语言学练习题 Chapter 2 Linguistics

Chapter Two Linguistics

1. Define the following terms.

1) syntagmatic relation vs paradigmatic relation 2) langue vs parole

3) competence vs performance

4) descriptive linguistics vs historical linguistics 5) theoretical linguistics vs applied linguistics 6) deccriptive linguistics vs prescriptive linguistics 7) synchronic vs diachronic linguistics

9) macrolinguistics vs microlinguistics

10) Comparative historical linguistics vs contrastive linguistics 2. Decide whether the following statements are true (T) or false (F).

1) ( ) Prescriptive linguistics is more popular than descriptive linguistics because it can

tell us how to speak correct language.

2) ( ) Competencce and performance refer respectively to a language user’s underlying

knowledge about the system of rules and the actual use of language in concrete situations.

3) ( ) The antithesis of langue and parole was created by Chomsky. 4) ( ) Cockoo in English is onomatopoeia.

5) ( ) Synchronic linguistics is concerned with the study of language development

through time.

6) ( ) Prescriptive linguists are concerned with how languages work, not with how they can

be improved.

7) ( ) Linguistics tries to answer the basic questions” what is a language” and “How does a

language work”.

】

8)

8)

9)

10) 11) 12) 13) 14) 15) 16) 17)

( ) Onomatopoetic words are found in almost all human languages, which shows the arbitrary nature of languages.

( ) Each language contains two systems rather than one, a system of sound and a system of meaning.

( ) Cultural transmission refers to the fact that the details of the linguistic system must be learned a new by each speaker.

( ) Phatic function refers to language used to exchange information and ideas.

( ) Speakers of all languages are capable of producing and comprehending an infinite set of sentences, which accounts for syntactic universality.

( ) Halliday’s linguistic potential is similar to the notions of parole and performance ( ) By diachronie study we mean to study the changes and development of language. ( ) Langue is relatively stable and systematic while parole is subject to personal and situational constraints.

( ) In language classrooms nowadavs the grammar taught to students is basically descriptive, and more attention is paid to the developing learners ‘ communicative

\\

skills.

18) ( ) Saussure’s exposition of synchronic analysis led to the school of historical linguistics 19) ， 20) ( ) Applied linguistics is the application of linguistic principles and theories to language

teaching and learning.

21) ( ) Semantics is the study of the meaning of words and sentences.

22) ( ) A diachronic study is concerned with the historical development of a language over a

period of time.

23) ( ) A paradigmatic relation is a relation between a linguistic element in an utterance and

linguistic elements outside that utterance, but belonging to the same sub-system of the language.

24) ( ) General linguistics aims at developing a theory that describes the rules of a particular

language.

25) ( ) English linguistics is a kind of descriptive linguistics. 26) ( ) Competence is more concrete than performance.

27) ( ) Descriptive linguistics attempts to establish a theory which accounts for the rules of

language in general.

28) ( ) Langue is more abstract than parole and therefore is not directly observable. 29) ( ) General linguistics deals with the whole human language.

30) — 31) ( ) All the English words are not symbolic.

32) ( ) All sounds produced by human speech organs are linguistic symbols. 33) ( ) Descriptive linguistics studies one specific language.

34) ( ) Morphological knowledge is a native speaker’s intuition about how a sentence is

formed.

35) ( ) Phonetics is the science that deals with the sound system.

36) ( ) A diachronic study of a language is concerned with a state of a language at a

particular point of time.

3. Multiple Choice

1) ______ made the distinction between competence and performance.

A. Saussure B. Chomsky C Bloomfiled D. Sapir

2) Findings in linguistic studies can often be applied to the solution of some practical

problems, the study of such applications is knowns as ________. ;

A. anthropological linguistics B. computational linguistics C. applied linguistics D. mathematical linguistics

3) _______ refers to the abstract linguistic system shared by all the members of speech

community. A. Parole B. langue C speech D. writing 4) Which of the following is not the major brach of linguistics

A. phonology B. pragmatics C. syntax D speech

5) ________ deals with language application to other fields, particularly education.

A. Linguistic geography B. Sociolinguistics C. Applied linguistics D. Comparative linguistics

6) Which branch of linguistics studies the similarities and differences among languages

\\

A. Diachronic linguistics. C. Prescriptive linguistics.

B. Synchronic linguistics.

D. Comparative linguistics.

7） ________ has been widely accepted as the forefather of modern linguistics.

