语言学重点概念总结

Design features（定义特征）:

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

Synchronic（共时的）:

said of an approach that studies language at a theoretical “point” in time. Diachronic（历时的）:

said of the study of development of language and languages over time. Prescriptive（规定式）:

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

Descriptive（描写式）:

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

Competence（语言能力）:

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

对于一门语言的语法规则系统的无意识获得的知识。

Performance（语言运用）:

the language actually used by people in speaking or writing.

人们说话写作时实际使用的语言。

Langue（语言）:

the language system shared by a “speech community”.

一个“语言社团”共有的语言系统。

Parole（言语）:

the concrete utterances of a speaker.

说话人实际说的话语。

Phonology（音系学）：

the study of the sound patterns and sound systems of language. It aims to discover the principles that govern the way sounds are organized in languages, and to explain the variations that occur.

International Phonetic Alphabet（国际音标）:

a set of standard phonetic symbols in the form of a chart (the IPA chart), designed by the International Phonetic Association since 1888. It has been revised from time to time to include new discoveries and changes in phonetic theory and practice. Cardinal Vowels（基本元音）:

a set of vowel qualities arbitrarily defined, fixed and unchanging, intended to provide a frame of reference for the description of the actual vowels of existing languages.

Assimilation（同化现象）:

a process by which one sound takes on some or all the characteristics of a neighboring sound, a term often used synonymously with “coarticulation”. If a following sound is influencing a preceding sound, it is called regressive ”assimilation”; the converse process, in which a preceding sound is

influencing a following sound, is known as progressive ”assimilation”.

Maximal Onset Principle（最大节首原则）:

a principle for dividing the syllable when there is a cluster of consonants between two vowels, which states that when there is a choice as to where to place a consonant, it is put into the onset rather than the coda.

Morpheme（语素）:

the smallest unit of language in terms of the relationship between expression and content, a unit that cannot be divided into further smaller units without destroying or drastically altering the meaning, whether it is lexical or grammatical. Inflection（屈折变化）:

is the manifestation of grammatical relationship through the addition of inflectional affixes such as number, person, finiteness, aspect and cases to which they are attached.

Derivation（派生词）:

is the most common word-formation process to be found in the production of new English words. It is accomplished by means of a large number of affixes of English language, and shows the relationship between roots and affixes.

Bound morpheme（黏着语素）:

refer to those which cannot occur alone and must appear with at least one other morpheme.

Free morpheme（自由语素）:

refer to those which may occur alone or which may constitute words by themselves.

Grammatical word（语法词）:

refer to those which mainly work for constructing group, phrase, clause complex, or even text, such as, conjunctions, prepositions, articles, and pronouns. Grammatical words serve to link together different content parts.

Lexical word（词汇词）:

refer to those which mainly work for referring to substance, action and quality, such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. Lexical words carry the main content of a language.

Closed-class（封闭类）:

A word that belongs to the CLOSED-CLASS is one whose membership is fixed or limited, such as pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, articles, and others. One cannot easily add or deduce a new member.

Open-class（开放类）:

is one whose membership is in principle infinite or unlimited. When new ideas, inventions, or discoveries emerge, new members are continually and constantly being added to the lexicon. Nouns, verbs, adjectives, and many adverbs are all open-class items.

Syntax（句法）:

the study of the rules governing the ways different constituents are combined to