1、Theories and schools of modern linguistics,Ferdinand de Saussure (November 26, 1857 - February 22, 1913) was a Geneva-born Swiss linguist whose ideas laid the foundation for many of the significant developments in linguistics in the 20th century. He is widely considered the father of 20th-century li
2、nguistics and “a master of a discipline which he made modern”使语言学科走向现代的大师. He lectured on general linguistics in the University of Geneva from 1907to 1911. After his death in 1913, his colleagues and students thought that his ideas concerning linguistic questions were original独创的 and insightful有深刻见解
3、的 and should be preserved.,Theories and schools of modern linguistics,Two of his students collected lecture notes and put them together to produce the great work: Course in General Linguistics普通语言学教程 in 1916. Most people agree that Saussures work marked the beginning of modern linguistics. His ideas
4、 were developed along three lines: linguistics, sociology and psychology. In, linguistics, he was greatly influenced by the American linguist W.D. Whitney惠特尼, who was working within the neogrammarian tradition but raised the question of the sign. By insisting on the concept of arbitrariness of the s
5、ign to emphasize that language is an institution制度或规约, whitney brought linguistics onto the right track.,Theories and schools of modern linguistics,Following the French sociologist E. Durkheim杜克海姆, he held that language is one of the “social facts”社会事实, which are ideas in the “collective mind” of a
6、society and radically distinct from individual psychological acts. In psychology, he was influenced by the Austrian psychiatrist S. Freud, who postulated假定 the continuity of the unconscious (collective psyche集体心理)认为 “下意识”是具有连续性的. He was the first to notice the complexities of language. He saw human
7、language as an extremely complex phenomenon.,Theories and schools of modern linguistics,Confronted with all these aspects of language and the different perspectives from which one might approach them, Saussure believed that language is a system of signs. Noises count as language only when they serve
8、 to express or communicate ideas声音只有当其用来表达或交流思想时才被以为是语言; otherwise they are nothing but noise否则,它们只能是噪音而已. To communicate ideas, they must be part of a system of conventions, part of a system of signs. This sign is the union of a form and an idea符号是形式和思想的结合, which he called the signifier能指 and the s
9、ignified所指. They seems to be separate entities独立体, they exist only as components of the sign它们仅仅作为符号的组成部分而存在.,Theories and schools of modern linguistics,The sign is the central fact of language符号是语言事实的核心, and therefore in trying to separate what is essential from what is secondary or incidental we m
10、ust start from the nature of the sign itself. Many people believe that Saussure was also influenced by western economic theories of the time. His ideas on the nature of the linguistic sign, on the distinction of Langue and Parole and of Synchronic and Diachronic can find their traces in the economic
11、 theories of European economists. By calling economics the science of studying Values, Saussure held that both linguistics and economics were sciences of studying values. His serial dichotomies二分法 and preferences侧重 on one over the other in developing theories of language brought linguistics onto a s
12、cientific road.,Theories and schools of modern linguistics,This actually concerns the classical relationship经典关系 in most western philosophies between absence不在场 and presence在场, which is a distinction between virtual 虚拟世界worlds and actual worlds现实世界. For Saussure, langue is “absence” in the virtual w
13、orld and parole is “presence” in the actual world. Absence/vitual systems are considered stable and invariable, while presence/actual systems are considered unstable and variable. He exerted two kinds of influence on modern linguistics. First, he provided a general orientation, a sense of the task o
14、f linguistics which had seldom been questioned. Second,Theories and schools of modern linguistics,he influenced modern linguistics in the specific concepts. His idea of the arbitrary nature of the sign, langue vs. parole, synchrony vs. diachrony, syntagmatic vs. paradigmatic relations. In short, he
15、pushed linguistics into a brand new state and all linguistics in the twentieth century are Saussurean linguistics.二十世纪的一切语言学,都是索绪尔语言学.,The Prague school(布拉格学派）,Under the leadership of V. Mathesius马泰休斯, this school practised a special style of synchronic linguistics实践了一种独特的共时语言学研究风格, and its most imp
16、ortant contribution to linguistics in that it sees language in terms of Function最重要的贡献是从功能的角度看待语言. It has great influence on other linguistics. Of the many ideas developed in Prague School, three points are of special importance. First, it is stressed that the synchronic study of language is fully j
17、ustified as it can draw on complete and controllable material for investigation but no rigid theoretic barrier is erected to separate diachronic study. 对语言的共时研究由于可以得到全面的、可控制的语言材料以供参考而被充分强调，,The prague school(布拉格学派）,同时，又没有严格的理论藩篱被树立起来将之与历时语言研究相分离。 Second, there was an emphasis on the systemic charact
