Chapter 1　Invitations to Linguistics

1. Define the following terms.

design features ： the distinctive features of human language that essentially make human language distinguishable from languages of animals.

function ： the role language plays in communication（e.g. to express ideas， attitudes）or in particular social situations（e.g. religious， legal）.

synchronic ： said of an approach that studies language at a theoretical “point” in time.

diachronic ： said of the study of development of language and languages over time.

prescriptive ： to make authoritarian statement about the correctness of a particular use of language.

descriptive ： to make an objective and systematic account of the patterns and use of a language or variety.

arbitrariness ： the absence of any physical correspondence between linguistic signals and the entities to which they refer.

duality ： the structural organization of language into two abstract levels： meaningful units（e.g. words）and meaningless segments（e.g. sounds， letters）.

displacement ： the ability of language to refer to contexts removed from the speaker’s immediate situation.

phatic communion ： said of talk used to establish atmosphere or maintain social contact.

metalanguage ： a language used for talking about language.

macrolinguistics ： a broad conception of linguistic enquiry， including psychological， cultural， etc.

competence ： unconscious knowledge of the system of grammatical rules in a language.

performance ： the language actually used by people in speaking or writing.

langue ： the language system shared by a “speech community”.

parole ： the concrete utterances of a speaker.

2. Consult at least four introductory linguistics textbooks（not dictionaries）， and copy the definitions of “language” that each gives. After carefully comparing the definitions， write a paper discussing which points recur and explaining the significance of the similarities and differences among the definitions.

All the definitions should not exclude the description of design features that have been mentioned in this course book. Also it will be better if other design features， say， interchangeability or cultural transmission is included. But it seems impossible to give an unimpeachable definition on language， because the facets people want to emphasize are seldom unanimous. To compare several definitions can make you realize where the argument is.

3. Can you think of some words in English which are onomatopoeic?

Creak： the sound made by a badly oiled door when it opens.

Cuckoo： the call of cuckoo.

Bang： a sudden loud noise.

Roar： a deep loud continuing sound.

Buzz： a noise of buzzing.

Hiss： a hissing sound.

Neigh： the long and loud cry that a horse makes.

Mew： the noise that a gull makes.

Bleat： the sound made by a sheep， goat or calf.

4. Do you think that onomatopoeia indicates a non-arbitrary relationship between form and meaning?

No matter whether you say “Yes” or “No”， you cannot deny that onomatopoeia needs arbitrariness. Before we feel a word is onomatopoeic we should first know which sound the word imitates. Just as what is said in Chapter One， in order to imitate the noise of flying mosquitoes， there are many choices like “murmurous” and “murderous”. They both bear more or less resemblance to the genuine natural sound， but “murmurous” is fortunately chosen to mean the noise while “murderous” is chosen to mean something quite different. They are arbitrary as signifiers.

5. A story by Robert Louis Stevenson contains the sentence “As the night fell， the wind rose.” Could this be expressed as “As the wind rose， the night fell?” If not， why? Does this indicate a degree of non-arbitrariness about word order?（Bolinger， 1981：15）

No, these two parts cannot interchange. Yes, it is a case in point to illustrate non-arbitrariness about word order. When the two parts interchange， the focus and the meaning of the sentence is forced to change， because clauses occurring in linear sequence without time indicators will be taken as matching the actual sequence of happening. The writer’s original intention is distorted， and we can feel it effortlessly by reading. That is why systemic-functionalists and American functionalists think language is not arbitrary at the syntactic level.

6. Does the traffic light system have duality? Can you explain by drawing a simple graph?

Traffic light does not have duality. Obviously， it is not a double-level system. There is only one-to-one relationship between signs and meaning but the meaning units cannot be divided into smaller meaningless elements further. So the traffic light only has the primary level and lacks the secondary level like animals’ calls.

7. The recursive nature of language provides a theoretical basis for the creativity of language. Can you write a recursive sentence following the example in section 1.3.3?

Today I encountered an old friend who was my classmate when I was in elementary school where there was an apple orchard in which we slid to select ripe apples that...

8. Communication can take many forms， such as sign， speech， body language and facial expression. Do body language and facial expression share or lack the distinctive properties of human language?

On the whole， body language and facial expression lack most of the distinctive properties of human language such as duality， displacement， creativity and so on. Body language exhibits arbitrariness a little bit. For instance， nod means “OK/YES” for us but in Arabian world it is equal to saying “NO”. Some facial expressions have non-arbitrariness because they are instinctive such as the cry and laugh of a newborn infant.

