement

Humanlanguagesenabletheiruserstosymbolizeobjects,eventsandconceptswhicharenotpresent(intimeandspace)atthemomentofcommunication.Thus,wecanrefertoConfucius,ortheNorthPole,eventhoughthefirsthasbeendeadforover2550yearsandthesecondissituatedfarawayfromus.24Animalcommunicationisnormallyunder“immediatestimuluscontrol”.Forinstance,awarningcryofabirdinstantlyannouncesdanger.Humanlanguageis

stimulus-free.Whatwearetalkingaboutneednotbetriggeredbyanyexternalstimulusintheworldoranyinternalstate.25Thehoneybee'sdanceexhibitsdisplacementalittlebit:hecanrefertoasourceoffood,whichisremoteintimeandspacewhenhereportsonit.Adogcannottellpeoplethatitsmasterwillbehomeinafewdays.Ourlanguageenablesustocommunicateaboutthingsthatdonotexistordonotyetexist.26Displacementbenefitshumanbeingsbygivingusthepowertohandlegeneralizationsandabstractions.Oncewecantalkaboutphysicallydistantthing,weacquiretheabilitytounderstandconceptswhichdenote“non-things”,suchastruthandbeauty.274.Originoflanguage

The‘Divine’origin:“InthebeginningwastheWord,andtheWordwaswithGod,andtheWordwasGod.”

(Gospel,John1:1)28“AndtheLordsaid,Behold,thepeopleisone,andtheyhaveallonelanguage;andthistheybegintodo;andnownothingwillberestrainedfromthem,whichtheyhaveimaginedtodo.”(Genesis,11:6)294.1The“bow-wow”theoryInprimitivetimespeopleimitatedthesoundsoftheanimalcallsinthewildenvironmenttheylivedandspeechdevelopedfromthat.Onomatopoeicwordsseemtobeaconvenientevidenceforthistheory.Buttheyareverydifferentinthedegreeofresemblancetheyexpresswiththenaturalsounds.Thistheorylackssupportiveevidence.304.2The“pooh-pooh”theoryInthehardlifeofourprimitiveancestors,theyutterinstinctivesoundsofpain,angerandjoy.Asforevidence,wecanonlycitetheuniversaluseofsoundsasinterjections.Whatmakesthetheoryproblematicisthatthereisonlyalimitednumberofinterjectionsinalmostalllanguages.Besides,interjectionssuchasOh,Ah,Oopsbearlittlerelationshipwiththesoundsystemofalanguageandthereforearenotgoodevidence.314.3The“yo-he-ho”theoryAsprimitivepeopleworkedtogether,theyproducedsomerhythmicgruntswhichgraduallydevelopedintochantsandthenintolanguage.Wedohaveprosodicuseofrhythmsinlanguages,butrhythmicgruntsarefardifferentfromlanguageinitspresentsense.Thetheoryisagainatmostaspeculation.32Theby-nowfruitlesssearchfortheoriginoflanguagesreflectspeople'sconcernwiththeoriginofhumanityandmaycomeupwithenlighteningfindingsinfuture.Onethingwecansayforcertainisthatlanguageevolveswithinspecifichistorical,socialandculturalcontexts.335.Functionsoflanguage

