整理文体学答案

文体学课后题1、2单元

1Identify and classify patterns of sound repetition in the following examples.

1）Words and phrases

shilly-shally = pararhyme super-duper = rhyme

high and mighty = assonance fair and square = rhyme

kith and kin = reverse rhyme toil and moil = rhyme

part and parcel = reverse rhyme by hook or by crook = rhyme

2）Pride and Prejudice = alliteration

The Love’s labour Lost = alliteration Of Mice and Man = alliteration Bill Rogers, Marvelous Marathon Man = alliteration

Father in a Fix = alliteration Witch Watch = alliteration

The Wonder of Waterfall = alliteration

3)Advertisements

--Drinka Pinta Milka Day = sound elision

--Extra Pintas Warma Winta = sound elision

--Be different daily. Be dreamy or dramatic. Experiment,

but still economise. Be bold and be beautiful—but don’t break the bank. = (in order) alliteration; alliteration; reverse rhyme; alliteration

2 The underlined word(s) in each of the following examples

1)Nim Chimpsky sounds like Noam Chompsky, who believes that man has a language learning device in the mind, which enables the child to learn the language however badly it is taught. This makes man different from animal, which does not have such a device. That is why chimpanzee (who is considered to be the most intelligent animal) can never learn the language however hard it is taught.

2）Romeow is a word imitating the sound made by a cat and shares the same pronunciation with the main character in Shakespeare’s tragedy Romeo and Juliet. Romeo has deep love for Juliet. It indicates that Romeow the cat has affection for the master.

3) Record shop named Moby Disc, which implies it is a huge shop of its kind, for it reminds one of the Moby Dick, a book which depicts people hunt a huge whole called Moby Dick.

3 1)phonological devices in the following extract.

A creak of hinges...aisle.

In this passage the authors uses alliteration high-heeled, assonance tiled surface of the central aisle. What is more conspicuous is the use of onomatopoeic words such as creak, booming thud, flutter, tiptap, which present the different kinds of noises heard in the church. The use of such words help the reader share the same experience of the writer and make the description vivid and believable.

2）Read the following extract from the novel Adventures of Tom

3）Sawyer and comment on the graphological forms.

“TOM!”

No answer. ...--Mark Twai

This is one episode of the novel Adventures of Tom Sawyer, depicting how Granny is looking for Tom, who is naughty and hiding under the bed. The different form of letters with punctuation marks indicates how Granny speaks. When we read it, we have the feeling of watching Granny on a stage play. For example, “TOM!” is said louder than “Tom!”. “Y-o-u-u, Tom!” indicates Granny drawls her voice and with unusual loudness so as to be heard fa r away. The exclamation marks “!” show her emotion, and the dash “—“ implies her sudden stop. The italicized through emphasizes the contrast with “over” and “under”, humorously implying her glasses are intended for ornament rather than practical use. In the whole passage, we see the only character Granny, who is speaking to herself. It is very much like a stage monologue. After reading, we have a vivid image of Granny in our mind. And there is a touch of humour all through.

3单元

1 What are thethree ways of clause classification?

classification according to constituents, verb phrase and functions. By constituents clauses can be grouped into SV(A), SVO(A), SVC, SVOO, SVOC. By verb phrase we have finite clause, non-finite clause and verbless clause. By functions clauses can be categorized either as independent clause or dependent clause.

2 how do we distinguish situation types?

By according to meaning or sense of the verb.

3 Name the participant roles in action types?

The participant roles in action types are: agentive role (doer of the action), external force (causer of the action), intrumental role (tool to do the action with), recipient role (receiver of the action) and objective role (the affected or the result of the action).

4What is a simple sentence? What is a multiple sentence?

Directly/indirectly

A simple sentence conforms to the basic clause structure SV(O) (C) (A).

A multiple sentence consists of more than one clause. It may be either a

compound sentence,a complex sentence, or a mixed sentence.

