英语语言学第1-3章课后练习题
语言学答案Chapter1-3

Chapter 1 -3Chapter 1 Introduction1. Linguistics is based on the systematic investigation of linguistic data, conducted with reference to some general theory of language structure. In order to discover the nature and rules of the underlying language system, the linguists has to collect and observe language facts first, which are found to display some similarities, and generalizations are made about them; then he formulates some hypotheses about the language structure. The hypotheses thus formed have to be checked repeatedly against the observed facts to fully prove their validity. In linguistics, as in any other discipline, data and theory stand in a dialectical complementation, that is, a theory without the support of data can hardly claim validity, and data without being explained by some theory remain a muddled mass of things.2. The major branches of linguistics are:(1) phonetics: it studies the sounds used in linguistic communication;(2) phonology: it studies how sounds are put together and used to convey meaning incommunication;(3) morphology: it studies the way in which linguistic symbols representing sounds are arrangedand combined to form words;(4) syntax: it studies the rules which govern how words are combined to form grammaticallypermissible sentences in languages;(5) semantics: it studies meaning conveyed by language;(6) pragmatics: it studies the meaning in the context of language use.3. The general approach thus traditionally formed to the study of language over the years is roughly referred to as “t raditional gramma r.” Modern linguistics differs from traditional g rammar in several basic ways.Firstly, linguistics is descriptive while traditional grammar is prescriptive.Second, modem linguistics regards the spoken language as primary, not the written. Traditional grammarians, on the other hand, tended to emphasize, maybe over-emphasize, the importance of the written word, partly because of its permanence.Then, modem linguistics differs from traditional grammar also in that it does not force languages into a Latin-based framework.4. In modem linguistics, a synchronic approach seems to enjoy priority over a diachronic one. Because people believed that unless the various states of a language in different historical periods are successfully studied, it would be difficult to describe the changes that have taken place in its historical development.5. Speech and writing are the two major media of linguistic communication. Modem linguistics regards the spoken language as the natural or the primary medium of human language for some obvious reasons. From the point of view of linguistic evolution, speech is prior to writing. The writing system of any langu age is always “invented” by its users to record speech when the need arises. Even in today's world there are still many languages that can only be spoken but not written.Then in everyday communication, speech plays a greater role than writing in terms of the amount of information conveyed. And also, speech is always the way in which every native speaker acquires his mother tongue, and writing is learned and taught later when he goes to school. For modern linguists, spoken language reveals many true features of human speech while written language is only the “revised” record of speech. Thus their data for investigation and analysis are mostly drawn from everyday speech, which they regard as authentic.6. Saussure's distinction and Chomsky's are very similar, they differ at least in that Saussure took a sociological view of language and his notion of langue is a matter of social conventions, and Chomsky looks at language from a psychological point of view and to him competence is a property of the mind of each individual.7. First of all, language is a system, i.e., elements of language are combined according to rules.Second, language is arbitrary in the sense that there is no intrinsic connection between a linguistic symbol and what the symbol stands for.Third, language is vocal because the primary medium for all languages is sound.Fourth, language is human-specific, i. e., it is very different from the communication systems other forms of life possess.Chapter 2 Phonology1. Speech and writing are the two major media of linguistic communication.Of the two media of language, speech is more primary than writing, for reasons, please refer to the answer to the fifth problem in the last chapter.2. V oicing is a quality of speech sounds and a feature of all vowels and some consonants in English. It is caused by the vibration of the vocal cords.3. The transcription with letter-symbols only called broad transcription. This is the transcription normally used in dictionaries and teaching textbooks for general purposes. The latter, i.e. the transcription with letter-symbols together with the diacritics is called narrow transcription. This is the transcription needed and used by the phoneticians in their study of speech sounds. With the help of the diacritics they can faithfully represent as much of the fine details as it is necessary for their purpose.In broad transcription, the symbol [l] is used for the sounds [l] in the four words leaf [li:f], feel [fi:l], build [bild], and health [helθ]. As a matter of fact, the sound [l] in all these four sound combinations differs slightly. The [l] in [li:f], occurring before a vowel, is called a dear [l], and no diacritic is needed to indicate it; the [1] in [fi:l] and [bild], occurring at the end of a word or before another consonant, is pronounced differe ntly from the clear [1] as in “leaf”. It is called dark [ɫ] and in narrow transcription the diacritic [˜] is used to indicate it. Then in the sound combination [helθ], the sound [l] is followed by the English dental sound [θ], its pronunciation is somewhat affected by the dental sound that follows it. It is thus called a dental [l], and in narrow transcription the diacritic [、] is used to indicate it. It is transcribed as [helθ].Another example is the consonant [p]. We all know that [p] is pronounced differently in the two words pit and spit. In the word pit, the sound [p] is pronounced with a strong puff of air, but inspit the puff of air is withheld to some extent. In the case of pit, the [p] sound is said to be aspirated and in the case of spit, the [p] sound is unaspirated. This difference is not shown in broad transcription, but in narrow transc ription, a small raised “h” is used to show aspiration, thus pit is transcribed as [p hɪt] and spit is transcribed as [spɪt].4. English consonants can be classified in two ways: one is in terms of manner of articulation and the other is in terms of place of articulation. In terms of manner of articulation the English consonants can be classified into the following types: stops, fricatives, affricates, liquids, nasals and glides. In terms of place of articulation, it can be classified into following types: bilabial, labiodental, dental, alveolar, palatal, velar and glottal.5. V owels may be distinguished as front, central, and back according to which part of the tongue is held highest. To further distinguish members of each group, we need to apply another criterion, i.e. the openness of the mouth. Accordingly, we classify the vowels into four groups: close vowels, semi-close vowels, semi-open vowels, and open vowels. A third criterion that is often used in the classification of vowels is the shape of the lips. In English, all the front vowels and the central vowels are unfounded vowels, i. e., without rounding the lips, and all the back vowels, with the exception of [a:], are rounded. It should be noted that some front vowels can be pronounced with rounded lips.6. (1) [ʤ] (2) [ f ] (3) [d ](4) [ ɪ] (5) [ɔ:] (6) [p](1) voiced alveolar stop (2) voiced alveolar liquid(3) voiceless palatal affricate (4) voiced bilabial glide(5) back, close, short (6) front, open7. (1) Both phonology and phonetics are concerned with the same aspect of language ––the speech sounds. But while both are related to the study of sounds,, they differ in their approach and focus. Phonetics is of a general nature; it is interested in all the speech sounds used in all human languages: how they are produced, how they differ from each other, what phonetic features they possess, how they can be classified, etc. Phonology, on the other hand, aims to discover how speech sounds in a language form patterns and how these sounds are used to convey meaning in linguistic communication.(2) A phonologist will be more interested in it. Because one of the tasks of the phonologists is to find out rule that governs the distribution of [l] and [ɫ], [p h] and [p].8. A phone is a phonetic unit or segment. The speech sounds we hear and produce during linguistic communication are all phones. A phoneme is not any particular sound, but rather it is represented or realized by a certain phone in a certain phonetic context. The different phones which can represent a phoneme in different phonetic environments are called the allophones of that phoneme. For example, the phoneme /l/ in English can be realized as dark [ɫ], clear [l], etc. which are allophones of the phoneme /l/.9. Rules that govern the combination of sounds in a particular language are called sequentialrules.There are many such sequential rules in English. For example, if a word begins with a [l] or a [r], then the next sound must be a vowel. That is why [lbik] [lkbi] are impossible combinations in English. They have violated the restrictions on the sequencing of phonemes.The assimilation rule assimilates one sound to another by “copying” a feature of a sequential phoneme, thus making the two phones similar. Assimilation of neighbouring sounds is, for the most part, caused by articulatory or physiological processes. When we speak, we tend to increase the ease of articulation. This “sloppy” t endency may become regularized as rules of language.We all know that nasalization is not a phonological feature in English, i.e., it does not distinguish meaning. But this does not mean that vowels in English are never nasalized in actual pronunciation; in fact they are nasalized in certain phonetic contexts. For example, the [i:] sound is nasalized in words like bean, green, team, and scream. This is because in all these sound combinations the [i:] sound is followed by a nasal [n] or [m].The assimilation rule also accounts for the varying pronunciation of the alveolar nasal [n] in some sound combinations. The rule is that within a word, the nasal [n] assumes the same place of articulation as the consonant that follows it. We know that in English the prefix in- can be added to ma adjective to make the meaning of the word negative, e.g. discreet –indiscreet, correct –incorrect. But the [n] sound in the prefix in- is not always pronounced as an alveolar nasal. It is so in the word indiscreet because the consonant that follows it, i.e. [d], is an alveolar stop, but the [n] sound in the word incorrect is actually pronounced as a velar nasal, i.e. [ŋ]; this is because the consonant that follows it is [k], which is a velar stop. So we can see that while pronouncing the sound [n], we are “copying” a feature of the consonant that follows it.Deletion rule tells us when a sound is to be deleted although it is orthographically represented. We have noticed that in the pronunciation of such words as sign, design, and paradigm, there is no [g] sound although it is represented in spelling by the letter g. But in their corresponding forms signature, designation, and paradigmatic, the [g] represented by the letter g is pronounced. The rule can be stated as: Delete a [g] when it occurs before a final nasal consonant. Given the rule, the phonemic representation of the stems in sign – signature, resign – resignation, phlegm –phlegmatic, paradigm –paradigmatic will include the phoneme /g/, which will be deleted according to the regular rule if no suffix is added.10. The phonemic features that occur above the level of the segments are called suprasegmental features. The main suprasegmental features include stress, intonation, and tone. The location of stress in English distinguishes meaning. There are two kinds of stress: word stress and sentence stress. For example, a shift of stress may change the part of speech of a word from a noun, to a verb although its spelling remains unchanged. Tones are pitch variations which can distinguish meaning just like phonemes.Intonation plays an important role in the conveyance of meaning in almost every language, especially in a language like English. When spoken in different tones, the same sequence of words may have different meanings.Chapter 3 Morphology1. a. micro + file b. be + draggle + edc. announce + mentd. pre + digest + ione. tele + communicate + ionf. fore + fatherg. psycho + physics h. mechan + ist2. (1) suffix: -ablemeaning: something can be done or is possiblestem type: added to verbsexamples: acceptable, “can be accepted”respectable, “can be respected”(2) suffix: -lymeaning: functionalstem type: added to adjectivesexamples: freely. “adverbial form of…fr ee‟”quickly, “adverbial form of 'quick' ”.(3) suffix: -eemeaning: the person receiving the actionstem type: added to verbsexamples: employee, “one who works in a company”interviewee, “one who is interviewed”3. (1) prefix: dis-meaning: showing an oppositestem type: added to verbs or nounsexamples : disapprove, “do not approve”dishonesty, “lack of honesty”.(2) prefix: anti-meaning: against, opposed tostem type: added to nouns or adjectivesexamples : antinuclear, “opposing the use of atomic weapons and power”antisocial, “opposed or harmful to the laws and customs of an organizedcommunity. ”(3) prefix: counter-meaning: the opposite ofstem type: added to nouns or adjectives.examples: counterproductive, “producing resu lts opposite to those intended”counteract, “act against and reduce the force or effect of (sth.) ”4. (1) the third person singular(2) the past tense(3) the present perfect(4) the present progressive。
语言学教程课后习题与答案第一章

Chapter 1 Invitations to Linguistics1. Define the following terms:design feature: the distinctive features of human language that essentially make human language distinguishable from languages of animals.function: the role language plays in communication . to express ideas, attitudes) or in particular social situations . religious, legal).synchronic: said of an approach that studies language at a theoretical ‘point’ in time.diachronic: said of the study of development of language and languages over time. prescriptive: to make authoritarian statement about the correctness of a particular use of language.descriptive: to make an objective and systematic account of the patterns and use of a language or variety.arbitrariness: the absence of any physical correspondence between linguistic signals and the entities to which they refer.duality: the structural organization of language into two abstract levels: meaningful units . words) and meaningless segments . sounds, letters).displacement: the ability of language to refer to contexts removed from the speaker’s immediate situation.phatic communion: said of talk used to establish atmosphere or maintain social contact.metalanguage: a language used for talking about language.macrolinguistics: a broad conception of linguistic enquiry, including psychological, cultural, etc.competence: unconscious knowledge of the system of grammatical rules in a language.performance: the language actually used by people in speaking or writing.langue: the langu age system shared by a “speech community”.parole: the concrete utterances of a speaker.2. Consult at least four introductory linguistics textbooks (not dictionaries), and copy the definitions of “language” that each gives. After carefully comparing the definitions, write a paper discussing which points recur and explaining the significance of the similarities and differences among the definitions.ANSWER:All the definitions should not exclude the description of design features that have been mentioned in this course book. Also it will be better if other design features, say, interchangeability or cultural transmission is included. But it seems impossible to give an unimpeachable definition on language, because the facets people want to emphasize are seldom unanimous. To compare several definitions can make you realize where the argument is.3. Can you think of some words in English which are onomatopoeicANSWERS:creak: the sound made by a badly oiled door when it opens.cuckoo: the call of cuckoo.bang: a sudden loud noise.roar: a deep loud continuing sound.buzz: a noise of buzzing.hiss: a hissing sound.neigh: the long and loud cry that a horse makes.mew: the noise that a gull makes.bleat: the sound made by a sheep, goat or calf.4. Do you think that onomatopoeia indicates a non-arbitrary relationship between form and meaningANSWER:4. No matter you say "Yes" or "No", you cannot deny that onomatopoeia needs arbitrariness. Before we feel a word is onomatopoeic we should first know which sound the word imitates. Just as what is said in Chapter One, in order to imitate the noise of flying mosquitoes, there are many choices like "murmurous" and "murderous". They both bear more or less resemblance to the genuine natural sound, but "murmurous" is fortunately chosen to mean the noise while "murderous" is chosen to mean something quite different. They are arbitrary as signifiers.5. A story by Robert Louis Stevenson contains the sentence “As the night fell, the wind rose.” Could this be expressed as “As the wind rose, the night fell” If not, why Does this indicate a degree of non-arbitrariness about word order (Bolinger, 1981: 15)5. Yes. It is a case in point to illustrate non-arbitrariness about word order. Whenthe two parts interchange, the focus and the meaning of the sentence is forced to change, because clauses occurring in linear sequence without time indicators will be taken as matching the actual sequence of happening. The writer’s original intention is distorted, and we can feel it effortlessly by reading. That is why systemic-functionalists and American functionalists think