英语语言学练习题

英语语言学练习题

Supplementaryexercises

Chapter1Introduction

I.DecidewhethereachofthefollowingstatementsisTrueorFalse:

1.Linguisticsisgenerallydefinedasthescientificstudyoflanguage.

2.Linguisticsstudiesparticularlanguage,notlanguagesingeneral.

3.Ascientificstudyoflanguageisbasedonwhatthelinguistthinks.

4.Inthestudyoflinguistics,hypothesesformedshouldbebasedon

languagefactsandcheckedagainsttheobservedfacts.

5.Generallinguisticsisgenerallythestudyoflanguageasawhole.

6.Generallinguistics,whichrelatesitselftotheresearchofotherareas,

studiesthebasicconcepts,theories,descriptions,modelsandmethods

applicableinanylinguisticstudy.

7.Phoneticsisdifferentfromphonologyinthatthelatterstudiesthe

combinationsofthesoundstoconveymeaningincommunication.

8.Morphologystudieshowwordscanbeformedtoproducemeaningful

sentences.

9.Thestudyofthewaysinwhichmorphemescanbecombinedtoformwordsis

calledmorphology.

10.Syntaxisdifferentfrommorphologyinthattheformernotonlystudies

themorphemes,butalsothecombinationofmorphemesintowordsandwordsinto

sentences.

11.Thestudyofmeaninginlanguageisknownassemantics.

12.Bothsemanticsandpragmaticsstudymeanings.

13.Pragmaticsisdifferentfromsemanticsinthatpragmaticsstudies

meaningnotinisolation,butincontext.

14.Socialchangescanoftenbringaboutlanguagechanges.

15.Sociolinguisticsisthestudyoflanguageinrelationtosociety.

16.Modernlinguisticsismostlyprescriptive,butsometimesdescriptive.

17.Modernlinguisticsisdifferentfromtraditionalgrammar.

18.Adiachronicstudyoflanguageisthedescriptionoflanguageatsome

pointintime.

19.Modernlinguisticsregardsthewrittenlanguageasprimary,notthe

writtenlanguage.

20.ThedistinctionbetweencompetenceandperformancewasproposedbyF.de

Saussure.

II.Fillineachofthefollowingblankswithonewordwhichbeginswiththe

lettergiven:

21.Chomskydefines“competence”astheidealuser'skofthe

rulesofhislanguage.

22.Languereferstothealinguisticsystemsharedbyallthe

membersofaspeechcommunitywhiletheparoleistheconcreteuseofthe

conventionsandapplicationoftherules.

23.Disoneofthedesignfeaturesofhumanlanguagewhichrefers

tothephenomenonthatlanguageconsistsoftwolevels:alowerlevelof

meaninglessindividualsoundsandahigherleve]ofmeaningfulunits.

24.Languageisasystemofavocalsymbolsusedforhuman

communication.

25.Thedisciplinethatstudiestherulesgoverningtheformationofwords

intopermissiblesentencesinlanguagesiscalleds.

26.Humancapacityforlanguagehasagbasis,butthedetailsof

languagehavetobetaughtandlearned.

27.Preferstotherealizationoflangueinactualuse.

28.Findingsinlinguisticstudiescanoftenbeappliedtothesettlementof

somepracticalproblems.Thestudyofsuchapplicationsisgenerallyknownas

alinguistics.

29.Languageispinthatitmakespossibletheconstructionand

interpretationofnewsignalsbyitsusers.Inotherwords,theycanproduce

andunderstandaninfinitelylargenumberofsentenceswhichtheyhavenever

heardbefore.

30.Linguisticsisgenerallydefinedasthes____studyoflanguage.

III.Therearefourchoicesfollowingeachstatement.Markthechoicethat

canbestcompletethestatement:

31.Ifalinguisticstudydescribesandanalyzesthelanguage

peopleactuallyuse,itissaidtobe.

A.prescriptive

B.analytic

C.descriptive

D.linguistic

32.Whichofthefollowingisnotadesignfeatureofhuman

language?A.ArbitrarinessB.DisplacementC.DualityD.Meaningfulness33.

Modernlinguisticsregardsthewrittenlanguageas.A.primaryB.

correctC.secondaryD.stable

34.Inmodernlinguistics,speechisregardedasmorebasicthanwriting,

because______.

