英语语言学第1-3章课后练习题

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. Howdoyouinterpretthefollowingdefinitionoflinguistics:Linguisticsisthescientificstudyoflanguage?答：Linguisticsisbasedonthesystematicinvestigationoflinguisticdata,conductedwithreferencetosomegeneraltheoryoflanguagestructure.Inordertodiscoverthenatur

2、eandrulesoftheunderlyinglanguagesystem,thelinguistshastocollectandobservelanguagefactsfirst,whicharefoundtodisplaysomesimilarities,andgeneralizationsaremadeaboutthem;thenheformulatessomehypothesesaboutthelanguagestructure.Thehypothesesthusformedhavetobecheckedrepeatedlyagainsttheobservedfactstofully

3、provetheirvalidity.Inlinguistics,asinanyotherdiscipline,dataandtheorystandinadialecticalcomplementation,thatis,atheorywithoutthesupportofdatacanhardlyclaimvalidity,anddatawithoutbeingexplainedbysometheoryremainamuddledmassofthings.2. Whatarethemajorbranchesoflinguistics?Whatdoeseachofthemstudy?答：The

4、majorbranchesoflinguisticsare:(1) phonetics:itstudiesthesoundsusedinlinguisticcommunication;(2) phonology:itstudieshowsoundsareputtogetherandusedtoconveymeaningincommunication;(3) morphology:itstudiesthewayinwhichlinguisticsymbolsrepresentingsoundsarearrangedandcombinedtoformwords;(4) syntax:itstudi

5、estheruleswhichgovernhowwordsarecombinedtoformgrammaticallypermissiblesentencesinlanguages;(5) semantics:itstudiesmeaningconveyedbylanguage;(6) pragmatics:itstudiesthemeaninginthecontextoflanguageuse.3. Inwhatbasicwaysdoesmodernlinguisticsdifferfromtraditionalgrammar?答：Thegeneralapproachthustraditio

6、nallyformedtothestudyoflanguageovertheyearsisroughlyreferredtoasraditionalgrammar."Modernlinguisticsdiffersfromtraditionalgrammarinseveralbasicways.Firstly,linguisticsisdescriptivewhiletraditionalgrammarisprescriptive.Second,modemlinguisticsregardsthespokenlanguageasprimary,notthewritten.Tradit

7、ionalgrammarians,ontheotherhand,tendedtoemphasize,maybeover-emphasize,theimportanceofthewrittenword,partlybecauseofitspermanence.Then,modemlinguisticsdiffersfromtraditionalgrammaralsointhatitdoesnotforcelanguagesintoaLatin-basedframework.4. Ismodernlinguisticsmainlysynchronicordiachronic?Why?答：Inmod

8、emlinguistics,asynchronicapproachseemstoenjoypriorityoveradiachronicone.Becausepeoplebelievedthatunlessthevariousstatesofalanguageindifferenthistoricalperiodsaresuccessfullystudied,itwouldbedifficulttodescribethechangesthathavetakenplaceinitshistoricaldevelopment.5. Forwhatreasonsdoesmodernlinguisti

9、csgiveprioritytospeechratherthantowriting?答：Speechandwritingarethetwomajormediaoflinguisticcommunication.Modemlinguisticsregardsthespokenlanguageasthenaturalortheprimarymediumofhumanlanguageforsomeobviousreasons.Fromthepointofviewoflinguisticevolution,speechispriortowriting.Thewritingsystemofanylang

10、uageisalwaysainvented"byitsuserstorecordspeechwhentheneedarises.Evenintoday'sworldtherearestillmanylanguagesthatcanonlybespokenbutnotwritten.Thenineverydaycommunication,speechplaysagreaterrolethanwritingintermsoftheamountofinformationconveyed.Andalso,speechisalwaysthewayinwhicheverynativesp

