新编简明英语语言学答案.docx

新编简明英语语言学答案.docx

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新编简明英语语言学答案

新编简明英语语言学答案

【篇一：

新编简明英语语言学教程第二版练习题参考答案】

chapter1introduction

1.howdoyouinterpretthefollowingdefinitionoflinguistics:

linguisticsisthescientificstudyoflanguage.

答：

linguisticsisbasedonthesystematicinvestigationoflinguisticdata,conductedwithreferencetosomegeneraltheoryoflanguagestructure.inordertodiscoverthenatureandrulesoftheunderlyinglanguagesystem,thelinguistshastocollectandobservelanguagefactsfirst,whicharefoundtodisplaysomesimilarities,andgeneralizationsaremadeaboutthem;thenheformulatessomehypothesesaboutthelanguagestructure.thehypothesesthusformedhavetobecheckedrepeatedlyagainsttheobservedfactstofullyprovetheirvalidity.inlinguistics,asinanyotherdiscipline,dataandtheorystandinadialecticalcomplementation,thatis,atheorywithoutthesupportofdatacanhardlyclaimvalidity,anddatawithoutbeingexplainedbysometheoryremainamuddledmassofthings.

2.whatarethemajorbranchesoflinguistics?

whatdoeseachofthemstudy?

答：

themajorbranchesoflinguisticsare:

（1）phonetics:

itstudiesthesoundsusedinlinguisticcommunication;

（2）phonology:

itstudieshowsoundsareputtogetherandusedtoconveymeaningincommunication;

（3）morphology:

itstudiesthewayinwhichlinguisticsymbolsrepresentingsoundsarearrangedandcombinedtoformwords;

（4）syntax:

itstudiestheruleswhichgovernhowwordsarecombinedtoformgrammaticallypermissiblesentencesinlanguages;

（5）semantics:

itstudiesmeaningconveyedbylanguage;

（6）pragmatics:

itstudiesthemeaninginthecontextoflanguageuse.

3.inwhatbasicwaysdoesmodernlinguisticsdifferfromtraditionalgrammar?

答：

thegeneralapproachthustraditionallyformedtothestudyoflanguageovertheyearsisroughlyreferredtoas“traditionalgrammar.”modernlinguisticsdiffersfromtraditionalgrammarinseveralbasicways.

firstly,linguisticsisdescriptivewhiletraditionalgrammarisprescriptive.

second,modemlinguisticsregardsthespokenlanguageasprimary,notthewritten.traditionalgrammarians,ontheotherhand,tendedtoemphasize,maybeover-emphasize,theimportanceofthewrittenword,partlybecauseofitspermanence.

then,modemlinguisticsdiffersfromtraditionalgrammaralsointhatitdoesnotforcelanguagesintoalatin-basedframework.

4.ismodernlinguisticsmainlysynchronicordiachronic?

why?

答：

inmodemlinguistics,asynchronicapproachseemstoenjoypriorityoveradiachronicone.becausepeoplebelievedthatunlessthevariousstatesofalanguageindifferenthistoricalperiodsaresuccessfullystudied,itwouldbedifficulttodescribethechangesthathavetakenplaceinitshistoricaldevelopment.

5.forwhatreasonsdoesmodernlinguisticsgiveprioritytospeechratherthantowriting?

答：

speechandwritingarethetwomajormediaoflinguisticcommunication.modemlinguisticsregardsthespokenlanguageasthenaturalortheprimarymediumofhumanlanguageforsomeobviousreasons.fromthepointofviewoflinguisticevolution,speechispriortowriting.thewritingsystemofanylanguageisalways“invented”byitsuserstorecordspeechwhenthe

needarises.evenintodaysworldtherearestillmanylanguagesthatcanonlybespokenbutnotwritten.thenineverydaycommunication,speechplaysagreaterrolethanwritingintermsoftheamountofinformationconveyed.andalso,speechisalwaysthewayinwhicheverynativespeakeracquireshismothertongue,andwritingislearnedandtaughtlaterwhenhegoestoschool.formodernlinguists,spokenlanguagerevealsmanytruefeaturesofhumanspeechwhilewrittenlanguageisonlythe“revised”recordofspeech.thustheirdataforinvestigationandanalysisaremostlydrawnfromeverydayspeech,whichtheyregardasauthentic.

6.howissaussuresdistinctionbetweenlangueandparolesimilartochomskysdistinctionbetweencompetenceandperformance?

答：

saussuresdistinctionandchomskysareverysimilar,theydifferatleastinthatsaussuretookasociologicalviewoflanguageandhisnotionoflangueisamatterofsocialconventions,andchomskylooksatlanguagefromapsychologicalpointofviewandtohimcompetenceisapropertyofthemindofeachindividual.

7.whatcharacteristicsoflanguagedoyouthinkshouldbeincludedinagood,comprehensivedefinitionoflanguage?

答：

firstofall,languageisasystem,i.e.,elementsoflanguagearecombinedaccordingtorules.second,languageisarbitraryinthesensethatthereisnointrinsicconnectionbetweenalinguisticsymbolandwhatthesymbolstandsfor.

third,languageisvocalbecausetheprimarymediumforalllanguagesissound.

fourth,languageishuman-specific,i.e.,itisverydifferentfromthecommunicationsystemsotherformsoflifepossess.

