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文学艺术关乎着人生的终极意义，文学作品是我们人类外化的生命。下文是我为大家整理的关于英国文学方面的 毕业 论文优秀 范文 的内容，欢迎大家阅读参考!
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英国文学方面的毕业论文优秀范文篇1
浅谈英美文学作品中模糊语言的翻译方式
1、英美文学作品中的模糊性
模糊性是大多数语言所具有的内在属性，模糊语言在我们的语言交流中是不可避免的。罗素在1923年写的一篇有名的论文《论模糊性》中指出：“整个语言或多或少是模糊的”。汪培庄为伍铁平所著《模糊语言学》所做序中开宗明义地指出：“模糊性是非人工语言的本质属性，因而是语言学所不能回避的对象。”
文学作为一种语言艺术。其重要的特点就在于形象性。基本上大多数读者都是通过在脑海里的再造想象欣赏文学作品的，这种再造想象的特征之一就是模糊语言。也正是这种模糊语言的使用，极大程度上拓展了读者的视野和想象空间，也彰显了文字的魅力。典型的一段如莎士比亚在《王子复仇记》中一句“to be，or not to be”短短几个词引起了读者无限的遐想和解读，同时也让这句话获得了旺盛的生命力。
2、英美文学作品中模糊语言的翻译方式
翻译就好像婚姻一样，它是一种互相妥协的文字艺术。同样的语言翻译也是拥有不同语言以及不同 文化 背景的人跨文化交流的一种手段。优秀的语言翻译带来的是成功的交流，而劣质的翻译也会导致误解。在这样重要的情况下，翻译就会显得异常重要，面对不同的语言，翻译者就需要采取恰如其分的翻译方式，以实现不同语言的信息成功传递。从某种程度上说，成功的文学翻译也是对原著作者精神的模糊转达。
2.1、符合原文精神
文章 翻译的首要 方法 就是以对应的形式再现原文的模糊语言美感。比如杰克·伦敦的《马丁·伊登》卷首引诗：Let me live out my years in heat of blood/ Let me lie drunken with the dreamer’s wine/ Let me not see this soul-house built of mud/ Go toppling to the dust a vacant shrine! (让我在热血沸腾中度此一生! /让我在醇酒般的梦幻里醉沉!/莫使我眼见这 泥塑 的肉身，/终以空虚的躯壳毁于泥尘!) 译文里面的语言就是诗歌创作中形象与模糊思维互相交感的出品，翻译可谓是恰如其分，不但精确化，还模糊化，文章美感仍在。如此译文更激发读者的 想象力 ，使语言具有活力。
2.2、模糊描述，再现意象美
翻译者在翻译英美文学作品的时候，要充分运用模糊描述，再现原作中人物意象模糊所创造的美感。比如在小说《达·芬奇密码》中丹·布朗运用了一连串的意象语言，目的就是为了形容兰登的模样。对原文作者来说，这些人物的外形描述的内涵隽永而且意味深长，也是作者布朗对小说主角兰登形象刻画的一种表达，所以这些模糊语言描述也具有了象征意味，相对读者来说，这些形象描述之外的意义能否转化为读者的意向就不得而知了。但是在中文译本中，翻译者就对此进行了有利的铺垫，比如“锐利的眼睛”、“一片暗色的胡碴”等等，就无形中为下文的“书卷气吸引力 ”进行了较为有利的铺垫也是成功地保留了原文的意象美感。
2.3、模糊单词的翻译
各种语言都普遍存在着一种现象那就是模糊性，在一般情况下，如果一个单词在一种语言中的概念是模糊的，那么在另一种语言中也会同样存在模糊的概念。所以这样的话，我们就可以采用模糊对模糊的翻
译原则翻译。比如在王佐良所译Thoughts on Various Subjects 中的有一句，如下：“Complaint is the largest Tribute Heaven rec Eives， and the sincerest Part of our Devotion.”翻译为“怨言是上天 得自我们的最大贡物，也是我们祷告中最真诚的部分。”在这里翻译者将文中的模糊单词“largest”和“sincerest” 翻译成 “最大”和“最真诚”大概是最合时宜的翻译了。一般来说，在模糊 语言的翻译中，运用“模糊对模糊”的原则是最常见得，也是最省力的。
但是也有些特殊的情况，由于模糊词与其邻词之间的清晰度不明显，导致在翻译的时候会出现一些偏差，所以就要运用某些目 标语 中的表达来翻译原来语言中的模糊词。