Linguiststalkaboutthefunctionsoflanguageinanabstractsense,thatis,notintermsofusinglanguagetochat,tothink,tobuyandsell,toreadandwrite,togreet,praiseandcondemnpeople,etc.Theysummarizethesepracticalfunctionsandattemptsomebroadclassificationsofthebasicfunctionsoflanguage.34ForJakobson,languageisaboveallforcommunication.Whileformanypeople,thepurposeofcommunicationisreferential,forhim(andthePragueschoolstructuralists),referenceisnottheonly,noteventheprimarygoalofcommunication.35Inhisfamousarticle,LinguisticsandPoetics,hedefinedsixprimaryfactorsofanyspeechevent,namely:speaker,addressee,context,message,code,contact.Inconjunctionwiththese,Jakobsonestablishedawell-knownframeworkoflanguagefunctionsbasedonthesixkeyelementsofcommunication,namely:36referential(toconveymessageandinformation),poetic(toindulgeinlanguageforitsownsake),emotive(toexpressattitudes,feelingsandemotions),conative(topersuadeandinfluenceothersthroughcommandsandrequests),phatic(toestablishcommunionwithothers)metalingual(toclearupintentionsandmeanings).37Theycorrespondtosuchcommunicationelementsascontext,message,addresser,addressee,contactandcoderespectively.Jakobson'sviewsofthefunctionsoflanguagearestillofgreatimportance.38ContextREFERENTIALAddresserEMOTIVE(onationshowinganger)MessagePOETIC(e.g.poetry)AddresseeCONATIVE(e.g.imperativesandvocatives)ContactPHATIC(e.g.Goodmorning!)CodeMETALINGUAL(e.g.Hello,doyouhearme?)39Hallidayproposesatheoryofmetafunctionsoflanguage,thatis,languagehasideational,interpersonalandtextualfunctions.Ideationalfunctionconstructsamodelofexperienceaswellaslogicalrelations,interpersonalfunctionenactssocialrelationshipsandtextualfunctioncreatesrelevancetocontext.40Inhisearlierworks,Hallidayproposedsevencategoriesoflanguagefunctionsbyobservingchildlanguagedevelopment:InstrumentalRegulatoryRepresentationalInteractionalPersonalHeuristicImaginative41Stillotherclassificationsemploydifferentcategoriesandusedifferentterms,butallsharealotincommonaboutthebasicfunctionsoflanguage.Belowisasummaryofthemajorfunctionsoflanguage.425.1Informative

functionLanguageistheinstrumentofthoughtandpeopleoftenfeelneedtospeaktheirthoughtsaloud.Theuseoflanguagetorecordthefactsisaprerequisiteofsocialdevelopment.Theinformativefunctionisindeedacrucialfunctionoflanguage.

Itisalsocalledideationalfunctionintheframeworkoffunctionalgrammar.43Hallidaynotesthat“Languageservesfortheexpressionof‘content’:thatis,ofthespeaker'sexperienceoftherealworld,includingtheinnerworldofhisownconsciousness....Inservingthisfunction,languagealsogivesstructuretoexperience,andhelpstodetermineourwayoflookingatthings,sothatitrequiressomeintellectualefforttoseetheminanyotherwaythanthatwhichourlanguagesuggeststous”.445.2Interpersonalfunction

Byfarthemostimportantsociologicaluseoflanguage,andbywhichpeopleestablishandmaintaintheirstatusinasociety.Intheframeworkoffunctionalgrammar,theinterpersonalfunctionisconcernedwithinteractionbetweentheaddresserandaddresseeinthediscoursesituationandtheaddresser'sattitudetowardwhathespeaksorwritesabout.

45Forexample,thewaysinwhichpeopleaddressothersandrefertothemselves(e.g.DearSir,DearProfessor,Johnny,yours,yourobedientservant)indicatethevariousgradesofinterpersonalrelations.46Attachedtotheinterpersonalfunctionisitsfunctionofexpressingidentity.Forexample,thechantingofacrowdatafootballmatch,theshoutingofnamesorslogansatpublicmeetings,thestage-managedaudiencereactionstoTVgameshowsTheyallsignalwhoweareandwherewebelong.47Languagemarksouridentity,physicallyintermsofage,sex,andvoiceprints;psychologicallyintermsoflanguage,personalityandintelligence;geographicallyintermsofaccentsanddialects;ethnicallyandsociallyintermsofsocialstratification,class,status,role,solidarityanddistance.48Theinterpersonalfunctionissuchabroadcategorythatitisoftendiscussedundervariousothertermsasinthefollowingperformative,emotive,expressiveandphaticfunctionsoflanguage.Theyseemtoemphasizedifferentaspectsoftheinterpersonalfunction.495.3PerformativefunctionThisconceptoriginatesfromthephilosophicalstudyoflanguagerepresentedbyAustinandSearle,whosetheorynowformstheback-boneofpragmatics(Chapter8).Forexample,Inowdeclarethemeetingopen.Ibetyoutwopoundsitwillraintomorrow.50Theperformativefunctionoflanguageisprimarilytochangethesocialstatusofpersons,asinmarriageceremonies,thesentencingofcriminals,theblessingofchildren,thenamingofashipatalaunchingceremony,andthecursingofenemies.Thekindoflanguageemployedinperformativeverbalactsisusuallyquiteformalandevenritualized.51Forexample,inChinesewhensomeonebreaksabowloraplatethehostorthepeoplepresentarelikelytosay岁岁平安asameansofcontrollingtheinvisibleforceswhichthebelieversfeelmightaffecttheirlivesadversely.Theperformativefunctioncanextendtothecontrolofrealityasonsomemagicalorreligiousoccasions.525.4EmotivefunctionTheemotivefunctionoflanguageisoneofthemostpowerfulusesoflanguagebecauseitiscrucialinchangingtheemotionalstatusofanaudiencefororagainstsomeoneorsomething.Itisameansofgettingridofournervousenergywhenweareunderstress,e.g.swearwords,obscenities,involuntaryverbalreactionstoapieceofartorscenery;conventionalwords/phrases,e.g.God,My,Damnit,Whatasight,Wow,Ugh,Oh.53Itisalsodiscussedunderthetermexpressivefunction.Theexpressivefunctioncanoftenbeentirelypersonalandtotallywithoutanyimplicationofcommunicationtoothers.Forexample,amanmaysayOuch!afterstrikingafingernailwithahammer,orhemaymutterDamnwhenrealizingthathehasforgottenanappointment.54ExclamationssuchasMan!Ohboy!andHurrah!

