An Introduction to

Linguistics

《语言学概论》

by Hu Yining

About the course

Linguistics is a university course for English majors in their 3rd or 4th year and it involves many fields of research (e.g. psychology, sociology, philosophy), so it’s not surprising if you find it difficult at the beginning.

It’s a must for language students to learn something about linguistics and very important for those who want to do further study after graduation.

The course will be given mainly in English, but in Chinese when necessary.

A few requests:

Attend the course regularly since it’s a compulsory course .

Not an optional one. No absence from class without reasonable reasons.

Take notes, remember the terminal words and facts, and do the revision.

Continuous assessment will be given for the course, so fulfill all the assignments satisfactorily including the “Further Reading” part at the back of the textbook (P.275-298).

A list of reference books:

1. 《语言学教程》 ( 英语版 ), 胡壮麟 , 北京大学出版社。2. 《语言学概论》 王德春， 上海外语教育出版社。3. 《现代英语语言学概论（英语版）戴炜栋 , 上海外语教

育出版社。4. 《现代语言学》何兆熊 梅德明，外语教学与研究出版社5. 《简明英语语言学教程》（英语版）戴炜栋等， 上海外

语教育出版社6. 《语言学和语言的应用》 王宗炎，上海外语教育出版社7. 《语言学》 H.G.Widdowson ， 上海外语教育出版社8. 《语言学入门》（英语版） Stuart C. Poole 外语教学

与 研究出版社

Chapter 1

Language and Linguistics

The Nature of Language (P.1~P.13) What is language?

As human beings, we can feel the existence of language everywhere. However, very few of us know the true nature of language. There is remarkable uncertainty as how language really functions in human communication. Great efforts have been made to define the nature of language from different points of view (See the 4 ones on P.1).

Some additional ones: Language is the most frequently used and

most highly developed form of human communication we possess.

── David Crystal

语言是音义结合的词汇和语法的体系，是人类最重要的工具，是人类思维的工具，也是社会上传递信息的工具。

── 王德春

Unfortunately, a perfect and satisfactory definition has yet to come.

Despite the differences in their views, many linguists have agreed to accept the view that “Language is, in essence, a system of symbols designed for the purpose of human communication.”

（就其本质而言，语言是人类以交际为目的而设计的一套符号系统） .

They have come to a general agreement about the following important features that are typical of the nature of human languages.

The defining properties of human language ( 语言的特性 )

Design features （识别特征） : The possession of language most clearly distinguishes man from other animals.

Human language has five features:

1. Creativity （创造性）─ We all have the ability to

construct and understand an indefinitely large number of sentences in our native languages. （在母语所规定的限制范围内，人可以在构词、造句、理解句子方面有着无限的创造力。）

2. Arbitrariness （任意性）── Except the

very few onomatopoeic words (e.g.

cuckoo, mew, bang, ding-dong, ping-pang),

there is no necessary relationship

between the sign/sound and what the

sign/sound means (e.g. a dog, un chien,

狗 ) （除了极少数拟声词之外，语言中大部分的词与其所表示的意思之间都没有内在的、必然的联系。完全是一种任意的选定 .)

3. Duality of structure (or double articulation) （结构的双重性） :

This property is usually claimed to be unique to humans. Each human language is organized into two basic systems: a system of sounds and a system of meanings

Higher level ─ Language is a combination of meaningful units (such as morphemes, words).

Lower level ── Language is a sequence of segments which lack any meaning in themselves, but which combine to form units of meaning (such as letters, phonetic symbols.)

(* Why is duality regarded as an important feature of human language?

Because: i. A far greater number of messages

can be sent;

ii. No animal communication possesses it. )

4. Displacement （不受时空限制性） ── Human language can cope with any subject what ever, and it does not matter how far away the topic is in time and space. （语言可以用来表达任何时间、任何地点的任何抽象或具体的人、事、物） .

5.Cultural transmission （文化传递特性 / 从头学的必要性）

── The details of the linguistic system must

be learned anew from the beginning by each

speaker. Without the environment of language

and communication, language can’t be acquired .

（语言非遗传所得，人人都得从头学 起。没有语言环境，没有交流环境，语言是无法习得的） .

1.1.1 Language Is Systematic (P.2)

--- This property is usually claimed to be unique to humans. Each human language is organized into two basic systems: a system of sounds and a system of meanings. This is called the duality of language.

--- Human language operated on two levels of structure. At one level, elements have no meaning themselves. They have meaning when combined to form units at another level.

--- In the meaning system, these units of meaning can be arranged in an infinitive number of ways to express both simple and complicated ideas.

A language offers its speaker the opportunity to talk about anything. The number of words in a language is relatively finite but their possible combination can be infinite.

The syntax of a language may deal with the ordering of words, which actually is the rules for the formation of sentences and parts of sentences such as phrases and clauses.

(Have a look at the exercises at the back of this part on P. 3.)

1.1.2 Language Is Symbolic (P.3-5)

People use signs to communicate, which means that language involves signs.

The way in which people communicate through signs and images, or the study of it is referred to as “semiology” or “semiotics”.

Roland Barthes and others extend semiology to include complex cultural forms of communication such as painting, music, films, theatre, dance, clothing, advertising, architecture, literature, and even food.

Traditionally, signs are divided into natural signs and conventional signs. According to Traugott & Pratt, signs can be categorized into 3 major types:

(1) Icon ( 图像符号 )---When an object and its sign are r

elated by a physical resemblance, we say the sign is an icon ( 如：路标，男女图案，刀叉图案 ).

(2) Index （指示符号） ---When an object and its sign are associated to each other by physical proximity, we call the sign an index （如：各种天气预报标识，心被剑射中的图案） .

(3) Symbol ( 象征符号 )---When a sign and the object it signifies are associated by social convention, the sign is called a symbol （如：交通灯，结婚戒指，国旗，鸽子，倒写的福字，条桌上的花瓶和镜子，五只蝙蝠，玫瑰花等等）。

One has to learn symbolic signs as part of the culture. Accordingly, language belongs to this type of signs. Language is mainly symbolic.

Words are associated with objects, actions, and ideas by social convention.

The symbolic nature of language is more important and complicated than any other types of signs, and more embracing and representative of all the features of all signs.

Without the symbolic signs of language, we can not talk about anything as we like.

In today’s multimedia world, there are many instances of meaning being expressed by different types of signs working together. Typical examples can be found in commercial advertisements on TV ( 电视广告：药，洗发水，保健品 ) 。

(Have a look at the exercises at the back

of this part on P. 5.)

1.1.3 Language Is Arbitrary (P. 6-7)

The forms of linguistic signs bear no natural resemblance to their meaning. The link between them is a matter of convention, and conventions differ radically across languages.

Arbitrariness does not imply that the choice of the signifier is left entirely to the speaker. The individual does not have the power to change a sign in any way once it has become established in the linguistic community.

The understanding of arbitrariness is not easy. Words are arbitrary in form, but they are not random in their use. One thing we should note that although the link between form and meaning is arbitrary, there exists certain relationship between them.

(Have a look at the exercises at the back of this part on

P. 7.)

1.1.4 Language Is Primarily Vocal (P. 7)

The relationship between writing and speaking:

1. The primary medium of language is sound. No matter how well developed are their writing systems, all languages use sounds.

2. Writing is based on speaking. Writing systems are attempts to capture sounds and meanings on paper. Writing can influence speaking

Why do we say that language is primarily vocal? Because: 1) Children learn to speak before they learn to

read and write;

2) Children automatically learn a language as they grow up. There is normally no tutoring, but with writing, the learning process is different. The development of reading proficiency depends to a great degree upon the pedagogical skills or teachers.

3) The spoken form came earlier than the written in human history. The written form of any language is always much more recent than the spoken.

4) Writing is based on speech. Writing system represents some levels of the spoken language, such as distinct words, syllables, or sounds.

5) People use spoken language more often than writing. People use the spoken form more frequently than writing as a basic form of verbal communication.

