英语专业考研语言学重难点提示(2)

12. What is the directive function?

The ―directive function‖ means that language may be used to get the hearer to do something. Most imperative sentences perform this function, e. g., ―Tell me the result when you finish.‖ Other syntactic structures or sentences of other sorts can, according to J. Austin and J. Searle‘s ―Indirect speech act theory‖ at least, serve the purpose of direction too, e.g., ―If I were you, I would have blushed to the bottom of my ears!‖

13. What is the informative function?

Language serves an ―informational function‖ when used to tell something, characterized by the use of declarative sentences. Informative statements are often labelled as true (truth) or false (falsehood). According to P. Grice‘s ―Cooperative Principle‖, one ought not to violate the ―Maxim of Quality‖, when he is informing at all.

14. What is the interrogative function?

英语专业考研语言学重难点提示

When language is used to obtain information, it serves an ―interrogative function‖. This includes all questions that expect replies, statements, imperatives etc., according to the ―indirect speech act theory‖, may have this function as well, e.g., ―I‘d like to know you better.‖ This may bring forth a lot of personal information. Note that rhetorical questions make an exception, since they demand no answer, at least not the reader‘s/listener‘s answer.

15. What is the expressive function?

The ―expressive function‖ is the use of language to reveal something about the feelings or attitudes of the speaker. Subconscious emotional ejaculations are good examples, like ―Good heavens!‖ ―My God!‖ Sentences like ―I‘m sorry about the delay‖ can serve as good examples too, though in a subtle way. While language is used for the informative function to pass judgment on the truth or falsehood of statements, language used for the expressive function evaluates, appraises or asserts the speaker‘s own attitudes.

16. What is the evocative function?

The ―evocative function‖ is the use of language to create certain feelings in the hearer. Its aim is , for example, to amuse, startle, antagonize, soothe, worry or please. Jokes(not practical jokes, though) are supposed to amuse or entertain the listener; advertising to urge customers to purchase certain commodities; propaganda to influence public opinion. Obviously, the expressive and the evocative functions often go together, i.e., you may express, for example, your personal feelings about a political issue but end up by evoking the same feeling in, or imposing it on, your listener. That‘s also the case with the other way round.

17. What is the performative function?

This means people speak to ―do things‖ or perform actions. On certain occasions the utterance itself as an action is more important than what words or sounds constitute the uttered sentence. The judge‘s imprisonment sentence, the president‘s war or independence declaration, etc., are performatives.

18. What is linguistics?

“Linguistics‖ is the scientific study of language. It studies not just one language of any one society, but the language of all human beings. A linguist, though, does not have to know and use a large number of languages, but to investigate how each language is constructed. He is also concerned with how a language varies from dialect to dialect, from class to class, how it changes from century to century, how children acquire their mother tongue, and perhaps how a person learns or should learn a foreign language. In short, linguistics studies the general principles whereupon all human languages are constructed and operate as systems of communication in their societies or communities.

19. What makes linguistics a science?

英语专业考研语言学重难点提示

Since linguistics is the scientific study of language, it ought to base itself upon the systematic, investigation of language data which aims at discovering the true nature of language and its underlying system. To make sense of the data, a linguist usually has conceived some hypotheses about the language structure, to be checked against the observed or observable facts. In order to make his analysis scientific, a linguist is usually guided by four principles: exhaustiveness, consistency, and objectivity. Exhaustiveness means he should gather all the materials relevant to the study and give them an adequate explanation, in spite of the complicatedness. He is to leave no linguistic ―stone‖ unturned. Consistency means there should be no contradiction between different parts of the total statement. Economy means a linguist should pursue brevity in the analysis when it is possible. Objectivity implies that since some people may be subjective in the study, a linguist should be (or sound at least) objective, matter-of-face, faithful to reality, so that his work constitutes part of the linguistics research.

20. What are the major branches of linguistics?

The study of language as a whole is often called general linguistics. But a linguist sometimes is able to deal with only one aspect of language at a time, thus the arise of various branches: phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, sociolinguistics, applied linguistics, psycholinguistics etc.

21. What are synchronic and diachronic studies?

The description of a language at some point of time (as if it stopped developing) is a synchrony study (synchrony). The description of a language as it changes through time is a diachronic study (diachronic). An essay entitled ―On the Use of THE‖, for example, may be synchronic, if the author does not recall the past of THE, and it may also be diachronic if he claims to cover a large range or period of time wherein THE has undergone tremendous alteration.

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