1、 2.1 Definition of linguistics 2.2 Branches of linguistics 2.3 Macrolinguistics 2.4 Important distinctions in linguistics 2.1 DefinitionLinguistics is the scientific study of language.study investigationscientific - exhaustiveness 窮盡性 consistency 一致性 economy 簡潔性 objectivity 客觀性 2.2 Branches of lingu

2、istics2.2.1 Phonetics 語音學(xué)語音學(xué) 2.2.2 Phonology 音系學(xué)音系學(xué) 2.2.3 Morphology 形態(tài)學(xué)形態(tài)學(xué) 2.2.4 Syntax 句法學(xué)句法學(xué) 2.2.5 Semantics 語義學(xué)語義學(xué) 2.2.6 Pragmatics 語用學(xué)語用學(xué)2.2.7 Modern linguistics and traditional grammar 2.2.1 Phonetics 語音學(xué)語音學(xué) Phonetics is the study of speech sounds.Three different branches of phonetics:1) Artic

3、ulatory phonetics發(fā)音語音學(xué)發(fā)音語音學(xué) 2) Auditory phonetics 聽覺語音學(xué)聽覺語音學(xué) 3) Acoustic phonetics聲學(xué)語音學(xué)聲學(xué)語音學(xué) 2.2.2 Phonology 音系學(xué)音系學(xué) 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 pos

4、sible 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 形態(tài)形態(tài)學(xué)學(xué) Morphology studies the formation of words, that is, how words are formed from smaller units of meaning morphemes. Morphemes are the minimal units of meanin

5、g. 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：我是學(xué)生。 女：我是學(xué)生。 男男：我們是學(xué)生。 女女：我們是學(xué)生。English: Boy: Im a student. Girl: Im a student. Boys: Were students. Girls: Were students.French

6、: Garon: Je suis tudiant. Fille: Je suis tudiante. Garons: Nous sommes tudiants. Filles: Nous sommes tudiantes. 2.2.4 Syntax 句法學(xué)句法學(xué) Syntax studies the rules that govern the formation of sentences from words. These rules specify word order, sentence organization, and the relationship between word ord

7、er, word classes and other sentence elements. Emma loaded the groceries into the car. Emma loaded the car with groceries. He didnt come because of you. 2.2.5 Semantics 語義學(xué)語義學(xué) Semantics is the study of meaning. Its not only concerned with the meaning of words, but also that of morphemes and of senten

8、ces. 2.2.6 Pragmatics 語用學(xué)語用學(xué) 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 w

9、hile 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 宏觀語宏觀語言學(xué)言學(xué) 2.3.1 Psycholinguistics 心理語言學(xué)心理語言學(xué) - linguistics and psyc

10、hology 2.3.2 Sociolinguistics 社會語言學(xué)社會語言學(xué) language and society2.3.3 Applied linguistics 應(yīng)用語言學(xué)應(yīng)用語言學(xué) - linguistics and language teachingPsycholinguistics Psycholinguistics studies the correlation between linguistic behavior and the psychological processes thought to underlie that behavior: (a) the ment

11、al 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 childSociolinguistics Sociolinguistics studies all aspects of the relationship between language and society. It includes studies on

12、 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 th

13、e 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

14、 applications Literary stylistics 文學(xué)文體學(xué)文學(xué)文體學(xué) 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

15、 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 computati

16、onal techniques and concepts are applied to linguistic and phonetic problems. speech synthesis, speech recognition, machine translation, corpus linguistics, computer-mediated communication2.4 Important distinctions in linguistics 2.4.1 Speech and writing 2.4.2 Descriptive vs. prescriptive 描寫式和描寫式和規(guī)定

17、式規(guī)定式2.4.3 Synchronic vs. diachronic 共時和歷時共時和歷時2.4.4 langue vs. parole 語言和言語語言和言語 2.4.5 Competence and performance 語言能語言能力和語言運(yùn)用力和語言運(yùn)用2.4.6 Functionalism and formalism功能主義與形式主義功能主義與形式主義Descriptive vs. prescriptive grammarsThey represent two different types of linguistic study. Descriptive-to describe

18、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 (li

19、nguistics)-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 Mo

20、dern English could be described in phonological, grammatical and semantic terms.langue vs. parole Langue- the language system shared by a community of speakersParole- the concrete act of speaking in actual situations by an individual speaker.Competence and performance Competence- a persons knowledge

21、 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 pr

22、oduced by language speakers, as encountered in a corpus.D. H. Hymes: communicative competenceM. 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 Form