英语考研 语言学重难点提示

英语考研语言学重难点提示

1.Whatislanguage

4<Languageissystemof2rbi【raryvocalsymbolsusedforhumancommunication.ltisasystem,

sincelinguisticelementsarearrangedsystematically,ratherthanrandomly.Arbitrary,inthesense

thatthereisusuallynointrinsicconnectionbetweenawork(like44book")andtheobjectitrefers

to.Thisexplainsandisexplainedbythefactthatdifferentlanguageshavedifferent“books”:

“book”inEnglish,“livre”inFrench,“shu”inChinese.ltissymbolic,becausewordsare

associatedwithobjects,actions,ideasetc.bynothingbutconvention.Namely,peopleusethe

soundsorvocalformstosymbolizewhattheywishtoreferto.ltisvocal,becausesoundorspeech

istheprimarymediumforallhumanlanguages.Writingsystemscamemuchlaterthanthespoken

forms.Thefactthatsmallchildrenlearnandcanonlylearntospeak(andlisten)beforetheywrite

(andread)alsoindicatesthatlanguageisprimarilyvocal,ratherthanwritten.Theterm“human”

inthedefinitionismeanttospecifythatlanguageishumanspecific.

2.Whataredesignfeaturesoflanguage

“Designfeatures“hererefertothedefiningpropertiesofhumanlanguagethattellthedifference

betweenhumanlanguageandanysystemofanimalcommunication.Theyarcarbitrariness,duality,

productivity,displacement,culturaltransmissionandinterchangeability

3.Whatisarbitrariness

By4<arbitrarinessn,wemeanthereisnologicalconnectionbetweenmeaningsandsounds.Adog

mightbeapigifonlythefirstpersonorgroupofpersonshaduseditforapig.Languageis

thereforelargelyarbitrary.Butlanguageisnotabsolutelyseemtobesonicsound-meaning

association,ifwethinkofechowords,like“bang","crash","roar”,whicharemotivatedin

acertainsense.Secondly,somecompounds(wordscompoundedtobeoneword)arenotentirely

arbitraryeither.^Type"and"write”areopaqueorunmotivatedwords,while“type-writer”

islessso,ormoretransparentormotivatedthanthewordsthatmakeit.Sowecansay

“arbitrarinessnisamatterofdegree.

4.Whatisduality

Linguistsrefer“duality”(ofstructure)tothefactthatinalllanguagessofarinvestigated,one

findstwolevelsofstructureorpatterning.Atthefirst,higherlevel,languageisanalyzedinterms

ofcombinationsofmeaningfulunits(suchasmorphemes,wordsetc.);atthesecond,lowerlevel,

itisseenasasequenceofsegmentswhichlackanymeaninginthemselves,butwhichcombineto

fbnnunitsofmeaning.AccordingtoHuZhanglinetal.,languageisasystemoftwosetsof

structures,oneofsoundsandtheotherofmeaning.Thisisimportantfortheworkingsof

language.Asmallnumberofsemanticunits(words),andtheseunitsofmeaningcanbearranged

andrearrangedintoaninfinitenumberofsentences(notethatwehavedictionariesofwords,but

nodictionaryofsentences!).Dualitymakesitpossibleforapersontotalkaboutanythingwithin

hisknowledge.Noanimalcommunicationsystemenjoysthisduality.

5.Whatisproductivity

Productivityreferstotheabilitytotheabilitytoconstructandunderstandanindefinitelylarge

numberofsentencesinone*snativelanguage,includingtlioscthathasneverheardbefore,but

thatareappropriatetothespeakingsituation.Noonehaseversaidorheard“Ared-eyedelephant

isdancingonthesmallhotelbedwithanAfricangibbon”,buthecansayitwhennecessary,and

hecanunderstandilinrightregisler.Differentfromartisticcreativity,(hough,productivitynever

goesoutsidethelanguage,thusalsocalled“rule-boundcreativityM(byN.Chomsky).

6.Whatisdisplacement

“Displacementv,asoneofthedesignfeaturesofthehumanlanguage,referstothefact(hatone

cantalkaboutthingsthatarenotpresent,aseasilyashedoesthingspresent.Inotherwords,one

canrefertorealandunrealthings,thingsofthepast,ofthepresent,ofthefuture.Languageitself

canbetalkedabout(oo.Whenaman,forexample,iscrying(oawoman,aboutsomething,itmight

besomethingthathadoccurred,orsomethingthatisoccurring,orsomethingthatistooccur.When

adogisbarking,however,youcandecideitisbarkingforsomethingoratsomeonethatexists

nowandthere.ltcouldn'Ibebow-wowingsorrowfullyforabonetobelost.Thebee'ssystem,

nonetheless,hasasmdlshareof44displacement",butitisanunspeakabletinyshare.

