Chapter 1 Preliminaries about Language
I. Decide whether each of the following statements is True or False:
1. Linguistics is generally defined as the scientific study of language. ( F ) 2. Linguistics studies particular language, not languages in general. .( F )
3. A scientific study of language is based on what the linguist thinks. . ( F ) 4. In the study of linguistics, hypotheses formed should be based on language facts and checked against the observed facts. .( T ) 5. General linguistics is generally the study of language as a whole. (T . ) 6. General linguistics, which relates itself to the research of other areas, studies the basic concepts, theories, descriptions, models and methods applicable in any linguistic study. ( T ) 7. Phonetics is different from phonology in that the latter studies the combinations of the sounds to convey meaning in communication. ( T ) 8. Morphology studies how words can be formed to produce meaningful sentences. ( F ) 9.The study of the ways in which morphemes can be combined to form words is called morphology. ( T ) 10. Syntax is different from morphology in that the former not only studies the morphemes, but also the combination of morphemes into words and words into sentences. ( T ) 11. The study of meaning in language is known as semantics. ( T ) 12. Both semantics and pragmatics study meanings. ( T ) 13. Pragmatics is different from semantics in that pragmatics studies meaning not isolation, but in context. ( T ) 14. Social changes can often bring about language changes. ( T ) 15. Sociolinguuistics is the study of language in relation to society. ( T ) 16. Modern linguistics is mostly precriptive, but sometimes descriptive. ( F ) 17. Modern linguistics is different from traditional grammar. ( T ) 18. A diachronic study of language is the description of language at some point in time. ( F ) 19. Modern linguistics regards the written language as primary, not the written language.( T ) 20. The distinction between competence and performance was proposed by F.de Saussure.( F )
II. Fill in each of the follwing blanks with one word which begins with the letter given:
21.Chomsky defines “competence” as the ideal user?s k____of the rules of his language.(konwledge)
22.Langue refers to the a_____________linguitic system shared by all the members of a speech community while the parole is the concrete use of the conventions and application of the rules.(abstract)
23.D___________ is one of the design features of human language which refers to the phenomenon that language consists of two levels: a lower level of meaningless individual sounds and a higher level of meaningful units.(Duality)
24.Language is a system of a _____________ cocal symbols used for human communication.(abstract)
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25.The discipline that studies the rules governing the formation of words into permissible sentences in languages is called s____________.(selectional)
26.Human capacity for language has a g__________ basis, but the details of language have to be taught and learned.(general)
27.P__________ refers to the realization of language in actual use.(parole)
28.Findings in linguistic studies can often be applied to the settlement of some practical problems. The study of such applications is generally known as a__________ linguistics.(applied)
29.Language is p__________ in that it makes possible the constrction and interpretation of new signals by its users. In other words, they can produce and understand an infinitely large number of sentences which they have never heard before.(productive)
30.Linguistics is generally defined ad the s____________ study of language.(scientific)
III. There are four choices follwing each statement. Mark the choice that can best complete the statement.
31.If a linguistic study describes and analyzes the language people actually use, it is said to be _______________.
A. prescriptive B. analytic C. Descriptive D. linguistic 32.Which of the following is not a design feature of human language?
A. Arbitrariness B. Displacement C. Duality D. Meaingfulness 33.Modern linguistics regards the written language as _________________. A. primary B. correct C. secondary D. stable
34.In modern linguistics, speech is regard as more basic than writing, because _______________. A. in linguistic evolution, speech is prior to writing
B. speech plays a greater role than writing in terms of the amount of information conveyed. C. speech is always the way in which every native speaker acquires his mother tongue. D. All of the above.
35. A historical study of language is a _________ study of language.
A. synchronic B. diachronic C. prescriptive D. comparative
36.Saussure took a(n) ____________ view of language, while Chomsky looks at language from a ___________ point of view.
A. sociological … psychological B. psychological… sociological C. applied… pragmatic D. semantic and linguistic
37.According to F.de Saussure,___________ refers to the abstract linguistic system shared by all the members of a speech community.
A. parole B. performance C. langue D. language
38.Language is said to be arbitrary because there is no logical connection between _______and meanings.
A. sense B. sounds C. objects D. ideas
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39.Language can be used to refer to contexts removed from the immediate situations of the speaker. This feature is called _______________.
A. displacement B. duality
C.flexibility D. cultural transmission
40.The details of any language system is passed on from one generation to the next through __________, rather than by instinct.
A. learning B. teaching C. books D. both A and B 41. Which of the following statement about language is NOT true?
A. Language is a system B. Language is symbolic C. Animals also have language D. Language is arbitrary 41. Arbitrariness of language was first discussed by _____________.
A. Chomsky B. Halliday C. Firth D. Saussure 42. Which function is the major role of language?
A. Informative B. Interpersonal C. Performative D. Emotive 43. Which branch of study canned be included in the scope of linguistics?
A. Syntax B. Pragmatics C. Phonetics D. Anthropology. 44. The distinction of language and parple is made by _____________.
A. Hall B. Sapir C. Chomsky D. Saussure 45. _________ is the study of the relationship between symbols and their interpreter.