比如:Stood up and looked out of the window on the calm summer night through which I was journeying， noting the pale reminiscence of day that still lingered in the northern sky. (A. G. Gardiner: A Fellow-Traveler) 站起来眺望旅途窗外那沉寂的夏季的傍晚，注视着那白日的暗淡余晖仍逗留在北方的天空。从客观上来说，“night”可以翻译成“傍晚”和“晚上”，这是两个边界不很清晰的模糊词汇。之所以把“night”翻译成“傍晚”一来这样翻译忠于原文、也通顺的传达了原文的意思，而来使读者容易理解，也便于接受。
由于模糊词具有丰富的意义和内涵，有些时候翻译者也会根据具体的语境，翻译时采用更为精确的语言，使的翻译文章更加出彩。由此也可以看到翻译者的巧妙地翻译方式。
3、结论
从某种意义上讲， 文学语言的 艺术是一种模糊语言的艺术。在文学作品中，模糊语言的使用不仅拓展了读者的视野，拓展了读者的想象空间，也还增强了文学语言的艺术魅力，所以，文学翻译显得尤为重要。而文学翻译成功的关键就是掌握好翻译策略将文学作品中的模糊语言翻译好。在翻译的时候，翻译者要充分调动自己的翻译意识，要尽可能把握原作的精华。同时，翻译者也要充分发挥主观能动性，发挥自己的想象力再现原作的模糊意蕴。
英国文学方面的毕业论文优秀范文篇2
论西方 典故 与英美文学 教育
摘 要:英美文学教学的困难之一是学生面对西方典故的困惑。要解决这个问题,就要在教学过程中适当导入一些《圣经》、希腊罗马神话、世界名著和西方历史的相关内容,提高学生对西方典故的敏感度和熟悉度,加强学生的文学鉴赏力和文化素养。
关键词: 英美文学西方典故;《圣经》;希腊罗马神话;世界名著
在目前英语教学实践中,由于培养实用型外语人才思想占据主导地位,人们对 英语学习 的目的日趋功利,对口语大力提倡,对等级考试和各类水平测试给予极大的关注,英美文学等人文学科教育的作用似乎渐渐被人遗忘。而中西文化传统存在的巨大差异在中西文学传统中都突出地表现出来,使得传统的英美文学课在高等院校英语教学实践中遭遇到前所未有的挑战。高校英美文学课遇到的重重障碍的表现之一就是英语典故的运用。
典故(allusions)作为一种修辞手段,在文学作品中起着令人不可忽视的作用。恰当地运用典故,可以更透彻地说明事理,更有效地表达思想,更有力地抒发感情,可以增强语言的精炼性,形象性和生动性,强化艺术效果。事实上,在教学过程中适当导入一些《圣经》、希腊罗马神话、世界名著和西方历史的相关内容,提高学生对西方典故的敏感度和熟悉度,不仅使学生获得必要的文学知识,而且可以促进学生对英美文学作品的理解,增强他们对西方文化的了解,帮助他们提高对英语的欣赏能力和实际运用能力,从而激发他们的英语学习兴趣。
一、 《圣经》与英美文学
《圣经》是__的一部经典,由于它在世界上的广泛传播,对西方各国的文学艺术都产生深远的影响。在英语民族文学艺术史上,有不少伟大的诗人,剧作家,小说家和艺术家都采用《圣经》中的 故事 和 传说 为题材,创作出许多诗歌,戏剧,小说,音乐和绘画。而更多的故事传说和只言片语则进入英语日常用语,成为广泛使用的《圣经》典故。
英美作家引用《圣经》典故的方法主要有:直接引用《圣经》中的词句或人名作为作品标题或人物名称,或直接引用《圣经》故事或对原型故事进行变形处理。通过比喻、隐喻或象征等手法,把《圣经》故事的寓意融汇到作品的情节或人物的性格里,使这些故事发挥有力的陪衬作用。如Shakespeare所著的《威尼斯商人》(The Merchant of Venice)中,当Portia假装肯定Shylock 这一磅肉(a pound of flesh)合同时,Shylock高兴地喊道:“A Daniel come to judgment! Yea, a Daniel!--- O wise young judge, how I do honour thee!”Daniel是《圣经》中希伯来预言家,他聪颖过人,公允无私,执法如山。在这里,用这一典故把Portia比作智慧而又刚直不阿的法官。这样的艺术效果是十分强烈的。
二、 古希腊罗马神话与英美文学
希腊文化和罗马文化是西方文明的摇篮,其中古希腊罗马神话更是英美语言和文学作品中典故的重要来源,在整个西方文学史上有着极其光辉灿烂的一页。在英美文学作品中,以这些 神话故事 为背景或主题的作品更是不胜枚举。
以希腊神话为第一来源的《荷马史诗》可谓开西方文学之先河,深受西方人的熟悉和喜爱。中世纪伟大诗人但丁的力作《神曲》,虽然写的是__道德主题,里面却用了不少希腊神话故事。
十七世纪古典主义作家的悲剧中,大量采用希腊神话故事。弥尔顿的《失乐园》虽以《圣经》故事为主题,但诗句中却随处可见希腊神话的典故。在拜伦的《哀希腊》(The Isles of Greece)一诗中,出自希腊神话的典故更是比比皆是,而这些典故均为英语民族所熟悉。又如现代作家D.H.劳伦斯名作《儿子与情人》所表现的“恋母情结”的主题,就是源自希腊神话俄狄蒲斯(Oedipus),通过隐喻与象征的手法使得这篇名作主题更加鲜明突出。