9. Do you agree with the view that no language is especially simple?

Yes. All human languages are complicated systems of communication. It is decided by their shared design features.

10. What do you think of Bertrand Russell’s observation of the dog language： “No matter how eloquently a dog may bark， he cannot tell you that his parents were poor but honest”? Are you familiar with any type of ways animals communicate among themselves and with human beings?

When gazelles sense potential danger， for example， they flee and thereby signal to other gazelles in the vicinity that danger is lurking. A dog signals its wish to be let inside the house by barking and signals the possibility that it might bite momentarily by displaying its fangs.

11. Can you mention some typical expressions of phatic communion in Chinese? There is a dialogue between Mrs. P and Mrs.Q. on p.1213. When someone sneezes violently， do you say anything of the nature of phatic communion? Have you noticed your parents or grand-parents say something special on such an occasion?

Some of the typical phatic expressions in Chinese are： 吃了吗？ 家里都好吧？这是去哪里啊？最近都挺好的？

If someone is sneezing violently， maybe your parents and grandparents may say： “Are you ok?”， “Do you need to see a doctor?”， “Do you need some water?”， “Do you need a handkerchief?”， “Do you have a cold?” or something like these to show their concerns.

12. There are many expressions in language which are metalingual or self-reflexives， namely， talking about talk and think about thinking， for instance， to be honest， to make a long story short， come to think of it， on second thought， can you collect a few more to make a list of these expressions? When do we use them most often?

There are many expressions such as To tell the truth， frankly speaking， as a matter of fact， to be precise， in other words， that is to say.

Such expressions are used most frequently when we want to expatiate the meaning of former clauses in anther way in argumentation.

13. Comment on the following prescriptive rules. Do you think they are acceptable?

（A）It is I.

（B）It is me.

You should say A instead of B because “be” should be followed by the nominative case， not the accusative according to the rules in Latin.

（A）Who did you speak to?

（B）Whom did you speak to?

You should say B instead of A.

（A）I haven’t done anything.

（B）I haven’t done nothing.

B is wrong because two negatives make a positive.

（1）the Latin rule is not universal. In English， me is informal and I is felt to be very formal.

（2） Whom is used in formal speech and in writing; who is more acceptable in informal speech.

（3）Language does not have to follow logic reasoning. Here two negatives only make a more emphatic negative. This sentence is not acceptable in Standard English not because it is illogical， but because language changes and rejects this usage now.

14. The prescriptivism in grammar rules has now shifted to prescriptions in choice of words. In the “guidelines on anti-sexist language” issued by the British sociological association， some guidelines are listed below. Do you think they are descriptive and prescriptive? What’s your comment on them?

（1）Do not use man to mean humanity in general. Use person， people， human beings， men and women， humanity and humankind.

（2）colored： This term is regarded as outdated in the UK and should be avoided as it is generally viewed as offensive to many black people.

（3）civilized： This term can still carry racist overtones which derive from a colonialist perception of the world. It is often associated with social Darwinist thought and is full of implicit value judgments and ignorance of the history of the non-industrialized world.

They are undoubtedly descriptive. Guidelines are not rules that can determine whether a sentence is right or not. The guidelines advise you to avoid the use of particular words that are grammatically correct but offensive to some certain groups. Actually， they describe the way anti-sexist advocators speak and write.

15. Why is the distinction between competence and performance important in linguistics? Do you think the line can be neatly drawn between them? How do you like the concept communicative competence?

This is proposed by Chomsky in his formalist linguistic theories. It is sometimes hard to draw a strict line. Some researchers in applied linguistics think communicative competence may be a more revealing concept in language teaching than the purely theoretical pair—competence and performance.

16. Which branch of linguistics do you think will develop rapidly in China and why?

It is up to you to decide after you have gone through the whole book. At this stage， we suggest all branches of linguistics have the potential to flourish.

17. The following are some well-known ambiguous sentences in syntactic studies of language. Can you disambiguate them?

（1） The chicken is too hot to eat.

（2） Flying planes can be dangerous.

There are two meanings to ex.（1）:（a）The chicken meat is too hot， so it cannot be eaten at the moment;（b）The chicken feels so hot（maybe after some intense aerobic exercises）that it cannot start eating and needs to calm down first.

The ambiguity of ex.（2）comes from “flying planes”. It can be deciphered as “the planes that is flying” or “to fly planes”.

18. There are many reasons for the discrepancy between competence and performance in normal language users. Can you think of some of them?