7.Whatisculturaltransmission

Thismeansthatlanguageisnotbiologicallytransmittedfromgenerationtogeneration,butthat

thedetailsofthelinguisticsystemmustbelearnedanewbyeachspeaker.ltistruethatthecapacity

fbrlanguageinhumanbeings(N.Chomskycalleditulanguageacquisitiondevice"，orLAD)has

ageneticbasis,buttheparticularlanguageapersonlearnstospeakisaculturaloneotherthana

geneticonelikethedog'sbarkingsystem.Ifahumanbeingisbroughtupinisolationhecannot

acquirelanguage.TheWolfChildrearedbythepackofwolvesturnedouttospeakthewolf,s

roaring“tongue”whenhewassaved.Helearnedthereafter,withnosmalldifficulty,theABCof

acertainhumanlanguage.

8.Whatisinterchangeability

Interchangeabilitymeansthatanyhumanbeingcanbe?othaproducerandareceiverof

messages.Thoughsomepeoplesuggestthatthereissexdifferentiationintheactuallanguageuse,

inotherwords,menandwomenmaysaydifferentthings,yetinprinciple(hereisnosound,or

wordorsentencethatamancanutterandawomancannot,orviceversa.Ontheotherhanc,a

personcanbethespeakerwhiletheotherpersonisthelistenerandasthelummovesontothe

listener,hecanbethespeakerandthefirstspeakeristolisten.ltisturn-takingthatmakessocial

communicationpossibleandacceptable.Somemalebirds,however,uttersomecallswhich

femalesdonot(orcannot).Whenadogbarks,alltheneighboringdogsbark.Thenpeoplearcund

canhardlytellwhichdog(dogs)is(are)“speaking”andwhichlistening.

9.Whydolinguistssaylanguageishumanspecific

Firstofall,humanlanguagehassix4<designfeaturesnwhichanimalcommunicationsystemsdo

nothave,atleastnotinthetruesenseofthem.Secondly,linguistshavedonealottryingtoteach

animalssuchaschimpanzeestospeakahumanlanguagebuthaveachievednothing

inspiring.Washoe,afemalechimpanzee,wasbroughtuplikeahumanchildbyBeatniceandAlan

Gardner.ShewastaughtuAmericansignLanguage”,andlearnedalittlethatmadetheteachers

happybutdidmotmakethelinguisticscirclehappy,forfewbelievedinteaching

chimpanzces.Thirdly,ahumanchildrearedamonganimalscannotspeakahumanlanguage,not

evenwhenheistakenbackandtaughttodoso.

10.Whatfunctionsdoeslanguagehave

Languagehasatleastsevenfunctions:phatic,directive,Informative,interrogative,expressive,

evocativeandperformative.AccordingtoWangGang(I988,p.11),languagehasthreemain

functions:atoolofcommunication,atoolwherebypeoplelearnabouttheworld,andatoolby

whichpeoplelearnabouttheworld,andatoolbywhichpeoplecreateart.M.A.K.Halliday,

representativeoftheLondonschool,recognizesthree“Macro-Functions”:ideational,

interpersonalandtextual.

11.Whatisthephaticfunction

The“phaticfunction"referstolanguagebeingusedforsettingupacertainatmosphereor

maintainingsocialcontacts(ratherthanforexchanginginformationorideas).Greetings,farewells,

andcommentsontheweatherinEnglishandonclothinginChineseallservethisfunction.Much

ofthephaticlanguage(e.g."Howareyou"Fine,thanks/*)isinsincereiftakenliterally,butit

isimportant.Ifyoudon'tsay"Hello"toafriendyoumeet,orifyoudon'tanswerhis"Hi",

youruinyourfriendship.

12.Whatisthedirectivefunction

Thedirectivefunction”meansthatlanguagemaybeusedtogetthehearertodo

something.Mostimperativesentencesperformthisfunction,e.g.,“Tellmetheresultwhenyou

finish.MOthersyntacticstructuresorsentencesofothersortscan,accordingtoJ.Austinand

J.Searle's**Indirectspeechacttheory“atleast,servethepurposeofdirectiontoo,e.g.,“IfI

wereyou,Iwouldhaveblushedtothebottomofmycars!”

