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1、2. Some important distinctions in linguistics. Prescriptive vs. DescriptivePrescriptive: aims to lay down rules for correct and standard behavior in using L.Descriptive: aims to describe and analyze the L people actually use. Synchronic vs. Diachronic Synchronic study: the description of a language
2、at some point in time. Diachronic study: the description of a language as it changes through time.In modern linguistics, a synchronic approach seems to enjoy priority over a diachronic one. It is believed that unless the various states of a language in different historical periods are successfully s
3、tudied, it would be difficult to describe the changes that have taken place in its historical development. Synchronic descriptions are often thought of as being description of a language in its current existence, so most linguistic studies are of this type. Speech and writingSpeech is prior to writi
4、ng.a. from the point of view of linguistic evolution, the writing system of language is always invented by its users to record speech when the need arises.b. in everyday communication, speech plays a greater role than writing in terms of the amount of information conveyed.c. speech is always the way
5、 in which every native speaker acquires his mother tongue, and writing is learned and taught later when he goes to school.d. for modern linguists, spoken language reveals more true features of human speech, thus it was regarded as authentic, while written language is only the revised record of speec
6、h. Traditional grammar and modern linguisticsModern linguistics differs from traditional grammar in several basic ways:a. linguistics is descriptive while traditional grammar is prescriptive.b. Modern linguistics regards the spoken L as primary, not the written. Traditional grammarians emphasize the
7、 importance of the written word.c. Modern linguistics does not force Ls into a Latin-based framework, while to traditional grammar, Latin provided a universal framework into which all Ls fit. As a result, other Ls were forced to fit into Latin patterns and categories, esp. its case system and tense
8、divisions of past, present and future.3. The properties of languageLanguage is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication. language is a system: ie. elements of L are combined together according to rules. language is arbitrary means that there is no intrinsic connection between
9、 a linguistic symbol and what the symbol stands for. language is vocal because the primary medium for all languages is sound symbols: language is expressed by literal forms. language is human-specific, ie. it is very different from the communication systems other forms of life possess.4. Design feat
10、ures of language: the defining properties of human language that distinguish it from any animal system of communication. (proposed by Charles Hockett.)Arbitrariness（任意性） one of the major design features of human language.+ conceptThere is no logical connection between meanings and sounds. Except ono
11、matopoeic words and some compound words that are not entirely arbitrary. eg. while photo and copy are both arbitrary, the compound photocopy is not entirely arbitrary.Productivity（能产性，创造性）Language is productive in that it makes possible the construction and interpretation of new signals by its users
12、. (Creativity or open-endedness)Animal communication systems appear to be highly restricted: eg. Gibbon calls: gibbon draw their calls from a limited repertoire, which is rapidly exhausted, making any novelty impossible.Bee dancing is used only to indicate food sources, which is the only kind of mes
13、sage that can be sent through the dancing. Duality（双重结构性，两重性或二元性）Language is organized at two levels or layers simultaneously. At the lower level, there is a structure of sounds, which are meaningless by themselves. But the sounds of language can be grouped and regrouped into a larger number of unit
14、s of meaning, which are found at the higher level of the system. Then the units at the higher level can be arranged and rearranged into an infinite number of sentences. The duality of structure enables its users to talk about anything within their knowledge. Displacement（跨时空性，移位性）Language can be use
15、d to refer to contexts removed from the immediate situations of the speaker.It is not restricted by the here and now as animal communication. We can talk about anything we want, including what happened in the past, what is going to happen in the future, what is not existent in the immediate surround
16、ings and even what we image.Cultural transition（文化传递性）While human capacity for language has a genetic basis, ie. everyone was born with the ability to acquire a language, the details of any language system are not genetically transmitted, but instead have to be taught and learnt.Discreteness（可分离性）(2011复试笔试考过)Each sound in the language is treated as discrete.The commu