三、世界名著、民间传说、 寓言故事 与英美文学
一些脍炙人口的世界名著,民间传说,寓言故事等都为英语语言文学提供了许许多多富有表现力的典故。莎士比亚戏剧(Shakespeare’s plays),《一千零一夜》(Arabian Nights),《伊索寓言》(Aesop’s Fables),《安徒生 童话故事 》(Andersen’s Fairy Tales And Stories)等等,都为英语民族所喜闻乐见。因此,它们入典成为英美文学的组成部分也是顺理成章的事。
莎剧《哈姆莱特》(Hamlet)中的哈姆莱特是为父复仇的丹麦王子,由于他生性犹豫不决,致使复仇计划一再延误。现在Hamlet便用来比喻忧郁不满而又优柔寡断的人。《伊索寓言》在欧洲文学史上有着深刻的影响,成为寓言诗人的创作源泉,经常为后代作家所引用,成为寄托教训,说明事理的典故。
酸葡萄(sour grapes),是指《伊索寓言》中的狐狸,因够不着葡萄而把它称为“酸葡萄”,来聊以自慰。披着羊皮的狼(a wolf in sheep’s clothing),则指装扮成正人君子的敌人,而“cry wolf”(喊狼来了)则用来指发虚假警报。又如《一千零一夜》中的《芝麻开门》(Open Sesame),童话故事中的《灰姑娘》(Cinderella),德国民间传说中的人物《浮士德》(Faust)等等,早已在英美文学中屡被运用。
由于历史的传统和文化的背景不一样,不同的民族都有自己的典故。引用典故,已成为世界文学传统的修辞艺术。典故可以激发学生的想象力,还能增强语言文学的感染力,往往能收到言简意赅的效果。英美文学课是培养学生人文精神,提高文化修养和英语素质不可或缺的课程。因此,在英美文学课程中增加典故的教学内容,不仅符合英美文学教学大纲要求,还体现了英语专业语言教学的趣味性和活泼性。这样做不仅可以活跃课堂气氛,更重要的是,能使学生感受真实的客观的、原汁原昧的英语语言,体验经典精邃的文学语言的表达魅力,切实提高学生的文学鉴赏力和文化素养,达到教学目的。
参考文献:
[1] 于娜. 中西文化导入与英美文学教学[J].文教资料,2005,(26).
[2] 郭慧. 英美文学与英语学习[J]. 辽宁工学院学报,2006,(5).
[3] 赵亦倩.英美文学课堂中的文化渗透[J]. 考试周刊,2008,(30).
[4] 胡文仲. 语言与文化[M]. 北京外语教学与研究出版社,1998.
①与书为友，天地长久。(某丛书广告)
②皮革天地，迷人世界。(皮货商场)
③得之于莺飞草长的天时，得之于土厚天高的地利!(房地产)
以上广告词都含有天地一体的哲学思想，是天人合一的哲学观念深植于中华民族文化之中的自然流露，都能引起我国受众特有的感受和共鸣，容易激发人们的消费欲。
强调群体、贬抑个体是中国哲学观念的另一重要特征。如汉语包括广告语言从大到小的表达顺序正是这一哲学观念的体现。又如我国的大多广告词十分精辟，往往以寥寥数语勾画商品或服务的特征、特点和优势，注重创造其总体形象，一般不很注重产品或服务的特点、优点的重墨细腻的描述。我国广告存在不突出个性的现象，这似乎也与中华文化中追求群体一致性，反对个体特殊性的传统思想有所联系。
与此相反，突出个体和个性是西方哲学观念的一个重要方面。英语包括广告英语从小到大的表达顺序则是这一哲学观念的具体反映。如，英语广告特别注重对产品或服务的特性、特征进行缜密入微的重墨描述，特别突出其个性与众的不同之处。广告语篇，与形象优美的插图相互映衬相得益彰，把商品的个性和特征表现得淋漓尽致，巧妙而自然地将商品的价值转移到商品购买者身上，着力创造美满理想的生活氛围，把受众诱入引人入胜的境界，让消费的念头油然而生。这样的广告在西方处处可见，在我国则较为罕见。这种差异同中西各自的哲学观念和物质文明程度紧密相联。
整齐、对称是人们对客观事物正确认识形成的一个哲学观念。我们知道，许多客观事物都具有整齐对称特征。人类各门学科包括建筑、美术都反映出这一特征。语言，包括广告语言，作为文化的载体，当然也表现出这个特征。中文广告中应用频繁的对偶式四字句就是整齐、对称的范例。如“质量第一，信誉至上”这样的四字句构成的对偶句非常整齐对称，符合中国人的表达和欣赏习惯。此外，中文广告中的许多广告词都是文字工整、结构匀称、琅琅上口的广告金句。如：
④甜甜大白兔，宝宝心爱物!(白兔糖)；
⑤追逐美丽画面，留下永恒回忆!(照像机)
英语广告篇章也讲究整齐、对称。为数不少的广告标题和广告口号都是整齐、对称的句子。试看一例：
⑥A business in millons,a profit in pennies.