A. Chomsky B. Saussure C. Bloomfield D. John Lyons 8) The study of language as a whole is often called ---.

A. general linguistics B. sociolingyustics C. psycholinguistics D. applied linguistics 9) The study of language meaning is called--.

A. syntax B. semantics C morphology D. pragmatics 10) The description of a language at some point in time is a – study.

、

A synchronic B. diachronic C descriptive D. prescriptive

4. Fill in the blanks with appropriate words:

1) refers to the abstract linguistic system shared by all the members of a speech

community.

2) is the actual realization of one’s linguistic knowledge in utterances.

3) Modem linguistic is in the sense that the linguist tries to discover what language is

rather than lay down some rules for people to observe.

4) The description of a language as it changes through time is a study.

5) Saussure put forward two important concepts, refers to the abstract linguistic

system shared by all members of a speech community.

6) Linguistic potential is similar to Saussure’ s langue and Chomsky’ s .

7) The four principles in the linguistic study are (1) (2) (3)

(4) 8) Morphology is the branch of linguistics which studies the form of words. <

9) The branch of general linguistics which is named studies the internal structure

of sentences.

10) In Saussure’s view, the relationship between signifier (sound image) and signified

(concept) is .

11) is an umbrella term which covers a variety of different interests in language and society, including the social functions of language and the social characteristics of its users.

12) The distinction between langue and parole is made by the Swiss linguist F. de Saussure.

The distinction between competence and performance is made by the American linguist .

13) The writing English is. known as the sound writing system while that of Japanese as

___writing system.

14) According to John Lyons, ___ linguistics_ deals with language in general and _

linguistics is concerned with one particular language.

15) In de Saussure’s term, _____ refers to the system of language and _____ refers to the

speaker’s speech.

16) _____ is the science that deals with the sound system.

17) Syntax studies two kinds of rules: _____ rules and rules

18) Langue or competence is ______ and not directly observed, while parole or

performance is _____ and directly observable. |

19) A ________ relation refers to the sequential characteristic of speech.

20) ___ ___ knowledge is a native speaker’s intuition about the sounds and sound patterns

of his language.

21) ______ knowledge is a native speaker’s intuition about how a word is formed.

22) ______ knowledge is a native speaker’s intuition about whether a sentence is

grammatical or not.

23) ______ knowledge is a native speaker’s intuition about the meaning of language,

including meaning of words and meaning of sentences.

24) ______ is the study of speech sounds of all human languages.

25) ______ examines word formation and the internal structure of words. 5. Answer the following questions.

1) What is the difference between general linguistics and descriptive linguistics

2) What is the difference between synchronic and diachronic linguistics Is it easy to draw a

sharp line between them if we look at language closely !

3) What distinguish prescriptive studies of language from descriptive studies of language

Comment on the merits and weaknesses of descriptive grammar and prescriptive grammar.

4) What are the four principles for the scientific analysis of language

5) Point out three ways in which linguistics differs from traditional grammar. 6) What are the main differences between “competence” and “performance”

7) What is the major difference between Saussure’s distinction of langue and parole and

Chomsky’s distinction of competence and performance what should be studies in linguistics in your opinion and why

8) Explain “speech and writing”, and cite two ormore examples.

Key to Chapter Two

/

1. Define the following terms.

1）syntagmatic relation vs paradigmatic relation

Essentially the relations between linguistic elements are of two dimensions, usually syntagmatic and paradigmatic. syntagmatic or sequential relations are those holding between elements forming serial structure, or “strings’ as they are sometimes called. In syntax, the horizontal relationship between elements shows how a form (X) combines with others (W + X + Y) in a serial combination. It refers to the linear ordering of the words and the phrases within a sentence. Paradigmatic relations are those holding between comparable elements at particular places in structures. The vertical or substitutional

relationship shows how other different forms (Xa, Xb, Xc) can function in the same place in structure in a paradigmatic relation. 2) langue vs parole

Saussure refers “langue” to the abstract linguistic system shared by all the members of a speech community and refers” parole” to the actual or actualized language, or the realization of langue. Langue is abstract, parole specific to the speaking situation; langue not actually spoken by an individual, parole always a naturally occurring event; langue relatively stable and systematic, parole subject to personal and situational constraints. For Saussure, parole is a mass of confused facts, thus not suitable for systematic investigation. What a linguist ought to do, according to Saussure, is to abstract langue from instances of parole, ., to discover the regularities governing all instances of parole andmake them the subject of linguistics. The langue-parole distinction is of great importance, which casts great influence on later linguists.

