chapter1_Introduction英语语言学.ppt

9.2 Synchronic vs. diachronic 9.2 Synchronic vs. diachronic A synchronic study takes a fixed instant (usually at present) as its point of observation. Diachronic description is the study of a language through the course of its history. Who can give us some examples? a study of the features of the English used in Shakespeare’s time would be synchronic, and a study of the changes English has undergone would be a diachronic study. Are most linguistic studies synchronic or diachronic? In modern linguistics, synchronic study seems to enjoy priority over diachronic study. The reason is that unless the various state of a language are successfully studied it would be difficult to describe the changes that have taken place in its historical development. 9.3 Langue parole Saussure distinguished langue and parole. Langue ---- the abstract linguistic system shared by all members of the speech community. Parole ---- the realization of langue in actual use. 9.3 Langue parole What are the differences between langue and parole? 1. Langue is the set of conventions and rules which language users all have to abide by, and parole is the concrete use of the conventions and the applications of the rules. 2. Langue is abstract; it is not the language people actually use. Parole is concrete; it refers to the naturally occurring language events. 3. Langue is relative stable and systematic, it does not change frequently. parole varies from person to person, and from situation to situation. What a linguist should do, according to Saussure, is to draw rules from a mass of confused facts, i.e. to discover the regularities governing all instances of parole and make them the subject of linguistics. F.D.Saussure（1857-1913) 瑞士语言学家索绪尔(F.D.Saussure,1857-1913)，1857年出生于瑞士日内瓦，1913年病逝，享年66岁。1875年在日内瓦大学学习化学，1876年转到德国莱比锡大学专攻语言学，1879年又转到柏林大学发表了成名作《论印欧语言元音的原始系统》，1880年考取莱比锡大学博士，1881年出版博士论文《论梵文绝对属格的用法》。1881-1891年在法国巴黎主持比较语法的讲座，1891年在日内瓦大学担任教授，讲授梵文，比较语法和普通语言学。1913年索绪尔逝世后他的学生根据上课笔记把它整理成《普通语言