Language Theory

Author: Li Baojia
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1999-03-01
Features: This textbook introduces the fundamental theories of linguistic science, including the history and methods of linguistics, language investigation, the nature and function of language, structural analysis of language, the development and construction of language, and the learning and use of language. Since its first publication in 1995, the textbook has received praise from experts and is recognized for its contemporary characteristics, comprehensive absorption and integration of new achievements, and a blend of scientificity and. This revision has further improved it.
People have been studying language since ancient times. In the 4th century BC, ancient India saw the emergence of Panini's Ashtadhyayi, a grammar of Sanskrit. In the 3rd century BC, ancient Greece produced Greek Grammar by Dionysius. In ancient China, during the Han Dynasty, the study of language, known as "Xiaoxue," emerged, including "Exegesis," "Philology," and "Phonology." The linguistic studies of antiquity were primarily supplementary to understanding ancient texts, focusing mainly on the written language used by a few, detached from spoken language, rather than systematic research on the living language of the masses. Therefore, to distinguish it from independent linguistics, it was called "Philology."
From the 16th to the 18th centuries, people began to collect language specimens during international exchanges for comparative studies. By the late 18th to the 19th centuries, historical-comparative linguistics was established as a university course, making linguistics an independent science. In the early 20th century, structuralist linguistics emerged, emphasizing systematic research on language itself, transforming linguistics into a systematic science and ushering in the modern phase of linguistics. Subsequently, transformational-generative linguistics took modern linguistics to a new level, laying the foundation for computational linguistics. Later, fields such as sociolinguistics and cognitive linguistics, which focus on the surface and deep relationships of language, also rose in prominence.
The earliest scholar to comprehensively elaborate on general linguistic theory was the German Wilhelm von Humboldt, while the first to systematically articulate general linguistic theory was the Swiss Ferdinand de Saussure. The development of linguistic research can be summarized in the following developmental trajectories:
First, from surface to internal structure. Through historical-comparative linguistics, people discovered connections between languages, sparking interest in exploring the internal mysteries of language and giving rise to structuralist linguistics, which emphasized the study of the internal structural systems and characteristics of language. Of course, while exploring the internal secrets of language, one cannot ignore its surface connections.
Second, from the core to the periphery. From the core of language structure to its surrounding users, society, culture, and more, fields such as applied linguistics, sociolinguistics, and cultural linguistics emerged. The scope of core research has also expanded outward. Moving beyond the relatively limited study of basic symbolic words, researchers began to analyze and interpret increasingly infinite symbolic structures like sentences, sentence groups, and paragraphs, giving rise to textual linguistics and other disciplines. This allows for a three-dimensional analysis and interpretation of the overall nature of language. Of course, peripheral research must be grounded in core research.
Third, from historically determined to descriptively and interpretively grounded in the present. Things are always in a state of gradual change within relative stability. Linguistics has increasingly emphasized the descriptive study of constantly evolving objective facts. Of course, the norms of language have not been overlooked. Current descriptive research increasingly seeks to avoid extreme subjective factors, focusing on linguistic facts to refine and formalize research. Naturally, during linguistic development, some chaos may arise, requiring relatively stable norms to regulate it.
Fourth, from written language to spoken language. There is growing emphasis on the study of living spoken language, including dialectal spoken language. In the study of linguistic history, spoken materials are scarce, making written language the sole available resource.