areusuallyutteredwithoutanypurposeofcommunicatingtoothers,butasessentiallyaverbalresponsetoaperson'sownfeelings.Suchexpressiveutterancescanalsobeacommunalresponseofagroupofpeoplewhoreinforceoneanother'sexpressiveuseoflanguagetoshowtheirsolidarity.555.5Phaticcommunion

Phaticcommunionreferstothesocialinteractionoflanguage,originatingfromMalinowski'sstudyofthefunctionsoflanguageperformedbyTrobriandIslanders.Forexample,Mrs.Psneezesviolently.

Mrs.Q:Blessyou.Mrs.P:Thankyou.56Weallusesuchsmall,seeminglymeaninglessexpressionstomaintainacomfortablerelationshipbetweenpeoplewithoutinvolvinganyfactualcontent.RitualexchangesabouthealthorweathersuchasGoodmorning,Godblessyou,Nicedayoftenstatetheobvious.Yettheyindicatethatachannelofcommunicationisopenifitshouldbeneeded.57Differentcultureshavedifferenttopicsofphaticcommunion.AccordingtoDavidCrystal,theweatherisnotauniversalconversationfillerastheEnglishmightliketothink.Rundiwomen(inBurundi,CentralAfrica),upontakingleave,routinelyandpolitelysay“Imustgohomenow,ormyhusbandwillbeatme.”

58Broadlyspeaking,thisfunctionreferstoexpressionsthathelpdefineandmaintaininterpersonalrelations,suchasslang,jokes,jargons,ritualisticexchanges,switchestosocialandregionaldialects.Wehavetolearnalargerepertoireofsuchusagesifwearetointeractcomfortablywithdifferentpeople.595.6Recreationalfunction

Therecreationalfunctionofalanguageisoftenoverlookedbecauseitseemssorestrictiveinpurposeandsupposedlysolimitedinusefulness.However,noonewilldenytheuseoflanguageforthesheerjoyofusingit,suchasababy'sbabblingorachanter'schanting.60IntheLatinandIslamicworldsaswellasinsomeareasofChina,thereiswidespreaduseofverbaldueling,inwhichonesingerbeginsasongofusuallyfewlinesandchallengeshisopponenttocontinuethecontentorprovidearejoinderinasimilarrhythmandrhymescheme.Suchverbalduelsmaylastforafewhoursandisperformedforthesheerjoyofplayingonlanguage.61Totakeoneexample,thewell-knownmovie《刘三姐》featuresasceneof“对歌”(songdueling)mostlyforthesheerjoyofplayingonlanguage.62Ifyouobserveachildren’splay,youwillfindthepowerofsound.Sometimesevennonsensicallyricsperformarecreationalfunctioninthegame:therepetitiverhythmshelptocontrolthegame,andthechildrenplainlytakegreatdelightinit.Adultsalsohavetheirwaytoappreciatelanguageforitsownsake.63Forinstance,poetrywritinggivesthemthepleasureofusinglanguageforitssheerbeauty.VerycloseheretoJakobson'spoeticfunction.645.7Metalingualfunction

