英语语言学复习资料

1、英语语言学复习资料一：名词解释1. Language (语言) is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication.2. Linguistics(语言学) is generally defined as the scientific study of language.3. General linguistics(普通/一般语言学)The study of language as a whole is often called general linguistics.4. Phonetics(语音学) the

2、study of sounds used in linguistic communication led to the establishment of phonetics.5. Phonology(语音体系) how sounds are put together and used to convey meaning in communication.6. Morphology(形态学) these symbols are arranged and combined to form words has constituted the branch of study called morpho

3、logy.7. Syntax(句法学) then 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.8. Semantics(语意学) the study of meaning is known as semantics.9. Pragmatics(语用学) whe

4、n 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.10. Phone(音素) is a phonetic unit or segment. The speech sounds we hear and produce during linguistic communication are all phones.11. Phoneme(音位)

5、 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.12. Allophones(音位变体) the different phones which can represent a phoneme in different p

6、honetic environments are called the allophones.13. IPA(International Phonetic Alphabet国际音标) Its a standardized and internationally accepted system of phonetic transcription. The basic principle of the IPA is using one letter selected from major European languages to represent one speech sound.14. Di

7、acritics(变音符) it is a set of symbols which are added to the letter-symbols to bring out the finer distinctions.15. broad transcription(宽式标音) one is the transcription with letter-symbols only.16. narrow transcription(严式标音) the other is the transcription with letter-symbols together with the diacritic

8、s.17. open class words(开放类词) In English , open class words are nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. We can regularly add new words to these classes. 18. closed class words(封闭类词) In English , closed class word are conjunctions, prepositions, articles and pronouns. New words are not usually added to

9、them. 19. Morpheme(词素) the most basic element of meaning is traditionally called morpheme. 20. bound morpheme(黏着词素) morphemes which occurs only before other morphemes. They cannot be used alone. 21. free morpheme(自由词素) it is the morphemes which can be used alone. 22. suprasegmental features(超音段特征) t

10、he phonemic features that occur above the level of the segments are called suprasegmental features. 23. Category(范畴) it refers to a group of linguistic items which fulfill the same or similar functions in a particular language such as a sentence ,a noun phrase or a verb. 24. Phrases(短语) Syntactic un

11、its that are built around a certain word category are called phrases. 二：简答题 1. Three distinct of phonetics(语音学的三个分支？) Articulatory phonetics发音语音学; auditory phonetics听觉语音学; acoustic phonetics声光语音学. 2. Main features of language(语言的主要特征？) Language is a system. Language is arbitrary. Language is vocal.

12、Language is human-specific. 3. Synchronic vs. diachronic(共识语言学与历史语言学的区别？) Language exists in time and changes through time. The 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. A diachron

13、ic study of language is a historical study; it studies the historical development of language over a period of time. 4. Speech and writing (言语与文字的区别？) Speech and writing are the two major media of linguistic communication. From the point of view of linguistic evolution, speech is prior to writing. T

14、he writing system of any language is always “invented” by its users to record speech when the need arises. Then in everyday communication, speech plays a greater role than writing in terms of the amount of information conveyed, speech is always the way in which every native speaker acquires his moth

15、er tongue, and writing is learned and taught later when he goes to school. Written language is only the “revised” record of speech. 5. What are the branches of linguistic study?(语言学研究领域中的主要分支有哪些？) 1) sociolinguistics; 2) psycholinguistics; 3)applied linguistics and so on. 6. Traditional grammar and

16、modern linguistics(传统语法与现代语言学的区别？) Firstly, linguistics is descriptive while traditional grammar is prescriptive. Second, modern linguistics regards the spoken language as primary, not the written. Traditional grammarians, tended to emphasize, maybe over-emphasize, the importance of the written word

17、. Modern linguistics differs from traditional grammar also in that it does not force languages into a Latin-based framework. 7. Prescriptive vs. descriptive (语言学中描写性与规定性的特征是什么？) Prescriptive and descriptive represent two different types of linguistic study. If a linguistic study aims to describe and

18、 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” behavior in using language, it is said to be prescriptive. 8. Design features of language (语言的识别特征？) Arbitrariness随意性，productivity生产性, duality 二重性, displ

19、acement 不受时空限制的特征, cultural transmission 文化传递系统. 9. Competence and performance (语言能力与语言行为的区别？) Competence is defined as the ideal users knowledge of the rules of his language, and performance the actual realization of this knowledge in linguistic communication. Chomsky looks at language from a psych

20、ological point of view and to him competence is a property of the mind of each individual. 10. Organs of speech (发音器官) Pharyngeal cavitythe throat, oral cavitythe mouth, nasal cavitythe nose. 11. Word-level categories(决定词范畴的三个标准) To determine a words category, three criteria are usually employed, na

