Linguistics_语言学_胡壮麟_英文版.docVIP

Linguistics Chapter 1 Introduction: Language and Linguistics What is language? Different definitions of language Language is a system whose parts can and must be considered in their synchronic solidarity. (de Saussure, 1916) [Language is] a set (finite or infinite) of sentences, each finite in length and constructed out of a finite set of elements. (Chomsky, 1957) Language is a purely human and non-instinctive method of communicating ideas, emotions and desires by means of voluntarily produced symbols. Each of the definitions above has pointed out some aspects of the essence of language, but