英语语言学复习资料

英语语言学复习资料一：名词解释1.Language(语言)isasystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsusedforhumanmunication.2.Linguistics(语言学)isgenerallydefinedasthescientificstudyoflanguage.3.Generallinguistics(一般/一般语言学)Thestudyoflanguageasawholeisoftencalledgenerallinguistics.4.Phonetics(语音学)thestudyofsoundsusedinlinguisticmunicationledtotheestablishmentofphonetics.5.Phonology(语音体系)howsoundsareputtogetherandusedtoconveymeaninginmunication.6.Morphology(形态学)thesesymbolsarearrangedandbinedtoformwordshasconstitutedthebranchofstudycalledmorphology.7.Syntax(句法学)thenthebinationofwordstoformgrammaticallypermissiblesentencesinlanguagesisgovernedbyrules.Thestudyoftheserulesconstitutesamajorbranchoflinguisticstudiescalledsyntax.8.Semantics(语意学)thestudyofmeaningisknownassemantics.9.Pragmatics(语用学)whenthestudyofmeaningisconducted,notinisolation,butinthecontextoflanguageuse,itbeesanotherbranchoflinguisticstudycalledpragmatics.10.Phone(音素)isaphoneticunitorsegment.Thespeechsoundswehearandproduceduringlinguisticmunicationareallphones.11.Phoneme(音位)isaphonologicalunit;itisaunitthatisofdistinctivevalue.Itisanabstractunit.Itisnotanyparticularsound,butratheritisrepresentedorrealizedbyacertainphoneinacertainphoneticcontext.12.Allophones(音位变体)thedifferentphoneswhichcanrepresentaphonemeindifferentphoneticenvironmentsarecalledtheallophones.13.IPA(InternationalPhoneticAlphabet国际音标)It’sastandardizedandinternationallyacceptedsystemofphonetictranscription.ThebasicprincipleoftheIPAisusingoneletterselectedfrommajorEuropeanlanguagestorepresentonespeechsound.14.Diacritics(变音符)itisasetofsymbolswhichareaddedtotheletter-symbolstobringoutthefinerdistinctions.15.broadtranscription(宽式标音)oneisthetranscriptionwithletter-symbolsonly.16.narrowtranscription(严式标音)theotheristhetranscriptionwithletter-symbolstogetherwiththediacritics.17.openclasswords(开放类词)InEnglish,openclasswordsarenouns,verbs,adjectivesandadverbs.Wecanregularlyaddnewwordstotheseclasses.18.closedclasswords(封闭类词)InEnglish,closedclasswordareconjunctions,prepositions,articlesandpronouns.Newwordsarenotusuallyaddedtothem.19.Morpheme(词素)themostbasicelementofmeaningistraditionallycalledmorpheme.20.boundmorpheme(黏着词素)morphemeswhichoccursonlybeforeothermorphemes.Theycannotbeusedalone.21.freemorpheme(自由词素)itisthemorphemeswhichcanbeusedalone.22.suprasegmentalfeatures(超音段特性)thephonemicfeaturesthatoccurabovethelevelofthesegmentsarecalledsuprasegmentalfeatures.23.Category(畴)itreferstoagroupoflinguisticitemswhichfulfillthesameorsimilarfunctionsinaparticularlanguagesuchasasentence,anounphraseoraverb.24.Phrases(短语)Syntacticunitsthatarebuiltaroundacertainwordcategoryarecalledphrases.二：简答题1.Threedistinctofphonetics(语音学的三个分支？)Articulatoryphonetics发音语音学;auditoryphonetics听觉语音学;acousticphonetics声光语音学.2.Mainfeaturesoflanguage(语言的重要特性？)Languageisasystem.Languageisarbitrary.Languageisvocal.Languageishuman-specific.3.Synchronicvs.diachronic(共识语言学与历史语言学的区别？)Languageexistsintimeandchangesthroughtime.Thedescriptionofalanguageatsomepointoftimeinhistoryisasynchronicstudy;thedescriptionofalanguageasitchangesthroughtimeisadiachronicstudy.Adiachronicstudyoflanguageisahistoricalstudy;itstudiesthehistoricaldevelopmentoflanguageoveraperiodoftime.4.Speechandwriting(言语与文字的区别？)