新编简明英语语言学教程戴炜栋第1_3章课后练习题答案

1、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Chapter 1 IntroductionP131. How do you interpret the following definition of linguistics: Linguistics is the scientific study oflanguage ？答： Linguistics is based on the systematic investigation of linguistic data, conducted with reference tosome generaltheoryof languagestr

2、ucture.Inorder todiscoverthenatureand rules oftheunderlying languagesystem, the linguists has to collect and observe language facts first, which are found to display somesimilarities,and generalizations are madeabout them;then heformulates some hypotheses about the languagestructure.The hypotheses t

3、husformedhave tobe checked repeatedlyagainstthe observedfactstofully provetheirvalidity.Inlinguistics,asinanyotherdiscipline,dataandtheorystand inadialecticalcomplementation, that is, a theory without the support of data can hardly claim validity, and data without being explained by some theory rema

4、in a muddled mass of things.2. What are the major branches of linguistics? What does each of them study?答： The major branches of linguistics are:(1) phonetics: it studies the sounds used in linguistic communication;(2) phonology: it studies how sounds are put together and used to convey meaning in c

5、ommunication;(3)morphology: it studies the way in which linguisticsymbols representing sounds are arranged and combinedto form words;(4) syntax: it studies the rules which govern how words are combined to form grammatically permissible sentences in languages;(5) semantics: it studies meaning conveye

6、d by language;(6) pragmatics: it studies the meaning in the context of language use.3. In what basic ways does modern linguistics differ from traditional grammar?答： Thegeneralapproachthus traditionallyformed tothestudyoflanguageover the years is roughlyreferredto as“traditional grammar. ” Modern lin

7、guistics differs from traditional grammar in several basic ways.Firstly, linguistics is descriptive while traditional grammar is prescriptive.Second,modemlinguisticsregardsthespoken language as primary,notthewritten.Traditionalgrammarians,on the otherhand,tended toemphasize,maybe over-emphasize,the

8、importanceof the writtenword,partlybecauseof its permanence.Then, modem linguistics differs from traditional grammar also in that it does not force languages intoa Latin-based framework.4. Is modern linguistics mainly synchronic or diachronic? Why?答： Inmodemlinguistics,a synchronic approach seems to

9、enjoypriorityover a diachronic one. Because peoplebelievedthatunless the variousstatesofa language indifferenthistoricalperiodsaresuccessfullystudied,it would be difficult to describe the changes that have taken place in its historical development.5. For what reasons does modern linguistics give pri

10、ority to speech rather than to writing?答： Speech and writing are the two major media of linguistic communication. Modem linguistics regards thespoken language as the natural or the primary medium of human language for some obvious reasons. From thepointof view of linguisticevolution,speech is priort

11、o writing.The writingsystemofany languageis always“invented ” by its users to record speech when the need arises. Even in todays world there are still manylanguages that can only be spoken but not written. Then in everyday communication, speech plays a greaterrolethanwriting intermsof theamount of i

12、nformationconveyed. And also,speech is always the wayin which（2 2 语言的识别性特征）every native speaker acquires his mother tongue, and writing is learned and taught later when he goes to For modern linguists, spoken language reveals many true features of human speech while written language is only the “rev

13、ised ” record of spe ech. Thus their data for investigation and analysis are mostly drawn from everyday speech, which they regard as authentic.school.6. Howis Saussuresdistinctionbetween langue and parolesimilartoChomskys distinctionbetween competenceand performance?答： Saussures distinction and Chom

14、skys are very similar, they differ at least in that Saussure took a sociological view of language and his notion of langue is a matter of social conventions, and Chomsky looksat language from a psychologicalpointof view and to him competence isa propertyof the mind of each individual.7. What charact

15、eristics of language do you think should be included in a good, comprehensive definition of language?答： First of all, language is a system, i.e., elements of language are combined according to rules. Second, language is arbitrary in the sense that there is no intrinsic connection between a linguisti

16、csymbol and what the symbol stands for.Third, language is vocal because the primary medium for all languages is sound.Fourth, language is human-specific, i. e., it is very different from the communication systems other forms of life possess.8. What are the main features of human language that have b

17、een specified by C. Hockett to show that it is essentially different from animal communication system?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

18、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；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。语言也可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，具体容的习得不是