Ethnic background， socioeconomic status， region of the country， and physical state（such as intoxication， fatigue， distraction， illness）vary from individual to individual.

19. What do these two quotes reveal about the different emphasis or perspectives of language studies?

A human language is a system of remarkable complexity. To come to know a human language would be an extraordinary intellectual achievement for a creature not specifically designed to accomplish this task. A normal child acquires this knowledge on relatively slight exposure and without specific training. He can then quite effortlessly make use of an intricate structure of specific rules and guiding principles to convey his thoughts and feelings to others，...Thus language is a mirror of mind in a deep and significant sense. It is a product of human intelligence， created anew in each individual by operations that lie far beyond the reach of will or consciousness.（Noam Chomsky： Reflections on Language . 1975： 4）

It is fairly obvious that language is used to serve a variety of different needs， but until we examine its grammar there is no clear reason for classifying its uses in any particular way. However， when we examine the meaning potential of language itself， we find that the vast numbers of options embodied in it combine into a very few relatively independent “networks”; and these networks of options correspond to certain basic functions of language. This enables us to give an account of the different functions of language that is relevant to the general understanding of linguistic structure rather than to any particular psychological or sociological investigation.（M.A.K.Halliday： 1970： 142）

The first quote shows children’s inborn ability of acquiring the knowledge of intricate structure of specific rules. It implies that the language user’s underlying knowledge about the system of rules is the valuable object of study for linguists. The second attaches great importance to the functions of language. It regards the use of language as the choice of needed function. The meaning of language can be completely included by a few “networks” which is directly related to basic functions of language. It indicates the necessity to study the functions of language.

20. You may be familiar with the following proverbs. How do you perceive them according to the arbitrariness and conventionality of language：

The proof of the pudding is in the eating.

Let sleeping dogs lie.

You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.

Rome was not built in a day.

When in Rome， do as the Romans do.

All roads lead to Rome.

Arbitrariness and conventionality derive from the choice of the subject matter. For example， in the “The proof of the pudding is in the eating.” The word “pudding” is selected arbitrarily， for we can use another word such as cheese instead of pudding without changing the associative meaning of the proverb. On the other hand， once such links between particular words and associative meaning are fixed， it becomes a matter of conventionality.

21. Give examples of situations in which a usage generally considered non-standard（e.g. ain’t）would be acceptable， even appropriate.

In the talks between intimate friends， one may say “gimme that!” instead of “give me that!” and “wachya doin’?” instead of “what are you doing?” and this list may go on.

22. The following are some book titles of linguistics. Can you judge the synchronic or diachronic orientation just from the titles?

（1） English Examined： Two Centuries of Comment on the Mother-Tongue.

（2） Protean Shape： A Study in Eighteenth-century Vocabulary and Usage.

（3） Pejorative Sense Development in English.

（4） The Categories and Types of Present-Day English Word-Formation.

（5） Language in the Inner City： Studies in the Black English Vernacular.

Synchronic：（2），（4），（5）.

Diachronic：（1），（3）.

Further Reading

Atkinson, Martin, David Kilby & Iggy Roca. 1982. Foundations of General Linguistics . London:George Allen & Unwin.

Bolinger, Dwight & Sears, Donald A. 1981. Aspects of Language. New York: Harcourt Brace Javanovich.

Clark, Virginia P.（et al. eds.）1985. Language.Introductory Readings . New York:St.Martin’s Press.

David, Crystal. 1992. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Gee, James Paul. 1993. An Introduction to Human Language—Fundamental Concepts in Linguistics. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Harris, Roy & George Wolf. 1998. Integrational Linguistics: A First Reader. Oxford: Pergamon.

Hartley, Anthony F. 1982. Linguistics for Language Learners . Kent:Multiplex Techniques Ltd.

Lyons, John. 1981. Language and Linguistics . Cambridge: Cambridge Univeristy Press.

Napoli, Donna Jo. 1996. Linguistics .New York: Oxford University Press.

Thomas, Linda & Shan Wareing. 2004. Language, Society and Power: An Introduction . London: Routledge.

Wardhaugh, Ronald.1993. Investigating Language—Central Problems in Linguistics . Oxford: Oxford University Press & Cambridge USA: Blackwell.

Widdowson, H.G. 1996. Linguistics . Oxford: Oxford University Press. 3cY3xL29gwIUR02D79AUpviS3yaeKGW7L+DcslJ4pXnAXevYm10ukaEL8/oGis0f