Speechandwritingarethetwomajormediaoflinguisticmunication.Fromthepointofviewoflinguisticevolution,speechispriortowriting.Thewritingsystemofanylanguageisalways“invented〞byitsuserstorecordspeechwhentheneedarises.Thenineverydaymunication,speechplaysagreaterrolethanwritingintermsoftheamountofinformationconveyed,speechisalwaysthewayinwhicheverynativespeakeracquireshismothertongue,andwritingislearnedandtaughtlaterwhenhegoestoschool.Writtenlanguageisonlythe“revised〞recordofspeech.5.Whatarethebranchesoflinguisticstudy?(语言学研究领域中的重要分支有哪些？)1)sociolinguistics;2)psycholinguistics;3)appliedlinguisticsandsoon.6.Traditionalgrammarandmodernlinguistics(老式语法与现代语言学的区别？)Firstly,linguisticsisdescriptivewhiletraditionalgrammarisprescriptive.Second,modernlinguisticsregardsthespokenlanguageasprimary,notthewritten.Traditionalgrammarians,tendedtoemphasize,maybeover-emphasize,theimportanceofthewrittenword.ModernlinguisticsdiffersfromtraditionalgrammaralsointhatitdoesnotforcelanguagesintoaLatin-basedframework.7.Prescriptivevs.descriptive(语言学中描写性与规定性的特性是什么？)Prescriptiveanddescriptiverepresenttwodifferenttypesoflinguisticstudy.Ifalinguisticstudyaimstodescribeandanalyzethelanguagepeopleactuallyuse,itissaidtobedescriptive;ifthelinguisticstudyaimstolaydownrulesfor“correctandstandard〞behaviorinusinglanguage,itissaidtobeprescriptive.8.Designfeaturesoflanguage(语言的识别特性？)Arbitrariness随意性，productivity生产性,duality二重性,displacement不受时空限制的特性,culturaltransmission文化传递系统.9.petenceandperformance(语言能力与语言行为的区别？)petenceisdefinedastheidealuser’sknowledgeoftherulesofhislanguage,andperformancetheactualrealizationofthisknowledgeinlinguisticmunication.Chomskylooksatlanguagefromapsychologicalpointofviewandtohimpetenceisapropertyofthemindofeachindividual.10.Organsofspeech(发音器官)Pharyngealcavity—thethroat,oralcavity—themouth,nasalcavity—thenose.11.Word-levelcategories(决定词畴的三个原则)Todetermineaword’scategory,threecriteriaareusuallyemployed,namelymeaning,inflectionanddistribution.三：问题答复1.Somerulesinphonology(音位学规那么)sequentialrules(序列规那么)；assimilationrule(同化规那么)；deletionrule(省略规那么)。2.Suprasegmentalfeatures(超音段特性)stress(重音)；tone(声调)；intonation(语气)。3.ClassificationofEnglishspeechsounds(英语语音分类)TheclassificationwilldividethespeechsoundsinEnglishinto20vowelsand28consonants.4.Phrasecategoriesandtheirstructures(短语的畴和类型)nounphrase(NP),verbphrase(VP),adjectivephrase(AP),prepositionalphrase(PP).5.Morphologicalrulesofwordformation(形态学的规那么)Thewayswordsareformedarecalledmorphologicalrules.Theserulesdeterminehowmorphemesbinetoformwords.Someofthemorphologicalrulescanbeusedquitefreelytoformnewwords.Theyareproductivemorphologicalrules.Anotherwaytoformnewwordsarepoundwords,isbystringingwordstogether.1.1.Whatislanguage?“Languageissystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsusedforhumanmunication.Itisasystem,sincelinguisticelementsarearrangedsystematically,ratherthanrandomly.Arbitrary,inthesensethatthereisusuallynointrinsicconnectionbetweenawork(like“book〞)andtheobjectitrefersto.Thisexplainsandisexplainedbythefactthatdifferentlanguageshavedifferent“books〞:“book〞inEnglish,“livre〞inFrench,inJapanese,inChinese,“check〞inKorean.Itissymbolic,becausewordsareassociatedwithobjects,actions,ideasetc.bynothingbutconvention.Namely,peopleusethesoundsorvocalformstosymbolizewhattheywishtoreferto.Itisvocal,becausesoundorspeechistheprimarymediumforallhumanlanguages,developedor“new〞.Writingsystemscamemuchlaterthanthespokenforms.Thefactthatsmallchildrenlearnandcanonlylearntospeak(andlisten)beforetheywrite(andread)alsoindicatesthatlanguageisprimarilyvocal,ratherthanwritten.Theterm“human〞inthedefinitionismeanttospecifythatlanguageishumanspecific.1.2.Whataredesignfeaturesoflanguage?