Chapter 1 Introductions to Linguistics I. Choose the best answer. (20%)
1. Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human _______B___
A. contact B. communication C. relation D.
community 2. Which of the following words is entirely arbitrary?A A. tree B. typewriter C. crash D. bang 3. The function of the sentence ―Water boils at 100 degrees Centigrade.‖ is _____C_____.
A. interrogative B. directive C. informative D. performative
4. In Chinese when someone breaks a bowl or a plate the host or the people present are likely to say―碎碎（岁岁）平安‖as a means of controlling the forces which they believes feel might affect their lives. Which functions does it perform? C
A. Interpersonal B. Emotive C. Performative D. Recreational
5. Which of the following property of language enables language users to overcome the barriers caused by time and place, due to this feature of language, speakers of a language are free to talk about anything in any situationC
A. Transferability B. Duality C. Displacement D.
Arbitrariness
6. Study the following dialogue. What function does it play according to the functions of language? B — A nice day, isn’t it? — Right! I really enjoy the sunlight.
A. Emotive B. Phatic C. Performative D. Interpersonal
7. ______A____ refers to the actual realization of the ideal language user’s knowledge of the rules of his language in utterances.
A. Performance B. Competence C. Langue D. Parole 8. When a dog is barking, you assume it is barking for something or at someone that exists hear and now. It couldn’t be sorrowful for some lost love or lost bone. This indicates the design feature of ____C______. A. cultural transmission B. productivity C. displacement D. duality
9. ____A______ answers such questions as how we as infants acquire our first language. A.
Psycholinguistics
B.Anthropological
linguistics
C.
Sociolinguistics D. Applied linguistics
10. _______C___ deals with language application to other fields, particularly education
A. Linguistic theory B. Practical linguistics C. Applied linguistics D. Comparative linguistics
II. Decide whether the following statements are true or false. (10%)
11. Language is a means of verbal communication. Therefore, the communication way used by the deaf-mute is not language.F 12. Language change is universal, ongoing and arbitrary.F 13. Speaking is the quickest and most efficient way of the human communication systems. T
14. Language is written because writing is the primary medium for all languages. F
15. We were all born with the ability to acquire language, which means the details of any language system can be genetically transmitted. F16. Only human beings are able to communicate. F
17. F. de Saussure, who made the distinction between langue and parole in the early 20th century, was a French linguist. F
18. A study of the features of the English used in Shakespeare’s time is an example of the diachronic study of language. F
19. Speech and writing came into being at much the same time in human history. F
20. All the languages in the world today have both spoken andwritten forms. F
III. Fill in the blanks. (10%)
21. Language, broadly speaking, is a means of ____ verbal ______
communication.
22. In any language words can be used in new ways to mean new things and can be combined into innumerable sentences based on limited rules. This feature is usually termed ____ productivity / creativity ______.
23. Language has many functions. We can use language to talk about itself. This function is _______ metalingual function ___. 24. Theory that primitive man made involuntary vocal noises while performing heavy work has been called the __________ theory. 25. Linguistics is the _____ scientific _____ study of language.
26. Modern linguistics is ___ descriptive _______ in the sense that the linguist tries to discover what language is rather than lay down some rules for people to observe.
27. One general principle of linguistic analysis is the primacy of ______ speech ____ over writing.
28. The description of a language as it changes through time is a __________ study.
29. Saussure put forward two important conceptsrefers to the abstract linguistic system shared by all members of a speech community. 30. Linguistic potential is similar to Saussure’s langue and Chomsky’s ______. competence ____.
IV. Explain the following terms, using examples. (20%)
31. Design feature 32. Displacement 33. Competence 34. Synchronic linguistics V. Answer the following questions. (20%)
35. Why do people take duality as one of the important design features of human language? Can you tell us what language will be if it has no such design feature? （南开大学，2004）
36. Why is it difficult to define language? （北京第二外国语大学，2004）
VI. Analyze the following situation. (20%
37. How can a linguist make his analysis scientific? （青岛海洋大学，1999） Key:
[In the reference keys, I won’t give examples or further analysis. That seems too much work for me. Therefore, this key is only for reference. In order to answer this kind of question, you need more examples. So you should read the textbook carefully. – icywarmtea] I.
1~5 BACCC 6~10 BACAC II.
11~15 FFTFF 16~20 FFFFF III.
21. verbal 22. productivity / creativity
23. metalingual function 24. yo-he-ho 25.