新编简明英语语言学教程戴炜栋第1-3章课后练习题答案

《新编简明英语语言学教程》第二版

第

1-3

章 练习题

参考答案

Chapter 1

Introduction

P13

1. How do you interpret the following definition of linguistics: Linguistics is the scientific study of language

？

答：

Linguistics is based on the systematic investigation of linguistic data, conducted with reference to some general theory of

language structure. In order to discover the nature and rules of the underlying language system, the linguists

has to collect and

observe

language

facts

first,

which

are

found

to

display

some

similarities,

and

generalizations

are

made

about

them;

then

he

formulates some hypotheses about the language structure. The hypotheses thus formed have to be checked repeatedly against the

observed

facts

to

fully

prove

their

validity.

In

linguistics,

as

in

any

other

discipline,

data

and

theory

stand

in

a

dialectical

complementation, that is, a theory without the support of data can hardly claim validity, and data without being explained by some

theory remain a muddled mass of things.

2. What are the major branches of linguistics? What does each of them study?

答：

The major branches of linguistics are:

(1) phonetics: it studies the sounds used in linguistic communication;

(2) phonology: it studies how sounds are put together and used to convey meaning in communication;

(3) morphology: it studies the way in which linguistic symbols representing sounds are arranged and combined to form words;

(4)

syntax:

it

studies

the

rules

which

govern

how

words

are

combined

to

form

grammatically

permissible

sentences

in

languages;

(5) semantics: it studies meaning conveyed by language;

(6) pragmatics: it studies the meaning in the context of language use.

3. In what basic ways does modern linguistics differ from traditional grammar?

答：

The general approach thus traditionally formed to the study of language over the years is roughly referred

to as “t

raditional

gramma

r.” Modern linguistics differs from traditional g

rammar in several basic ways.

Firstly, linguistics is descriptive while traditional grammar is prescriptive.

Second, modem linguistics regards the spoken language as primary, not the written. Traditional grammarians, on the other

hand, tended to emphasize, maybe over-emphasize, the importance of the written word, partly because of its permanence.

Then,

modem

linguistics

differs

from

traditional

grammar

also

in

that

it

does

not

force

languages

into

a

Latin-based

framework.

4. Is modern linguistics mainly synchronic or diachronic? Why?

答：

In modem linguistics, a synchronic approach seems to enjoy priority over a diachronic one. Because people believed that

unless the various states of a language in different historical periods are successfully studied, it would be difficult to describe the

changes that have taken place in its historical development.

5. For what reasons does modern linguistics give priority to speech rather than to writing?

答：

Speech and writing are the two major media of linguistic communication. Modem linguistics regards the spoken language

as the natural or the primary medium of human language for some obvious reasons. From the point of view of linguistic evolution,

speech is prior to writing. The writing system of any langu

age is always “invented” by its users to reco

rd speech when the need

arises.

Even

in

today's

world

there

are

still

many

languages

that

can

only

be

spoken

but

not

written.

Then

in

everyday

communication,

speech

plays

a

greater

role

than

writing

in

terms

of

the

amount of

information

conveyed.

And

also,

speech

is

always the way in which every native speaker acquires his mother tongue, and writing is learned and taught later when he goes to

school. For modern linguists, spoken language reveals

many true features of human speech

while written language is only the

“revised” record of spe

ech. Thus their data for investigation and analysis are

mostly drawn

from

everyday speech,

which they

regard as authentic.

1

6.

How

is

Saussure's

distinction

between

langue

and

parole

similar

to

Chomsky's

distinction

between

competence

and

performance?

答：

Saussure's

distinction

and

Chomsky's

are

very

similar,

they

differ

at

least

in

that

Saussure

took

a

sociological

view

of

language and his notion of langue is a matter of social conventions, and Chomsky looks at language from a psychological point of

view and to him competence is a property of the mind of each individual.

7. What characteristics of language do you think should be included in a good, comprehensive definition of language?

答：

First of all, language is a system, i.e., elements of language are combined according to rules.

Second, language is arbitrary in

the sense that there is no intrinsic connection between a linguistic symbol and what the

symbol stands for.

Third, language is vocal because the primary medium for all languages is sound.

Fourth, language is human-specific, i. e., it is very different from the communication systems other forms of life possess.

8.

What are the main features of human language that have been specified by C. Hockett to show that it is essentially

different from animal communication system?

2

．

2

语言的识别性特征）

美国语言学家

C.