13.Whatistheinformativefunction

Languageservesan^informationalfunction”whenusedtotellsomething,characterizedbythe

useofdeclarativesentences.Informativestatementsareoftenlabelledastrue(truth)orfalse

(falsehood).AccordingtoP.Grice，s**CooperativePrinciplen,oneoughtnottoviolateihe

“MaximofQualityM,whenheisinformingatall.

14.Whatistheinterrogativefunction

WhenlanguageisusedtoODtaininformation,itservesan°interrogativefunctionM.Thisincludes

allquestionsthatexpectreplies,statements,imperativesetc.,accordingtotheuindirectspeechact

theory”,mayhavethisfunctionaswell,e.g.,“I'dliketoknowyoubetter.wThismaybringforth

alolofpersonalinformation.Notethatrhetoricalquestionsmakeanexception,sincetheydemand

noanswer,atleastnotthereader*s/listener'sanswer.

15.Whatistheexpressivefunction

Theuexpressivefunction"istheuseoflanguagetorevealsomethingaboutthefeelingsor

attitudesofthespeaker.Subconsciousemotionalejaculationsaregoodexamples,like“Good

heavens!”“MyGod!”Sentenceslike"I'msorryaboutthedelay”canserveasgoodexamples

too,thoughinasubtlewayWhilelanguageisusedfor(heinformativefunctiontopassjudgment

onthetruthorfalsehoodofstatements,languageusedfortheexpressivefunctionevaluates,

appraisesorassertsthespeaker*sownattitudes.

16.Whatistheevocativefunction

TheMevocativefunction“istheuseoflanguagetocreatecertainfeelingsin(hehearer.Itsaimis,

forexample,toamuse,startle,antagonize,soothe,worryorplease.Jokes(notpracticaljokes,

though)aresupposedtoamuseorentertainthelistener;advertisingtourgecustomerstopurchase

certaincommodities;propagandatoinfluencepublicopinion.Obviously,theexpressiveandthe

evocativefunctionsoftengotogether,i.e.,youmayexpress,forexample,yourpersonalfeelings

aboutapoliticalissuebutendupbyevokingthesamefeelingin.orimposingiton,your

listcncr.That，salsothecasewiththeotherwayround.

17.Whatistheperformativefunction

Thismeanspeoplespeakto“dothingsMorperformactions.Oncertainoccasionstheutterance

itselfasanactionismoreimportantthanwhatwordsorsoundsconstitutetheutteredsentence.The

judge'simprisonmentsentence,thepresident'swarorindependencedeclaration,etc.,are

performatives.

18.Whatislinguistics

“Linguistics”isthescientificstudyoflanguage.ltstudiesnotjustonelanguageofanyone

society,butthelanguageofallhumanbeings.Alinguist,though,doesnothavetoknowandusea

largenumberoflanguages,buttoinvestigatehoweachlanguageisconstructed.Heisalso

concernedwithhowalanguagevariesfromdialecttodialect,fromclasstoclass,howitchanges

fromcenturytocentury,howchildrenacquiretheirmothertongue,andperhapshowaperson

learnsorshouldlearnaforeignlanguage.Inshort,linguisticsstudiesthegeneralprinciples

whereuponallhumanlanguagesareconstructedandoperateassystemsofcommunicationin(heir

societiesorcommunities.

19.Whatmakeslinguisticsascience

Sincelinguisticsisthescientificstudyoflanguage,itoughttobaseitselfupon(hesystematic,

investigationoflanguagedatawhichaimsatdiscoveringthetruenatureoflanguageandits

underlyingsystem.Tomakesenseofthedata,alinguistusuallyhasconceivedsomehypotheses

aboutthelanguagestructure,tobecheckedagainsttheobservedorobservablefacts.Inorderto

makehisanalysisscientific,alinguistisusuallyguidedbyfourprinciples:exhaustiveness,

consistency,andobjectivity.Exhaustivenessmeansheshouldgatherallthematerialsrelevantto

thestudyandgivethemanadequateexplanation,inspiteofthecomplicatedness.Heistoleaveno

linguistic“slone”unturned.Consistencymeansthereshouldbenocontradictionbetween

differentpartsofthetotalstatement.Economymeansalinguistshouldpursuebrevityinthe

analysiswhenitispossible.Objectivityimpliesthatsincesomepeoplemaybesubjectiveinthe

study,alinguistshouldbe(orsoundatleast)objective,malter-of-face,faithfultoreality,soihat

hisworkconstitutespartofthelinguisticsresearch.