language is not arbitrary at the syntactic level.6. Does the traffic light system have duality Can you explain by drawing a simple graph6. Traffic light does not have duality. Obviously, it is not a double-level system. There is only one-to-one relationship between signs and meaning but the meaning units cannot be divided into smaller meaningless elements further. So the traffic light only has the primary level and lacks the secondary level like animals’ calls.ANSWER:Red→stopGreen→goYellow→get ready to go or stop7. The recursive nature of language provides a theoretical basis for the creativity of language. Can you write a recursive sentence following the example in section 1.3.3.ANSWER:Today I encountered an old friend who was my classmate when I was in elementary school where there was an apple orchard in which we slid to select ripe apples that…8. Communication can take many forms, such as sign, speech, body language and facial expression. Do body language and facial expression share or lack the distinctive properties of human languageANSWER:On a whole, body language and facial expression lack most of the distinctive properties of human language such as duality, displacement, creativity and so on. Body language exhibits arbitrariness a little bit. For instance, nod means "OK/YES" for us but in Arabian world it is equal to saying "NO". Some facial expressions have non-arbitrariness because they are instinctive such as the cry and laugh of a newborn infant.9. Do you agree with the view that no language is especially simpleANSWER:Yes. All human languages are complicated systems of communication. It is decided by their shared design features.10. What do you think of Bertrand Russell’s observation of the dog language: “No matter how eloquently a dog may bark, he cannot tell you that his parents were poor but honest” Are you familiar with any type of ways animals communicate amongthemselves and with human beingsANSWER:When gazelles sense potential danger, for example, they flee and thereby signal to other gazelles in the vicinity that danger is lurking. A dog signals its wish to be let inside the house by barking and signals the possibility that it might bite momentarily by displaying its fangs.you mention some typical expressions of phatic communion in Chinese There is the dialog between Ms. P and Ms. Q. in section When someone sneezes violently, do you say anything of the nature of phatic communion Have you noticed your parents or grandparents say something special on such an occasionSome of the typical phatic expressions in Chinese are: 吃了吗家里都好吧这是去哪里啊最近都挺好的ANSWER:If someone is sneezing violently, maybe you parents and grandparents may say: “Are you ok”, “Do you need to see a doctor”, “Do you need some water”, “Do you need a handkerchief”, “Do you have a cold” or something like these to show their concerns.12.There are many expressions in language which are metalingual or self-reflexives, namely, talking about talk and think about thinking, for instance, to be honest, to make a long story short, come to think of it, on second thought, can you collect a few more to make a list of these expressions When do we use them most often ANSWER:To tell the truth, frankly speaking, as a matter of fact, to be precise, in other words, that is to saySuch expressions are used most frequently when we want to expatiate the meaning of former clauses in anther way in argumentation.13. Comment on the following prescriptive rules. Do you think they are acceptable(A) It is I.(B) It is me.You should say A instead of B because “be” should be followed by the nominative case, not the accusative according to the rules in Latin.(A) Who did you speak to(B) Whom did you speak toYou should say B instead of A.(A) I haven't done anything.(B) I haven't done nothing.B is wrong because two negatives make a positive.ANSWER:(1) the Latin rule is not universal. In English, me is informal and I is felt to be very formal.(2) Whom is used in formal speech and in writing; who is more acceptable in informal speech.(3) Language does not have to follow logic reasoning. Here two negative only makea more emphatic negative. This sentence is not acceptable in Standard English not because it is illogical, but because language changes and rejects this usage now.14. The prescriptivism in grammar rules has now shifted to prescriptions in choice of words. In the “guidelines on anti-sexist language” issued by the British sociological association, some guidelines are listed below. Do you think they are descriptive and prescriptive What’s your comment on them(1) Do not use man to mean humanity in general. Use person, people, human beings, men and women, humanity and humankind.(2) colored: This term is regarded as outdated in the UK and should be avoided as it is generally viewed as offensive to many black people.(3) civilized: This term can still carry racist overtones which derive from a colonialist perception of the world. It is often associated with social Darwinist thought and is full of implicit value judgments and ignorance of the history of the non-industrialized world.ANSWER:They are undoubtedly descriptive. Guidelines are not rules that can determine whether a sentence is right or not. The guidelines advise you to avoid the use of particular words that are grammatically correct but offensive to some certain groups. Actually, they describe the way anti-sexist advocators speak and write.15. Why is the distinction between competence and performance an important one in linguistics Do you think the line can be neatly drawn between them How do you like the concept “communicative competence”ANSWER:This is proposed by Chomsky in his formalist linguistic theories. It is sometimes hard to draw a strict line. Some researchers in applied linguistics think communicative competence may be a more revealing concept in language teaching than the purely theoretical pair—competence and performance.16. Which branch of linguistics do you think will develop rapidly in China and why It is up to you to decide after you have gone through the whole book. At this stage, we suggest all branches of linguistics have the potential to flourish.17. The following are some well-known ambiguous sentences in syntactic studies of language. Can you disambiguate themThe chicken is too hot to eat.Flying planes can be dangerous.ANSWER:The chicken is too hot to eat.The chicken meat is too hot, so it cannot be eaten at the moment.The chicken feels so hot (maybe after some intense aerobic exercises) that it cannot start eating and needs to calm down first.Flying planes can be dangerous.The ambiguity comes from "flying planes". It can be deciphered as "the planes that is flying" or "to fly planes".18. There are many reasons for the discrepancy between competence and performance in normal language users. Can you think of some of themANSWEREthnic background, socioeconomic status, region of the country, and physical state (such as intoxication, fatigue, distraction, illness) vary from individual to individual.19. What do these two quotes reveal about the different emphasis or perspectives of language studies(1) A human language is a system of remarkable complexity. To come to know a human language would be an extraordinary intellectual achievement for a creature not specifically designed to accomplish this task. A normal child acquires this knowledge on relatively slight exposure and without specific training. He can then quite effortlessly make use of an intricate structure of specific rules and guiding principles to convey his thoughts and feelings to others, ... Thus language is a mirror of mind in a deep and significant sense. It is a product of human intelligence, created anew in each individual by operations that lie far beyond the reach of will or consciousness.(Noam Chomsky: Reflections on Language. 1975: 4)(2) It is fairly obvious that language is used to serve a variety of different needs, but until we examine its grammar there is no clear reason for classifying its uses in any particular way. However, when we examine the meaning potential of language itself, we find that the vast numbers of options embodied in it combine into a very few relatively independent “networks”; and these networks of options correspond to certain basic functions of language. This enables us to give an account of the different functions of language that is relevant to the general understanding of linguistic structure rather than to any particular psychological or sociological investigation.(M. A. K. Halliday, 1970: 142)ANSWER:The first quote shows children’s inborn ability of acquiring the knowledge of intricate structure of specific rules. It implies that the language user's underlying knowledge about the system of rules is the valuable object of study for linguists. The second attaches great importance to the functions of language. It regards the use of language as the choice of needed function. The meaning of language can be completely included by a few “networks” which is directly related to basic functions of language. It indicates the necessity to study the functions of language.20. You may be familiar with the following proverbs. How do you perceive them according to the arbitrariness and conventionality of languageThe proof of the pudding is in the eating.Let sleeping dogs lie.You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.Rome was not built in a day.When in Rome, do as the Romans do.All roads lead to Rome.ANSWER:20. Arbitrariness and conventionality derive from the choice of the subject matter. For example, in the “The proof of the pudding is in the eating.” The word “pudding” is selected arbitrarily, for we can use another word such as cheese instead of pudding without changing the associative meaning of the proverb. On the other hand, once such links between particular words and associative meaning are fixed, it becomes a matter of conventionality.21. Give examples of situations in which a usage generally considered non-standard . ain’t) would be acceptable, even appropriate.ANSWER21. In the talks between intimate friends, one may say “gimme that!” instead of “give me that!” and “wachya doin’” instead of “what are you doing” and this list may go on.22. The following are some book titles of linguistics. Can you judge the diachronic and diachronic orientation just from the titlesEnglish Examined: Two centuries of Comment on the Mother-Tongue.Protean Shape: A Study in Eighteenth-century Vocabulary and Usage.Pejorative Sense Development in English.The Categories and Types of Present-Day English Word-Formation.Language in the Inner City: Studies in the Black English Vernacular.ANSWER22. Synchronic:Protean Shape: A Study in Eighteenth-century Vocabulary and Usage.The Categories and Types of Present-Day English Word-Formation.Language in the Inner City: Studies in the Black English Vernacular. Diachronic:English Examined: Two centuries of Comment on the Mother-Tongue.Pejorative Sense Development in English。
《语言学》前三章部分答案

Chapter I IntroductionIII. There are four choices following each statement. Mark the choice that can best complete the statement.3l.C 32.D 33.C 34.D 35.B 36.A 37.C 38.B 39.A 40.DIV. Define the following terms:41. Linguistics: Linguistics is generally defined as the scientific study of language.42. Phonology: The study of how sounds are put together and used in communication is called phonology.43. Syntax: The study of how morphemes and words are combined to form sentences is called syntax. .44. Pragmatics: The study of meaning in context of use is called pragmatics.45. Psycholinguistics: The study of language with reference to the workings of mind is called psycholinguistics.46. Language: Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication.47. Phonetics: The study of sounds which are used in linguistic communication is called phonetics.48. Morphology: The study of the way in which morphemes are arranged to form words is called morphology.49. Semantics: The study of meaning in language is called semantics.50. Sociolinguistics: The study of language with reference to society is called sociolinguistics.51. Applied linguistics: In a narrow sense, applied linguistics refers to the application of linguistic principles and theories to language teaching and learning, especially the teaching of foreign and second languages. In a broad sense, it refers to the application of linguistic findings to the solution of practical problems such as the recovery of speech ability.52. Arbitrariness: It is one of the design features of language. It means that there is no logical connection between meanings and sounds53. Productivity: Language is productive or creative in that it makes possible the con-struction and interpretation of new signals by its users.54. Displacement: Displacement means that language can be used to refer to things which are present or not present, real or imagined matters in the past, present, or future, or in far-away places. In other words, language can be used to refer to contexts removed from the immediate situations of the speaker55. Duality: The duality nature of language means that language is a system, which consists of two sets of structure, or two levels, one of sounds and the other of meanings.56. Design features: Design features refer to the defining properties of human language that distinguish it from any animal system of communication57. Competence: Chomsky defines competence as the ideal user's knowledge of the rules of his language,58. Performance: performance is the actual realization of the knowl-edge of the rules in linguistic communication.59. langue : Langue refers to the abstract linguistic system shared by all the members of a speech community; Langue is the set of conventions and rules which language users all have to follow; Langue is relatively stable, it does not change frequently 60. Parole: Parole refers to the realization of langue in actual use; parole is the concrete use of the conventions and the application of the rules; parole varies from person to person, and from situation to situation.V. Answer the following questions as comprehensively as possible. Give examples for illustration if necessary:61. Language is generally defined as a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication. Explain it in detail.First of all, language is a system, because elements of language are combined according to rules. Secondly, language is arbitrary because there is no intrinsic connection between form and meaning, or between the sign and what it stands for. Different languages have different words for the same object in the world. This fact is a good illustration of the arbitrary nature of language. This also explains the symbolic nature of language: words are just symbols; they are associated with objects, actions, ideas, etc. by convention . Thirdly, language is vocal because the primary medium is sound for all languages, no matter how well - developed their writing systems are.The term "human" in the definition indicates that language is possessed by human beings only and is very different from the communication systems of other living creatures. The term "communication" means that language makes it possible for its users to talk to each other and fulfill their communicative needs.62. What are the design features of human language? Illustrate them with examples.1) ArbitrarinessAs mentioned earlier, the arbitrary property of language means that there is no logical connection between meanings and sounds. For instance, there is no necessary relationship between the word elephant and the animal it symbolizes. In addition, different sounds are used to refer to the same object in different languages, and even within the same language, the same sound does not refer to the same thing. However, language is not entirely arbitrary. There are words which are created in the imitation of sounds by sounds, such as crash, bang in English. Besides, some compound words are also not entirely arbitrary. But the non-arbitrary words are quite limited in number. The arbitrary nature of language makes it possible for language to have an unlimited source of expressions.2) ProductivityLanguage is productive or creative in that it makes possible the construction and interpretation of new signals by its users. This is why they can produce and understand an infinitely large number of sentences, including sentences that they have never said or heard before. They can send messages which no one else has ever sent before.Productivity is unique to human language. Most animal communication systems appear to be highly restricted with respect to the number of different signals that their users can send and receive.3) DualityThe duality nature of language means that language is a system, which consists of two sets of structure, or two levels, one of sounds and the other of meanings. At the lower or the basic level, there is the structure of sounds, which are meaningless, discrete, individual sounds. But the sounds of language can be combined according to rules into units of meaning such as morphemes and words, which, at the higher level, can be arranged into sentences. This duality of structure or double articulation of language enables its users to talk about anything within their knowledge. No animal communication system has duality or even comes near to possessing it.4) DisplacementDisplacement means that language can be used to refer to things which are present or not present, real or imagined matters in the past, present, or future, or in far-away places. In other words, language can be used to refer to contexts removed from the immediate situations of the speaker. Animal calls are mainly uttered in response to immediate changes of situation.5) Cultural transmissionHuman beings were born with the ability to acquire language, but the details of any language are not genetically transmitted or passed down by instinct. They have to be taught and learned, but animal call systems are genetically transmitted.63. How is modern linguistics different from traditional grammar?Traditional gram-mar is prescriptive; it is based on "high "(religious, literary) written language. It sets grammatical rules and imposes the rules on language users. But Modern linguistics is descriptive; It collects authentic, and mainly spoken language data and then it studies and describes the data in an objective and scientific way.64. How do you understand the distinction between a synchronic study and a diachronic study?The description of a language at some point in time is a Synchronic study; the description of a language as it changes through time is a diachronic study. A synchronic study of language describes a language as it is at some particular point in time, while a diachronic study of language is the study of the historical development of language over a period of time.65. Why does modern linguistics regard the spoken form of language as primary, not the written?First, the spoken form is prior to the writ-ten form and most writing systems are derived from the spoken form of language.Second, the spoken form plays a greater role than writing in terms of the amount of information conveyed and it serves a wider range of purposesFinally, the spoken form is the medium through which we acquire our mother tongue.66. What are the major distinctions between langue and parole?The distinction between langue, and parole was made by the famous linguist Ferdinand de Saussure early this century. Langue refers to the abstract linguistic system shared by all the members of a speech community, and parole refers to the realization of langue in actual use. Langue is the set of conventions and rules which language users all have to follow while parole is the concrete use of the conventionsand the application of the rules. Langue is abstract; it is not the language people actually use, but parole is concrete; it refers to the naturally occurring language events. Langue is relatively stable; it does not change frequently; while parole varies from person to person, and from situation to situation.67. How do you understand competence and performance?American linguist N. Chomsky in the late 1950’s proposed the distinction between competence and performance. Chomsky defines competence as the ideal user’s knowledge of the rules of his language. This internalized set of rules enables the language user to produce and understand an infinitely large number of sentences and recognize sentences that are ungrammatical and ambiguous. According to Chomsky, performance is the actual realization of this knowledge in linguistic communication. Although the speaker’s knowledge of his mother tongue is perfect, his performances may have mistakes because of social and psychological factors such as stress, embarrassment, etc.. Chomsky believes that what linguists should study is the competence, which is systematic, not the performance, which is too haphazard. 68. Saussure’s distinction between langue and parole seems similar to Chomsky’s distinction between competence and performance. What do you think are their major differences?Although Saussure’s distinction and Chomsky’s are very similar, they differ at least in that Saussure took a sociological view of language and his notion of langue is a mater of social conventions, and Chomsky looks at language from a psychological point of vies and to him, competence is a property of the mind of each individual. 69. Do you think human language is entirely arbitrary? Why?Language is arbitrary in nature, it is not entirely arbitrary, because there are a limited number of words whose connections between forms and meanings can be logically explained to a certain extent, for example, the onomatopoeia, words which are coined on the basis of imitation of sounds by sounds such as bang, crash,etc.. Take compounds for another example. The two elements “photo” and “copy” in “photocopy” are non-motivated, but the compound is not arbitrary.Chapter 2:PhonologyIV. Define the terms below:45. phonology: Phonology studies the system of sounds of a particular language; it aims to discover how speech sounds in a language form patterns and how these sounds are used to convey meaning in linguistic communication.46. phoneme: The basic unit in phonology is called phoneme; it is a unit of distinctive value. But it is an abstract unit. To be exact, a phoneme is not a sound; it is a collection of distinctive phonetic features.47. allophone: The different phones which can represent a phoneme in different phonetic environments are called the allophones of that phoneme.48. international phonetic alphabet: It is a standardized and internationally accepted system of phonetic transcription.49. intonation: When pitch, stress and sound length are tied to the sentence rather than the word in isolation, they are collectively known as intonation.50. phonetics: Phonetics is defined as the study of the phonic medium of language; itis concerned with all the sounds that occur in the world' s languages51. auditory phonetics: It studies the speech sounds from the hearer's point of view. It studies how the sounds are perceived by the hear-er.52. acoustic phonetics: It studies the speech sounds by looking at the sound waves. It studies the physical means by which speech sounds are transmitted through the air from one person to another.53. phone : Phones can be simply defined as the speech sounds we use when speakinga language. A phone is a phonetic unit or segment. It does not necessarily distinguish meaning.54. phonemic contrast: Phonemic contrast refers to the relation between two phonemes. If two phonemes can occur in the same environment and distinguish meaning, they are in phonemic contrast.55. tone: Tones are pitch variations, which are caused by the differing rates of vibration of the vocal cords.56. minimal pair: When two different forms are identical in every way except for one sound segment which occurs in the same place in the strings, the two words are said to form a minimal pair.V. Answer the following questions as comprehensively as possible. Give ex-amples for illustration if necessary:57. Of the two media of language, why do you think speech is more basic than writing?1) In linguistic evolution, speech is prior to writing.2) In everyday communication, speech plays a greater role than writing in terms of the amount of information conveyed.3) Speech is always the way in which every native speaker acquires his mother tongue, and writing is learned and taught later at school.58. What are the criteria that a linguist uses in classifying vowels?1) Vowels may be distinguished as front, central and back in terms of the position of the tongue in the mouth.2) According to how wide our mouth is opened, we classify the vowels into four groups: close vowels, semi-close vowels, semi-open vowels, and open vowels.3) According to the shape of the lips, vowels are divided into rounded vowels and unrounded vowels.4) The English vowels can also be classified into long vowels and short vowels according to the length of the sound.59. What are the major differences between phonology and phonetics?They differ in their approach and focus. Phonetics is of a general nature; it is interested in all the speech sounds used in all human languages: how they are produced, how they differ from each other, what phonetic features they possess, how they can be classified. Phonology, on the other hand, is interested in the system of sounds of a particular language; it aims to discover how speech sounds in a language form patterns and how these sounds are used to convey meaning in linguistic communication.60. Illustrate with examples how suprasegmental features can affect meaning.1) The location of stress in English distinguishes meaning, such as `import and import. The similar alternation of stress also occurs between a compound noun and a phrase consisting of the same elements. A phonological feature of the English compounds is that the stress of the word always falls on the first element and the second element receives secondary stress, for example: `blackbird is a particular kind of bird, which is not necessarily black, but a black `bird is a bird that is black.2) The more important words such as nouns, verbs adjectives , adverbs,etc are pronounced with greater force and made more prominent. But to give special emphasis to a certain notion, a word in sentence that is usually unstressed can be stressed to achieve different effect. Take the sentence “He is driving my car.” for example. To emphasize the fact that the car he is driving is not his, or yours, but mine, the speaker can stress the possessive pronoun my, which under normal circumstances is not stressed.3) English has four basic types of intonation, known as the four tones: When spoken in different tones, the same sequence of words may have different meanings. Generally speaking, the falling tone indicates that what is said is a straight-forward, matter-of-fact statement, the rising tone often makes a question of what is said, and the fall-rise tone often indicates that there is an implied message in what is said.61. In what way can we determine whether a phone is a phoneme or not?A basic way to determine the phonemes of a language is to see if substituting one sound for other results in a change of meaning. If it does, the two sounds then represent different phonemes.Chapter 3:MorphologyIV. Define the following terms:31. Morphology: Morphology is a branch of grammar which studies the internal structure of words and the rules by which words are formed.32. inflectional morphology: The inflectional morphology studies the inflections33. derivational morphology: Derivational morphology is the study of word- formation.34. Morpheme: It is the smallest meaningful unit of language.35. free morpheme: Free morphemes are the morphemes which are independent units of meaning and can be used freely all by themselves or in combination with oth-er morphemes.36. bound morpheme: Bound morphemes are the morphemes which cannot be used indepen-dently but have to be combined with other morphemes, either free or bound, to form a word.37. Root: A root is often seen as part of a word; it can never stand by itself al-though it bears clear, definite meaning; it must be combined with another root or an affix to form a word.38. Affix: Affixes are of two types: inflectional and derivational. Inflectional affixes manifest various grammatical relations or grammatical categories, while derivationalaffixes are added to an existing form to create a word.39. Prefix: Prefixes occur at the beginning of a word . Prefixes modify the meaning of the stem, but they usually do not change the part of speech of the original word.40. Suffix: Suffixes are added to the end of the stems; they modify the meaning of the original word and in many cases change its part of speech.41. Derivation: Derivation is a process of word formation by which derivative affixes are added to an existing form to create a word.42. Compounding: Compounding can be viewed as the combination of two or sometimes more than two words to create new words.V. Anwser the following questions:43. What are the main features of the English compounds?Orthographically a compound can be written as one word, two separate words with or without a hyphen in between. Syntactically, the part of speech of a compound is determined by the last element. Semantically, the meaning of a compound is idiomatic, not calcu-lable from the meanings of all its components. Phonetically, the word stress of a compound usually falls on the first element.44. Discuss the types of morphemes with examples.Free morphemes: They are the independent units of meaning and can be used freely all by the mselves, for example, “book-” in the word “bookish”.Bound morphemes: They are those that cannot be used independently but have to be combined with other morphemes, either free or bound, to form a word such as “-ish” in “bookish”. Bound morphemes can be subdivided into roots and affixes. A root is seen as part of a word; it can never stand by itself although it has a clear and definite meaning, such as “gene-” in the word “generate”. Affixes are of two types: inflectional and derivational. Inflectional morphemes manifest various grammatical relations or grammatical categories such as “-s” in the word “books” to indicate plurality of nouns. Derivational affixes are added to an existing form to create a word such as “mis-” in the word “misinform”. Derivational affixes can also be divided into prefixes and suffixes. Prefixes occur at the beginning of a word such as “dis- ” in the word “dislike”, while suffixes occur at the end of a word such as “-less” in the word “friendless”.。
(完整版)英语语言学习题与答案

Chapter 1 Introductions to LinguisticsI. Choose the best answer. (20%)1. Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human__________A. contactB. communicationC. relationD. community2. Which of the following words is entirely arbitrary?A. treeB. typewriterC. crashD. bang3. The function of the sentence “Water boils at 100 degrees Centigrade.”is__________.A. interrogativeB. directiveC. informativeD. performative4. In Chinese when someone breaks a bowl or a plate the host or the people present are likely to say“碎碎(岁岁)平安”as a means of controlling the forces which they believes feel might affect their lives. Which functions does it perform?A. InterpersonalB. EmotiveC. PerformativeD. Recreational5. Which of the following property of language enables language users to overcome the barriers caused by time and place, due to this feature of language, speakers of a language are free to talk about anything in any situation?A. TransferabilityB. DualityC. DisplacementD. Arbitrariness6. Study the following dialogue. What function does it play according to the functions of language?—A nice day, isn't it?—Right! I really enjoy the sunlight.A. EmotiveB. PhaticC. PerformativeD. Interpersonal7. __________ refers to the actual realization of the ideal language user's knowledge of the rulesof his language in utterances.A. PerformanceB. CompetenceC. LangueD. Parole8. When a dog is barking, you assume it is barking for something or at someone that exists hear and now. It couldn't be sorrowful for some lost love or lost bone. This indicates the designfeature of __________.A. cultural transmissionB. productivityC. displacementD. duality9. __________ answers such questions as how we as infants acquire our first language.A. PsycholinguisticsB.Anthropological linguisticsC. SociolinguisticsD. Applied linguistics10. __________ deals with language application to other fields, particularly education.A. Linguistic theoryB. Practical linguisticsC. Applied linguisticsD. Comparative linguisticsII. Decide whether the following statements are true or false. (10%)11. Language is a means of verbal communication. Therefore, the communication way usedby the deaf-mute is not language.12. Language change is universal, ongoing and arbitrary.13. Speaking is the quickest and most efficient way of the human communication systems.14. Language is written because writing is the primary medium for all languages.anyof details the means which language, acquire to ability the with born all were We 15.language system can be genetically transmitted.16. Only human beings are able to communicate.17. F. de Saussure, who made the distinction between langue and parole in the early 20th century, was a French linguist.18. A study of the features of the English used in Shakespeare's time is an example of the diachronic study of language.19. Speech and writing came into being at much the same time in human history.20. All the languages in the world today have both spoken and written forms.III. Fill in the blanks. (10%)21. Language, broadly speaking, is a means of __________ communication.22. In any language words can be used in new ways to mean new things and can be combined into innumerable sentences based on limited rules. This feature is usually termed__________.23. Language has many functions. We can use language to talk about itself. This function is __________.24. Theory that primitive man made involuntary vocal noises while performing heavy work has been called the __________ theory.25. Linguistics is the __________ study of language.26. Modern linguistics is __________ in the sense that the linguist tries to discover what language is rather than lay down some rules for people to observe.27. One general principle of linguistic analysis is the primacy of __________ over writing.28. The description of a language as it changes through time is a __________ study.29. Saussure put forward two important concepts. __________ refers to the abstract linguistic system shared by all members of a speech community.30. Linguistic potential is similar to Saussure's langue and Chomsky's __________.IV. Explain the following terms, using examples. (20%)31. Design feature32. Displacement33. Competence34. Synchronic linguisticsV. Answer the following questions. (20%)35. Why do people take duality as one of the important design features of human language? Can you tell us what language will be if it has no such design feature? (南开大学,2004)36. Why is it difficult to define language? (北京第二外国语大学,2004)VI. Analyze the following situation. (20%))1999(青岛海洋大学,How can a linguist make his analysis scientific? 37.Key:[In the reference keys, I won't give examples or further analysis. That seems too much work for me. Therefore, this key is only for reference. In order to answer this kind of question, you need more examples. So you should read the textbook carefully. –icywarmtea]I.1~5 BACCC 6~10 BACACII.11~15 FFTFF 16~20 FFFFFIII.21. verbal 22. productivity / creativity23. metalingual function 24. yo-he-ho25. scientific 26. descriptive27. speech 28. diachronic linguistic29. langue 30. competenceIV.31. Design feature: It refers to the defining properties of human language that tell the difference between human language and any system of animal communication.32. Displacement: It means that human languages enable their users to symbolize objects, events and concepts, which are not present (in time and space) at the moment of communication. 