Ourlanguagecanbeusedtotalkaboutitself.Toorganizeanywrittentextintoacoherentwhole,writersemploycertainexpressionstokeeptheirreadersinformedaboutwheretheyareandwheretheyaregoing.65Forinstance,insteadofsaying

Thelionchasedtheunicornallroundthetown,theysayAllaroundthetownthelionchasedtheunicorn.Aunicorn66Thisisthemetalingualfunctionoflanguageandmesheswiththethematicfunctionoflanguageinfunctionalgrammar.Itmakesthelanguageinfinitelyself-reflexive:Wehumanbeingscantalkabouttalkandthinkaboutthinking,andthusonlyhumanscanaskwhatitmeanstocommunicate,tothink,tobehuman.676.WhatisLinguistics?ThescientificstudyofhumanlanguageAimsoflinguistictheory:Whatisknowledgeoflanguage?(Competence)Howisknowledgeoflanguageacquired?(Acquisition)Howisknowledgeoflanguageputtouse?(Performance/language

processing)68Agrammarincludeseverythingoneknowsaboutthestructureofone’slanguage:PhoneticsandPhonology

(thesoundsandthesoundsystemorpatterns)Lexicon

(thewordsorvocabularyinthementaldictionary)Morphology

(thestructureofwords)Syntax

(thestructureofphrasesandsentencesandtheconstraintsonwell-formednessofsentences)Semantics

(themeaningofwordsandsentences)697.MainbranchesoflinguisticsPhoneticsPhonologyMorphologySyntaxSemanticsPragmatics707.1PhoneticsPhoneticsstudiesspeechsounds,includingtheproductionofspeech,thatishowspeechsoundsareactuallymade,transmittedandreceived,thedescriptionandclassificationofspeechsounds,wordsandconnectedspeech,etc.71Wecanapproachitonvariouslevels.Atonelevel,speechisamatterofanatomyandphysiology.Wecanstudyorganssuchastongueandlarynxandtheirfunctionsintheproductionofspeech.Atanotherlevel,wecanfocusonthespeechsoundsproducedbytheseorgansbyidentifyingandclassifyingtheindividualsounds.Thisisthedomainofarticulatoryphonetics.72Wecanalsoinvestigatethepropertiesofthesoundwaves—acousticphonetics.Asspeechisintendedtobeheardorperceived,itisthereforepossibletofocusonthewayinwhichalisteneranalysesorprocessesasoundwave—auditoryphonetics.737.2Phonology

Phonologystudiestherulesgoverningthestructure,distribution,andsequencingofspeechsoundsandtheshapeofsyllables.Itdealswiththesoundsystemofalanguagebytreatingphonemeasthepointofdeparture.Aphonemeisthesmallestlinguisticunitofsoundthatcansignaladifferenceinmeaning.747.3Morphology

Morphologyisconcernedwiththeinternalorganizationofwords.Itstudiestheminimalunitsofmeaning—morphemesandword-formationprocesses.Althoughmanypeoplethinkofwordsasthebasicmeaningfulelementsofalanguage，manywordscanbebrokendownintostillsmallerunits,calledmorphemes.75Morphemesservedifferentpurposes.Somederivenewwordsbychangingthemeaningorthepartofspeech,othersonlyrefineandgiveextragrammaticalinformationaboutthealreadyexistingmeaningofaword.Asmorphemesarepairingsofsoundswithmeanings,therearemanycomplexitiesinvolved,forminganewfieldbythenamemorphophonology.767.4Syntax

Syntaxisaboutprinciplesofformingandunderstandingcorrectsentences.Theformorstructureofasentenceisgovernedbytherulesofsyntax,whichspecifywordorder,sentenceorganization,andtherelationshipsbetweenwords,wordclassesandothersentenceelements.77Weknowthatwordsareorganizedintostructuresmorethanjustwordorder.Thechildrenwatched[thefireworkfromthehill].Thechildrenwatched[thefirework][fromthehill].Thechickenistoohottoeat.