20.Whatarethemajorbranchesoflinguistics

Thestudyoflanguageasawholeisoftencalledgenerallinguistics.Butalinguistsometimesis

abletodealwithonlyoneaspectoflanguageatatime,thustheariseofvariousbranches:

phonetics,phonology,morphology,syntax,semantics,pragmatics,sociolinguistics,applied

linguistics,psycholinguisticsetc.

21.Whataresynchronicanddiachronicstudies

Thedescriptionofalanguageatsomepointoftime(asifitstoppeddeveloping)isasynchronystudy

(synchrony).Thedescriptionofalanguageasitchangesthroughtimeisadiachronicstudy

(diachronic).Anessayentitled“OntheUseofTHE"，forexample,maybesynchronic,iftheauthordoes

notrecallthepastofTHE,arditmayalsobediachronicifheclaimstocoveralargerangeorperiodof

timewhereinTHEhasundergonetremendousalteration.

22.Whatisspeechandwhatiswriting

Nooneneedstherepetitionofthegeneralprincipleoflinguisticanalysis,namely,theprimacyofspeech

overwriting.Speechisprimary,becauseitexistedlonglongbeforewritingsystemscameinto

being.Geneticallychildrenlearntospeakbeforelearningtowrite.Secondly,writtenformsjustrepresentin

thiswayorthatthespeechsounds:individualsounds,asinEnglishandFrenchasinJapanese.Incontrast

tospeech,spokenformoflanguage,writingaswrittencodes,giveslanguagenewscopeandusethat

speechdoesnothave.Firstly,messagescanbecarriedthroughspacesothatpeoplecanwritetoeach

other.Secondly,messagescarbecarriedthroughtimethereby,sothatpeopleofourtimecanbecarried

throughtimethereby,sothatpeopleofourtimecanreadBeowulf;SamuelJohnson,andEdgar

A.Poe.Thirdlyzoralmessagesarereadilysubjecttodistortion,eitherintentionalorunintentional,while

writtenmessagesallowandencouragerepeatedunalterablereading.Mostmodernlinguisticanalysisis

focusedonspeech,differentfromgrammariansofthelastcenturyandtheretofore.

23.Whatarethedifferencesbetweenthedescriptiveandtheprescriptiveapproaches

Alinguisticstudyis“descriptive“ifitonlydescribesandanalysesthefactsoflanguage,and

uprescriptiveifittriestolaydownrulesfor“correct“languagebehavior.Linguisticstudiesbeforethis

centurywerelargelyprescriptivebecausemanyearlygrammarswerelargelyprescriptivebecausemany

earlygrammarswerebasedon"high"(literaryorreligious)writtenrecords.Modernlinguisticsismostly

descriptive,howeverIt(thelatter)believesthatwhateveroccursinnaturalspeech(hesitation,incomplete

utterance,misunderstanding,etc.)shouldbedescribedintheanalysis,andnotbemarkedasincorrect,

abnormal,corrupt,orlousy.These,withchangesinvocabularyandstructures,needtobeexplainecalso.

24.Whatisthedifferencebetweenlangueandparole

F.deSaussurerefers“langue”totheabstractlinguisticsystemsharedbyallthemembersofaspeech

communityandrefersuparole"totheactualoractualizedlanguage,ortherealizationoflangue.Langue

isabstract,parolespecifictothespeakingsituation;languenotactuallyspokenbyanindividual,parole

alwaysanaturallyoccurringevent;languerelativelystableandsystematic,paroleisamassofconfused

facts,thusnotsuitableforsystematicinvestigation.Whatalinguistoughttodo,accordingtoSaussure,is

toabstractlanguefrominstancesofparole,i.e.todiscovertheregularitiesgoverningallinstancesof

paroleandmakethanthesubjectoflinguistics.Thelangue-paroledistinctionisofgreatimportance,which

castsgreatinfluenceonlaterlinguists.