众所周知，英语广告篇章中的排比句俯拾即是，其中有些音节大约相等、结构颇为工整。如：
⑦Earth is a person to be cared for Earth is a home to be managed…
另外，英语各类广告中时尔可见短语排列式语篇。英国语言学家G.N.Leech(1966：95)称之为block language(块式语言)。短语排列式广告篇章文字整齐，结构匀称，意思清楚，一目了然，给人印象深刻，过目难忘。短语排列式语篇在中文广告中也屡见不鲜，可能是受西方广告的影响吧。
整齐、对称是人类对客观事物的一种正确认识，它反映在人类文明的各个方面。整齐、对称也是广告修辞特点之一。中文广告最讲究整齐对称，很少运用参差、错落、残缺等艺术手法，这大概是因为我国人民对整齐、对称的偏爱吧。西方广告既采用整齐对称的结构，又好用参差、错落、残缺等艺术手法，具有多姿多彩、含蓄隽永的效果。显然，中西广告的艺术手法与各自的文化传统包括哲学观念息息相关。
二、思维模式与广告语言
思维模式与语言之间存在互相制约、互相影响的关系。思维模式自然而然对广告语言的运用和接受产生影响。广告语言必然反映和影响思维模式。
具象性是世界各民族的思维特点。人们习惯于形象思维，喜欢具体、形象、直观的语言。广告语言充满修辞格，通常非常生动形象。如：
⑧停电24小时!依旧冷若冰霜。(上海航天电冰箱广告)
⑨书为山谷，笔为径。(某彩色笔广告)
⑩把柔媚浇在身上。(香浴乳广告)
以上第⑧例含有明喻辞格，产品的特性和功能生动形象地表达出来了。第⑨句包含两个暗喻，书比作山谷，笔被喻为山径，清楚易懂。从暗喻可知，笔是通向知识殿堂的小路，是摘取知识之果的必备工具。第⑩例巧妙地将产品形象化为“柔媚”，制造了极柔极媚的体验，浪漫娇妩，极富诱惑力。
英语广告措词也讲究生动形象。例如：
(11)Breakfast without orange juice is like a day without sunshine.
(12)Goldstar is the brightest star in electronics.
上面第(11)句是个典型的明喻句式，第(12)句是个典型的暗喻句式。语言生动，意境鲜明，产品功能、公司形象具体生动地呈现于读者眼前，令人怦然心动。
形象思维是人类思维特点之一。英汉广告大量使用比喻比拟等辞格来创造鲜明的意境和生动的形象，以便富有感染力地宣传商品或服务的特性，从而大大增强英汉广告功能。
人类思维模式的另一特点是模糊性。所谓“弦外之音”、“言外之意”、“只可意会、不可言传”等等正是中国人对语言文字的特殊体验。尽管广告语言首先要求简明易懂，但恰到好处的模糊性、意会性，可使广告语言富于联想，回味无穷，大大增加广告的艺术感染力。汉语广告的模糊性常常在于运用精辟的言词巧妙的表达法或恰当的修辞，意味深长耐人寻味地创造商品或服务的整体形象。例如在杉杉牌西服的电视广告里，一位男士身上所穿的漂亮潇洒、楚楚动人的西服引起了众人的羡慕。一对情侣在喝饮料，小伙子羡慕地盯着这身西服，惊异地说：“杉杉牌西服!”他的女友立即半开玩笑地对他说：“不要太潇洒!”言外之意丰富而生动，十分耐人寻味。
西方民族的思维模糊性在英语中也得到了充分体现。这种模糊性似乎跟汉语广告一样常见。英语广告的模糊性表现在好些方面，但主要在于利用双关(pun)、含蓄比较(implied comparison)等修辞手段或使用别出心裁的表达法来描述商品或服务的具体特性、特征和优点。如：
(13)You'll go nuts for the nuts you get in Nux.It fills you up and givesyou lots of go.(Leech,1966：185)
该广告词包含双关语：go nuts( = become crazy)中的nuts与其前面的the nuts(坚果)均构成语义双关。显然，双关语表里双涉，一举两得，富于联想，灵活机动，深刻而生动地揭示广告产品的特性与功能。可见，广告语言的模糊性是作者匠心独运的生花妙笔。
语言的模糊性存在于语音、词汇、语法修辞系统之中。广告的模糊性不但存在于广告文字中，而且存在于广告图像中。模糊的广告语言和插图给受众提供广阔的想像余地，诱发人们的想像思维，激发消费者对产品的联想，激起他们的购买欲望。
I Love English
As everyone knows,English is very important today.It has been used everywhere in the world.It has become the most common language on Internet and for international trade.If we can speak English well,we will have more chance to succeed.Because more and more people have taken notice of it,the number of the people who go to learn English has increased at a high speed.
But for myself,I learn English not only because of its importance and its usefulness,but also because of my love for it.When I learn English,I can feel a different way of thinking which gives me more room to touch the world.When I read English novels,I can feel the pleasure from the book which is different from reading the translation.When I speak English,I can feel the confident from my words.When I write English,I can see the beauty which is not the same as our Chinese...
I love English,it gives me a colorful dream.I hope I can travel around the world one day.With my good English,I can make friends with many people from different contries.I can see many places of great intrests.I dream that I can go to London,because it is the birth place of English.
I also want to use my good English to introduce our great places to the English spoken people,I hope that they can love our country like us.
