The Nature of Language

1. The Nature of Language

2. Introduction 1.1What is linguistics 1.1.1Definition Linguistics is generally defined as the scientific study of language.

3. The Scope of Linguistics Language is a complicated entity with multiple layers and facets , so the linguists have to concentrate on one aspect of it at a time. The study of sounds which are used in linguistic communication is called phonetics .

4. The study of how sounds are put together and used in communication is called phonology.

5. While sounds are primary in linguistic communication, they are represented by certain symbols, i.e. , words and morphemes. The study of the way in which morphemes are arranged to form words is called morphology.

6. The combination of these words to form permissible sentences in languages is governed by rules. The study of how morphemes and words are combined to form sentences is called syntax.

7. The ultimate objective of language is not just to create grammatically well-formed sentences, but to convey meaning. The study of meaning in language is called semantics.

8. Language communication does not occur in a vacuum. It always occurs in a context, i.e., it always occurs at a certain time, at a certain place, between participants with particular intentions. The study of meaning in context of use is called pragmatics .

9. Language is a social activity carried out in a certain social environment by human beings. Therefore, language and society are closely related.

10. The language a person uses often reveals his social background, and there exist social norms that determine the type of language to be used on a certain occasion ;

11. Language changes are often caused by social changes. The study of language with reference to society is called sociolinguistics.

12. The study of language with reference to the workings of mind is called psycholinguistics.

13. Findings in linguistic studies can often be applied to the solution of such problems as the recovery of speech ability. The study of such applications is generally known as appliedlinguistics.

14. But in a narrow sense, applied linguistics refers to the application of linguistic principles and theories to language teaching and learning, especially the teaching of foreign and second languages.

15. According to Sapir (1921:8): ”Language is a purely human and non-instinctive method of communicating ideas, emotions and desires by means of voluntarily produced symbols.”

16. This definition suffers many defects. 1) However broadly we construe the terms “ idea”, “emotion” and “desire”, it seems clear that there is much that is communicated by language which is not covered by any of them; and “ idea” in particular is inherently imprecise.

17. 2) there are many systems of voluntarily produced symbols that we only count as languages in what we feel to be an extended or metaphorical sense of the word “language”.

18. For example what is now popularly referred to by means of the expression “body language” ---which makes use of gestures, postures, eye-gaze, etc.---would seem to satisfy this point of Sapir’s definition.

19. In their Outline of Linguistic Analysis Bloch and Trager wrote (1942:5): “A language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols by means of which a social group co-operates.”

20. What is striking about this definition, in contrast with Sapir’s is that it makes no appeal, except indirectly and by implication, to the communicative function of language

21. Instead, it puts all the emphasis upon its social function; and, in doing so, as we shall see later, it takes a rather narrow view of the role that language plays in society.

22. The Block and Trager definition differs from Sapir’s in that it brings in the property of “arbitrariness” and explicitly restricts language to spoken language (thus making the phrase “ written language” contradictory).

23. The term “arbitrariness” is here being used in a rather special sense.

24. In his Essay on Language, Hall (1968:158) tells us that language is “ the institution whereby humans communicate and interact with each other by means of habitually used oral-auditory arbitrary symbols.”

25. Among the points to notice here are, first of all, the fact that both communication and interaction are introduced into the definition (“interaction” being broader than and, in this respect, better than “ cooperation”)

26. second, that the term “ oral-auditory” can be taken to be roughly equivalent to “ vocal” differing from it only in that “ oral-auditory” makes reference to the hearer as well as to the speaker i.e. to the receiver as well as the sender of the vocal signals that we identify as language- utterances).

27. Hall, like Sapir, treats language as a purely human institution; and the term “ institution” makes explicit the view that the language that is used by a particular society is part of that society’s culture.

28. Chomsky says that “From now on I will consider a language to be a set (finite or infinite) of sentences, each finite in length and constructed out of a finite set of elements.” Syntactic Structures (1957:13)

29. Design Features of Human Language

30. 1) Arbitrariness: there are no direct or intrinsic links between form and meaning or between the signal and the message.

31. There are sporadic instances in all languages of what is traditionally referred to as onomatopoeia: cf. The non-arbitrary connection between the form and the meaning of such onomatopoeic words as “cuckoo”, “peewit”, “crash”, in English.

32. Onomatopoeic Motivation Primary onomatopoeia Primary onomatopoeia means the imitation of sounds by sounds.

33. Apes gibber. Bears growl Bulls bellow Cats mew ( purr) Eagles scream. Frogs croak. Goats bleat.

34. Asses bray. Beetles drone. Camels grunt. Ducks quack. Flies buzz. Geese cackle (gabble). Horses neigh ( snort).

35. Hens cluck. Larks warble Lions roar Magpies chatter. Mice squeak Owls hoot (screech) pigeons coo. Pigs squeal ( grunt). Snakes hiss. Wolves howl. Turkeys gobble.

36. 模仿金属的声音： clash, clank, ting, tinkle, clang, jangle, ding-dong, tick-tack

37. 模仿水等液体声： splash, bubble, sizz, sizzle, splish-splosh, drip-drop

38. Secondary onomatopoeia It means that certain sounds and sound sequences are associated with certain senses in an expressive relationship

39. Sn- 1) breath-noise: sniff, snuff, snore, snort 2)quick separation or movement: snip, snap, snatch 3)creeping: snake, snail, sneak, snoop

40. Sl- 1) slippery: slide, slip, slither, slush, sluice, sludge 2) pejorative sense: slattern, slut, slang, sly, sloppy, slovenly

41. Sk-: 与表面接触： skate, skim, skin, skid, skimp -ump: 表示圆形体： plump, chump, rump, hump, stump, dump, mump

42. /h/表示猛烈使劲时的气喘声： heavy, haste, hurry, hit, heave, hoarse, hurl等

43. Wh-表示“剧烈”的拟声词： wham, whang, whap, whop, wheeze, whicker, whinny, whomp, whoop

44. But the vast majority of the words in all languages are non-onomatopoeic: The connection between their form and their meaning is arbitrary in that, given the form, it is impossible to predict the meaning and, given the meaning, it is impossible to predict the form.

45. 2) Duality: It is meant the property of having two levels of structure. The units of the primary level are composed of elements of the secondary level and each of the two levels has its own principles of organization.

46. 3) creativity It refers to the ability that we all have to construct and understand an indefinitely large number of sentences in our native language, including sentences that we have never heard before, but that are appropriate to the situation in which they are uttered.

47. 4) displacement Displacement means that language can be used to talk about the things that exist in our world of experience or in the world of imagination.

48. We can use the language to talk about things that happened in the past , or that are happening now or that will happen in the future.

49. 5) Cultural Transmission It means that language is not genetically passed down from one generation to another. Rather, language has to be learned.

50. Some important distinctions in linguistics 1)Prescriptive vs descriptive If a linguistic study aims to describe and analyze the language people actually use, it is said to be descriptive If the linguistic study aims to lay down rules for correct and standard behaviour in using language, it is prescriptive.