Language and Linguistics: An Introduction, Appunti di Lingua Inglese

Scarica Language and Linguistics: An Introduction e più Appunti in PDF di Lingua Inglese solo su Docsity! Capitolo 1 1.1 • language is analysed on different levels of sound, words, grammar and meanings. • These levels pf language interact each other, and also with context and an individual knwoledge og the world. (ambiguity- jokes – eacj person has a different knowledge fo the world) • These interractions allow langiage users to understand the utterances they hear. 1.2 • Saussure's concept of linguistic: sign is made of signifier (spoken or written form) and signified (thing or referent). • Relationship between them is arbitrary and conventional for the community fo speakers • modern linguistic studies language in a synchornic approach ( contemporary state fo language) ; diachronic approach is lanaguage studied in a historical point of view. • Words enter into system into ways: - syntagmatic, refers to syntax, sequential relationshios that words may ahve with each other. Is a system of combination - paradigmatic, is about the choice we make when we choose a word to fit into a particular position in a sentence; is a system of choice. 1.3 How could we recognize human language and if human language is different from animal one? • Charles Hockett found 13 or 15 design features for human language to differentiate human lamguage fron animal communication. - arbitrary in relationshio between signifier and signified - displacement, ability that humans have to refer to events, people, objects that are not present - productivity: abitlity to create novel utterances - semanticity: the capacity of a sign in a language system to mean something - discreteness: we recognize that the signs in a alnaguage are made up of disceret elements, ones we recognize as different. - duality of pattering: the smallest elements of a lamguage, phonemes, combine to make morphemes; morphemes combine to make words, words combine to make sentences. • some animals system has some of these features but not all of them ( honeybeens, monkeys). Only human langauge has. • Research made to teach language to apes, woth limited success --> words, but then fot the lack of chimpaze vocal tract with american sign language; and then woth keyboard. But it is uncertain if an ape could demonstrate grammatically ability 1.4 Where didi human langauge come from? • If we assume that animal and human communication are homologous, so the human language must have evolved from some pre-existing system in the animal world. From apes and chimpanzees? • Chomsly (1968) has argued that human language is unique and unlike any ither communication, is an entire separate ability, cognitive system, and is innate to humans. • Everybody is born with a blueprint for lamgauge--> Universal Grammar (UG). UG gives them the knowledge of what their first langauge is going to look like. • Every human being acquire langauge successfully, go through the same stages of langauge acquisition at more ore less the same chornological age. (performace factors are differnet from competence) • alla laguages acroos the world are structured in similar ways. 1.5 What happens when we acquire language? • Children do more than imitate adult odels of language, we could see it from mistakes, e.g. I goed -> this comes from hypotheses of language rules and acquisition fo a rule • lamgauge acquisition is facilitated by UG ---> that's why they learn so fast. • Childrem make predictable errors, and this is evidence for parameter setting in theri first language. Childrem arrive on earth that they already have their UG and they hace only to meet the right parameter for their first language. 1.6 Laguage is studied in its social context • speakers give away information about theri social charatcterics: region, gender, sexual identity, .... 1.7 Linguistic is descriptive ( does this world/utterance sound acceptable for a natuve speaker?- describe what native speakers actually say ) and not prescriptive ( senteces do not end with a preposition!- what grammrians think they ought to say) 1.8 linguitisc is a scientific approach. • There is reserchers thta start their invetsigations by asking research qiestions and framing hypotheses, an hypotheses is an prediction whic is usuallly expressed as a statement. Capitolo 8: Pragmatics • Distinctiosn between semantic and pragmatic: semantic in litteral meaning, sentence meaning and truth conditional meaning; pragmatic is illiterla meaning, utterances meaning and non truth conditional meaning. SEMANTIC = basic level of meaning in a snetence, propositional meaning PRAGMATIC = component non literal, speaking meaning. Propositional meaninh+ speaker meaning = complete utternaces meaning. Pragmatic factors are integral to determining what proposition is being expressed by any sentence. Pragmatic is meaning in context. SEMANTIC= CONVENTIONAL MEANING. • Context and meaning any aspect of the knowledge, physical envirorment, and social repationship of speakers and hearers that is relevant to the interpretation of an utterance. Coudl be physical context, (enviroment, setting, weather, time, ...) social context (relationship betiween speakers and hearers, politiness rules, ...) epistemic context (knowledge of general or specific facts) – prior discourse, cultural norms and expectations. Meaning is always contextually bound (associato). Deixis Deictic expression belong to several grammatical categories including pronouns, adverbs, demosntratives, and they are variously used in different discourse deixis. Personal ( I, you, he or she...), spatial (here, this way), temporal (this sudenay, last year) social deixis (tu/Lei), discourse deixis (a related view to the next chapter). • Presupposition (presupposto): is a pragmatic device: information assumed in advance, part of the spaeker and hearer mutual knoledge. Certain lexical items and linguitic construction can trigger presupptions, 1) constancy under negation- > the workers managed to repair the wall 2) cancellabilty - > utterances can be cancelled if they are inconsistent with background knowledge or with the implicatures of ad utterances or they occur in certain linguistic contexts.