英语语言学-单元练习

第二部分单元练习

ChapterOneLanguage

Definethefollowingterms

1)discreteness2)designfeatures

3)arbitrariness4)duality

5)displacement6)culturaltransmission

7)theimaginativefunctionoflanguage8)thepersonalfunctionoflanguage

9)theheuristicfunctionoflanguage10)language

MultipleChoice

Directions:Ineachquestiontherearefourchoices.Decidewhichonewouldbethebest

answertothequestionortocompletethesentencebest.

1)Whichofthefollowingwordsisentirelyarbitrary?

A.treeB.crashC.typewriterD.bang

2)Thefunctionofthesentence"Waterboilsat100degreesCentigrade^^is.

A.interrogativeB.directiveC.infonnativeD.performative

3)InChinesewhensomeonebreaksabowloraplatethehostorthepeoplepresentare

likelytosaysuisuipingan(everyyearbesafeandhappy)asameansofcontrollingthe

forceswhichthebelieversfeelmightaffecttheirlives.Whichfunctiondoesit

perform?

A.Interpersonal.B.Emotive.CPerformative.D.Recreational.

4)Whichofthefollowingpropertiesoflanguageenableslanguageuserstoovercomethe

barrierscausedbytimeandplace,duetothisfeatureoflanguage,speakersofalanguage

arefreetotalkaboutanythinginanysituation?

A.interchangeability.B.Duality.

C.Displacement.D.Arbitrariness.

5)Studythefollowingdialogue.Whatfunctiondoesitplayaccordingtothefunctionsof

language?

——Aniceday,isn'tit?

——Right!Ireallyenjoythesunlight.

A.EmotiveB.Phatic.C.Pefbrmative.D.Interpersonal.

6)Unlikeanimalcommunicationsystems,humanlanguageis.

A.stimulusfree

B.stimulusbound

C.underimmediatestimuluscontrol

D.stimulatedbysomeoccurrenceofcommunalinterest.

7)Whichofthefollowingisthemostimportantfunctionoflanguage?

A.interpersonalfunctionB.performativefunction

C.informativefunctionD.recreationalfunction

8)Indifferentlanguages,differenttermsareusedtoexpresstheanimal"狗”，thisshows

thenatureof-ofhumanlanguage.

AarbitrarinessBculturaltransmissionCdisplacementDdiscreteness

9)Whichofthefollowingdisciplinesarerelatedtoappliedlinguistics?

A.statisticsB.psycholinguistics

C.physicsD.philosophy

10)hasbeenwidelyacceptedasthefatherofmodemlinguistics.

A.ChomskyB.SaussureC.BloomfieldD.JohnLyons

3.WordCompletion

Directions:Fillintheblankswiththemostsuitablewords.

1)Designfeatures,aframeworkproposedbytheAmericanlinguistCharlesHockett,refer

tothepropertiesofhumanlanguagethatdistinguishesitfromanyanimal

systemofcommunication.

2)referstothephenomenonthatthesoundsinalanguagearemeaningfully

distinct.Forinstance,thedifferencebetweenthesounds/p/and/b/isnotactuallyvery

great,butwhenthesesoundsarepartofalanguagelikeEnglish,theyareusedinsucha

waythattheoccurrenceofoneratherthantheotherismeaningful.

3)Inanylanguagewordscanbeusedinnewwaystomeannewthingsandcanbe

combinedintoinnumerablesentencesbasedonlimitedrules.Thisfeatureisusually

termedporc.

4)Languagehasmanyfunctions.Wecanuselanguagetotalkaboutlanguageitself.This

functionismfunction.

5)Culturaltransmissionreferstothefactthatlanguageisctransmitted.Itis

passedonfromonegenerationtothenextthroughteachingandlearning,ratherthanby

i.

6)Onegeneralprincipleoflinguisticanalysisistheprimacyofoverwriting.

7)Thefunctionreferstotheuseoflanguagetocommunicateknowledgeabout

theworld,toreportevents,tomakestatements,togiveaccounts,toexplainrelationships,

torelaymessagesandsoon.

8)Thefunctionreferstolanguageusedtoensuresocialmaintenance.Phatic

communionispartofit.Thetermphaticcommunionintroducedbytheanthropologist

BronislawMalinowskireferstolanguageusedforestablishinganatmosphereor

maintainingsocialcontactratherthanfbrexchangingfacts.

9)LanguageisasystemofarbitrarysymbolsusedfbrhumanCommunication.

10)Languagehastwolevels.Theyarelevelandlevel.