25.Whatisthedifferencebetweencompetenceandperformance

AccordingtoN.Chomsky,44competence"istheideallanguageuser'sknowledgeoftherulesofhis

language,anduperformanceMistheactualrealizationofthisknowledgeinutterances.Theformer

enablesaspeakertoproduceandunderstandanindefinitenumberofsentencesandtorecognize

grammaticalmistakesandambiguities.Aspeaker'scompetenceisstablewhilehisperformanceisoften

influencedbypsychologicalendsocialfactors.Soaspeaker,sperformancedoesnotalwaysmatchor

equalhissupposedcompetence.Chomskybelievesthatlinguistsoughttostudycompetence,ratherthan

performance.Inotherwords,theyshoulddiscoverwhatanidealspeakerknowsofhisnative

language.Chomsky'scompetence-performancedistinctionisnotexactlythesameas,thoughsimilarto,

F.deSaussure'slangue-paroledistinction.Langueisasocialproduct,andasetofconventionsfora

community,whilecompetenceisdeemedasapropertyofthemindofeachindividual.Sussurelooksat

languagemorefromasociologicalorsociolinguisticpointofviewthanN.Chomskysincethelatterdeals

withhisissuespsychologicallyorpsycholinguistically.

26.WhatislinguisticpotentialWhatisactuallinguisticbehaviour

Thesetwoterms,orthepotential-behaviordistinction,weremadebyM.A.K.Hallidayinthe1960s,froma

functionalpointofview.Thereisawiderangeofthingsaspeakercandoinhisculture,andsimilarlythere

aremanythingshecansay,forexample,tomanypeople,onmanytopics.Whatheactuallysays(i.e.his

uactuallinguisticbehaviorMionacertainoccasiontoacertainpersoniswhathehaschosenfrommany

possibleinjusticeitems,eachofwhichhecouldhavesaid(linguisticpotential).

27.Inwhatwaydolanguage,competenceandlinguisticpotentialagreeInwhatwaydotheydiffer

Andtheircounterparts

Langue,competenceandlinguisticpotentialhavesomesimilarfeatures,buttheyareinnately

different.Langueisasocialproduct,andasetofspeakingconventions;competenceisapropertyor

attributeofeachidealspeaker'smind;linguisticpotentialisallthelinguisticcorpusorrepertoireavailable

fromwhichthespeakerchoosesitemsfortheactualutterancesituation.Inotherwords,langueisinvisible

butreliableabstractsystem.Competencemeans“knowingM,andlinguisticpotentialasetofpossibilities

for"doing”or”performingactions”.Theyaresimilarinthattheyallrefertotheconstantunderlying

theutterancesthatconstitutewhatSaussure,ChomskyandHallidayrespectivelycalledparole,

performanceandactuallingusticbehavior.Parole,performanceandactuallinguisticbehaviorenjoymore

similaritiesthandifferences.

28.Whatisphonetics

“Phonetics"isthesciencewhichstudiesthecharacteristicsofhumansound-making,especiallythose

soundsusedinspeech,andprovidesmethodsfortheirdescription,classificationandtranscription,speech

soundsmaybestudiedindifferentways,thusbythreedifferentbranchesofphonetics.(l)Articulatory

phonetics;thebranchofphoneticsthatexaminesthewayinwhichaspeechsoundisproducedto

discoverwhichvocalorgansareinvolvedandhowtheycoordinateintheprocess.(2)Auditoryphonetics,

thebranchofphoneticresearchfromthehearer*spointofview,lookingintotheimpressionwhicha

speechsoundmakesonthehearerasmediatedbytheear;theauditorynerveandthebrain.(3)Acoustic

phonetics:thestudyofthephysicalpropertiesofspeechsounds,astransmittedbetweenmouthand

ear.Mostphoneticians,however;areinterestedinarticulatoryphonetics.

29.Howarethevocalorgansformed

Thevocalorgansorspeechorgans,areorgansofthehumanbodywhosesecondaryuseisinthe

productionofspeechsounds.Thevocalorganscanbeconsideredasconsistingofthreeparts;theinitiator

oftheair-stream,theproducerofvoiceandtheresonatingcavities.

30.Whatisplaceofarticulation

Itreferstotheplaceinthemouthwhere,forexample,theobstructionoccurs,resultingintheutteranceof

aconsonant.Whateversoundispronounced,atleastsomevocalorganswillgetinvolved,e.g.lips,hard

palateetc.,soaconsonantmaybeoneofthefollowing(1)bilabial:[p,bzm];(2)];(4)alveolar:[tzd,I,

n,s,z];(5)(,(labiodental:[f,v];(3)dental:[retroflex;(6)palato-alveolar:[];(7)palatal:[j];(8)vear[k,

g];(9)uvular;(10)glottal:[h].Somesoundsinvolvethesimultaneoususeoftwoplacesofarticulation.For

example,theEnglish[w]hasbothanapproximationofthetwolipsandthattwolipsandthatofthe

tongueandthesoftpalate,andmaybetermed4,labial-velar".

