Lecture 2 What Is Linguistics

2.1 Definition of linguistics 2.2 Branches of linguistics 2.3 Macrolinguistics 2.4 Important distinctions in linguistics

2.1 Definition Linguistics is the scientific study of language. study – investigation scientific - exhaustiveness 穷尽性 consistency 一致性 economy 简洁性 objectivity 客观性

2.2 Branches of linguistics 2.2.1 Phonetics 语音学 2.2.2 Phonology 音系学 2.2.3 Morphology 形态学 2.2.4 Syntax 句法学 2.2.5 Semantics 语义学 2.2.6 Pragmatics 语用学 2.2.7 Modern linguistics and traditional grammar

2.2.1 Phonetics 语音学 Phonetics is the study of speech sounds. Three different branches of phonetics: 1) Articulatory phonetics发音语音学 2) Auditory phonetics 听觉语音学 3) Acoustic phonetics声学语音学

2.2.2 Phonology 音系学 Phonology studies the sound system of languages. The aim of phonology is to demonstrate the patterns of distinctive sounds found in a language, and to make as general statements as possible about the nature of sound systems in the languages of the world. The object of study in phonology is phoneme (音位).

2.2.3 Morphology 形态学 Morphology studies the formation of words, that is, how words are formed from smaller units of meaning – morphemes. Morphemes are the minimal units of meaning. They can be used to derive words and to give grammatical information about a word.

Languages differ in their degree of dependence on morphological components. Chinese: 男：我是学生。 女：我是学生。 男男：我们是学生。 女女：我们是学生。 English: Boy: I’m a student. Girl: I’m a student. Boys: We’re students. Girls: We’re students. French: Garçon: Je suis étudiant. Fille: Je suis étudiante. Garçons: Nous sommes étudiants. Filles: Nous sommes étudiantes.

2.2.4 Syntax 句法学 Syntax studies the rules that govern the formation of sentences from words. These rules specify word order, sentence organization, and the relationship between word order, word classes and other sentence elements. Emma loaded the groceries into the car. Emma loaded the car with groceries. He didn’t come because of you.

2.2.5 Semantics 语义学 Semantics is the study of meaning. It’s not only concerned with the meaning of words, but also that of morphemes and of sentences.

2.2.6 Pragmatics 语用学 Pragmatics is the study of meaning in context. It deals with specific utterances in specific situations.

2.2.7 Modern linguistics and traditional grammar Saussure, “Father of modern linguistics”, Course in General Linguistics. Firstly, modern linguistics is descriptive while traditional grammar is prescriptive. Secondly, modern linguistics regards the spoken language as primary, not the written. Thirdly, modern linguistics does not force languages into a Latin-based framework.

2.3 Macrolinguistics 宏观语言学 2.3.1 Psycholinguistics 心理语言学 -- linguistics and psychology 2.3.2 Sociolinguistics 社会语言学 – language and society 2.3.3 Applied linguistics 应用语言学 - linguistics and language teaching

Psycholinguistics Psycholinguistics studies the correlation between linguistic behavior and the psychological processes thought to underlie that behavior: (a) the mental process that a person uses in producing and understanding language, and (b) how humans learn language. cognitive linguistics the study of language development in the child

Sociolinguistics Sociolinguistics studies all aspects of the relationship between language and society. It includes studies on the social functions of language and the social characteristics of its users. Language attitude before and after the handover of Hongkong Changes in the use of “小姐”

Applied linguistics In the broad sense, applied linguistics is concerned with the application of linguistic theories and findings to the clarification and solution of language problems which have arisen in other areas of experience. But the most well-developed branch of applied linguistics the teaching and learning of foreign languages, and sometimes the term is used in the narrow sense to refer to this field exclusively.

Some other applications Literary stylistics 文学文体学 It deals with the variations characteristic of literature as a genre and of the ‘style’ of individual authors. This is where linguistics and literature meets.

Anthropological linguistics This is a branch that studies language variation and use in relation to the cultural patterns and beliefs of man, as investigated using the theories and methods of anthropology. Did English and German diverge from a common ancestral language? If they are related, how far back in time did they begin to differ?

Computational linguistics This is a branch in which computational techniques and concepts are applied to linguistic and phonetic problems. speech synthesis, speech recognition, machine translation, corpus linguistics, computer-mediated communication

2.4 Important distinctions in linguistics 2.4.1 Speech and writing 2.4.2 Descriptive vs. prescriptive 描写式和规定式 2.4.3 Synchronic vs. diachronic 共时和历时 2.4.4 langue vs. parole 语言和言语 2.4.5 Competence and performance 语言能力和语言运用 2.4.6 Functionalism and formalism 功能主义与形式主义

Descriptive vs. prescriptive grammars They represent two different types of linguistic study. Descriptive---to describe the fact of linguistic usage as they are, and not how they ought to be, with reference to some real or imagined ideal state. Prescriptive---a term used to characterize any approach which attempt to lay down rules of correctness as to how language should be used.

Synchronic vs. diachronic Synchronic (linguistics)---languages are studied at a theoretic point in time: one describes a ‘state’ of language, disregarding whatever changes might be taking place. Diachronic----languages are studied from point of view of their historical development – for example, the changes which have taken place between Old and Modern English could be described in phonological, grammatical and semantic terms.

langue vs. parole Langue--- the language system shared by a community of speakers Parole--- the concrete act of speaking in actual situations by an individual speaker.

Competence and performance Competence---- a person’s knowledge of his language, the system of rules which he has mastered so that he is able to produce and understand an indefinite number of sentences, and to recognize grammatical mistakes and ambiguities. Performance---the actual realization of language knowledge, language seen as a set of specific utterances produced by language speakers, as encountered in a corpus. D. H. Hymes: communicative competence M. A. K. Halliday: Linguistic potential and actual linguistic behavior

Functionalism vs. formalism Functionalism or functional linguistics refers to the study of the form of language in reference to their social function in communication. It considers the individual as a social being and investigates the way in which she/he acquires language and uses it in order to communicate with others in her or his social environment. Representative: M. A. K. Halliday, Systemic functional grammar

Formalism or formal linguistics is the study of the abstract forms of language and their internal relations. It fixes on the forms of languages as evidence of the universals without considering how these forms function in communication and the ways of social life in different communities. Representative: Noam Chomsky, Transformational-generative grammar

Exercises Questions to discuss: 1. In what way do langue, competence and linguistic potential agree? In what way do they differ? And their counterparts? 2. What are the differences between the traditional study of language and modern linguistics? Terms to define: Competence，performance，langue，parole，descriptive grammar, prescriptive grammar, diachronic linguistics, synchronic linguistics, functionalism, formalism