序言(西方語言學流派)

You’reSoWelcome!March.2023Room14502H.Aboutme:李兵絨，LisaEmail:Tel:(ShorttextmessagesinEnglisharepreferred)Office:6thfloor,No.15building(Availablebeforeorafterthelectures)SchoolsofLinguistics〔西方語言學流派〕ANewCourseSettinguptheCourseMajortopicstobecovered:1.Introductoryremarks2.Languagestudiesbeforethe18thcentury3.Historicalandcomparativelinguistics4.Saussure:Beginningofmodernlinguistics5.Earlyfunctionalefforts:thePragueSchool6.AmericanstructuralistlinguisticsSettinguptheCourse7.Generativegrammar:Chomsky’stheoryoflinguisticsTheLondonSchool:FirthandHalliday’sSystemic-functionalgrammar9.Cognitivelinguistics10.ConcludingremarksSettingupthecoursePurposesofthecourse:IntroducingthebasicconceptsandtheoriesinmodernlinguisticsProvidingafoundationforotherrelatedcoursesPreparingcandidatesfortakingentranceexamsforPh.D.programsJustforfun(interestedinideas,reasoningandinferenceprocesses)SettingupthecourseRequirements:RegularattendancetothelecturesGiveapresentationonagiventopic.Writeupthepresentationasatermpaper.4.Readingassignment:劉潤清，《西方語言學流派》，外研社。劉潤清，封宗信《語言學理論與流派》〔英文版〕，南師大。supplementaryreadings：LiuRunqing&CuiGang,ReadingsinLinguistics:NinetyYearssinceSaussure.(劉潤清，崔剛：《現(xiàn)代語言學名著選讀》.外研社，2023OutlineofthislectureContentoftoday’slecture:Whatislanguage?(definition&designfeaturesoflanguage)Whatislinguistics?(criteriaforbeingscientific)DifferencesbetweenbranchesandschoolsSomemajordistinctions(formvs.meaning,descriptivevs.explanatory;synchronicvs.diachronic;empiricismvs.rationalism)1.Whatislanguage?1.Whatislanguage?Languageiscentraltoournatureashumanbeings,yetitseemsitisthelastthingwecanreasonablystudyobjectively–wehadtoexamineeverythingelse(inthephysicalworld)beforewecanexplorehowwethinkandhowwecommunicate.Thereisatleastonegoodreasonforthis.Languageisasocialartifact–atool.1.Whatislanguage?Peoplewhousetoolsdonotgenerallyspendtimestudyingthem.Wetendtotakeitforgranted.However,ourlivesdependincreasinglyonfastandsuccessfulcommunicationnowadays.Weoftenblameourpoorcommunicationforourpersonalorglobalproblems.Evenmachinesare‘learning’touselanguage.1.Whatislanguage?Linguisticstodayisatastagesimilartoearlyphysicsorbiology,attimeinwhichavarietyofmoreorlesscompetinghypothesesandsystemsofdescriptionhavenotyetgivenwaytooneagreedview.Apartfromthefactthatlinguisticsissimplytoorecenttobeaunifiedscience,therearefourotherreasons:1.Humanlanguagehasshownitselftobean1.Whatislanguage?extremelycomplexphenomenon,farmoresothanmosteducatedpeopleappreciate.2.Unlikeothersciences,whichuselanguagetohandlesomethingelse,linguisticshastouselanguagetodescribelanguage,whichisademandingexercise.3.Languageisbyitsverynaturebeyondthetotalgraspofanyonehumanorgroupofhumans.1.Whatislanguage?4.Language,likethought,isbothaprivateandasharedphenomenon,anduntilweunderstandwhatisbrainormind,wecanonlystudytheproductratherthanhowlanguageisproduced,stored,memorized,usedaspartof‘consciousness’.Well,linguisticshasproceededsteadilyandproducedinterestingtheorieswhichhaveimportantconsequencesforallofus.1.Whatislanguage?1.Whatislanguagethen?Theeverydayuseofthistermhasseveraldifferentsenses:Atthemostspecificlevel,itistheactofspeakinginagivensituation.Itcanrefertothesystemunderlyingoneperson’suseoflanguage–idiolect.Itcanrefertoaparticularvarietyofspeechorwriting,suchasscientificlanguage.1.Whatislanguage?4.Itcanrefertotheabstractsystemunderlyingthecollectivetotalityofthespeechbehaviourofacommunity.5.Sometimes,higher-ordergroupingscanbemade,asinsuchnotions‘theRomancelanguages’,‘theGermaniclanguages’,‘Creolelanguages’–allthiswillfallundertheheadingof‘naturallanguages’whichcontrastswithartificiallanguages.1.Whatislanguage?6.Atthehighestlevelofabstraction,itreferstothebiologicalfacultywhichenablesallnormalhumanbeingstolearnandusetheirlanguage.Definitionoflanguage:Languageisdefinedasasystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsusedforhumancommunication.Twosystems–sound,andmeaning;infiniteuseoffinitemeansIntroductoryRemarksArbitrariness:thereisnophysicalorintrinsicconnectionbetweenthesoundsandtheentitiesintheworldtowhichtheyrefer.Vocal:theprimarymediumoflanguageissound(languageisspoken)Symbols:anotherwayoflookingatarbitrarinessHuman:species-specific,unique,nosystemofanimalcommunicationislikeourhumanlanguage.1.Whatislanguage?Designfeaturesoflanguage:ThetermistakenfromCharlesHockett;itreferstoanumberofgeneralpropertiesinrespectofwhichlanguagemaybecomparedwithothersemioticsystemsusedbymanorbyanimals.1.Arbitrariness:itisusedtocontrastwithiconicity(geometricallysimilar).Itisimportantforversatility/adaptability.1.Whatislanguage?Itmeansthatthereisnonaturalorinevitablelinkbetweenthewordandthethingitstandsfor.Onesequenceofsoundsisnobettersuitedtothatpurposethananother.Therearetwowaysinwhichlinguisticssignsmaybemotivated.First,therearecasesofonomatopoeia,wherethesoundsofthewordsmimicsomenaturalsounds.Somemaybepartiallymotivated:‘typewriter’.1.Whatislanguage?2.Duality:alsoknownas“doublearticulation〞.Theyaretwolevelsofstructuralorganization:phonologicalandgrammatical.3.Productivity:Thisenablesthespeakertoconstructandunderstandanindefinitelylargenumberofutterances,includingutterancestheyhaveneverheardof.〔e.g.biang,Duang.Petalosoitalyboycreated〕〔1.Whatislanguage?(Thereareutteranceswhosenoveltydoesnotconsistsolelyinthattheyhaveneveroccurredinthepreviousexperience,butintheiracknowledgedoriginalityofstyle;anditisforthiskindofnoveltyororiginalitythattheterm‘creativity’ismostappropriate.Whethercreativityisapropertyoflanguageoracharacteristicfeatureoftheuseoflanguagebyparticularspeakersorwritersisstilldebatable.)1.Whatislanguage?4.Discreteness:Thetermappliestothesignal-elementsofsemioticsystem.Iftheelementsarediscrete,inthesensethatdifferencebetweenthemisabsoluteanddoesnotadmitofgradationintermsofmoreorless,thesystemissaidtobediscrete;otherwiseitiscontinuous.Theword-formsinlanguageareeitherabsolutelythesameorabsolutelydifferent.Discretenessisnotlogicallydependentupon1.Whatislanguage?arbitrariness;butitinteractswithittoincreasethesemioticflexibilityofthesystem.Twoword-formsmaydifferminimallyandmaybeformsoflexemesthatarenotatallsimilarinmeaning(bear—pear).Thefactthatminimally-distinctformsmaybeformsoflexemesthatdifferconsiderablyinmeaningandbelongtodifferentgrammaticalclassesalsohastheeffectofenhancingtheirdiscretenesswhenchannel-noisetendsto1.Whatislanguage?destroythephysicaldifferencesinthesignal.5.Displacement:Itispossibleforustorefertoobjectsandeventsthatareremoteintimeandplacefromtheactofutteranceitself.ItisfirstdefinedbyHockettas“amessageisdisplacedtotheextentthatthekeyfeaturesinitsantecedentsandconsequencesareremovedfromthetimeandplaceoftransmission〞.(Displacementinchildren’sspeechcomesmuchlater.)1.Whatislanguage?6.Interchangeability:“Anyorganismequippedforthetransmissionofthemessagesinthesystemisalsoequippedtoreceivemessagesinthesamesystem〞(Hockett,1958).Itisimportantthatwearebothsendersandreceiversusingessentiallythesamesystem.Inmanykindsofanimalsignalingbehaviour,thisisnotso.Itisnotuncommonformembersofonesextoproducematingsignalswhichonlymembers1.Whatislanguage?oftheothersexwillrespondto.7.Completefeedback:Itreferstothefactthataspeakerhearsandisabletomonitorhisownperformance.Thisisnotsolelyamatterofmonitoringthesignalforaudibility,italsoinvolvesthecheckingofone’sownutterancesforcomprehensibilityandcorrectnessofformationastheyareproducedandmakingadjustmentswhenthesearejudgednecessary.(Animals?unknown)1.Whatislanguage?8.Culturaltransmission:Itisopposedtogenetictransmission,andithastodowiththefactthattheabilitytospeakalanguageispassedonfromonegenerationtothenextbyteachingandlearning,ratherthanbyinstinct.Eventhestrongestformofthehypothesisthatchildrenarebornwithaknowledgeofcertainuniversalprincipleswhichdeterminethestructureoflanguagemustallowthataveryconsiderablepartofthestructureofalanguageisacquired.1.Whatislanguage?Atthesametime,itmustberecognizedthatmuchofthesignalingbehaviorsofotherspeciesthatwasoncethoughttobepurelyinstinctiveisnowknowntobeacquiredbyacombinationofinstinctandlearning.