33. Competence: It is an essential part of performance. It is the speaker's knowledge of his or her language; that is, of its sound structure, its words, and its grammatical rules. Competence is, ina way, an encyclopedia of language. Moreover, the knowledge involved in competence is generally unconscious. A transformational-generative grammar is a model of competence.34. Synchronic linguistics: It refers to the study of a language at a given point in time. The time studied may be either the present or a particular point in the past; synchronic analyses can also be made of dead languages, such as Latin. Synchronic linguistics is contrasted with diachronic linguistics, the study of a language over a period of time.V.35.Duality makes our language productive. A large number of different units can be formed out of asmall number of elements –for instance, tens of thousands of words out of a small set of sounds, around 48 in the case of the English language. And out of the huge number of words, there can be astronomical number of possible sentences and phrases, which in turn can combine to formunlimited number of texts. Most animal communication systems do not have this design feature of human language.If language has no such design feature, then it will be like animal communicational system whichwill be highly limited. It cannot produce a very large number of sound combinations, e.g. words,which are distinct in meaning.36.It is difficult to define language, as it is such a general term that covers too many things. Thus, definitions for it all have their own special emphasis, and are not totally free from limitations.VI.37.It should be guided by the four principles of science: exhaustiveness, consistency, economy and objectivity and follow the scientific procedure: form hypothesis –collect data –checkagainst the observable facts –come to a conclusion.Chapter 2 Speech SoundsI. Choose the best answer. (20%)1. Pitch variation is known as __________ when its patterns are imposed on sentences.A. intonationB. toneC. pronunciationD. voice2. Conventionally a __________ is put in slashes (/ /).A. allophoneB. phoneC. phonemeD. morpheme3. An aspirated p, an unaspirated p and an unreleased p are __________ of the p phoneme.A. analoguesB. tagmemesC. morphemesD. allophones4. The opening between the vocal cords is sometimes referred to as__________.A. glottisB. vocal cavityC. pharynxD. uvula5. The diphthongs that are made with a movement of the tongue towards the center are known as __________ diphthongs.A. wideB. closingC. narrowD. centering6. A phoneme is a group of similar sounds called __________.A. minimal pairsB. allomorphsC. phonesD. allophones7. Which branch of phonetics concerns the production of speech sounds?A. Acoustic phoneticsB. Articulatory phoneticsC. Auditory phoneticsD. None of the above8. Which one is different from the others according to places of articulation?A. [n]B. [m]C. [ b ]D. [p]9. Which vowel is different from the others according to the characteristics of vowels?A. [i:]B. [ u ]C. [e]D. [ i ]10. What kind of sounds can we make when the vocal cords are vibrating?A. VoicelessB. VoicedC. Glottal stopD. ConsonantII. Decide whether the following statements are true or false. (10%)11. Suprasegmental phonology refers to the study of phonological properties of units larger than the segment-phoneme, such as syllable, word and sentence.12. The air stream provided by the lungs has to undergo a number of modification to acquirethe quality of a speech sound.13. Two sounds are in free variation when they occur in the same environment and do not contrast, namely, the substitution of one for the other does not produce a different word, but merelya different pronunciation.14. [p] is a voiced bilabial stop.Acoustic phonetics is concerned with the perception of speech sounds.15.16. All syllables must have a nucleus but not all syllables contain an onset and a coda.17. When pure vowels or monophthongs are pronounced, no vowel glides take place.18. According to the length or tenseness of the pronunciation, vowels can be divided into tense vs. lax or long vs. short.19. Received Pronunciation is the pronunciation accepted by most people.20. The maximal onset principle states that when there is a choice as to where to place a consonant, it is put into the coda rather than the onset.III. Fill in the blanks. (20%)21. Consonant sounds can be either __________ or __________, while all vowel sounds are __________.22. Consonant sounds can also be made when two organs of speech in the mouth are brought close together so that the air is pushed out between them, causing __________.23. The qualities of vowels depend upon the position of the __________ and the lips.24. One element in the description of vowels is the part of the tongue which is at the highest point in the mouth. A second element is the __________ to which that part of the tongue is raised.25. Consonants differ from vowels in that the latter are produced without __________.26. In phonological analysis the words fail / veil are distinguishable simply because of the two phonemes /f/ - /v/. This is an example for illustrating __________.27. In English there are a number of __________, which are produced by moving from one vowel position to another through intervening positions.28. __________ refers to the phenomenon of sounds continually show the influence of their neighbors.29. __________ is the smallest linguistic unit.30. Speech takes place when the organs of speech move to produce patterns of sound. These movements have an effect on the __________ coming from the lungs.IV. Explain the following terms, using examples. (20%)31. Sound assimilation32. Suprasegmental feature33. Complementary distribution34. Distinctive featuresV. Answer the following questions. (20%)35. What is acoustic phonetics?(中国人民大学,2003)36. What are the differences between voiced sounds and voiceless sounds in terms of articulation?(南开大学,2004)VI. Analyze the following situation. (20%)Write the symbol that corresponds to each of the following phonetic descriptions; then give37.an English word that contains this sound. Example: voiced alveolar stop [d] dog. (青岛海洋大学,1999)(1) voiceless bilabial unaspirated stop(2) low front vowel(3) lateral liquid(4) velar nasal(5) voiced interdental fricative答案I.1~5 ACDAA 6~10 DBABBII.11~15 TTTFF 16~20 TTTFFIII.21. voiced, voiceless, voiced 22. friction23. tongue 24. height25. obstruction 26. minimal pairs27. diphthongs 28. Co-articulation29. Phonemes 30. air streamIV.31. Sound assimilation: Speech sounds seldom occur in isolation. In connected speech, under the influence of their neighbors, are replaced by other sounds. Sometimes two neighboring sounds influence each other and are replaced by a third sound which is different from both original sounds. This process is called sound assimilation.32. Suprasegmental feature: The phonetic features that occur above the level of the segments are called suprasegmental features; these are the phonological properties of such units as the syllable, the word, and the sentence. The main suprasegmental ones includes stress, intonation,and tone.33. Complementary distribution: The different allophones of the same phoneme never occur in the same phonetic context. When two or more allophones of one phoneme never occur in the same linguistic environment they are said to be in complementary distribution.34. Distinctive features: It refers to the features that can distinguish one phoneme from another. If we can group the phonemes into two categories: one with this feature and the other without, this feature is called a distinctive feature.V.35.Acoustic phonetics deals with the transmission of speech sounds through the air. When a speech sound is produced it causes minor air disturbances (sound waves). Various instruments are used to measure the characteristics of these sound waves.36.When the vocal cords are spread apart, the air from the lungs passes between them unimpeded. Sounds produced in this way are described as voiceless; consonants [p, s, t] are produced in this way. But when the vocal cords are drawn together, the air from the lungs repeatedly pushes them apart as it passes through, creating a vibration effect. Sounds produced in this way are described as voiced. [b, z, d] are voiced consonants.VI.37.Omit.Chapter 3 LexiconI. Choose the best answer. (20%)1. Nouns, verbs and adjectives can be classified as __________.A. lexical wordsB. grammatical wordsC. function wordsD. form words2. Morphemes that represent tense, number, gender and case are called __________ morpheme.A. inflectionalB. freeC. boundD. derivational3. There are __________ morphemes in the word denationalization.A. threeB. fourC. fiveD. six4. In English –ise and –tion are called __________.A. prefixesB. suffixesC. infixesD. stems5. The three subtypes of affixes are: prefix, suffix and __________.A. derivational affixB. inflectional affixC. infixD. back-formation6. __________ is a way in which new words may be formed from already existing words by subtracting an affix which is thought to be part of the old word.A. affixationB. back-formationC. insertionD. addition7. The word TB is formed in the way of __________.A. acronymyB. clippingC. initialismD. blending8. The words like comsat and sitcom are formed by __________.A. blendingB. clippingC. back-formationD. acronymy9. The stem of disagreements is __________.A. agreementB. agreeC. disagreeD. disagreement10. All of them are meaningful except for __________.A. lexemeB. phonemeC. morphemeD. allomorphII. Decide whether the following statements are true or false. (10%)11. Phonetically, the stress of a compound always falls on the first element, while the secondelement receives secondary stress.12. Fore as in foretell is both a prefix and a bound morpheme.13. Base refers to the part of the word that remains when all inflectional affixes are removed.14. In most cases, prefixes change the meaning of the base whereas suffixes change theword-class of the base.15. Conversion from noun to verb is the most productive process of a word.16. Reduplicative compound is formed by repeating the same morpheme of a word.17. The words whimper, whisper and whistle are formed in the way of onomatopoeia.18. In most cases, the number of syllables of a word corresponds to the number of morphemes.19. Back-formation is a productive way of word-formations.20. Inflection is a particular way of word-formations.III. Fill in the blanks. (20%)21. An __________ is pronounced letter by letter, while an __________ is pronounced as a word.22. Lexicon, in most cases, is synonymous with __________.23. Orthographically, compounds are written in three ways: __________, __________ and__________.24. All words may be said to contain a root __________.25. A small set of conjunctions, prepositions and pronouns belong to __________ class, while the largest part of nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs belongs to __________ class.26. __________ is a reverse process of derivation, and therefore is a process of shortening.27. __________ is extremely productive, because English had lost most of its inflectional endings by the end of Middle English period, which facilitated the use of words interchangeably as verbs or nouns, verbs or adjectives, and vice versa.28. Words are divided into simple, compound and derived words on the __________ level.29. A word formed by derivation is called a __________, and a word formed by compounding is called a __________.30. Bound morphemes are classified into two types: __________ and __________.IV. Explain the following terms, using examples. (20%)31. Blending32. Allomorph33. Closed-class word34. Morphological ruleV. Answer the following questions. (20%)35. How many types of morphemes are there in the English language? What are they? (厦门大学,2003)36. What are the main features of the English compounds?VI. Analyze the following situation. (20%)37. Match the terms under COLUMN I with the underlined forms from COLUMN II (武汉大学,2004)I II(1) acronym a. foe(2) free morpheme b. subconscious(3) derivational morpheme c. UNESCOoverwhelmedd. inflectional morpheme (4)(5) prefix e. calculationKey:I.1~5 AACBB 6~10 BCADBII.11~15 FTFTT 16~20 FTFFFIII.21. initialism, acronym 22. vocabulary23. solid, hyphenated, open 24. morpheme25. close, open 26. back-formation27. conversion 28. morpheme29. derivative, compound 30. affix, bound rootIV.31. Blending: It is a process of word-formation in which a new word is formed by combiningthe meanings and sounds of two words, one of which is not in its full form or both of which are not in their full forms, like newscast (news + broadcast), brunch (breakfast + lunch)32. Allomorph: It is any of the variant forms of a morpheme as conditioned by position or adjoining sounds.33. Close-class word: It is a word whose membership is fixed or limited. Pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, articles, etc. are all closed-class words.34. Morphological rule: It is the rule that governs which affix can be added to what type ofbase to form a new word, e.g. –ly can be added to a noun to form an adjective.V.Omit.VI.37.(1) c (2) a (3) e (4) d (5) bChapter 4 SyntaxI. Choose the best answer. (20%)1. The sentence structure is ________.A. only linearB. only hierarchicalC. complexD. both linear and hierarchical2. The syntactic rules of any language are ____ in number.A. largeB. smallC. finiteD. infinite3. The ________ rules are the rules that group words and phrases to form grammatical sentences.A. lexicalB. morphologicalC. linguisticD. combinational4. A sentence is considered ____ when it does not conform to the grammati?cal knowledge in the mind of native speakers.A. rightB. wrongC. grammaticalD. ungrammatical5. A __________ in the embedded clause refers to the introductory word that introduces the embedded clause.D. subordinatorC. preposition B. particle A. coordinator6. Phrase structure rules have ____ properties.A. recursiveB. grammaticalC. socialD. functional7. Phrase structure rules allow us to better understand _____________.A. how words and phrases form sentences.B. what constitutes the grammaticality of strings of wordsC. how people produce and recognize possible sentencesD. all of the above.8. The head of the phrase “the city Rome”is __________.A. the cityB. RomeC. cityD. the city Rome9. The phrase “on the shelf”belongs to __________ construction.A. endocentricB. exocentricC. subordinateD. coordinate10. The sentence “They were wanted to remain quiet and not to expose themselves.”is a__________ sentence.A. simpleB. coordinateC. compoundD. complexII. Decide whether the following statements are true or false. (10%)11. Universally found in the grammars of all human languages, syntactic rules that comprise the system of internalized linguistic knowledge of a language speaker are known as linguistic competence.12. The syntactic rules of any language are finite in number, but there is no limit to the number of sentences native speakers of that language are able to produce and comprehend.13. In a complex sentence, the two clauses hold unequal status, one subordinating the other.14. Constituents that can be substituted for one another without loss of grammaticality belong to the same syntactic category.15. Minor lexical categories are open because these categories are not fixed and new members are allowed for.16. In English syntactic analysis, four phrasal categories are commonly recognized and discussed, namely, noun phrase, verb phrase, infinitive phrase, and auxiliary phrase.17. In English the subject usually precedes the verb and the direct object usually follows the verb.18. What is actually internalized in the mind of a native speaker is a complete list of words and phrases rather than grammatical knowledge.19. A noun phrase must contain a noun, but other elements are optional.20. It is believed that phrase structure rules, with the insertion of the lexicon, generate sentences at the level of D-structure.III. Fill in the blanks. (20%)21. A __________ sentence consists of a single clause which contains a subject and a predicate and stands alone as its own sentence.22. A __________ is a structurally independent unit that usually comprises a number of words to form a complete statement, question or command.23. A __________ may be a noun or a noun phrase in a sentence that usually precedes the predicate.24. The part of a sentence which comprises a finite verb or a verb phrase and which says something about the subject is grammatically called __________.25. A __________ sentence contains two, or more, clauses, one of which is incorporated into the other.26. In the complex sentence, the incorporated or subordinate clause is normally called an__________ clause.27. Major lexical categories are __________ categories in the sense that new words are constantly added.28. __________ condition on case assignment states that a case assignor and a case recipient should stay adjacent to each other.29. __________ are syntactic options of UG that allow general principles to operate in oneway or another and contribute to significant linguistic variations between and amongnatural languages.30. The theory of __________ condition explains the fact that noun phrases appear only in subject and object positions.IV. Explain the following terms, using examples. (20%)31. Syntax32. IC analysis33. Hierarchical structure34. Trace theoryV. Answer the following questions. (20%)35. What are endocentric construction and exocentric construction? (武汉大学,2004)36. Distinguish the two possible meanings of “more beautiful flowers”by means of IC analysis. (北京第二外国语大学,2004)VI. Analyze the following situation. (20%)37. Draw a tree diagram according to the PS rules to show the deep structure of the sentence:The student wrote a letter yesterday.Key:I.1~5 DCDDD 6~10 ADDBAII.11~15 TTTTF 16~20 FTFTTIII.21. simple 22. sentence23. subject 24. predicate25. complex 26. embedded28. Adjacency27. open29. Parameters 30. CaseIV.31. Syntax: Syntax refers to the rules governing the way words are combined to form sentences ina language, or simply, the study of the formation of sentences.32. IC analysis: Immediate constituent analysis, IC analysis for short, refers to the analysis of a sentence in terms of its immediate constituents –word groups (phrases), which are in turn analyzed into the immediate constituents of their own, and the process goes on until the ultimate sake of convenience.33. Hierarchical structure: It is the sentence structure that groups words into structural constituents and shows the syntactic category of each structural constituent, such as NP, VP and PP.34. Trace theory: After the movement of an element in a sentence there will be a trace left in the original position. This is the notion trace in T-G grammar. It's suggested that if we have the notion trace, all the necessary information for semantic interpretation may come from the surface structure.E.g. The passive Dams are built by beavers. differs from the active Beavers built dams. in implying that all dams are built by beavers. If we add a trace element represented by the letter t after built in the passive as Dams are built t by beavers, then the deep structure information that the word dams was originally the object of built is also captured by the surface structure. Trace theory proves to be not only theoretically significant but also empirically valid.V.35.An endocentric construction is one whose distribution is functionally equivalent, or approaching equivalence, to one of its constituents, which serves as the center, or head, of the whole. A typical example is the three small children with children as its head. The exocentric construction, oppositeto the first type, is defined negatively as a construction whose distribution is not functionally equivalent to any of its constituents. Prepositional phrasal like on the shelf are typical examples ofthis type.36.