复习题及答案-语言学基本知识与技能

Chapter OneIntroductionIWhat is linguistics?Linguistics is generally defined as the scientific study of language. Linguistics studies not any particular language, but it studies languages in general. It is a scientific study because it is based on the systematic investigation of linguistic data, conducted with reference to some general theory of language structure.IIThe scope of linguistics1. Phonetics：The study of sounds used in linguistic communication led to the establishment of phonetics.2. Phonology: deals with how sounds are put together and used to convey meaning in communication.3. Morphology: The study of the way in which morphemes are arranged and combined to form words has constituted the branch of study called morphology.4. Syntax: The combination of words to form grammatically permissible sentences in languages is governed by rules. The study of these rules constitutes a major branch of linguistic studies called syntax.5. Semantics: The study of meaning is known as semantics.6. Pragmatics: When the study of meaning is conducted, not in isolation, but in the context of language use, it becomes another branch of linguistic study called pragmatics.7. Sociolinguitics: The study of social aspects of languages and its relation with society form the core of the branch called sociolinguitics.8. Psycholinguistics relates the study of language to psychology.9. Applied linguistics: Findings in linguistics studies can often be applied to the solution of such practical problems as the recovery of speech ability. The study of such applications is generally known as applied linguistics.III. Some important distinctions in linguistics1. Prescriptive vs. descriptiveIf a linguistic study aims to describe and analyze the language people actually use, it is said to be descriptive; if the linguistic study aims to lay down rules for “correct and standard” behaviour in using language, it is said to be prescriptive.2. Synchronic vs. diachronicThe description of a language at some point of time in history is a synchronic study; the description of a language as it changes through time is a diachronic study. 3. Speech and writingSpeech and writing are the two major media of linguistic communication. Modern linguistics regards the spoken language as the natural or the primary medium of human language for some obvious reasons. From the point of view of linguistic evolution, speech is prior to writing. The writing system of any language is always “invented” by its users to record speech when the need arises.4. Langue and paroleThe distinction between langue and parole was made by the Swiss linguist F. de Saussure in the early 20th century. Langue and parole are French words. Langue refers to the abstract linguistic system shared by all the members of a speech community, and parole refers to the realization of language in actual use.5. Competence and performanceThe distinction between competence and performance was proposed by the American linguist N. Chomsky in the late 1950s. Chomsky defines competence as the ideal users knowledge of the rules of his language, and performance the actual realization of this knowledge in linguistic communication.6. Traditional grammar and modern linguisticsTraditional grammar refers to the studies of language before the publication of F. de Saussures book Course in General Linguistics in 1916. Modern linguistics differs from traditional grammar in several basic ways.First, linguistics is descriptive while traditional grammar is prescriptive.Second, Modern linguistics regards the spoken language as primary not the written. Then, modern linguistics differs from traditional grammar also in that it does not force languages into a Latin-based framework.IV. What is language?Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication.1. Design features1) ArbitrarinessLanguage is arbitrary. This means that there is no logical connection between meanings and sounds.2) ProductivityLanguage is productive or creative in that it makes possible the construction and interpretation of new signals by its users.3) DualityLanguage is a system, which consists of two sets of structures, or two levels. At the lower or basic level there is a structure of sounds, which are meaningless by themselves. But the sounds of language can be grouped and regrouped into a large number of units of meaning, which are found at the higher level of the system. This duality of structure or double articulation of language enables its users to talk about anything within their knowledge.4) DisplacementLanguage can be used to refer to contexts removed from the immediate situations of the speaker. This is what “displacement” means. This property provides speakers with an opportunity to talk about a wide range of things, free from barriers caused by separation in time and place.5) Cultural transmissionHuman capacity for language has a genetic basis while the details of any language system are not genetically transmitted, but instead have to be taught and learned. This shows that language is culturally transmitted. It is passed from one generation to the next through teaching and learning, rather than by instinct.2. Functions of Language1) InformativeIt is the major role of language. The use of language to record the facts is a prerequisite of social development.2) Interpersonal functionIt is the most important sociological use of language, by which people establish and maintain their status in a society.Attached to the interpersonal function of language is its function of the expression of identity.3) PerformativeThis concept originates from the philosophical study of language