D :nominal clauses function as S O C .I:relative clauses function as

modified in NP and comparative c f as m in NP ADJP

5 What is the difference between a minor sentence and an incomplete sentence?

Neither type conforms to the basic clause structure. But a minor sentence is supposed to be “complete” in the sense that it is finished. An incomplete sentence never comes to its end because of sudden interruption or other reasons. For example,

(1) Attention, please. (2) Help!

(3) Going to the lecture? (4) Why are you late? Because I—Of the four sentences, (1) (2) (3) are minor sentences whereas (4) is an incomplete.

6 What are the major components of a noun phrase?What is the use of pre-modification?

What is the function of post-modification?

A complete noun phrase consists of four constituents: determiner, pre-modifier, head and post-modifier. The determiner can be an article, numerals, numeral pronouns; all the words between the determinative and the head are pre-modifier, whatever part of speech they belong to; the head can be a noun or a pronoun; the post-modifier is usually a prepositional phrase, a noun phrase, a non-finite clause, a relative clause, etc.

Frequent use of pre-modification in newspaper headlines can economize space, and arouse the reader’s intere st as well because pre-modification is usually short, thus cannot spell out details. This keeps the reader in suspense and kicks up their eagerness to find out. Pre-modification tends to be informal and appears in less formal style. Post-modification can be very long and complicated. Using post-modification can give enough room for details and for further information. Therefore, it is frequently used in more formal contexts, for instance, written language. Written legal English prefers post-modification in noun phrases, because the composer of a legal document must ensure that it conveys meaning exactly and explicitly, guarding against any possible misinterpretation.

7 What are the three basic factors in the formation of written texts?

For effective presentation of information and language processing on the part of the reader, we usually attach importance to sequence, segmentation and salience in the formation of texts, both spoken and written.

8 Which type of branching is common in informal speech? Which type

of branching is preferred in written styles?

Right-branching is common in speech, in relaxed and informal presentation of ideas.A writer may favor right-branching and use short, simple sentences to represent a narrative style of simplicity, directness and intensity. Left-branching, however, is better

adapted to writing because it is structurally more compact and

logical, and it is usually more formal. Since subordinate ideas are presented first, postponing the main idea, readers often feel in

suspense and try to read on to obtain the main idea towards the

end of the sentence.

9 What is the basic phrase order?What are the stylistic effects of

fronting and postponement?

The basic phrase order in an English declarative clause is more or less fixed: SV(O)(C)(A), with A being mobile in position. The change of the order can make a particular language unit more salient.

Fronting refers the movement of a sentential element from its usual position to the front, and postponement refers the movement of a linguistic unit from its normal place towards the end of the sentence. In both cases the elements moved are highlighted. For example,

(1) Talent Mr. Micawber has, capital Mr. Micawber has not. (fronting talent and capital for emphasis)

(2) A car stopped and out stepped the President of the University. (Postponing President of the University again for emphasis)

10 What is syntactic parallelism and its function?

Syntactic parallelism refers to the repetition of the same syntactic form (e.g. tense, aspect) and phrase/clause structure in two or more neighboring clauses or sentences. It reinforces meaning by contrast or antithesis, or helps to build up an emotional climax. For example,

See how they can saw. Power saw. And drill. Power drill. And sand. Power sand.

This is an advertisement for selling Power Brand series of tools. When the reader finishes the reading, they will not forget the brand name

Power.

4单元

2 What is the difference in the effect between the use of Latinate and

that of native words? Why?

Generally speaking, Latinate words are words of science, religion and

official communication; and in most cases, they help to create the

effect of coolness, dignity and intellectual distance.Words of

Anglo-Saxon origin constitute English-speaking people’s basic

vocabulary.Such words are emotionally charged. A high

percentage of Anglo-Saxon words is quite usual in informal style.

3 What is the difference between a general word and a specific word?

Is it true that use of specific words should always be

recommended?

A word is general when it refers to a group of objects or a class of

objects or action, and specific when it refers to a member of that group

or class. The relationship between a general (superordinate) and specific (subordinate) term is hyponymy. General terms are often too

vague to convey any precise meaning. The use of specific words is more informative in detail and can evoke vivid images in the reader’s or hearer’s mind. However, general terms are preferred, when there is

no need for specification, or when the user wants to leave things vague

for some (tactical) reason.