I know,Rome was not built in a day.I believe that after continuous hard study,one day I can speak English very well.
If you want to be loved,you should learn to love and be lovable.So I believe as I love English everyday ,it will love me too.
I am sure that I will realize my dream one day!
Thank you!
亲爱的老师,同学们：
我很高兴可以在这个课堂上做一次演讲.这一次,我想谈谈英语.我的话题是我爱英语.
正如每个人所知,英语在今天十分重要.它已经被应用到世界的各个角落.它已经成为商业上最为通用的一门语言并广泛的用于国际贸易.如果我们能说好英语,我们就有更多的机会成功.因为越来越多的人注意到这一点,学英语的人数正在已很高的速度增长.
但是对我而言,我学英语不仅仅因为它的重要性以及它的实用性,更是因为我喜爱英语.当我学英语时,我可以体会到一种不同的思维方式,它可以给我更多接触世界的空间.当我读英语小说时,我能感受到不同于阅读翻译文的快乐.当我说英语时,我可以感到自信.当我写英语时,我能够感到不同于汉语的那种美……
我爱英语,它给了我一个色彩斑斓的梦.我希望有朝一日我可以畅游世界,用我流利的英语,我可以和世界各地的人交友.我能看到许多的名胜.我希望我能够到伦敦去,因为那里是英语的故乡.
我也希望用我流利的英语来将我们的名胜介绍给说英语的朋友,我希望他们可以像我们一样的爱我们的国家.
我知道,罗马不是一天筑成的.（成功需要日积月累.）我相信在持续不断的努力学习下,总有一天我可以拥有一口流利的英语.
如果你想被爱,你就应该学着去爱他人.所以我相信我对英语的爱定将换来它对我的爱.
我相信总有一天我会实现我的梦!
On suprasegmental features
一． Introduction
So far we have been talking about phonetic features as they apply to single phonetic segments, or phones. Phonetic features can also apply to a string of several sounds, such as a syllable, or an entire word or utterance. The study of phonological features which applies to groups larger than the single segment, are known as suprasegmental features, such as the syllable or the word. The study of these features is known as prosody. It mainly includes syllable, stress, pitch, tone, and intonation. In this paper, I will talk about the suprasegmental features in great detail.
Key words: phonetic, suprasegmental.
二． Syllable
The most obvious prosodic feature in language is the syllable. Let's briefly discuss the notion of syllables. Like all of our other basic linguistic concepts, although everyone knows what a syllable is, the concept "syllable" is difficult to define in absolute terms. A syllable can be divided into three parts, that is, onset, nucleus, and coda, of which nucleus is a must. A syllable that has no coda is called an open syllable while a syllable with coda is called a closed syllable. In English only long vowels and diphthongs can occur in open syllables. The onset may be empty or filled by a cluster of as many as three consonants, while the coda position may be filled as many as four consonants. The maximal onset principle states that when there is a choice as to where to place a consonant, it is put into the onset rather than the coda. In some languages, syllables are always open, that is, they always end in a vowel, never a consonant. (Hawaiian) On the other hand, every Hawaiian syllable must begin with a consonant. (Aloha spoken as a single word begins in a glottal stop.) In other languages, syllables are always closed; they must end in a consonant (Navaho): Háá'ishah dididiljah. Let's build a fire. Táá diné 'ooljéé'go naaskai' Three men went to the moon. (Like Hawaiian, they must also begin in a consonant.
)
三． Stress
The nature of stress
The word stress is used differently by different authors, and the relationship between stress, emphasis, accent and prominence is also defined differently. Robins has defined it as “a generic term for the relatively greater force exerted in the articulation of part of utterance”. The nature of stress is simple enough—practically everyone would agree that the first syllable of words like“father”, “open” is stressed, that the middle syllable is stressed in “potato”, “apartment” and the final syllable is stressed in “about”, “perhaps”, and most people feel they have some sort of idea of what the difference is between stressed and unstressed syllables, though they might explain it in many different ways.
The production of stress is generally believed to depend on the speaker using more muscular energy than is used for unstressed syllables. From the perceptual point of view, all stressed syllables have one characteristic in common, and that is “prominence”. Roach has manifested that at least four different factors are important to make a syllable prominent:
i) Loudness: Most people seem to feel that stressed syllables are louder than unstressed ones; in other words, loudness is a component of prominence.
ii) Length: The length of syllables has an important part to play in prominence; the syllables which are made longer than the others will be heard as stressed.
iii) Pitch: Pitch in speech is closely related to the frequency of vibration of the vocal folds and to the musical notion of low-pitched and high-pitched notes; if one syllable is said with a pitch that is noticeably different from that of the others, this will have a strong tendency to produce the effect of prominence.
iv) Quality: a syllable will tend to be prominent if it contains a vowel that is different in quality from neighboring vowels.
Languages differ in how they use stress.
1) In some languages, each syllable is equally stressed or unstressed，as in Cambodian
2) the syllable in each word is more stressed.
The place of stress is fixed on a certain syllable:
1) initial. Finnish, Hungarian and other Finno-Ugric languages
2) penultimate. Polish,
3) final. French.