31.Whatisthemannerofarticulation

The“mannerofarticulationnliterallymeansthewayasoundisarticulated.Atagivenplaceofarticulation,

theairstreammaybeobstructedinvariousways,resultinginvariousmannersofarticulation,arethe

following:(1)plosive:[pzbzt,d,k,g];(2)nasal:[m,nJ;(3)trill;(4)taporflap;(5)lateral:[I];(6)

fricative:[f,v,szz];(7)approximant:[w,j];(8)affricate:[].

32.WhatisIPAWhendiditcomeintobeing

u

TheIPAZabbreviationofInternationalPhoneticAlphabet",isacompromisesystemmakinguseof

symbolsofallsources,includingdiacriticsindicatinglength,stressandintonation,indicatingphonetic

variation.Eversinceitwasdevelopedin1888,IPAhasundergoneanumberofrevisions.

33.Whatisnarrowtranscriptionandwhatisbroadtranscription

Inhandbookofphonetics,HenrySweetmadeadistinctionbetween“narrow”and“broad”

transcriptions,whichhecalled4,NarrowRomic”.Theformerwasmeanttosymbolizeallthepossible

speechsounds,includingeventhemostminuteshadesofpronunciationwhileBroadRomicor

transcriptionwasintendedtoindicateonlythosesoundscapableofdistinguishingonewordfromanother

inagivenlanguage.

34.WhatisphonologyWhatisdifferencebetweenphonericsandphonology

4*PhonologyMisthestudycfsoundsystems-theinventionofdistinctivespeechsoundsthatoccurina

languageandthepatternswhereintheyfall.Minimalpail；phonemes,allophones,freevariation,

complementarydistribution,etc.,arealltobeinvestigatedbyaphonologist.Phoneticsisthebranchof

linguisticsstudyingthecharacteristicsofspeechsoundsandprovidesmethodsfortheirdescription,

classificationandtranscription.Aphonetistismainlyinterestedinthephysicalpropertiesofthespeech

sounds,whereasaphonologiststudieswhathebelievesaremeaningfulsoundsrelatedwiththeir

semanticfeatures,morphologicalfeatures,andthewaytheyareconceivedandprintedinthedepthofthe

mindphonologicalknowledgepermitsaspeakertoproducesoundswhichfrommeaningfulutterances,to

recognizeaforeign“accent”,t。makeupnewwords,toaddtheappropriatephoneticsegmentstofrom

pluralsandpasttenses,toknowwhatisandwhatisnotasoundinone*slanguage.

35.WhatisaphoneWhatisaphonemeWhatisanallophone

AMphone"isaphoneticunitorsegment.Thespeechsoundswehearandproduceduringlinguistic

communicationareallphones.Whenwehearthefollowingwordspronounced:[pit],[tip],[spit],etc.,the

similarphoneswehaveheardare[p]foronething,andthreedifferent[p]s,readilymakingpossiblethe

unarrowtranscriptionordiacriticsn.Phonesmayandmaynotdistinguishmeaning.A"phoneme”isa

phonologicalunit;itisaunitthatisofdistinctivevalue.Asanabstractunit,aphonemeisnotanyparticular

sound,butratheritisrepresentedorrealizedbyacertainphoneinacertainphoneticcontext.Forexample,

thephoneme[p]isrepresenteddifferentlyin[pit]/[tip]and[spit].Thephonesrepresentingaphoneme

arecalledits“allophones'"i.e.,thedifferent(i.e.,phones)butdonotmakeonewordsophonetically

differentastocreateanewwordoranewmeaningthereof.Sothedifferent[p]sintheabovewordsare

theallophonesofthesamephoneme[p].Howaphonemeisrepresentedbyaphone,orwhichallophone

istobeused,isdeterminedbythephoneticcontextinwhichitoccurs.Butthechoiceofanallophoneis

notrandom.Inmostcasesitisrule-governed;theserulesaretobefoundoutbyaphonologist.

36.Whatareminimalpairs

Whentwodifferentphoneticformsareidenticalineverywayexceptforonesoundsegmentwhichoccurs

inthesameplaceinthestring,thetwoforms(i.e.,word)aresupposedtoformaminimalpair“，e.g.,

"pill"and“bill”，“pill”and“till”，“till”and“dill”，“till”and“kill”，etc.AlIthesewords

togetherconstituteaminimalset.They