11)Languageisabecauseeverylanguageconsistsofasetofruleswhich

underliepeople'sactualspeechorwriting.

12)Thefunctionreferstolanguageusedinanattempttocontroleventsoncethey

happen.

13)Thedesignfeaturesoflanguageare(1)(2)(3)

(4)(5)(6)and(7).

14)Bysaying“languageisarbitrary",wemeanthatthereisnologicalconnectionbetween

meaningand.

15)Thefourprinciplesinthelinguisticstudyare(1)(2)(3)

and(4).

4.TrueorFalseQuestions

Directions:Decidewhetherthefollowingstatementsaretrueorfalse.WriteTfbrtrue

andFfbrfalseinthebracketbeforeeachofthem.

1)()Therelationbetweenformandmeaninginhumanlanguageisnatural.

2)()Whenlanguageisusedtogetinformationfromothers,itservesaninformative

function.

3)()ThereasonforFrenchtousechevalandforEnglishtousehorsetorefertothesame

animalisinexplicable.

4)()Mostanimalcommunicationsystemslacktheprimarylevelofarticulation.

5)()Languagechangeisuniversal,ongoingandarbitrary.

6)()Languageisasystemofarbitrary,writtensignswhichpermitallthepeopleinagiven

culture,orotherpeoplewhohavelearnedthesystemofthatculture,tocommunicateor

interact.

7)()Intheory,thelengthofsentencesislimited.

8)()Therelationshipbetweenthesoundsandtheirmeaningisarbitrary.

9)()Linguisticsymbolsareakindofvisualsymbols,whichincludevocalsymbols.

10)()Linguisticsymbolsareproducedbyhumanspeechorgans.

11)()Everylanguagehastwolevels:grammatically—meaninglessandsound一

meaningful.

12)()Suchfeaturesoflanguageasbeingcreative,vocal,andarbitrarycandifferentiate

humanlanguagesfromanimalcommunicativesystems.

13)()Dualityisoneofthecharacteristicsofhumanlanguage.Itreferstothefactthat

languagehastwolevelsofstructures:thesystemofsoundsandthesystemofmeanings.

14)()Languageisameansofverbalcommunication.Therefore,thecommunicationway

usedbythedeaf-muteisnotlanguage.

15)()Arbitrarinessoflanguagemakesitpotentiallycreative,andconventionalityof

languagemakesalanguagebepassedfromgenerationtogeneration.Asaforeign

languagelearner,thelatterismoreimportantforus.

Glossarytranslation

1)personalfunction

2)heauristicfunction

3)ideationalfunction

4)interchangeability

5)控制功能

6)表现功能

7)文化传递性

8)分离性

9)区别性特征

10)不受时空限制的属性

11)Interactionalfunction

12)instrumentationalfunction

13)imaginativefunction

14)寒暄功能

15)元语言功能

16)Personalfunction

17)performativefunction

18)娱乐功能

19)信息功能

20)人际功能

6.ShortEssayQuestions

1)Whatarethefunctionsoflanguage?Exemplifyeachfunction.

2)Explainwhatthetermdualitymeansasitisusedtodescribeapropertyofhuman

language.

3)Islanguageproductiveornot?Why?

4)Whatislanguage?

5)Whatarethemajordesignfeaturesoflanguage?Pleaseexplainthreeofthemwith

examples.

KeytoChapterOne

1.Definethefollowinaterms

1)Discretenessreferstothephenomenonthatthesoundsinalanguagearemeaningfully

distinct.Forinstance,thedifferencebetweenthesounds/p/and/b/isnotactuallyverygreat,but

whenthesesoundsarepartofalanguagelikeEnglish,theyareusedinsuchawaythatthe

occurrenceofoneratherthantheotherismeaningful.Thefactthatthepronunciationofthe

formspadandhadleadstoadistinctioninmeaningcanonlybeduetothedifferencebetweenthe

sounds/p/and/b/inEnglish.Eachsoundinthelanguageisthoughtofasdiscrete.Itis

possibletoproducearangeofsoundsinacontinuousstreamwhichareallgenerallylikethe

sounds4?/and/7?/.

2)“Designfeatures,,refertothedefiningpropertiesofhumanlanguagethattellthe

differencebetweenhumanlanguageandanysystemofanimalcommunication.Theyare

arbitrariness,duality,productivity,displacement,culturaltransmissionandinterchangeabi1ity.(3

分)

3)<4Arbitrariness^^meansthatthereisnologicalconnectionbetweenmeaningsandsounds.A

dogmightbeapigifonlythefirstpersonorgroupofpersonshaduseditforapig.