(Have a look at the exercises at the back of this part on P. 10.)

1.1.5 Language Is Human Specific (P. 10.)

There are certain characteristics of human language that are not found in the communication system of any other species.

Attempts to teach animals more complicated systems have ended in failure.

Human children can acquire language with ease, and without intensive and directed instruction. Yet, animals lack the capacity to learn. They do not have the mental capacity to be communicatively creative.

The differences between human language and animal communication:

Language has the ability to refer to things far removed in time and space.

Humans have the ability to produce and understand an indefinite number of novel utterances (creativity/openness/productivity). No animal can communicate creatively with another animal.

Learning is much more important as a factor in human language than in animal communication. Human languages have very much in common, but they differ from one another on many specific points

Language is complex in its structure. Human language structure and language use are vastly more complex than any known animal communication system.

Animal communication systems are closed, whereas human languages are open-ended. People can talk about anything they can observe or imagine.

Humans can perform acts with language just as they can with objects of different kinds.

(Have a look at the exercises at the back of this part on P. 12.)

1.1.6. Language Is Used for Communication Language is used for communication. Language

is the result of our communication needs. Its attractiveness comes from its social utility.

Human beings communicate in ways different from those used by any species. Through language we can do things animals can not do.

It is by the use of language that we can transmit our social heritage from one generation to the next.

Two-way communication occurs frequently when the sending and receiving functions are performed with equal frequency by two or more persons.

With the growth in foreign travel, the migration of people to other countries, and expansion of international trade, there has been an increase in intercultural communication across national and ethnic borders.

(Discuss the exercises at the back of this part on P. 13.)

1.2 The Functions of Language (P.14~20)

The term communication can be used to cover most of the function of language. But the function of language is varied, in terms of using the language to chat, to think, to buy and sell, to read and write, to greet people, etc.

Language functions in our society as a principal means of communication. It also functions as social control. It is not only a psychological phenomenon, but also a social fact.

Language is not a self-contained system, but entirely dependent on the society in which it is used. We must study meaning with reference to an analysis of the functions of language in any given culture.

Malinowski distinguishes three major functions of

language: the pragmatic （语用的，务实的） function: langu

age as a form of action;

the magical function: language as a means of control over environment;

the phatic( 寒暄的，社交的 ) function ： language as a means to help establish and maintain social relations.

We can categorize the functions of language into general functions and metafunctions ( 元功能，纯理功能 ). General functions refer to the particular individual uses of language while metafunctions refer to the larger, more general purposes underlying language use.

1.2.1 General Functions of Language Language enables humans to do many things, th

us serving different functions in the society. Finch lists the following 7 general functions of lan

guage:

1.2.1.1 Physiological Function ( 生理功能－发泄、释放情绪 )

Language can help get rid of nervous or physical energy. This function is also known as the emotive or expressive function of language.

There are many emotive utterances in our daily life which serve no communicative purpose but allow us to release inner feelings (e.g. Shoot! 快呀！踢呀！ ).

A great deal of what we say when angry is simply to relieve our physical and nervous energy caused by emotional distress (e.g. “bad language”, swear words, obscenities, and taboos).

1.2.1.2 Phatic Function ( 寒暄功能，社交功能 )

• Language can serve the function of creating or maintaining social relationship between speakers.

•We often use language simply to express our willingness to be sociable. No factual content is involved (Different ways of greetings in different countries). They are just conversation-fillers.

In this sense, language can act as a form of social bonding that links people together. Failure to observe these social courtesies can cause considerable embarrassment and even bad feelings.

Cultures vary greatly in the topics which they permit as phatic communication (e.g. Lovely day, isn’t it? 吃过了吗？ )

The phatic use of language is mainly spoken but there are some written equivalents (e.g. Dear Sir/Madam, Yours faithfully) .

1.2.1.3 Recording Function (记录功能－不受时空限制性 )

Language allows us to record things we wish to remember. It might be a short-term shopping list or a long-term diary or history of some kind.

This function of language is represented by all kinds of record-keeping, such as historical records, geographical surveys, business accounts, and data banks.

Without language, it would be impossible for us to trace the history of humans and modern commercial life would be impossible.

This function is the most important function behind the development of language from being an oral medium to becoming a written one.

1.2.1.4 Identifying Function ( 识别功能－－语言的任 意性 )

Language also allows us to identify, with considerable precise, an enormous array of objects and events.

Without language, it would be very difficult to make sense of the world around us. Because we know the names of things, we can refer to them quickly and accurately in good order.

Names are made up and essentially arbitrary. To call a table a chair would not change the reality of the thing.

Words do not exist in isolation but are part of the social network.

1.2.1.5 Reasoning Function ( 论证、推理功能 )

Much of our thinking is done with words or, to be more exact, in words. So, language is commonly regarded as a tool of thoughts.

When we have ideas forming in our minds, we need to find the appropriate words to express these ideas.

Our ideas are coded in language. Although

the relationship between language and the mind is complicated, speaking and writing are forms of thoughts. This is why most people feel that they have not really understood something until they have been able to express it in language. (How about “ 只能意会，不能言传”？ )

A problem is that the meaning of many words are not stable and as a consequence it is difficult to think with any precision. Words mean different things to different people and may have different connotations （ e.g. Monday morning, 十三点，二百五） .

In recent years, however, a number of studies have shown that not everything in our mental life depends on language.

1.2.1.6 Communicating Function ( 交际功能 )

As we have seen in the previous section, language is a means of communicating ideas and facts.

In human society, people need to understand and be understood, to have their feelings and ideas recognized and acknowledged.

We use language to express ourselves to others. We also need language in order to understand what others are communicating to us.

We use language for requesting, ordering, promising, asking for permission, and so on (e.g. All the Dialogue 2. parts in A New English Course—functional English).

All human achievements are closely related to successful acts of communication. Language is the most developed and most subtle way to perform communication acts, and it is the natural inheritance of humans.

1.2.1.7. Pleasure Function (愉悦功能 )

Language allows us to derive pleasure from it. A large part of the pleasure we derive from language comes from the successful exploitation of linguistic novelty at different levels of the language.

Advertisers (cross-talking) exploit this capacity just as much as poets and novelists.

At the simplest level there is the enjoyment of sound itself and the melody of certain combination of sounds (e.g. No Sun, no fun! 沟通从“心”开始； “胃！你好吗？”；斯达舒—“四大叔” ).

Most poetry exploit this function (onomatopoeia, alliteration 头韵 , and assonance谐音 ).

Examples

Onomatopoeia:

The stream is murmuring through the woods. Jane started giggling. The door crashed open. Heavy rain drops began pitter-pattering on the tent. I eat what I can, I can what I can’t.

Alliteration: Promise, Problem, and Provision. Presentation, Practice and Production. World-wide web.

Assonance: fair and square; near and dear;

The rain in Spain stays mainly in plains.

At the syntactical level, we can gain pleasure from rearrangement by inversion or ellipsis of normal phrases or clauses order and from the conversion of words from one class to another. These changes play against our normal expectation from language and create a sense of novelty.

Examples

Inversion: Up goes the prices of daily necessities, and down come the living conditions of people.

Ellipsis: Got troubles?

I came, I saw, I conqured.

At the level of meaning, most creative uses of language provide considerable pleasure through the generation of puns （ 双关） , paradoxes （矛盾修辞法 ,反论） , ambiguities （含糊其辞，歧义） , and metaphors. With these the oddness is not necessarily syntactic but lies in the capacity of the language to generate a plurality （ 大量不同的事物） of possible meanings.

ExamplesPun: No sun, no fun!Try our sweet corn and you’ll smile from earto ear.---“Fourth floor!” shouted a passenger in the lift. ---“Hear you are, son.”---“How dare you call me ‘son’ ? ”---“Sir, I called, or whatever. I’ve brought you up, anyway.”

Paradox: More haste, less speed.

It’s a paradox that in such a rich country

there can be so much poverty.

