英语语言学第章课后练习题答案.docx

英语语言学第章课后练习题答案.docx

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英语语言学第章课后练习题答案

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英语语言学第章课后练习题答案

《新编简明英语语言学教程》第二版第1-3章练习题参考答案

Chapter1Introduction

P13

1.Howdoyouinterpretthefollowingdefinitionoflinguistics:

Linguisticsisthescientificstudyoflanguage？

答：

Linguisticsisbasedonthesystematicinvestigationoflinguisticdata,conductedwithreferencetosomegeneraltheoryoflanguagestructure.Inordertodiscoverthenatureandrulesoftheunderlyinglanguagesystem,thelinguistshastocollectandobservelanguagefactsfirst,whicharefoundtodisplaysomesimilarities,andgeneralizationsaremadeaboutthem;thenheformulatessomehypothesesaboutthelanguagestructure.Thehypothesesthusformedhavetobecheckedrepeatedlyagainsttheobservedfactstofullyprovetheirvalidity.Inlinguistics,asinanyotherdiscipline,dataandtheorystandinadialecticalcomplementation,thatis,atheorywithoutthesupportofdatacanhardlyclaimvalidity,anddatawithoutbeingexplainedbysometheoryremainamuddledmassofthings.

2.WhatarethemajorbranchesoflinguisticsWhatdoeseachofthemstudy

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.IsmodernlinguisticsmainlysynchronicordiachronicWhy

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.WhatarethemainfeaturesofhumanlanguagethathavebeenspecifiedbyC.Hocketttoshowthatitisessentiallydifferentfromanimalcommunicationsystem（2．2语言的识别性特征）

美国语言学家C.Hockett提出了人类语言的12种识别性特征，其中最重要的识别性特种有5种：

即语言的任意性、创造性、二重性、移位性和文化传递性。

这些特征是所有人类语言所共有的。

人类语言的识别性特征是动物“语言”所不具有的。

1）任意性：

它指音与义之间没有逻辑联系。

比如说，不同的语言使用不同的音指相同的事物。

2）创造性：

语言的创造性主要表现在语言使用者能够以有限的语言规则为基础说出和理解无限的句子，包括他们以前从没有听说过的句子。

3）二重性：

它指语言在结构上存在两个层次：

低层次和高层次。

在低层次是一个个没有意义的音，如/p/,/g/,/i/等，但是这些处在低层次的没有意义的音可以依照一定的语言规则结合在一起形成语言体系的高层次，即：

有意义的单位，如词素，单词等。

4）移位性：

移位性指人类可以使用语言来谈论过去的事情，现在的事情或将来的事情；语言也可以用来谈论我们客观世界中的事情，或假想世界中的事情。

总之，语言的使用可以脱离交际的直接情景语境，从而不受语言时空距离的影响。

5）文化传递性：

文化的传递性是指，虽然人类习得语言的能力有遗传因素的原因，但是语言体系具体内容的习得不是通过遗传来传递的，而是要通过后天的学习来获得。

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.,wewereallbornwiththeabilitytoacquirelanguage,thedetailsofanylanguagesystemarenotgeneticallytransmitted,butinsteadhavetobetaughtandlearned.

9.WhatarethemajorfunctionsoflanguageThinkofyourownexamplesforillustration.

答：

Threemainfunctionsareoftenrecognizedoflanguage:

thedescriptivefunction,theexpressivefunction,andthesocialfunction.

Thedescriptivefunctionisthefunctiontoconveyfactualinformation,whichcanbeassertedordenied,andinsomecasesevenverified.Forexample:

“Chinaisalargecountrywithalonghistory.”

Theexpressivefunctionsuppliesinformationabouttheuser’sfeelings,preferences,prejudices,andvalues.Forexample:

“Iwillnevergowindow-shoppingwithher.”

Thesocialfunctionservestoestablishandmaintainsocialrelationsbetweenpeople..Forexample:

“Weareyourfirmsupporters.”

Chapter2Phonology

P30

1.WhatarethetwomajormediaoflinguisticcommunicationOfthetwo,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.

Inbroadtranscription,thesymbol[l]isusedforthesounds[l]inthefourwordsleaf[li:

f],feel[fi:

l],build[bild],andhealth[helθ].Asamatteroffact,thesound[l]inallthesefoursoundcombinationsdiffersslightly.The[l]in[li:

f],occurringbeforeavowel,iscalledadear[l],andnodiacriticisneededtoindicateit;the[1]in[fi:

l]and[bild],occurringattheendofawordorbeforeanotherconsonant,ispronounceddifferentlyfromtheclear[1]asin“leaf”.Itiscalleddark[?

]andinnarrowtranscriptionthediacritic[?

]isusedtoindicateit.Theninthesoundcombination[helθ],thesound[l]isfollowedbytheEnglishdentalsound[θ],itspronunciationissomewhataffectedbythedentalsoundthatfollowsit.Itisthuscalledadental[l],andinnarrowtranscriptionthediacritic[、]isusedtoindicateit.Itistranscribedas[helθ]