A.inlinguisticevolution,speechispriortowriting

B.speechplaysagreaterrolethanwritingintermsoftheamountof

informationconveyed

C.speechisalwaysthewayinwhicheverynativespeakeracquireshis

mothertongueD.Alloftheabove

35.Ahistoricalstudyoflanguageisa____studyoflanguage.

A.synchronicB.diachronicC.prescriptiveD.comparative

36.Saussuretooka(n)viewoflanguage,whileChomskylooksat

languagefromapointofview.

A.sociological••,psychologicalB.psychological••,sociological

C.app1ied••,pragmaticD.semantic•••linguistic

37.AccordingtoF.deSaussure,referstotheabstractlinguistic

systemsharedbyallthemem-bersofaspeechcommunity.

IV.Definethefollowingterms:41.Linguistics42.Phonology43.Syntax44.

Pragmatics45.Psycholinguistics46.Language47.Phonetics

48.Morphology49.Semantics50.Sociolinguistics51.AppliedLinguistics52.

Arbitrariness53.Productivity54.Displacement

A.paroleB.performanceC.langueD.Language

38.Languageissaidtobearbitrarybecausethereisnologicalconnection

betweenandmeanings.A.senseB.soundsC.objectsD.ideas

39.Languagecanbeusedtorefertocontextsremovedfromtheimmediate

situationsofthespeaker.Thisfeatureiscalled,

A.displacementB.duality

C.flexibility

D.culturaltransmission

40.Thedetailsofanylanguagesystemispassedonfromonegenerationto

thenextthrough______,ratherthanbyinstinct.

A.learningB.teachingC.booksD.bothAandB

55.Duality

56.DesignFeatures57.Competence58.Performance59.Langue60.Parole

V.Answerthefollowingquestionsascomprehensivelyaspossible.Give

examplesforillustrationifnecessary:

61.Languageisgenerallydefinedasasystemofarbitraryvocalsymbols

usedforhumancommu-nication.Explainitindetail.62.Whatarethedesign

featuresofhumanlanguage?Illustratethemwithexamples.63.Howismodern

linguisticsdifferentfromtraditionalgrammar?

64.Howdoyouunderstandthedistinctionbetweenasynchronicstudyanda

diachronicstudy?65.Whydoesmodernlinguisticsregardthespokenformof

languageasprimary,notthewritten?66.Whatarethemajordistinctions

betweenlangueandparole?67.Howdoyouunderstandcompetenceand

performance?

68.Saussure'sdistinctionbetweenlangueandparoleseemssimilarto

Chomsky'sdistinctionbetweencompetenceandperformance.Whatdoyouthink

aretheirmajordifferences?

69.Doyouthinkhumanlanguageisentirelyarbitrary?Why?Chapter2

Phonology

I.DecidewhethereachofthefollowingstatementsisTrueorFalse:

1.Voicingisaphonologicalfeaturethatdistinguishesmeaninginboth

ChineseandEnglish.

2.Iftwophoneticallysimilarsoundsoccurinthesameenvironmentsand

theydistinguishmeaning,theyaresaidtobeincomplementarydistribution.

3.Aphoneisaphoneticunitthatdistinguishesmeaning.

4.EnglishisatonelanguagewhileChineseisnot.

5.Inlinguisticevolution,speechispriortowriting.

6.Ineverydaycommunication,speechplaysagreaterrolethanwritingin

termsoftheamountofinformationconveyed.

7.Articulatoryphoneticstriestodescribethephysicalpropertiesofthe

streamofsoundswhichaspeakerissueswiththehelpofamachinecalled

spectrograph.

8.Thearticulatoryapparatusofahumanbeingarecontainedinthree

importantareas:thethroat,themouthandthechest.

9.Vibrationofthevocalcordsresultsinaqualityofspeechsoundscalled

voicing.

10.Englishconsonantscanbeclassifiedintermsofplaceofarticulation

andthepartofthetonguethatisraisedthehighest.

11.Accordingtothemannerofarticulation,someofthetypesintowhich

theconsonantscanbeclassifiedarestops,fricatives,bilabialandalveolar.

12.Vowelsoundscanbedifferentiatedbyanumberoffactors:theposition

oftongueinthemouth,theopennessofthemouth,theshapeofthelips,and

thelengthofthevowels.

