I have been reading the book An Introduction to Language (11th edition by V. Fromkin, R. Rodman, and N. Hyams) recently and feel it is an extraordinary book for people interested in linguistics. I am going to write notes to help myself organize the important knowledge points and help people interested get familiar with the basic concept of linguistics. Each note will contain one chapter. I will use English as the main language in these notes since it is the English version that I am reading and will also provide Chinese translation for some key concepts so that readers can connect them with?prior knowledge.

Contents (目錄)

Chapter I – What is Language (語言是什么)

Chapter II – Morphology: The Words of Language (詞法：語言的詞匯)

Chapter III – Syntax: Infinite Use of Finite Means (句法：有限含義的無限使用)

Chapter IV – The Meaning of Language (語言的含義)

Chapter V – Phonetics: The Sounds of Language (語音學：語言的聲音)

Chapter VI – Phonology: The Sound Patterns of Language (音韻學：語言的聲音模式)

Chapter VII – Language in Society (社會中的語言)

Chapter VIII – Language Change: The Syllables of Time (語言的變化：時間的音節(jié))

Chapter IX – Language Acquisition (語言的獲得)

Chapter X – Language Processing and the Human Brain (語言過程和人的大腦)

Chapter I – What is Language (語言是什么)

1. Speakers use a finite set of rules (grammar, 語法) to produce and understand an infinite set of possible sentences.

2. Grammars contain:

a) Phonology (音韻學): the sound system.

b) Morphology (詞法) and lexicon (詞匯): the structure and properties of words.

c) Syntax (句法): how words may be combined into phrases and sentences.

d) Semantics (語義學): the ways in which sounds and meanings are related.

3. The sounds and meanings of individual words are related in an arbitrary fashion, which means people are not able to recognize the meaning by the sound of a word.

4. Different kinds of grammars:

a) Descriptive?Grammar (描述性語法): describe the rules that are already there in language.

b) Prescriptive Grammar (規(guī)定性語法): attempt to legislate what language should be (specify a standard of usage).

c) Teaching grammar (教學性語法): help people learn a foreign language or a dialect of their own language.

5. Universal Grammar (UG, 通用性語法): provide a blueprint for the grammars of all possible human languages. It has connection with the way children acquire language.

6. Sign Language (符號語言) are visual-gestural systems that are as fully developed and as structurally complex as spoken language. The major sign language used in the United States is American Sign Language (ASL).

7. Some basic properties of human languages (distinguish from the “l(fā)anguages” of other species):

a) Discreteness (離散性): consist of discrete units that combine according to the rules of the grammar of the language.

b) Displacement (移位性): allow to talk about things that are removed in time and space from immediate environment or mental or physical state.

8. Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis: the particular language one speaks determines or influences one’s thought and perceptions of the world. Some recent experimental studies suggest that the words and grammar of a language may affect certain aspects of cognition such as memory.

Weida

2023.07.16