The scope of linguistics today今天语言学的范围.ppt

The scope of linguistics John Goldsmith Origins of linguistics In several cases, the roots of linguistics lies in the wish to maintain sacred texts. Most notably in the preservation of the Vedas, and the tradition in India of which Panini’s work (c. 6th century BC) is the pinnacle. Islamic tradition began a century after the writing of the Koran, to counter the evolution of Arabic dialects. (Sibawayhi) Medieval Hebrew grammarians (heavily influenced by Arabic tradition). Linguistics in the classical world Dionysius Thrax (2nd century BC) Greek linguist of great influence. Provides an analysis of Greek parts of speech (categories of words). Linguistics? Systematic (or, scientific) treatment of the structure of language. The search for an explanation of aspects of language. Ah – but what is an explanation? In the late Middle Ages, it involved the study of the writings of the scholars from the Classical period (Roman, Greek)… 19th century A major component of the 19th century’s understanding of an explanation was a precise account of the historical origin of whatever it is we are studying: a people, a word, a language, a nation. The search for the history of European languages, especially insofar as this bears on what the peoples of Europe are. Etymologies Law of (exceptionless) sound change: sounds change in mechanical ways over time. The discovery of Indo-European IndoEuropean Indo-Iranian languages Italic languages (including Latin and its descendants, the Romance languages) Germanic languages Celtic languages Baltic languages Slavic languages Albanian language (and extinct cousins) Anatolian languages (extinct, most notable was Hittite) Tocharian languages (extinct, Chinese Turkestan): Greek Armenian Grimm’s Law Cognates 20th century (Extending from the 19th century: ) the discovery of the vastness of the non-Western world: in this case, of the thousands of non-European languages. What can they tell us about Language? Especially in the United States: