英语翻译语言系统The Linguistic System There are as many as three thousand languages which are spoken today.These languages are very different one from another.Indeed,it is primarily the fact that they are so different as to be mutually uninte

英语翻译语言系统The Linguistic System There are as many as three thousand languages which are spoken today.These languages are very different one from another.Indeed,it is primarily the fact that they are so different as to be mutually uninte
英语翻译
语言系统The Linguistic System
There are as many as three thousand languages which are spoken today.These languages are very different one from another.Indeed,it is primarily the fact that they are so different as to be mutually unintelligible that allows us to call them separate languages.A speaker of one of them,no matter how skillful and fluent,cannot communicate with a speaker of another unless one of them,as we say,“learns the other’s language.” Yet these differences,great as they are,are differences of detail－of the kinds of sounds used and the ways of putting them together.In their broad outlines,in their basic principles,and even in the way they approach certain specific problems of communication,languages have a great deal in common.
We are all intimately familiar with at least one language,yet few of us ever stop to consider what we know about it.The words of a language can be listed in a dictionary,but not all the sentences,and a language consists of these sentences as well as words.
Speakers use a finite set of rules to produce and understand an infinite set of sentences.These rules comprise the grammar of a language,which is learned when you acquire the language.The grammar of a language includes the sound system,how words may be combined into phrases and sentences,and the way in which sounds and meanings are related.
The sounds and meaning of words are related in an arbitrary fashion.That is,if you had never heard the word “grammar”,you would not,by its sounds,know what it meant.Language,then,is a system that relates sounds with meanings,and when you know a language,you know this system.
This linguistic knowledge,or linguistic competence,is different from linguistic behavior,known as linguistic performance.If you woke up one morning and decided to stop talking,you would still have the knowledge of your language.If you do not know the language,you cannot speak it; but if you know the language,you may choose not to speak.
Language is a tool of communication.But if language is defined merely as a system of communication,then language is not unique to humans.We know birds,bees,crabs,spiders,whales,and most other creatures communicate in some way.However,there are certain characteristics of human language not found in the communication systems of any other species.A basic property of human language is its creative aspect －a speaker’s ability to combine the basic linguistic units to form an infinite set of “well-formed”,or grammatical,sentences,most of which are novel,never before produced or heard.The grammar of human language can generate infinite messages,a property unique to the human species.

英语翻译语言系统The Linguistic System There are as many as three thousand languages which are spoken today.These languages are very different one from another.Indeed,it is primarily the fact that they are so different as to be mutually uninte
语言系统
至今,人们使用的语言多达三千种.这些语言各不相同.实际上,正因为这些语言差异巨大,互不相通,我们才将它们称为独立的语言.这些语言中的任何一者的语者,不论将自己的语言掌握得多么熟练、流利,都无法同本门语言之外的其他语言语者进行交流,正如我们所说的,需要“学习对方的语言.”语言之间的差异,尽管相差甚远,却都是细节上的差异,如语音类别及语音组合方式的不同.从语言的基本概貌、基本原则,甚至对一些具体的交际问题的处理方法上来看,语言有着诸多的共同点.
虽然我们至少通晓一门语言,但很少有人会静心思考对这门语言了解了什么.语言的词汇可以在词典中列出,但并非所有的句子都能为词典所收录,而一门语言则由句子及文字构成.
语者可以运用一组数量有限的规则来表达与理解数量无限的句子.这些规则组成了语言的语法体系,这些规则当你习得语言时就已掌握.语言的语法包括音系,词汇如何组成短语和句子以及语音和语义之间联系等规则.
语音和语义之间存在着任意性的关联.也就是说,如果你从未听过这个词的“语法”,即便闻其声,也无法通其意.然而,语言系统关联到其语音和语义,且当你熟识一门语言同时,也就掌握了该语言系统.
这种语言知识（或称为语言能力）,有别于语言行为（或称为语言运用）.某天早晨你醒来后决定不说话,但你仍具有所掌握的语言的知识.倘若你并未掌握这门语言,那你就无法说；又倘若你已掌握这门语言,你则可以选择不说.
语言是交际的工具.但如果把语言仅仅定义为一种交际系统,那语言便不是人类的专有品.人类语言的一个基本属性是创造性.我们知道,鸟类、蜜蜂、螃蟹、蜘蛛、鲸鱼及大多数其他生物在同种群中以某些方式进行沟通.然而,人类语言的某些特征却为任何其他物种的交际系统所缺乏.人类语言的一个基本属性便是它的创造性——语者有能力将基本语言单位组合成无穷无尽即形式正确又合乎语法规则的句子,其大部分句子是新的,从未被造过或听过.人类语言的语法可以衍生无限的信息,这也是人类一个独一无二的属性.