(myna八哥)9.Learnability:Thismakesitpossibleforanyhumanbeingofwhateverracetolearninchildhoodanylanguageequallywell.(Itistodecidetowhatdegreelearnabilityappliestonon-humansemioticsystems,Somebirdscanimitatethesongsofotherspecies.)1.Whatislanguage?10.Reflexivity:Alsoknownasreflectiveness.Itmeansthatlanguagescanrefertoanddescribethemselves.Weuselanguagetotalkaboutlanguage,Thiscreatesparticularproblemsforlinguists.Theymusthaveavailablethetechnicalvocabularytodistinguishbetweenthereflexiveandon-reflexiveuseoflanguage.(e.g.:Socrateshas8letters.)Nonon-humansemioticsystemshavethisproperty.HumanLhasbothanexpressiveanddescriptivefunction.2.Whatislinguistics?2.Whatislinguistics?Linguisticsisdefinedasthescientificstudyoflanguage.Asanacademicdiscipline,thedevelopmentofthissubjecthasbeenrecentandrapid,havingbecomeparticularlywidelyknownandtaughtinthe1960s.Thisreflectspartlyanincreasedpopularandspecialistinterestinthestudyoflanguageandcommunicationinrelationtohumanbeliefsandbehaviourandtherealizationoftheneedfor2.Whatislinguistics?aseparatedisciplinetodealwiththerangeandcomplexityoflinguisticphenomena;partlytheimpactofthesubject’sowninternaldevelopmentatthistime,arisinglargelyoutoftheworkofChomskywhosepowerfultheoreticalclaimsgavelinguisticsanunprecedentedscopeandapplicability.Whenwesaythescientificstudyoflanguage,wecanaskhowscientificisscientific?Thereareoftenfourprinciplestofollowinordertobescientific.2.Whatislinguistics?1.Objectivity:Anobjectiveaccountisonewhichattemptstocapturethenatureoftheobjectstudiedinawaythatdoesnotdependonanyfeaturesoftheparticularpersonwhostudiesit.Anobjectiveaccountis,inthissense,impartial,onewhichcouldideallybeacceptedbyanyperson,becauseitdoesnotdrawonanyassumptions,prejudices,orvaluesofparticularsubjects.Thisfeatureofobjectivitymeansthatdisputescanbecontainedtotheobjectstudied.2.Whatislinguistics?Somepeopleregardscienceasobjectiveinthissenseandthisobjectivityisoftenaccompaniedbyscientificmeasurementthatcanbetestedindependentfromtheindividualscientistwhoproposesthem.Thisgivesittestabilityandreproducibility.Thentheresultsofmeasure-mentmustbecommunicatedfrompersontoperson,andalsodemonstratedforthirdparties,asanadvanceinunderstandingoftheobjectiveworld.Suchknowledgeconferspowersofpredictionortechnicalconstruction.2.Whatislinguistics?However,thistraditionalviewaboutobjectivityignoresseveralthings.First,theselectionoftheobjecttomeasureistypicallyasubjectivedecisionanditofteninvolvesreductionism.Second,moreproblematicistheselectionofinstrumentsandmethodology.Somefeaturesoftheobjectunderstudywillbeignoredinthemeasurementprocessandthelimitationsofthechoseninstrumentswillcausedatatobeleftoutofconsideration.2.Whatislinguistics?Inadditiontotheseabsolutelimitsofobjectivitysurroundingthemeasurementprocess,anygivencommunityofresearchersoftensharescertain"subjectiveviews"andthissubjectivityisthereforebuiltintotheconceptualsystems;anditcanevenbebuiltintothedesignofthetoolsusedformeasurement.Totalobjectivityisarguablynotevenpossibleinsome—ormaybeall—situations.(Alldataaretheory-laden.)2.Whatislinguistics?2.Exhaustiveness:Agoodaccountshouldbebasedonathorough-goingobservationofthefactsitintendstoexplain.Thatis,alltherelatedcasesorcategoriesunderstudyareadequatelycoveredandtreated.Thedifficultyliesintheclear-cutdefinitionofformsorcategoriesaswellasinthebigenoughamountofdataobserved.Thecomputercanhelpinthelatternow.2.Whatislinguistics?3.Consistency:Aconsistentaccountofsomethingisonethatcontainsnoself-contradiction;thatis,thelaterstatementsshouldnotgoagainsttheearlierstatementsandone’stheoreticalclaimsshouldcoherewithoneanother.Thedefinitionofessentialtechnicaltermsmustconsistent,forinstance.Thetheoreticstancemustremainthesamethroughout.2.Whatislinguistics?4.Simplicityoreconomy:Itmeansthatotherthingsbeingequal,theshorterthestatementthebetter.Iftwodescriptionsorexplanationsservethesamefunction,themoresimpleoneispreferred.Alonglistofitemsdoesnothelpmuch.Thelevelofabstractionisimportant.Goodgeneralizationsarerequired.Theycontaininsightandmakethingsmuchsimpler.3.Differences:schoolsvs.