甜蜜的痛苦，痛苦的甜蜜； 最恨我最爱的人，最爱我最恨的人； 痛，并快乐着。 好得一塌糊涂！

Ambiguity: 头脑活络，手脚灵活 ;

先开花，后结果。 买一送一。

Metaphor: The sunshine of her smile wormed everyb

ody present. It’s been a hard few months, but we’re final

ly beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

军民鱼水情； 儿童是祖国的花朵； 老师是辛勤的园丁； 老师是蜡烛

This is not an exhaustive list and we may well have thought of other functions.

It is important to bear in mind that a specific use of language may fulfill more than one function.

The more functions something fulfills, the more complex it usually is.

(Have a look at the exercises on P. 18.) Look at the following examples of

metaphor.

Every pawn (soldier) has its uses, but without the chess board, it can only be a pawn.

I may not be a trump card, but I’m definitely a good card.

I am this bowl of tea (big-bowl tea). Which looks plain but has a long lasting taste.I am the pure bred (the hidden talent); are you the one to discover me?

1.2.2 Metafunctions of Language ( 语言的元功能 / 纯理 功能 ) (P.18~20)

A metafunction is one which is capable of describing one or more other functions.

People do different things with language. They intend to achieve different aims and different purposes by talking, writing, listening and reading.

Language is a system of signs developed to express social meanings. Function can be regarded as the use of language and be interpreted as a fundamental property of language.

According to Halliday, language has to have an ideational function, an interpersonal function, and a textual function.

1.2.2.1 Ideational Function ( 概念功能 )

We are using language as a symbolic code to represent the world around us. The ideational function, then, is the content of language and allows us to conceptualize the world for our own benefit and that of others.

Through this function, the language encodes the cultural experience and the speaker encodes his or her own individual experience of the things of the world and his or her own consciousness.

The ideational function is divided into experiential function and logical function. In a sense we bring the world into being linguistically.

1.2.2.2 Interpersonal Function ( 人际功能 )

According to Halliday, the interpersonal component represents the speaker’s meaning potential as an intruder.

It is through language that the speaker intrudes himself or herself into the context of situation. He or she expresses his or her own attitudes and judgments and seeks to influence the attitudes and behavior of others.

The interpersonal function expresses the role relationships associated with the situation.

We gain much of our sense of identity, of who and what we are, from our relationships both with animate and inanimate things, and language is an essential part of that personalizing process.

1.2.2.3 Textual Function ( 语篇功能 ) Language has the function which enables the ot

her two functions to operate, namely, the function which represents the speaker’s text-forming potential.

This function relates our abilities to construct texts out of our utterances and writings. Halliday calls it the textual function. We can see it as using language to bring texts into being.

This function expresses the relation of language to the verbal and nonverbal situational environment.

These terms are interpreted as functional components of the semantics system. They are present in every use of language in every social context. A text is a product of all three. The three metafunctions of language are closely related to context and realized in the lexico-grammar of language.

They are interwoven in discourse. According to Halliday, every sentence in a context is multifunctional and has three metafunctions simultaneously. This is the essential nature of a functional theory.

(A quick look at the 2 questions on P. 20.)

Assignment :

Collect and write down as many as possible the following:

1. The 3 kinds of signs: icon, index, symbol.

2. The pleasure function of language at the three levels: sound, syntax, and meaning.

1.3 The Origin and Classification of Language

Man’s interest in his own origin and his own nature has resulted in many theories on the origin of language.

A study of the history of languages show that many languages develop from a single one.

Many scientists today believe that man arose in many different places of the world. If this is the case, there were many proto-languages (原始语言 ), from which the modern language families developed.

1.3.1 The Origin of Language Biologists, anthropologists （人类学家） , ps

ychologists, neurologists （神经学家） , and linguists have done a wide range of studies in the origin of language.

Some have looked at the problem of whether primitive man had the physiological （生理上的） capacity to speak.

The reports show that the human voc

al tract （声道） evolved from a non-human primate form to facilitate efficient communication.

Some hold that learning to use tools and learning language are interrelated skills.

With the development of the human society, man learned to use tools by hand and tools promoted the development of speech, because learning involved language.

1.3.2 Language Families

The role of intercultural contact is a real problem in studying many language families.

Both types of classification ignore the relevance of cultural links between languages.

With the passage of time and the development of intercultural communication, languages influence each other by contact and may borrow words from each other.

Sometimes languages that have no historical relationship can converge so that they seem to be members of the same family.

Thus, it is often very difficult to decide whether two languages look similar because they share a common origin, or because they have borrowed from each other.

However, many achievements have been made in the classification of languages.

According to Crystal (1987), there are at

least 29 languages families in the world.

1.4 What is Linguistics?

Linguistics is the science of language and is usually defined as the systematic study of language or, as a discipline that describes all aspects of language and formulate theories as to how language works.

Linguistics is the study of language as a system of human communication.

Linguistics is principally concerned with the universals of the human mind.

For many scholars, the main purpose of linguistics is to develop a general theory of language and theories on aspects of language.

The primary goal of linguistics is to explain not only how meanings are construed but also how they maintain a systematic relation to the already linguistically construed socially defined world.

1.4.1.1 Tasks of Linguistics

As a science, linguistics demands a rational and scientific outlook on language. It takes an objective view of language and all linguistic phenomena.

Linguists study language and reflect on it in a detached and unbiased way. They make no value judgments about languages.

Linguistics formulates explanations of the phenomena of language, and also observes and analyses data found in natural language according to the general principles of empirical （经验式的） research procedures.

Linguistics will find out the common features of all languages, the range of variations among languages, the difference of human languages from animal communication.

Linguistics will also find out the evolution of language, the analysis of unwritten languages, the change of languages, the relation of language to the society.

Linguistics starts from such simple concepts such as speech sound, word, sentence, meaning, and text. These features each correspond roughly to the major areas of linguistic investigation and each is presented in one or the other of the branches of linguistics.

1.4.2 Some Important Distinctions in Linguistics

1.4.2.1 Langue and Parole ( 语言与言语）

Langue: the linguistic system itself; the abstract system; something which differs human beings from animals. （是言语社会集体使用的语言系统。）

Parole: the particular actualities of individual utterances; the use of the language in utterances. ( 指说话的个人在实际情景中说出的具体语段。）

语言本身是中性的，不带感情色彩的，而语言的使用即言语是有感情色彩的。因此，我们不能说 :

You language is dirty. 但可以说： Your parole is dirty. 又如，我们不能说： I hate English. It’s a racialist langua

ge. 因为不是英语这门语言有种族歧视，而是这语言在被使用时（ parole) 带上了种族歧视的色彩。

Language is systematic, but parole is not. 正如让 50 个人用同一门语言（ langue) 去描述同一个人，就会有完全不同的言语 (parole) 出现。

e.g. Tom, donkey! 这句话就可以根据当时的情景理解成几种完全不同的含义：

　　 Tom, 驴子进来了！ Tom, 驴子给你牵来了！ Tom, 你这蠢驴！

1.4.2.2 Prescriptive and Descriptive

( 规定式的和描写式的）Prescriptive: Prescribes rules of what is correct; The duty of grammarians, schoolmasters, and di

ctionary makers is to maintain some absolute standards of correctness;

Any deviations from the rules are said to be incorrect or nonstandard;

So, the prescriptive approach relies heavily on rules of grammar.

Descriptive: Claims that the linguist’s first task is to

describe the way people actually speak and write their language, not to prescribe how they ought to speak or write;

Describes data observed. They are interested in what is said, not what they think ought to be said.

They are observers and recorders, not judges.

The job of the linguist is to observe what language is and to explain why it is so. It is not his function to improve the language;

From the linguist’s point of view, “a language is what the speakers do and not what someone thinks they ought to do”.

In distinguishing description and prescription, the linguist is not saying that there is no place for prescriptive studies of language. The linguist is merely asserting that language is used for many purposes.

1.4.2.3 Synchronic and Diachronic （共时与历时）

In linguistic study, we can either look at a grammar at one particular point of time or study its development over a number of years.

