语言学Chapter-1.ppt

2. Duality By duality we mean that each language is organized at two levels or layers, one is sound and the other is meaning. The advantage of this division is that we can use limited number of sounds to produce unlimited number of sound combinations with distinctive meanings. e.g. in the language of English we use around 48 sounds to produce almost infinite number of sound combinations (words). This feature is very economical for the system of language. 3. Creativity By creativity we mean that speaker of a language can understand utterances that they have never heard before, and also at the same time produce new expressions, on the basis of the duality and recursiveness of language. e.g. for this sentence A red-eyed elephant is dancing on hotel bed, even if it is the first time that you ever meet this expression, and this phenomenon may never occur in the real word, you have no difficulty in understanding it. 4. Displacement By displacement we mean that language can be used to communicate about things that are not present in our immediate communicational context. This feature enables speakers to communicate free of the barriers caused by time and space. It also gives human beings the ability to generalize and abstract. 5. Cultural transmission It refers to the fact that details of the linguistic system must be learned anew by each speaker. Language is not transmitted biologically from generation to generation. e.g. A Chinese-American child brought up in the States may not be able to say one single Chinese word if he is not purposefully taught to speak Chinese, he can only speak English. Jakobson’s framework of language functions We use language to talk about our experience of the world, including the world in our own minds, to describe events and states and entities involved in them. (ideational function) We also use language to interact with other people, to establish and maintain relations with them, to influence their behavior, t