11、eakeracquireshismothertongue,andwritingislearnedandtaughtlaterwhenhegoestoschool.Formodernlinguists,spokenlanguagerevealsmanytruefeaturesofhumanspeechwhilewrittenlanguageisonlythe“revised"recordofspe.Thustheirdataforinvestigationandanalysisaremostlydrawnfromeverydayspeech,whichtheyregardasauthe

12、ntic.6. HowisSaussure'sdistinctionbetweenlangueandparolesimilartoChomsky'sdistinctionbetweencompetenceandperformance?答：Saussure'sdistinctionandChomsky'sareverysimilar,theydifferatleastinthatSaussuretookasociologicalviewoflanguageandhisnotionoflangueisamatterofsocialconventions,andCho

13、mskylooksatlanguagefromapsychologicalpointofviewandtohimcompetenceisapropertyofthemindofeachindividual.7. Whatcharacteristicsoflanguagedoyouthinkshouldbeincludedinagood,comprehensivedefinitionoflanguage?答：Firstofall,languageisasystem,i.e.,elementsoflanguagearecombinedaccordingtorules.Second,language

14、isarbitraryinthesensethatthereisnointrinsicconnectionbetweenalinguisticsymbolandwhatthesymbolstandsfor.Third,languageisvocalbecausetheprimarymediumforalllanguagesissound.Fourth,languageishuman-specific,i.e.,itisverydifferentfromthecommunicationsystemsotherformsoflifepossess.8. Whatarethemainfeatures

15、ofhumanlanguagethathavebeenspecifiedbyC.Hocketttoshowthatitisessentiallydifferentfromanimalcommunicationsystem?（2.2语言的识另特征）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

16、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

17、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） ArbitrarinessLanguageisarbitrary.Thismeansthatthereisnologicalconnectionbetweenmeaningsandsounds.Agoodexampleisthefactthatdifferentsoundsareusedtorefertothesameobjectindifferentlanguages.2） Pr

18、oductivityLanguageisproductiveorcreativeinthatitmakespossibletheconstructionandinterpretationofnewsignalsbyitsusers.Thisiswhytheycanproduceandunderstandaninfinitelylargenumberofsentences,includingsentencestheyhaveneverheardbefore.3） DualityLanguageconsistsoftwosetsofstructures,ortwolevels.Atthelower

19、orthebasiclevelthereisastructureofsounds,whicharemeaninglessbythemselves.Butthesoundsoflanguagecanbegroupedandregroupedintoalargenumberofunitsofmeaning,whicharefoundatthehigherlevelofthesystem.4） DisplacementLanguagecanbeusedtorefertothingswhicharepresentornotpresent,realorimaginedmattersinthepast,p

20、resent,orfuture,orinfar-awayplaces.Inotherwords,languagecanbeusedtorefertocontextsremovedfromtheimmediatesituationsofthespeaker.Thisiswhatadisplacement"means.5） CulturaltransmissionWhilehumancapacityforlanguagehasageneticbasis,i.e.,wewereallbornwiththeabilitytoacquirelanguage,thedetailsofanylan

21、guagesystemarenotgeneticallytransmitted,butinsteadhavetobetaughtandlearned.9. Whatarethemajorfunctionsoflanguage?Thinkofyourownexamplesforillustration.答：Threemainfunctionsareoftenrecognizedoflanguage:thedescriptivefunction,theexpressivefunction,andthesocialfunction.Thedescriptivefunctionisthefunctio

22、ntoconveyfactualinformation,whichcanbeassertedordenied,andinsomecasesevenverified.Forexample:Chinaisalargecountrywithalonghistory.”Theexpressivefunctionsuppliesinformationabouttheuser'sfeelings,preferences,prejudices,andvalues.Forexample:willnevergowindow-shoppingwithher.”Thesocialfunctionserves

