胡壮麟《语言学教程》测试题精华(附答案)

胡壮麟《语言学教程》

（修订版）测试题

Chapter 7 Language, Culture and Society[

注：第六章无测试题

]

I.

Choose the best answer. (20%)

1.

_______

is

concerned

with

the

social

significance

of

language

variation

and

language

use

in

different speech communities.

A. Psycholinguistics

B. Sociolinguistics

C. Applied linguistics

D. General linguistics

2.

The most distinguishable linguistic feature of a regional dialect is its __________.

A. use of words

B. use of structures

C. accent

D. morphemes

3.

__________ is speech variation according to the particular area where a speaker comes from.

A. Regional variation

B. Language variation

C. Social variation

D. Register variation

4.

_______ are the major source of regional variation of language.

A. Geographical barriers

B. Loyalty to and confidence in one’s native speech

C. Physical discomfort and psychological resistance to change

D. Social barriers

5.

_________

means

that

certain

authorities,

such

as

the

government

choose,

a

particular

speech

variety, standardize it and spread the use of it across regional boundaries.

A. Language interference

B. Language changes

C. Language planning

D. Language transfer

6.

_________ in a person’s speech or writing usually ranges on a continuum from casual or colloquial

to formal or polite according to the type of communicative situation.

A. Regional variation

B. Changes in emotions

C. Variation in connotations

D. Stylistic variation

7.

A ____ is a variety of language that serves as a medium of communication among groups of people

for diverse linguistic backgrounds.

A. lingua franca

B. register

C. Creole

D. national language

8.

Although

_______

are

simplified

languages

with

reduced

grammatical

features,

they

are

rule- governed, like any human language.

A. vernacular languages

B. creoles

C. pidgins

D. sociolects

9.

In normal situations, ____ speakers tend to use more prestigious forms than their ____ counterparts

with the same social background.

A. female; male

B. male; female

C. old; young

D. young; old

10.

A linguistic _______ refers to a word or expression that is prohibited by the “polite” society from

general use.

A. slang

B. euphemism

C. jargon

D. taboo

II.

Decide whether the following statements are true or false. (10%)

11.

Language as a means of social communication is a homogeneous system with a homogeneous group

of speakers.

12.

The goal of sociolinguistics is to explore the nature of language variation and language use among a

variety of speech communities and in different social situations.

13.

From the sociolinguistic perspective, the term “speech variety” can no

t be used to refer to standard

language, vernacular language, dialect or pidgin.

14.

The

most

distinguishable

linguistic

feature

of

a

regional

dialect

is

its

grammar

and

uses

of

vocabulary.

15.

A person’s social backgrounds do not exert a shaping inf

luence on his choice of linguistic features.

16.

Every speaker of a language is, in a stricter sense, a speaker of a distinct idiolect.

17.

A lingua franca can only be used within a particular country for communication among groups of

people with different linguistic backgrounds.

18.

A pidgin usually reflects the influence of the higher, or dominant, language in its lexicon and that of

the lower language in their phonology and occasionally syntax.

19.

Bilingualism and diglossia mean the same thing.

20.

The

use

of

euphemisms

has

the

effect

of

removing

derogatory

overtones

and

the

disassociative

effect as such is usually long-lasting.

III. Fill in the blanks. (20%)

21. The social group isolated for any given study is called the speech __________.

22.

Speech

__________

refers

to

any

distinguishable

form

of

speech

used

by

a

speaker

or

group

of

speakers.

23.

From

the

sociolinguistic

perspective,

a

speech

variety

is

no

more

than

a

__________

variety

of

a

language.

24. Language standardization is also called language __________.

25. Social variation gives rise to __________ which are subdivisible into smaller speech categories that

reflect their socioeconomic, educational, occupational background, etc.

26. __________ variation in a person’s speec

h or writing usually ranges on a continuum from casual or

colloquial to formal or polite according to the type of communicative situation.

27. A regional dialect may gain status and become standardized as the national or __________ language

of a country.

28. The standard language is a __________, socially prestigious dialect of language.

29. Language varieties other than the standard are called nonstandard, or __________ languages.

30. A pidgin typically lacks in __________ morphemes.

IV

.

Explain the following terms, using examples. (20%)

31.

Lingua franca32.

Regional dialect33.

Register34.

Sociolinguistics

V

.

Answer the following questions. (20%)

35.

Is American English superior to African English? Why or why not?

2003

）

36. If we take it as rule that language is intimately related to culture, then how do the kinship words, such

as uncle and aunt, reflect the cultural differences between English and Chinese?