4) Complex set of rules. In Bulgarian nouns and verbs have separate sets of rules for stress placement. Hopi (phonetic: first syllable of a two syllable word: síkwi meat; in words of three or more syllables, accent falls on the first long vowel: máamatsi to recognize; or on the first short vowel before a consonant cluster: péntani to write; otherwise it falls on the next to last syllable: wunúvtu stand up)
The place of stress is random.
1) In Russian the stress is completely random: xoroshó, xoróshi.
2) In English the stress is more predictable but still random. Usually a middle syllable of a longer word receives the stress. In two syllable words stress is rando and often renders differences in meaning: project/to project, produce/produce, and insult/ to insult.
Some languages have more than one stress per word: English is such a language. In English, words of four syllables or more have a primary and a secondary stress. Some English compounds have phrasal stress on the first element of the compound. Phrasal stress often distinguishes meaning in adjective/noun combinations.
Sentence stress in English
According to He Shanfen (1992), English sentence stress has two main functions:
⑴ to indicate the important words in the sentence; ⑵ to serve as the basis for the rhythmic structure of the sentence.
Consequently, in connected English speech, sentence stress usually falls on content ( or lexical) words, which carry the basic meaning of a sentence, e.g. nouns, adjectives, adverbs etc. Those which are usually unstressed in sentences are form (or structural) words, which show grammatical relationships, such as articles, auxiliary and modal verbs, monosyllabic prepositions, etc.
On suprasegmental features
Introduction
So far we have
been talking about phonetic features as they apply to single phonetic segments,
or phones. Phonetic features can also apply to a string of several
sounds, such as a syllable, or an entire word or utterance. The study of
phonological features which applies to groups larger than the single segment,
are known as suprasegmental
features, such as the syllable or the word. The study of these features is known
as prosody. It mainly includes
syllable, stress, pitch, tone, and intonation. In this paper, I will talk about
the suprasegmental features in
great detail.
Key words: phonetic, suprasegmental.
Syllable
The most obvious prosodic feature in language
is the syllable. Let's briefly discuss the notion of syllables. Like all of our other basic linguistic concepts,
although everyone knows what a syllable is, the concept "syllable" is
difficult to define in absolute terms. A syllable can be divided into three
parts, that is, onset, nucleus, and coda, of which nucleus is a must. A
syllable that has no coda is called an open syllable while a syllable with coda
is called a closed syllable. In English only long vowels and diphthongs can
occur in open syllables. The onset may be empty or filled by a cluster of as
many as three consonants, while the coda position may be filled as many as four
consonants. The maximal onset principle states that when there is a choice as
to where to place a consonant, it is put into the onset rather than the coda.
In some languages, syllables are always open,
that is, they always end in a vowel, never a consonant. (Hawaiian)
On the other hand, every Hawaiian syllable must begin with a consonant. (Aloha spoken as a single word begins
in a glottal stop.) In other languages, syllables are always closed; they must
end in a consonant (Navaho): Háá'ishah dididiljah. Let's build a fire. Táá diné 'ooljéé'go naaskai' Three men went to the moon. (Like
Hawaiian, they must also begin in a consonant.
)
Stress
The nature of stress
The word stress is used differently by
different authors, and the relationship between stress, emphasis, accent and
prominence is also defined differently. Robins has defined it as “a generic
term for the relatively greater force exerted in the articulation of part of
utterance”. The nature of stress is simple enough—practically everyone would
agree that the first syllable of words like“father”, “open” is stressed, that
the middle syllable is stressed in “potato”, “apartment” and the final syllable
is stressed in “about”, “perhaps”, and most people feel they have some sort of
idea of what the difference is between stressed and unstressed syllables,
though they might explain it in many different ways.
The production of stress is generally
believed to depend on the speaker using more muscular energy than is used for
unstressed syllables. From the perceptual point of view, all stressed syllables
have one characteristic in common, and that is “prominence”. Roach has
manifested that at least four different factors are important to make a
syllable prominent:
i) Loudness: Most people seem to feel
that stressed syllables are louder than unstressed ones; in other words,
loudness is a component of prominence.
ii) Length: The length of syllables has
an important part to play in prominence; the syllables which are made longer
than the others will be heard as stressed.
iii) Pitch: Pitch in speech is closely
related to the frequency of vibration of the vocal folds and to the musical
notion of low-pitched and high-pitched notes; if one syllable is said with a
pitch that is noticeably different from that of the others, this will have a
strong tendency to produce the effect of prominence.
iv) Quality: a syllable will tend to be prominentif it contains a vowel that is different in quality from neighboring vowels.
Languages differ in how they use stress.
1) In some languages, eachsyllable is equally stressed or unstressed，as in Cambodian
2) the syllable in eachword is more stressed.
The
place of stress is fixed on a
certain syllable:
1) initial. Finnish,Hungarian and other Finno-Ugric languages
2) penultimate. Polish,
3) final. French.
