Assumptions and Approaches of Linguistics
By Shaozhong Liu
Guangxi Normal University, China
2.1 What is it: Featuring language
2.1.1 Design features of human language
We human beings are different from other animals. This is crystal-clear, theoretically
speaking. But how can we justify and report our differences from them? In what
simple, concise and lucid terms can we account for such differences?
In fact, this commonsensical question kept linguists thinking for two thousand years.
And the somewhat satisfactory answer did not come up until the 20th century, when
linguists became more conscious of the need in or focused on locating the features
that help to set human languages off from other animal languages, for instance the
language of dogs, or birds, or bees, etc., in more uniformed terms or scientific
language.
This well-coded and accurate term or scientific language, for the present purpose of
discussion, is often mentioned as “design feature”. In other words, it is a term and
concept that helps to edge-cut the features that remain at the gray-area between
human and animal languages, a term that helps to spell out those features that are
present to the former while absent in the latter, or unique or specific to only human
languages.
So to put it simple way, a design feature is one that helps to specify the humanistic
nature or attributes of language or elevate human languages from systems of
non-human communication.
After much search and elaboration, linguists come to conclude that at least 6
properties that attributive to human languages can be referred to as design features,
which are discussed one by one in the following:
2.1.2 Arbitrariness (任意性)
By ‘language is arbitrary’, we mean that there is no logical connection between
meanings and sounds. E.g.: / dog / for dog; while / pig / for pig; gou (狗) and zhu (猪)
respectively to indicate them in Chinese.
However language is not entirely arbitrary. E.g.: 1) certain sounds in every language
which are motivated and / to imitate natural sounds, hence are called onomatopoeic:
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bang, crash, roar in English, dingdang (叮当), kacha (喀嚓), putong (扑通) in
Chinese.2) some compounds are not entirely arbitrary, there is a certain connection
between their sounds and meaning: ‘type’ and ‘write’ = typewriter (the machine we
type our papers with). Other such words include tractordriver, shoe-maker,
air-conditioner.
The arbitrary nature of language is a sign of sophistication and this makes it possible
for language to have unlimited sources of expression.
2.1.3 Duality (二重性)
By ‘language is dual, it is meant that within the system of language, there are two sets
of structures, one for sounds and one for meaning.
What is more, a small number of sounds can be grouped and regrouped into large
number of units of meaning or words, while the units of meaning can be arranged and
rearranged into an infinite number of sentences.
The nature of this relationship constitutes a most interesting problem: we can’t make a
dictionary of sentences while we can make one of words, for words can be relatively
finite, whereas sentences made of words are potential and infinite.
This feature also implies that sound as shape or form of language gives way to content
or meaning of language most of the time, especially in cases of ungrammatical
expressions such as: no have (Thai English), sounds great / awesome; looks good;
don’t know what is going to happen (American English); T.M.D.(online language,
which was accounted for in terms of euphemism)
2.1.4 Productivity / Creativity (多产性；创造性)
Language is productive in the sense that users can understand and produce sentences
they have never heard before. For examples:
1) A red-eyed elephant is dancing on the hotel bed.
2) Let those colorless green dreams sleep furiously.
3) 一天,一个不明飞行物从桂林上空掠过。10 秒钟后，有人在荔浦县城一个山上
看到三个小矮人。他们左手握着冲锋枪，右手提着大哥大，头戴红军帽，口
里唱着《刘三姐》主题歌，双脚快速移动，好像跳着傣族的依拉贺物。
4) 曲名：怀念战友
歌手：刀郎
天山脚下是我可爱的家乡
当我离开他的时候
好象那哈密瓜断了瓜秧
白杨树下住着我心上的姑娘
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当我和她分别后
好象那都它尔闲挂在墙上
瓜秧断了哈密瓜依然香甜
琴师回来都它尔还会再响
民族乐器都它尔
当我永别了战友的时候
好象那雪崩飞滚万丈
啊~~~~~~
亲爱的战友
我再不能见到你雄伟的身影
和蔼的脸庞
啊~~~~~
亲爱的战友
你也再不能听我弹琴.
2.1.5 Displacement (移位)
By displacement, it means that language can be used to refer to things which are not
present: real, or imagined matters in the past, present, or future or in far-away places.