787.5Semantics

Semanticsexamineshowmeaningisencodedinalanguage.Itisnotonlyconcernedwithmeaningsofwordsaslexicalitems,butalsowithlevelsoflanguagebelowthewordandaboveit,e.g.meaningofmorphemesandsentences.79Thefollowingarewhatthekeyconceptslooklike:semanticcomponentsdenotationofwordssenserelationsbetweenwordssuchasantonymyandsynonymysenserelationsbetweensentencessuchasentailmentandpresuppositionandothers.807.6Pragmatics

Pragmaticsisthestudyofmeaningincontext.Itdealswithparticularutterancesinparticularsituationsandisespeciallyconcernedwiththevariouswaysinwhichthemanysocialcontextsoflanguageperformancecaninfluenceinterpretation.Inotherwords,pragmaticsisconcernedwiththewaylanguageisusedtocommunicateratherthanwiththewaylanguageisinternallystructured.81Itregardsspeechperformanceasprimarilyasocialactruledbyvarioussocialconventions.Somekeyconceptssuchasreference,force,effect,andcooperativeprinciplesmayappearcommonsensical,yetpragmaticsisjustaboutoneofthemostpromisingfieldsoflinguisticstudies.82Takeconversationforexample.Sincelanguageistransmittedprimarilyviathespeechmode,pragmaticrulesgovernanumberofconversationalinteractions,suchassequentialorganization,repairoferrors,roleandspeechacts.Organizationofconversationsincludestakingturns,opening,maintainingandclosingaconversation,establishingandmaintainingatopicetc.838.Macrolinguistics

Linguisticsisnottheonlyfieldconcernedwithlanguage.Otherdisciplinessuchaspsychology,sociology,ethnography,thescienceoflawandartificialintelligenceetc.arealsopreoccupiedwithlanguage.84AlthoughSaussure'sgoalwastoestablishtheautonomyoflinguistics,givingitawell-definedsubjectofstudyandfreeingitfromrelianceonotherdisciplines,withitscomingofagelinguisticsisdevelopinginteractivelinkswithothersciences.Thecentralgoalofdescribingtheunderlyingsystemremains:thisistheprovinceofgeneral,descriptivelinguistics.85Butsincelanguagehasbothindividualandsocialaspects,itisnaturallyofinteresttopsychologistsandsociologistsamongothers.Thereforeitisnotsurprisingthatwehavesomebranchesofmacrolinguisticsthatshowaninterdisciplinarynaturefromtheirverynames:868.1Psycholinguistics

Psycholinguisticsinvestigatestheinterrelationoflanguageandmind,forexample,inprocessingandproducingutterancesandinlanguageacquisition.Italsostudieslanguagedevelopmentinthechild,suchasthetheoriesoflanguageacquisition,biologicalfoundationsoflanguage,andaprofoundaspect—therelationshipbetweenlanguageandcognition.878.2Sociolinguistics

Sociolinguisticsisthestudyofthecharacteristicsoflanguagevarieties,thecharacteristicsoftheirfunctions,andthecharacteristicsoftheirspeakersasthesethreeconstantlyinteractandchangewithinaspeechcommunity.Anumbrellatermwhichcoversavarietyofdifferentinterestsinlanguageandsociety,includingthesocialfunctionsoflanguageandthesocialcharacteristicsofitsusers.888.3Anthropologicallinguistics

Anthropologyandlinguisticsbecamecloselyassociatedintheearlydaysofanthropologicalfieldworkwhenanthropologistsenlistedthehelpoflinguiststostudyunwrittenlanguages.Incontrastwithotherlinguists,then,anthropologicallinguistsareinterestedprimarilyinthehistoryandstructureofformerlyunwrittenlanguages.89Becauseanunwrittenlanguagemustbeheardinordertobestudied,itdoesnotleaveanytracesonceitsspeakersdiedoff.Anthropologicallinguistsmustbegininthepresent,withcomparisonsofcontemporarylanguages.Thentheymaydrawinferencesaboutthekindsofchangeinlanguagethatmayhaveoccurredinthepastandthatmayaccountforsimilaritiesanddifferencesobservedinthepresent.908.4Computationallinguistics

Computationallinguisticscentersaroundtheuseofcomputerstoprocessorproducehumanlanguage(alsoknownas“naturallanguage”,todistinguishitfromcomputerlanguages).Tothisfield,linguisticscontributesanunderstandingofthespecialpropertiesoflanguagedata,andprovidestheoriesanddescriptionsoflanguagestructureanduse.91Somecurrentapplicationareasincludetranslatingfromonelanguagetoanother(MachineTranslation),storingandfindingrelevantdo