Schools of Modern Linguistics 現(xiàn) 代 語(yǔ) 言 學(xué) 流 派

1、Schools of Modern Linguistics 現(xiàn) 代 語(yǔ) 言 學(xué) 流 派 Ferdinand de Saussure and his Workfather of modern linguisticsestablish the structural study of languageemphasize the arbitrary nature of linguistic signemphasize the relational nature of language unitsmake several pairs of distinctions Saussures most infl

2、uential work: Course in General Linguistics (1916)give definition of languageoutline the scope of linguisticspresent principles for phonology and writing systemsGeneral principlesSynchronic linguisticsDiachronic linguisticsGeographical linguisticsRetrospective linguisticsThe Arbitrary Nature of the

3、Linguistic Signs language as a system of signs: the sign as a union of the signifier and the signifiedno natural or inevitable connection between the signifier and the signifiedan arbitrary way of organizing the world into concepts and categoriestwo important characteristics of linguistic signs:the

4、arbitrary relation between the signifier and the signified the linear nature of the signified The Relational Nature of Language Units no essential core of meaning for a signified to be the proper signified for that signifier signifiers as members of system defined by their relations to the other mem

5、bers of that systemlanguage units as relational identity the comparison between language and chessSaussures Dichotomies Langue and paroleSynchronic and diachronic linguisticsSyntagmatic and paradigmatic relationsLangue and ParoleLangue is the system of a languageit is what the individual assimilates

6、 when he learns a language; it is social and abstract; It enables the members of a speech community to communicate linguistically. Parole is actual speech it is individual and concrete; it is the realization of the language system. Distinction between langue and paroleseparate what is social from wh

7、at is individual and what is essential from accidentallead to the distinction between phonetics and phonologyphonetics studies speech sounds from a physical point of view phonology studies the functional units within the linguistic systemlead to the distinction between utterance and sentencean utter

8、ance is a unit of parolea sentence is a unit of langueSynchronic and Diachronic Linguistics Synchronic linguistics:concerned with language at one point in timeDiachronic linguistics: concerned with the development or evolution of languageDistinction between synchronic and diachronic study: synchroni

9、c study is given prioritythere cannot be logical comparisons or diachronic studies without synchronic studiesnotion of language change should be carefully usedthere is a close connection between the study of diachronic change and synchronic variation Syntagmatic and Paradigmatic Relations Syntagmati

10、c relations:relations a linguistic element enters into with other elements in a serial or linear structure in writing or in the temporal stream of speechrelations of cooccurrencerelations that link the whole structure to its parts and vice versaParadigmatic relations:relations that obtain between el

11、ementsPriority is given to paradigmatic relations in modern linguistics. Saussures Contributions to Semiotics Be the first to define the symbolic nature of human language.Sign: an intersection or relationship or form and meaning, where form is something concrete, and meaning is something mental or c

12、ognitive.Three types of signs: icon, index, and symbol.Icon: a sign whose form has actual characteristics of its meaning; Index: a sign whose form has characteristics which are only associated in nature with its meaning;Symbol: a sign whose form is arbitrarily or conventionally associated with its m

13、eaning.Saussures Contributions to Semioticswith respect to the study of the syntactic and semantic dimensions of textsa rich working hypothesis demonstrating the systematic character of language (or literature) at each particular period of lifeThe application of the two categories of parole and lang

14、ue to literatureChapter Two European Functionalism The Prague SchoolIntroductionone of the most influential schools of linguistic thought in pre-war linguistics the approach to the study of language as a synchronic system the importance of the social function of language three points are of special

15、importance: the synchronic study of language emphasis on the systemic character of languageContributions of The Prague Schooldistinction between phonetics and phonologyphonetics belongs to parole phonology belongs to languethe notion of the phoneme as an abstract unit of the sound system the functio

16、nal conception of language as manifested in the analysis of sentencesMathesiuss distinction between theme & rheme the theme, which is a fact or facts already known the rheme, which contains all the new information to be transmittedothers investigation of the functions of language Phonology and Phono