21、mely meaning, inflection and distribution. 三：问题回答 1. Some rules in phonology(音位学规则) sequential rules(序列规则)；assimilation rule (同化规则) ；deletion rule(省略规则)。 2. Suprasegmental features(超音段特征) stress(重音)；tone(声调)；intonation(语调)。 3. Classification of English speech sounds(英语语音分类) The classification will d

22、ivide the speech sounds in English into 20 vowels and28 consonants. 4. Phrase categories and their structures (短语的范畴和类型) noun phrase(NP), verb phrase(VP), adjective phrase(AP), prepositional phrase(PP). 5. Morphological rules of word formation(形态学的规则) The ways words are formed are called morphologic

23、al rules. These rules determine how morphemes combine to form words. Some of the morphological rules can be used quite freely to form new words. They are productive morphological rules. Another way to form new words are compound words, is by stringing words together.1.1. What is language?“Language i

24、s system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication. It is a system, since linguistic elements are arranged systematically, rather than randomly. Arbitrary, in the sense that there is usually no intrinsic connection between a work (like “book”) and the object it refers to. This explains

25、 and is explained by the fact that different languages have different “books”: “book” in English, “livre” in French, in Japanese, in Chinese, “check” in Korean. It is symbolic, because words are associated with objects, actions, ideas etc. by nothing but convention. Namely, people use the sounds or

26、vocal forms to symbolize what they wish to refer to. It is vocal, because sound or speech is the primary medium for all human languages, developed or “new”. Writing systems came much later than the spoken forms. The fact that small children learn and can only learn to speak (and listen) before they

27、write (and read) also indicates that language is primarily vocal, rather than written. The term “human” in the definition is meant to specify that language is human specific.1.2. What are design features of language?“Design features” here refer to the defining properties of human language that tell

28、the difference between human language and any system of animal communication. They are arbitrariness, duality, productivity, displacement, cultural transmission and interchangeability1.3. What is arbitrariness?By “arbitrariness”, we mean there is no logical connection between meanings and sounds (se

29、e I .1). A dog might be a pig if only the first person or group of persons had used it for a pig. Language is therefore largely arbitrary. But language is not absolutely seem to be some sound-meaning association, if we think of echo words, like “bang”, “crash”, “roar”, which are motivated in a certa

30、in sense. Secondly, some compounds (words compounded to be one word) are not entirely arbitrary either. “Type” and “write” are opaque or unmotivated words, while “type-writer” is less so, or more transparent or motivated than the words that make it. So we can say “arbitrariness” is a matter of degre

31、e.1.4.What is duality?Linguists refer “duality” (of structure) to the fact that in all languages so far investigated, one finds two levels of structure or patterning. At the first, higher level, language is analyzed in terms of combinations of meaningful units (such as morphemes, words etc.); at the

32、 second, lower level, it is seen as a sequence of segments which lack any meaning in themselves, but which combine to form units of meaning. According to Hu Zhanglin et al. (p.6), language is a system of two sets of structures, one of sounds and the other of meaning. This is important for the workin

33、gs of language. A small number of semantic units (words), and these units of meaning can be arranged and rearranged into an infinite number of sentences (note that we have dictionaries of words, but no dictionary of sentences!). Duality makes it possible for a person to talk about anything within hi

34、s knowledge. No animal communication system enjoys this duality, or even approaches this honor.1.5.What is productivity?Productivity refers to the ability to the ability to construct and understand an indefinitely large number of sentences in ones native language, including those that has never hear

35、d before, but that are appropriate to the speaking situation. No one has ever said or heard “A red-eyed elephant is dancing on the small hotel bed with an African gibbon”, but he can say it when necessary, and he can understand it in right register. Different from artistic creativity, though, produc

36、tivity never goes outside the language, thus also called “rule-bound creativity” (by N.Chomsky).1.6.What is displacement?“Displacement”, as one of the design features of the human language, refers to the fact that one can talk about things that are not present, as easily as he does things present. I

37、n other words, one can refer to real and unreal things, things of the past, of the present, of the future. Language itself can be talked about too. When a man, for example, is crying to a woman, about something, it might be something that had occurred, or something that is occurring, or something th

38、at is to occur. When a dog is barking, however, you can decide it is barking for something or at someone that exists now and there. It couldnt be bow wowing sorrowfully for dome lost love or a bone to be lost. The bees system, nonetheless, has a small share of “displacement”, but it is an unspeakabl

39、e tiny share.1.7.What is cultural transmission?This means that language is not biologically transmitted from generation to generation, but that the details of the linguistic system must be learned anew by each speaker. It is true that the capacity for language in human beings (N. Chomsky called it “

40、language acquisition device”, or LAD) has a genetic basis, but the particular language a person learns to speak is a cultural one other than a genetic one like the dogs barking system. If a human being is brought up in isolation he cannot acquire language. The Wolf Child reared by the pack of wolves