5 What is repetition ?What is reiteration? Why should people employ

repetition and reiteration in speech or writing?

When a linguistic form is used twice or more, the result is repetition. For example,

We begin our morning class at 8:00. Lunch begins at 11:30 and

afternoon classes begin at 2:00 again.

When the same idea is repeated in a different form, it is reiteration. For

example,

We begin our morning classes at 8:00, and afternoon classes start at 2:00 again.

In literary texts, repetition is usually rhetorical. The intensive repetition

of an expression can be a powerful thematic device. It helps to

direct the reader’s attention to the interpretation of its significance.

Whatever is repeated is emphasized. Reiteration is used to avoid

the monotonous effect of the repetition of the same expression.

6 What is collocation? What is the use pf analyzing lexical collocation

of an item in a piece of language?

Collocation refers to the concurrence of words or conventional use of certain words together in a text. In a given text, the collocates of an item constitute its lexical context which determines the meaning of the item. This device may contribute to the theme of the text. The analysis of collocation can help us grasp the main idea of the text.

7 The following are groups of specific words. Name a general word

whose meaning is included in the meaning of the specific words.

1) stride, strut, march, amble, strode, saunter (walk)

2) drag, haul, heave, wrench, tow (pull)

3) whisper, chatter, babble, mumble, mutter (talk)

4) bottle, vase, jug, cup, pot, barrel, bucket, box (container)

5) car, jeep, van, tanker, minibus, cart, bicycle (vehicle)

8 The words in each of the following groups have roughly a similar

conceptual meaning. Discuss the difference in their associate

meanings.

9 Compare the A B extracts in terms

1) the percentage of Anglo-Saxon words;

2) the percentage of Latinate words of three syllables and more.

In A of the 48 words, only six come from other languages, four of

which are from French, but in B of the 39 words, 18 words are from

Latin and another one from Greek. Since Latinate words make up a high percentage in B, it is much more difficult to understand.

10 Comment on the adjective used in the following advertisement.

(Manhattan shirts, slacks and accessories) To persuade the would-be customers to buy the product, the author uses a series of appreciative adjectives: confident, correct, successful, strong, savvy, fashionable, happy, robust, virile, and wise, plus famous to show what good things Manhattan Brand products would bring to the buyer. 5单元

1 What is dialect?

A dialect is a variety habitually adopted by people in a certain region (regional dialect) or by people of a certain social group (social dialect). Dialects differ from one another in vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation.

one regional dialect speaker may be able to speak more than one social dialect when needed.

2 What is the difference between dialect and accent?

Accent is the special phonological features shown by one who speaks a dialect. It is regional in nature. A dialect can be spoken with different accents, standard and non-standard. A person may shift from one dialect to another while speaking but s/he is unable to cover his or her accent. For example, a Londoner speaks British English with a London accent, but a person born and brought up in Manchester may speak British English with a Manchester accent.

3 What is Standard English? Is there a standard accent with which

people speak Standard English?

Standard English refers to the particular socially-favoured variety which is based on the speech and writing of educated users of the language. With a widely accepted, codified grammar and vocabulary, SE is primarily used for public communication: used in books and newspapers, official documents and news broadcasts; in schools, taught to non-native learners of English.

Yes. In each regional variety, one accent is most widely accepted such as RP (received pronunciation) in British English. Since this accent is related to BBC broadcaster, the royal family and educated speech, it is considered to be the standard accent in Britain.

6单元

11）What does ‘channel limitation’ mean? How does channel limitation affect language use?

Channel limitation means that the transmission of a message is limited to one channel only—visual or auditory. Speech, in most cases, has no channel limitation. Talking face-to-face, both the speaker and hearer can see and hear each other. Apart from the language, gestures, facial expressions, shared knowledge, and situation all contribute to the communication. Therefore, the language is often inexplicit. Writing, on the other hand, has channel limitation. Then the language should be explicit. For example, The teacher standing there is her mother”, which is understandable if the two speakers are together in the same context. But in written language such should be forbidden. We should make it explicit like The teacher standing under the tree in front of the classroom building is Wang Qian’s mother.