Synchronic linguistics: The synchronic study of language referring

to the description of a language at a single point of time.

The analysis of language at a single point in time and the knowledge of how a system works at any one time .

The priority of synchronic description is a characteristic of most the 20th century linguistic theories.

We rarely know very much about the historical development of our language. Yet, when children are learning the language, they come to speak it according to certain systematic rules.

It is necessary for the synchronic description to find out these systematic rules as they operate in a language at a particular time.

Diachronic linguistics:

The diachronic study of language refers to the description of the historical development of a language.

A diachronic study of the Chinese language might look at its development from the time of our earliest records to the present day.

Linguistic study in the 19th century was primarily concerned with diachronic description. The dominant approach to any scientific study of language was historical.

1.4.2.4 Speech and Writing

Modern linguists regard the spoken language as primary, not the written.

In the past, because it was difficult to cope with fleeting utterances before the sound recording, grammarians and the traditional classical education overstressed the importance of the written word.

The belief in the superiority of the written word has continued for over two millennia.

It was assumed that spoken language was inferior to and in some sense dependent upon the standard written language.

Modern linguistics look first at the spoken word and regard spoken and written forms as belongings to different, though overlapping systems, which must be analyzed separately: the spoken first, then the written.

Written language has a life of its own. Speech has the restriction of both time and space.

Writing overcomes this drawback of speech. People can send words to a remote place or keep the necessary records of a long time by using written language, which broadens the communication effect to a large extent in our social life.

Without writing, human progress would be extremely slow. There would be no efficient medium for spreading the knowledge.

According to Halliday (1985), the spoken language is no less structured and highly organized than the written.

The spoken medium displays certain properties of organization and is appropriate to certain functions.

Speech can be produced very quickly, make rapid adjustments in the light of the changing context, and express subtle nuances （细微差别） of interpersonal meaning.

1.4.2.5 Syntagmatic and Paradigmatic （聚合关系与组合关系） （略）

1.4.2.6 Competence and Performance

（语言能力与语言应用 /行为） Similar to Saussure’s distinction between langue a

nd parole is the distinction between competence and performance, which was proposed by the American linguist N. Chomsky in the late 1950’s.

The ability of human beings to produce and comprehend an indefinite number of novel utterances.

Anyone who knows a language has internalized a set of rules about the sequences permitted in his language. This internalized set of rules are termed as a person’s competence by Chomsky.

Competence: 1. What people should know about the language; 2. Their ability to form new sentences; 3. their ability to tell grammatical sentences from ungrammatical ones.

Competence refers to the knowledge that native speakers have of their language as system of abstract formal relations, or, in another word, the rules of his language.

语言能力指的是所有说本族语的人可以理解并且说出从未听过的句子的能力。

Performance refers to what we do when we speak or listen, that is, the infinite varied individual acts of verbal behavior with their irregularities, inconsistencies, and errors (the actual realization of his knowledge of the language in linguistic communication).

Any actual utterances a speaker makes in a particular situation.

上述语言能力在实际使用语言情况中的体现－－指话语本身。

Chomsky sees the linguist’s task as primarily describing competence, the knowledge of language, or “the underlying system of rules that has been mastered by the speaker-hearer” because performance is impossible without competence.

According to Chomsky, a speaker has internalized a set of rules about his language, this enables him to produce and understand an infinite large number of sentences and recognize sentences that are ungrammatical and ambiguous.

Widdowson(1996): Competence is presented as the central principle of language itself. To focus on competence is to focus on what is essential and primary.

Hymes proposed the idea of communicative competence in 1972.

Hymes argues that the speaker-listener can not live in a completely homogeneous speech community.

Social life will inevitably impose an influence upon both his outward performance and inner competence, since speaker-hearer possesses the overall underlying knowledge and ability for language use.

Thus, he proposes communicative competence to include both linguistic knowledge and ability for language use. In other words, he associates his communicative competence with both Chomsky’s grammatical competence and performance.

People insisted on following language used by the best authors of classical times.

Spoken language was regarded as formless and featureless. The sentences are brief and contain many mistakes, hesitations and silences.

However, as we mentioned previously, language is primarily vocal. No community has a written form only, though many have a spoken language only.

Then certain linguists began to doubt the priority of writing.

1.4.2.7 Functionalism and Formalism The functional approach centers on linguistic explan

ation based on language’s function in a larger context.

The formalist approach insists on a sharp division between synchrony and diachrony and between competence and performance.

The two approaches are different and have a number of directly conflicting claims, ranging from general philosophical and methodological principles to the particular analysis of specific linguistic phenomena.

1.5 The Scope of Linguistics

Linguistics covers a wide range of topics and its boundaries are difficult to define. Its scope is getting broader and broader.

In linguistics, both internal and external factors related to language are explored, and units larger than the sentence are taken into account.

Generally speaking, the research of linguistics Is like this: The research scope (range) of linguistics:1. phonetics ( 语音学 ) 2. lexicology ( 词汇学 )3. grammar ( 语法学 ) 4. rhetoric (修辞学 )

The research angles of linguistics:1.general linguistics (普通语言学 )2. historical linguistics (历史语言学 )3. sociolinguistics ( 社会语言学 )4. applied linguistics ( 应用语言学 )5. psycholinguistics ( 心理语言学 )

1.5.1 Use of Linguistics

Phonetics( 语音学 )─ the study of human speech sound;Phonology( 音位学 )─ the study of sound patterns;Morphology(形态学 )─the study of form of words;Syntax ( 句法学 )─ the study of sentence structure, the arrangements of words;Semantics( 语义学 )─the study of meaning (of words, of sentences).

Psycholinguistics( 心理语言学 )─Studies the relationship between the language and the mind;

Sociolinguistics( 社会语言学 )─Studies the relationship between the language and the society;

Historical linguistics( 历史语言学 )─ Studies language change;

Applied linguistics( 应用语言学 )─ Studies language

usages.

1.5.1.1 Pragmatics ( 语用学 )

Pragmatics studies how speakers use language in ways which can not be predicted from linguistic knowledge alone.

This field of study is related closely with semantics and the various branches of linguistics which link language with external world.

1.5.1.2 Anthropological Linguistics （人类语言学） Anthropological linguistics is the study of language

variation and use in relation to the cultural patterns and beliefs of human race.

Anthropologists have always considered linguistics as an important field of their discipline.

Anthropological linguists associate the ways of speaking of definite groups with the corresponding cultural factors to get the full meaning of the message they convey.

1.5.1.3 Psycholinguistics

Psycholinguistics studies how humans learn language and the relationship of linguistic behavior and the psychological process in producing and understanding language.

It involves the study of speech perception, memory, attention, and other processes in language use.

Language is the most interesting topic of psychology. If we could explain the linguistic patterns of man, we will stand a better chance of explaining his behavioral （关于行为的） patterns in general.

1.5.1.4 Sociolinguistics Sociolinguistics studies the interaction between

language and the structure and functioning of society.

The study of the relationship between language and society becomes more and more important. Sociolinguistics is the major tie between the two disciplines.

Sociolinguistics takes into account such factors as the social backgrounds of both the speaker and the addressee (i.e. their age, sex, social class, ethnic background, degree of integration into their neighborhood, etc.), the relationship between speaker and addressee, the context, and manner of the interaction.

1.5.1.5 Neurolinguistics （神经语言学）

Neurolinguistics is the study of the neurological basis of language development and use in human beings. Specifically, it examines the brain’s control over the processes of speech and understanding.

The direct study of the human brain is difficult. We have to rely on less controlled methods of investigation, e.g. by studying brain damaged patients who suffer from language disorders.

Different parts of the brain have different functions. In other words, it is possible to localize different functions in the brain.

1.5.1.6 Applied Linguistics

Applied linguistics basically refers to the application of linguistic theories, methods, and findings to the study of language learning and teaching.

The applied linguistics is concerned with second language acquisition, curriculum and syllabus design, teaching methodology, communicative language teaching, learner and teacher roles, textbook writing, language testing, English for Specific Purposes, language planning, English as a global language, and a wide range of other issues.