17、logical OppositionsTrubetzkovs distinction between phonetics and phonologyTrubetzkovs notion of phonemeit has discriminative powerit cannot be analyzed into smaller segmentsit can only be determined by distinctive featuresphonemes as being composed of a number of phonologically significant distincti

18、ve features Phonology and Phonological OppositionsTrubetzkovs nine phonological oppositions:Bilateral opposition（雙邊對(duì)立） Multilateral opposition（多變對(duì)立） Proportional opposition（均衡對(duì)立） Isolated opposition（孤立對(duì)立） Privative opposition（否定對(duì)立） Gradual opposition（分級(jí)對(duì)立） Equipollent opposition（等價(jià)對(duì)立） Neutralizable

19、opposition（抵消對(duì)立） Constant opposition（永恒對(duì)立） Trubetzkovs Contributions to Phonological Theorydistinctive functions of speech sounds and an accurate definition for the phonemethe sphere of phonological studiesthe interdependent relations between phonemesmethodologies for phonological studiesJokobsons C

20、oncept of Distinctive FeaturesThe distinctive features are explicitly regarded as binary choices and hence they could be listed as paired oppositions, e.g. vocality v. consonantality, vocality v. non-vocality.These features were defined with reference not only to articulatory positions but also to a

21、coustic properties of speech-sounds.It was hoped that the proposed list of distinctive features would be universal.Functional Sentence Perspective (FSP)Interests in FSP:Mathesius (1924, 1939)Firbas (1960s)Halliday (1967, 1968, 1970)Definition and scope of FSP: an analysis of utterances or texts in t

22、erms of the information they containthe effect of the distribution of known (or given) information and new information in discourse. Firbass notion of Communicative Dynamism (CD):Linguistic communication is not a static but a dynamic phenomenon.CD is meant to measure the amount of information an ele

23、ment carries in a sentence(e.g. He was angry.)The various elements of an utterance is thought to have varying degrees of communicative dynamism.Firbas: concept of “context”區(qū)分了四種語(yǔ)境：交際雙方共有的經(jīng)驗(yàn)知識(shí)（一般語(yǔ)境）；語(yǔ)言交際正在進(jìn)行時(shí)的直接語(yǔ)境（范圍稍窄）；剛剛出現(xiàn)的上文（范圍更窄）；句子本身（范圍最窄，“語(yǔ)境依賴”指的是這種語(yǔ)境）。Thematic Progression in DiscourseDanes (19

24、74) suggests that theme has two functions:Connecting back and linking into the previous discourseServing as a point of departure for the further development of the discourseDanes (1974) proposes three main types of thematic progression (TP):Simple linear TPTP with a continuous (constant) themeTP wit

25、h derived TsThe Copenhagen School Louis Hjelmslev (1899-1965) who constituted the Copenhagen Linguistic Circle in the mid-1930s who developed an approach to linguistics known as Glossematics（語(yǔ)符學(xué)）or Neo-Saussurean LinguisticsRelational grammar : Linguistics can describe only relations or more precise

26、ly, dependences or functions between items.three types of functionsplanes of languageThe focus of Glossematics: three types of functioninterdependence (依存關(guān)系): A presupposes B, and B presupposes Adetermination (決定關(guān)系): A presupposes B, but B does not presupposes Aconstellation (共存關(guān)系): A does not presu

27、pposes B, and B does not presuppose A Planes of languageTwo distinctions of language:Form vs substance: the overall linguistic structure vs the physical realization of language (phonic or graphic substance)Content vs expression: meaning vs speech-sound or writingfour strata of the distinctions:conte

28、nt-substancecontent-formexpression-formexpression-substance.French FunctionalismFunction: the identification & classification of linguistic unitsthe description of linguistic structure the explanation of scope and regularities of language change Two types of function:the function language in human i

