简明语言学教程1

考试题型：

1 Blank- filling(20%

每题

1

分

)

时间：

20

Fill in the following blanks with a word whose iniyial letter has been given

例：

Linguistics is the systematic study of

l________

II Multiple choice (

20%

每题

1

分

)

时间：

20

例：

The following sounds belong to the same natural class except ____.

A. [g]

B. [p]

C. [b]

D. [d]

III True or false judgement (20%

每题

2

分

)

时间：

10

Judge

whether

the

following

statements

are

true

or

false.

Write

T

in

the

corresponding

bracket for a true statement and F for a false one.

例：

( ) Phonetics studies the functioning of the speech sounds.

IV

. Give a short answer of no more than 50 words to each of the following questions.(25%,

每题

5

分

)

时间：

50

例：

Explain the feature of displacement in human language.

V

. Writing a passage of 100-150 words on the following topic (15%)

时间：

50

例：

With examples, give one plausible explanation for linguistic change.

Chapter 1

Introduction

1.1 What is linguistics?

1.1.1 Definition

----

scientific study of language

----a discipline which describes lang in all its respects (e.g. its system, its internal structure, its

social functions, its use and its historical development) and formulates theories as to how it works.

1.1.2

The scope of linguistics

page2-3

General linguistics:

----phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics. Pragmatics.

Phonetics

----the study of speech sounds of human lang.

Phonology

---the study of the distinctive sound units of a language and their relations.

Morphology--

the internal structure of words, and the processes of word formation

Syntax

-----the study of the rules governing the way words are combined to sentences in a lang.

Semantics----

the study of meaning in language, including the analysis of word meaning and sen

meaning as well.

Pragmatics

-----the study of the use of language in communication, or the relationship between

linguistic elements and the contexts or situations in which they are used.

Sociolinguis tics

—

Psycholinguistics

—

Applied Linguistics

1.1.3 Some important distinctions in linguistics

Ferdnard de Saussure----Noam Chomsky

1) Prescriptive vs. descriptive

2) Synchronic vs. diachronic

3) Speech and writing

4) Langue and parole

5) Competence and performance

6) Traditional grammar and modern linguistics

Features of Modern linguistics

----priority is given to spoken language;

----focus is on synchronic study of contemporary language than in the study of the evolution of

languages;

----modern linguistics is descriptive rather than prescriptive in nature;

----it is theoretically rather than pedagogically oriented.

1.2 What is Language?

1.2.1 Definition of language

Wardhaugh

in his

（语言是用于人类交际的、任意的、有声的符号系统）

1.2.2 Design features

1) Arbitrariness---There is no logical (intrinsic or direct) connection between the sound/sign and

meaning, between the word and its object, between the grammar and the meaning it carries;

or the forms of linguistic signs bear no natural relationship to their meaning.

第一、不同的语言符号可代表相同的意义

Example see textbook

P10

A building we live in with our family is called house in English, maison in

French, dom in

Russion, casa in Spanish.

In Chinese, we use

爸爸、爹、父亲

to refer to our male parent.

冬瓜

(white gourd)

（夏天吃的）

北戴河

is not a river

中南海

is not a sea.

However,

language

is

not

entirely

arbitrary;

there

are

cases

where

there

seems

to

be

some

association between sounds and meaning, e.g.

Onomatopoetic words: P10

Some compound words:

tractor driver

shoe-maker

The other side of the coin of arbitrariness is conventionality. The link between linguistic sign and

its meaning is a matter of convention.

A pair of trousers----

一条裤子

A pair of shirts---

两件衬衣

I saw him last night. *yesterday night

I saw him last evening/yesterday evening

I saw him yesterday morning/afternoon. *last morning/afternoon

Go shopping

*go buying

go hunting

2) Duality---- the property of language with two levels of structure, one of sounds (lower level)

and the other of meaning (higher level).At the lower level there is a structure of sounds,

which

are

meaningless and which can be grouped and

regrouped

into a large number of

units

of

meaning

such

as

morphemes

and

words.

At

the

higher

level,

the

units

of

meaning

can

be

grouped and regrouped into an infinite number of sentences.

Phoneme

< br>—

morpheme

—

word s

—

phrase

—

< br>clause

—

sentence