英语语言学复习总结

英语语言学

1、How do you interpret the following definition of linguistics: linguistics is the scientific study of language.

It is a scientific studies because it is based on the systematic investigation of linguistic data, conducted with reference to some general theory of language structure. In order to discover the nature and rules of the underlying language system, what the linguist has to do first is to collect and observe language facts, which are found to display some similarities, and generalizations are made about them; then he formulates some hypotheses about the language structure. But the hypotheses, thus formed have to be checked repeatedly against the observed facts to fully prove their validity.

In linguistics, as in any other discipline, data and theory stand in a dialectical complementation; that is, a theory without the support of data can hardly claim validity, and data without being explained by some theory remain a muddled mass of things.

2、The design/defining features of human language (Charles Hockett)

(1) Arbitrariness

----No logical (motivated or intrinsic) connection between sounds and meanings.

----- No natural and inevitable link between the sound and the meaning Exception: Onomatopoeic words and Some compound words.

(2) Productivity/creativity

We can speak an endless number of sentences with a limited vocabulary and one sentence can expand into endless theoretically possible sentences in the way of recurring

Exception: and bee dancing is used only to indicate food sources, which is the only kind of message that can be sent through the dancing.

(3) Duality

英语语言学

Lower level----sounds (meaningless)

Higher level----meaning (larger units of meaning)

Exception: the grouping of the three sounds/k/,/a:/,and/p/ can mean either a kind of fish(crap), or a public place for rest and

amusement(park).

(4) Displacement

Displacement means that human languages enable their users to symbolize objects, events and concepts which are not present (in time and space) at the moment of communication.

Exception: Yesterday which book did you read?

(5) Cultural transmission

Language can transmit Culture which the language contains.

Exception；an English speaker and a Chinese speaker are both able to use a language, but they are not mutually intelligible. This shows that language is culturally transmitted.

3、word formation

(1)Compound

It refers to those words that consist of more than one lexical morpheme, or the way to join two separate words to produce a single form. icecream, sunrise, paperbag

(2) Derivation

It refers to the formation of new words by adding affixes to other words or morphemes.

Unconscious, national, nationalize

(3) Blending

英语语言学

It refers to the form of compounding, in which two words are blended by joining the initial part of the first word and the final part of the second word, or by joining the initial parts of the two words. Smoke + fog = smog 烟雾

(4) Abbreviation

1)cutting the final part ( or with a slight

variation) advertisement-----ad

2) cutting the initial part aeroplane -----plane

3) cutting both the initial and final parts accordingly refrigerator ---- fridge

(5) Acronym(I)

It is made up from the first letters of the name of an organization, which has a heavily modified headword. WB : World Bank

Acronym(II)

This process is also widely used in shortening extremely long words of word groups in science, technology and other special fields. VAT : value added tax 增殖税

(6) Back- formation

It refers to an abnormal type of word-formation where a shorter word is derived by deleting an imagined affix from a longer form already in the language

Editor ------edit

(7) Borrowing

Latin: cancer, page, i.e.(that is) e.g.( for example) etc. (et cetera) Chinese: taji, chow mein, kung-fu

Japanese: Judo

French, German, Italian, Spanish

(8) Invention

英语语言学

Since economic activities are the most important and dynamic in human life, many new lexical items come directly from the consumer items, their producers or their brand names such as Kodak, Coke, nylon, and others to cope with the Invention of new entities.

4. XP rule

1.XP rule: specifier + head + complement

2. XP rule: (Specifier)X’

X’ à X(complement)

3. XP rule :(Specifier) X (Complement*)

4. XP rule:(Spec) (Mod) X (Complement*) (Mod)

Complement: (in grammar) that part of the sentence which follows the verb and which thus completes the sentence.

Features:

Ø one or more complements are permitted

Ø (eg. A story about a sentimental girl with purple umbrella ) Ø words that can take CP are not verbs alone. As, Ns and Ps can all take CP

Ø (e.g. take it; poor as a chuch mouse;the man with hat;right near the fireplace)

Ø A certain lexical item requires a certain type of complement. Ø (e.g. come to school; go to bed; look through it)

Modifier: is used to specify optionally expressible properties of heads. Modifier position in English

Modifier

AP Position Precedes the head example a very careful girl

英语语言学

PP

AdvP Follows the head open with care Precedes or follows the read carefully;

head carefully read

5. 请从Behaviorism 的角度来举例说明其意义：

Behaviorists attempted to define the meaning of a language form as the “situation in which the speaker utters it and the response it calls forth in the hearer.”

S__Tang Wanyi_____r--------s______Vicky______R

When Tang Wanyi sees an apple and wants to have it, she has a ph …… 此处隐藏：5329字，全部文档内容请下载后查看。喜欢就下载吧 ……