41、 turned out to speak the wolfs roaring “tongue” when he was saved. He learned thereafter, with no small difficulty, the ABC of a certain human language.1.8.What is interchangeability?(1) Interchangeability means that any human being can be both a producer and a receiver of messages. We can say, and

42、on other occasions can receive and understand, for example, “Please do something to make me happy.” Though some people (including me) suggest that there is sex differentiation in the actual language use, in other words, men and women may say different things, yet in principle there is no sound, or w

43、ord or sentence that a man can utter and a woman cannot, or vice versa. On the other hand, a person can be the speaker while the other person is the listener and as the turn moves on to the listener, he can be the speaker and the first speaker is to listen. It is turn-taking that makes social commun

44、ication possible and acceptable.(2) Some male birds, however, utter some calls, which females do not (or cannot?), and certain kinds of fish have similar haps mentionable. When a dog barks, all the neighboring dogs bark. Then people around can hardly tell which dog (dogs) is (are0 “speaking” and whi

45、ch listening.1.9.Why do linguists say language is human specific?First of all, human language has six “design features” which animal communication systems do not have, at least not in the true sense of them (see I .2-8). Lets borrow C. F. Hockets Chart that compares human language with some animals

46、systems, from Wang Gang (1998,p.8).Secondly, linguists have done a lot trying to teach animals such as chimpanzees to speak a human language but have achieved nothing inspiring. Beatnice and Alan Gardner brought up Washoe, a female chimpanzee, like a human child. She was taught “American sign Langua

47、ge”, and learned a little that made the teachers happy but did mot make the linguistics circle happy, for few believed in teaching chimpanzees.Thirdly, a human child reared among animals cannot speak a human language, not even when he is taken back and taught to lo to so (see the “Wolf Child”in I.7)

48、1.10.What functions does language have?Language has at least seven functions: phatic, directive, Informative, interrogative, expressive, evocative and per formative. According to Wang Gang (1988,p.11), language has three main functions: a tool of communication, a tool whereby people learn about the

49、world, and a tool by which people learn about the world, and a tool by which people create art. M .A. K.Halliday, representative of the London school, recognizes three “Macro-Functions”: ideational, interpersonal and textual (see! 11-17;see HU Zhuanglin et al., pp10-13, pp394-396).1. 11What is the p

50、hatic function?The “phatic function” refers to language being used for setting up a certain atmosphere or maintaining social contacts (rather than for exchanging information or ideas). Greetings, farewells, and comments on the weather in English and on clothing in Chinese all serve this function. Mu

51、ch of the phatic language (e.g. “How are you?” “Fine, thanks.”) Is insincere if taken literally, but it is important. If you don't say “Hello” to a friend you meet, or if you dont answer his “Hi”, you ruin your friendship.1.12. What is the directive function?The “directive function” means that l

52、anguage may be used to get the hearer to do something. Most imperative sentences perform this function, e.g., “Tell me the result when you finish.” Other syntactic structures or sentences of other sorts can, according to J.Austin and J.Searles “indirect speech act theory”(see Hu Zhuanglin et al., pp

53、271-278) at least, serve the purpose of direction too, e.g., “If I were you, I would have blushed to the bottom of my ears!”1.13.What is the informative function?Language serves an “informational function” when used to tell something, characterized by the use of declarative sentences. Informative st

54、atements are often labeled as true (truth) or false (falsehood). According to P.Grices “Cooperative Principle”(see Hu Zhuanglin et al., pp282-283), one ought not to violate the “Maxim of Quality”, when he is informing at all.1.14.What is the interrogative function?When language is used to obtain inf

55、ormation, it serves an “interrogative function”. This includes all questions that expect replies, statements, imperatives etc., according to the “indirect speech act theory”, may have this function as well, e.g., “Id like to know you better.” This may bring forth a lot of personal information. Note

56、that rhetorical questions make an exception, since they demand no answer, at least not the readers/listeners answer.1.15.What is the expressive function?The “expressive function” is the use of language to reveal something about the feelings or attitudes of the speaker. Subconscious emotional ejacula

57、tions are good examples, like “Good heavens!” “My God!” Sentences like “Im sorry about the delay” can serve as good examples too, though in a subtle way. While language is used for the informative function to pass judgment on the truth or falsehood of statements, language used for the expressive fun

58、ction evaluates, appraises or asserts the speakers own attitudes.1.16.What is the evocative function?The “evocative function” is the use of language to create certain feelings in the hearer. Its aim is, for example, to amuse, startle, antagonize, soothe, worry or please. Jokes (not practical jokes, though) are supposed to amuse or entertain the listener; advertising to urge customers to purchase certain commodities; propaganda to influence public opinion. Obviously, the expressive and the evocative functions often go together, i.e., y