13.Accordingtotheshapeofthelips,vowelscanbeclassifiedintoclose

vowels,semi-closevowels,semi-openvowelsandopenvowels.

14.Anysoundproducedbyahumanbeingisaphoneme.

15.Phonesarethesoundsthatcandistinguishmeaning.

16.Phonologyisconcernedwithhowthesoundscanbeclassifiedinto

differentcategories.

17.Abasicwaytodeterminethephonemesofalanguageistoseeif

substitutingonesoundforanotherresultsinachangeofmeaning.

18.Whentwodifferentformsareidenticalineverywayexceptforonesound

segmentwhichoccursinthesameplaceinthestrings,thetwowordsaresaid

toformaphonemiccontrast.

19.Therulesgoverningthephonologicalpatterningarelanguagespecific.

20.Distinctivefeaturesofsoundsegmentscanbefoundrunningovera

sequenceoftwoormorephonemicsegments.

II.Fillineachofthefollowingblankswithonewordwhichbeginswiththe

lettergiven:

21.Areferstoastrongpuffofairstreamintheproductionof

speechsounds.

22.Aphoneticsdescribesthewayourspeechorgansworktoproduce

thespeechsoundsandhowtheydiffer.

23.Thefoursounds/p/,/b/,/m/and/w/haveonefeatureincommon,i.e.,

theyareallb______sounds.

24.Ofallthespeechorgans,thetisthemostflexible,andis

responsibleforvarietiesofarticulationthananyother.

25.Englishconsonantscanbeclassifiedintermsofmannerofarticulation

orintermsofpofarticulation.

26.Whentheobstructioncreatedbythespeechorgansistotalorcomplete,

thespeechsoundproducedwiththeobstructionaudiblyreleasedandtheair

passingoutagainiscalledas.

27.Sfeaturesarethephonemicfeaturesthatoccurabovethelevel

ofthesegments.Theyincludestress,tone,intonation,etc.

28.Therulesthatgovernthecombinationofsoundsinaparticularlanguage

arecalledsrules.

29.Thetranscriptionofspeechsoundswithletter-symbolsonlyiscalled

broadtranscriptionwhilethetranscriptionwithletter-symbolstogetherwith

thediacriticsiscalledntranscription.

30.Whenpitch,stressandsoundlengtharetiedtothesentenceratherthan

thewordinisolation,theyarecollectivelyknownasi.

31.Pisadisciplinewhichstudiesthesystemofsoundsofa

particularlanguageandhowsoundsarecombinedintomeaningfulunitsto

effectlinguisticcommunication.

32.Thearticulatoryapparatusofahumanbeingarecontainedinthree

importantcavities:thepharyngealcavity,theo______cavityandthenasal

cavity.

33.Tarepitchvariations,whicharecausedbythedifferingrates

ofvibrationofthevocalcordsandwhichcandistinguishmeaningjustlike

phonemes.

34.Dependingonthecontextinwhichstressisconsidered,therearetwo

kindsofstress:wordstressandsstress.III.Therearefourchoices

followingeachstatement.Markthechoicethatcanbestcompletethestatement:

35Ofallthespeechorgans,the___is/arethemostflexible.A.mouth

B.lipsC.tongueD.vocalcords

36.Thesoundsproducedwithoutthevocalcordsvibratingare___sounds.A.

voicelessB.voicedC.vowelD.consonantal

37.isavoicedalveolarstop.A./z/B./d/C./k/D./b/

38.Theassimilationruleassimilatesonesoundtoanotherby“copying”a

featureofasequentialphoneme,thusmakingthetwophones.A.

identicalB.sameC.exactlyalikeD.similar

39.Since/p/and/b/arephoneticallysimilar,occurinthesame

environmentsandtheycandistinguishmeaning,theyaresaidtobe.

A.inphonemiccontrast

B.incomplementarydistributionC.theallophonesD.minimalpair

40.Thesound/f/is.

IV.Definethetermsbelow:45.phonology46.phoneme47.allophone

48.internationalphoneticalphabet49.