branches3.DifferencesbetweenschoolsandbranchesSchoolsrefertotrendsofthought,withtheirrepresentativefigures,works,uniqueideas,methodsandinfluenceonlaterdevelopment;oftenfromadiachronicperspective.Branchesrefertoareasofstudy,withtheirclassics,andinfluentialfigures;oftenfromasynchronicperspective.3.Differences:schoolsvs.

branches3.1Branches:Distinctionfromwithin:phonetics,phonology,lexicology,morphology,syntax,semantic,pragmatics(?)Distinctionfromoutsidelanguage:psycholinguistics,sociolinguistics,computationlinguistics,neurolinguistics,anthropologicallinguistics,culturallinguistics,computationallinguistics,etc.3.Differences:schoolsvs.

branches

3.2

Schoolsoflinguistics:傳統(tǒng)語法(600BC—18世紀)traditionalgrammar;歷史語言學(19世紀100年)historicallinguistics;

現(xiàn)代語言學開端(索緖爾,20世紀初)beginningofmodernlinguistics;歐洲功能主義(20世紀20-50)Europeanfunctionalism;3.Differences:schoolsvs.branches倫敦學派(1940—50)TheLondonSchool;系統(tǒng)功能語法(1960—today)Halliday’sSystemic-functionalgrammar;美國結構主義語言學(1930—50)Americanstructuralism美國轉換生成語法(1957—today)Chomsky’sGenerativeGrammar;認知語言學〔today)Cognitivelinguistics4.Somemajordistinctions4.Somemajordistinctions:1.Formandmeaning(function):Ifyouapproachlanguagefromformalperspective,youwillbelongtoaformalschool;ifyoulookatlanguagefromafunctionalpointofview,youwillbelongtoafunctionalschool.Theyarethetwomostimportantaspectsoflanguageuntilrecently—cognitioncomesintothepicture.4.Somemajordistinctions2.Prescriptive,descriptive&explanatoryYouarebeingprescriptiveiftellpeoplewhatlanguageoughttobe;youlaydownrulesforit.Ifyousaylanguageiswhateverisspokeninthespeechcommunity,youarethenbeingdescriptive.Youdon’tjustdescribewhatlanguageislikebutalsotrytoexplainwhyitislikethat,thenyouaretryingtoexplanatory.4.Somemajordistinctions3.Synchronicanddiachronicstudies:Languageexistsintimeandchangesovertime.Ifyoustudylanguageataparticularpointintime,thatissynchroniclinguistics.Ifyoustudylanguageacrosstime,thatis,atseverallanguagestates,thenthatisdiachroniclinguistics.Butitisonlylogicalthatsynchronicstudiescomebeforediachronicstudies.4.Somemajordistinctions4.Psychologicaldivide:behavioristandmentalistpsychology(latercognitivepsychology):Behaviorismisthebeliefthatthestudyofmindshouldonlybebasedonpeople’sbehavior.Mentalismisthebeliefthatahumanbeingpossessesamindwhichhasconsciousness,ideas,etc.,andthatthatmindcaninfluencethebehaviorofthebody.4.Somemajordistinctions5.Philosophicaldivide:empiricismandrationalism:empiricismisthebeliefthatthedevelopmentoftheorymustberelatedtoobservablefactsandexperimentsorthatallhumanknowledgecomesfromexperience.Itcontrastswiththeviewthatmanyformsofhumanknowledgeareinbornorinnate(innatisthypothesis,whichsaysthatknowledgedevelopsfromideasinthemindatbirthratherthanfromtheenvironment.)ReferencesHockett’sDesignFeatures:1.VocalAuditoryChannels-Spokenlanguageisproducedinthevocaltractandtransmitted/heardassound,whereassignlanguageisprodu