复习题及答案语言学基本知识与技能.docx

复习题及答案语言学基本知识与技能.docx

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复习题及答案语言学基本知识与技能

ChapterOne

Introduction

I．Whatislinguistics?

Linguisticsisgenerallydefinedasthescientificstudyoflanguage.Linguisticsstudiesnotanyparticularlanguage,butitstudieslanguagesingeneral.Itisascientificstudybecauseitisbasedonthesystematicinvestigationoflinguisticdata,conductedwithreferencetosomegeneraltheoryoflanguagestructure.

II．Thescopeoflinguistics

1.Phonetics：

Thestudyofsoundsusedinlinguisticcommunicationledtotheestablishmentofphonetics.

2.Phonology:

dealswithhowsoundsareputtogetherandusedtoconveymeaningincommunication.

3.Morphology:

Thestudyofthewayinwhichmorphemesarearrangedandcombinedtoformwordshasconstitutedthebranchofstudycalledmorphology.

4.Syntax:

Thecombinationofwordstoformgrammaticallypermissiblesentencesinlanguagesisgovernedbyrules.Thestudyoftheserulesconstitutesamajorbranchoflinguisticstudiescalledsyntax.

5.Semantics:

Thestudyofmeaningisknownassemantics.

6.Pragmatics:

Whenthestudyofmeaningisconducted,notinisolation,butinthecontextoflanguageuse,itbecomesanotherbranchoflinguisticstudycalledpragmatics.

7.Sociolinguitics:

Thestudyofsocialaspectsoflanguagesanditsrelationwithsocietyformthecoreofthebranchcalledsociolinguitics.

8.Psycholinguisticsrelatesthestudyoflanguagetopsychology.

9.Appliedlinguistics:

Findingsinlinguisticsstudiescanoftenbeappliedtothesolutionofsuchpracticalproblemsastherecoveryofspeechability.Thestudyofsuchapplicationsisgenerallyknownasappliedlinguistics.

III.Someimportantdistinctionsinlinguistics

1.Prescriptivevs.descriptive

Ifalinguisticstudyaimstodescribeandanalyzethelanguagepeopleactuallyuse,itissaidtobedescriptive;ifthelinguisticstudyaimstolaydownrulesfor“correctandstandard”behaviourinusinglanguage,itissaidtobeprescriptive.

2.Synchronicvs.diachronic

Thedescriptionofalanguageatsomepointoftimeinhistoryisasynchronicstudy;thedescriptionofalanguageasitchangesthroughtimeisadiachronicstudy.

3.Speechandwriting

Speechandwritingarethetwomajormediaoflinguisticcommunication.Modernlinguisticsregardsthespokenlanguageasthenaturalortheprimarymediumofhumanlanguageforsomeobviousreasons.Fromthepointofviewoflinguisticevolution,speechispriortowriting.Thewritingsystemofanylanguageisalways“invented”byitsuserstorecordspeechwhentheneedarises.

4.Langueandparole

ThedistinctionbetweenlangueandparolewasmadebytheSwisslinguistF.deSaussureintheearly20thcentury.LangueandparoleareFrenchwords.Languereferstotheabstractlinguisticsystemsharedbyallthemembersofaspeechcommunity,andparolereferstotherealizationoflanguageinactualuse.

5.Competenceandperformance

ThedistinctionbetweencompetenceandperformancewasproposedbytheAmericanlinguistN.Chomskyinthelate1950’s.Chomskydefinescompetenceastheidealuser’sknowledgeoftherulesofhislanguage,andperformancetheactualrealizationofthisknowledgeinlinguisticcommunication.

6.Traditionalgrammarandmodernlinguistics

TraditionalgrammarreferstothestudiesoflanguagebeforethepublicationofF.deSaussure’sbookCourseinGeneralLinguisticsin1916.Modernlinguisticsdiffersfromtraditionalgrammarinseveralbasicways.

First,linguisticsisdescriptivewhiletraditionalgrammarisprescriptive.

Second,Modernlinguisticsregardsthespokenlanguageasprimarynotthewritten.

Then,modernlinguisticsdiffersfromtraditionalgrammaralsointhatitdoesnotforcelanguagesintoaLatin-basedframework.

IV.Whatislanguage?

Languageisasystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsusedforhumancommunication.

1.Designfeatures

1）Arbitrariness

Languageisarbitrary.Thismeansthatthereisnologicalconnectionbetweenmeaningsandsounds.

2）Productivity

Languageisproductiveorcreativeinthatitmakespossibletheconstructionandinterpretationofnewsignalsbyitsusers.

3）Duality

Languageisasystem,whichconsistsoftwosetsofstructures,ortwolevels.Atthelowerorbasiclevelthereisastructureofsounds,whicharemeaninglessbythemselves.Butthesoundsoflanguagecanbegroupedandregroupedintoalargenumberofunitsofmeaning,whicharefoundatthehigherlevelofthesystem.Thisdualityofstructureordoublearticulationoflanguageenablesitsuserstotalkaboutanythingwithintheirknowledge.

4）Displacement

Languagecanbeusedtorefertocontextsremovedfromtheimmediatesituationsofthespeaker.Thisiswhat“displacement”means.Thispropertyprovidesspeakerswithanopportunitytotalkaboutawiderangeofthings,freefrombarrierscausedbyseparationintimeandplace.