Hockett

提出了人类语言的

1 2

种识别性特征，

其中最重要的识别性特种有

< br>5

种：

即语言的任意性、创造 性、二重性、移位性和文化传递性。这些特征是所有人类语言所共有的。人类语

言的识别 性特征是动物“语言”所不具有的。

1

）

任意性 ：它指音与义之间没有逻辑联系。比如说，不同的语言使用不同的音指相同的事物。

2

）

创造性 ：

语言的创造性主要表现在语言使用者能够以有限的语言规则为基础说出和理解无限的< /p>

句子，包括他们以前从没有听说过的句子。

3

）

二重性 ：

它指语言在结构上存在两个层次：

低层次和高层次。

在低层次是一个个没有意义的音，

如

/p/,/ g/,/i/

等，但是这些处在低层次的没有意义的音可以依照一定的语言规则结合在一 起

形成语言体系的高层次，即：有意义的单位，如词素，单词等。

4

）

移位性：

移位性指人类可以使用语言来谈论过去的事情，现在的事情或将来的事情；

语言也可

以用来谈论我们客观世界中的事情，或假想世界中的事情。 总之，语言的使用可以脱离交际的

直接情景语境，从而不受语言时空距离的影响。

5

）

文化传递性：

文化的传递性是指，

虽然人类习得 语言的能力有遗传因素的原因，

但是语言体系

具体内容的习得不 是通过遗传来传递的，而是要通过后天的学习来获得。

答：

The main features of human language are termed design features. They include:

1) Arbitrariness

Language is arbitrary. This means that there is no logical connection between meanings and sounds

. A good example

is the fact that different sounds are used to refer to the same object in different languages.

2) Productivity

Language is productive or creative in that it makes possible the construction and interpretation of new signals by its

users.

This is why they can produce and understand an infinitely large number of sentences, including sentences they have never

heard before.

3) Duality

Language consists of two

sets of structures, or two levels. At the lower or the basic level there is a structure of sounds,

which are meaningless by themselves. But the sounds of language can be grouped and regrouped into a large number of units of

meaning, which are found at the higher level of the system.

4) Displacement

2

Language can be used to refer to things which are present or not present, real or imagined matters in the past, present, or

future, or in far-away places. In other words, language can be used to refer to contexts removed from the immediate situations of

the

speaker. This is what “displacement” means.

5) Cultural transmission

While human capacity for language has a genetic basis, i.e.,

we were all born with the ability to acquire language,

the

details of any language system are not genetically transmitted,

but

instead have

to be taught and learned.

9. What are the major functions of language? Think of your own examples for illustration.

答：

Three

main

functions

are

often

recognized

of

language:

the

descriptive

function,

the

expressive

function,

and

the

social

function.

The descriptive function is the function to convey factual information, which can be asserted or denied, and in some cases

even verified. For example:

“

China is a large country with a long history.

”

The expressive function supplies information about the user

?

s feelings, preferences, prejudices, and values. For example:

“

I

will never go window-shopping with her.

”

The

social

function

serves

to

establish

and

maintain

social

relations

between

people. .

For

example:

“

We

are

your

firm

supporters.

”

Chapter 2

Phonology

P30

1. What are the two major media of linguistic communication? Of the two, which one is primary and why?

答：

Speech and writing are the two major media of linguistic communication.

Of

the

two

media

of

language,

speech

is

more

primary

than

writing,

for

reasons,

please

refer

to

the

answer

to

the

fifth

problem in the last chapter.

2. What is voicing and how is it caused?

答：

V

oicing

is

a

quality

of

speech

sounds

and

a

feature

of

all

vowels

and

some

consonants

in

English.

It

is

caused

by

the

vibration of the vocal cords.

3. Explain with examples how broad transcription and narrow transcription differ?

答：

The

transcription

with

letter-symbols

only

is

called

broad

transcription.

This

is

the

transcription

normally

used

in

dictionaries

and

teaching

textbooks

for

general

purposes.

The

latter,

i.e.

the

transcription

with

letter-symbols

together

with

the

diacritics

is

called narrow

transcription.

This

is

the

transcription needed

and used

by

the phoneticians

in

their

study

of

speech

sounds. With the help of the diacritics they can faithfully represent as much of the fine details as it is necessary for their purpose.

In broad transcription, the symbol [l] is used for the sounds [l] in the four words

leaf

[li:f],

feel

[fi:l],

build

[bild], and

health

[hel

θ]. As

a matter of fact, the sound [l] in all these four sound combinations differs slightly. The [l] in [li:f], occurring before a

vowel, is called a dear [l], and no diacritic is needed to indicate it; the [1] in [fi:l] and [bild], occurring at the end of a word or

before another consonant, is pronounced differently from the clear [1] as in “leaf”. It is called dark

[

?

] and in narrow transcription

the diacritic [

?

] is used to indicate it. Then in the sound combination [helθ], the sound [

l] is followed by the English dental sound

[θ],

its

pronunciation

is

somewhat

affected

by

the

dental

sound

that

follows

it.

It

is

thus

called

a

dental

[l],

and

in

narrow

transcription the diacritic [

、

] is used to indicate it. It is transcribed as [hel

θ].

Another example is the consonant [p]. We all know that [p] is pronounced differently in the two words

pit

and

spit

. In the

word pit, the sound [p] is pronounced with a strong puff of air, but in

spit

the puff of air is withheld to some extent. In the case of

pit

, the [p] sound is said to be aspirated and in the case of spit, the [p] sound is unaspirated. This difference is not shown in broad

transcription, but in narrow transc

ription, a small raised “h” is used to show aspiration, thus

pit is transcribed as [p

h

?

t] and spit is

transcribed as [sp

?

t].

4. How are the English consonants classified?

3