8.whatarethemainfeaturesofhumanlanguagethathavebeenspecifiedbyc.hocketttoshowthatitisessentiallydifferentfromanimalcommunicationsystem?

答：

themainfeaturesofhumanlanguagearetermeddesignfeatures.theyinclude:

1）arbitrariness

languageisarbitrary.thismeansthatthereisnologicalconnectionbetweenmeaningsandsounds.agoodexampleisthefactthatdifferentsoundsareusedtorefertothesameobjectindifferentlanguages.

2）productivity

languageisproductiveorcreativeinthatitmakespossibletheconstructionandinterpretationofnewsignalsbyitsusers.thisiswhytheycanproduceandunderstandaninfinitelylargenumberofsentences,includingsentencestheyhaveneverheardbefore.

3）duality

languageconsistsoftwosetsofstructures,ortwolevels.atthelowerorthebasiclevelthereisastructureofsounds,whicharemeaninglessbythemselves.butthesoundsoflanguagecanbegroupedandregroupedintoalargenumberofunitsofmeaning,whicharefoundatthehigherlevelofthesystem.

4）displacement

languagecanbeusedtorefertothingswhicharepresentornotpresent,realorimaginedmattersinthepast,present,orfuture,orinfar-awayplaces.inotherwords,languagecanbeusedtorefertocontextsremovedfromtheimmediatesituationsofthespeaker.thisiswhat“displacement”means.

5）culturaltransmission

whilehumancapacityforlanguagehasageneticbasis,i.e.,wewereallbornwiththe

abilitytoacquirelanguage,thedetailsofanylanguagesystemarenotgeneticallytransmitted,butinsteadhavetobetaughtandlearned.

9.whatarethemajorfunctionsoflanguage?

thinkofyourownexamplesforillustration.

答：

threemainfunctionsareoftenrecognizedoflanguage:

thedescriptivefunction,theexpressivefunction,andthesocialfunction.

thedescriptivefunctionisthefunctiontoconveyfactualinformation,whichcanbeassertedordenied,andinsomecasesevenverified.forexample:

“chinaisalargecountrywithalonghistory.”

theexpressivefunctionsuppliesinformationabouttheuser’sfeelings,preferences,prejudices,andvalues.forexample:

“iwillnevergowindow-shoppingwithher.”

thesocialfunctionservestoestablishandmaintainsocialrelationsbetweenpeople..forexample:

“weareyourfirmsupporters.”

chapter2speechsounds

1.whatarethetwomajormediaoflinguisticcommunication?

ofthetwo,whichoneisprimaryandwhy?

答：

speechandwritingarethetwomajormediaoflinguisticcommunication.

ofthetwomediaoflanguage,speechismoreprimarythanwriting,forreasons,pleaserefertotheanswertothefifthprobleminthelastchapter.

2.whatisvoicingandhowisitcaused?

答：

voicingisaqualityofspeechsoundsandafeatureofallvowelsandsomeconsonantsinenglish.itiscausedbythevibrationofthevocalcords.

3.explainwithexampleshowbroadtranscriptionandnarrowtranscriptiondiffer?

答：

thetranscriptionwithletter-symbolsonlyiscalledbroadtranscription.thisisthetranscriptionnormallyusedindictionariesandteachingtextbooksforgeneralpurposes.thelatter,i.e.thetranscriptionwithletter-symbolstogetherwiththediacriticsiscallednarrowtranscription.thisisthetranscriptionneededandusedbythephoneticiansintheirstudyofspeechsounds.withthehelpofthediacriticstheycanfaithfullyrepresentasmuchofthefinedetailsasitisnecessaryfortheirpurpose.

anotherexampleistheconsonant[p].weallknowthat[p]ispronounceddifferentlyinthetwowordspitandspit.inthewordpit,thesound[p]ispronouncedwithastrongpuffofair,butinspitthepuffofairiswithheldtosomeextent.inthecaseofpit,the[p]soundissaidtobeaspiratedandinthecaseofspit,the[p]soundisunaspirated.thisdifferenceisnotshowninbroadtranscription,butinnarrowtranscription,asmallraised“h”isusedtoshowaspiration,thuspitistranscribedas[ph?

t]andspitistranscribedas[sp?

t].

4.howaretheenglishconsonantsclassified?

答：

englishconsonantscanbeclassifiedintwoways:

oneisintermsofmannerofarticulationandtheotherisintermsofplaceofarticulation.intermsofmannerofarticulationtheenglishconsonantscanbeclassifiedintothefollowingtypes:

stops,fricatives,affricates,liquids,nasalsandglides.intermsofplaceofarticulation,itcanbeclassifiedintofollowingtypes:

bilabial,labiodental,dental,alveolar,palatal,velarandglottal.

5.whatcriteriaareusedtoclassifytheenglishvowels?

答：

vowelsmaybedistinguishedasfront,central,andbackaccordingtowhichpartofthetongueisheldhighest.tofurtherdistinguishmembersofeachgroup,weneedtoapplyanothercriterion,i.e.theopennessofthemouth.accordingly,weclassifythevowelsintofourgroups:

closevowels,semi-closevowels,semi-openvowels,andopenvowels.athirdcrite