1.5.1.7 Computational Linguistics

计算语言学是语言学的一个分支，用计算技术和概念来阐述语言学和语音学问题。已开发的研究领域包括自然语言处理、言语合成、言语识别、自动翻译、编制语词索引，以及许多需要统计分析的领域。

It is the study of language using the techniques and concepts of computer science.

It often refers to the problems in machine translation, information retrieval （重新获得）， and artificial intelligence.

However, machine translation is not yet very desirable. Translation done by machines are not free from errors and require much post-editing.

One of the key problems is the lack of a good linguistic theory to provide a frame of reference for machine translation.

Language is so complicated and the interests of the linguists are extensive that the above is not a final list.

These various branches overlap to some extent. It is very difficult to define each of them very clearly.

( Have a good look at the questions in the Exercise part on P. 38.)

1.5.2 Recent Developments

Several schools of thought have emerged round a few prominent linguists such as Firth, Halliday, Hjelmslev, and Chomsky.

Major centers of linguistic study: Prague School, Geneva School, and Copenhagen School.

Leading concepts: structuralism, functionalism, tagmemics （法位学） , systemic functional grammar （全方位功能语法） , and transformational generative grammar.

Linguistics has been advancing in two main directions. One is the detailed study of the different branches of specializations. Each of the different branches in linguistics has been concerned with developing basic concepts and theories.

The other is the study of language as a whole, the attempt to discover how language functions in social context and how the total language as a “system of systems” can be grasped.

Some linguists argued that language can not be studied any more in isolation from the user and the context.

New approaches began to develop which, under various labels and with new techniques of enquiry, attempted to relate the study of language to the external reality and to the language user’s psychological situation.

Initiated from the mid 1960s, some new fields of study were: sociolinguistics, pragmatics, the ethnography （人种论） of speaking ， systemic functional grammar, corpus linguistics( 语料库语言学 ), discourse analysis (话语分析） , and cognitive linguistics （认知语言学） .

All of these new studies connect the study of language with the speaker-hearer, the context, and the topic.

They are more concerned with the relation between language and context and between language and language user.

1.5.2.1 Corpus Linguistics ( 语料库语言学）

It deals with the principles and practice of using corpora in language study.

The study of language in actual use has required a corpus-based research. Scholars need a corpus to analyze patterns of use in natural texts.

A corpus refers to a collection of linguistic data, either compiled as written texts or as a transcription of recorded speech.

A corpus enables the linguist to verify a hypothesis about language, e.g. to determine how the usage of a particular sound, word, or syntactic construction varies.

A computer corpus is a large body of machine-readable texts. The importance of corpora to language study is aligned to the importance of empirical （经验的） data.

Empirical data enables the linguist to make objective statements rather than those based upon individual’s own subjective perception of language. Empirical data also allows us to study language varieties. Corpus linguistics should be seen as a subsection of the activity within empirical and emotional approaches to linguistics.

1.5.2.2 Discourse Analysis （话语分析）

Traditional linguistic analysis has concentrated on the structure of sentences, but in recent years, there has been a growing interest in the analysis of units larger than sentences. Thus, discourse analysis has emerged.

The term discourse or text refers to all linguistic units with a definable communicative function, spoken or written.

It stresses the need to see language as a dynamic (动态的 ), social, interactive phenomenon.

Discourse analysts regard discourse as a form of language use, a communicative event, and a form of verbal interaction.

Since discourse involves the use of language, the communication of meaning, and social context, discourse analysis becomes an interdisciplinary ( 交叉学科的 ) enterprise.

So, we need to explore not only the interaction of the language function, and the encoding (编码 ) and decoding( 解码 ) process of the language user, but also socio-cultural context and the role of cognition.

Currently, there exists 5 approaches: the structural approach, the cognitive approach, the socio-cultural approach, the critical approach, and the synthetic (综合的 ) approach.

1.5.2.3 Cognitive Linguistics It is a newly developed branch that studies the str

uctural characteristics of natural language categorization( 范畴 / 语类化 ), the functional principles of linguistic organization, the conceptual interface( 接口 ) between syntax and semantics, the experiential (经验主义的 ) and pragmatic background of language-in-use, and the relationship between language and thought.

Language is an integral part of cognition. It reflects the interaction of cultural, psychological, communicative, and functional considerations.

Language can be understood in the context of a realistic view of conceptualization and mental processing.

Language serves as a window of human cognition. To deal with issues in cognitive linguistics, we need knowledge in different approaches of a variety of disciplines, including cognitive psychology, linguistics, artificial intelligence, neuroscience, philosophy, and anthropology.

1.5.2.4 Systemic Functional Grammar

( 全方位功能语法 ) Proposed and suggested by Firth and Halliday. Fir

th argues that language must be studied at all levels in its context of situation and with an emphasis on meaning.

The linguist has to study the text in relation to surrounding language items, and in relation to nonverbal constituents which have bearings on the utterances, such as persons, objects, and events.

In Halliday’s view, language is a social semiotic and text has close relation to context.

Halliday identifies 3 variables of context: field ( 场 ), tenor ( 语旨 / 语体 ), and mode ( 法式 / 语式 ).

Systemic functional grammar, in principle, attempts to account for a broader range of linguistic phenomena.

According to Halliday, the description of any language requires 4 fundamental theoretical categories: unit, structure, class, and system.

The concepts subsumed under the 4 universal categories can in all languages be arranged in a rank order from lowest to highest.

Its emphasis on meaning at all levels of linguistic analysis anticipates recent developments in linguistics.

( Have a look at the questions at the end of this chapter on P. 41)

Chapter 2 Phonetics and Phonology (P.43)

2.1 Production of Sounds

Language is primarily spoken, so language is closely related with speech (sound).

Human language displays a wide variety of sounds, but not all the sounds that humans are capable of producing occur in speech.

Any human is able to produce the possible speech sounds, regardless of racial or cultural background.

2.1.1 Scope of Phonetics

Phonetics is the scientific study of speech and is concerned with defining and classifying speech sounds.

It’s the study of the phonic medium of language. It has 3 separate fields (branches): (1). articulatory phonetics （发音语音学） (2). acoustic phonetics （声学语音学） (3). auditory phonetics （听觉语音学）

Articulatory phonetics ( 发音语音学 ) studies the human speech organs, and the way in which the speech sounds are produced. It deals with the identification and classification of individual sounds.

Acoustic phonetics ( 声学语音学 ) deals with the physical properties of the speech sounds; It studies the sound waves through the use of such machines as a spectrograph.

Auditory phonetics （听觉语音学） is the study of the perception of sounds by the human ear.

The 3 branches are closely related to each other. Speech sounds can not be divorced from the organs that articulate them and a sound wave does not exist in isolation from the source that generates it.

All the approaches are indispensable to an understanding of phonetics. Phoneticians are concerned with an objective description of how speech works, measuring speech characteristics as accurately as possible, and providing an account using agreed and understood terminology.

2.1.2 Articulation of Sounds 2.1.2.1 Voice

All languages have both voiceless and voiced sounds contrasting in their phonological systems.

In English, all vowels are voiced, as are some consonants (e.g. /d, b, g, m,…./)

When describing individual sound segments, phoneticians often employ two perspectives to examine how sounds are articulated: manner of articulation and place of articulation.