2）In what ways does spontaneously spoken language differ from prepared written form?

In spontaneous speech one has little time for planning or revising one’s utterance. While speaking, one has to monitor what has been said and its response by the hearer, and simultaneously to plan the next utterance. If one’s planning falls behind the delivery, the speech is characteristically broken up by the following features of normal non-fluency: filled/ unfilled pauses, unintended repetitions, and false starts. For example,

He was - as it were - you know him do you - how shall I say er

- withdrawn - er shut-in as though as though he had a kind of - mm goldfish bowl round his head - not very easy…

7单元

1What is role relationship? Give some examples.

By role relationship we mean the relationship between the roles adopted by addresser and addressee in a given situation. Role relationships range from temporary to permanent: casual acquaintances on a train, customer—salesman, colleagues in an office, management—employees, teacher—pupil, parent—child.

2 By what scales do we classify language features typical of various

attitudes?

Language features indicating the attitude are usually classified along four scales: formality, politeness, impersonality and accessibility

3.What factors affect the degrees of formality?

The degrees of formality are determined by the role relationships, number of hearers, and contexts of situation, such as a public lecture, playground at playtime, church service, cocktail party, and so on.

4 How does language vary in terms of politeness?

Language varies according to the degree of intimacy between the

Appreciative Neutral Pejorative

work drudgery, toil,

grind fashion, style vogue fad

policeman, cop flatfoot civil servant government

official

bureaucrat

famous, celebrated,

renowned

notorious

portly, stout, chubby,

plump

fat adventurous, daring reckless, rash

address and addressee; the degree of social distance separating the

addresser and addressee. Language becomes more and more polite when the addressee is more senior in status and les intimate in relation.

5 What are the basic patterns of the use of address forms?

The basic address patterns include: Title (Professor, Doctor, Reverend), Title + Last Name (Professor Zhang, Mr Smith, Miss Thatcher), First

name + Last Name (Michael Hall, John Smith), Last Name (Smith,

Thatcher), First Name (Michael, John), Shortened First Name (Mike=Michael, Elizabeth=Liza/Liz), Nickname (Piggy, Bully) and

Terms of Endearment (Darling, Dear, Honey, Sweet).

6 What is linguistic impersonality?

Language becomes impersonal when it avoids direct reference to the

addresser and addressee. That is the writing avoids the use of personal

pronouns such as I, we, you, etc

7 . How do we measure the degrees of accessibility?

We can measure the degrees of accessibility by the following

formula:

FOG INDEX = 0.4 (L+H)

L = the average sentence length in a passage

H = the percentage of hard (inaccessible) words in the

passage

Suppose a passage has:

--a total number of words 120

--the number of sentences 6

--the number of “hard” words 16

L: 120 ÷ 6 = 20

H: (16 ÷ 120) × 100 = 13.3

Fog index: 0.4 × (20 + 13.3) = 13.32

Since an easily accessible text is supposed to have a fog index of about 10, the mentioned text is just a little difficult.

8 Compare Extracts A and B in terms of the degree of accessibility.A

There was real stress I had to face, about 1970, three years into publication of Rolling Stone (newspaper). The company was bankrupt in essence. I’d gotten top ambitious.

I remember one day, just driving around and waiting for an accident to happen. It wasn’t suicide as such. It was just driving around very sloppily, saying. Fuck it, maybe somebody’ll get me in an accid ent. I was facing failure, real failure. I’d never faced complete failure before.

I was really depressed. In retrospect, to go bankrupt with a little

newspaper at the age of 24 is not the most terrible thing. It was absurd. It didn’t last long. You reach a point where your confidence is really shattered. It takes other people to help build up your confidence. Come on now, face the bastards down. You start to build and put it back together.

Jann Wenner, editor of Rolling Stone

B

(The passage is a parody of the speech style of an American politician, once a presidential adviser.)

