新编语言学教程Chapter1Introduction资料.ppt

Do you think the bee dance has the feature of displacement as human language? The bees must communicate about the food immediately on returning to the hive. Bees do not “talk” about themselves, the hives, let alone about people, animals, hopes or desires. What’s more, they do not dance about the food they discovered last month nor do they speculate about future discoveries. f. Specialization Specialization Man does not have a total physical involvement in the act of communication. Speech is a specialized activity. We use it in a detached manner. e.g: A mother can tell a story to her child while slicing up a cake. g. Cultural transmission Language is culturally transmitted from one generation to the next by a process of learning but not genetically. Why can’t Tarzan, a human being, understand human language? Language is culturally transmitted. The ability to speak a language is transmitted from one generation to the next by a process of teaching and learning, but not genetically. 1.6.4 Origin of language (p.9) Ding-dong theory: primitive man giving vocal expression to the objects he encountered Sing-song theory: primitive ritual songs of praise Pooh-pooh theory: interjections which express the speaker’s emotions Ye-he-ho theory: the cries uttered while working Ta-ta theory: combination of certain gestures and tongue movements Bow-wow theory: imitation of animal cries and other sounds in nature 1.7 Functions of language (p.13) Informative function: declarative sentences Phatic communion: farewells, comments on weather Directive function: imperatives Interrogative function: questions Expressive function: My God! Evocative function: jokes, advertising, propaganda Performative function: I declare the meeting open. 1.8 Important distinctions in linguistics (p.15) (1) Descriptive vs. prescriptive（描述与规定）(two types of linguistic study): If the linguistic study aims to describe and analyze the language, it is descripti