Languageisthereforelargelyarbitrary.Butlanguageisnotabsolutelyarbitrary,becausethere

arecaseswherethereareoratleastseemtobesomesound-meaningassociation,ifwethinkof

echoWords,like“bang","crash","roar",'whicharemotivatedinacertainsense.Secondly,some

compoundsarenotentirelyarbitraryeither."Snow"and"storm“arearbitraryorunmotivated

words,while“snowstorm“islessso.Sowecansay“arbitrariness"isamatterofdegree.

4)Linguistsrefer“duality“ofstructuretothefactthatinalllanguagessofarinvestigated,

onefindstwolevelsofstructureorpatterning.Atthefirst,higherlevel,languageisanalyzedin

termsofcombinationsofmeaningfulunits(suchasmorphemes,wordsetc.);atthesecond,lower

level,itisseenasasequenceofsegmentswhichlackanymeaninginthemselves,butwhich

combinetoformunitsofmeaning.AccordingtoHuZhuanglinetal.,languageisasystemoftwo

setsofstructures,oneofsoundsandtheotherofmeaning.Thisisimportantfortheworkingsof

language.Asmallnumberofsoundscanbegroupedandregroupedintoalargenumberof

semanticunits(words),andtheseunitsofmeaningcanbearrangedandrearrangedintoaninfinite

numberofsentences.(Forexample,wehavedictionariesofwords,butnodictionaryofsentences!)

Dualitymakesitpossibleforapersontotalkaboutanythingwithinhisknowledge.Noanimal

communicationsystemenjoysthisduality,orevenapproachesthishonor.

5)“Displacement”,asoneofthedesignfeaturesofthehumanlanguage,referstothefactthat

onecantalkaboutthingsthatarenotpresent,aseasilyashedoesthingspresent.Inotherwords,

onecanrefertorealandunrealthings,thingsofthepast,ofthepresent,ofthefuture.Language

itselfcanbetalkedabouttoo.Peoplecanuselanguage,todescribesomethingthathadoccurred,is

occurring,oristooccur.Butadogcouldnotbarkforabonetobelost.Thebee'sSystemhasa

smallshareof“displacement”,butitisanunspeakabletinyshare.

6)Languageisnotbiologicallytransmittedfromgenerationtogeneration,butthedetailsof

thelinguisticsystemmustbelearnedanewbyeachspeaker.Itistruethatthecapacityfor

languageinhumanbeings(N.Chomskycalledit"languageacquisitiondevice"，orLAD)hasa

geneticbasis,buttheparticularlanguageapersonlearnstospeakisaculturaloneratherthana

geneticonelikethedog'sbarkingsystem.Ifahumanbeingisbroughtupinisolationhecannot

acquirelanguage.Thewolf-childrearedbythewolvesturnedouttospeakthewolf'sroaring

“tongue“whenhewassaved.Anditwasdifficultforhimtoacquirehumanlanguage.

7)Theimaginativefunctionreferstolanguageusedtocreateimaginarysystem,whether

theseareliteraryworks,philosophicalsystemsorutopianvisionsontheonehand,ordaydreams

andidlemusingsontheotherhand.Itisalsolanguageusedfbrsheerjoyofusinglanguage,

suchasababy'sbabbling,achanter'schanting,apoet'spleasuring.

8)Thepersonalfunctionreferstolanguageusedtoexpresstheindividual9sfeelings,

emotionsandpersonality.

9)Theheuristicfunctionoflanguagereferstolanguageusedinordertoacquireknowledge

andunderstandingtheworld.Theheuristicfunctioningprovidesabasisfbrthestructureof

knowledgeinthedifferentdisciplines.Languageallowspeopletoaskquestionsaboutthenature

oftheworldtheyliveinandtoconstructpossibleanswers.

10)Languageisasystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsusedfbrhumancommunication.

2.MultipleChoice

1)-5):ACCCB6)-10):ACCBB

3.WordCompletion.