(1) more | beautiful flowers(2) more beautiful | flowersChapter 5 Meaning[Mainly taken from lxm1000w's exercises. –icywarmtea]I. Choose the best answer. (20%)1. The naming theory is advanced by ________.A. PlatoB. BloomfieldC. Geoffrey LeechD. Firth2. “We shall know a word by the company it keeps.”This statement represents _______.A. the conceptualist viewB. contexutalismC. the naming theoryD. behaviorism3. Which of the following is NOT true?A. Sense is concerned with the inherent meaning of the linguistic form.B. Sense is the collection of all the features of the linguistic form.C. Sense is abstract and decontextualized.D. Sense is the aspect of meaning dictionary compilers are not interested in.4. “Can I borrow your bike?”_______ “You have a bike.”A. is synonymous withB. is inconsistent withC. entailsD. presupposes5. ___________ is a way in which the meaning of a word can be dissected into meaning components, called semantic features.A. Predication analysisB. Componential analysisC. Phonemic analysisD. Grammatical analysis6. “Alive”and “dead”are ______________.A. gradable antonymsB. relational antonymsC. complementary antonymsD. None of the above7. _________ deals with the relationship between the linguistic element and the non-linguistic world of experience.A. ReferenceB. ConceptC. SemanticsD. Sense8. ___________ refers to the phenomenon that words having different meanings have the same form.A. PolysemyB. SynonymyC. HomonymyD. Hyponymy9. Words that are close in meaning are called ______________.A. homonymsB. polysemiesC. hyponymsD. synonyms10. The grammaticality of a sentence is governed by _______.A. grammatical rulesB. selectional restrictionsC. semantic rulesD. semantic features。
语言学教程前三章练习题及答案

UNIT11.Which of the following is a main branch of linguistics?A.PsycholinguisticB.SociolinguisticsC.Macrolinguistics正确答案C,得2分2.(单选题,2 分)()refers to the system of a language, i. e. the arrangement of sounds and words which speakers of a language have a shared knowledge of.municative competenceB.Linguistic potentialnguepetence正确答案C3.(单选题,2 分)The function of the sentence "Water boils at 100 degree Centigrade” is ().A.interrogativeB.performativeC.directivermative正确答案D,得2分4.(单选题,2 分)By()we mean language is resourceful because of its duality and recursiveness.A.displacementB.dualityC.arbitrarinessD.creativity正确答案D,得2分5.(单选题,2 分)When language is used to get information from others. it serves an()function.A.interrogativeB.expressiveC.evocativermative正确答案D6.(单选题,2 分)The functions of language do NOT include ().A.metacognitive functionrmative functionC.phatic functionD.interpersonal function正确答案A,得2分7.(单选题,2 分)Saussure took a(n) ()view of language, while Chomsky looks at language from a ()point of view.A.semantic. linguisticB.psychological. sociologicalC.sociological.. psychologicalD.applied. pragmatic正确答案C,得2分8.(单选题,2 分)The actual production and comprehension of the speech by speakers of a language is called().A.performancenguage devicepetenceD.grammar rules正确答案A,9.(单选题,2 分)Saussure is closely connected with().nguepetenceC.paroleD.performance正确答案C,得2分10.(单选题,2 分)"A refer to Confucius even though he was dead 2, 000 years ago. " This shows that language has the design feature of().A.creativityB.arbitrarinessC.displacementD.duality正确答案C,得2分11.(单选题,2 分)According to F. de Saussure()refers to the abstract linguistic system shared by all the members of a speech community.nguageB.performancengueD.parole正确答案C,得2分12.(单选题,2 分)The study of physical properties of the sounds produced in speech is closely connected with().A.auditory phoneticsB.articulatory phoneticsC.acoustic phonetics教师批阅正确答案C,得2分13.(单选题,2 分)Which of the following is NOT a frequently discussed design feature?A.ArbitrarinessB.ConventionC.DualityD.Culture transmission正确答案B,我的答案:D得0分14.(单选题,2 分)Which of the following words is entirely arbitrary?A.bangB.crashC.treeD.typewriter正确答案C,我的答案:A得0分15.(单选题,2 分)The study of language at one point in time is a()study.A.descriptiveB.diachronicC.synchronicD.historical正确答案C,得2分16.(单选题,2 分)Which of the following statements is true of Jacobson 's framework of language functions?A.The emotive function is to convey message and information.B.The conative function is to clear up intentions, words and meaning.C.The referential function is to indulge in language for its own sake.D.The phatic function is to establish communion with others.正确答案D,我的答案:C得0分17.(填空题,2 分)____grammars attempt to tell what is in the language, while____grammars tell people what should be in the language. Most contemporary linguists believe that whatever occurs naturally in the language should be described.正确答案:(1) Descriptive(2) prescriptive18.(填空题,2 分)The features that define our human languages can be called____features.正确答案:(1) design19.(填空题,2 分)The link between a linguistic sign and its meaning is a matter of____ ____relation.正确答案:(1) convention20.(填空题,2 分)____ can be defined as the study of language in use. Sociolinguistics, on the other hand, attempts to show the relationship between language and society.正确答案:(1) Pragmatics21.(填空题,2 分)Saussure distinguished the linguistic competence of the speaker and the actual phenomena or data of linguistics (utterances) as____ and.The former refers to the abstract linguistic system shared by all the members of a speech community, and the latter is the concrete manifestation of language either through speech or through writing.正确答案:(1) langue, parole22.(填空题,2 分)Arbitrariness of language makes it potentially creative, and ____ of language makes learning a language laborious. For learners of a foreign language, it is this feature of language that is more with noticing than its arbitrariness.正确答案:(1) conventionality23.(填空题,2 分)Chomsky initiated the distinction between ____and performance.正确答案:(1) competence24.(填空题,2 分)Syntagmatic relation in fact is a____ relation.正确答案:(1) positional25.(填空题,2 分)Linguistics is usually defined as the____ study of language.正确答案:(1) scientific26.(填空题,2 分)Our language can be used to talk about itself. This is the____ function of language.正确答案:(1) metalingual27.(填空题,2 分)By____ is meant the property of having two levels of structures, such that units of the primary level are composed of elements of the secondary level and each of the two levels has its own principles of organization.正确答案:(1) duality28.(填空题,2 分)Theory that primitive man made involuntary vocal noises while performing heavy work has been called the ____ theory.正确答案:(1) yo-he-ho29.(填空题,2 分)Human language is arbitrary. This refers to the fact that there is no logical or intrinsic connection between a particular sound and the ____ it is associated with.正确答案:(1) meaning30.(填空题,2 分)Semantics and ____ investigate different aspects of linguistic meaning.正确答案:(1) pragmatics31.(填空题,2 分)The relation between them is____.正确答案:(1) arbitrary32.(填空题,2 分)By____, we mean language is resourceful because of its duality and its recursiveness.正确答案:(1) creativity33.(填空题,2 分)In linguistics, ____ refers to the study of the rules governing the way words are combined to form sentences in a language, or simply, the study of the formation as sentence.正确答案:(1) syntax34.(填空题,2 分)Modern linguistic is ____ in the sense that the linguist tries to discover what language is rather than lay down some rules for people to observe.正确答案:(1) descriptive35.(填空题,2 分)____ mainly studies the characteristics of speech sounds and provides methods for their description, classification and transcription.正确答案:(1) phonetics36.(填空题,2 分)One of the important distinctions in linguistics is ____ and performance.正确答案:(1) competence37.(填空题,2 分)The most important function of language is ____function.正确答案:(1) informative38.(填空题,2 分)____ refers to the role language plays in communication(e. g. to express ideas, attitudes) or in particular social situations(e. g. Religious, legal).正确答案:(1) Function39.(填空题,2 分)When language is used for establishing an atmosphere or maintaining social contact rather thanexchanging information or ideas, its function is ____function.正确答案:(1) phatic40.(填空题,2 分)The abstract linguistic system shared by all the members of a speech community is____.正确答案:(1) langue41.(判断题,2 分)It is conclusive that Chinese is regarded as the primeval language.正确答案错,得2分42.(判断题,2 分)Historical linguistics equals to the study of synchronic study正确答案错,得2分43.(判断题,2 分)Onomatopoeic words can show the arbitrary nature of language.正确答案错,得2分44.(判断题,2 分)Wherever humans exist,language exists.正确答案错,得2分45.(判断题,2 分)The bow- wow theory is a theory on the origin of language.正确答案对,得2分46.(判断题,2 分)According to Saussure, the relation between the signified and the signifier is arbitrary.正确答案对,得2分47.(判断题,2 分)When language is used to get information from other,it serves an informative function.正确答案错,得2分48.(判断题,2 分)Prescriptive linguistics is more popular than descriptive linguistics, because it can tell us how to speak correct language.正确答案错,得2分49.(判断题,2 分)The features that define our human languages can be called DESIGN FEATURES.正确答案对,得2分50.(判断题,2 分)Duality is one of the characteristics of human language. It refers to the fact that language has two levels of structures: the system of sounds and the system of meaning.对UNIT21.(单选题,1 分)The vowel()is a low back vowel.A./i:/B./e/C./u/D./a:/教师批阅正确答案D,得1 分2.(单选题,1 分)Which one is different from the others according to manners of articulation?A.[w]B.[f]C.[z]D.[v]教师批阅正确答案A,得1 分3.(单选题,1 分)Which of the following is true of an allophone?A.An allophone changes the meaning of the word.B.There is no possibility of an allophone becoming a phoneme.C.A phone can be the allophone of all English vowel phonemes.D.There are no restrictions on the distribution of an allophone.教师批阅正确答案B,得1 分4.(单选题,1 分)Which of the following CANNOT be considered as minimal par?A./s / /T/B./ai/ /Oi/C./s/ /z/D./p/ /b/教师批阅正确答案A,我的答案:C 得0 分5.(单选题,1 分)Which of the following is the correct description of [v]?A.voiced labiodental fricativeB.voiced labiodental stopC.voiceless labiodental fricativeD.voiceless labiodental stop教师批阅正确答案A,得1 分6.(单选题,1 分)The consonant /s / in the word “smile” can be described as:().A.Voiceless oral alveolar fricativeB.voiced oral bilabial fricativeC.voiceless nasal bilabial liquidD.voiced oral alveolar plosive教师批阅正确答案A,得1 分7.(单选题,1 分)Point out which item does not fall under the same category as the rest, and explain the reason in ONE sentence.A.residentB.restartC.resolutionD.resignation教师批阅正确答案B,得1 分8.(单选题,1 分)()is the smallest meaningful unit of language.A.PhoneB.PhonemeC.MorphemeD.Syllable教师批阅正确答案B,得1 分9.(单选题,1 分)An aspirated P and an unaspirated p are()of the p phoneme.A.analoguesB.allophonesC.tagmemesD.morphemes教师批阅正确答案B,得1 分10.(单选题,1 分)()refers to the degree of force used in producing a syllable.A.RhymeB.StressC.ToneD.Coda教师批阅正确答案B,得1 分11.(单选题,1 分)Which branch of phonetics concerns the production of speech sounds?A.Acoustic phoneticsB.articulatory phoneticsC.None of themD.auditory phonetics教师批阅正确答案B,得1 分12.(单选题,1 分)A sound which is capable of distinguishing one word or one shape of word from another in a givenlanguage is a().A.phonemeB.allophoneC.phoneD.word教师批阅正确答案A,得1 分13.(单选题,1 分)()is one of the suprasegmental features.A.stopB.toneC.voicingD.deletion教师批阅正确答案B,得1 分14.(单选题,1 分)Which one is different from others according to places of articulatory?A.[p]B.[m]C.[b]D.[n]教师批阅正确答案D,得1 分15.(单选题,1 分)Classification of English speech sounds in terms of manner of articulation involves the following EXCEPT(). DA.affricatesB.bilabialC. lateralD.fricative教师批阅正确答案B,得1 分16.(单选题,1 分)Of the consonants/p/ /t/ /k/ /f/ /m/ /z/and /g/, which has the features of voiceless and velar?A./p/B./t/C./g/D./k/教师批阅正确答案D,得1 分17.(单选题,1 分)Of the three cavities, ()is the most variable and active in amplifying and modifying speech sounds.A.none of themB.oral cavityC. pharynx cavityD.nasal cavity教师批阅正确答案B,得1 分18.(单选题,1 分)What kind of sounds can we make when the vocal cords are vibrating?A.Glottal stopB.VoicedC.ConsonantD.Voiceless教师批阅正确答案B,得1 分19.(单选题,1 分)The most recognizable differences between American English and British English are in()and vocabulary.A.grammarB.structureC.pronunciationage教师批阅正确答案C,得1 分20.(单选题,1 分)Which of the allowing is not a minimal pair?A./keit/ /feit/B./sai / sei/C./li:f/ /fi:l/D./sip/ /zip/教师批阅正确答案C,得1 分21.(填空题,2.5 分)Consonant articulations are relatively easy to feel. And as a result are most conveniently described in terms of____and manner of articulation.正确答案:(1) place22.(填空题,2.5 分)The different members of a phoneme, sounds which are phonetically different but do not make one word different from another in meaning, are ____allophones教师批阅得2.5 分正确答案:(1) allophones23.(填空题,2.5 分)____are produced by constricting or obstructing the vocal tract at some place to divert, impede,or completely shut off the flow of air in the oral cavity.正确答案:(1) Consonants24.(填空题,2.5 分)The sound /k/ can be described with "voiceless,____,stop”.教师批阅得2.5 分正确答案:(1) velar25.(填空题,2.5 分)According to ____, when there is choice as to where to place consonant put into the onset rather than the coda.(1) the Maximal Onset Principle26.(填空题,2.5 分)The sound /b/can be described with" ____, bilabial,stop”.正确答案:(1) voiced27.(填空题,2.5 分)____transcription should transcribe all the possible speech sounds, including the minute shades. Narrow28.(填空题,2.5 分)Most speech sounds are made by movements of the tongue and the lips, and these movements are called ____, as compared to those made by hands. These movements of the tongue and lips are made____ _so that they can be heard and recognized.正确答案:(1) gestures(2) audibles29.(填空题,2.5 分)Stress refers to the degree of ____used in producing syllable.force教师批阅得2.5 分正确答案:(1) force30.(填空题,2.5 分)In phonological analysis the words fail -veil are distinguishable simply because of the two phonemes/f/-/v/. This is an example for illustrating____minimal pairs教师批阅得0 分正确答案:(1) minimal pair31.(填空题,2.5 分)The syllable structure in Chinese is ____or____or ____正确答案:(1) CVC(2) CV(3) V32.(填空题,2.5 分)Voicing refers to the ____of the vocal folds.(1) vibration33.(填空题,2.5 分)____refers to the change of a sound as a result of the influence of an adjacent sound.正确答案:(1) Assimilation34.(填空题,2.5 分)In English, the two words cut and gut differ only in their initial sounds and the two sounds are two different ____and the two words are a____pair.正确答案:(1) phonemes(2) minimal35.(填空题,2.5 分)In ____assimilation, a following sound is influencing a preceding sound.正确答案:(1) regressive36.(填空题,2.5 分)The sound /p/can be described with____, bilabial,stop”.正确答案:(1) voiceless37.(填空题,2.5 分)In English, consonant clusters in onset and coda positions disallow many consonant combinations, which is explained by the work of____.正确答案:(1) sonority scale38.(填空题,2.5 分)Phonetic similarity means that the____of phoneme must bear some phonetic resemblance.正确答案:(1) allophones39.(填空题,2.5 分)In English there are a number of ____which are produced by moving from one vowel position to another through intervening positions.正确答案:(1) diphthongs40.(填空题,2.5 分)The present system of the____derives mainly from one developed in the 1920s by the British phonetician, Daniel Jones (1881-1967) and his colleagues at University of London.正确答案:(1) cardinal vowels41.(判断题,1 分)There are two nasal consonants in English.正确答案错,得1 分42.(判断题,1 分)In English, we can have the syllable structure of CCCVCCCC.正确答案对,得1 分43.(判断题,1 分)In the sound writing system, the reference of the grapheme is the phoneme.正确答案对,得0 分44.(判断题,1 分)Phonology studies speech sounds, including the production of speech, that is, how speech sounds are actually made, transmitted and received.正确答案错,得1 分45.(判断题,1 分)The “Minimal Pair” test that can be used to find out which sound substitutions cause differences in meaning do not work well for all languages.正确答案对,得1 分46.(判断题,1 分)The airstream provided by the lungs has to undergo a number of modifications to acquire the quality of a speech sound.正确答案对,得1 分47.(判断题,1 分)Two sounds are in free variation when they occur in the same environment and do not contrast, namely, the substitution of one for the other does not produce a different word, but merely a different pronunciation.正确答案对,得0 分48.(判断题,1 分)Sound [p] in the word"spit "is an unaspirated stop.正确答案对,得1 分49.(判断题,1 分)Speech sounds are those sounds made by human beings that have become units in the language system. We can analyze speech sounds from various perspectives.正确答案对,得1 分50.(判断题,1 分)Tones in tone language are not always fixed. For example, tones in Chinese never change.正确答案错,得1 分51.(判断题,1 分)The International Phonetic Alphabet uses narrow transcription.