英语语言学重点及问题总汇

1、Basic Notions in English LinguisticsChapter 1 Introduction1. What is languageLanguage is a system of arbitraryvocal symbolsfor humancommunication.2. What are designfeatures oflanguageArbitrariness,duality,displacement, interchangeability,creativity, cultural transmission3. What is arbitrarinessThere

2、 is no logical connection betweenmeanings and sounds.4. What is displacementLanguage is free from barriers caused byseparation of time and place.5. What is dualityLanguage is a system consisting of twolevels of structures, such that units of theprimary level (meanings) are composedofelements of the

3、secondary level (sounds)and each level has its own principles oforganization.6. What is creativityLanguage users can understand andproduce an infinitely large number ofsentences.7. What is cultural transmissionThe details of any language system arenot genetically transmitted, but insteadhave to be t

4、aught and learned.8. What are three general functions oflanguage proposed by Halliday Ideational,interpersonal, textual9. What is linguisticsLinguistics is generally defined as thescientific study of language.10. What are main branches of linguisticsPhonetics, phonology, morphology,syntax, semantics

5、, pragmatics11. What is macro-linguisticsThe study of language in relation to otherdisciplines, .sociolinguistics12. What is the distinction of prescriptive anddescriptive Prescribe what people shouldsay, describe what people actually use13. What is the distinction of competence andperformance The i

6、deal users knowledgeof language rules and the actualrealization of this knowledge in linguisticcommunication14. What is the distinction of synchronic anddiachronicThe study of language in time andthrough time15. What is the distinction of speechand writingNatural/primary and invented/secondarymedia

7、of human language16. What is traditional grammarThe general approach traditionally formed tothe study of languageChapter 2 Speech Sounds17. What are speech soundsMeaningful sounds in human linguisticcommunication18. What is phoneticsIt studies the production, transmissionand perception of speech sou

8、nds.19. What are three branches of phoneticsArticulatory, acoustic, auditory20. What are the three cavities inspeech productionOral, nasal, pharyngeal21. What is IPA short forInternational Phonetic Alphabet22. What is the main principle of IPAThere should be a separate letter foreach distinctive sou

9、nd in all languages.23. What are broad and narrow transcriptionsWith letter-symbols (and30.What is a minimal pair24. Where does the distinctionlie between the production of vowels andconsonantsThe obstruction of airstream in the oralcavity25. Describe the consonant .Voiced place manner26. Describe t

10、he vowel .High front long rounded27. What is phonologyThe study of sound system, pattern28. What is a phonemeAn abstract phonological unit ofdistinctive value29. What is allophonyThe phenomenon of variation in thepronunciation of phonemes in differentphonological contextsA pair of sound sequences id

11、entical inevery way except for one sound segmentoccurring in the sameplace in the strings31. What is assimilationA process by which one sound takes onsome or all the characteristics of aneighboring sound32. What are major suprasegmental featuresSyllable, stress, tone, intonation33. What are the four

12、 Chinese tonesLevel, rise, fall-rise, fall34. How do intonations convey meaningsFallingindicates astraight-forwardstatement, risingmakes a question, and fall-rise indicates animplied message.Chapter 3 Lexicon35. What is a wordA minimum free linguistic unit36. How are words classifiedVariability, mea

13、ning, part of37. What is morphologyThe study of the internal structure ofwords and the rules by which words areformeddiacritics)speech, membership limit38. What is amorphemeThe minimal unit of meaning39. What are types of morphemesFree/bound(derivational/inflectional,prefix, infix, suffix, bound roo

14、t )40. What are the two major ways of wordformationDerivation, compound41. New words are added to Englishvocabulary in many ways. What aretheyCoinage/invention, blending, borrowing,back-formation, abbreviation, analogy42. How does language change in terms ofmeaningMeaning shift, broadening, narrowin

15、gChapter 4 Syntax43. What is syntaxThe study of sentence structure and therules by which sentences are formed44. What are the four representativeapproaches to SyntaxTraditional, structural, TG, functional45. What are the categories of nounNumber, case, gender46. What are the categories of verbTense,

16、 voice, mood47. What is a sentenceThe minimumpart of L that expressesa complete thought, traditionally48. What are grammatical units at differentlevelsMorpheme, phrase, clause, sentence49. What are the grammatical elements of asentenceSubject, predicate (predicator, object,comp.)50. What are the sev

17、en basic sentencepatterns in English SVO, SV, SVC, SVA,SVOC, SVOA, SVOO51. What is semanticsThe study of the meaning of linguisticunits, words and sentences in particular52. What is the nominalist view of meaningWords are just names for things.53. What is the conceptualist view ofmeaningChapter 5 Se

18、manticsLanguage and the real world are linkedthrough the mediation of concepts54. What is the contextualist view ofmeaningMeaning can be derived from observablecontexts55. What is the behaviorist view of meaningMeaning consists in the relation betweenspeech and physical entities and events56. What a

19、re the two traditional typesof meaningLexical and structural meaning57. What are the 7 kinds of meaning byLeech (1981)Conceptual, Con, S, A, R, Col, Thematic58. How are sense and reference related toeach otherAbstract property/concrete entity59. What are major sense relations betweenwords Synonymy,

20、antonymy, hyponymy,etc60. What are kinds of synonyms Dialectal,collocational, stylistic, affective,semantic61. What are kinds of antonymsGradable, complementary, relational62. What is polysemyOne word with one+ meaning63. What is homonymyDifferent words identical in spellingor/and sound64. What is h

21、yponymyBetween a more general word and amore specific word65. What is the componential analysisThe dissection of word meaning into itssemantic components/features66. What are the deciding factors ofsentence meaningorder, sentence structure, thematicMeaning of sentence components, word organizationCh

22、apter 6 Pragmatics67. What is pragmaticsThe study of meaning in context68. What is contextThe environment of language use69. What are components of contextLinguistic, situational, socio-cultural70. What is an utteranceA unit of speech actually uttered in com.71. How is utterance meaning different fr

23、omsentence meaning Concrete,contextualized, variable /72. What are the three kinds of speech actsby Austin (1962)Locutionary, illocutionary, perlocutionary73. What is a locutionary actThe act of conveying literal meaning74. What is an illocutionary actThe act of expressing intention75. What is a per

24、locutionary actThe effect of an utterance76. What is the general CooperativePrincipleMake your conversational contribution asrequired.77. What are the four maxims of the CPQuality, quantity, relation, manner78. What is conversational implicatureA type of implied meaning, which isdeduced on the basis

25、 of theconventionalmeaning ofwordstogether withthe context,underthe guidanceof the CP and itsmaxims.79. What are characteristics of CI Cal, Can,non-det, non-conventionality80. What is the Politeness PrincipleMaximize the belief of politeexpression81. What is Cognitive Principle of RelevanceHuman cognition tends to achieve thegreatest possible cognit