12.3.3 Post-Bloomfieldian linguistics
Influenced by Bloomfield’s Language, American linguists such as Z. Harris (1909 – ), C. Hockett (1916 – 2000), G. Trager, H. L. Smithm, A. Hill, and R. Hall further developed structuralism, characterized by a strict empiricism.
Harris’s Methods in Structural Linguistics (1951) is generally taken as marking the maturity of American descriptive linguistics.
Hockett was both a linguist and anthropologist, remaining firmly within the structuralist paradigm and hailed as a star of post-Bloomfieldian linguistics.
The most significant figure in continuing the structuralist tradition may be K. Pike (1912 – 2000), who and his followers have a special name for their technique of linguistic analysis — tagmemics.
12.4 Transformational-Generative (TG) grammar
1. Language Acquisition Device (LAD)
Chomsky believes that language is somewhat innate, and that children are born with what he calls a Language Acquisition Device, which is a unique kind of knowledge that fits them for language learning. He argues the child comes into the world with specific innate endowment, not only with general tendencies or potentialities, but also with knowledge of the nature of language. According to this view, children are born with knowledge of the basic grammatical relations and categories, and this knowledge is universal. The relations and categories exist in all human languages and all human infants are born with knowledge of them. According to Chomsky, there are aspects of linguistic organization that are basic to the human brain and that make it possible for children to acquire linguistic competence in all its complexity with little instruction from family or friends. He argues that LAD probably consists of three elements: a hypothesis-maker, linguistic universal, and an evaluation procedure.
2. Development of TG grammar
Chomsky’s TG grammar has seen five stages of development.
(1) The Classical Theory aims to make linguistics a science.
(2) The Standard Theory deals with how semantics should be studied in a linguistic theory.
(3) The Extended Standard Theory focuses discussion on language universals and universal grammar.
(4) The Revised Extended Standard Theory (or GB) focuses discussion on government and binding.
(5) The Minimalist program is a further revision of the previous theory.
The development of TG grammar can be regarded as a process of constantly minimalising theories and controlling the generative power. Although TG grammar has involved putting forward, revising, and cancelling of many specific rules, hypotheses, mechanisms, and theoretical models, its aims and purposes have been consistent, i.e. to explore the nature, origin and the uses of human knowledge or language.
3. Features of TG grammar
The starting point of Chomsky’s TG grammar is his innateness hypothesis, based on his observations that some important facts can never be otherwise explained adequately. TG grammar has the following features:
(1) Chomsky defines language as a set of rules or principles.
(2) Chomsky believes that the aim of linguistics is to produce a generative grammar which captures the tacit knowledge of the native speaker of his language. This concerns the question of learning theory and the question of linguistic universals.
(3) Chomsky and his followers are interested in any data that can reveal the native speaker’s tacit knowledge. They seldom use what native speakers actually say; they rely on their own intuition.
(4) Chomsky’s methodology is hypothesis-deductive, which operates at two levels:
a. the linguist formulates a hypothesis about language structure – a general linguistic theory; this is tested by grammars for particular languages
b. each such grammar is a hypothesis on the general linguistic theory
(5) Chomsky follows rationalism in philosophy and mentalism in psychology.
End of Chapter 12
第一部分结束
第二部分 重点章节测试题
Test One: Invitations to Linguistics
I. Choose the best answer. (20%)
1. Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human __________.
A. contact B. communication C. relation D. community
2. Which of the following words is entirely arbitrary?
A. tree B. typewriter C. crash D. bang
3. The function of the sentence “Water boils at 100 degrees Centigrade.” is __________.
A. interrogative B. directive C. informative D. performative
4. In Chinese when someone breaks a bowl or a plate the host or the people present are likely to say“碎碎（岁岁）平安”as a means of controlling the forces which they believes feel might affect their lives. Which functions does it perform?