presented by Austin and Searle, whose theory now forms the backbone of pragmatics.The performative function of language is primarily to change the social status of persons as in marriage ceremonies, the blessing of children and the naming of a ship at a launching ceremony. The kind of language employed in performative verbal acts is usually quite formal and even ritualized.4) Emotive functionThe emotive function of language is one the most powerful uses of language because it is so crucial in changing the emotional status of an audience for or against someone or something. e.g. God, my, Damn it.5) Phatic communionThe term originates from Malinnowskis study of the functions of language performed by Trobriand Islanders. It refers to the social interaction of language.We all use small, seemingly meaningless expressions such as Good morning, God bless you, Nice day to maintain a comfortable relationship between people.6) Recreational functionNo one will deny the use of language for the sheer joy of using it such as a babys babbling.7) Metalingual functionOur language can be used to talk about itself. For example, we can use the word “book” to talk about the book. Chapter Two PhonologyI. Speech production and perceptionA speech sound goes through a three step process. Naturally, the study of sounds is divided into three areas, each dealing with one part of the progress.1. Articulatory phoneticsIt is the study of the production of speech sounds.2. Acoustic phoneticsIt is the study of the physical properties of the sounds produced in speech.3. Auditory phoneticsIt is concerned with the perception of the sounds produced in speech.II. Speech organsSpeech organs are also known as vocal organs. They are those parts of the human body involved in the production of speech.Speech organs mainly consist of the vocal cords and three cavities which are the pharynx, the oral cavity and the nasal cavity.The vocal cords are in the larynx, the front part of which is called “the Adams Apple.”III. ConsonantsClassification of English consonantsEnglish consonants can be classified in two ways: one is in terms of manner of articulation and the other is in terms of place of articulation. Nouns Adjectives Lips Labial / Bilabial Teeth Dental Alveolar ridge Alveolar Hard palate Palatal Soft palate Velar Uvula Uvular Pharynx Pharyngeal Tip Apical Blade Laminal Front Dorsal Back Dorsal Consonants Place /p/ /b/ Bilabial /t/ /d/ Tip-alveolar /k/ /g/ Back-velar /t/ /d/ Blade/front palato-alveolar /m/ Bilabial /n/ Tip-alveolar / / Back-velar Consonants Place /p/ /b/ Bilabial /t/ /d/ Tip-alveolar /k/ /g/ Back-velar /t/ /d/ Blade/front palato-alveolar /m/ Bilabial /n/ Tip-alveolar / / Back-velar IV. VowelsClassification of English vowelsVowels may be distinguished as front, central, and back according to which part of the tongue is held highest. Vowels can also be distinguished according to the openness of the mouth: close vowels, semi-close vowels, semi-open vowels, and open vowels. V. Phonology and phonetics1. Phonetics is concerned with the general nature of speech sound while phonology aims to discover how speech sounds in a language form patterns and how these sounds are used to convey meaning in linguistic communication.2. Phone, phoneme, and allophone A phone is a phonetic unit or segment. The speech sounds we hear and produce during linguistic communication are all phones. A phoneme is a phonological unit; it is a unit that is of distinctive value. It is an abstract unit. It is not any particular sound, but rather it is represented or realized by a certain phone in a certain phonetic context. The different phones which can represent a phoneme in different phonetic environments are called the allophones of that phoneme. For example, the phoneme /l/ in English can be realized as dark /l/, clear /l/, etc. which are allophones of the phoneme.3. Phonemic contrast, complementary distribution, and minimal pairIf the phonetically similar sounds are two distinctive phonemes, they are said to form a phonemic contrast, e.g. /p/ and /b/ in /pit/ and /bit/.If they are allophones of the same phoneme, then they do not distinguish meaning, but complement each other in distribution. For instance, the clear /l/ always occurs before a vowel while the dark /l/ always occurs between a vowel and a consonant, or at the end of a word. So the allophones are said to be in complementary distribution.When two different forms are identical in every way except for one sound segment which occurs in the same place in the strings, the two sound combinations are said to form a minimal pair. So in English, pill and bill are a minimal pair.4. Some rules in phonologySequential rules, Assimilation rule, Deletion rule5. Supra-segmental featuresstress, tone, intonationStress:Depending on the context in which stress is considered, there are two kinds of stress: word stress and sentence stress. The location of stress in English distinguishes meaning.Sentence stress refers to the relative force given to the component of a sentence. The part of speech that are normally stressed in an English sentence are nouns, main verbs, adjectives, adverbs, numerals and demonstrative pronouns; the other categories of words like articles, person pronouns, auxiliary verbs, prepositions, and conjunctions are usually not stressed. Tone: Tones are pitch variations, which are caused by the differing rates of vibration of the vocal cords. Pitch variation can distinguish meaning just like phonemes; therefore, the tone is a supra-segmental feature. The meaning-distinctive function of the tone is especially important in what we call tone languages. E.g. Chinese. Intonation: When pitch, stress and sound length are tied to the sentence rather than the word in isolation, they are collectively known as intonation. Intonation plays an important role in the conveyance of meaning in almost every language, especially in a language like English.Chapter ThreeMorphologyI. Open class and closed classIn English, nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs make up the largest part of the vocabulary. They are the content words of a language, which are sometimes called open class words, since we can regularly add new words to these classes.The other syntactic categories include “grammatical” or “functional” words. Conjunctions, prepositions, articles and pronounces consist of relatively few words and have been referred to as being closed class words since new words are not usually added to them.II. Internal structure of words and rules for word formationMorphology refers to the study of the internal structure of words, and the rules by which words are formed.e.g. likedislike orderdisorder appeardisappear approve-disapprove agreedisagree “dis-”is a prefix means “not”, and placed before a root-wordIII. Morphemesthe minimal units of meaningSome words are formed by combining a number of distinct units of meaning. The most basic element of meaning is traditionally called morpheme.The following list shows that in English a single word may consist of one or more morphemes.One morpheme: desireTwo morphemes: desire + ableThree morphemes:desire + able + ityFour morphemes:un + desire + able + ityIn fact every word in every language is composed of one or more morphemes.Prefixes occurs only before other morphemes while suffixes occur only after other morphemes.IV. Derivational and inflectional morphemesIn English there are morphemes which change the category or grammatical class of words. A verb, for example, is formed by adding en to the adjective blackblacken, or by adding -ize to the noun computercomputerize. More examples: nounadjective affection + ate Alcohol + ic-en, -ate, and ic are thus called derivational morphemes, because when they are conjoined to other morphemes (or words) a new word is derived, or formed.Similarly, there are bound morphemes which are for the most part purely grammatical markers, signifying such concepts as tense, number, case, aspect and so on.Such bound morphemes are referred to as inflectional morphemes.V. Morphological rules of word formationThe ways words are formed are called morphological rules. These rules determine how morphemes combine to form words.Some of the morphological rules can be used quite freely to form new words. We call them productive morphological rules. Un + accept + able = un + adjective = not adjectiveVI. CompoundsAnother way to form new words, or compound words, to be exact, is by stringing words together, as shown in the examples below: Adj.Noun.Verb.Prep.Adj.bittersweetclearwaywhitewashblackoutNoun.headstrongrainbowspoonfeedheadoffVerb.carryallpickpocketsleepwalkcutupPrep.inbornOff-licenceundertakewithoutChapter FourSyntaxI. What is syntax?Syntax is a branch of linguistics that studies how words are combined to form sentences and the rules that govern the formation of sentences.II. CategoriesCategory refers to a group of linguistic items which fulfill the same or similar functions in a particular language such as sentence, a noun phrase or a verb.A fundamental fact about words in all human languages is that they can be grouped together into a relatively small number of classes, called syntactic categories.1. Word level categories are divided into two kinds: major lexical categories and minor lexical categories.2. Phrase categories and their structuresSyntactic units that are built around a certain word category are called phrases, the category of which is determined by the word category around which the phrase is built. In English syntactic analysis, the most commonly recognized and discussed phrasal categories are noun phrase (NP), verb phrase (VP), adjective phrase (AP) and prepositional phrase (PP).Whether formed of one or more than one word, they consist of two levels, Phrase level and word level as exemplified below.NP VPAPPP phrase level |NVAP word levelPhrases that are formed of more than one word usually contain the following elements: head, specifier and complement. The word around which a phrase is formed is termed head. The words on the left side of the heads are said to function as specifiers. The words on the right side of the heads are complements.3 Phrase structure ruleThe special type of grammatical mechanism that regulates the arrangement of elements that make up a phrase is called a phrase structure rule. The phrase structural rule for NP, VP, AP, and PP can be written as follows:NP (Det) N (PP) VP (Qual) V (NP) AP (Deg) A (PP) PP (Deg) P (NP) The arrow can be read as “consist of ” or “branches into”. The parentheses mean that the element in them can be omitted and the three dots in each rule indicate that other complement options are available.4. XP ruleThe XP rule: XP (specifier) X (complement)5. X Theorya. XP (Specifier) Xb. X X (complement) The first rule stipulates that XP categories such as NP and VP consist of an optional specifier (a determiner, a qualifier, and so forth) and an X. The second rule states that an X consists of a head, X, and any complements.6. Phrase elementsSpecifierSpecifiers have both special semantic and syntactic roles. Semantically, they help make more precise the meaning of the head. Syntactically, they typically mark a phrase boundary. Specifiers can be determiners, qualifiers and degree words as well.ComplementsAs we have seen, complements