In other words, language can refer to contexts removed from the immediate speaking
situations of the speaker. For examples:
1) William Cuthbert Faulkner was born on September 25, 1897 in New Albany,
Mississippi and raised in nearby Oxford where he spent most of his life. His family
came from the old, white upper class. Though in decline in the 20th century, the family
retained some of the old customs and it was from his own family history, the southern
region’s characteristic of white social status, racial violence, honor codes, and
traditional moral values that Faulkner drew the material for most of his fiction.
2) 从前有座山，山上有座庙，庙里住着个和尚……
2.1.6 Cultural transmission (文化传递)
By ‘language is culturally transmitted’, it is meant that certain words, expressions, or
ways of saying things are unique to one people of one language while the same thing
is true vice versa. For examples:
1) On landscape:
----Guilin’s scenery is second to none in (the world; under heaven) China, and
Yangshuo’s scenery is its best part. 桂林山水甲天下，阳朔风景甲桂林
----Asheville. Wonderful one day… (simple but inviting imagination)
----Asheville North Carolina: Altitude affects attitude. (Alliteration)
----All I want is a great escape (get-away) and a great stay along the way.
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----Our biggest attraction is the lack of distraction.
----Discover snow in North Carolina (www.goskinc.com): snowski, snowboard,
snowtube, snowshoe, ice skate…there’s no end to the fun.
----这山望那山高。The grass is greener on the other side of the fence (mountain).
---About North Carolina’s golf courses (which are PGA’s site): No, the grass is NOT
greener on the other side of the fence. The grass IS greener on North Carolina’s golf
courses. (pun)
2) Two songs about one’s lovely country:
中国，中国，鲜红的太阳永不落
作曲：朱南溪 作词：任红举、贺东久
中国，中国，
壮丽的山河，
长江奔腾，
昆仑巍峨。
共产党领导的崭新国家，
处处盛开社会主义花朵。
中国，中国，鲜红的太阳永不落。
中国，中国，
沸腾的山河，
前进浪潮，波澜壮阔。
新长征的步伐，
无比坚定，
加快建设现代化的强国。
中国，中国，鲜红的太阳永不落。
中国，中国，
不屈的山河，
巍然屹立，气势磅礴。
英雄的人民，无比坚定，
时刻准备消灭一切侵略者。
中国，中国，鲜红的太阳永不落。
Country Road
John Denver
Almost heaven 在天堂般的 *Comparing vs. Locating (visional divergence)
West Virginia 西弗吉尼亚 *Best place you can find vs. a mere mentioning of place
Blue Ridge Mountain 有蓝岭山脉 *Naming beauties vs. citing things in vision
Shenandoah River 夏南多阿河
Life is old there 那儿生灵悠远
Older than the trees 比树木更年长
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Younger than the mountains 比群山更年轻
Growing like a breeze 如清风般成长
Country roads, take me home 乡村之路，带我回家
To the place I belong 那儿是我的归宿 *Where’s my home? Where is “there”
West Virginia 西弗吉尼亚 *Contextually, WV, but not evident in translation
Mountain Mama 大山妈妈
Take me home, country roads 乡村之路，带我回家
All my memories 我的一切记忆
Gather round her 都萦绕在她身边 *Who is “her”, should be WV.
Miners’ Lady 她是矿工们的圣母 *She is the “Lady” for miners
Stranger to blue water 从未见过蓝色海水 *She is far from sea
Dark and dusty 阴霾与灰尘 *She has no darkness and dust, because she is high
Painted on the sky 印在天空上 *Just like being painted in the sky (seen afar)
Misty taste of moonshine 月光朦胧的滋味 *it is saturated in the mist
Teardrops in my eyes 我眼眶中的眼泪 *At this thought I am excited
Country roads, take me home 乡村之路，带我回家
To the place I belong 那儿是我的归宿
West Virginia 西弗吉尼亚
Mountain Mama 大山妈妈
Take me home, country roads 乡村之路，带我回家
I hear her voice in the morning hours 清晨我听见她的声音 *Who is “her”?
