语言学-名词解释

1. Language is a scientific system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication.

2. Minimal pairs are the word forms which differ from each other only by one sound. In other words, when two different forms re identical in every way except for one sound segment that occurs in the same place in the string; the two words are called minimal pairs.

3. A morpheme is the smallest linguistic unit that carries grammatical and/or semantic meaning.

4. IPA: A phonetic transcription is an economical means for capturing sounds on paper, that is, a method of writing down speech sounds in a systematic and consistent way. The best-known system, the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), has been developing since 1888.

5. SLA: second language acquisition to refer to the process of acquiring or learning an additional language after the learner has acquired his or her mother tongue.

6. Linguistics is the science of language for all human societies, and is defined as the systematic study of language.

7. Diachronic study: the description of the historical development of a language. Linguistic study in the 19th century was primarily concerned with the diachronic description.

8. Synchronic study: the description of a particular state of a language at a single point of time. The priority of synchronic description is a characteristic of most twentieth-century linguistic theories.

9. Syntagmatic relation: the relations between units which combine to form sequences

10. Paradigmatic relation: oppositions which produce distinct and alternative terms

11. Competence refers to the knowledge that native speakers have of their language as system of abstract formal relations. That is the ideal language user’s knowledge of the rules of his language.

12. Performance refers to what we do when we speak or listen, that is, the actual realization of this knowledge in utterances.

13. A corpus refers to a collection of linguistic data, either complicated as written texts or as a transcription of recorded speech.

14. A phonetic transcription is an economical means for capturing sounds on paper, that is, a method of writing down speech sounds in a systematic and consistent way.

15. Phoneme is the minimum phonemic unit that is not further analyzable into smaller units. It is the basic unit in phonological analysis.

16. Sound patterns refer to the set of sounds that occur in a given language, the permissible arrangements of these sounds in words, and the processes for adding, deleting, or changing sounds.

17. Stress is the pronunciation of a word or syllable with more force than the surrounding words or syllables.

18. Pitch is a suprasegmental quality which extends over individual segments and longer stretches of speech.

19. Inflection refers to the process of adding an affix to a word or changing it in some other way according to the rules of the grammar of a language.

20. Proverbs are normally in the form of a sentence. A proverb is often a short sentence that people often quote and use to give advice and state some general human life experience and problem.

21. Synonymy: words or expressions with the same or similar meaning are said to be synonymy.

22. Homonymy refers to cases where lexemes with the same phonological or morphological shape have different meanings.

23. a speech act：An action performed by the use of an utterance to communicate is called a speech act.

24. Dialect refers to any regional, social or ethnic variety of a language.

25. Register refers to the functional variety of language that is defined according to its use in context. Registers vary according to the three parameters of context: field, tenor and mode (Halliday, 1978).

26. Language planning refers to a deliberate attempt, usually at the level of the state or government administration, to affect language use in order to prevent or to solve some problems of communication.

27. Hyponymy is used to refer to a specific—general semantic relationship between lexical items.

1. What is the scope of linguistics? Answer: there are six branches of linguistics. 1)Phonetics is the study of human speech sounds.2)Phonology is the study of sound patterning.3)Morphology is the study of the internal structures of the form of words.4)Syntax is the study of sentence structure.5)Semantics is the study of meaning.6)Pragmatics studies how speakers use language in ways which can not be predicted from linguistic knowledge alone.

2. What are the differences between Langue and Parole? Please analysis the distinctions of Langue and Parole.

Answer: This distinction is proposed by Saussure in his Course in General Linguistics.

Langue: the abstract system; a collective body of knowledge; a kind of common reference manual; acquired by all members of a community of speakers; relatively stable and systematic.

Parole: the particular actualities of individual utterance; the contingent executive side of things; the relatively superficial behavioral reflexes of knowledge; the use of language in utterances; subject to personal or situational constraints.

3. Please describe the three kinds of Origin of Language?

Answer:1) Creation (Devine Origin) Almost every religion has stories about how man received language from god. The divine origin theorists propose that in the beginning there was one language from one source, which later became corrupted into many languages.2) Evolution:Men evolved from lower forms of life; language, too, evolved. 3) Invention:The invention theory believes that there is a natural connection between the forms of language and the essence of things.

4.Please describe the semantic relations briefly.Answer: (1) synonymy and antonymy:

Words or expressions with the same or similar meaning are said to be synonymous. Antonymy is the relationship of oppositeness of meaning. (2) meronymy and hyponymy: Meronymy is a term used to describe a part-whole relationship between lexical items. Hyponymy is used to refer to a specific—general semantic relationship between lexical items. (3) polysemy and homonymy: When a single lexeme has several meanings, it is called polysemic.Homonymy refers to cases where lexemes with the same phonological or morphological shape have different meanings.

5. In 1967, linguist Grice proposed the term of the cooperative principle and its maxims. Then please describe the cooperative principle and its maxims.Answer: According to cooperative principle, the participants in a conversation normally communicate in a maximally efficient, rational and cooperative way. They should speak sincerely, relevantly and clearly, while providing sufficient information.

Four maxims:(1)The maxim of qualityTry to make your contribution one that is true, especially: (i) do not say what you believe to be false and (ii) do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence.(2)The maxim of quantity.Make your contribution as informative as is required for the current purposes of the exchange and (ii) do not make your contribution more informative than is required.(3)The maxim of relevance.Make your contribution relevant.(4)The maxim of manner.Be perspicuous, and specifically: (i) Avoid obscurity of expression; (ii) Avoid ambiguity; (iii) Be brief (avoid unnecessary prolixity) and (iv) Be orderly.

6. What are the major differences between acquisition and language learning?

Acquisition is called as the spontaneous internalization of rules and formulas. First language acquisition is also called mother tongue acquisition. Acquisition takes place in the speech community where one’s first language or second language is spoken. It is often natural, without much focus on form. The learning of English by speakers of other languages in the United States is an example of second language acquisition.

Foreign language learning is usually takes place in the speech community where one’s first language is spoken. It is a conscious process through formal school-like settings and requires time for processing, for example, the learning of English in China.