23、toestablishandmaintainsocialrelationsbetweenpeople.Forexample:Weareyourfirmsupporters.wChapter 2 PhonologyP301. Whatarethetwomajormediaoflinguisticcommunication?Ofthetwo,whichoneisprimaryandwhy?答：Speechandwritingarethetwomajormediaoflinguisticcommunication.Ofthetwomediaoflanguage,speechismoreprimary

24、thanwriting,forreasons,pleaserefertotheanswertothefifthprobleminthelastchapter.2. Whatisvoicingandhowisitcaused?答：VoicingisaqualityofspeechsoundsandafeatureofallvowelsandsomeconsonantsinEnglish.Itiscausedbythevibrationofthevocalcords.3. Explainwithexampleshowbroadtranscriptionandnarrowtranscriptiond

25、iffer?答：Thetranscriptionwithletter-symbolsonlyiscalledbroadtranscription.Thisisthetranscriptionnormallyusedindictionariesandteachingtextbooksforgeneralpurposes.Thelatter,i.e.thetranscriptionwithletter-symbolstogetherwiththediacriticsiscallednarrowtranscription.Thisisthetranscriptionneededandusedbyth

26、ephoneticiansintheirstudyofspeechsounds.Withthehelpofthediacriticstheycanfaithfullyrepresentasmuchofthefinedetailsasitisnecessaryfortheirpurpose.Inbroadtranscription,thesymbollisusedforthesoundslinthefourwordsleafli:f,feelfi:l,buildbild,andhealthhel0.Asamatteroffact,thesoundlinallthesefoursoundcombi

27、nationsdiffersslightly.Thelinli:f,occurringbeforeavowel,iscalledadearl,andnodiacriticisneededtoindicateit;the1infi:landbild,occurringattheendofawordorbeforeanotherconsonant,ispronounceddifferentlyfromtheclear1asin"le?nsansWedrdaslcrjptionthediacritic?isusedtoindicateit.Theninthesoundcom

28、binationhel61,ithfosoiwedbytheEnglishdentalsound0jtspronunciationissomewhataffectedbythedentalsoundthatfollowsit.Itisthuscalledadentall,andinnarrowtranscriptionthediacritic、isusedtoindicateit.Itistranscribedashel0.Anotherexampleistheconsonantp.Weallknowthatpispronounceddifferentlyinthetwowordspitand

29、spit.Inthewordpit,thesoundpispronouncedwithastrongpuffofair,butinspitthepuffofairiswithheldtosomeextent.Inthecaseofpit,thepsoundissaidtobeaspiratedandinthecaseofspit,thepsoundisunaspirated.Thisdifferenceisnotshowninbroadtranscription,butinnarrowtranscription,asmallraised"h"isusedtoshowaspi

30、raiiois,transcribedasph?tandspitistranscribedassp?.4. HowaretheEnglishconsonantsclassified?答：Englishconsonantscanbeclassifiedintwoways:oneisintermsofmannerofarticulationandtheotherisintermsofplaceofarticulation.IntermsofmannerofarticulationtheEnglishconsonantscanbeclassifiedintothefollowingtypes:sto

31、ps,fricatives,affricates,liquids,nasalsandglides.Intermsofplaceofarticulation,itcanbeclassifiedintofollowingtypes:bilabial,labiodental,dental,alveolar,palatal,velarandglottal.5. WhatcriteriaareusedtoclassifytheEnglishvowels?答：Vowelsmaybedistinguishedasfront,central,andbackaccordingtowhichpartoftheto

32、ngueisheldhighest.Tofurtherdistinguishmembersofeachgroup,weneedtoapplyanothercriterion,i.e.theopennessofthemouth.Accordingly,weclassifythevowelsintofourgroups:closevowels,semi-closevowels,semi-openvowels,andopenvowels.Athirdcriterionthatisoftenusedintheclassificationofvowelsistheshapeofthelips.InEng