正确答案对,得0 分52.(判断题,1 分)All syllables must have a nucleus but not all syllables contain an onset and a coda.正确答案对,得1 分The speech sounds we hear and produce during linguistic communications are all phonemes.正确答案错,得1 分54.(判断题,1 分)Broad Transcription is intended to symbolize all the possible speech sounds, including the minute shades.正确答案错,得1 分55.(判断题,1 分)It is sounds by which we make communicative meaning.正确答案错,得0 分56.(判断题,1 分)All the suffixes may change the position of the stress.正确答案错,得1 分57.(判断题,1 分)The assimilation rule assimilates one sound to another by copying a feature of a sequential phoneme, thus making the two phones similar.正确答案错,得0 分58.(判断题,1 分)The speech sounds which are in complementary distribution are definitely allophones of the same phoneme.正确答案错,得1 分59.(判断题,1 分)Phonetic similarity means that the allophones of a phoneme must bear some morphological resemblance.正确答案错,得1 分60.(判断题,1 分)A syllable can be divided into two parts, the NUCLEUS and the CODA.正确答案错,得1 分61.(判断题,1 分)The last sound of "top can be articulated as an unreleased or released plosive. These different realizations of the same phoneme are not in complementary distribution.正确答案对,得1 分62.(判断题,1 分)All syllables contain three parts: onset, nucleus and coda.正确答案错,得1 分63.(判断题,1 分)Larynx is what we sometimes call “Adam’s apple”.正确答案错,得1 分64.(判断题,1 分)Chinese is a tone language.正确答案对,得1 分65.(判断题,1 分)A phoneme in one language or one dialect may be an allophone in another language or dialect.正确答案对,得1 分When preceding /p/, the negative prefix “in-” always changes to “im-” .正确答案对,得1 分67.(判断题,1 分)The last sound of "sit"can be articulated as an unreleased or released plosive. These different realizations of the same phoneme are not in complementary distribution.正确答案对,得0 分68.(判断题,1 分)The initial sound of"peak "is aspirated while the second sound of"speak"is unaspirated. They are in free variation.正确答案错,得1 分69.(判断题,1 分)[p] is voiced bilabial stop.正确答案错,得1 分70.(判断题,1 分)Pure vowels are a set of vowel qualities arbitrarily defined, fixed and unchanging, intended to provide a frame of reference for the description of the actual vowels of existing languages.正确答案错,得0 分UNIT31.(单选题,1 分)“-s” in the word “books” is ().A.a stemB.an inflectional affixC.a derivational affixD.a root教师批阅正确答案B,得1 分2.(单选题,1 分)other than compounds may be divided into roots and affixes.A.Poly-morphemic wordsB.Free morphemesC.Bound morphemes教师批阅正确答案A,得1 分3.(单选题,1 分)Of the following sound combinations, only() is permissible according to the sequential rules in English.A.ilmbB.miblC.ilbmD.bmil教师批阅正确答案B,我的答案:C 得0 分4.(单选题,1 分)Which two terms can best describe the following pairs of words: table-- tables, day+ break-- daybreak?A.inflection and derivationpound and derivationC.derivation and inflectionD.inflection and compound教师批阅正确答案D,得1 分5.(单选题,1 分)()is a branch of grammar which studies the internal structure of words and the rules by which words are formed.A.morphologyB.morphemeC.grammarD.syntax教师批阅正确答案A,得1 分6.(单选题,1 分)Which of the following words are formed by blending?A.televisionB.bunchC.girlfriendD.smog教师批阅正确答案D,得1 分7.(单选题,1 分)The word UN is formed in the way of().A.acronymB.clippingC.InitialismD.blending教师批阅正确答案C,我的答案:A 得0 分8.(单选题,1 分)Language has been changing, but such changes are not so obvious at all linguistic aspects except that of().A.phonologyB.lexiconC.semanticsD.syntax教师批阅正确答案B,得1 分9.(单选题,1 分)There are different types of affixes or morphemes. The affix “ed” in the word “learned” is knownas a(n) ().A.derivational affixesB.free formC.free morphemeD.inflectional affixes教师批阅正确答案D,得1 分10.(单选题,1 分)Which of the following is not a boundary to morpheme? ()A.-putB.-mitC.-tainD.-ceive教师批阅正确答案A,得1 分11.(单选题,1 分)()modify the meaning of the stem, but usually do not change the part of speech of the original word.A.AffixesB.PrefixesC.SuffixesD.Roots教师批阅正确答案B,得1 分12.(单选题,1 分)The words that contain only one morpheme are called().A.free morphemeB.affixesC.bound momsD.roots教师批阅正确答案A,我的答案:D 得0 分13.(单选题,1 分)Wife", which used to refer to any woman, stands for a married woman" in modem English. This phenomenon is known as().A.semantic narrowingB.semantic broadeningC.semantic shiftD.semantic elevation教师批阅正确答案A,得1 分14.(单选题,1 分)() are added to an existing form to create a word, which is a very common way in English.A.derivational affixesB.inflectional affixesC.stemsD.free morpheme教师批阅正确答案A,得1 分15.(单选题,1 分)Which of the following is under the category of “open class”? ()A.ConjunctionsB.NounsC.PreparationD.determinants教师批阅正确答案B,得1 分16.(单选题,1 分)Nouns, verbs and adjectives can be classified as().A.lexical wordsB.invariable wordsC.grammatical wordsD.function words教师批阅正确答案A,我的答案:C 得0 分17.(单选题,1 分)The word “selfish” contains two().A.morphsB.phonemesC.allomorphsD.morphemes教师批阅正确答案D,得1 分18.(单选题,1 分)Which of the following ways of word-formation does not change the grammatical class of the stems?()A.coinageB.inflectionpoundD.derivation教师批阅正确答案B,得1 分19.(单选题,1 分)Which of the following is an inflectional suffix?()A.-aryB.-ifyC.-istD.-ing正确答案D,得1 分20.(单选题,1 分)() is a branch of grammar which studies the internal structure of words and the rules by which words are formed.A.MorphemeB.SyntaxC.MorphologyD.Grammar教师批阅正确答案C,得1 分21.(单选题,1 分)()is the smallest unit of language in regard to the relationship between sounding and meaning, a unit that cannot be divided into further smaller units without destroying or drastically altering the meaning.A.MorphemeB.RootC.WordD.Allomorph教师批阅正确答案A,得1 分22.(单选题,1 分)The number of morphemes in the word “girls” is().A.fourB.twoC.oneD.three教师批阅正确答案B,得1 分23.(单选题,1 分)() at the end of stems can modify the meaning of the original word and in many cases change its part of speech.A.prefixesB.suffixesC.free morphemesD.roots教师批阅正确答案B,得1 分24.(单选题,1 分)Compound words consist of()morphemes.A.freeB.either bound or freeC.boundD.both bound and free正确答案A,得1 分25.(单选题,1 分)Derivational morpheme contrasts sharply with inflectional morpheme in that the former changes the() while the latter does not.A.speech soundB.formC.MeaningD.word class教师批阅正确答案D,得1 分26.(单选题,1 分)A prefix is an affix which appears().A.in the middle of the stemB.below the stemC.before the stemD.after the stem教师批阅正确答案C,得1 分27.(单选题,1 分)() is the collective term for the type of morpheme that can be used only when added to another morpheme.A.AffixB.SuffixC.StemD.Prefix教师批阅正确答案A,得1 分28.(单选题,1 分)The words that contain only one morpheme are called().A.bound morphemeB.free morphemeC.rootsD.Affixes教师批阅正确答案B,我的答案:C 得0 分29.(单选题,1 分)The meaning carried by the inflectional morpheme is().A.morphemicB.prefixesC.semanticD.grammatical教师批阅正确答案D,得1 分30.(单选题,1 分)()refers to the way in which a particular verb changes for tense, person, or number.A.DerivationB.InflectionC.affixationD.Conjunction教师批阅正确答案B,得1 分31.(单选题,1 分)Those that affect the syntactic category and the meaning of the root as well are ().A.prefixesB.suffixesC.stemsD.affixes教师批阅正确答案B,我的答案:D 得0 分32.(单选题,1 分)() is the smallest meaningful unit of language.A.PhonemeB.WordC.AllomorphD.Morpheme教师批阅正确答案D,得1 分33.(单选题,1 分)The number of the closed-class words is() and no new members are regularly added.A.fixedrgeC.smallD.limitless教师批阅正确答案A,得1 分34.(单选题,1 分)Words like pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, articles are()items.A.open-classB.variable wordsC.closed-classD.lexical words教师批阅正确答案C,得1 分35.(单选题,1 分)Bound morphemes do not include().A.wordsB.rootsD.suffixes教师批阅正确答案A,得1 分36.(单选题,1 分)Inflectional morphemes manifest the following meaning EXCEPT().A.caseB.numberC.toneD.tense教师批阅正确答案C,我的答案:D 得0 分37.(单选题,1 分)It is true that words may shift in meaning, i.e. semantic change. The semantic change of the word tail belongs to().A.widening of meaningB.meaning shiftC.narrowing of meaningD.loss of meaning教师批阅正确答案A,得1 分38.(单选题,1 分)The word “hospitalize” is an example of() in terms of word formation.poundB.inflectionC.clippingD.derivation教师批阅正确答案D,得1 分39.(单选题,1 分)The morpheme “vision” in the word “television” is a /an().A.inflectional morphemeB.bound formC.free morphemeD.bound morphine教师批阅正确答案C,得1 分40.(单选题,1 分)The compound word "bookstore"is the place where books are sold. This indicates that the meaning of a compound().A.is the sum total of the meaning of its componentsB.can always be worked out by looking at the meanings of morphemesC.is the same as the meaning of a free phraseD.None of the above正确答案D,得1 分41.(单选题,1 分)The morpheme “ vision” in the common word “television” is a(n)().A.bound formB.bound morphemeC.free morphemeD.inflectional morpheme教师批阅正确答案C,得1 分42.(填空题,1 分)____is a unit of expression that has universal intuitive recognition by native speakers, whether it is expressed in spoken or written form. It is the minimum free form.正确答案:(1) Word43.(填空题,1 分)Words can be classified into variable words and invariable words. As for variable words, they may have ____changes. That is, the same word my have different grammatical forms but part of the word remainsrelatively constant.inflective教师批阅得1 分正确答案:(1) inflective44.(填空题,1 分)Bound morphemes are classified into two types: ____and ____ root.正确答案:(1) affix(2) bound45.(填空题,1 分)A word formed by derivation is called a____and a word formed by compounding is called a____.正确答案:(1) derivative(2) compound46.(填空题,1 分)According to Leonard Bloomfield, word should be treated as the minimum ____.morpheme教师批阅得0 分正确答案:(1) conjunction47.(填空题,1 分)Back-formation refers to an abnormal type of word-formation where a shorter word is derived by。
语言学教程课后习题与答案第一章

Chapter 1 Invitations to Linguistics1. Define the following terms:design feature: the distinctive features of human language that essentially make human language distinguishable from languages of animals.function: the role language plays in communication . to express ideas, attitudes) or in particular social situations . religious, legal).synchronic: said of an approach that studies language at a theoretical ‘point’ in time.diachronic: said of the study of development of language and languages over time. prescriptive: to make authoritarian statement about the correctness of a particular use of language.descriptive: to make an objective and systematic account of the patterns and use of a language or variety.arbitrariness: the absence of any physical correspondence between linguistic signals and the entities to which they refer.duality: the structural organization of language into two abstract levels: meaningful units . words) and meaningless segments . sounds, letters).displacement: the ability of language to refer to contexts removed from thespeaker’s immediate situation.phatic communion: said of talk used to establish atmosphere or maintain social contact.metalanguage: a language used for talking about language.macrolinguistics: a broad conception of linguistic enquiry, including psychological, cultural, etc.competence: unconscious knowledge of the system of grammatical rules in a language.performance: the language actually used by people in speaking or writing.langue: the langu age system shared by a “speech community”.parole: the concrete utterances of a speaker.2. Consult at least four introductory linguistics textbooks (not dictionaries), and copy the definitions of “language” that each gives. After carefully comparing the definitions, write a paper discussing which points recur and explaining the significance of the similarities and differences among the definitions.ANSWER:All the definitions should not exclude the description of design features that have been mentioned in this course book. Also it will be better if other design features, say, interchangeability or cultural transmission is included. But it seems impossible to give an unimpeachable definition on language, because the facetspeople want to emphasize are seldom unanimous. To compare several definitions can make you realize where the argument is.3. Can you think of some words in English which are onomatopoeic?ANSWERS:creak: the sound made by a badly oiled door when it opens.cuckoo: the call of cuckoo.bang: a sudden loud noise.roar: a deep loud continuing sound.buzz: a noise of buzzing.hiss: a hissing sound.neigh: the long and loud cry that a horse makes.mew: the noise that a gull makes.bleat: the sound made by a sheep, goat or calf.4. Do you think that onomatopoeia indicates a non-arbitrary relationship between form and meaning?ANSWER:4. No matter you say "Yes" or "No", you cannot deny that onomatopoeia needs arbitrariness. Before we feel a word is onomatopoeic we should first know which sound the word imitates. Just as what is said in Chapter One, in order to imitate the noise of flying mosquitoes, there are many choices like "murmurous" and "murderous". They both bear more or less resemblance to the genuine natural sound, but "murmurous" is fortunately chosen to mean the noise while "murderous" is chosen to mean something quite different. They are arbitrary as signifiers.5. A story by Robert Louis Stevenson contains the sentence “As the night fell, the wind rose.” Could this be expressed as “As the wind rose, the night fell” If not, why Does this indicate a degree of non-arbitrariness about word order (Bolinger, 1981: 15)5. Yes. It is a case in point to illustrate non-arbitrariness about word order. When the two parts interchange, the focus and the meaning of the sentence is forced to change, because clauses occurring in linear sequence without time indicators will be taken as matching the actual sequence of happening. The writer’s original intention is distorted, and we can feel it effortlessly by reading. That is why systemic-functionalists and American functionalists think language is not arbitrary at the syntactic level.6. Does the traffic light system have duality Can you explain by drawing a simple graph?6. Traffic light does not have duality. Obviously, it is not a double-level system. There is only one-to-one relationship between signs and meaning but the meaning units cannot be divided into smaller meaningless elements further. So the traffic light only has the primary level and lacks the secondary level like animals’ calls.ANSWER:Red→stopGreen→goYellow→get ready to go or stop7. The recursive nature of language provides a theoretical basis for the creativity of language. Can you write a recursive sentence following the example in section1.3.3.ANSWER:Today I encountered an old friend who was my classmate when I was in elementary school where there was an apple orchard in which we slid to select ripe apples that…8. Communication can take many forms, such as sign, speech, body language and facial expression. Do body language and facial expression share or lack the distinctive properties of human language?ANSWER:On a whole, body language and facial expression lack most of the distinctive properties of human language such as duality, displacement, creativity and so on. Body language exhibits arbitrariness a little bit. For instance, nod means "OK/YES" for us but in Arabian world it is equal to saying "NO". Some facial expressions have non-arbitrariness because they are instinctive such as the cry and laugh of a newborn infant.9. Do you agree with the view that no language is especially simple?ANSWER:Yes. All human languages are complicated systems of communication. It is decided by their shared design features.10. W hat do you think of Bertrand Russell’s observation of the dog language: “No matter how eloquently a dog may bark, he cannot tell you that his parents were poor but honest” Are you familiar with any type of ways animals communicate among themselves and with human beings?ANSWER:When gazelles sense potential danger, for example, they flee and thereby signal toother gazelles in the vicinity that danger is lurking. A dog signals its wish to be let inside the house by barking and signals the possibility that it might bite momentarily by displaying its fangs.you mention some typical expressions of phatic communion in Chinese There is the dialog between Ms. P and Ms. Q. in section When someone sneezes violently, do you say anything of the nature of phatic communion Have you noticed your parents or grandparents say something special on such an occasion?Some of the typical phatic expressions in Chinese are: 吃了吗家里都好吧这是去哪里啊最近都挺好的?ANSWER:If someone is sneezing violently, maybe you parents and grandparents may say: “Are you ok”, “Do you need to see a doctor”, “Do you need some water”, “Do you need a handkerchief”, “Do you have a cold” or something like these to show their concerns.12.There are many expressions in language which are metalingual or self-reflexives, namely, talking about talk and think about thinking, for instance, to be honest, to make a long story short, come to think of it, on second thought, can you collect a few more to make a list of these expressions When do we use them most often?ANSWER:To tell the truth, frankly speaking, as a matter of fact, to be precise, in other words, that is to saySuch expressions are used most frequently when we want to expatiate the meaning of former clauses in anther way in argumentation.13. Comment on the following prescriptive rules. Do you think they are acceptable?(A) It is I.(B) It is me.You should say A instead of B because “be” should be followed by the nominative case, not the accusative according to the rules in Latin.(A) Who did you speak to(B) Whom did you speak toYou should say B instead of A.(A) I haven't done anything.(B) I haven't done nothing.B is wrong because two negatives make a positive.ANSWER:(1) the Latin rule is not universal. In English, me is informal and I is felt to be very formal.(2) Whom is used in formal speech and in writing; who is more acceptable in informal speech.(3) Language does not have to follow logic reasoning. Here two negative only makea more emphatic negative. This sentence is not acceptable in Standard English not because it is illogical, but because language changes and rejects this usage now.14. The prescriptivism in grammar rules has now shifted to prescriptions in choice of words. In the “guidelines on anti-sexist language” issu ed by the British sociological association, some guidelines are listed below. Do you think they are descriptive and prescriptive What’s your comment on them?