I  语言学基本知识
1.    Linguistics 语言学
1.1    What is linguistics? 什么是语言学？
   Linguistics is generally defined as the systematic (or scientific ) study of language. It tries to answer the basic questions “What is language?” and “How does language work?”
A linguist is a person who studies linguistics. His task is basically to study and understand the general principles upon which all languages are built.
1.2    Linguistics vs. traditional grammar 语言学与传统语法
Linguistics differs from traditional grammar in several basic ways.
a)    Linguistics is descriptive, not prescriptive 语言学是描写性的而非规定性的
   A linguist is interested in what people actually say, not what people should say. He tries to describe language in all aspects, but not prescribe rules of “correctness”. He would prefer to be an observer and recorder of facts, but not a judge. He regards the changes in language and language use as the result of a natural and continuous process, not something to be feared.
   b) Linguistics regards the spoken language as primary, not the written. 语言学认为语是第一性的而非书面语
 Linguistics gives priority to the spoken language for a number of reasons. Historically, speech existed long, long before writing systems came into being. Genetically, children always learn to speak before they learn to write. Therefore, speech is considered as the primary medium. That is: the spoken first, then the written.
  c) Linguistics differs from traditional grammar in that it does not force languages into a Latin-based framework. 语言学与传统语法的差别还在于它不是把语言都放在拉丁语法框架里。
   Traditional grammar assumes that Latin provides a universal framework into which all languages fit. Whereas, linguists are opposed to the notion that any one language can provide an adequate framework for all the others. They are trying to set up a universal framework based on the features shared by most of the languages.
1.3    The Scope of Linguistics  语言学的范围
      The scope of linguistics includes phonetics（speech sound）, phonology (sound patterning), morphology (the form of words), syntax (the arrangements of words), semantics (meaning), psycholinguistics (the relationship between language and mind), sociolinguistics (the relationship between language and society), and historical linguistics (language change).
       Synchronic linguistics studies the description of a language at a particular point in time.
       Diachronic linguistics studies the description of language development through time.
2. Language 语言
2.1 What is language? 什么是语言？
   Language is a system of symbols designed for the purpose of human communication.
2.2 The Defining Properties of Human Language 语言的结构特征
   The design features refer to the defining properties of human language as against animal communication. They are:
a)     Creativity 创造性
   It refers to the ability that we all have to construct and understand an indefinitely large number of sentences in our native language, including sentences that we have never heard before, but that are appropriate to the situation in which they are uttered.
b)    Arbitrariness 任意性
Since the time of Saussure, it has been accepted that the linguistic sign (the word) is arbitrary. This means that there is no motivated relationship between the sign and what it is a sign for. The symbols have been chosen arbitrarily for the message.
C) Duality of Structure (or Double Articulation) 结构两重性
   It refers to that language consists of two levels of structures . At a higher level, language is analyzed in terms of combinations of meaningful units (such as morphemes, words); at a lower level, it is seen as a sequence of segments which lack any meaning in themselves. The organization of language from a lower level of sounds into a higher level of meaning is known as duality of structure.
   d) Displacement 移位性
   Human language can communicate about things that are absent as easily as about things that are present. In other words, human language can be used to refer to real or imagined matters in the past, present, or future. It can even be used to talk about language itself.
c)    Cultural Transmission (the need for learning) 文化迁移性
   It refers to the fact that the details of the linguistic system must be learned anew. They are not biologically transmitted from generation to generation. Though the capacity for language has a genetic basis, the particular language a human being learns is a cultural fact.

Exercises
I.    Match each of the following terms in column A with one of appropriate definitions in column B:
     Column A                      Column B
1.    Synchronic linguistics         A. The design features refer to the defining properties of
                               human language as against animal communication.
2.    Language                   B. Linguistics is generally defined as the systematic (or
                               scientific ) study of language.
3.    design features               C. A linguist is a person who studies linguistics.
4.    diachronic study              D. Language is a system of symbols designed for the purpose
                               of human communication.
5.    linguistics                   E. Diachronic linguistics studies the description of language
                               development through time.
6.    the basic task for a linguist      F. Synchronic linguistics studies the description of a language
                                at a particular point in time.
II.Explain each of the following terms in no more than 50 words:
1 creativity                 2. arbitrariness               3. duality of structure   
4. cultural transmission       5. displacement               6. linguistics
III.Develop the topic into a 200-word essay:
1. The differences between linguistics and traditional grammar.


II  Phonology 音系学

本章学习目的要求

本章学习的中心内容是语音，包括语音学音系学两大部分。通过语音部分的学习，要求对各种发音器官及其作用有所了解，对英语的元音和辅音的发音方式和特点能进行描述,并能根据它们发音上的特点进行分类,能分清宽式标音法和窄式标音法的区别。通过音系学部分的学习，首先要弄清音系学和语音学的联系和区别，对音系学中的一些最基本的概念如音位、音位对立、互补分布、最小对立对等有所了解，知道几条音系学规则，譬如序列规则、同化规则，对重音、语调、声调等几种超切分音系特征的表意作用能举例说明。

音系学基本知识

1.    The Phonic Medium of Language 语言的声音媒介
Speech and writing are the two major media of linguistic communication. Of the two media, speech is more basic than writing. The linguist is not interested in all sounds, but in speech sounds that convey meaning in linguistic communication.
2.    Phonetics 语音学
2.1 What is phonetics? 什么是语音学？
Phonetics is the study of the phonic medium of language.
Phonetics has three branches:
a)    Articulatory phonetics 发音语音学
    It studies the speech organ, and the way in which speech sounds are produced.
b)    Acoustic phonetics 声学语音学
    It deals with the physical properties of the speech sounds.
c)    Auditory phonetics 听觉语音学
    It is the study of the perception of sounds by the human ear.
2.2    The Speech Organs 发音器官
The articulatory apparatus contains three important areas: the pharyngeal (the throat), the oral cavity (the mouth) and the nasal cavity (the nose).