3) competence vs performance

(1)According to N. Chomsky, “competence” is the ideal language user’s knowledge of the rules of his language, and “performance” is the arctual realization of this knowledge in utterances. The former enables a speaker to produce and understand an indefinite number of sentences and to recognize grammatical mistakes and ambiguities. A speaker’s competence is stable while his performance is often influenced by psychological and social factors. So a speaker’s performance does not always match or equal his supposed competence.

(2)Chomsky believes that linguists ought to study competence, rather than performance. In other words, they should discover what an ideal speaker knows of his native language.

(3) Chomsky’s competence-performance distinction is not exactly the same as, though similar to, F. de Saussure’s language parole distinction. Langue is a social product and a set of conventions for a community, while competence is deemed as a property of the mind of each individual. Saussure looks at language more from a sociological or sociolinguistic point of view than N. Chomsky since the latter deals with his issues psychologically or psycholinguistically.

4) descriptive linguistics vs historical linguistics

￥ Linguistic study can be divided into descriptive linguistics (synchronic linguistic study) and historical linguistics (diachronic linguistic study). The former refers to the description of a language at a particular point of time in history while the latter, a diachronic study of language, studies the historical development of language over a period of time. 5) theoretical linguistics vs applied linguistics

A third dichotomy is that which holds between theoretical and applied linguistics. The former copes with language and languages with a view to establishing a theory of their structure and functions and without regard to any practical applications that the investigation of language and languages might have, whereas the latter is chiefly concerned with the application of the concepts and findings of linguistics to all sorts of practical tasks, including language teaching.

6) deccriptive linguistics vs prescriptive linguistics

A linguistic study is descriptive if it only describes and analyzes the facts of language, and it is prescriptive if it tries to lay down rules for “correct” language behavior. Linguistic studies before 20th century were largely prescriptive because many early grammars were based on “high” (literary or religious) written records. Modem linguistics is mostly descriptive, however, which believes that whatever occurs in natural speech (hesitation, incomplete utterance, misunderstanding, etc.) should be described in the analysis, and not be marked as incorrect, abnormal, corrupt, or lousy. These, with changes inlvocabulary and structures, need to be explained distinction lies in prescribing how things ought to be and describing how things are. To say that linguistics is a descriptive science is to say that the linguist tries to discover and record the rules to which the members of a language-community actually conform and does not seek to impose upon them other rules, or norms, of correctness, which are in the scope of prescriptive linguistics. 7) synchronic vs diachronic linguistics

Synchronic linguistics takes a fixed instant (usually, but not necessarily, the present) as its point of observation. In contrast, diachronie linguistics is the study of a language through the Course of itshistory; therefore, it is also called historical linguistics.

The description of a languageat some point of time (as if it stopped developing) is a synchronic study (synchrony). The description of a language as it changes through timeis a diachronic study (diachrony). An essay entitled” On the Use of THE”, for example, may be synchronic, if the author does not recall the past of THE, and it may also be diachronic if he claims to cover a large range or period of time wherein THE has undergone tremendous alteration.

8) macrolinguistics vs microlinguistics

Macrolinguistics falls on the verge of linguistics. It includes the following disciplines: philosophical linguistics, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, etc. Lyons has the same distinction.

： Microlinguistics concentrates on the study of all the interior aspects of a language system. Traditional linguistic study describes language system from two aspects — lexicon and grammar. Dictionaries and grammar books are products of such researches and studies.

9）Comparative historical linguistics vs contrastive linguistics

Comparative historical linguistics draws on the special historical comparison in linguistics to study the historical development of some related languages (languages originating from a uniform ancestry). It is in fact a special part of historical linguistics. Thanks to the development of historical comparative linguistics in 19th century, linguistics comes to be an independent discipline. Contrastive linguistics focuses on structural similarities and differences of two or more languages (relevant or unrelated) by means of comparison and contrastive study. This study belongs to descriptive linguistics. It can help people have a deep understanding of the properties and universal characteristics of different languages and thus exerts great influence on foreign language teaching. 2. Decide whether the following statements are true (T) or false (F).

1) (F) Prescriptive linguistics is more popular than descriptive linguistics because it

can tell us how to speak correct language. 2) (T) Competencce and performance refer respectively to a language user’s

3) 4) 5) 6) 7)

8)

underlying knowledge about the system of rules and the actual use of language in concrete situations.