(1) Do not use man to mean humanity in general. Use person, people, human beings, men and women, humanity and humankind.(2) colored: This term is regarded as outdated in the UK and should be avoided asit is generally viewed as offensive to many black people.(3) civilized: This term can still carry racist overtones which derive from a colonialist perception of the world. It is often associated with social Darwinist thought and is full of implicit value judgments and ignorance of the history of the non-industrialized world.ANSWER:They are undoubtedly descriptive. Guidelines are not rules that can determine whether a sentence is right or not. The guidelines advise you to avoid the use of particular words that are grammatically correct but offensive to some certain groups. Actually, they describe the way anti-sexist advocators speak and write.15. Why is the distinction between competence and performance an important one in linguistics Do you think the line can be neatly drawn between them How do you like the concept “communicative competence”?ANSWER:This is proposed by Chomsky in his formalist linguistic theories. It is sometimes hard to draw a strict line. Some researchers in applied linguistics think communicative competence may be a more revealing concept in language teaching than the purely theoretical pair—competence and performance.16. Which branch of linguistics do you think will develop rapidly in China and why?It is up to you to decide after you have gone through the whole book. At this stage, we suggest all branches of linguistics have the potential to flourish.17. The following are some well-known ambiguous sentences in syntactic studies of language. Can you disambiguate them?The chicken is too hot to eat.Flying planes can be dangerous.ANSWER:The chicken is too hot to eat.The chicken meat is too hot, so it cannot be eaten at the moment.The chicken feels so hot (maybe after some intense aerobic exercises) that it cannot start eating and needs to calm down first.Flying planes can be dangerous.The ambiguity comes from "flying planes". It can be deciphered as "the planes that is flying" or "to fly planes".18. There are many reasons for the discrepancy between competence and performance in normal language users. Can you think of some of them?ANSWEREthnic background, socioeconomic status, region of the country, and physical state (such as intoxication, fatigue, distraction, illness) vary from individual to individual.19. What do these two quotes reveal about the different emphasis or perspectives of language studies?(1) A human language is a system of remarkable complexity. To come to know a human language would be an extraordinary intellectual achievement for a creature not specifically designed to accomplish this task. A normal child acquires this knowledge on relatively slight exposure and without specific training. He can then quite effortlessly make use of an intricate structure of specific rules and guiding principles to convey his thoughts and feelings to others, ... Thus language is a mirror of mind in a deep and significant sense. It is a product of human intelligence, created anew in each individual by operations that lie far beyond the reach of willor consciousness.(Noam Chomsky: Reflections on Language. 1975: 4)(2) It is fairly obvious that language is used to serve a variety of different needs, but until we examine its grammar there is no clear reason for classifying its uses in any particular way. However, when we examine the meaning potential of language itself, we find that the vast numbers of options embodied in it combine into a very few relatively independent “networks”; and these networks of options correspond to certain basic functions of language. This enables us to give an account of the different functions of language that is relevant to the general understanding of linguistic structure rather than to any particular psychological or sociological investigation.(M. A. K. Halliday, 1970: 142)ANSWER:The first quote shows children’s inborn ability of acquiring the knowledge of intricate structure of specific rules. It implies that the language user's underlying knowledge about the system of rules is the valuable object of study for linguists. The second attaches great importance to the functions of language. It regards the use of language as the choice of needed function. The meaning of language can be completely included by a few “networks” which is directly related to basic functions of language. It indicates the necessity to study the functions of language.20. You may be familiar with the following proverbs. How do you perceive them according to the arbitrariness and conventionality of language?The proof of the pudding is in the eating.Let sleeping dogs lie.You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.Rome was not built in a day.When in Rome, do as the Romans do.All roads lead to Rome.ANSWER:20. Arbitrariness and conventionality derive from the choice of the subject matter. For example, in the “The proof of the pudding is in the eating.” The word “pudding” is selected arbitrarily, for we can use another word such as c heese instead of pudding without changing the associative meaning of the proverb. On the other hand, once such links between particular words and associative meaning are fixed, it becomes a matter of conventionality.21. Give examples of situations in which a usage generally considered non-standard . ain’t) would be acceptable, even appropriate.ANSWER21. In the talks between intimate friends, one may say “gimme that!” instead of “give me that!” and “wachya doin’” instead of “what are you doing” and thi s list may go on.22. The following are some book titles of linguistics. Can you judge the diachronic and diachronic orientation just from the titles?English Examined: Two centuries of Comment on the Mother-Tongue.Protean Shape: A Study in Eighteenth-century Vocabulary and Usage.Pejorative Sense Development in English.The Categories and Types of Present-Day English Word-Formation.Language in the Inner City: Studies in the Black English Vernacular.ANSWER22. Synchronic:Protean Shape: A Study in Eighteenth-century Vocabulary and Usage. The Categories and Types of Present-Day English Word-Formation. Language in the Inner City: Studies in the Black English Vernacular. Diachronic:English Examined: Two centuries of Comment on the Mother-Tongue. Pejorative Sense Development in English。
英语语言学练习题(8页)

Linguistics supplementary exercisesChapter 1 IntroductionⅠ. Decide whether each of the following statements is True or False:1. Linguistics is generally defined as the scientific study of language.2. Linguistics studies particular language, not languages in general.3. A scientific study of language is based on what the linguist thinks.4. In the study of linguistics, hypotheses formed should be based on language facts and checked against the observed facts.5. General linguistics is generally the study of language as a whole.6. General linguistics, which relates itself to the research of other areas, studies the basic concepts, theories, descriptions, models and methods applicable in any linguistic study.7. Phonetics is different from phonology in that the latter studies the combinations of the sounds to convey meaning in communication.8. Morphology studies how words can be formed to produce meaningful sentences.9. The study of the ways in which morphemes can be combined to form words is called morphology.10. Syntax is different from morphology in that the former not only studies the morphemes, but also the combination of morphemes into words and words into sentences.11. The study of meaning in language is known as semantics.12. Both semantics and pragmatics study meanings.13. Pragmatics is different from semantics in that pragmatics studies meaning not inisolation, but in context.14. Social changes can often bring about language changes.15. Sociolinguistics is the study of language in relation to society.16. Modern linguistics is mostly prescriptive, but sometimes descriptive.17. Modern linguistics is different from traditional grammar.18. A diachronic study of language is the description of language at some point in time.19. Modern linguistics regards the written language as primary, not the written language.20. The distinction between competence and performance was proposed by F. de Saussure.Ⅱ. Fill in each of the following blanks with one word which begins with the letter given:21. Chomsky defines “competence” as the ideal user’s k__________ of the rules of his language.22. Langue refers to the a__________ linguistic system shared by all the members of a speech community while the parole is the concrete use of the conventions and application of the rules.23. D_________ is one of the design features of human language which refers to the phenomenon that language consists of two levels: a lower level of meaningless individual sounds and a higher level of meaningful units.24. Language is a system of a_________ vocal symbols used for human communication.25. The discipline that studies the rules governing the formation of words into permissible sentences in languages is called s________.26. Human capacity for language has a g_______ basis, but the details of language have to be taught and learned.27. P _______ refers to the realization of langue in actual use.28. Findings in linguistic studies can often be applied to the settlement of some practical problems. The study of such applications is generally known as a________ linguistics. 29. Language is p___________ in that it makes possible the construction and interpretation of new signals by its users. In other words, they can produce and understand an infinitely large number of sentences which they have never heard before.30. Linguistics is generally defined as the s _______ study of language.Ⅲ. There are four choices following each statement. Mark the choice that can best complete the statement:31. If a linguistic study describes and analyzes the language people actually use, it is said to be _______.A. prescriptiveB. analyticC. descriptiveD. linguistic32. Which of the following is not a design feature of human language?A. ArbitrarinessB. DisplacementC. DualityD. Meaningfulness33. Modern linguistics regards the written language as _______.A. primaryB. correctC. secondaryD. stable34. In modern linguistics, speech is regarded as more basic than writing, because _______.A. in linguistic evolution, speech is prior to writingB. speech plays a greater role than writing in terms of the amount of information conveyedC. speech is always the way in which every native speaker acquires his mother tongueD. All of the above35. A historical study of language is a _______ study of language.A. synchronicB. diachronicC. prescriptiveD. comparative36. Saussure took a(n) _______ view of language, while Chomsky looks at language froma ________ point of view.A. sociological…psychologicalB. psychological…sociologicalC. applied…pragmaticD.semantic…linguistic37. According to F. de Saussure, _______ refers to the abstract linguistic system shared by all the mem- bers of a speech community.A. paroleB. performanceC. langueD. Language38. Language is said to be arbitrary because there is no logical connection between _______ and meanings.A. senseB. soundsC. objectsD. ideas39. Language can be used to refer to contexts removed from the immediate situations of the speaker. This feature is called _______,A. displacementB. dualityC. flexibilityD. cultural transmission40. The details of any language system is passed on from one generation to the next through _______, rather than by instinct.A. learningB. teachingC. booksD. both A and BⅣ. Define the following terms:41. Linguistics 42. Phonology 43. Syntax 44. Pragmatics 45.Psycholinguistics46. Language 47. Phonetics 48. Morphology 49. Semantics 50. Sociolinguistics51. Applied Linguistics52. Arbitrariness53. Productivity54. Displacement55. Duality 56. Design Features 57. Competence 58. Performance 59. Langue 60. ParoleⅤ. Answer the following questions as comprehensively as possible. Give examples for illustration if necessary:61. Language is generally defined as a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human commu- nication. Explain it in detail.62. What are the design features of human language? Illustrate them with examples.63. How is modern linguistics different from traditional grammar?64. How do you understand the distinction between a synchronic study and a diachronic study?65. Why does modern linguistics regard the spoken form of language as primary, not the written?66. What are the major distinctions between langue and parole?67. How do you understand competence and performance?68. Saussure’s distinction between langue and parole seems similar to Chomsky’s distinction between competence and performance. What do you think are their major differences?69. Do you think human language is entirely arbitrary? Why?Chapter 2 PhonologyⅠ. Decide whether each of the following statements is True or False: 1. Voicing is a phonological feature that distinguishes meaning in both Chinese and English.2. If two phonetically similar sounds occur in the same environments and they distinguish meaning, they are said to be in complementary distribution.3. A phone is a phonetic unit that distinguishes meaning.4. English is a tone language while Chinese is not.1. 语言的普遍特征:任意性arbitrariness 双层结构duality 既由声音和意义结构多产性productivity移位性displacement:我们能用语言可以表达许多不在场的东西文化传播性cultural transmission2。
语言学教程各章节练习及答案

Exercisesto Linguistics外语系黄永亮Chapter 1 Invitation to Linguistics1.Define the following terms:Langue: Langue refers to the abstract linguistic system shared by all the members of a speech munity.Parole:parole refers to the realization of langue in actual use.Prescriptive: Prescriptive and descriptive represent two different types of linguistic study. if the linguistic study aims to lay down rules for “correct and standard” behaviour in using language, i.e.to tell people what they should day and what they should not say, it is said to beprescriptive.Descriptive: Prescriptive and descriptive represent two different types of linguistic study. If a linguistic study aims to describe and analyze the language people actually use, it is said to bedescriptive;petence:Chomsky defines petence as the ideal user’s knowledge of the rules of his language.Performance: Chomsky defines performance the actual realization of this knowledge in linguistic munication.Synchronic: The description of a language at some point of time in history is a synchronic study;Diachronic: The description of a language as it changes through time is a diachronic study.Linguistics:Linguistics may be defined as the systematic (or scientific) study of language. language:Language is a form of human munication by means of a system of symbols principally transmitted by vocal sounds.”2.Does the traffic light system have duality, why?No. No discrete units on the first level that can be bined freely in the second level to form meaning. There is only simple one to one relationshipbetween signs and meaning, namely, re-stop, green-go and yellow-get ready to go or stop.3.munication can take many forms, such as sign, speech, body language and facial expression. Do bodylanguage and facial expression share or lack the distinctive properties of human language?Less arbitrary, lack duality, less creative, limited repertoire, emotional-oriented.4.Why is petence and performance an importantdistinction in linguistics?According to Chomsky, a language user’s underlying knowledge about the system of rules is called hislinguistic petence. And performance refers to the actual enables a speaker to produce and understand an indefinitenumbers of sentences and to recognizegrammatical mistakes and ambiguities. A speaker’s petence is stable but his performance is often influenced by psychological and social factors. Thus, Chomsky proposed that linguists should focus on the study of petence, notperformance. The distinction of the two terms “ petence and performance” represents the orientation of linguistic study. So we can say petence and performance is an importantdistinction in linguistics.5.In what basic ways does modern linguistics differ from traditional grammar?Modern linguistics differs from traditional grammar in the following basic ways:Firstly, priority is given, as mentioned earlier, to spoken language. Secondly, focus is on synchronic study of language, rather than on diachronic study of language. Thirdly, modern linguistics is descriptive rather than prescriptive in nature. Linguists endeavor to state objectively the regularities of a language. They aim at finding out how a language is spoken: they do not attempt to tell people how it should be spoken. Fourthly, modern linguistics is theoretically rather than pedagogically oriented. Modern linguists strive to construct theories of language that can account for language in general. These features distinguished modern linguistics from traditionalgrammar. The two are plementary. Not contradictory. Knowledge of both is necessary for a language teacher: knowledge of the latter is necessary for a language learner.Chapter 2 Phonetics1. Give the description of the following sound segments in English1)[] voiced dental fricative2)[] voiceless alveolar fricative3)[] velar nasal4)[] voiced alveolar stop5)[] voiceless bilabial stop6)[] voiceless velar stop7)[] (alveolar) lateral8)[] high front lax unrounded vowel9)[:] high back tense rounded vowel10)[] low back lax rounded vowel2. How is the description of consonants different from that of vowels?Consonants are described according to manner and place of articulation while vowels are described with four criteria: part of the tongue that is raised; extent to which the tongue rises in the direction of the palate; kind of opening made at the lips; position of soft palate.3. Which sound may be described asa voiced bilabial plosive []a voiced labio-dental fricative []a voiceless velar plosive []4. Why might a photographer ask the person she is photographing to say cheese?The vowel of the word cheese [:] is produced with the lips spread, this resembling a smile.5.Account for the difference in articulation in each of the following pairs of words:coast ghost; ghost boastboast most; ghost mist;The words coast and ghost are distinguished by the fact that the initial segment is voiceless in the case of the former and voiced in the case of the latter.The word ghost and boast are distinguished by the place of articulation of the initial segment, [] being velar while [] is bilabial.Boast and most are distinguished by the manner of articulation of the initial segment, [] being nasal.Most and mist are distinguished by the fact that the former has a rounded back vowel shile the latter has a spread front vowel.Chapter 3 Phonology1.Define the following termsPhonology:Phonology is concerned with the sound system of languages. It is concerned with which sounds a language uses and how the contribution of sounds to the task of munication.Phone:A phone is a phonetic unit or segment. The speech sounds we hear and produce during linguistic munication are all phonesPhoneme:Phoneme is the abstract element of sound, identified as being distinctive in a particularlanguage.Allophone: Allophone refers any of the different forms of a phoneme is an allophone of it in English. parethe words peak and speak, for instance.The // in peak is aspirated; phonetically transcribed as [] while the // in speak is unaspirated, phonetically[=]. [ ,] are two different phones and are variants of the phoneme //. Such variants of a phoneme are called Allophone of the same phoneme.Suprasegmental features:. The phonemic features that occur above the level of the segment are called Suprasegmental features.Suprasegmental features include: stress, tone and intonation.2.Transcribe the realization of the past tense morpheme for each of the following words:Waited waved wiped waded. account for the differences.