Modern Linguistics Tutorial

Author: (American) Hockett, written by Hockett, translated by Suo Zhenyu and Ye Feisheng
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2002-03-02
Features: Hockett's A Course in Modern Linguistics was published in 1958. It is a comprehensive theoretical work of American structural linguistics and also a comprehensive textbook discussing various issues in linguistics. Since its publication, despite the impact of various emerging linguistic theories, it has been reprinted repeatedly and has been published in Polish (1969) and Spanish (1971) translations, and it remains highly regarded in the linguistic community as a comprehensive, solid, and reliable modern linguistic manual. The Chinese translation is divided into two volumes based on the discussion of synchronic descriptive principles and diachronic evolutionary patterns of the book, published in 1986 and 1987, respectively. The entire book consists of sixty-four chapters, excluding the introduction (chapter), and is summarized into twelve major issues.
(1) Signaling through sound: Phonology. This section primarily discusses the phonological theory and methodology of structuralist linguistics.
(2) Phonology and grammar: Different levels of modes. This section primarily discusses the structure of language, with Chapter 16, "The Construction of Language," serving as the backbone of the entire book.
(3) Grammatical system. This section primarily discusses the grammatical theory and analytical methods of structuralist linguistics, with Chapter 31, "The Core of Grammar," being crucial.
(4) Morphophonemic system. This section discusses the phonemic encoding of morphemes and the issue of morphemic identity.
(5) Idioms.
(6) Synchronic dialectology.
(7) Individual ontogeny. This section studies the development of an individual's speech habits from childhood to adulthood.
(8) Phylogeny. This section discusses the patterns of linguistic historical evolution.
(9) Prehistoric state of language. This section discusses the basic methods for exploring the prehistoric state of language.
(10) Writing.
(11) Literature.
(12) The status of humans in nature. This section discusses the fundamental differences between human language and animal "language," which is of great significance for studying the origins of human language.
Among these, the first four issues (Chapters 2–35) discuss the structure of language and the principles and methods of analyzing language, which can be referred to as the "Description Part." The last eight issues (Chapters 36–64) discuss the patterns of linguistic evolution and the principles and methods for exploring the process of linguistic evolution, which can be referred to as the "History Part."
Hockett believed that "language is a complex system of habits," consisting of five subsystems: grammatical system, phonemic system, morphophonemic system, semantic system, and phonetic system. Among these, the grammatical system, phonemic system, and morphophonemic system are the central systems, while the semantic system and phonetic system are the peripheral systems. The main task of A Course in Modern Linguistics is to describe the central systems of language, specifically to organize the phonemic and grammatical systems of language, and to link these two different-level systems together using the morphophonemic system as an "intermediary."
The theoretical framework and descriptive techniques for describing language that Hockett presented in A Course in Modern Linguistics represent a summary of the long-term research achievements of linguists in the American structuralist school. A notable characteristic is the further proceduralization of the description of the linguistic central system, which can be summarized as the basic principles of "from the surface to the inside" and "uni-directional hierarchical progress." The phonological research methods summarized in A Course in Modern Linguistics are effective, and the grammatical descriptive procedures are concise and practical. If Bloomfield's Language is considered the foundational work of American structuralist descriptive linguistics, then Hockett's A Course in Modern Linguistics can be seen as a summative work of American structural descriptive linguistics at its mature stage.