2.1.2.2 Manner of Articulation ( 发音方法 )(P.46)

classification of English consonants (28)

According to the manner of articulation: stops (6) （塞音） : /p, b, t, d, k, g/ fricatives (9) （摩擦音） : /f, v, s, z, , , , , h/ affricatives (6) （破擦音） : / , , tr, dr, ts, dz/ liquids (2) （流音） : /l, r/ nasals (3) （鼻音） : /m, n, / glides (2) （滑动音） : /w, j/

2.1.2.3 Place of Articulation ( 发音部位） (P.47)

classification of English consonants (28)

According to the place of articulation: bilabial (4) （双唇音） : /p, b, m, w/ dental (2) （舌齿音） : /, ,/ alveolar (9) （齿齦音） : /t, d, n, s, z, l, r, ts, dz/ post-alveolar(2) （齿后音） : /tr, dr/ palatal (5) （硬颚音） : /, , , , j/ velar (3) （软颚音） : /k, g, / glottal (1) （声门音） : /h/ labiodental (2) （唇齿音） : /f, v/

2.1.2.4 Vowels (P. 49)

Two ways of classification:

According to the position of the tongue (20):

front vowels (4) （前元音） : /i:, i, e, / back vowels (5) （后元音） : /u:, u, :, , :/ central vowels (3) （中元音） : / :, , /

外加 8个双元音 diphthongs: /ei, u, ai, au, i, i, , u/

According to the shape of the lips (20):

unrounded vowels (8) （非圆唇音） /i:, i, e, , :, , , :/

rounded vowels (4) （圆唇音） /u, u:, :, /

外加 8个双元音 diphthongs: /ei, u, ai, au, i, i, , u/

2.1.3 Characteristics of English Speech Sounds (P.51)

Each language has its own sound patterns. English is no exception.

English has many words with the pattern consonant-vowel-consonant, as in the words fit, dig, net, sit, and rid, and many others containing consonants clusters, as in stream, glimps, task, spray, and shred.

However, no more than three consonants may occur at the beginning of a word. If three consonants do occur, the first must be /s/.

2.1.4 The Transcription of Sounds (P.54)

Narrow and broad transcriptions

（严式与宽式音标）

broad transcription ── the system of symbols used generally in dictionaries and language books. ( adequate enough )

narrow transcription ── the phonetic transcription with diacritics (not always necessary).

Phonetics and phonology ( 语音学和音位学） Similarity : Both concern the speech sounds.

Difference: Phonetics studies the speech sounds

themselves while phonology concerns

the speech sounds the system, the

function.

Phonetics: Studies speech sounds as they are.

Provides the means for describing

speech sounds. It’s general, descriptive,

and classificatory.

Phonology studies:

1. the ways in which speech sounds form

systems and patterns in human languages.

(The phonology of a language is the system

and pattern of the speech sounds used in that

particular language.)

2. the functioning of the speech sounds

2.3 Sound Patterns (P.62) (Some rules of phonology)

2.3.1 Sequential Constraints/Rules (序列规则 ) ── Rules that govern the combination of sounds in a

particular language. ( 一门语言中控制音位排列、组合顺序的规则 )

In English, /l/, /r/ must be followed by a vowel.

If three consonants cluster together, there are three rules:

(1). The first phoneme must be /s/; (2). The second phoneme must be /p/, /t/, /k/; (3). The third phoneme must be /l/, /r/, /w/. / / never begins a word in English.

Assimilation rule （同化规则）

Rule assimilates one segment to another by “copying” a feature of a sequential phoneme. ( 音的同化是指相邻的两个音位中的一个受另一个的影响而变成一个不同的音位 )

e.g. input, impossible, important, did you, five pence, with thanks, have to.

/d/+/j/ / / /f/ / / /f/

e.g. bank, trunk, sink, tank, thank, English, rank, monkey.

棉袄，陶立安，老好人，好爽啊！豪爽啊！

Suprasegmental features ( 超切分特征 ) － stress, tone, intonation

── The phonemic features that occur above the level of the segment.(超过话语中一个以上语音的特征 )

word stress ── record, desert, subject, a greenhouse, etc. Stress sentence stress ── n, v, adj, adv, num, logical stress ── according to the context e.g. ── Where is my book? Is it on the table? ── No, it is not on the table. It’s under the table.

e.g. I have read that novel. I have read that novel.

I have read that novel. I have read that novel.

她不会讲法语。她不会讲法语。 她不会讲法语。

她不会讲法语。 她不会讲法语。

Tone ── English is not a tone language, but Chinese is.

e.g. 迂 鱼 雨 玉； 温 文 稳 /吻 问

Intonation ── It plays an important role in the conveyance of meaning in almost every language.

e.g. Boy: It’s not me. I know nothing about it.

Man: Yes, I believe you, boy.

e.g. London Bridge is falling down, falling

down, falling down!

Chapter 3 Morphology and Lexicon （ 形态学和词汇）（ P.73)

The previous chapter has been focused on the sound patterns of language.

We have analyzed how human speech sounds are produced, and how phonemes are combined into larger meaningful units to convey information from the speaker to the hearer.

Morphology studies morphemes and their different forms and the way they combine in word formation.

Morphology is the study of the internal structure of words, and the rules by which words are formed. （研究和分析词的内部结构以及词的构成规则及形式）

Lexicon refers to the set of all the words and idioms of any language.

3.1.1 Word

So far, no satisfactory definition of the concept of word has been found.

In the case of English, people tend to think of a word as a meaningful group of letters printed or written horizontally across a piece of paper.

Some linguists tend to identify word as units that fall between pauses in speech.

The best known definition of word is given by Bloomfield, who defines a word as “ a minimal free form”, that is , the smallest form that can occur by itself.

This definition works best for written English, where we conventionally leave a space on either side.

However, it is sometimes difficult to define the minimal unit. (See P. 74)

A better way to define a word is to survey the 4 characteristics of a word:

1. A word is a sound or combination of sounds which we produce voluntarily with our vocal equipment.

Phonemes （音素） build up into morphemes （词素） , which are the smallest working units of meaningful sound and which then build up into words. （ Look at the chart on P. 74).

2. A word is symbolic, that is, it stands for something else, such as objects, happenings, or ideas.

The symbolic connection is almost always arbitrary; there is no logical relationship between the sound which stands for a thing or idea and the actual thing or idea itself.

The only exceptions for this rule are onomatopoetic or echoic words.

3. Words are part of the language communication system we call language. A word is partly dependent for meaning upon its use in the larger context.

A word receives some of its meaning as it fills grammatical slots in a sentence: as subject, as object, and as predict verb. (See examples on P. 75).

Words like prepositions and conjunctions are almost impossible to assign meaning to without considering their sentence functions.

4. Words help human beings interact culturally

with one another.

In some situations, the act of speaking is more important than what we actually say.

From the phatic function of language, we know that we say “How do you do?” without really concerning with the actual condition of the hearer; we say “It’s a nice day, isn’t it ?” without really expecting a meteorological discussion. In this sense, words are the glue that holds a society together.

So, to know a word is to know it in 4 ways: To recognize its series of meaningfully separable sound se

gments or letters in the stream of speech or in the written text.

To recognize the accumulated experiences with which its sound segments or letters are associated.

To recognize its function in a sentence or an utterance as it works grammatically with other words.

To relate words to the social and cultural context in which they are uttered so as to figure out the speaker’s intention or illocutionary ( 言外的） force.

3.1.2 Word Classes According to Quirk, English words can be classified

into closed class, open class, and two lesser categories and words of unique function.

3.1.2.1 Closed Class （封闭类词）（指没有完整的词汇意义，但有语法意义或功能意义的词）a. articles, prepositions, conjunctions, pronoun

sb. not easy to think of new onesc. also called function words （功能词，虚词）

（ See the details 1—6 carefully on P. 76.)

3.1.2.2 Open Class (开放类词 )

（指本身有完整意义的词）

a. nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, etc.

b. We can regularly add new words.c. also called content words （实词） (Look at the details carefully on P. 77-78: Nou

ns, Full verbs….)

3.1.2.3 Lesser Categories

The two lesser ( 少见的） categories are numerals and interjections （数词和感叹词） .

Numerals are words that denote numbers or the order. They fall into 2 categories:

1. Cardinal numerals, e.g. one, two, three,….

2. Ordinal numerals, e.g. first, second, third,…

(They usually collocate with the definite

article the .)

An interjection is a word or phrase used as a sudden remark usually expressing feelings, such as exclamation, sorrow, surprise, regret, etc.

E.g. alas, oh, My God! Dear me! ….

