当代语言学导论课件.ppt

1、Chapter 10Language InstinctSaussures Langue&Parole Langue:the ideal form of a languageParole:the actual form of language in speech and writing Chomskys Competence&Performance Competence:the complete knowledge of the language an ideal speaker/hearer would have.Performance:the actual use of the langua

2、ge by individuals in speech and writing.LANGUAGE IS MODULAR语言模块性 If a student misses a class,he will probably not know how to solve certain problems related to the content of that class.If a man encounters any basic problem related to his mother tongue,he does not need to ask for help from his teach

3、ers or friends.Just by asking his own mind he can get an answer similar to most of his compatriots.According to an excellent contemporary psycholinguist in America,Steven Pinker,what they rely on is the language instinct.ObservationAre they English words?slipslibspillsbillnYesYesnPossiblePossiblenYe

4、sYesnimpossibleimpossible The phonological form of a lexical item is self-governed.It makes no reference to its syntactical or semantic information.ObservationIn GermanIch habe einen Fller.Er ist rot.Word-for-word translation in EnglishI have a pen.He is red.I have a pen.He is red.ObservationI asked

5、 what the number of students in the class was.I inquired what the number of students in the class was.I asked the number of students in the class.I inquired the number of students in the class.The syntactic form of a lexical item is self-governed.It makes no reference to its semantic information.Aut

6、onomous Syntax PrincipleNo syntactic rule can make reference to pragmatic,phonological,or semantic information.Chomsky(1977)ObservationThe girls left.The fog left.*The fog went away.The train left.The mail left.“To leave”refers to a movement routinely controlled by human beings.The semantic structur

7、e of a lexical item is self-governed.It makes no reference to its syntactic features.ObservationWhat time is it in the kitchen?I cut all the flagstones.What does the clock in the kitchen say?I cut all the grass around the flagstonesThe pragmatic inference is self-governed.It makes no reference to bo

8、th the syntactic and semantic structures.Each linguistic module is governed by its particular set of general principles.The superficial complexity of language is a consequence of the interaction of such modules.LANGUAGE IS UNIQUE语言独特性1.Language and signal codes The idea that some animals may be capa

9、ble of utilizing a language is far from ridiculous.Animal call systems can be broken into basic units like human languages broken into phonemes.Species Number of Identified Basic Vocal Signalsbirds 12 25lower mammals 7 36dolphins 7 19monkeys and apes 10 37human languages 11 67But animal call systems

10、 cannot be considered as true language.True language involves the free combination of symbols limited only by logical rules of grammar and syntax,which themselves express relations between symbols and hence symbolize relations between things and individuals and events.In addition,true language must

11、involve true communication.Compulsive utterance of signals in the absence of other individuals is not true communication.Are the bees talking?No,thats amatter ofautomatic signaling.Are they talking?No.They are courting.Dolphins are extremely vocal animals.But dolphins whistling has been discovered a

12、s conditional reflexes.It is not a means of communication.Though a dolphin can respond to anothers vocal signals,the signals are not intentionally made for the listener.They cant exchange ideas.Then how about a monkey?Attempts to teach apes to communicate with human beings all proved to be failures.

13、A monkey could not ask questions and use the negation forms.Biological limitationThe vocal organs ofall kinds ofmonkeysare too curving to producemany sounds.2.How different is human language from animal language?nA.The biological foundation of language n There is a right angle bend in the human trac

14、t which provides for a wider range of vocal sounds as a result of the descent of our ancestors from the trees and walking erect.No other primate uses the vocal organs to communicate anything but rudimentary warnings and emotive cries.B.The social foundation of languageLanguage is the outcome of soci

15、al interactions.Tool-making occupied an important place in human history,marking the advances of culture.There is clinical evidence to show that there are very close relationships between the manipulation of hands and our speaking capacity.C.Abstract thinking Language is used to discuss matters not“

16、here and now”.Displacement as an important feature of language marks the beginning of abstract thinking.It is the process of abstracting from the concrete,and reconstitution is the process of getting back to the concrete from abstraction.Reconstitution allows man to construct event far displaced in

17、time and is the superstructure of abstract thought.D.Using language to convey special information about the referents.Human beings use language to convey special information about the referents.This is known as modal meaning,and a modal sentence is one in which the truth of the prediction is subject

18、 to some kind of contingency or modification.For example:For example:He is certain to be there.He is certain to be there.(certainty)It is likely that I shall be able It is likely that I shall be able to play.to play.(probability)It may be a good programmeIt may be a good programme.(possibility)It ca

19、nt be true.It cant be true.(nil certainty)3.Genetic foundations of language The genetic foundation of many types of behaviour is widely recognized today,It is not assumed,however,that specific behavioural traits are directly produced by definite genes,but merely that propensities for certain behavio

20、ur are inherited.It is difficult to observe the inherited propensities for language in normal situation,but it is possible to observe the familial occurrence of language disabilities.More direct evidence for the genetic basis of language comes from the work of Moorhead,et al who have made chromosome

21、 counts of a family in which a mother and four of her five children had a chromosomal abnormality associated with varying degrees of mental retardation and a striking failure of speech development.The father and a fifth sibling had a normal chromosome picture and were not affected behaviorally.It is

22、 now known that genes are lengths of a threadlike chemical called deoxyribonucleic acid(DNA)and form a continuous string that constitutes the chromosomes.Brain and Intelligence n We are not certain whether mans ability for language is the result of his general intelligence or language ability is the

23、 cause of human intelligence.n However,language might be of greater biological antiquity than the peculiar intellective processes of recent man.n Lenneberg proposed that the ability to acquire language is a biological development that is relatively independent of that elusive property called intelli

24、gence.He saw evidence for this view in the fact that the ability to learn and speak has a low correlation with measured I.Q.in man:Children whose I.Q is 50 at age 12 and about 30 at age 20 are completely in possession of language though their articulation may be poor and an occasional grammatical mi

25、stake may occur.n Some of the higher animal forms possess voices of various types and inflections and may even be trained to imitate the sound of simple words.The vocalizations made,however-for example,by monkeys and chimpanzees-appear to be primarily under the control of centers in the limbic syste

26、m,or emotional brain,rather than the cortex.Electrical stimulation of the limbic system can produce all the vocal responses that monkeys are capable of making.Destruction of the cortical speech centers in humans,however,either destroys speech or affects it critically,whereas destruction of similar a

27、reas of the cortex in monkeys does not affect their vocalization.Thus the human brain appears to be uniquely adapted for speech.Only in humans have the centers of speech been transferred from instinctive or reflex centers to the cortex,making possible a highly voluntary control of speech and languag

28、e.There are three identified speech areas.The supplementary motor cortex,on the very top of the left frontal lobe,involves the process of vocalization itself.Brocas area,lower down at the back of the left frontal lobe,appears to involve functions of articulation,vocabulary,inflection,and word sequence.Wernickes area is mainly the posterior part of the left temporal lobe,with parts of the parietal area;any large destruction of this area results in the loss of the capacity for meaningful speech but not the loss of sound production.