29、nteractionthe function a linguistic unit in contrast to other units at each level of analysis Principle of economythe needs of communicationhuman inertiaMartinets Contributions語(yǔ)言觀：交際功能是語(yǔ)言的“中心功能”將功能主義貫穿于語(yǔ)言研究的各個(gè)方面：語(yǔ)言事實(shí)的確定語(yǔ)言單位的劃分語(yǔ)言結(jié)構(gòu)的分析語(yǔ)言演變的描述經(jīng)濟(jì)原則：概念：經(jīng)濟(jì)省力和成功表達(dá)思想的平衡應(yīng)用：語(yǔ)音變化的基本規(guī)律；語(yǔ)言運(yùn)作的基本原則。Holland Functio

30、nalism:Simon Diks Functional Grammar:A functional view of language: it takes a functional view of language; it attaches primary importance to functional relations at different levels in the organization of grammar; it wishes to be practically applicable to the analysis of diverse aspects of language

31、 and language use.Holland Functionalism:Simon Diks Functional Grammar:Three types or levels of function:Semantic function (Agent, Goal, Recipient, etc.), which define the roles that participants play in states of affairs, as designated by predications.Syntactic functions (Subject, Object, etc.), whi

32、ch define different perspectives through which states of affairs are presented in linguistic expressions.Pragmatic functions (Theme and Tail, Topic and Focus), which defines the informational status of constituents of linguistic expressions as used in given settings. Chapter Three The American Struc

33、turalismAmerican linguistics before TG grammarFranz Boas (1858-1942): recorded and described many American Indian languages and developed a whole set of procedures and techniques for their investigation. Edward Sapir (1884-1939): expanded and developed this tradition. Leonard Bloomfield (1887-1949):

34、 who was the figure most closely associated with distinguishing and developing a structuralist approach.Properties of American StructuralismLanguage as a structure of levels and interrelated parts instead of an unanalysable continuum.Linguistic description has to be objective dealing with facts phys

35、ically manifested.Segmentation and classification as the principal techniques of analysis and description.Structuralist thinking associated with behaviourist psychology.Relativism: a characteristic stemmed from Boas with the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis.The Immediate Constituent Analysis (IC Analysis)Defi

36、nition: a kind of pure segmentation, that is, to simply divide a sentence into its constituent elements referred to as the relation between a construction and its constituents.Advantage: it helps to account for the ambiguity of certain constructions it helps to account for the ambiguity of certain c

37、onstructions.Problems: it is not always possible to cut a phrase or sentence into two parts; constructions with discontinuous constituents will pose technical problems for tree diagrams in IC analysis. Behaviourist psychology in structuralismBloomfields theory (Language, 1933):Bloomfield views langu

38、age as a complex of stimulus-response relationships.Bloomfield attempts 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. Post-Bloomfieldian linguistics: a grammar is discovered through the performing of certain op

39、erations on a corpus of data.Harris (Methods in Structural Linguistics 1951)Hockett (Course in Modern Linguistics 1958)Pike: Tagmemics (法位學(xué)）The Sapir-Whorf hypothesisOnes thinking is completely determined by his native language because one cannot but conceive the world in terms of the categories and

40、 distinctions encoded in the language.The categories and distinctions encoded in one language system are unique to that system and incommensurable with those of other systems.Sampson: both critical and complimentary, conducting an in-depth analysis of the hypothesis mans language could mould his per

41、ception of reality language had a life of its ownChapter Four Transformational Generative GrammarChomsky and his worksBackground:Harriss idea of transformations: procedures of describing relations of sentences;Chomskys idea of transformational grammar. Chomskys Syntactic Structures (1957): the begin

42、ning of the Chomskyan Revolutiona linguistic theory rather than an operational methodology; grammar as a theory of language and not as something which could be discovered;transformational grammar : phrase structure and transformational syntactic rules Chomsky and his theoriesChomskys “Standard Theor

43、y” (Aspects of the Theory of Syntax 1965) rationalist and mentalist perspectives opposed to empiricism and behaviorism a grammar: generative syntactic component, interpretive semantic & phonological components“Extended Standard Theory”(1970s) “Revised Extended Standard Theory”(1970s) the theory of g

44、overnment and binding (On Binding (1978) Chomsky and his theoriesJohn Lyons (1970, 1977, p1-2): “Chomskys position not only is unique within linguistics at the present time, but is probably unprecedented in the whole history of the subject. His first book, published in 1957, short and relatively non