4) Complex set of
rules. In Bulgarian nouns and verbs have separate sets of rules for
stress placement. Hopi (phonetic: first syllable of a two syllable
word: síkwi meat; in
words of three or more syllables, accent falls on the first long vowel:
máamatsi to recognize; or on
the first short vowel before a consonant cluster: péntani to write; otherwise it falls on the
next to last syllable: wunúvtu stand
up)
The place of stress is random.
1) In Russian the stress iscompletely random: xoroshó, xoróshi.
2) In English the stress is
more predictable but still random. Usually a middle syllable of a longer
word receives the stress. In two syllable words stress is rando and often
renders differences in meaning: project/to
project, produce/produce, and insult/ to insult.
Some languages have more than one stress per
word: English is such a language. In English, words of four
syllables or more have a primary
and a secondary stress. Some
English compounds have phrasal stress on the first element of the
compound. Phrasal stress often distinguishes meaning in adjective/noun
combinations.
Sentence stress in English
According to He Shanfen (1992), Englishsentence stress has two main functions:
⑴ to indicate the important words in the
sentence; ⑵ to serve as the
basis for the rhythmic structure of the sentence.
Consequently, in connected English speech,
sentence stress usually falls on content ( or lexical) words, which carry the
basic meaning of a sentence, e.g. nouns, adjectives, adverbs etc. Those which
are usually unstressed in sentences are form (or structural) words, which show
grammatical relationships, such as articles, auxiliary and modal verbs,
monosyllabic prepositions, etc.
Pitch
Another prosodic feature is pitch, defined as the frequency of
vibration of vocal cords. Pitch is measured in hertzes. Physiologically, pitch tends to be higher in
woman than in men and higher before puberty than after puberty. Also, the
pitch of women's voices tends to lower with old age; the pitch of men's voices
tends to get higher with age. Despite these physiological, non-linguistic
universal, each language uses pitch distinctions for linguistically
meaningful purposes. Starting
from the lowest pitch on the initial syllable, the pitch of each subsequent
syllable raises until the word reaches the "peak". From that point,
pitch either remains at the same level for the remainder of the word or it
drops again. The choice between maintenance of high pitch or allowing it to
drop is a matter of formality: pitch is maintained in formal or careful speech,
but dropped in colloquial usage.
七．Conclusion
Being the most important part, suprasegmental features can not be despised in phonology research.
From the whole passage, we can understand that suprasegmental
features not only has its phonology significance, but also the practical
use as well. We can not say this person is a good language user just by his or
her vocabulary, as well as the grammar. Spoken language is also very useful. I
do hope that the paper will be sufficient to prove that suprasegmental features is an efficient way for our studies and encourage
more and more students to pay attention to using it.
Reference
【1】Cao
Jianfen. The Rhythm of Mandarin Chinese. Institute
of Linguistics of Chinese Academy
of Social Science. RPR-IL/CASS (2000-2002).
【2】Chen Ying.
2001. Contrastive Study of Suprasegmental Phonology in English and Chinese: a
Functional Perspective. MA: Southwest
China Normal
University.
【3】Chomsky,
N. Halle,
M. 1968. The Sound Pattern of English. New York: Harper and Row, Publishers.
Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition Strategies
二语词汇习得策略
[摘 要] 词汇是构成语言的基本单位，词汇习得在语言学习中占有重要地位。
英国著名语言学家D.A. Wilkins (1972) 说过：“没有语法，人们不能表达很多东西；而没有词汇，人们则无法表达任何东西。”这就说明了词汇在学习中的重要性。本文旨在分析二语词汇习得策略并应用于不同水平的学习者。学习者根据自己的水平选择正确的习得方法和策略学习词汇，从而提高学习效率和习得效果。
关键字： 二语词汇习得 词汇习得策略 元认知策略 认知策略
Abstract
Vocabulary is the basic unit of a language. Language acquisition plays an important role in language learning. Famous linguistics D. A. Wilkins said, “Without grammar, very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary, nothing can be conveyed (Lewis, 1993:16).” It speaks volumes for the importance of vocabulary in language learning. This paper aims to analysis the second language acquisition strategies and applies to different levels of learners. According to the different levels, the learners should choose the proper methods and strategies to promote learning efficiency and acquisition effect.
Key words: Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition； Vocabulary
Acquisition Strategies； Metacognitive strategy； Cognitive strategy
Introduction
With economic globalization and multi-polarization of the world, especially the population of the internet, English becomes more and more important, because it is considered as the tool for absorbing and communicating information. As we all known, vocabulary acquisition is one of the most noticed-question of the second language learners. “Vocabulary” appears in the area of linguists’ study. Nowadays, researchers still can not give a complete and reasonable definition of vocabulary. Since 1970s, the second language vocabulary acquisition research has gradually become the hot point and important subject in the second language vocabulary acquisition research area. These researches aim to discuss the efficiency vocabulary memory strategies to promote the memory skills and vocabulary levels. Then how to acquire vocabulary become popular among the researchers. Wenden Rubin (1987), O’Malley Chamot (1990) refer to the content of vocabulary acquisition strategies; Rubin (1987) and Oxford (1990) classify the memory strategy to the direct cognitive strategies. Especially, CohenAphek (1981), Porte (1988), O’Malley (1990), Vann (90), Cohen (1990), etc made a basic searching of vocabulary acquisition. In a word, there are various opinions in how to acquire vocabulary. Firstly, it talks about the importance of vocabulary. Secondly, what does it mean to “acquire” a word? This paper mainly aims to the detail analysis of the vocabulary acquisition from three aspects：Meta-cognitive Strategy; Cognitive Strategy and Social or Affective Strategy. Especially, it highlights the effect of the context and rending to vocabulary acquisition. This paper talks about the applications of the vocabulary acquisition strategies. And it puts forward some problems and difficulties of vocabulary acquisition. This paper also discusses the influencing factors to the acquisition. It includes the mother tongue, age, language contact, logical thinking ability, identity degree, and academic motivation .
