Chapter 12 Theories and Schools of Modern Linguistics文档.ppt

英语语言学概论课程课件 课件名称：现代语言学理论与流派 制作者：外国语学院 鞠玉梅 * Chapter 12 Theories and Schools of Modern Linguistics Purpose of teaching: To introduce the various schools of modern linguistics to students Focal points of teaching: The Prague School, the London School, American Structuralism, Transformational-Generative Grammar * Introduction Modern linguistics began from the Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure, who is often described as the “father of modern linguistics”. During the years between 1907 to 1911, Saussure lectured on general linguistics in the University of Geneva. After he died in 1913, two of his students collected lecture notes from students and put them together to produce the great work, Course in General Linguistics, in 1916. This book became the most important source of Saussure’s ideas and of his influence upon succeeding generations of linguists. His work marked the beginning of modern linguistics. * The concept of arbitrariness The complexities of language: Human language is an extremely complex and heterogeneous phenomenon. Language---- a system of signs, the union of a form and an idea, the signifier and the signified, the relational nature of linguistic units The distinction of LANGUE and PAROLE The distinction of SYNCHRONIC and DIACHRONIC linguistics * The Prague School The first meeting under the leadership of V. Mathesius(1882-1946) It sees language in terms of function. Three points: First, the synchronic study of language is fully justified. Second, there was an emphasis on the systemic character of language. Third, language was looked on as functional in another sense, as a tool performing a number of essential functions or tasks for the community using it. * Phonology and phonological oppositions The Prague School is best known and remembered for its contribution to phonology and the distinction between phonetics and phonology. Trubetzkoy Principles of Phonology 1939 The concept of phoneme Distinctive features: (1) their relation to the whole contr