45、technical though it was thought it was, revolutionized the scientific study of language, and for many years now he has been speaking with unrivaled authority on all aspects of grammatical theory Right or wrong, Chomskys theory of grammar is undoubtedly the most dynamic and influential, and no lingui

46、st who wishes to keep abreast of current developments in his subject can afford to ignore Chomskys theoretical pronouncements.”Chomskys Innateness HypothesisLanguage Acquisition Device (LAD) language is somewhat innate;children are born with knowledge of the basic grammatical relations and categorie

47、s; this knowledge is universal; a unique kind of knowledge that fits them for language learning;the study of language can throw some light on the nature of the human mind.Chomskys Innateness HypothesisSeveral observations for Chomskys Innateness Hypothesis:Children learn their native language very f

48、ast and with little effort;In their first language acquisition, childrens difference is amazingly small;A child learns the total grammar of the language during a limited period of time, from limited exposure to speech.What is a generative grammar?Definition (Chomsky, 1965): “a system of rules that i

49、n some explicit and well-defined way assigns structural descriptions to sentences”. “Thus a generative grammar attempts to specify what the speaker actually knows, not what he may report about his knowledge” It is not limited to particular languages, but to reveal the unity of particular grammars an

50、d universal grammars. It aims to explore the universal rules in the hope of revealing human cognitive systems and the essential nature of human beings.Stages of TG developmentThe Classical Theory: make linguistics a science;The Standard Theory: deal with how semantics should be studied in a linguist

51、ics theory;The Extended Standard Theory: focus discussion on language universals and universal grammar;The Revised Extended Standard Theory (GB): focus discussion on government and binding;Minimalist Program: a further revision of the previous theory.The Classical Theorythree features ( Syntactic St

52、ructures, 1957): emphasis on generative ability of language; instruction of transformational rules; grammatical description regardless of meaning. three kinds of grammar (Syntactic Structures, 1957): Finite state grammar: the simplest type of grammar which can generate an infinite number of sentence

53、s with a finite amount of apparatus.Phrase structure grammar: consists solely of phrase-structure rules that formalize some of the traditional insights of constituent structure analysis. Transformational grammar: distinguish transformational rules into two kinds: obligatory and optional. The Standar

54、d Theorya generative grammar : syntactic, phonological & semantic(Aspects of the Theory of Syntax, 1965)Transformations can only change the forms of sentences and are not allowed to alter the meaning.There is a selectional restriction to ensure that an animate noun appears before the verb and an ina

55、nimate noun appears after the verb.Restrictions are put on transformations in order not to generate ill-formed sentences.In re-writing rules the symbol S is introduced on the right of the arrow.The rules are properly ordered and there is a set order in which the rules apply.The Extended Standard The

56、orysemantic interpretation in the surface structure. problems to be solved:Transformational rules are still too powerful.Derived nouns have the same semantic properties with their corresponding verbs.Semantic interpretations are determined by the deep structure, and transformational processes will n

57、ot change the sentence meaning.The Standard Theory cannot explain gapped structures.Many transformational rules must have complex constraints in order that they do not produce ungrammatical sentences.Later Theories(1)Government and Binding Theory (1980s ): It consists of X-bar Theory, O-Theory, Boun

58、ding Theory, Government Theory, Case Theory, Control Theory, and Binding Theory. It directs our attention to a new orientation, that is, the empty category (EC). It is still not certain whether the various principles concerning empty categories are universal. Later Theories(2)Minimalist Program (“A

59、Minimalist Program for Linguistic Theory” ,1992): the initial states of human languages are the same whereas the states of acquiring different languages are not. A universal grammar is a theory for studying the initial states, and particular grammars are theories for studying the states of acquisiti

60、on. While the faculty of language consists of a cognitive system that stores information such as sound, meaning, and structure, the performance system retrieves and uses the information.Main Features of TG GrammarLanguage is defined as a set of rules or principles.The aim of linguistics is to produc