5）Culturaltransmission

Humancapacityforlanguagehasageneticbasiswhilethedetailsofanylanguagesystemarenotgeneticallytransmitted,butinsteadhavetobetaughtandlearned.Thisshowsthatlanguageisculturallytransmitted.Itispassedfromonegenerationtothenextthroughteachingandlearning,ratherthanbyinstinct.

2.FunctionsofLanguage

1）Informative

Itisthemajorroleoflanguage.Theuseoflanguagetorecordthefactsisaprerequisiteofsocialdevelopment.

2）Interpersonalfunction

Itisthemostimportantsociologicaluseoflanguage,bywhichpeopleestablishandmaintaintheirstatusinasociety.

Attachedtotheinterpersonalfunctionoflanguageisitsfunctionoftheexpressionofidentity.

3）Performative

ThisconceptoriginatesfromthephilosophicalstudyoflanguagepresentedbyAustinandSearle,whosetheorynowformsthebackboneofpragmatics.

Theperformativefunctionoflanguageisprimarilytochangethesocialstatusofpersonsasinmarriageceremonies,theblessingofchildrenandthenamingofashipatalaunchingceremony.Thekindoflanguageemployedinperformativeverbalactsisusuallyquiteformalandevenritualized.

4）Emotivefunction

Theemotivefunctionoflanguageisonethemostpowerfulusesoflanguagebecauseitissocrucialinchangingtheemotionalstatusofanaudiencefororagainstsomeoneorsomething.e.g.God,my,Damnit...

5）Phaticcommunion

ThetermoriginatesfromMalinnowski’sstudyofthefunctionsoflanguageperformedbyTrobriandIslanders.Itreferstothesocialinteractionoflanguage.

Weallusesmall,seeminglymeaninglessexpressionssuchasGoodmorning,Godblessyou,Nicedaytomaintainacomfortablerelationshipbetweenpeople.

6）Recreationalfunction

Noonewilldenytheuseoflanguageforthesheerjoyofusingitsuchasababy’sbabbling.

7）Metalingualfunction

Ourlanguagecanbeusedtotalkaboutitself.Forexample,wecanusetheword“book”totalkaboutthebook.

ChapterTwo

Phonology

I.Speechproductionandperception

Aspeechsoundgoesthroughathreestepprocess.Naturally,thestudyofsoundsisdividedintothreeareas,eachdealingwithonepartoftheprogress.

1.Articulatoryphonetics

Itisthestudyoftheproductionofspeechsounds.

2.Acousticphonetics

Itisthestudyofthephysicalpropertiesofthesoundsproducedinspeech.

3.Auditoryphonetics

Itisconcernedwiththeperceptionofthesoundsproducedinspeech.

II.Speechorgans

Speechorgansarealsoknownasvocalorgans.Theyarethosepartsofthehumanbodyinvolvedintheproductionofspeech.

Speechorgansmainlyconsistofthevocalcordsandthreecavitieswhicharethepharynx,theoralcavityandthenasalcavity.

Thevocalcordsareinthelarynx,thefrontpartofwhichiscalled“theAdam’sApple.”

III.Consonants

ClassificationofEnglishconsonants

Englishconsonantscanbeclassifiedintwoways:

oneisintermsofmannerofarticulationandtheotherisintermsofplaceofarticulation.

IV.Vowels

ClassificationofEnglishvowels

Vowelsmaybedistinguishedasfront,central,andbackaccordingtowhichpartofthetongueisheldhighest.Vowelscanalsobedistinguishedaccordingtotheopennessofthemouth:

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

V.Phonologyandphonetics

1.Phoneticsisconcernedwiththegeneralnatureofspeechsoundwhilephonologyaimstodiscoverhowspeechsoundsinalanguageformpatternsandhowthesesoundsareusedtoconveymeaninginlinguisticcommunication.

2.Phone,phoneme,andallophone

–Aphoneisaphoneticunitorsegment.Thespeechsoundswehearandproduceduringlinguisticcommunicationareallphones.

–Aphonemeisaphonologicalunit;itisaunitthatisofdistinctivevalue.Itisanabstractunit.Itisnotanyparticularsound,butratheritisrepresentedorrealizedbyacertainphoneinacertainphoneticcontext.

–Thedifferentphoneswhichcanrepresentaphonemeindifferentphoneticenvironmentsarecalledtheallophonesofthatphoneme.Forexample,thephoneme/l/inEnglishcanberealizedasdark/l/,clear/l/,etc.whichareallophonesofthephoneme.

3.Phonemiccontrast,complementarydistribution,andminimalpair

Ifthephoneticallysimilarsoundsaretwodistinctivephonemes,theyaresaidtoformaphonemiccontrast,e.g./p/and/b/in/pit/and/bit/.

Iftheyareallophonesofthesamephoneme,thentheydonotdistinguishmeaning,butcomplementeachotherindistribution.Forinstance,theclear/l/alwaysoccursbeforeavowelwhilethedark/l/alwaysoccursbetweenavowelandaconsonant,orattheendofaword.Sotheallophonesaresaidtobeincomplementarydistribution.

Whentwodifferentformsareidenticalineverywayexceptforonesoundsegmentwhichoccursinthesameplaceinthestrings,thetwosoundcombinationsaresaidtoformaminima