1)defining2)Descreteness3)productivityorcreativity4)metalingual5)culturally,instinct

orinheritance6)speech7)representational8)interactional;9)vocal;10)gramaticallymeaningful,

soundmeaningless;11)system;12)regulatory13)arbitrariness,duality,productivity,cultural

transmission,interchangeabi1ity,discreteness,displacement.14)sound;15)exhaustiveness,

economy,objectivity,consistency

4.TrueorFalseQuestions

1-5:FFTFF6-10:FFTFT11-15:FFTFT

5.GlossaryTranslation

1)personalfunction:人际功能

2)heauristicfunction：启发功能

3)ideationalfunction：概念功能

4)interchangeabi1ity：互换性

5)控制功能：regulatoryfunction

6)表现功自m：representationalfunctin

7)文化传递性:culturaltransmisssion

8)分离性：discreteness

9)区别性特征:designfeatures

10)不受时空限制的属性:displacement

11)Interactionalfunction:互动功能

12)instrumentationalfunction：工具功能

13)imaginativefunction：想象功能

14)寒暄功能：phaticfunction

15)元语言功能：metalingualfunctionormetafunctionoflanguage

16)personalfunction:自指性功能

17)performativefunction:表达功能

18)娱乐功能：recreationalfunction

19)信息功能：informativefunction

20)人际功能：interpersonalfunction

6.ShortEssayQuestions

1)Whatarethefunctionsoflanguage?Exemplifyeachfunction.

AccordingtoWangGang(1988:11),thefunctionsoflanguagecanbemainlyembodiedin

threeaspects,i)Languageisatoolofhumancommunication;ii)Languageisatoolwhereby

peoplelearnabouttheworld;iii)Languageisatoolbywhichpeoplecreateart.

Asamatteroffact,differentlinguistshavedifferenttermsforthevariousfunctionsof

language.TheBritishlinguistM.A.K.Hallidayusesthefollowingtermstorefertotheinitial

functionsofchildren'slanguage:

(1)Instrumental

Theinstrumentalfunctionoflanguagereferstothefactthatlanguageallowsspeakerstoget

thingsdone.Itallowsthemtocontrolthingsintheenvironment.Peoplecancausethingstobe

doneandtohappenthroughtheuseofwordsalone.Animmediatecontrasthereiswiththe

animalworldinwhichsoundsarehardlyusedinthisway,and,whentheyare,theyareusedinan

extremelylimiteddegree.Theinstrumentalfunctioncanbeprimitivetooinhumaninteraction.

Performativeutterancessuchasthewordswhichnameashipatalaunchingceremonyclearly

haveinstrumentalfunctionsiftherightcircumstancesexist；theyareacts,e.g./namethisship

LibertyBell.

(2)Regulatory

Theregulatoryfunctionreferstolanguageusedinanattempttocontroleventsoncethey

happen.Thoseeventsmayinvolvetheselfaswellasothers.Peopledotrytocontrol

themselvesthroughlanguage,e.g.WhydidIsaythat?/Steady!/AndLetmethinkaboutthat

again.Languagehelpstoregulateencountersamongpeople.Languageprovidesdevicesfor

regulatingspecifickindsofencountersandcontainswordsfbrapprovingordisapprovingandfor

controllingordisruptingthebehaviorofothers.Itallowsustoestablishcomplexpatternsof

organizationinordertotrytoregulatebehavior,fromgameplayingtopoliticalorganization,from

answeringthetelephonetoaddressinginforeignaffairs.Itistheregulatoryfunctionoflanguage

thatallowspeoplesomemeasureofcontrolovereventsthatoccurintheirlives.

(3)Representational

Therepresentationalfunctionreferstotheuseoflanguagetocommunicateknowledgeabout

theworld,toreportevents,tomakestatements,togiveaccounts,toexplainrelationships,torelay

messagesandsoon.Thisfunctionoflanguageisrepresentedbyallkindsofrecord-keeping,

suchashistoricalrecords,geographicalsurveys,businessaccounts,scientificreports,government

acts,andpublicdatabanks.Itisanessentialdomainoflanguageuse,fbrtheavailabilityofthis

materialguaranteestheknowledge-baseofsubsequentgenerations,whichisaprerequisiteof

socialdevelopment.

(4)Interactional

Theinteractionalfunctionreferstolanguageusedtoensuresocialmaintenance.Phatic

communionispartofit.Thetermphaticcommunionintroducedbytheanthropologist

BronislawMalinowskireferstolanguageusedfbrestablishinganatmosphereormaintaining

socialcontactratherthanfbrexchangingfacts.Agreetingsuchashowareyou?isrelatively

emptyofcontent,andanswerslikefineorverywell,thankyouareequallyempty,becausethe

speakerisnotinterestedinthehearer'shealth,butrathertodemonstratehispolitenessandgeneral

attitudetowardtheotherpersonwhenhegivesaconversationalgreeting.