The purpose of this paper is to rise the awareness of English learners that the importance of vocabulary in language learning and the vocabulary acquisition strategies can not be neglected, and each strategies is deeply rooted in its language. Through the analysis of the theory of study, the paper tries to draw the learner’s attention to the strategies of the second language vocabulary acquisition and using the vocabulary in communication. In order to improve the acquisition efficiency, some strategies put into practice are introduced.
The first presents the importance of vocabulary, some basic concepts of vocabulary and vocabulary learning, the second part tells what does it mean to know a word, the third part deals with the theory of vocabulary acquisition and presents the factors and differences influencing the vocabulary acquisition. The fourth part is detailed discussion of vocabulary acquisition strategies in different levels of learners. The last part is conclusion.
Literature review
1. The importance of vocabulary
As the first time, when we go to school and our English teacher will tell us that vocabulary is of great importance in learning English. After several years, we understand words gradually, especially when we study in high school. If we know a little about vocabulary, we may have poor English. That is because the listening, speaking, reading and writing show the necessary of learning vocabulary.
Many researchers agree that lexis is at least as important as structure, because it is using wrong words and not wrong grammar that usually breaks down communication. Mistakes in lexis much more often lead to misunderstanding and may be less generously tolerated outside classroom than mistakes in syntax. (Carter, 1987). As Stephen Krashen remarked, “When students travel, they don’t carry grammar books, they carry dictionaries.
A significant role of vocabulary in both teaching and learning processes was first stated by Stephen Krashen in The Natural Approach (1985):
“Vocabulary is basic for communication. If acquirers do not recognize the meaning of the key words used by those who address them they will be unable to participate in the conversation.”
Words are basic tools in human communication; therefore they determine the main part of people’s life-relationships between people and associations with the surrounding world that people live in. The larger one’s vocabulary, the easier it is to express one’s thoughts and feelings.
In real communication, correctly and idiomatically used vocabulary can even decrease some structural inaccuracy and grammar errors. (Zhang Jiying, 2002). So learners should enrich and expand their knowledge of words as much as possible in order to communicate effectively in a foreign language.
2. What does it mean to “know” a word?
Knowing a word is not a simple phenomenon. In fact, it is quite complex and goes far beyond the word’s meaning and pronunciation. (Zhang Jiying, 2002). Richards (1976) think knowing a word means also knowing the frequency of words and their likely collocates; being aware of the functional and situation limitations that apply; knowledge of the “syntactic behavior”; derivational forms and word class; associative and connotative knowledge; semantic value-breaking down words into minimal units as with componential analysis (see KatzFodor1963or Leech1974); knowing the other (possible) meaning associated. Nagy and Scott (2000) identify several dimensions that describe the complexity of what it means to know a word. First, word knowledge is incremental, which means that readers need to have many exposures to a word in different contexts before they “know” it. Second, word knowledge is multidimensional. This is because many words have multiple meanings and serve different functions in different function in different sentences, texts, and even conversations. Third, word knowledge is interrelated in that knowledge of one word connects knowledge of other words.
What all of this means is that “knowing” a word is a matter of degree rather than an all-or-nothing proposition (BeckMckeown, 1991; NagyScott, 2000). The degree of knowing a word are reflected in the precision with which we use a word, how quickly we understand a word, and how well we understand and use words in different modes and different purpose.
The memory strategy, cognitive strategy, social strategy and metacognitve strategy are used more frequently than the affective strategy and compensative strategy.
Conclusion
This paper has attempted to provide some theories of second language vocabulary acquisition and some strategies. Such as metacognitive strategy, cognitive strategy, and social strategy. However, this paper also put forward some microcosmic strategy. As a matter of fact, vocabulary acquisition should combine the context. In addition, this paper hasn’t mentioned that culture is also an important factor in vocabulary acquisition. In the study of second language vocabulary acquisition, we should pay attention to the process and the acquiring results. This paper focuses on the study of the second language vocabulary acquisition strategies.
Bibliography
[1] A.U. Chamot. The Learning Strategies of ESL Students. In A. L. Wenden J.
Rubin, (eds), Learner Strategies in Language Learning, 1987.
[2] Cater. R. and M. McCarthy. Vocabulary and Language Teaching. New York:
Longman, 1987.
[3] Nation, L. S. P. Teaching and Learning Vocabulary. New Newbury House
Publishers, 1990.
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