Chapter1 Invitation to linguistics

Chapter 1 Invitations to Linguistics

L/O/G/Oby Wei Ping 唐山师范学院 2013

Course Guide1. How far is linguistics away from us?

2. Why linguistics?

The Miracle of Language Thanks to words, we have been able to rise above the brutes; and thanks to words, we have often sunk to the level of the demons. --Aldus Huxley

人之所以为人者，言也(《春秋》)

Language makes us human.

The Miracle of Language 1.Whatever else people do when they come together – whether they play, fight, or make automobiles – they talk. We live in a world of language. ---Fromkin, 2. Then when we study human language, we are approaching what some might call the ―human essence,‖ the distinctive qualities of mind that are, so far as we know unique to man. --- Noam Chomsky

How far is linguistics away from us? The ability to use language distinguishes human beings from animals. The study of language can provide insight into ―human nature‖. It studies how we acquire language and how it is possible for us to perceive through language. It will also examine the relationships between language and thought, language and logic and language and culture.

Warming-up DiscussionsWhich sentence is the best to choose?Example 1 我们还见不见面呢？ 我们什么时候再见呢？ 我们明天什么时候再见呢？

Situation: After hours of pleasant talk on a blind date, the man is to say something before saying good-bye to the lady which he is quite fond of.

How far is linguistics away from us?

Now that language serves in part as the essential tool for human communication, a little knowledge about the nature of language and the role it plays in our life will make us better language users.

It is necessary to reconsider how much we really understand about the nature of language and its role in our life. Linguistics is real, enlightening, and closely related to our understanding of language.

Why to study linguistics

P2

Linguistics tries to answer such basic questions as follows:

What is language?How does language work What do all languages have in common? What range of variation is found among languages? Why and how do languages Change?

Learning a new language, why do children learn it easier and quicker than adults? Can we say children aresmarter than adults?

Why to study linguisticsLinguistics tries to answer such basic questions as follows: At what aspects does language influence our life? Can we live on without language? Students in any majors all have a certain theoretical base. What is the theoretical base for students in English major?

Group discussion:What should or can we study about language?

Course Description A theoretical course

Dealing with the theories of language: phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics and pragmatics Providing a theoretical basis for a variety of practical applications including the t

reatment of language disorders such as aphasia; the learning of foreign languages

Organization of the Course Main/Core Branches (Micro-linguistics) 1. Phonetics 语音学

2. Phonology3. Morphology 4. Syntax

音系学形态学 句法学

5. Semantics6. Pragmatics

语义学语用学

Interdisciplinary Branches (Macro-linguistics)

7. Psychological Linguistics8. Socio-linguistics 9. Computational Linguistics 10. Stylistics 11. Applied Linguistics

心理语言学社会语言学 计算机语言学 文体学 应用语言学

Suggested Readings Linguistics: A Course Book 《语言学教程》(第4版) 胡壮麟主编 北京大学出版社 A New Concise Course in Linguistics for Students of English 《新编简明英语语言学教程》(第2版) 戴炜栋，何兆熊主编 上海外语教育出版社

《语言学教程精读精解》 廖美珍 主编 西南交通大学出版社

Lecture 1LINGUISTICS: An OverviewLANGUAGE What is language? Design features Origin Functions LINGUISTICS Some distinctions Scope or branches History and schools

LANGUAGEWhat is language?

The definition of languageThe question “what is language?” is comparable with – and, some would say, hardly less profound than – “what is life?” ---John Lyons

What is Language?Language ―is not to be confused with human speech, of which it is only a definite part, though certainly an essential one. It is both a social product of the faculty of speech and a collection of necessary conventions that have been adopted by a social body…‖. Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913)Course in General Linguistics

About Ferdinand.de. Saussure (1851-1913) the Swiss linguist, the founder of Structural Linguistics and the forefather of modern linguistics. Course in General Linguistics (1916) marked the beginning of modern linguistics.

What is Language? Language is a purely human and non-instinctive method of communicating ideas, emotions and desires by means of voluntarily produced symbols. 语言是纯粹是人为的、非本能的、 凭借人们有意创建出来的符号系统 来传达观念、情绪和愿望的方法

Sapir (1884-1939)Language: An Introduction to the Study of Speech