(5)Personal

Thepersonalfunctionreferstolanguageusedtoexpresstheindividual'sfeelings,emotions

andpersonality.Aperson'sindividualityisusuallycharacterizedbyhisorheruseofpersonal

functionofcommunication.Eachindividualhasa“voice“inwhathappenstohim.Heisfree

tospeakornottospeak,tosay,asmuchoraslittleashepleases,andtochoosehowtosaywhat

hesays.Theuseoflanguagecantellthelistenerorreaderagreatdealaboutthespeakeror

writer-inparticular,abouthisregionalorigin,socialbackground,levelofeducation,occupation,

age,sex,andpersonality.

Languagealsoprovidestheindividualwithameanstoexpressfeelings,whetheroutrightin

thefbnnofexclamations,endorsements,orcurse,ormuchmoresubtlythroughacarefulchoiceof

words.Manysocialsituationsdisplaylanguageusedtofosterasenseofidentity:theshoutingof

acrowdatafootballmatch,theshoutingofnamesorslogansatpublicmeetings,thereactionsof

theaudiencetotelevisiongameshows,theshoutsofaffirmationatsomereligiousmeetings.For

example,thecrowdsattendingPresidentRegan'spre-electionmeetingsin1984repeatedly

shouted"Fourmoreyears!f,whichunitedamongthosewhosharedthesamepoliticalviews.

(6)Heuristic

Theheuristicfunctionreferstolanguageusedinordertoacquireknowledgeand

understandingtheworld.Theheuristicfunctioningprovidesabasisforthestructureof

knowledgeinthedifferentdisciplines.Insofarastheinquiryintolanguageitself,anecessary

resultisthecreationofametalanguage,i.e.alanguageusedtorefertolanguage,containingtenns

suchassound,syllable,word,structure,sentence,meaningandsoon.

(7)Imaginative

Theimaginativefunctionreferstolanguageusedtocreateimaginarysystem,whetherthese

areliteraryworks,philosophicalsystemsorutopianvisionsontheonehand,ordaydreamsand

idlemusingsontheotherhand.Theimaginativefunctionalsoallowspeopletoconsidernotjust

therealworldbutallpossibleworlds—andmanyimpossibleones.Muchliteratureisthemost

obviousexampletoservethisfunctionasanaccountofRobinsonCrusoeinthedesertedisland.

Theimaginativefunctionenableslifetobelivedvicariouslyandhelpssatisfynumerousdeep

artisticurges.

2)Explainwhatthetermdualitymeansasitisusedtodescribeapropertyofhuman

language.

Languageisorganizedattwolevelsorlayers-soundsandmeaning-simultaneously.This

propertyiscalledduality,or“doublearticulation”.Intermsofspeechproduction,wehavethe

physicallevelatwhichwecanproduceindividualsounds,liken,b,andi.Asindividualsound,

noneofthesediscreteformshasanyintrinsicmeaning.Whenweproducethosesoundsina

particularcombination,asinbin,wehaveanotherlevelproducingameaning,whichisdifferent

fromthemeaningofthecombinationinnib.So,atonelevel,wehavedistinctsounds,andat

anotherlevel,wehavedistinctmeanings.Thisdualityoflevelsis,infact,:oneofthemost

economicalfeaturesofhumanlanguage,sincewithalimitedsetofdistinctsoundswearecapable

ofproducingaverylargenumberofsoundcombinations(relativelyfinitewordsandinfinite

numberofsentences)whicharedistinctinmeaning.Noanimalcommunicationsystemhasduality,

orevercomesneartopossessingit.

3)Islanguageproductiveornot?Why?

(1)Languageisproductiveorcreative.(233)Thismeansthatuserscanunderstandand

producesentencestheyhaveneverheardbefore.Everydaywesendmessagesthathavenever

beensentbefore,andweunderstandnovelmessages.Muchofthemwesayandhearforthefirst

time;yetthereseemsnoproblemofunderstanding.Forexample,thesentence,,Ared-eyed

elephantisdancingonthehotelbed^^mustbenewtoyouanditdoesnotdescribeacommon

happeningintheworld.Nevertheless,nobodyhasanydifficultyinunderstandingit.

(2)Productivityisuniquetohumanlanguage.Mostanimalcommunicationsystemsappearto

behighlyrestrictedwithrespecttothenumberofdifferentsignalsthattheiruserscansendand

receive.Forexample,gibboncallsarenotproductive,fortheydrawalltheircallsfromalimited

repertoire,whichisrapidlyexhausted,makinganynoveltyimpossible.Beedancingisusedonly

toindicatefoodsources,whichistheonlymessagethatcanbesentthroughthedancing.

(3)Theproductivityorcreativityoflanguagepartially,originatesfromitsduality,becauseof

whichthespeakerisabletocombinethebasiclinguisticunitstoformaninfinitesetofsentences,

mostofwhichareneverbeforeproducedorheard.Theproductivityoflanguagealsomeansits

potentialtocreateendlesssentences.Itistherecursivenatureoflanguagethatprovidesa

theoreticalbasisforthispossibility.

4)Whatislanguage?

(1)Itisverydifficulttogivethisquestionasatisfactorydefinition.However,mostlinguists

wouldacceptatentativedefinitionlikethis:languageisasystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsused

forhumancommunication.(2)Languagemustbeasystem,sinceelementsinitarearranged

accordingtocertainrules;theycannotbecombinedatwill.Iflanguagewerenotsystematic,it

couldnotbelearnedorusedconsistently.(3)Languageisarbitraryinthesensethatthereisno

intrinsicconnectionbetweenthewordpenandthethingweusetowritewith.Thefactthat

differentlanguageshavedifferentwordsforit(钢笔inChineseforinstance)speaksstronglyfor

thearbitrarynatureoflanguage.(4)Thisalsoexplainsthesymbolicnatureoflanguage:wordsare

associatedwithobjects,actions,ideasbyconvention.(5)Wesaylanguageisvocalbecausethe

primarymediumissoundfbralllanguages,nomatterhowwelldevelopedaretheirwriting

systems.Allevidenceshowsthatwritingsystemscamemuchlaterthanthespokenformsandthat

theyareonlyattemptstocapturesoundsandmeaningonpaper(6)Theterm“human“inthe

definitionismeanttospecifythatlanguageishuman.specific;thatis,itisverydifferentfromthe

communicationsystemsotherformsoflifepossess.

5)Whatarethemajordesignfeaturesoflanguage?Pleaseexplainthreeofthem

withexamples.

(1)Displacementisoneofthedefiningpropertiesofhumanlanguage,whichreferstothe

factthathumanlanguagecanbeusedtotalkaboutthingsthatarepresentornotpresent,realor

notreal,andaboutmattersinthepast,presentorfuture,orinfar-awayplaces.Inotherwords,

languagecanbeusedtorefertocontextsremovedfromtheimmediatesituationsofitsusers.

Thisphenomenonisthoughtofas“displacement”,whichcanprovideitsuserswithanopportunity

tocommunicateaboutawiderangeofsubjects,freefromanybarrierscausedbyseparationin

timeandspace.Thatis,thefeatureofdisplacementcanenableustotalkaboutthingsandplaces

whoseexistencewecannotevenbesureof.Wecanrefertomythicalcreatures,demons,fairies,

angels,SantaClaus,andrecentlyinventedcharacterssuchassuperman.Thisfeatureisuniqueto

humanlanguage.Noanimalcommunicationsystempossessesit.Someanimalcallsareoften

utteredinresponsetoimmediatechangesofsituation.Forinstance,duringthematingseason,in

thepresentofdangerorpain,animalswillmakecalls.Oncethedangerorpainismissing,their

callsstop.

(2)DiscretenessThesoundsusedinlanguagearemeaningfullydistinct.Forexample,the

differencebetweenthesoundsbandpisactuallynotverygreat,butwhenthesesoundsarepartof

alanguagelikeEnglish,theyareusedinsuchawaythattheoccurrenceofoneratherthanthe

otherismeaningful.Thefactthatthepronunciationoftheformspackandbackleadstoa

distinctioninmeaningcanonlybeduetothedifferencebetweenthesoundspandbinEnglish.

Thispropertyoflanguageisdescribedasdiscreteness.Eachsoundinthelanguageistreatedas

discrete.Itispossible;infact,toproducearangeofsoundsinacontinuousstreamwhichareall

generallylikethepandbsounds.However,thatcontinuousstreamwillonlybeinterpretedas

beingeitherapsound,orabsound(or,possibly,asanon-sound)inthelanguage.Wehaveavery

discreteviewofthesoundsofourlanguageandwhereverapronunciationfallswithinthe

physicallypossiblerangeofsounds,itwillbeinterpretedasalinguisticallyspecificand

meaningfullydistinctsound

(3)Languageisasystem.Itisorganizedintotwolevelssimultaneously.Wehavedistinct

soundsatthelowerlevel(soundlevel),whichisseenasasequenceofsegmentswhichhav