“Designfeatures〞hererefertothedefiningpropertiesofhumanlanguagethattellthedifferencebetweenhumanlanguageandanysystemofanimalmunication.Theyarearbitrariness,duality,productivity,displacement,culturaltransmissionandinterchangeability1.3.Whatisarbitrariness?By“arbitrariness〞,wemeanthereisnologicalconnectionbetweenmeaningsandsounds(seeI.1).Adogmightbeapigifonlythefirstpersonorgroupofpersonshaduseditforapig.Languageisthereforelargelyarbitrary.Butlanguageisnotabsolutelyseemtobesomesound-meaningassociation,ifwethinkofechowords,like“bang〞,“crash〞,“roar〞,whicharemotivatedinacertainsense.Secondly,somepounds(wordspoundedtobeoneword)arenotentirelyarbitraryeither.“Type〞and“write〞areopaqueorunmotivatedwords,while“type-writer〞islessso,ormoretransparentormotivatedthanthewordsthatmakeit.Sowecansay“arbitrariness〞isamatterofdegree.1.4.Whatisduality?Linguistsrefer“duality〞(ofstructure)tothefactthatinalllanguagessofarinvestigated,onefindstwolevelsofstructureorpatterning.Atthefirst,higherlevel,languageisanalyzedintermsofbinationsofmeaningfulunits(suchasmorphemes,wordsetc.);atthesecond,lowerlevel,itisseenasasequenceofsegmentswhichlackanymeaninginthemselves,butwhichbinetoformunitsofmeaning.AccordingtoHuZhanglinetal.(p.6),languageisasystemoftwosetsofstructures,oneofsoundsandtheotherofmeaning.Thisisimportantfortheworkingsoflanguage.Asmallnumberofsemanticunits(words),andtheseunitsofmeaningcanbearrangedandrearrangedintoaninfinitenumberofsentences(notethatwehavedictionariesofwords,butnodictionaryofsentences!).Dualitymakesitpossibleforapersontotalkaboutanythingwithinhisknowledge.Noanimalmunicationsystemenjoysthisduality,orevenapproachesthishonor.1.5.Whatisproductivity?Productivityreferstotheabilitytotheabilitytoconstructandunderstandanindefinitelylargenumberofsentencesinone’snativelanguage,includingthosethathasneverheardbefore,butthatareappropriatetothespeakingsituation.Noonehaseversaidorheard“Ared-eyedelephantisdancingonthesmallhotelbedwithanAfricangibbon〞,buthecansayitwhennecessary,andhecanunderstanditinrightregister.Differentfromartisticcreativity,though,productivitynevergoesoutsidethelanguage,thusalsocalled“rule-boundcreativity〞(byN.Chomsky).1.6.Whatisdisplacement?“Displacement〞,asoneofthedesignfeaturesofthehumanlanguage,referstothefactthatonecantalkaboutthingsthatarenotpresent,aseasilyashedoesthingspresent.Inotherwords,onecanrefertorealandunrealthings,thingsofthepast,ofthepresent,ofthefuture.Languageitselfcanbetalkedabouttoo.Whenaman,forexample,iscryingtoawoman,aboutsomething,itmightbesomethingthathadoccurred,orsomethingthatisoccurring,orsomethingthatistooccur.Whenadogisbarking,however,youcandecideitisbarkingforsomethingoratsomeonethatexistsnowandthere.Itcouldn’tbebowwowingsorrowfullyfordomelostloveorabonetobelost.Thebee’ssystem,nonetheless,hasasmallshareof“displacement〞,butitisanunspeakabletinyshare.1.7.Whatisculturaltransmission?Thismeansthatlanguageisnotbiologicallytransmittedfromgenerationtogeneration,butthatthedetailsofthelinguisticsystemmustbelearnedanewbyeachspeaker.Itistruethatthecapacityforlanguageinhumanbeings(N.Chomskycalledit“languageacquisitiondevice〞,orLAD)hasageneticbasis,buttheparticularlanguageapersonlearnstospeakisaculturaloneotherthanageneticonelikethedog’sbarkingsystem.Ifahumanbeingisbroughtupinisolationhecannotacquirelanguage.TheWolfChildrearedbythepackofwolvesturnedouttospeakthewolf’sroaring“tongue〞whenhewassaved.Helearnedthereafter,withnosmalldifficulty,theABCofacertainhumanlanguage.1.8.Whatisinterchangeability?(1)Interchangeabilitymeansthatanyhumanbeingcanbebothaproducerandareceiverofmessages.Wecansay,andonotheroccasionscanreceiveandunderstand,forexample,“Pleasedosomethingtomakemehappy.〞Thoughsomepeople(includingme)suggestthatthereissexdifferentiationintheactuallanguageuse,inotherwords,menandwomenmaysaydifferentthings,yetinprinciplethereisnosound,orwordorsentencethatamancanutterandawomancannot,orviceversa.Ontheotherhand,apersoncanbethespeakerwhiletheotherpersonisthelistenerandastheturnmovesontothelistener,hecanbethespeakerandthefirstspeakeristolisten.Itisturn-takingthatmakessocialmunicationpossibleandacceptable.(2)Somemalebirds,however,uttersomecalls,whichfemalesdonot(orcannot?),andcertainkindsoffishhavesimilarhapsmentionable.Whenadogbarks,alltheneighboringdogsbark.Thenpeoplearoundcanhardlytellwhichdog(dogs)is(are0“speaking〞andwhichlistening.1.9.Whydolinguistssaylanguageishumanspecific?Firstofall,humanlanguagehassix“designfeatures〞whichanimalmunicationsystemsdonothave,atleastnotinthetruesenseofthem(seeI.2-8).Let’sborrowC.F.Hocket’sChartthatpareshumanlanguagewithsomeanimals’systems,fromWangGang(1998,p.8).Secondly,linguistshavedonealottryingtoteachanimalssuchaschimpanzeestospeakahumanlanguagebuthaveachievednothinginspiring.BeatniceandAlanGardnerbroughtupWashoe,afemalechimpanzee,likeahumanchild.Shewastaught“AmericansignLanguage〞,andlearnedalittlethatmadetheteachershappybutdidmotmakethelinguisticscirclehappy,forfewbelievedinteachingchimpanzees.Thirdly,ahumanchildrearedamonganimalscannotspeakahumanlanguage,notevenwhenheistakenbackandtaughttolotoso(seethe“WolfChild〞inI.7)1.10.Whatfunctionsdoeslanguagehave?Languagehasatleastsevenfunctions:phatic,directive,Informative,interrogative,expressive,evocativeandperformative.AccordingtoWangGang(1988,p.11),languagehasthreemainfunctions:atoolofmunication,atoolwherebypeoplelearnabouttheworld,andatoolbywhichpeoplelearnabouttheworld,andatoolbywhichpeoplecreateart.M.A.K.Halliday,representativeoftheLondonschool,recognizesthree“Macro-Functions〞:ideational,interpersonalandtextual(see!11-17;seeHUZhuanglinetal.,pp10-13,pp394-396).1.11Whatisthephaticfunction?The“phaticfunction〞referstolanguagebeingusedforsettingupacertainatmosphereormaintainingsocialcontacts(ratherthanforexchanginginformationorideas).Greetings,farewells,andmentsontheweatherinEnglishandonclothinginChineseallservethisfunction.Muchofthephaticlanguage(e.g.“Howareyou?〞“Fine,thanks.〞)Isinsincereiftakenliterally,butitisimportant.Ifyoudon'tsay“Hello〞toafriendyoumeet,orifyoudon’tanswerhis“Hi〞,youruinyourfriendship.1.12.Whatisthedirectivefunction?The“directivefunction〞meansthatlanguagemaybeusedtogetthehearertodosomething.Mostimperativesentencesperformthisfunction,e.g.,“Tellmetheresultwhenyoufinish.