英语语言学自编教材第二章.pdfVIP

Chapter 2 Phonetics 1. The Phonic Medium of Language ● Relevant Language Use Observations and Questions to Ponder over 1) List different media by which human beings use for daily communication. 2) Based on your observations and experiences, of the two media, speech and writing, which one do you use more frequently in your daily communication and in what situations do you choose one medium over the other? 1) Which of the media enjoys a longer history, speech or writing? 2) Which of the media do you think is the major medium by which you acquire your mother tongue, speech or writing? ● Summaries to Make and Linguistic Viewpoints to Learn Speech and writing are the two media used by natural languages as vehicles for communication. Linguists believe that of the two media of language, speech is more basic than writing mainly for the following three reasons: 1) In linguistic evolution, speech is prior to writing. The writing system of any language is the later invention of its users to record speech. 2) In everyday communication, speech plays a greater role than writing in terms of the amount of information conveyed. It is only in the situation where speech is not possible for communication that we use the medium of writing as something supplementary in our daily communication. 3) Speech is always the way in which every native speaker acquires his mother tongue. ●Definitions to Clarify Phonic medium: It is a term used to refer to the speech sounds in human languages. 2. Phonetics 2.1 What is Phonetics? ● Relevant Language Use Observations and Questions to Ponder over 1) When you communicate with others orally, a message is produced by our speech organs in the form of sounds, transmitted through a certain physical means and perceived by the hearer. What do you think are the basic contents involved in the study of speech sounds? 2) Why should we study how humans produce speech sounds, how speech sounds