01-语言学导论01-语言学导论.pptVIP

Introduction to the course Language Is language a system? Yes. Is there intrinsic connection between form and meaning? No. It’s arbitrary. Different definitions Language is a system whose parts can and must be considered in their synchronic solidarity. (de Saussure, 1916) [Language is] a set (finite or infinite) of sentences, each finite in length and constructed out of a finite set of elements. (Chomsky, 1957) Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication. Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication. A system ----elements in it are arranged according to certain rules. They cannot be arranged at will. e.g. He the table cleaned. bkli Arbitrary ----there is no intrinsic (logic) connection between a linguistic form and its meaning. Vocal --------the primary medium for all languages is sound, no matter how well developed their writing systems are. Writing systems came into being much later than the spoken forms. People with little or no literacy can also be competent language users. Symbols ----words are just the symbols associated with objects, actions, and ideas by convention. Human ----language is human-specific. Human beings have different kinds of brains and vocal capacity. Properties of Language -Design features语言本质特征/识别特征 Arbitrariness The arbitrary property of language means that there is no logical connection between sounds and meanings (form and meaning). Arbitrariness Arbitrary relationship between the sound of a morpheme and its meaning Arbitrariness at the syntactic level The sentence is less arbitrary than words. Correspondence between word order and natural event. Arbitrariness and convention While arbitrariness makes language flexible and creative, convention makes it stable and laborious to learn. Conventionality is more important than arbitrariness in learning a language. The duality nature of language m