新编简明英语语言学教程第二版课后参考答案.docx

新编简明英语语言学教程第二版课后参考答案.docx

《新编简明英语语言学教程第二版课后参考答案.docx》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《新编简明英语语言学教程第二版课后参考答案.docx（30页珍藏版）》请在冰豆网上搜索。

新编简明英语语言学教程第二版课后参考答案

《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”byitsuserstorecordspeechwhentheneedarises.Evenintoday'sworldtherearestillmanylanguagesthatcanonlybespokenbutnotwritten.Thenineverydaycommunication,speechplaysagreaterrolethanwritingintermsoftheamountofinformationconveyed.Andalso,speechisalwaysthewayinwhicheverynativespeakeracquireshismothertongue,andwritingislearnedandtaughtlaterwhenhegoestoschool.Formodernlinguists,spokenlanguagerevealsmanytruefeaturesofhumanspeechwhilewrittenlanguageisonlythe“revised”recordofspeech.Thustheirdataforinvestigationandanalysisaremostlydrawnfromeverydayspeech,whichtheyregardasauthentic.

6.HowisSaussure'sdistinctionbetweenlangueandparolesimilartoChomsky'sdistinctionbetweencompetenceandperformance?

答：

Saussure'sdistinctionandChomsky'sareverysimilar,theydifferatleastinthatSaussuretookasociologicalviewoflanguageandhisnotionoflangueisamatterofsocialconventions,andChomskylooksatlanguagefromapsychologicalpointofviewandtohimcompetenceisapropertyofthemindofeachindividual.

7.Whatcharacteristicsoflanguagedoyouthinkshouldbeincludedinagood,comprehensivedefinitionoflanguage?

答：

Firstofall,languageisasystem,i.e.,elementsoflanguagearecombinedaccordingtorules.

Second,languageisarbitraryinthesensethatthereisnointrinsicconnectionbetweenalinguisticsymbolandwhatthesymbolstandsfor.

Third,languageisvocalbecausetheprimarymediumforalllanguagesissound.

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

8.Whatarethemainfeaturesofhumanlanguagethat