There are also a number of words unique function, like the negative not and the infinitive marker to.

3.1.2.4 Open-class Words and Closed-class Words

In English, nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs make up the largest part of the vocabulary.

They are called “open” classes because we can add new words to these classes. Look at the following examples:

nouns: cybernation, cyberspace, cyber-( 计算机的， 电子的） , etc.

verbs: stonewall （拖延，阻碍）， spacewalk, e-mail,

clone, etc.

The other syntactic categories are “closed”. It is not easy to think of new pronouns, determiner, conjunctions or prepositions that entered the language recently. (With the exception s/he, P. 79.)

Open-class words are also called lexical words or content words because they all carry certain semantic contents.

In contrast, closed-class words are called grammatical words or function words, since their roles are largely of wholly grammatical.

3.1.2.5 Pro-forms （替代形式，替代词）

A pro-form is a word or expression used as a substitute for another form.

In English, there are many types of pro-forms, such as do, did, does, have, so, not, etc.

3.1.2.6 Variable and Invariable Words

( 可变词与不变词） Words can also be classified into variable and i

nvariable words. Variable words can take inflectional endings

（屈折词尾） and thus have ordered and regular series of grammatically different word forms.

Invariable words do not take inflectional endings. English has the least variable words compared

with the other Indo-European languages.

3.1.2.7 Lexical Words and Grammatical Words

Nouns, pronouns, full verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and numerals always denote objects, happenings, ideas, properties and other lexical meanings, and thus are generally labeled lexical words or content words.

Conjunctions, prepositions, primary verbs and modal auxiliaries, interjections and particles denote one grammatical meaning or another, and are thus called grammatical words or function words.

3.2 Morpheme (P. 81)

3.2.1 What is a Morpheme? It’s a minimal unit of meaning; the most basic ele

ment of meaning. In fact every word in every language is composed of one or more morphemes.

（例：女，故，姓，岩）

It’s the smallest linguistic unit that carries grammatical and /or semantic meaning. It cannot be further divided into smaller grammatical units.

(See the specific example on P. 81—unacceptable.)

A morpheme may be a complete word, (e.g. boy, girl, cat, ….), or an affix (e.g. –s, un-, able-, -hood)

3.2.2 Types of Morphemes Morpheme is the minimal linguistic sign

that can not be further analyzed.

Morphemes can be classified into several types.

3.2.2.1 Free Morphemes and Bound Morphemes

（自由词素和粘着词素） (P.83) If a morpheme can constitute a word (free form) b

y itself, it is called a free morpheme, like room, bottle, black, large.

If a morpheme has meaning only when connected with at least another morpheme, it is a bound morpheme, like un-, -s, -ing, en-.

Bound morphemes can’t occur “unattached”. ( 粘着词素是必须与其它词素相连才能出现的词素 . )

A bound morpheme is also called an affix( 词缀） in the sense that it is always added to another morpheme.

Affixes can be further divided into prefixes and suffixes.

Prefixes are morphemes that occur only before

other morphemes.

Suffixes: morphemes that occur only after other morphemes.

Prefixes generally do not change the grammatical categories of the stem. They only add some lexical meanings to the stem, e.g.

mono- (meaning “one”): monodrama, monologue

bi- (meaning “two”): bimonthly, bifocal, biform

tri- (meaning “three”): triangle, tricolor, triweekly

mini- (meaning “small”, “short”): minibus, miniskirt

macro- (“ 大，长， 宏”）；micro- (“小，微”）；表示否定的： a-, dis-, in-, non-, un-,

表示反动作的： de-, dis-, un-,

表示反对的： anti-, contra-, counter-,

表示之前的： fore-, pre-; 表示之后的： post-,

Some prefixes, like en-, can also change the lexical category of the stem:

en- + adj. vt. : ensure, enable, enlarge, enrich en- + n. vt. : endanger, encourage, encode, enc

age A suffix is one that is added to end of the stem, lik

e –ing, -ful, -less, etc. Most suffixes have 2 functions: 1. To add some grammatical meanings to the ste

m; (e.g. –s, -ed, -ing.) 2. To change its grammatical categories. (e.g. n. + -ly n.; n.+ -ful n/adj. : daily, friendly, monthly; mouthful, handful,

spoonful; careful, useful)

3.2.2.2 Inflectional Morpheme and Derivative Morpheme （曲折词素和派生词素）

Inflectional morphemes are purely grammatical markers, signifying such concepts as tense, number, voice, case, etc. （曲折词素多半只是语法标志，说明时态、数、格、语态、等 , 没有具体实在的意义 ) 。

如： -ed, -ing, to, it.

Derivative morphemes can usually change the category or grammatical class of words/part of speech. （派生词素多半能改变词性及语法属类的词素）

如： -able, -ly, -ism, -ic, -ify, -en

但也不尽然： re-, semi-, sub-,

3.3 Inflection and Word-formation (P.85)

What methods are used in formation of English words?

Inflection and word formation (derivation) are two important morphological processes in the English language.

Besides them, there are also conversion, compounding, etc.

3.3.1. Inflection

Inflection refers to the process of adding an affix to a word or changing it in some other way according to the rules of the grammar of a language.

In English, verbs are inflected for 3rd person singular by adding the suffix –s, and most nouns can be inflected for plurals, e.g. horse—horses; man—men; child—children; etc.

( Look at the list at the bottom of P. 85.)

3.3.2 Word-formation New words may be added to the vocabulary

or lexicon by compounding, conversion, derivation and a number of other processes.

3.3.2.1 Compounding Compounding refers to the process of

conjoining two or more free morphemes to form a new word. The new word form is called a compound.

Compounding is one of the oldest ways of word formation.

Compound words are words produced by stringing words together .

A few noteworthy points about compound words:

1) When the two words are in the same grammatical category, the compound will be in this category. （当构成复合词的两个词词性一样时，则构成的新词也是该词性。）

noun+noun →noun e.g. handbook, notebook,

night-school, life-story,

adj+adj→adj e.g. bittersweet, light-blue, blue-

black, icy-cold

2) When the two words are in different grammatical category, the compound will be the same as the second word. （当构成复合词的两个词词性不一样时，构成的新词与后者相同 . ）

verb+noun→noun. e.g. pickpocket, washboard,

deadline, blackboard

noun+adj→adj. e.g. ice-cool, knee-deep, sea-sick

exception:带有介词时，词性常与非介词部分一致。 e.g. undertake, inactive, uplift

3) Compounds have different stress patterns from the uncompounded word sequence. （复合词与非复合词的重音位置不同。复合词总在前面 . ）

e.g. redcoat, greenhouse (c.f. red coat, green house),

blackboard, notebook, classroom, homework,

workbook, pencil-box,

4) the meaning of a compound is not always the sum of the meanings of its parts. （复合词的意思不全是两个词的合成意思，不能总望文生义。）

e.g. a Red coat, a bigwig, a highbrow, a turn-coat, a

blackbird, a black-sheep, cocktail, black horse,

black tea, green-eyed, green-hand , etc.

3.3.2.2 Derivation As noted above, a new word can be derived by

adding an affix to a word.

The word to which the affix is added is referred to as a base or root or stem.

Some English derivative prefixes are very productive, i.e. many new words have been derived from them.

(Look at the list at the bottom of P. 87.)

3.3.2.3 Conversion A word can be converted from one word class to

another without any morphological change. This method of word-formation is called conversion or zero derivation.

Conversion occurs mostly on simple words, i.e. one-morpheme words like work, hand, etc. Some compound words also undergo conversion, like highlight (n., v. ), standstill (v., n.).

However, this way of word formation seldom occurs to derivatives.

The most widely used conversion in English is that between nouns and verbs, e.g. (P.88) ,

1. n. v. : elbow, milk, skin, hammer, nurse, e-mail,

dog, duck, peacock, wolf, fox,

2. v. n. : to doubt, to attempt, to visit, to try, to walk.

3. adj./adv. v.: dry, free, better, down, hollow.