My on-going advisational capacity having been

terminalised presidentially, I wish to submit my

applicationised notification for immediate considerational

verification. Qualificationally, my recent policalisational

experience has suitabilized me for the Editorship of the NS,

both in literary manipulativeness and socioeconomic

logistics, thereby ensuring financial viability. My aim

would be the immediate terminalisation of readership

fallout by content amendment through extreme

conservation….

“Weekend Competition”, New Statesman

Extract A uses short sentences and most of them are simple. The

sentences are mostly in the active with a high frequency of personal pronouns. The words are common. Although the diction indicates the speaker is educated, the whole passage is highly accessible.

Extract B is written in professional jargons relating to the speaker’s profession as a politician’s adviser. Most of the content words are Latinate and learned, which make the writing very formal and difficult to process, though it is personal.

9 Identify the language markers in the following extract, which

indicate the degree of impersonality.

The symbol * against a subscriber’s entry in t he Dictionary denotes that the telephone number is withheld publication at the subscriber’s request and the Post Office is not authorized to supply it to enquirers. Then names and addresses of such subscribers are, however, shown in the Directory in cases where frequent enquires are received by the Post Office for the exchange number, with a view to saving members of the public the trouble of fruitless enquiry. London Telephone Directory

10 Compare the following two passages and comment on the degree of formality.

A I’m a college professor. As a communications specialist, I train students to become more sensitive and aware of interpersonal communication —symbolic behavior, use of words,

as well as nonverbal behavior. I try to ignite symbols in your mind, so we can come to a point of agreement on language. This

is an invisible industry. Since the Second World War we’ve strong teachers in this discipline.

B (The passage is a parody of the speech style of an American politician, once a presidential adviser.)

My on-going advisational capacity having been terminalised presidentially, I wish to submit my applicationised notification for immediate considerational verification. Qualificationally, my recent policalisational experience has suitabilized me for the Editorship of the NS, both in literary manipulativeness and socioeconomic logistics, thereby ensuring financial viability. My aim would be the immediate terminalisation of readership fallout by content amendment through extreme conservation….

“Weekend Competition”, New Statesman Comparatively speaking, B is much more formal than A though both are formal in a sense. A is less formal because the speaker uses short sentences and a fair portion of common words. But there are professional jargons. It is well planned and logical. B is written in professional jargons relating to the speaker’s profession as a politician’s adviser. Most of the content words are Latinate and learned, which make the writing very formal and difficult to process.

8 单元

1 What functions does language serve in social activities?

Language serves a number of functions in social activities. Linguists have come up with different numbers of functions. The widely accepted functions are: referential, expressive, conative, phatic, metalinguistic and poetic.

2 What functions does a newspaper serve?

A newspaper has two main functions: to give information and to reflect, shape and guide public opinion.

3

4 What are the functions of a headline/body copy in a press advertisement?

The headline is the most indispensable element in an advertisement. It has been estimated that five times as many people read the

headline. It should be so designed as to capture a prospective

buyer’s attention, to stimulate interest or desire, to make him/her

remember the advertisement brand name.

7 What are the main components of a press advertisement?

A complete press advertisement consists of the following components: Headline

Illustration

Body copy

Signature line

Standing details

But illustration is optional and signature line and standing details are sometimes missing.

10 Rewrite the following headlines in ordinary English.

Move to Axe Miners’ Jobs

Woman Pilot’s Bid for Solo Flight Record

Baby Boom Threat in Beijing

Car Ads Target Women

China Stepping up Agro-Cooperation with W. Europe

Two Killed in Freak Storms

Easter Holiday Bus Crash Trial Verdict

Rewritten versions (suggested):

(1) A move was submitted to reduce miners’ jobs.

(2) A woman pilot bid for breaking single-flight record.

(3) A sharp increase in births poses a threat in Beijing.

(4) Car advertisements aim at women buyers.

(5) China is speeding up cooperation in agriculture with West Europe.

(6) Two persons were killed in a freakish storm.

(7) A verdict was reached at the trial for the bus crash for Easter Holidays.