语言学课后习题问题详解.docx

语言学课后习题问题详解.docx

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语言学课后习题问题详解

Chapter1

Introduction

1.Definethefollowingtermsbriefly.

（1）linguistics:

thescientificorsystematicstudyoflanguage.

（2）language:

asystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsusedforhumanmunication.

（3）arbitrariness:

theabsenceofsimilaritybetweentheformofalinguisticsignandwhatitrelatestoinreality,e.g.theworddogdoesnotlooklikeadog.

（4）duality:

thewaymeaninglesselementsoflanguageatonelevel（soundsandletters）binetoformmeaningfulunits（words）atanotherlevel.

（5）petence:

knowledgeofthegrammarofalanguageasaformalabstractionanddistinctfromthebehaviorofactuallanguageuse,i.e.performance.

（6）performance:

Chomsky’stermforactuallanguagebehaviorasdistinctfromtheknowledgethatunderliesit,orpetence.

（7）stylistics:

thestudyofhowliteraryeffectscanberelatedtolinguisticfeatures.

（8）phaticmunion:

Languageisusedtoestablishanatmosphereormaintainsocialcontactbetweenthespeakerandthehearer.

（9）functionalism:

thestudyoftheformsoflanguageinreferencetotheirsocialfunctioninmunication.

（10）formalism:

thestudyoftheabstractformsoflanguageandtheirinternalrelations.

（11）synchroniclinguistics:

thestudyoflanguageandspeechastheyareusedatagivenmomentandnotintermsofhowtheyhaveevolvedovertime.

（12）diachroniclinguistics:

thestudyoflinguisticchangeovertimeincontrasttolookingatlanguageasitisusedatagivenmoment.

2.No,languageishuman-specific.Humanlanguagehassevendesignfeatures,includingarbitrariness,duality,productivity,interchangeability,displacement,specializationandculturaltransmission.Thesefeaturesarefoundutterlylackingindogs’orpigs’noisesandthussethumanlanguageapartfromanimalcrysystems.

3.Arbitrarinessreferstothefactthatthereisnologicalorintrinsicconnectionbetweenaparticularsoundandthemeaningitisassociatedwith.Forexample,forthesameanimaldog,inEnglishwecallit/d0g/,inChineseas“gou〞,but“yilu〞inJapanese;itbarkswowwowinEnglishbutwangwanginChinese.Ofcourse,onomatopoeticwordssuchas“quack-quack〞and“bang〞areexceptions,butwordslikethesearerelativelyfewparedwiththetotalnumberofwordsinalanguage.

4.Ahumanbabydoesnotspeakanylanguageatbirth.Whatlanguagethebabyisgoingtospeakisdeterminedbythecultureheisborninto.AChinesebabybornandbroughtupinLondonbyanEnglishfamilywillspeakEnglish,whileanEnglishchildbroughtupinBeijingbyaChineseauntwillspeakChinese.Thatistosay,languagecannotbetransmittedthroughheredity.Itisculturallytransmitted.

5.Firstly,linguisticsdescribeslanguagesanddoesnotlaydownrulesofcorrectnesswhiletraditionalgrammaremphasizescorrectness.Secondly,linguisticsregardsthespokenlanguageasprimary,whiletraditionalgrammaremphasizesthepriorityofthewrittenlanguage.Thirdly,traditionalgrammarisbasedonLatinandittriestoimposetheLatincategoriesandstructuresonotherlanguages,whilelinguisticsdescribeseachlanguageonitsownmerits.

6.Adescriptiveapproachattemptstotellwhatisinthelanguagewhiletheprescriptiveapproachtellspeoplewhatshouldbeinthelanguage.Mostmodernlinguisticsisdescriptive,whereastraditionalgrammarsareprescriptive.

7.Synchroniclinguisticsstudieslanguageatoneparticulartimewhilediachroniclinguisticsstudieslanguagedevelopmentsthroughtime.Synchroniclinguisticsfocusesonthestateoflanguageatanypointinhistorywhilediachroniclinguisticsfocusesonthedifferencesintwoormorethantwostatesoflanguageoverdecadesorcenturies.

8.No,humanlanguagehasthedesignfeatureofspecialization.Itreferstothefactthatmandoesnothaveatotalphysicalinvolvementintheactofmunication.Forexample,amothercantellastorytoherchildwhileslicingupacake.However,wolvescanonlyrespondtoastimulusandistotallyinvolvedphysicallyinthemunicationprocess.Thus,awolfcannothavealanguagesimilartoman’s,eventhoughitcouldexpressathousanddifferentemotions.Besides,theaspectofproductivityalsodistinguisheshumanlanguagefromwolf’spostures.

Chapter2

TheSoundsofLanguage

1.Defineeachofthefollowingtermsbriefly.

（1）articulator:

thetongue,lips,andvelum,whichchangetheshapeofthevocaltracttoproducedifferentspeechsounds.

（2）assimilation:

aphonologicalprocesswherebyasoundbeesphoneticallysimilar（oridentical）toaneighboringsound,e.g.avowelbees[+nasal]whenfollowedbya[+nasal]consonant.

（3）consonant:

aspeechsoundproducedbypartialorpleteclosureofpartofthevocaltract,thusobstructingtheairflowandcreatingaudiblefriction.Consonantsaredescribedintermsofvoicing,placeofarticulation,andmannerofarticulation.

（4）el