A. Syntax B. Semantics C. Pragmatics D. Sociolinguistics 46. The ___________ function of language is one of the most powerful uses of language because it is so crucial in changing the emotional status of an audience for or against someone or something.
A. performative B. phatic C. recreational D. emotive
47. The term ___________ may be defined as a way of referring to the approach which studies language changes over various periods of time and at various historical stages. A. synchronic linguistics B. compartive linguistics
C. diachronic linguistics D. historical comparative linguistics 48. _________ examines how meaning is encoded in a language.
A. Semantics B. Syntax C. Pragmatics D. Mophology 49. Saussure distinguishes the linguistic competence of the speakers as _________. A. parole B. language C. system D. langue
50. This fundamental distinction between competence and performance is discussed by __________.
A. Chomsky B. Saussure C. Bloomfield D. Austin 51. What re the dual structures of language?
A. Sounds and letters B. Sounds and meaning C. Letters and meaning D. Sounds and symbols 52. Which of the following statements about language is NOT true? A. Language is a means of verbal communication. B. Language is some arbitrary symbols.
C. The language system is unique to human beings. D Language is yet to be understood.
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53. The founder of modern linguistics is _______________.
A. Chomsky B. Halliday C. Bloomfield D. Saussure
54. Modern linguistics focuses on the present day language, and it will be possible to describe language from a ___________ perspective.
A. sociological B. synchronic C. diachronic D. psychological 55. _______________ is concerned with the study of the actual use of language in communication.
A. Sociolinguistics B. Semantics C. Pragmatics D. Synchronic linguistics 56. _______________ studies the sound systems in a certain language.
A. Phonetics B. Phonology C. Semantics D. Syntax 57. _______________studies how speech sounds are made, transmitted and received. A. phonetics B. Phonology C. Phoneme D. Phonics 58. Productivity is one of the _____________ features of languages.
A. distinctive B. design C. Suprasegmental D. pragmatic
59. We can refer to Confucius, even though he has been dead for over 2,500 years. This feature of language is called _______________.
A. duality B. creativity C. arbitrariness D. displacement
60. Which function of language is also called ideational function (达意功能) in the framework of functional grammar?
A. informative function B. Interpersonal function. C. Emotive function. D. Recreational function.
IV. Define the following terms:
61. linguistics 62. phonology 63 syntax 64 pragmatics 65 psycholinguistics 66. language 67 phonetics 68 morphology 69 semantics 70. sociolinguistics 71. applied linguistics
72. arbitrariness 73. productivity 74. displacement 75. duality 76. Competence 77. design features 78. performance 79. langue 80. parole
V. Answer the following questions as comprehensively as possible. Give examples for illustration if necessary:
81. Language is generally defined as a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication. Explain it in detail.
82. What are the design features of human language? Illustrate them with examples. 83. How is modern linguistics different from traditional grammar?
84. How do you understand the distinction between a synchronic study and a diachronic study? 85. Why does modern linguistics regard the spoken form of language as primary, not the written? 86. What are the major distinctions between langue and parole? 87. How do you understand competence and performance?
88. Saussure’s distinction between langue and parole seems similar to Chomsky’s distinction between competence and performance. What do you think are their major differences? 89. Do you think human language is entirely arbitrary ?Why? 90. How to understand the origin of language?
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Chapter 2 Phonology
I. Decide whether each of the following statements is True or False
T1. Voicing is a phonological feature that distinguishes meaning in both Chinese and English.
F2. If two phonetically similar sounds occur in the same environments and they distinguish meaning, they are said to be in complementary meaning. 3. A phone is a phonetic until that distinguishes meaning. 4. English is a tone language while Chinese is not. 5. In linguistic evolution, speech is prior to writing.
6. In everyday communication, speech plays a greater role than writing in terms of the amount of information conveyed.
7. Articulatory phonetics tries to describe the physical properties of the stream of sounds which a speaker issues with the help of a machine called spectrograph.
8. The articulatory apparatus of a human being are contained in three important areas: the throat, the mouth and the chest.
9. Vibration of the vocal cords results in a quality of speech sounds called voicing.
10. English consonants can be classified in terms of place of articulation and the part of the tongue that is raised the highest.
11. According to the manner of articulation, some of the type into which the consonants can be classified are stops, fricatives, bilabial and alveolar.
12. Vowel sounds can be differentiated by a number of factors: the position of tongue in the mouth, the openness of the mouth, the shape of the lips, and the length of the vowels.
13. According to the shape of the lips, vowels can be classified into close vowels, semi-vowels and open vowels.
14. Any sound produced by a human being is a phoneme. 15. Phones are the sounds that can distinguish meaning.
16. Phonology is concerned with how the sounds can be classified into different categories.
17. A basic way to determine the phonemes of a language is to see if substituting one sound for another results in a change of meaning.
18. When two different forms are identical in every way except for one sound segment which occurs in the same place in the strings, the two words are said to form a phonemic contrast. 19. The rules governing the phonological patterning are language specific.
20. Distinctive features of sound segments can be found running over a sequence of two or more phonemic segments.
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