She calls me 在呼唤我 *”Who” is calls? Morning breeze in the mountain
The radio reminds me of my home far away 收音机使我想起远方的家 *car radio
And driving down the road 开车驶过公路 *Why down? Sloppy and windy roads
I get a feeling 心中有种感觉
That I should have been home 昨天，昨天
Yesterday, yesterday 我早该回到家
Country roads, take me home 乡村之路，带我回家
To the place I belong 那儿是我的归宿
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West Virginia 西弗吉尼亚
Mountain Mama 大山妈妈
Take me home, country roads 乡村之路，带我回家
3) 笑死人的中国片英文翻译 http://cn.jokes.yahoo.com/040906/322/25jhg.html
2004-09-06 13:34 更新 来源：雅虎娱乐
----《farewell my concubine》--再见了，我的小老婆（这可是《霸王别姬》的英
文译名啊。
）
----《seventeen years》--十七年（故弄玄虚，《回家过年》）
----《ashes of time》--时间的灰烬（《东邪西毒》，这个译名意味深长，无论你是
东邪还是西毒，武功再高还不是最后都成了时间的灰烬？）
----《all men are brothers: blood of the leopard》--四海之内皆兄弟：豹子的血（《水
浒传》
，《水浒传》有个英文译名就是《四海之内皆兄弟 》）
----《chinese odyssey 1: pandora's box》--中国的奥德赛 1：潘多拉宝盒（《大话西
游之月光宝盒》
，这个绝对是入乡随俗了，不过好象都挨不上边耶）
----《chinese odyssey 2: cinderella》--灰姑娘（《大话西游之仙履奇缘》，至尊宝成
了孙悟空，灰姑娘穿上了水晶鞋，天才啊！）
----《dream factory》--梦工厂（《甲方乙方》，够牛的）
----《steel meets fire》--钢遇上了火（翻译遇上了鬼？《烈火金刚》）
----《third sister liu》--第三个姐姐刘（《刘三姐》，典型的不动脑筋）
----《in the mood for love》--在爱的情绪中（《花样年华》，恋爱中的译者）
----《woman-demon-human》--女人-恶魔-人类（《人鬼情》，失恋中的译者）
----《from beijing with love》--从北京带着爱（到香港换不了菜，《国产 007》）
----《flirting scholar》--正在调情的学者（别人看《红楼梦》看到诗，你看到了……？
----《唐伯虎点秋香》）
----《royal tramp》--皇家流浪汉（
《鹿鼎记》，为什么不译成 " 皇家马德里 " ？）
----《flowers of shanghai》--上海之花（pg18？《海上花》）
----《a better tomorrow》--明天会更好（ " 玉山白雪飘零，燃烧少年的心..." ，
《英
雄本色》
）
----《saviour of the soul》--灵魂的救星（啊呸！真不要脸！《九一神雕侠侣》）
----《Romatic of Three Kingdoms》-- 三个王国的罗曼史（居然是《三国演义》）
The nature of cultural transmission of language does not deny, however, the human
capacity for language at their genetic basis. On the contrary, only human beings can
learn language at birth, and he has to be exposed to a language in order to acquire it.
On the other hand, since a Chinese speaker and an English speaker, for instance are
not mutually intelligible / easily comprehensible, in terms of language, they need to
learn each other’s language in order to communicate with one another.
2.1.7 Interchangeability
Interchangeability means that any human being (of the same sex or different sexes)
can be both a producer and a receiver of messages.
A: The phone is ringing.
B: I am in the bath.
A: OK.
2.1.8 Other features are mentioned by different linguists
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Henry Widdowson (Professor of English for Speakers of Other Languages, University
of London Institute of Education, Professor of Applied Linguistics, University of
Essex) (1996, OUP, pp.5-8) mentioned 2: arbitrariness, duality, species-specific (it is
uniquely human), genetically-unique (in Chomsky’s terms, there are an LAD and UG
in language speakers), ideational and interpersonal (to borrow Halliday’s terms).
Jean Aitchinson (London School of Economics, 1978, pp.21-28) mentioned 7: use of
sound signals (use of vocal-auditory channel, George Yule, 1991, p.22), arbitrariness,
the need for learning, duality, displacement, patterning, and structure dependence.
Apart from the above 6 features, George Yule (Professor of linguistics, Linguistics
Program, Louisiana State University, and after 1995 lives and writes in Hawaii), also
mentioned other features such as the use of vocal-auditory channel (=human linguistic
communication is typically generated via the vocal organs and perceived via the ears),
reciprocity (=any speaker /sender of a linguistic signal can also be a listener /receiver),
specialization (=linguistic signals do not normally serve any other type of purpose,
such as breathing or feeding), non-directionality (=linguistic signals can be picked up
by anyone within hearing, even unseen), and rapid fade (=linguistic signals are
produced and disappear quickly).
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