Lecture One

1

• Lecture One
• Linguistics and Language

2

• Definition of linguistics
• Definitions
• Linguistics is generally defined as the
  scientific study of language. (Dai He, p. 1)
• Linguistics, as the name suggests, is the science
  of language and thus is usually defined as the
  systematic study of language or, a discipline
  that describes all aspects of language and
  formulate theories as to how language works.
  (Yang, 2005, p. 27)
• Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching Applied
  Linguistics defines linguistics as the study of
  language as a system of human communication.

3

• General linguistics vs. descriptive linguistics
  (termed by John Lyon, in Wen, p. 1)
• General linguistics provides descriptive
  linguistics with a general framework in which a
  particular language can be analyzed and
  described. General linguistics and descriptive
  linguistics are complementary to each other.
  English linguistics is a kind of descriptive
  linguistics.

4

• Scope of linguistics
• Micro linguistics
• Phonetics the study of sounds used in
  linguistics communication
• Phonology how sounds are put together and used
  to convey meaning in communication
• Morphology the study of the way in which the
  linguistics symbols are arranged and combined to
  form words
• Syntax the study of the rules governing how
  words are combined to form grammatically
  permissible sentences
• Semantics the study of meaning
• Pragmatics the study of language use

5

• Macro linguistics
• Sociolinguistics the study of different social
  aspects of language and its relation with society
• Psycholinguistics relates the study of language
  to psychology
• Applied linguistics application of linguistic
  theories and principles to language teaching,
  especially the teaching of foreign and second
  languages
• Neurolinguistics the study of the relationship
  between brain and language

6

• Some distinctions in linguistics
• Prescriptive and descriptive
• Prescriptive lay down rules for correct and
  standard behavior in using language
• Descriptive aims to describe and analyze the
  language people actually use

7

• Synchronic and diachronic (?????)
• Synchronic description of a language at some
  point of time in history
• Diachronic the description of a language as it
  changes through time. Modern linguistics enjoys
  employing synchronic approach

8

• Speech and writing
• Speech is prior to writing
• The writing system is invented when needed
• Today there are languages which can only be
  spoken but not written
• Speech plays a greater role than writing in daily
  communication
• Each human being first acquires speech and then
  learns writing
• Modern linguistics tends to pay more attention to
  authentic speech

9

• Langue and parole (by Swiss linguist F de
  Saussure)
• Langue Refers to the abstract linguistic system
  shared by all the members of a speech community.
  Langue is the set of conventions and rules which
  language users all have to abide by. Langue is
  abstract it is not the language people actually
  use. What linguists should do is to abstract
  langue from parole which is too varied and
  confusing for systematic investigation.
• Parole Refers to the realization of langue in
  actual use. It is the concrete use of the
  conventions and the application of the rules.
  Parole is concrete it refers to the naturally
  occurring language events.

10

• Competence and performance (by American linguist
  N. Chomsky)
• Competence the ideal users knowledge of the
  rules of his language, a speaker has internalized
  a set of rules about his language which enables
  him to use the language
• Performance the actual realization of the
  knowledge in linguistic communication, a
  speakers performance in using his language can
  be imperfect
• These two distinctions are quite similar to each
  other. Langue lays more emphasis on social
  conventions while competence is more concerned in
  psychology or the property of mind of each
  individual.

11

• Traditional grammar and modern linguistics
• Modern linguistics is descriptive while
  traditional grammar is prescriptive.
• Modern linguistics regards the spoken language as
  primary, not the written while traditional
  grammar over-emphasize the importance of the
  written form of language.
• Modern linguistics differs from traditional
  grammar also in that it does not force languages
  into a Latin-based framework.

12

• Definitions of language
• Definitions
• Language is a purely human and non-instinctive
  method of communicating ideas, emotions and
  desires by means of voluntarily produced
  symbols. (Sapir, 1921)
• Language is the institution whereby humans
  communicate and interact with each other by means
  of habitually used oral auditory arbitrary
  symbols. (Hall, 1968)
• From now on I will consider language to be a set
  (finite or infinite) of sentences, each finite in
  length and constructed out of a finite set of
  elements. (Chomsky, 1957)
• Generally accepted definition
• Language is a system of arbitrary vocal
  symbols used for human communication.

13

• The nature of language
• Arbitrariness Generally there is no logical
  connection between meanings and sounds.
  Exceptions are onomatopoeic words compound words.
  This nature makes language have an unlimited
  source of expressions.
• Productivity or creativity Much of what we say
  and hear we are saying or hearing for the first
  time. This makes human language totally different
  from any animal language.

14

• Duality Or double-structured. Language consists
  of two sets of structures, or two levels. Lower
  level sounds which are meaningless. Higher
  level units of meaning by grouping or regrouping
  sounds. Units of meaning can be arranged into
  infinite number of sentences.
• Displacement Language can be used to refer to
  contexts removed from the immediate situations of
  the speaker.
• Cultural transmission Language is culturally
  transmitted. A language is taught and learned
  within a particular cultural background.

15

• References
• Chomsky, N. (1957). Syntactic structures. The
  Hague Mouton.
• Dai, W. D He, Z. X. (2002). A new concise
  course on linguistics for students of English.
  Shanghai Shanghai Foreign Language Education
  Press.
• Sapir, E. (1921). Language. New York Harcourt
  Brace.
• Wen, Q. F. (?). An introduction to English
  linguistics. Nanjing ?
• Yang, X. Z. (2005). An introduction to
  linguistics. Beijing Higher Education Press.

16

• Task
• Work in groups and discuss the following
  questions
• What are the major branches of linguistics? What
  does each of them study?
• In what basic ways does modern linguistics differ
  from traditional grammar?
• Is modern linguistics mainly synchronic or
  diachronic? Why?
• For what reasons does modern linguistics give
  priority to speech rather than to writing?
• How is Saussures distinction between language
  and parole similar to Chomskys distinction
  between competence and performance?
• What are the main features of human language that
  have been specified by C. Hockett to show that it
  is essentially different from animal
  communication system?