(F) The antithesis of langue and parole was created by Chomsky. (中国矿业大学，2004)

(T) Cockoo in English is onomatopoeia. (中国矿业大学，2004)

(F) Synchronic linguistics is concerned with the study of language development through time. (中国矿业大学，2004)

(T) Prescriptive linguists are concerned with how languages work, not with how they can be improved. (中国矿业大学，2004)

(T) Linguistics tries to answer the basic questions” what is a language” and “How does a language work”. （南京师范大学，2002）

(F) Onomatopoetic words are found in almost all human languages, which shows

*

9) 10) 11) 12) 13)

the arbitrary nature of languages. （中国矿业大学，2002）

(T) Each language contains two systems rather than one, a system of sound and a system of meaning. （中国矿业大学，2002）

(T) Cultural transmission refers to the fact that the details of the linguistic system must be learned a new by each speaker. （中国矿业大学，2002）

(F) Phatic function refers to language used to exchange information and ideas. （中国矿业大学，2002）

(F) Speakers of all languages are capable of producing and comprehending an infinite set of sentences, which accounts for syntactic universality. （中国矿业大学，2002）

(F) Halliday’s linguistic potential is similar to the notions of parole and performance

(T) By diachronie study we mean to study the changes and development of language.

(T) Langue is relatively stable and systematic while parole is subject to personal and situational constraints.

(T) In language classrooms nowadavs the grammar taught to students is basically descriptive, and more attention is paid to the developing learners ‘ communicative skills.

(F) Saussure’s exposition of synchronic analysis led to the school of historical linguistics.

(T) Applied linguistics is the application of linguistic principles and theories to language teaching and learning.

(F) Semantics is the study of the meaning of words and sentences.

(T) A diachronic study is concerned with the historical development of a language over a period of time.

(F) A paradigmatic relation is a relation between a linguistic element in an utterance and linguistic elements outside that utterance, but belonging to the same sub-system of the language.

(F) General linguistics aims at developing a theory that describes the rules of a

…

14) 15) 16) 17)

18)

19)

20) 21) 22) 23)

24)

25) 26) 27) 28) 29)

particular language.

( T) English linguistics is a kind of descriptive linguistics. (F) Competence is more concrete than performance.

(F) Descriptive linguistics attempts to establish a theory which accounts for the rules of language in general.

(T) Langue is more abstract than parole and therefore is not directly observable.

~

30) (T) General linguistics deals with the whole human language. 31) (T) All the English words are not symbolic. 32) (F) All sounds produced by human speech organs are linguistic symbols. 33) (T) Descriptive linguistics studies one specific language. 34) (F) Morphological knowledge is a native speaker’s intuition about how a

sentence is formed.

35) (F) Phonetics is the science that deals with the sound system. 36) (F) A diachronic study of a language is concerned with a state of a language at a

particular point of time.

3. Multiple choice

1) – 5): BCBDC 6) – 10): DBABA 4. Word completion

@

1) Langue 3) descriptive 5) langue 7) (1) consistency (2) economy 8) Morphology 10) arbitrary 12) Chomsky 14) general, descriptive 16) Phonology 18) abstract; concrete 】

2) Performance 4) diachronic 6) competence

(3) objectivity (4) exhaustiveness 9) syntax 11) socialinguistics 13) syllabic 15) langue, parole 17) phrase structure, transformational 19) syntagmatic

20) Phonological 21) Morphological

22) Syntactic 23) Semantic 24) Phonetics 25) Morphology 5. Answer the following questions.

1) What is thedifference between general linguistics and descriptive linguistics

The former deals with language in general, . the whole human language whereas the latter is concerned with one particular language. The former aims at developing a theory that describes the rules of human language in general while the latter attempts to establish a model that describes the rules of one particular language, such as Chinese, English, French, etc. General Linguistics and descriptive linguistics are dependent on each other. In the first place, general linguistics provides descriptive linguistics with a general framework in which any particular language can be described, studied and analyzed. Very often, it may supply several different frameworks for descriptive linguists to choose from. Depending on their different views on

language, they may follow one model exclusively or combine two or more models. In the second, the resulting descriptions of particular languages, in turn, supply empirical evidence which may confirm or refute the model(s) put forward by general linguistics. In other words, general linguistics and descriptive linguistics are complementary to each other despite their different objects of study and different goals.

2) What is the difference between diachronic linguistics Is it easy to draw a sharp line

between them if we look at language closely

(1) Synchronic linguistics takes a fixed instant (usually, but not necessarily, the present) as its point of observation. In contrast, diachronie linguistics is the study of a language through the Course of itshistory; therefore, it is also called historical linguistics.