19、通过遗传来传递的，而是要通过后天的学习来获得。但是语言体系答： The main features of human language are termed design features. They include:1) ArbitrarinessLanguage is arbitrary. This means that there is no logical connection between meanings and soundsgood example is the fact that different sounds are used to refer to the same o

20、bject in different languages. A2) ProductivityLanguage is productive or creative in that it makes possible the construction and interpretation ofnew signalsby itsusers.Thisis why they can produce and understandan infinitelylargenumber ofsentences,including sentences they have never heard before.3) D

21、ualityLanguage consists of two sets of structures, or two levels. At the lower or the basic level there isa 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 o

22、f the system.Language can be used to refer to things which are present or not present, real or imagined matters inthe past,present,or future,or in far-awayplaces.In otherwords,language can be used to referto contextsremoved from the immediate situations of thespeaker. This is what“displacement ” mea

23、ns.5) Cultural transmissionWhilehuman capacityforlanguage has a geneticbasis,i.e.,we were allborn withthe abilityto acquirelanguage,the details of any language system are not genetically transmitted,butinstead haveto be taughtand learned.9. What are the major functions of language? Think of your own

24、 examples for illustration.答：Three main functionsare oftenrecognizedof language:the descriptivefunction,the expressivefunction,and the social function.The descriptivefunctionis the functionto convey factualinformation,which can be assertedor denied,and in some cases even verified. For example:“China

25、 is a large country with a long history.”The expressive function supplies information about the user s feelings, preferences, prejudices, andvalues. For example:“I will never go window-shopping with her.”The social function serves to establish and maintain social relations between people. . For exam

26、ple:“ We are your firm supporters.”Chapter 2 PhonologyP301. What are the two major media of linguistic communication? Of the two, which one is primary and why?答： Speech and writing are the two major media of linguistic communication.Ofthe two media of language,speech is more primarythan writing,for

27、reasons,please referto the answerto the fifth problem in the last chapter.2. What is voicing and how is it caused?答： Voicing is a quality of speech sounds and a feature of all vowels and some consonants in English. It is caused by the vibration of the vocal cords.3. Explain with examples how broad t

28、ranscription and narrow transcription differ?答： The transcription with letter-symbols only is called broad transcription. This is the transcriptionnormallyused indictionariesand teachingtextbooksfor generalpurposes. The latter,i.e.thetranscriptionwith letter-symbols together with the diacritics is c

29、alled narrow transcription. This is the transcriptionneeded and used by the phoneticians in their study of speech sounds. With the help of the diacritics theycan faithfully represent as much of the fine details as it is necessary for their purpose.In broad transcription, the symbol l is used for the

30、 sounds l in the four wordsleafli:f,feelfi:l,buildbild,and healthhel .As a matterof fact,thesound lin allthesefoursound combinationsdiffersslightly.The linli:f,occurringbeforea vowel,iscalleda dear l,and no diacriticis neededto indicate it; the 1 in fi:l and bild, occurring at the end of a word or b

31、efore another consonant,is pronounceddifferentlyfrom the clear 1as in “leaf ”.Itiscalleddark ?and in narrowtranscriptionthe diacritic ? is used to indicate it. Then in the sound combination hellis ,followedthesound by the English dental sound , its pronunciation is somewhat affected by the dental so

32、und that followsit. It is thus called a dental l, and in narrow transcription the diacritic 、 is used to indicate it.It is transcribed as hel.Another example is the consonant p. We all know that p is pronounced differently in the two wordspit and spit. In the word pit, the sound p is pronounced with

33、 a strong puff of air, but inspit the puffof air is withheld to some extent. In the case ofpit , the p sound is said to be aspirated and in the caseof spit, the p sound is unaspirated. This difference is not shown in broad transcription, but in narrowtransc ription, a small raised“h” is used to show

34、 aspiration, thuspit is transcribed as ph? t and spitis transcribed as sp?t.4. How are the English consonants classified?答： English 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. In terms of manner of articulati

35、on the English consonants can be classified into the following types: stops, fricatives, affricates, liquids, nasals and glides. In termsof place of articulation, it can be classified into following types: bilabial, labiodental, dental, alveolar, palatal, velar and glottal.5. What criteria are used