〞Othersyntacticstructuresorsentencesofothersortscan,accordingtoJ.AustinandJ.Searle’s“indirectspeechacttheory〞(seeHuZhuanglinetal.,pp271-278)atleast,servethepurposeofdirectiontoo,e.g.,“IfIwereyou,Iwouldhaveblushedtothebottomofmyears!〞1.13.Whatistheinformativefunction?Languageservesan“informationalfunction〞whenusedtotellsomething,characterizedbytheuseofdeclarativesentences.Informativestatementsareoftenlabeledastrue(truth)orfalse(falsehood).AccordingtoP.Grice’s“CooperativePrinciple〞(seeHuZhuanglinetal.,pp282-283),oneoughtnottoviolatethe“MaximofQuality〞,whenheisinformingatall.1.14.Whatistheinterrogativefunction?Whenlanguageisusedtoobtaininformation,itservesan“interrogativefunction〞.Thisincludesallquestionsthatexpectreplies,statements,imperativesetc.,accordingtothe“indirectspeechacttheory〞,mayhavethisfunctionaswell,e.g.,“I’dliketoknowyoubetter.〞Thismaybringforthalotofpersonalinformation.Notethatrhetoricalquestionsmakeanexception,sincetheydemandnoanswer,atleastnotthereader’s/listener’sanswer.1.15.Whatistheexpressivefunction?The“expressivefunction〞istheuseoflanguagetorevealsomethingaboutthefeelingsorattitudesofthespeaker.Subconsciousemotionalejaculationsaregoodexamples,like“Goodheavens!〞“MyGod!〞Sentenceslike“I’msorryaboutthedelay〞canserveasgoodexamplestoo,thoughinasubtleway.Whilelanguageisusedfortheinformativefunctiontopassjudgmentonthetruthorfalsehoodofstatements,languageusedfortheexpressivefunctionevaluates,appraisesorassertsthespeaker’sownattitudes.1.16.Whatistheevocativefunction?The“evocativefunction〞istheuseoflanguagetocreatecertainfeelingsinthehearer.Itsaimis,forexample,toamuse,startle,antagonize,soothe,worryorplease.Jokes(notpracticaljokes,though)aresupposedtoamuseorentertainthelistener;advertisingtourgecustomerstopurchasecertainmodities;propagandatoinfluencepublicopinion.Obviously,theexpressiveandtheevocativefunctionsoftengotogether,i.e.,youmayexpress,forexample,yourpersonalfeelingsaboutapoliticalissuebutendupbyevokingthesamefeelingin,orimposingiton,yourlistener.That’salsothecasewiththeotherwayround.1.17.Whatistheperformativefunction?Thismeanspeoplespeakto“dothings〞orperformactions.Oncertainoccasionstheutteranceitselfasanactionismoreimportantthanwhatwordsorsoundsconstitutetheutteredsentence.WhenaskedifathirdYangtzeBridgeoughttobebuiltinWuhan,themayormaysay,“OK〞,whichmeansmorethanspeech,andmorethananaveragesocialindividualmaydofortheconstruction.Thejudge’simprisonmentsentence,thepresident’swarorindependencedeclaration,etc.,areperformativesaswell(seeJ.Austin’sspeechActTheory,HuZhuanglin,ecal.pp271-278).1.18.Whatislinguistics?“Linguistics〞isthescientificstudyoflanguage.Itstudiesnotjustonelanguageofanyonesociety,butalsothelanguageofallhumanbeings.Alinguist,though,doesnothavetoknowandusealargenumberoflanguages,buttoinvestigatehoweachlanguageisconstructed.Heisalsoconcernedwithhowalanguagevariesfromdialecttodialect,fromclasstoclass,howitchangesfromcenturytocentury,howchildrenacquiretheirmothertongue,andperhapshowapersonlearnsorshouldlearnaforeignlanguage.Inshort,linguisticsstudiesthegeneralprincipleswhereuponallhumanlanguagesareconstructedandoperateassystemsofmunicationintheirsocietiesormunities(seeHuZhuanglinetal.,pp20-22)1.19.Whatmakeslinguisticsascience?Sincelinguisticsisthescientificstudyoflanguage,itoughttobaseitselfuponthesystematic,investigationoflanguagedata,whichaimsatdiscoveringthetruenatureoflanguageanditsunderlyingsystem.Tomakesenseofthedata,alinguistusuallyhasconceivedsomehypothesesaboutthelanguagestructure,tobecheckedagainsttheobservedorobservablefacts.Inordertomakehisanalysisscientific,alinguistisusuallyguidedbyfourprinciples:exhaustiveness,consistency,andobjectivity.Exhaustivenessmeansheshouldgatherallthematerialsrelevanttothestudyandgivethemanadequateexplanation,inspiteoftheplicatedness.Heistoleavenolinguistic“stone〞unturned.Consistencymeansthereshouldbenocontradictionbetweendifferentpartsofthetotalstatement.Economymeansalinguistshouldpursuebrevityintheanalysiswhenitispossible.Objectivityimpliesthatsincesomepeoplemaybesubjectiveinthestudy,alinguistshouldbe(orsoundatleast)objective,matter-of-face,faithfultoreality,sothathisworkconstitutespartofthelinguisticsresearch.1.20.Whatarethemajorbranchesoflinguistics?Thestudyoflanguageasawholeisoftencalledgenerallinguistics(e.g.HuZhuanglinetal.,1988;WangGang,1988).Butalinguistsometimesisabletodealwithonlyoneaspectoflanguageatatime,thustheariseofvariousbranches:phonetics,phonology,morphology,syntax,semantics,sociolinguistics,appliedlinguistics,pragmatics,psycholinguistics,lexicology,lexicography,etymology,etc.1.21.Whataresynchronicanddiachronicstudies?Thedescriptionofalanguageatsomepointoftime(asifitstoppeddeveloping)isasynchronystudy(synchrony).Thedescriptionofalanguageasitchangesthroughtimeisadiachronicstudy(diachronic).Anessayentitled“OntheUseofTHE〞,forexample,maybesynchronic,iftheauthordoesnotrecallthepastofTHE,anditmayalsobediachronicifheclaimstocoveralargerangeorperiodoftimewhereinTHEhasundergonetremendousalteration(seeHuZhuanglinetal.,pp25-27).1.22.Whatisspeechandwhatiswriting?(1)Nooneneedstherepetitionofthegeneralprincipleoflinguisticanalysis,namely,theprimacyofspeechoverwriting.Speechisprimary;becauseitexistedlonglongbeforewritingsystemscameintobeing.Geneticallychildrenlearntospeakbeforelearningtowrite.Secondly,writtenformsjustrepresentinthiswayorthatthespeechsounds:individualsounds,asinEnglishandFrenchasinJapanese.(2)Incontrasttospeech,spokenformoflanguage,writingaswrittencodes,giveslanguagenewscopeandusethatspeechdoesnothave.Firstly,messagescanbecarriedthroughspacesothatpeoplecanwritetoeachother.Secondly,messagescanbecarriedthroughtimethereby,sothatpeopleofourtimecanbecarriedthroughtimethereby,sothatpeopleofourtimecanreadBeowulf,SamuelJohnson,andEdgarA.Poe.Thirdly,oralmessagesarereadilysubjecttodistortion,eitherintentionalorunintentional(causingmisunderstandingormalentendu),whilewrittenmessagesallowandencouragerepeatedunalterablereading.(3)Mostmodernlinguisticanalysisisfocusedonspeech,differentfromgrammariansofthelastcenturyandtheretofore.1.23.Whatarethedifferencesbetweenthedescriptiveandtheprescriptiveapproaches?Alinguisticstudyis“descriptive〞ifitonlydescribesandanalysesthefactsoflanguage,and“prescriptive〞ifittriestolaydownrulesfor“correct〞languagebehavior.Linguisticstudiesbeforethiscenturywerelargelyprescriptivebecausemanyearlygrammarswerelargelyprescriptivebecausemanyearlygrammarswerebasedon“high〞(literaryorreligious)writtenrecords.Modernlinguisticsismostlydescriptive,however.It(thelatter)believesthatwhateveroccursinnaturalspeech(hesitation,inpleteutterance,misunderstanding,etc.)shouldbedescribedintheanalysis,andnotbemarkedasincorrect,abnormal,corrupt,orlousy.These,withchangesinvocabularyandstructures,needtobeexplainedalso.1.24.Whatisthedifferencebetweenlangueandparole?F.DeSaussurerefers“langue〞totheabstractlinguisticsystemsharedbyallthemembersofaspeechmunityandrefers“parole〞totheactualoractualizedlanguage,ortherealizationoflangue.Langueisabstract,parolespecifictothespeakingsituation;languenotactuallyspokenbyanindividual,parolealwaysanaturallyoccurringevent;languerelativelystableandsystematic,paroleisamassofconfusedfacts,thusnotsuitableforsystematicinvestigation.Whatalinguistoughttodo,accordingtoSaussure,istoabstractlanguefrominstancesofparole,I.e.todiscovertheregularitiesgoverningallinstancesofparoleandmakethanthesubjectoflinguistics.Thelangue-paroledistinctionisofgreatimportance,whichcastsgreatinfluenceonlaterlinguists.1.25.Whatisthedifferencebetweenpetenceandperformance?(1)AccordingtoN.Chomsky,“petence〞istheideallanguageuser’sknowledgeoftherulesofhislanguage,and“performance〞istheactualrealizationofthisknowledgeinutterances.Theformerenablesaspeakertoproduceandunderstandanindefinitenumberofsentencesandtorecognizegrammaticalmistakesandambiguities.Aspeaker’spetenceisstablewhilehisperformanceisofteninfluencedbypsychologicalandsocialfactors.Soaspeaker’sperformancedoesnotalwaysmatchorequalhissupposedpetence.(2)Chomskybelievesthatlinguistsoughttostudypetence,ratherthanperformance.Inotherwords,theyshoulddiscoverwhatanidealspeakerknowsofhisnativelanguage.(3)Chomsky’spetence-performancedistinctionisnotexactlythesameas,thoughsimilarto,F.deSaussure’slangue-paroledistinction.Langueisasocialproduct,andasetofconventionsforamunity,whilepetenceisdeemedasapropertyofthemindofeachindividual.SussurelooksatlanguagemorefromasociologicalorsociolinguisticpointofviewthanN.Chomskysincethelatterdealswithhisissuespsychologicallyorpsycholinguistically.1.26.Whatislinguisticpotential?Whatisactuallinguisticbehavior?M.A.K.Hallidaymadethesetwoterms,orthepotential-behaviordistinction,inthe1960s,fromafunctionalpointofview.Thereisawiderangeofthingsaspeakercandoinhisculture,andsimilarlytherearemanythingshecansay,forexample,tomanypeople,onmanytopics.Whatheactuallysays(i.e.his“actuallinguisticbehavior〞)onacertainoccasiontoacertainpersoniswhathehaschosenfrommanypossibleinjusticeitems,eachofwhichhecouldhavesaid(linguisticpotential).1.27.Inwhatwaydolanguage,petenceandlinguisticpotentialagree?Inwhatwaydotheydiffer?Andtheircounterparts?Langue,petenceandlinguisticpotentialhavesomesimilarfeatures,buttheyareinnatelydifferent(see1.25).Langueisasocialproduct,andasetofspeakingconventions;petenceisapropertyorattributeofeachidealspeaker’smind;linguisticpotentialisallthelinguisticcorpusorrepertoireavailablefromwhichthespeakerchoosesitemsfortheactualutterancesituation.Inotherwords,langueisinvisiblebutreliableabstractsystem.petencemeans“knowing〞,andlinguisticpotentialasetofpossibilitiesfor“doing〞or“performingactions〞.TheyaresimilarinthattheyallrefertotheconstantunderlyingtheutterancesthatconstitutewhatSaussure,ChomskyandHallidayrespectivelycalledparole,performanceandactuallinguisticbehavior.Paole,perform