(2) Synchronic/diachronic perspective toward language is one of Saussure’s most central ideas expressed in the form of pairs of Concepts. The former sees languageas a living whole; existing as a “‘state” at a particular moment in time; the latter sees it as a continually changing medium. In this view, it is always necessary to carry out some degree of synchronic work before making a diachronic study: before we can say how a language has changed from state X to state Y, we need to about X and Y. Correspondingly, a synchronic analysis can be made without referring to history. This can be illustrated as Sanssure did using an analogy with a game of chess. A state of the set of chessmen is like a state of language. “The respective value of the pieces depends on their position on the chessboard just as each linguistic term derives its value from its opposition to all the other terms.” On the other hand, the value of each piece also;depends on the convention--the set of rules that exists before the game begins. This is like the set of rules that exists in language. A state of the game of chess is momentary just like a state of language change. When one piece is moved, the game passes from one state of equilibrium to the next. This corresponds closely to the situation of language between states. To study this static state is called synchronic linguistics. The moving of one piece is like one type of change in language. The consequence of one move can be very big or small; the same is true with language changes. The player of a chess game is solely concerned with the momentary positions of the pieces; he does not need to remember the previous moves so as to decide the next move. A player who knows the history of the game does not necessarily have more to say about the next move than a man who has just come to the game, ignorant of what has happened before. Similarly, a speaker of a language can learn the languagewell without knowing its historical statesl We can describe a state of a game without bothering the techniques both players have used to bring about the state. Likewise, we can describe the state of a language without knowing its history,

3) What distinguish prescriptive studies of language from descriptive studies of language

Comment on the merits and weaknesses of descriptive grammar and prescriptive grammar. ?

(1) The distinction lies in prescribing how things ought to be and describing how things actually are. The essence of prescriptivism is the notion that one variety of languages has an inherently higher value than others, and that this ought to be imposed on the whole of the speech community. Although prescriptivism is still with :us, descriptivism wins more and more understanding. It proposes that the task of the grammarian is to describe, not

prescribe——to record the facts of. linguistic diversity, and not to attempt the impossible tasks of being language police and trying to. stop language from changing, or imposing on members of a language community the so-called norms of correctness.

(2) Weakness of prescriptive grammar (Merits of descriptive grammar). ① The reason why present-day linguists are so insistent about the distinction between the two is simply that traditional grammar was very strongly normative in character, . “you should never use a double-negative”; “you should not split the infinitive” etc. People realize nowadays the facts of usage count more than the authority, stipulated “standards!’. We can appeal neither to logic nor to Latin granunar when it comes to deciding whether something is or is not correct in English. ② Prescriptivism is an individual attitude. The related social attitude that goes to the extreme of prescriptivism is purism, which is something we should guard against. Pure prescriptive grammar will lead to artificial claims that are hard to maintain in light of the facts. While prescriptivists would prefer the use of the past subjunctive after if (If I were you, etc.), it is very difficult to claim that everyone who uses “was” is wrong, especially are the majority in spoken language. While there are still traditionalist grammarians claiming that they are right and half the population is wrong, most have modified their approach and talk of this form as preferable, or describe it as formal register. ③ The prescriptive attitude seems to ignore the fact that English has evolved over the centuries into what it is today whereas the descriptive attitude seems to be more sensitive to anything that goes on to a certain extent. A language is a living creature. There is no fixed form for any language. No one speaks Shakespearean medieval English today. However, no one says the British today speaks the incorrect English. It will and should change over time.

4) What are the four principles for the scientific analysis of language

The four principles to make a scientific study of language are exhaustiveness, consistency, economy, and objectivity.

(1) Exhaustiveness: the linguist should gather all the materials relevant to his investigation and give them an adequate explanation. Language is extremely complex; he cannot attempt to describe all aspects of language at once, but to examine one aspect at a time.

(2) Consistency: there should be no contradiction between different parts of the total statement.

(3) Economy: other things being equal, a shorter statement or analysis is preferred to a longer or more involved one. The best statements are the shortest possible, which can account most fully for all facts.

(4) Objectivity: a linguist should be as objective as possible in his description and analysis’of data, allowing no prejudice to influence his generalizations. He should not omit any linguistic facts because he himself considers there to be “inelegant” or “substandard”. Nor should he conceal facts that do not conform to his generalizations. His aim should be to present his analysis in such a way that every part of it can be tested and verified; not only by himself, but by anyone else who makes a description of different data based on the same set of principles. It is the insistence on these principles, particularly objectivity that gives linguistics the status of a science.

5) Point out three ways in which linguistics differs from traditional grammar.

