SER#1.A brief intro to Edward Sapirs book “Language” 语言学.docVIP

Language An Introduction to the Study of Speech Edward Sapir The noted linguist and anthropologist Edward Sapir wrote this work to show language in “relation to other fundamental interests—the problem of thought, the nature of the historical process, race, culture, art.” Language is not only a study of language and culture, but ultimately on the world of relations and influence. NEW YORK: HARCOURT, BRACE, 1921 NEW YORK: BARTLEBY.COM, 2000 Introductory: Language Defined Language a cultural, not a biologically inherited, function. Futility of interjectional and sound-imitative theories of the origin of speech. Definition of language. The psycho-physical basis of speech. Concepts and language. Is thought possible without language? Abbreviations and transfers of the speech process. The universality of language. The Elements of Speech Sounds not properly elements of speech. Words and significant parts of words (radical elements, grammatical elements). Types of words. The word a formal, not a functional unit. The word has a real psychological existence. The sentence. The cognitive, volitional, and emotional aspects of speech. Feeling-tones of words. The Sounds of Language The vast number of possible sounds. The articulating organs and their share in the production of speech sounds: lungs, glottal cords, nose, mouth and its parts. Vowel articulations. How and where consonants are articulated. The phonetic habits of a language. The “values” of sounds. Phonetic patterns. Form in Language: Grammatical Processes Formal processes as distinct from grammatical functions. Intercrossing of the two points of view. Six main types of grammatical process. Word sequence as a method. Compounding of radical elements. Affixing: prefixes and suffixes; infixes. Internal vocalic change; consonantal change. Reduplication. Functional variations of stress; of pitch. Form in Language: Grammatical Concepts Analysis of a typical English sentence. Types of concepts illustrated by it.