A.voicedpalatalaffricateB.voicedalveolarstop

C.voicelessvelarfricativeD.voicelesslabiodentalfricative

41.A____vowelisonethatisproducedwiththefrontpartofthetongue

maintainingthehighestposition.A.backB.centralC.frontD.middle

42.Distinctivefeaturescanbefoundrunningoverasequenceoftwoormore

phonemicsegments.Thephonemicfeaturesthatoccurabovethelevelofthe

segmentsarecalled.A.phoneticcomponentsB.immediateconstituents

C.suprasegmentalfeaturesD.semanticfeatures

43.A(n)isaunitthatisofdistinctivevalue.Itisan

abstractunit,acollectionofdistinctivephoneticfeatures.A.phoneB.

soundC.allophoneD.phoneme

44.Thedifferentphoneswhichcanrepresentaphonemeindifferentphonetic

environmentsarecalledtheofthatphoneme.A.phonesB.soundsC.

phonemesD.allophones

intonation50.phonetics51.auditoryphonetics52.acousticphonetics53.

phone

54.phonemiccontrast55.tone56.minimalpair

V.Answerthefollowingquestionsascomprehensivelyaspossible.Give

examplesforillustrationifnecessary:57.Ofthetwomediaoflanguage,why

doyouthinkspeechismorebasicthanwriting?58.Whatarethecriteriathat

alinguistusesinclassifyingvowels?59.Whatarethemajordifferences

betweenphonologyandphonetics?60.Illustratewithexampleshow

suprasegmentalfeaturescanaffectmeaning.61.Inwhatwaycanwedetermine

whetheraphoneisaphonemeornot?Chapter3Morphology

I.DecidewhethereachofthefollowingstatementsisTrueorFalse:

1.Morphologystudiestheinternalstructureofwordsandtherulesbywhich

wordsareformed.2.Wordsarethesmallestmeaningfulunitsoflanguage.

3.Justasaphonemeisthebasicunitinthestudyofphonology,soisa

morphemethebasicunitinthestudyofmorphology.4.Thesmallestmeaningful

unitsthatcanbeusedfreelyallbythemselvesarefreemorphemes.

5.Boundmorphemesincludetwotypes:rootsandaffixes.

6.Inflectionalmorphemesmanifestvariousgrammaticalrelationsor

grammaticalcategoriessuchasnumber,tense,degree,andcase.7.The

existingformtowhichaderivationalaffixcanbeaddediscalledastem,

whichcanbeaboundroot,afreemorpheme,oraderivedformitself.

8.Prefixesusuallymodifythepartofspeechoftheoriginalword,notthe

meaningofit.

9.Therearerulesthatgovernwhichaffixcanbeaddedtowhattypeofstem

toformanewword.Therefore,wordsformedaccordingtothemorphological

rulesareacceptablewords.

10.Phonetically,thestressofacompoundalwaysfallsonthefirstelement,

whilethesecondelementreceivessecondarystress.II.Fillineachblank

belowwithonewordwhichbeginswiththelettergiven:11.Misthe

smallestmeaningfulunitoflanguage.

12.Theaffix"-ish"inthewordboyishconveysag_____meaning.

13.Bmorphemesarethosethatcannotbeusedindependentlybut

havetobecombinedwithothermorphemes,eitherfreeorbound,toformaword.

14.Affixesareoftwotypes:inflectionalaffixesanddaffixes.

15.Daffixesareaddedtoanexistingformtocreatewords.

16.Asisaddedtotheendofstemstomodifythemeaningofthe

originalwordanditmaycasechangeitspartofspeech.17.Cis

thecombinationoftwoorsometimesmorethantwowordstocreatenewwords.

18.Therulesthatgovernwhichaffixcanbeaddedtowhattypeofstemto

formanewwordarecalledmrules.19.Intermsofmorphemic

analysis,dcanbeviewedastheadditionofaffixestostems

toformnewwords.20.As_____canbeaboundroot,afreemorpheme,ora

derivedformitselftowhichaderivationalaffixcanbeadded.III.Thereare

fourchoicesfollowingeachstatement.Markthechoicethatcanbestcomplete

thestatement:21.Themorpheme“vision“inthecommonword“television”

isa(n).A.boundmorphemeB.boundform

C.inflectionalmorphemeD.freemorpheme

22.Thecompoundword“bookstore“istheplacewherebooksaresold.This

indicatesthatthemeaningofacompound.A.isthesumtotalof

themeaningofitscomponentsB.canalwaysbeworkedoutbylookingatthe

meaningsofmorphemes

C.isthesameasthemeaningofafreephrase.D.Noneoftheabove.