A. Interpersonal B. Emotive C. Performative D. Recreational
5. Which of the following property of language enables language users to overcome the barriers caused by time and place, due to this feature of language, speakers of a language are free to talk about anything in any situation?
A. Transferability B. Duality C. Displacement D. Arbitrariness
6. Study the following dialogue. What function does it play according to the functions of language?
— A nice day, isn’t it?
— Right! I really enjoy the sunlight.
A. Emotive B. Phatic C. Performative D. Interpersonal
7. __________ refers to the actual realization of the ideal language user’s knowledge of the rules of his language in utterances.
A. Performance B. Competence C. Langue D. Parole
8. When a dog is barking, you assume it is barking for something or at someone that exists hear and now. It couldn’t be sorrowful for some lost love or lost bone. This indicates the design feature of __________.
A. cultural transmission B. productivity C. displacement D. duality
9. __________ answers such questions as how we as infants acquire our first language.
A. Psycholinguistics B. Anthropological linguistics
C. Sociolinguistics D. Applied linguistics
10. __________ deals with language application to other fields, particularly education.
A. Linguistic theory B. Practical linguistics
C. Applied linguistics D. Comparative linguistics
II. Decide whether the following statements are true or false. (10%)
11. Language is a means of verbal communication. Therefore, the communication way used by the deaf-mute is not language.
12. Language change is universal, ongoing and arbitrary.
13. Speaking is the quickest and most efficient way of the human communication systems.
14. Language is written because writing is the primary medium for all languages.
15. We were all born with the ability to acquire language, which means the details of any language system can be genetically transmitted.
16. Only human beings are able to communicate.
17. F. de Saussure, who made the distinction between langue and parole in the early 20th century, was a French linguist.
18. A study of the features of the English used in Shakespeare’s time is an example of the diachronic study of language.
19. Speech and writing came into being at much the same time in human history.
20. All the languages in the world today have both spoken and written forms.
III. Fill in the blanks. (10%)
21. Language, broadly speaking, is a means of __________ communication.
22. In any language words can be used in new ways to mean new things and can be combined into innumerable sentences based on limited rules. This feature is usually termed __________.
23. Language has many functions. We can use language to talk about itself. This function is __________.
24. Theory that primitive man made involuntary vocal noises while performing heavy work has been called the __________ theory.
25. Linguistics is the __________ study of language.
26. Modern linguistics is __________ in the sense that the linguist tries to discover what language is rather than lay down some rules for people to observe.
27. One general principle of linguistic analysis is the primacy of __________ over writing.
28. The description of a language as it changes through time is a __________ study.
29. Saussure put forward two important concepts. __________ refers to the abstract linguistic system shared by all members of a speech community.
30. Linguistic potential is similar to Saussure’s langue and Chomsky’s __________.
IV. Explain the following terms, using examples. (20%)
31. Design feature
32. Displacement
33. Competence
34. Synchronic linguistics
V. Answer the following questions. (20%)
35. Why do people take duality as one of the important design features of human language? Can you tell us what language will be if it has no such design feature? （南开大学，2004）
36. Why is it difficult to define language? （北京第二外国语大学，2004）
VI. Analyze the following situation. (20%)
37. How can a linguist make his analysis scientific? （青岛海洋大学，1999）
Test Two: Phonetics and Phonology
I. Choose the best answer. (20%)
1. Pitch variation is known as __________ when its patterns are imposed on sentences.
A. intonation B. tone C. pronunciation D. voice
2. Conventionally a __________ is put in slashes (/ /).
A. allophone B. phone C. phoneme D. morpheme
3. An aspirated p, an unaspirated p and an unreleased p are __________ of the p phoneme.
A. analogues B. tagmemes C. morphemes D. allophones
4. The opening between the vocal cords is sometimes referred to as __________.
A. glottis B. vocal cavity C. pharynx D. uvula
5. The diphthongs that are made with a movement of the tongue towards the center are known as __________ diphthongs.
A. wide B. closing C. narrow D. centering