33、lish,allthefrontvowelsandthecentralvowelsareunfoundedvowels,i.e.,withoutroundingthelips,andallthebackvowels,withtheexceptionofa:,arerounded.Itshouldbenotedthatsomefrontvowelscanbepronouncedwithroundedlips.6. A.Givethephoneticsymbolforeachofthefollowingsounddescriptions:1) voicedpalatalaffricate2) vo

34、icelesslabiodentalfricative3) voicedalveolarstop4) front,close,short5) back,semi-open,long6) voicelessbilabialstopB.Givethephoneticfeaturesofeachofthefollowingsounds:1)t2)l3)?4)w5)?6)?答：A.(1)?(2)f(3)d(4)?(5)?:(6)pB.(1)voicelessalveolarstop(2)voicedalveolarliquid(3)voicelesspalatalaffricate(4)voicedb

35、ilabialglide(5)back,close,short(6)front,open7. Howdophoneticsandphonologydifferintheirfocusofstudy?Whodoyouthinkwillbemoreinterestedinthedifferencebetween,say,land?,phandp,aphoneticianoraphonologist?Why?答：(1)Bothphonologyandphoneticsareconcernedwiththesameaspectoflanguage十hespeechsounds.Butwhileboth

36、arerelatedtothestudyofsounds,theydifferintheirapproachandfocus.Phoneticsisofageneralnature;itisinterestedinallthespeechsoundsusedinallhumanlanguages:howtheyareproduced,howtheydifferfromeachother,whatphoneticfeaturestheypossess,howtheycanbeclassified,etc.Phonology,ontheotherhand,aimstodiscoverhowspee

37、chsoundsinalanguageformpatternsandhowthesesoundsareusedtoconveymeaninginlinguisticcommunication.(2) Aphonologistwillbemoreinterestedinit.Becauseoneofthetasksofthephonologistsistofindoutrulethatgovernsthedistributionofland?,phandp.8. Whatisaphone?Howisitdifferentfromaphoneme?Howareallophonesrelatedto

38、aphoneme?答：Aphoneisaphoneticunitorsegment.Thespeechsoundswehearandproduceduringlinguisticcommunicationareallphones.Aphonemeisnotanyparticularsound,butratheritisrepresentedorrealizedbyacertainphoneinacertainphoneticcontext.Thedifferentphoneswhichcanrepresentaphonemeindifferentphoneticenvironmentsarec

39、alledtheallophonesofthatphoneme.Forexample,thephoneme/l/inEnglishcanberealizedasdark?,clearl,etc.whichareallophonesofthephoneme/l/.9. Explainwithexamplesthesequentialrule,theassimilationrule,andthedeletionrule.答：Rulesthatgovernthecombinationofsoundsinaparticularlanguagearecalledsequentialrules.There

40、aremanysuchsequentialrulesinEnglish.Forexample,ifawordbeginswithalorar,thenthenextsoundmustbeavowel.ThatiswhylbiklkbiareimpossiblecombinationsinEnglish.Theyhaveviolatedtherestrictionsonthesequencingofphonemes.Theassimilationruleassimilatesonesoundtoanotherby“copying"afeatureofasequentialphoneme

41、usmakingthetwophonessimilar.Assimilationofneighboringsoundsis,forthemostpart,causedbyarticulatoryorphysiologicalprocesses.Whenwespeak,wetendtoincreasetheeaseofarticulation.This“sloppy"tendencymayrbecDofeaieguOgezedasWeallknowthatnasalizationisnotaphonologicalfeatureinEnglish,i.e.,itdoesnotdisti

42、nguishmeaning.ButthisdoesnotmeanthatvowelsinEnglisharenevernasalizedinactualpronunciation;infacttheyarenasalizedincertainphoneticcontexts.Forexample,thei:soundisnasalizedinwordslikebean,green,team,andscream.Thisisbecauseinallthesesoundcombinationsthei:soundisfollowedbyanasalnorm.Theassimilationrulea

