新编简明英语语言学教程戴伟栋何兆熊编.doc

Chapter 1 1. Language can be generally defined as a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication. Language is a system. Systematic---- rule-governed, elements in it are arranged according to certain rules; can’t be combined at will. e.g. *bkli, *I apple eat. Language is arbitrary. Arbitrary---- no intrinsic connection between the word and the thing it denotes, e.g. “pen” by any other name is the thing we use to write with. Language is symbolic in nature. Symbolic---- words are associated with objects, actions ideas by convention. “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet”----Shakespeare 2. The design/defining features of human language (Charles Hockett) ⑴Arbitrariness No logical (motivated or intrinsic) connection between sounds and meanings ①Onomatopoeic words (which imitate natural sounds) are somewhat motivated ( English: rumble, crackle, bang, …. Chinese: putong, shasha, dingdang… ) ②Some compound words are not entirely arbitrary, e.g. type-writer, shoe-maker, air-conditioner, photocopy… ⑵Productivity/Creativity Peculiar to human languages，users of language can understand and produce sentences they have never heard before, e.g. we can understand sentence like “ A red-eyed elephant is dancing on the hotel bed”, though it does not describe a common happening in the world. ①A gibbon call system is not productive for gibbon draw all their calls from a fixed repertoire which is rapidly exhausted, making any novelty impossible. ②The bee dance does have a limited productivity, as it is used to communicate about food sources in any direction. But food sources are the only kind of messages that can be sent through the bee dance; bees do not “talk” about themselves, the hives, or wind, let alone about people, animals, hopes or desires ⑶Duality ①Lower level----sounds (meaningless) ②Higher level----meaning (larger units of meaning) ③A communication system with duality is considered more flexible than one without it, for a far greater number of