18、er of language强调语言的系统性这一本质属性. No element of any language can be satisfactorily analysed or evaluated if viewed in isolation; assessment can only be made if its relationship is established with the coexisting elements in the same language system要作出正确的评价，就必须明确该成分与同一语言中相共存的其他成分之间的关系. In other words, el
19、ements are held to be in functional contrast or opposition语言成分之所以存在， 就在于他们彼此功能上的对比或对立.,The prague school,Third, language was looked on as functional , as a tool performing a number of essential functions or tasks of the community using it.把语言看作是一种功能， 是一种由某一语言社团使用的，用来完成一系列基本职能和任务的工具。,Phonology and ph
20、onological oppositions 音位学和音位对立,The Prague School is best known and remembered for its contribution to phonology and the distinction between phonetics语音学 and phonology音位学. The most influential scholar is Trubetzkoy特鲁别茨柯依, following Saussures distinction between langue语言 and parole言语,he argued that p
21、honetics belonged to parole whereas phonology belonged to langue. On this basis he developed the notion of “phoneme音位” as an abstract unit of the sound system as distinct from the sounds actually produced. A phoneme may be defined as the sum of the differential functions音位可以被定义为若干不同功能的总和. Sounds may
22、 be phonemes in so far as they can serve to distinguish meaning而声音当其能够用来区别意义时也可以归为音位.,Phonology and phonological oppositions 音位学和音位对立,In classifying distinctive features, he proposed three criteria: 1)their relation to the whole contrastive system.它们与整个对立系统的关系2) relations between the opposing elemen
23、ts对立成分之间的关系.3) their power of discrimination区别力的大小.,Phonology and phonological oppositions 音位学和音位对立,These oppositions can be summarized as follows: 1) bilateral opposition双边对立: if the features two phonemes share belong only to them如果两个音位所共有的语音特征只属于这两个音位, they are bilateral opposition. In other words
24、, the features they have in common do not occur simultaneously in any other phoneme. /p/ and /b/ share the feature of “bilabial”. 2) Multilateral opposition多边对立: /a/ and / i / are alike only to the extent that both are vowels, a quality shared by any other pairs of vowels. It is a more loosely estab
25、lished relationship. 3) Proportional opposition均衡对立: Two phonemes are proportional if the same contrastive features also serve as,Phonology and phonological oppositions 音位学和音位对立,the differentiating criterion for other pairs of phonemes. 如果同一项特征同时可以区分若干组音位Sonority (voiced/voiceless) is the contrastiv
26、e feature between not only /p/ and /b/, but also between /t/ and /d/, and /k/and /g/. 4)isolated opposition孤立对立: if the contrastive feature is unique to the pair, that is, it is not a contrastive feature of any other pairs of phonemes in the language, then the phonemes are in isolated opposition. Su
27、ch opposition is not shared by an other pair of phonemes in the language如果两个音位的对立关系是独特的,是其他音位对立中找不到的,这两个音位的关系就是孤立对立. 这种对立特征不能被语言中其他音位分享. /v/ and /l/, the former is labial-dental fricative, the later is lateral voiced.,Phonology and phonological oppositions 音位学和音位对立,5) Privative opposition否定对立: One m
28、ember of a contrastive pair may be characterised by the presence of a certain feature, the other by its absence如果两个音位的对立是一个具有某种特征而另一个不具有这种特征,叫否定对立. aspiration vs. lack of aspiration as between /p/ and /b /, nasalisation vs. lack of nasalisation as between /m/ and /b/, and so on. 6)gradual opposition
29、分级对立: if the pairs share different degrees of a feature, their relation is gradual opposition如果两个音位的对立是不同程度的共享同一特征,叫分级对立. /u/ and /o/ is gradual in a language vowel system.,Phonology and phonological oppositions 音位学和音位对立,7) equipollent opposition等价对立: if the pair is not in gradual opposition, nor in
30、 privative opposition, they are logically equipollent.如果两个音位可以在逻辑上看成是等价的,既不是分级对立,又不是否定对立,叫等价对立. / t / and /p/, / t / and / k / 8) Neutralizable opposition中和对立: the opposition occurs when two sounds contrast in some positions but not in other如果两个音位在有些位置上是对立的,而在其他位置上失去对立,叫中和对立. English / p/ and / b /
31、do not contrast after /s /.出现在/s/ 后失去对立 9) constant opposition永恒对立: the pair of sounds occurs in all possible positions without neutralizing effect.,Phonology and phonological oppositions 音位学和音位对立,如果对立的音位可以出现在一切可能的位置上而不会取消对立,则称永恒对立.the opposition between /t/and /d/ is constant in all positions for c
32、onsonants. His contribution to phonological theory concern four aspects: 1) he showed distinctive functions of speech sounds and gave an accurate definition for the phoneme.2)by making distinctions between phonetics and phonology, he defined the sphere of phonological studies.3) by studying the synt
33、agmatic and paragdigmatic relations between phonemes, he revealed the interdependent relations between phonemes.4)he put forward a set of methodologies for phonological studies.,Functional Sentence Perspective句子功能前景,FSP (Functional Sentence Perspective is a theory of linguistic analysis which refers