[id] in “waited” and “waded” follows anotheralveolarplosive. [d] in “waved” follows voiced consonants.[t] in “wiped” follows voicelessconsonants, there being voicingassimilation.3. which of the following would be phonologicallyacceptable as English words?Thlite grawl dlesher shlink tritch sruck stwondle“grawl” and “tritch”4.Why can we not use the sequence [kl] in twinkle as an example of a consonant cluster?The sequence [kl] bridges two syllables.5.For each of the following pairs pare the position of the stress. ment.Economy/economic wonder/wonderfulBeauty/beautiful acid/acidicIn adjectives ending in –ic the stress moves to the following syllable, in adjectives ending in –ful it does not.6.Explain why somebody might choose to stress the followingutterances as indicated by the bold type:a) John want ed to do this today. b) John wanted to do this today. c) John wanted to do thisto day.The first utterance implies that John was unable to do what he wanted.The second implies that he was only able to do something else.The third implies that he was only able to do it some other day.Chapter 4 Morphology1.Define the following terms:Morpheme: the smallest unit of language in terms of relationship between expression and content, a unit that can not be divided into further small units without destroying or drastically altering the meaning, whether it is lexical or grammatical.pound: Polymorphemic words which consist wholly of free morphemes, such as classroom, blackboard, snowwhite, etc.Allomorph: any of the different form of a morpheme. For example, in English the plural morpheme -‘s but it is pronounced differently in different environments as /s/ in cats, as /z/ in dogs and as /iz/ in classes.So /s/, /z/, and /iz/ are all allomorphs of the plural morpheme.Bound morpheme: an element of meaning which is structurally dependent on the word it is added to, e.g.the plural morpheme in “dogs”.Free morpheme: an element of meaning which takes the form of an independent word.2.plete the words with suitable negative prefixesa. ir removable g. in humanb. in formal h. ir relevantc. im practicable i. un evitabled. in sensible j. im mobilee. in tangible k. il legalf. il logical l. in discreet3. “Morpheme”is defined as the smallest unit in terms of relationship betweenexpression and content. Then is morpheme a grammatical concept or a semanticone? What is its relation to phoneme?Since morpheme is defined as the smallest unit in terms of relationship between expression and content, it at the same time covers the grammatical and semantic aspect of linguistic unit. A morpheme may overlap with a phoneme, such as I, but usually not, as in pig, in which the morpheme is the whole word, i.e. and independent, free morpheme, but the phonemes are /p/, /i/ and /g/.4. Identify in the following sentence four bound morphemes. State the function ofeach and say whether each is derivational or inflectional.The teacher’s brother considered the project impossible.The –er and the –‘s of teacher’s are bound morphemes, the former being derivational, as it produces a lexeme that denotes the person who does an action, the latter being an inflectional morpheme, as it indicates possession.The –ed of considered is inflectional, indicating that the action took place in the past. The im- of impossible is derivational, producing a new lexeme that denotes the opposite of possible.Chapter 5 Syntax1.Definethe following terms:Category: parts of speech and functions, such as the classification of words in terms of parts of speech, the identification of functions of words in term of subject, predicate, etc.Concord:also known as agreement, is the requirement that the forms of two or more words in a syntacticrelationship should agree with each other in terms of some categories Syntagmatic relation:. Syntagmatic relation is a relation between one item and others in a sequence, or between elements which are all present.Paradigmatic relation: a relation holding between elements replaceable with each other at a particular place in a structure, or between one element present and the others absent. Deep structure: is defined as the abstract representation of the syntactic properties of a construction, i. e.the underlying level of structural relations between its different constituentsSurface structure: is the final stage in the syntactic derivation of a construction, which closely corresponds to the structural organization of a construction people actually produceand receive.Theme:The Theme is the first constituent of the clause.Rheme:All the rest of the clause is simply labeled the Rheme.2.Why is it important to know the relations a sign has with others, such as syntaxgmatic andparadigmaticrelations?As the relationbetween a signifier and signified is arbitrary, the value of a sign can not be determined by itself. To know the identity of a sign, the linguist will have to know the signs it is used together with and those it is substitutable for. The former relation is known as syntagmatic and thelatter paradigmatic.3.In what ways is IC analysis better than traditional parsing?In traditional parsing, a sentence is mainly seen as a sequence of individual words, as if it has only a linear structure. IC analysis, however, emphasizes the hierarchical structure of a sentence, seeing it as consisting of word groups first. In this way the internal of structure of a sentence is shown more clearly, hence the reason of some ambiguities may be revealed.4.What are the problems in IC analysis?There are some technical problems caused by the binary division and discontinuous constituents.But the main problem is that there are structures whose ambiguities cannot be revealed by IC analysis, e.g. the love of God. In terms of both the tree diagram and the label, there is only one structure, but the word God is in two different relations with love, i.e. either as subject or object.5.Clarify the ambiguity in the following sentence by tree diagrams:Old teachers and priests fear blackbirds.SNP VPNP VOld fear blackbirds.N Conj. Nteachers and priestsSNP VPNP Conj. N V NAdj. N and priests fear blackbirds.Old teachersChapter 6 Semantics1. defining the following terms:semantics: The subject concerning the study of meaning is called semantics. More specifically, semantics is the study of the meaning of linguistics units, words and sentences inparticular.Denotation: the core sense of a word or a phrase that relates it to phenomena in the real world. Connotation: a term in a contrast with denotation, meaning the properties of the entity a word denotes. Sense: the literal meaning of a word or an expression, independent of situational context.Reference: the use of language to express a proposition, i.e. to talk about things in context. Synonymy: is the technical name for the sameness relation.Antonymy: is the name for oppositeness relation:hyponymy: a relation between two words, in which the meaning of one word (the superordinate) is included in the meaning of another word (the hyponym)semantic ponent: a distinguishable element of meaning in a word with two values, e.g. [+human].2. Some people maintain that there are no true synonyms. If two words mean really the same, one ofthem will definitely die out. An example often quoted is the disuse of the word “wireless”, which has been replaced by “radio”. Do you agree? In general what type of meaning we are talking about when we say two words are synonymous with each other?It is true that there are no absolute synonyms. When we say two words are synonymous with each other, we usually mean they have the same conceptual meaning.3. For each of the following pairs of words, state the principal reason why they may not be considered to besynonyms:man boy toilet loo determined stubbornpavement sidewalk walk runThe words man and boy are principally distinguished be age, the words walk and run by speed. The principal distinction between the words toilet and loo is one of social register. Determined and stubborn are largely distinguished by attitude—a person reluctant to give up is described as determined by those who sympathize and as stubborn by those who do not. The difference between the words pavement and sidewalk is a matter of geography, the former being used in Britain and thelatter in America.Chapter 7 Pragmantics1. defining the following terms:Performative:an utterance by which a speaker does something does something,as apposed to a constative, by which makes a statement which may be true or false.Constative:an utterance by which a speaker expresses a proposition which may be true or false. Locutuonary act: the act of saying something; it’s an act of conveying literal meaning by means of syntax, lexicon, and phonology. Namely, the utterance of a sentence with determinate sense andreference.Illocutuonary act: the act performed in saying something; its force is identical with the speaker’s intention. Perlocutionary act: the act performed by or resulting from saying something, it’s the consequence of, or the change brought about by the utterance.Cooperative principle:in making conversation, there is, as Grice holds,a general principle which all participants are expectedto observe. He calls this guiding principle the CooperativePrinciple, CP for short.. It runs as follows: "make your conversational contributionsuch as is required, at the stage at which it occurs, by the accepted purpose ordirection of the talk exchange in which you are engaged.”Conversational implicature: the extra meaning not contained in the literal utterances, understandable to thelistener only when he shares the speaker’s knowledge or knows why and howhe violates intentionally one of the four maxims of the Cooperative Principle(CP)2. Consider the following dialogue between a man and his daughter. Try to explain the illocutionary force in each of the utterances.[The daughter walks into the kitchen and takes so e popcorn.]Father: I thought you were practicing your violin.Daughter: I need to get the violin stand.Father: Is it under the popcorn?The illocutionary force of “I thought you were practicing your violin” is a criticism of the daughter- -for her not practicing the violin. That of the daughter’s answer is a defense for herself—I’m going to do that. And that of the father’s retort is a denial of the daughter’s excuse.3.If you ask somebody“Can you open the door?” he answered “Yes” but does not actually do it, what would be your reaction? Why? Try to see it in the light of speech act theory.I would be angry with him. “Can you open the door” is normally a request of the hearer to do it rather than a question about his ability. The fact that he answers “Yes” but does not actually do it shows that he declines my request.4. A is reading the newspaper. When B asks “What’s on television tonight?” he answers “Nothing.”What does A mean in normal situations? Think of two situations in which this interpretation of “Nothing”will be cancelled.Normally “Nothing” here means “Nothing interesting”. If A adds after “Nothing”“The workers are on strike today” or “There’s going to be a blackout tonight”, then the interpretation of “Nothing interesting’ will be cancelled.- .可修编-。
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《新编简明英语语言学教程》第二版第1-3章练习题参考答案Chapter 1 IntroductionP131. How do you interpret the following definition of linguistics: Linguistics is the scientific study of language?答:Linguistics is based on the systematic investigation of linguistic data, conducted with reference to some general theory of language structure. In order to discover the nature and rules of the underlying language system, the linguists has to collect and observe language facts first, which are found to display some similarities, and generalizations are made about them; then he formulates some hypotheses about the language structure. The hypotheses thus formed have to be checked repeatedly against the observed facts to fully prove their validity. In linguistics, as in any other discipline, data and theory stand in a dialectical complementation, that is, a theory without the support of data can hardly claim validity, and data without being explained by some theory remain a muddled mass of things.2. What are the major branches of linguistics? What does each of them study?答:The major branches of linguistics are:(1) phonetics: it studies the sounds used in linguistic communication;(2) phonology: it studies how sounds are put together and used to convey meaning in communication;(3) morphology: it studies the way in which linguistic symbols representing sounds are arranged and combined to form words;(4) syntax: it studies the rules which govern how words are combined to form grammatically permissible sentences inlanguages;(5) semantics: it studies meaning conveyed by language;(6) pragmatics: it studies the meaning in the context of language use.3. In what basic ways does modern linguistics differ from traditional grammar?答:The general approach thus traditionally formed to the study of language over the years is roughly referred to as “t raditional gramma r.” Modern linguistics differs from traditional g rammar in several basic ways.Firstly, linguistics is descriptive while traditional grammar is prescriptive.Second, modem linguistics regards the spoken language as primary, not the written. Traditional grammarians, on the other hand, tended to emphasize, maybe over-emphasize, the importance of the written word, partly because of its permanence.Then, modem linguistics differs from traditional grammar also in that it does not force languages into a Latin-based framework.4. Is modern linguistics mainly synchronic or diachronic? Why?答:In modem linguistics, a synchronic approach seems to enjoy priority over a diachronic one. Because people believed that unless the various states of a language in different historical periods are successfully studied, it would be difficult to describe the changes that have taken place in its historical development.5. For what reasons does modern linguistics give priority to speech rather than to writing?答:Speech and writing are the two major media of linguistic communication. Modem linguistics regards the spoken language as the natural or the primary medium of human language for some obvious reasons. From the point of view of linguistic evolution, speech is prior to writing. The writing system of any langu age is always “invented” by its users to record speech when the need arises. Even in today's world there are still many languages that can only be spoken but not written. Then in everyday communication, speech plays a greater role than writing in terms of the amount of information conveyed. And also, speech is always the way in which every native speaker acquires his mother tongue, and writing is learned and taught later when he goes to school. For modern linguists, spoken language reveals many true features of human speech while written language is only the “revised” record of spe ech. Thus their data for investigation and analysis are mostly drawn from everyday speech, which they regard as authentic.6. How is Saussure's distinction between langue and parole similar to Chomsky's distinction between competence and performance?答:Saussure's distinction and Chomsky's are very similar, they differ at least in that Saussure took a sociological view of language and his notion of langue is a matter of social conventions, and Chomsky looks at language from a psychological point of view and to him competence is a property of the mind of each individual.7. What characteristics of language do you think should be included in a good, comprehensive definition of language?答:First of all, language is a system, i.e., elements of language are combined according to rules.Second, language is arbitrary in the sense that there is no intrinsic connection between a linguistic symbol and what the symbol stands for.Third, language is vocal because the primary medium for all languages is sound.Fourth, language is human-specific, i. e., it is very different from the communication systems other forms of life possess.8. What are the main features of human language that have been specified by C. Hockett to show that it is essentially different from animal communication system?(2.2语言的识别性特征)美国语言学家C. Hockett提出了人类语言的12种识别性特征,其中最重要的识别性特种有5种:即语言的任意性、创造性、二重性、移位性和文化传递性。