43、lsoaccountsforthevaryingpronunciationofthealveolarnasalninsomesoundcombinations.Theruleisthatwithinaword,thenasalnassumesthesameplaceofarticulationastheconsonantthatfollowsit.WeknowthatinEnglishtheprefixin-canbeaddedtomaadjectivetomakethemeaningofthewordnegative,e.g.discreetindiscreet,correct-incorr

44、ect.Butthensoundintheprefixin-isnotalwayspronouncedasanalveolarnasal.Itissointhewordindiscreetbecausetheconsonantthatfollowsit,i.e.d,isanalveolarstop,butthensoundinthewordincorrectisactuallypronouncedasavelarnasal,i.e.?;thisisbecausetheconsonantthatfollowsitisk,whichisavelarstop.Sowecanseethatwhilep

45、ronouncingthesoundn,weare“copying"afeatureoftheconsonantthatfollowsit.Deletionruletellsuswhenasoundistobedeletedalthoughitisorthographicallyrepresented.Wehavenoticedthatinthepronunciationofsuchwordsassign,design,andparadigm,thereisnogsoundalthoughitisrepresentedinspellingbytheletterg.Butintheir

46、correspondingformssignature,designation,andparadigmatic,thegrepresentedbythelettergispronounced.Therulecanbestatedas:Deleteagwhenitoccursbeforeafinalnasalconsonant.Giventherule,thephonemicrepresentationofthestemsinsign-signature,resign-resignation,phlegm-phlegmatic,paradigm-paradigmaticwillincludeth

47、ephoneme/g/,whichwillbedeletedaccordingtotheregularruleifnosuffixisadded.10. Whataresupra-segmentalfeatures?Howdothemajorsupra-segmentalfeaturesofEnglishfunctioninconveyingmeaning?答：Thephonemicfeaturesthatoccurabovethelevelofthesegmentsarecalledsupra-segmentalfeatures.Themainsupra-segmentalfeaturesi

48、ncludestress,intonation,andtone.ThelocationofstressinEnglishdistinguishesmeaning.Therearetwokindsofstress:wordstressandsentencestress.Forexample,ashiftofstressmaychangethepartofspeechofawordfromanoun,toaverbalthoughitsspellingremainsunchanged.Tonesarepitchvariationswhichcandistinguishmeaningjustlike

49、phonemes.Intonationplaysanimportantroleintheconveyanceofmeaninginalmosteverylanguage,especiallyinalanguagelikeEnglish.Whenspokenindifferenttones,thesamesequenceofwordsmayhavedifferentmeanings.Chapter3MorphologyP401.Dividethefollowingwordsintotheirseparatemorphemesbyplacinga"+"betweeneachmo

50、rphemeandthenext:a.microfilee.telecommunicationb. bedraggledc. announcementd. predigestion答：a.micro+filec.announce+mente. tele+communicate+iong.psycho+physicsf. forefatherg. psychophysicsh. mechanistb.be+draggle+edd.pre+digest+ionf.fore+fatherh.mechan+ist2. Thinkofthreemorphemesuffixes,givetheirmean

51、ing,andspecifythetypesofstemtheymaybesuffixedto.Giveatleasttwoexamplesofeach.Model:-orsuffix:-ormeaning:thepersonorthingperformingtheactionstemtype:addedtoverbsexamples:actor,“onewhoactsinstageplays,motionpictures,etc."translator,“onewhotranslates答：(1)suffix:-ablemeaning:somethingcanbedoneorisp

52、ossiblestemtype:addedtoverbsexamples:acceptable,“canbeaccepted”respectable,“canberespected”(2)suffix:meaning:-lyfunctionalstemtype:addedtoadjectivesexamples:freely."adverbialformof'free'"quickly,aadverbialformof'quick'”.(3)suffix:-eemeaning:thepersonreceivingtheactionstemtype:addedtoverbsexamples:employee,“onewhoworksinacompany”interviewee,“onewhoisinterviewed”3. Thinkofthreemorphemeprefixes,givetheirmeaning,andspecif