23.Thepartofspeechofthecompoundsisgenerallydeterminedbythepart

ofspeechof.A.thefirstelementB.thesecondelement

C.eitherthefirstorthesecondelementD.boththefirstandthesecond

elements

24.arethosethatcannotbeusedindependentlybuthavetobe

combinedwithothermorphemes,eitherfreeorbound,toformaword.A.Free

morphemesB.BoundmorphemesC.BoundwordsD.Words

25.isabranchofgrammarwhichstudiestheinternalstructureof

wordsandtherulesbywhichwordsareformed.

A.SyntaxB.GrammarC.MorphologyD.Morpheme

26.Themeaningcarriedbytheinflectionalmorphemeis.A.lexical

B.morphemicC.grammaticalD.semantic

27.Boundmorphemesarethosethat.A.havetobeused

independently

B.cannotbecombinedwithothermorphemesC.caneitherbefreeorbound

D.havetobecombinedwithothermorphemes

28.modifythemeaningofthestem,butusuallydonotchangethe

partofspeechoftheoriginalword.A.PrefixesB.SuffixesC.RootsD.

Affixes

29.areoftenthoughttobethesmallestmeaningfulunitsof

languagebythelinguists.A.WordsB.MorphemesC.PhonemesD.Sentences

30.“-s"intheword“books"is.A.aderivativeaffixB.a

stemC.aninflectionalaffix

D.aroot

IV.Definethefollowingterms:

31.morphology

32.inflectionalmorphology

33.derivationalmorphology

34.morpheme

V.Answerthefollowingquestions:

43.WhatarethemainfeaturesoftheEnglishcompounds?

44.Discussthetypesofmorphemeswithexamples.

Chapter4Syntax35.freemorpheme36.boundmorpheme37.root38.affix39.

prefix40.suffix41.derivation42.Compounding

I.DecidewhethereachofthefollowingstatementsisTrueorFalse:

1.Syntaxisasubfiedoflinguisticsthatstudiesthesentencestructureof

language,includingthecombinationofmorphemesintowords.

2.Grammaticalsentencesareformedfollowingasetofsyntacticrules.

3.Sentencesarecomposedofsequenceofwordsarrangedinasimplelinear

order,withoneaddingontoanotherfollowingasimplearithmeticlogic.

4.Universallyfoundinthegrammarsofallhumanlanguages,syntacticrules

thatcomprisethesystemofinternalizedlinguisticknowledgeofalanguage

speakerareknownaslinguisticcompetence.

5.Thesyntacticrulesofanylanguagearefiniteinnumber,butthereisno

limittothenumberofsentencesnativespeakersofthatlanguageareableto

produceandcomprehend.

6.Inacomplexsentence,thetwoclausesholdunequalstatus,one

subordinatingtheother.

7.Constituentsthatcanbesubstitutedforoneanotherwithoutlossof

grammaticalitybelongtothesamesyntacticcategory.

8.Minorlexicalcategoriesareopenbecausethesecategoriesarenotfixed

andnewmembersareallowedfor.

9.InEnglishsyntacticanalysis,fourphrasalcategoriesarecommonly

recognizedanddiscussed,namely,nounphrase,verbphrase,infinitivephrase,

andauxiliaryphrase.

10.InEnglishthesubjectusuallyprecedestheverbandthedirectobject

usuallyfollowstheverb.

11.Whatisactuallyinternalizedinthemindofanativespeakerisa

completelistofwordsandphrasesratherthangrammaticalknowledge.

12.Anounphrasemustcontainanoun,butotherelementsareoptional.

13.Itisbelievedthatphrasestructurerules,withtheinsertionofthe

lexicon,generatesentencesatthelevelofD-structure.

14.WH-movementisobligatoryinEnglishwhichchangesasentencefrom

affirmativetointerrogative.

II.Fillineachofthefollowingblankswithonewordwhichbeginswiththe

lettergiven:

15.Assentenceconsistsofasingleclausewhichcontainsa

subjectandapredicateandstandsaloneasitsownsentence.

