英语语言学讲义Chapter1.pdfVIP

2006 学年秋季 《普通语言学教程》讲义 ―― 第以章 本章共 5 页 Chapter one Introduction to linguistics 1. What is linguistics? ( definition of linguistics) Linguistics: is generally defined as the scientific study of (human) language. 1. The word language preceded by zero article in English implies that linguistics studies not any particular language, e.g. English , Chinese , French and Japanese, but languages in general. 2. The word study does not mean “learn” but “investigate”. 3. The word scientific refers to the way in which language is studied. 2. Why study linguistics ? 1. Linguistics takes an analytical approach to the study of language, and focus on developing skills in data analysis, problem solving, and logical thinking that can be applied to many fields. 2. It is a interdisciplinary subject. 3. Linguistics is a science that is still in its infancy but undergoing rapid development, and it is “a pilot science” 3. What and how linguists study language? 1. nature of language (focus on language itself) 2. nature of acquisition (focus on learners) 3. nature of teaching (focus on teachers) The process of linguistic study can be summarized as follows: .First, certain linguistic facts are observed, and generalizations are made about them; .Next, based on these generalizations, hypotheses are tested by further observations; .And finally a linguistic theory is constructed about what language is and how it works. 4 .Scope of linguistics 1. General linguistics: The study of language as a whole, it deal with the basic concepts, theories, descriptions, models and methods applicable in any linguistic study. 2. Micro-linguistics include