（东北师范大学，

2004

）

VI. Analyze the following situation. (20%)

n the differences between registers and regional/social dialects. Give examples if necessary.

（

东

北师范大 学，

2005

）

答案

I.1~5 BCAAC

6~10 DACADII.11~15 FTFFF

16~20 TFTFF

III.21.

community 22.

variety23.

dialectal

ng25.

sociolects

26.

Stylistic27.

official

28.

superposed29. vernacular 30. inflectional

IV

.31.

Lingua franca: A lingua franca is a variety of language that serves as a common speech for social

contact among groups of people who speaks different native languages or dialects.

32.

Regional

dialect:

Regional

dialect,

also

social

or

class

dialect,

is

a

speech

variety

spoken

by

the

members of a particular group or stratum of a speech community.

33.

Register:

Register,

also

situational

dialect,

refers

to

the

language

variety

appropriate

for

use

in

particular speech situations on which degrees of formality depends.

34.

Sociolinguistics: Defined in its broadest way, sociolinguistics, a subdiscipline of linguistics, is the

study of language in relation to society. It is concerned with language variation, language use, the impact

of extra- linguistic factors on language use, etc.

V

.an

English

is

not

superior

to

African

English.

As

different

branches

of

English,

African

English

and

American

English

are

equal.

Similar

as

they

are,

they

are

influenced

by

their

respective

cultural context and thus form respective systems of pronunciation, words and even grammar.

36.

In China, Chinese has a more strict and complex relationship system. So in Chinese there are a lot

more kinship words than in English.

VI.37.(Omit.)

Chapter 8 Language in Use

I.

Choose the best answer. (20%)

1.

What

essentially

distinguishes

semantics

and

pragmatics

is

whether

in

the

study

of

meaning

_________ is considered.

A. reference

B. speech act

C. practical usage

D. context

2.

A sentence is a _________ concept, and the meaning of a sentence is often studied in isolation.

A. pragmatic

B. grammatical

C. mental

D. conceptual

3.

If we think of a sentence as what people actually utter in the course of communication, it becomes a

(n) _________.

A. constative

B. directive

C. utterance

D. expressive

4.

Which of the following is true?

A. Utterances usually do not take the form of sentences.

B. Some utterances cannot be restored to complete sentences.

C. No utterances can take the form of sentences.

D. All utterances can be restored to complete sentences.

5.

Speech act theory did not come into being until __________.

A. in the late 50’s of the 20the century

B. in the early 1950’s

C. in the late 1960’s

D. in the early 21st century

6.

__________ is the act performed by or resulting from saying something; it is the consequence of, or

the change brought about by the utterance.

A. A locutionary act

B. An illocutionary act

C. A perlocutionary act

D. A performative act

7.

According to Searle, the illocutionary point of the representative is ______.

A. to get the hearer to do something

B. to commit the speaker to something’s being the case

C. to commit the speaker to some future course of action

D. to express the feelings or attitude towards an existing state of affairs

8.

All the acts that belong to the same category share the same purpose, but they differ __________.

A. in their illocutionary acts

B. in their intentions expressed

C. in their strength or force

D. in their effect brought about

9.

__________ is advanced by Paul Grice

A. Cooperative Principle

B. Politeness Principle

C. The General Principle of Universal Grammar

D. Adjacency Principle

10.

When any of the maxims under the cooperative principle is flouted, _______ might arise.

A. impoliteness

B. contradictions

C. mutual understanding

D. conversational implicatures

II.

Decide whether the following statements are true or false. (10%)

11.

Pragmatics treats the meaning of language as something intrinsic and inherent.

12.

It would be impossible to give an adequate description of meaning if the context of language use

was left unconsidered.

13.

What

essentially

distinguishes

semantics

and

pragmatics

is

whether

in

the

study

of

meaning

the

context of use is considered.

14.

The major difference between a sentence and an utterance is that a sentence is not uttered while an

utterance is.

15.

The meaning of a sentence is abstract, but context- dependent.

16.

The meaning of an utterance is decontexualized, therefore stable.

17.

Utterances always take the form of complete sentences

18.

Speech act theory was originated with the British philosopher John Searle.

19.

Speech act theory started in the late 50’s of the 20th century.

20.

Austin made the distinction between a constative and a performative.

III. Fill in the blanks. (20%)

21.

The notion of __________ is essential to the pragmatic study of language.

22.

If we think of a sentence as what people actually utter in the course of communication, it becomes

an __________.

23.

The meaning of a sentence is __________, and decontexualized.

24.

__________ were statements that either state or describe, and were thus verifiable.

25.