16.Asisastructurallyindependentunitthatusuallycomprisesa

numberofwordstoformacompletestatement,questionorcommand.

17.Asmaybeanounoranounphraseinasentencethatusually

precedesthepredicate.

18.Thepartofasentencewhichcomprisesafiniteverboraverbphrase

andwhichsayssomethingaboutthesubjectisgrammaticallycalledp.

19.Acsentencecontainstwo,ormore,clauses,oneofwhichis

incorporatedintotheother.

20.Inthecomplexsentence,theincorporatedorsubordinateclauseis

normallycalledaneclause.

21.Majorlexicalcategoriesareo______categoriesinthesensethatnew

wordsareconstantlyadded.

22.AConditiononcaseassignmentstatesthatacaseassignoranda

caserecipientshouldstayadjacenttoeachother.

23.P______aresyntacticoptionsofUGthatallowgeneralprinciplesto

operateinonewayoranotherandcontributetosignificantlinguistic

variationsbetweenandamongnaturallanguages.

24.ThetheoryofCconditionexplainsthefactthatnounphrases

appearonlyinsubjectandobjectpositions.

III.Therearefourchoicesfollowingeachstatement.Markthechoicethat

canbestcompletethestatement:

25.Asentenceisconsideredwhenitdoesnotconformto

thegrammaticalknowledgeinthemindofnativespeakers.

A.right

B.wrongC.grammaticalD.ungrammatical26.Aintheembedded

clausereferstotheintroductorywordthatintroducestheembeddedclause.A.

coordinatorB.particleC.prepositionD.subordinator

27.Phrasestructureruleshave___properties.A.recursiveB.grammatical

C.socialD.functional

28.Phrasestructurerulesallowustobetterunderstand.

A.howwordsandphrasesformsentences.

B.whatconstitutesthegrammaticalityofstringsofwordsC.howpeople

produceandrecognizepossiblesentencesD.Alloftheabove.

29.Syntacticmovementisdictatedbyrulestraditionallycalled.

A.transformationa1rulesB.generativerulesC.phrasestructurerulesD.

x-bartheory

30.Thetheoryofcaseconditionaccountsforthefactthat.

A.nounphrasesappearonlyinsubjectandobjectpositions.

IV.Definethefollowingterms:35.syntax36.Sentence

V.Answerthefollowingquestions:

43.Whatarethebasiccomponentsofasentence?

B.nounphrasescanbeusedtomodifyanothernounphraseC.nounphrasecan

beusedinadverbialpositionsD.nounphrasecanbemovedtoanyplaceif

necessary.31.Thesentencestructureis.A.onlylinearB.Only

hierarchicalC.complex

D.bothlinearandhierarchical

32.Thesyntacticrulesofanylanguageareinnumber.A.largeB.

smallC.finiteD.infinite

33.Therulesaretherulesthatgroupwordsandphrasestoform

grammaticalsentences.A.lexicalB.morphologicalC.linguisticD.

combinational

34.rulesmaychangethesyntacticrepresentationofasentence.A.

GenerativeB.TransformationalC.X-bar

D.Phrasestructure

40.linguisticcompetence41.transformationalrules42.D-structure

37.coordinatesentence38.syntacticcategories39.grammaticalrelations

44.Whatarethemajortypesofsentences?Illustratethemwithexamples.45.

Aretheelementsinasentencelinearlystructured?Why?

46.Whataretheadvantagesofusingtreediagramsintheanalysisof

sentencestructures?47.WhatisNPmovement.Illustrateitwithexamples.

Chapter5Semantics

I,DecidewhethereachofthefollowingstatementsisTrueorFalse:

1.Dialectalsynonymscanoftenbefoundindifferentregionaldialectssuch

asBritishEnglishandAmericanEnglishbutcannotbefoundwithinthevariety

itself,forexample,withinBritishEnglishorAmericanEnglish.

2.Senseisconcernedwiththerelationshipbetweenthelinguisticelement

andthenon-linguisticworldofexperience,whilethereferencedealswiththe

inherentmeaningofthelinguisticform.

3.Linguisticformshavingthesamesensemayhavedifferentreferencesin

differentsituations.

4.Insemantics,meaningoflanguageisconsideredastheintrinsicand

inherentrelationtothephysical