34、 to an analysis of utterances(texts) in terms of the information they contain. The principle is that the role of each utterance part is evaluated for its semantic contribution to the whole.句子功能前景是一套语言分析的理论,指用所含信息来分析话语或篇章.其基本原则就是评价话语中每一个部分对全句意义的贡献。Some functional linguists believe that a sentence con
35、tains a point of departure and a goal of discourse他们认为一个句子总是包含有出发点和话语目标. The point of departure is equally present to the speaker and to the hearerit is the ground on which they meet所谓话语的出发点,是说话人和听话人都知道的东西这是他们的共同点, This is called the Theme主位.,Functional Sentence Perspective句子功能前景,The goal of discour
36、se presents the very information that is to be imparted to the hearer话语的目标, 仅仅表现对听话人来说意义重大的信息. This is called the Rheme述位.,Functional Sentence Perspective句子功能前景,The movement from the Theme to the Rheme reveals the movement of the mind itself. Language may use different syntactic structures, but the
37、order of ideas remains basically the same.从概念的出发点到话语的目标的运动揭示了大脑本身的运动.不同的语言使用不同的句法结构， 但是表达思想的次序基本相同。 Based on these observations, they created the notion of Functional Sentence perspective to describe how information is distributed in sentences. ESP deals particularly with the effect of the distribut
38、ion of known (or given) information and new information in discourse.主要涉及已知信息和新信息在话语中的分布形成的效果.,Functional Sentence Perspective句子功能前景,The known information refers to information that is not new to the reader or hearer. The new information is what is to be transmitted to the reader or hearer. The subj
39、ect predicate distinction is not always the same as the Theme-rheme contrast. Sally stands on the table. Theme rhemeOn the table stands Sally.theme rheme,Functional Sentence Perspective句子功能前景,Firbas费尔巴斯 developed the notion of Communicative Dynamism 交际力 (CD) in research into the relation between str
40、ucture and function. This notion is based on the fact that linguistic communication is not a static静态phenomenon, but a dynamic动态 one. CD is meant to measure the amount of information an element carries in a sentence这个概念是用来测量句子某个成分所负载的信息量的. The degree of CD is the effect contributed by a linguistic e
41、lement一个语言成分所起的作用, for it pushes the communication forward. For example: he was cross. It can be interpreted in regard to the degree of CD as follows: the lowest degree of CD is carried by He, and the highest is carried,Functional Sentence Perspective句子功能前景,by cross, the degree carried by was rankin
42、g between them. Any element-sentence, phrase, word, morpheme- may be singled out突出出来 in order to establish a sharp oppositions形成鲜明的对比。 John WAS reading the newspaper. The stressed WAS indicates it is the information that is to be imparted待传信息, in opposition to the present tense, and that other eleme
43、nts are Given information已知信息. Under this circumstance, the only element conveying NEW information has significant semantic content whereas all the other elements conveying known information are determined by the context.,Functional Sentence Perspective句子功能前景,Consequently contextually dependent elem
44、ents carry the lowest degree of CD .Strictly speaking, contextual dependence or independence is determined by the very purpose of the communication.John has gone up to the window. The window may not be known from the preceding context, but since the purpose of the communication is the expression of
45、the direction of the movement, the window necessarily appears contextually independent. A contextually independent object in I have read a nice book will carry a higher degree of CD than the finite verb限定动词.This is because the object expresses an essential amplification of the verb对动词的扩展 and is ther
46、efore more important.,Functional Sentence Perspective句子功能前景,Similarly, a contextually independent adverbial element of place独立于上下文的表地点的状语 will have a higher degree of CD than a verb expressing motion行为动词, as in He was hurrying to the railway station. This is because the adverbial element indicates t
47、he direction of the motion and is therefore more important than the motion itself. Normally the subject carries a lower degree of CD than the finite verb or the object or adverbial provided that either the verb or the object or adverbial do not depend on the context.,Functional Sentence Perspective句
48、子功能前景,This is because a known or unknown agent 施动者 expressed by the subject appears to be communicatively less important than an unknown action expressed by the finite verb限定动词 or unknown goal (expressed by the object or the adverbial element of place) . A man broke into the house and stole all the
49、money, the ultimate purpose of the communication is to state the action( the breaking and the stealing) and its goal (the house and the money), not the agent ( a man).,Functional Sentence Perspective句子功能前景,An old man appeared in the waiting room at five oclock. The subject is accompanied by a verb e
50、xpressing “ existence or appearance on the scene” (possibly by an adverbial element of place or time) and is contextually independent, then it will carry the highest degree of CD. This is because an unknown person or thing appearing on the scene is communicatively more important than the act of appearing and the scene itself.,