4. adj. n.: native, short, green, poor, innocent.

3.3.2.4 Abbreviation （缩略词）

Another common way of making a word is to abbreviate, or shorten, a longer word. This word-formation may take the following forms:

1. Clipping (缩略 )—Clipped words tend to be casual but very useful, e.g.

gym; prof.; zoo; fridge; disco; demon; adminis; info.; tech.; hi-fi; flu; telecom; etc.

2. Initials and acronyms （首字母及首字母缩略词）

Abbreviations can also be made out of initials to stand for others.

Initials differ from acronyms in that initials are read letter by letter, acronyms are pronounced as independent words, e.g.

Initials: BBC; VOA; UN; UFO; WTO. Acronyms: UNESCO; NATO; SISU; AIDS.

3. Blending （紧缩词；二合一词） (P. 89) A blending is a combination of parts of 2 words to f

orma third word which contains some of the meaning of each part, e.g.

smog; motel; flurry; plike; brunch; hi-tech; Chinglish; medicare; Eurasia; syntagmatic; etc.

3.3.2.5 Back formation （逆向构词法）（是通过去掉现存的词的后缀而成新词的方法）

It refers to the removal of an affix from an existing word to form a new word, e.g.

e.g. typewriter typewrite; editor edit; ( Find more examples from the list on P. 90.)

In addition, new words can be formed through onomatopoeia ( 拟声） , neologism （造新词）， and borrowing （借用外来词） .

3.3.2.6 Neologism （造新词） (P.90) New words can be created to denote new o

bjects or ideas. This way of formation is also called “new coinage”.

( 随着科技的发展社会的进步，新词因需要而不断出现。 )

e.g. dacron 涤纶； kodak 柯达； zerox 静电复印机 ;

inter-net; e-mail; modem; laptop; etc.

3.3.2.7 Borrowing （借用外来词） (P.90) As intercultural exchange increases, the for

mation of new words through borrowing becomes more and more popular.

A borrowing refers to a word or phrase which has been taken from one language and used in another language.

Generally, there are three types of borrowing. They are 1. loan words; 2. loan blends; 3. translation loans.

Borrowings in English are mainly from French, Latin, Greek, Spanish, German, Italian, Dutch, Arab, Japanese, and Chinese.

Examples are: kowtow; wonton; kung fu; tofu; taiji; dimsum; Judo; tatami; bokchay; etc.

Find more examples from P. 90-91.

Another new trend is the formation of words through analogy （类推） and contrast （对比） , e.g. bird’s eye-view, fish’s eye-view, worm’s eye-view; sunrise, moonrise; spaceman, moon-man, etc.

类推是英语构词法之一，其特点是仿造现有的词类创造出对应词或近似词。汉语中叫仿词。

More examples of analogy: health-crisis, white list （准予上演的短剧名单） , gray-list ( 非明文查禁但仍属不法的人和物）， without-it ( 过时的） gray-collar workers (灰领工人，服务行业职工 ) , visual pollution, spiritual pollution, culture pollution.

汉语中： 牡丹是“国花”，这就可算是“国骂”了（鲁迅） 反正他挣钱不多，花匠也罢，草匠也罢。（老舍） 午一时，人客到齐，新楼旧铺，济济两堂……

Examples of contrast: baby bust, baby boom; nightmare, day-mare; hot-war, cold war; hot line, cold line; brain drain( 人才外流 ), brain gain( 人才流入 ); flash back, flash forward.

汉语中：后来这终于从深闺传到浅闺里去了。（鲁迅） “ 好逸恶劳”是一种低下的感情，我们应该把它 翻转过来，“好劳恶逸”。 （陶铸） …有人说这是阴谋，我们说这是阳谋。（毛泽东） …. 无论你所做的事是文化还是武化… . （鲁迅） …有人天天喊大众化，却仍然是小众化。

3.4 Lexicon (P.91) Lexicon, in its most general sense, is

synonymous with vocabulary. It is one of the most studied components in different linguistic frameworks.

In its technical sense, lexicon deals with the analysis and creation of words, idioms and collocations.

3.4.1 Lexeme ( 词位）

Lexeme refers to the smallest unit in the meaning system of a language that can be distinguished from other smaller units.

A lexeme is an abstract unit and thus may occur in many different forms in actual spoken or written texts. (e.g. speak, speaks, speaking, spoke, spoken; big, bigger, biggest.)

词位是个抽象单位，它是一系列语法变体（如 walk, walks, walking “走”）的基底形式。

按这一定义，成语性的短语也应视为词位（如 kick the bucket). 词位按惯例是在词典里作为词条单独列出的单位。

A problematic issue concerning the definition of lexeme is homonyms, i.e. lexical items which sound the same but differ in grammatical and lexical meanings. （同音 /形异义词）

For example, the lexical item lie may have 4 paradigms （聚合体） :

1. lie : v. 躺 ; 躺着 2. lie: n. 位置；状态 3. lie: v. 说谎 4. lie: n. 谎话；谎言Should these 4 lexical items be counted as 1

2, 3,or 4 separate lexemes?

Collocation is an important feature in the combination of lexemes.

Collocation refers to the acceptable combination between individual lexical items.

From the syntagmatic point of view, collocation is an issue of co-occurrence, i.e. which lexical items are habitually used together with another.

This is termed by Firth as “mutual expectancy of words”, meaning that when a native speaker of a language comes across one lexical item, he or she always expect the occurrence of another.

From logical, semantic, lexical and grammatical points of view, there are 4 kinds of rules governing or restricting the selection of lexical items allowable to co-occur.

( See the details on P.92-93)

Information about collocation is important for the mastery of a language, since collocations are largely conventional and unpredictable.

As a learner of English as a foreign language, you have to accumulate English collocations item by item. (Have a quick look at the exercise on P. 93)

3.4.2 Features of Lexicon A lexeme may be a word or a phrase.

However, no one is able to know the whole lexicon of a language, since most languages have specialized vocabulary that relate to particular fields of language.

The vocabulary of English has been ever-increasing. There are a number of reasons for the fact. (Look at the listed 5 reasons on P. 94.)

3.4.2.1 Idioms

Idioms are phrasal lexemes which have relatively regular lexical meaning and restricted grammatical variation.

English idioms have 2 characteristics: semantic unity and structural stability.

These 2 characteristics distinguish an idiom from a free phrase.

Firstly, an idiom is a semantic unit. Its meaning can not be predicted by adding up the meaning of the constituent words, as in the case of a free phrase like to do harm to sb.; to buy sth for sb .

Secondly, an idiom has a relatively restricted structure. You can not alter or substitute its component words of your own will, as you do to a free phrase.

According to its grammatical functions and internal structure, an idiom may function as a verb, noun, adjective, or adverb.

(1) Idioms verbal in nature With a verb as its head, this type of idiom normally fun

ctions as a predicate verb in the clause. Such idioms may take the following internal structures:

vi.+ adv. : go on, go aheadvi.+ prep.: look into, look aftervi.+ adv.+ prep.: put up with, go along withvt.+ adv. : get across, take (sb) invt.+ prep.: get (sb) through, help (sb) outvt. + adv. + prep. : do away with, get rid of, come up withv. + n.: make peace, face the musicv. +n. + prep. : take care of, make use of, look forward tov. + adj. : make sure, fall flatv. + v. : make do, make believe

(2) Idioms nominal in nature

This type of idioms has a noun as its head and

may take the following internal structure:

n.+ prep.: a fly on the wheel, a friend at court

n.’s + n.; adj.+ n.; n.+ and + n.; n.+ n., etc.

( Look at the list of examples on P. 95.)

(3) Idioms adjectival in nature (P. 95)

(4) Idioms adverbial in nature (P. 95)

3.4.2.2 Proverbs A proverb is normally in the form of a senten

ce. A proverb is often a short sentence that people often quote and use to give advice and state some general human life experience and problem.

Proverbs are succinct in language and pregnant in meaning. ( 言简意赅）

Look at the examples on P. 95-96.