36、to classify the English vowels?答： Vowels may be distinguished as front, central, and back according to which part of the tongue is held highest. To further distinguish members of each group, we need to apply another criterion, i.e. the opennessof the mouth. Accordingly, we classify the vowels into f

37、our groups: close vowels, semi-close vowels, semi-open vowels, and open vowels. A third criterion that is often used in the classification of vowels is the shapeof the lips. In English, all the front vowels and the central vowels are unfounded vowels, i. e., without rounding the lips, and all the ba

38、ck vowels, with the exception of a:, are rounded. It should be noted that some front vowels can be pronounced with rounded lips.6. A. Give the phonetic symbol for each of the following sound descriptions:1) voiced palatal affricate2) voiceless labiodental fricative3) voiced alveolar stop4) front, cl

39、ose, short5) back, semi-open, long6) voiceless bilabial stopB. Give the phonetic features of each of the following sounds:1) t 2) l 3) ? 4) w5) ? 6) ? 答： A. (1) ? (2) f (3) d (4) ? (5) ? : (6) pB. (1) voiceless alveolar stop(2) voiced alveolar liquid(3) voiceless palatal affricate(4) voiced bilabial

40、 glide(5) back, close, short(6) front, open7. How do phonetics and phonology differ in their focus of study? Who do you think will be more interested h答： (1) Both phonology and phonetics are concerned with the same aspect of language the speech sounds.But while both are related to the study of sound

41、s, they differ in their approach and focus. Phonetics isof a generalnature;itis interestedin allthe speech sounds used in allhumanlanguages:how they are produced,how they differfrom each other,what phoneticfeaturesthey possess, how they can be classified,etc.Phonology,on the other hand, aims to disc

42、over how speech sounds in a language form patterns and how these sounds areused to convey meaning in linguistic communication.(2) A phonologist will be more interested in it. Because one of the tasks of the phonologists is to findout rule that governs the distribution of l and ?, ph and p.8. What is

43、 a phone? How is it different from a phoneme? How are allophones related to a phoneme?答： A phone is a phoneticunitor segment. The speech sounds we hear and produce during linguisticcommunicationare all phones. A phoneme is not any particular sound, but rather it is represented or realized by a certa

44、inphone ina certainphoneticcontext.The differentphones which can representa phoneme indifferentphoneticenvironmentsarecalledtheallophonesofthatphoneme. Forexample,thephoneme /l/inEnglishcan be realizedas dark ?, clear l, etc. which are allophones of the phoneme /l/.9. Explain with examples the seque

45、ntial rule, the assimilation rule, and the deletion rule.答： Rules that govern the combination of sounds in a particular language are called sequential rules.There are many such sequential rules in English. For example, if a word begins with a l or a r, thenthe next sound must be a vowel. That is why

46、 lbik lkbi are impossible combinations in English. They haveviolated the restrictions on the sequencing of phonemes.The assimilation rule assimilatesone soundtoanother by“copying ” a feature ofa sequential phoneme,thus making the two phones similar. Assimilation of neighboring sounds is, for the mos

47、t part, caused byarticulatory or physiological processes. When we speak, we tend to increase the ease of articulation. This“sloppy ” tendency may become regularized asrules of language.We all know that nasalization is not a phonological feature in English, i.e., it does not distinguishmeaning. But t

48、his does not mean that vowels in English are never nasalized in actual pronunciation; in facttheyarenasalizedin certainphoneticcontexts.Forexample,thei:soundisnasalizedinwords like,beangreen, and. Thisisbecause inallthesesound combinationsthei:sound isfollowedby a nasalteamscreamn or m.Theassimilati

49、onrulealsoaccountsforthevaryingpronunciationofthealveolarnasalninsome soundcombinations. The rule is that within a word, the nasal n assumes the same place of articulation as theconsonant that follows it. We know that in English the prefix in- can be added to ma adjective to make themeaning of the w

50、ord negative, e.g.discreet indiscreet, correct incorrect. But the n sound in theprefixin - is notalwayspronouncedas an alveolarnasal.Itisso intheword indiscreetbecause theconsonantthatfollowsit,i.e.d,isanalveolarstop,butthensoundinthewordincorrectisactuallypronouncedas a velar nasal, i.e. ?; this is because the consonant that follows it is k, which is a velar stop.So we can see thatwhilepronouncingthesound n,we ar e “copying ” a featureoftheconsonanttha