(1) Most linguistic analysis today is focused on speech rather than writing. Everything considered, speech is believed to be more representative of human language than writing. In spite of the common features they share, they differ because they are transmitted in different channels. This is one major difference between linguists today and the grammarians of the 19th century;

? (2) Modern linguistics is mostly descriptive while traditional grammar is hugely prescriptive. Many early grammars were based on “high” (literary, religious) written language. Grammarians often use logical and aesthetic criteria to judge the correctness of sentences and lay down rules for “correct” behavior. Linguists today, however, have made a special point of guarding against prescriptivism. They believe that whatever occurs in natural speech should be described ir/their analysis.

(3) Another difference is the priority of synchronic descriptions over the traditional diachronic studies. Modem linguistics holds that unless the various states of a language am successfully studied it would be difficult to describe the changes that have taken place in its historical development.

6) What are the main differences between “competence” and “performance”

(1) This fundamental distinction is discussed by Chomsky in his Aspects of the Theory of Syntax. A language user’s underlying knowledge about the system of rules is called linguistic competence. And performance refers to the actual use of language in concrete situations.

(2) Competence enables a speaker to produce and understand an indefinite number of sentences and to recoguizegrammatical mistakes and ambiguities. A speaker’s competence is stable but his performance is often influenced by psychological and social factors. For example, a speaker’s competence is stable but on certain occasions he may not perform very well due to various factors such as pressure,distress, anxiety, or embarrassments: Slips of the tongue，false starts, unnecessary pauses, among other things, all belong to the imperfection of performance, A person may make grammatical mistakes in speech, but that does not he does not know the rule. If he is given an ungrammatical sentence, he can recognize it as ungrammatical. The point is that a speaker’s performance does not always match his competence.

(3) Chomsky thinks that what linguists should study is the ideal speaker’s competence, because the speaker’s performance is too haphazard to be studied. The task of the linguists is to discover and specify the speaker’s internalized rules.

(4) Although Saussure’s distinction and Chomsky’s are very similar, they differ at least in that Saussure took a sociological view of language and his notion of langue is a matter of social conventions, while Chomsky looks at language from a psychological point of view and considers linguistic competence as a property of the mind of a speaker.

7) What is the major difference between Saussure’s distinction of langue and parole and

Chomsky’s distinction of competence and performance What should be studied in linguistics in your opinion and why

The langue and parole distinction are not exactly the same as the competence and performance distinction. Saussure’s langue is a social product; a set of conventions for a speech community. Chomsky regards competence as a propertyof the mind of each individual. Saussure looks at language more from a sociological point of view while Chomsky

looks at it more from a psychological point of view.

Linguistics is the scientific study of language. Its ultimate goal is the discovery of the constants the general principle which all languages are constructed and operated as systems of communication in the societies in which they are used. Therefore, it is langue and competence that should be studied. Parole is a mass of confused facts and not suitable for Systematic investigation. Instances of parole should be abstracted to discover the governing, regularities. Similarly, competence,:instead of performance, should be the object of investigation in linguistics, By definition linguistic competence is aset of rules, which can be applied over and over again to generate large number of sentences, including never before-heard sentences. The task of the linguists is to discover the roles underlying the speaker’s performance and discover what an ideal speaker knows of his native language. 8) Explain “speech and writing”, and cite two or more examples.

(1) Speech is considered as the primary medium of language. The reasons for this are as follows. First, speech is prior to writing historically: speech existed long, long before writing systems came into being. Even today many well-developed languages do not have a writing system yet. Second, without exception, all written forms “cut in” at some point on the stream of spoken language. The written forms represent either the individual sounds, such as English and French, or syllables, such as Japanese, or the individual words like the Chinese writing system.

(2) Writing is also important. Writing gives language new scope and uses that speech does not have. First, with writing, messages can be carried through space. Human voice is effective only within ear-shots. With the help of writing, we can send and receive messages across vast spaces. Second, with writing, messages can be cairried through time. The spoken word “dies” immediateiy but a written message can be transmitted far beyond the moment of production often from generation to generation and from one culture to another. Third, oral messages are subject to distortion, either unintentional (when due to misunderstanding for example) or otherwise. Written messages, on the other hand, remain exactly the same whether read a thousand years later or ten thousand miles away.

(3) Everything considered, speech is believed to be more representative of human language than writing. In spite of the common features they share, they differ because they are transmitted in different channels. Most linguistic analysis is focused on speech. This is one major difference between linguists today and the grammarians of the 19th century.

：