__________ were sentences that did not state a fact or describe a state, and were not verifiable.

26.

A(n) __________ act is the act of uttering words, phrases, clauses. It is the act of conveying literal

meaning by means of syntax, lexicon and phonology.

27.

A(n)

__________

act

is

the

act

of

expressing

the

speaker’s

intention;

it

is

the

act

performed

in

saying something.

28.

A(n) _________ is commit the speaker himself to some future course of action.

29.

A(n) ________ is to express feelings or attitude towards an existing state.

30.

There are four maxims under the cooperative principle: the maxim of __________, the maxim of

quality, the maxim of relation and the maxim of manner.

IV

.

Explain the following terms, using examples. (20%)

31.

Conversational implicature32.

Performative33.

Locutionary act34.

Q-principle (Horn)

V

.

Answer the following questions. (20%)

35.

Explain the following remarks with examples or make some comments.

“Both

semantics

and

pragmatics

are

concerned

with

meaning,

but

the

difference

between

them

can

be

traced to two different uses of the verb mean: (a) What does X mean? (b) What did you mean by X?”

（东

北 师范大学，

2006

）

36.

Do you think B is cooperative in the following dialogue? Support your argument with Cooperative

Principle.

（南开大学，

2004

）

A: When is the bus coming?

B: There has been an accident further up the road.

VI. Analyze the following situation. (20%)

37.

What is the function of context in communication? Try to explain the following utterances

rather

than just state facts.(1)

The room is messy.(2)

It would be good if she had a green skirt on.

Key:I.1~5 DBCBA

6~10 CBCADII.11~15 FTTFF 16~20 FFFTT

III.21.

context 22.

utterance

23.

abstract

24.

Constatives25.

Performatives 26.

locutionary 27.

illocutionary

28. commissive

29. expressive

30. quantity

IV

.31.

Conversational implicature: In our daily life, speakers and listeners involved in conversation are

generally cooperating with each other. In other words, when people are talking with each other, they must

try

to

converse

smoothly

and

successfully.

In

accepting

speakers’

presuppositions,

listeners

have

to

assume that a speaker is not trying to mislead them. This sense

of cooperation is simply one in

which

people having a conversation are not normally assumed to be trying to confuse, trick, or withhold relevant

information from one another. However, in real communication, the intention of the speaker is often not

the literal meaning of what he or she says. The real intention implied in the words is called conversational

implicature.

32.

Performative:

In

speech

act

theory

an

utterance

which

performs

an

act,

such

as

Watch

out

(=

a

warning).

33.

Locutionary

act:

A

locutionary

act

is

the

saying

of

something

which

is

meaningful

and

can

be

understood.

34.

Horn’s Q

-principle: (1) Make your contribution sufficient (cf. quantity); (2) Say as much as you can

(given R).

V

.35.

Pragmatics

is

the

study

of

the

use

of

language

in

communication,

particularly

the

relationships

between sentences and the contexts and situations in which they are used. Pragmatics includes the study

of

(1)

How the interpretation and use of utterances depends on knowledge of the real world;

(2)

How speakers use and understand speech acts;

(3)

How the structure of sentences is influenced by the relationship between the speaker and the hearer.

Pragmatics is sometimes contrasted with semantics, which deals with meaning without reference to

the users and communicative functions of sentences.

36.

Yes, B is cooperative. On the face of it, B’s statement is not an answer to A’s question. B doesn’t say

“when.” However, A will immediately interpret the statement as meaning “I don’t know”

or “I am not

sure.” Just assume that B is being “relevant” and “informative.” Given that B’s answer contains relevant

information, A can work out that “an accident further up the road” conventionally involves “traffic jam,”

and “traffic jam” preludes “bus

coming.” Thus, B’s answer is not simply a statement of “when the bus

comes”; it contains an implicature concerning “when

the bus comes.”

occurs before and / or after a word, a phrase or even a longer utterance or a text. The context

often helps in understanding the particular meaning of the word, phrase, etc.

The context may also be the broader social situation in which a linguistic item is used.

(1)

a.

A mild criticism of someone who should have cleaned the room.

b.

In a language class where a student made a mistake, for he intended to say “tidy.”

c.

The room was wanted for a meeting.

(2)

a.

A

mild

way

to

express

disagreement

with

someone

who

has

complimented

on

a

lady’s

appearance.

b.

A regret that the customer had not taken the dress.

c.

That she wore a red shirt was not in agreement with the custom on the occasion.

Chapter 12 Theories and Schools of Modern Linguistics

I.

Choose the best answer. (20%)

1.

The person who is of

ten described as “father of modern linguistics” is __________..