英语语言学习题与答案

Chapter 1 Introductions to Linguistics

I. Choose the best answer. (20%)

1. Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human

__________

A. contact

B. communication

C. relation

D. community

2. Which of the following words is entirely arbitrary?

A. tree

B. typewriter

C. crash

D. bang

3. The function of the sentence “Water boils at 100 degrees Centigrade.”is

__________.

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?

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 situation?

A. Transferability

B. Duality

C. Displacement

D. Arbitrariness

6. Study the following dialogue. What function does it play according to the functions of language?

—A nice day, isn’t it?

—Right! I really enjoy the sunlight.

A. Emotive

B. Phatic

C. Performative

D. Interpersonal

7. __________ 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 __________.

A. cultural transmission

B. productivity

C. displacement

D. duality

9. __________ answers such questions as how we as infants acquire our first language.

A. Psycholinguistics

B.Anthropological linguistics

C. Sociolinguistics

D. Applied linguistics

10. __________ 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.

12. Language change is universal, ongoing and arbitrary.

13. Speaking is the quickest and most efficient way of the human communication systems.

14. Language is written because writing is the primary medium for all languages.

15. We were all born with the ability to acquire language, which means the details of any

language system can be genetically transmitted.

16. Only human beings are able to communicate.

17. F. de Saussure, who made the distinction between langue and parole in the early 20th century, was a French linguist.

18. A study of the features of the English used in Shakespeare’s time is an example of the diachronic study of language.

19. Speech and writing came into being at much the same time in human history.

20. All the languages in the world today have both spoken and written forms.

III. Fill in the blanks. (10%)

21. Language, broadly speaking, is a means of __________ 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 __________.

23. Language has many functions. We can use language to talk about itself. This function is __________.

24. Theory that primitive man made involuntary vocal noises while performing heavy work has been called the __________ theory.

25. Linguistics is the __________ study of language.

26. Modern linguistics is __________ 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 __________ over writing.

28. The description of a language as it changes through time is a __________ study.

29. Saussure put forward two important concepts. __________ refers 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 __________.

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. scientific 26. descriptive

27. speech 28. diachronic linguistic

29. langue 30. competence

IV.

31. Design feature: It refers to the defining properties of human language that tell the difference between human language and any system of animal communication.

32. Displacement: It means that human languages enable their users to symbolize objects, events and concepts, which are not present (in time and space) at the moment of communication.

33. Competence: It is an essential part of performance. It is the speaker’s knowledge of his or her language; that is, of its sound structure, its words, and its grammatical rules. Competence is, in a way, an encyclopedia of language. Moreover, the knowledge involved in competence is generally unconscious. A transformational-generative grammar is a model of competence.

34. Synchronic linguistics: It refers to the study of a language at a given point in time. The time studied may be either the present or a particular point in the past; synchronic analyses can also be made of dead languages, such as Latin. Synchronic linguistics is contrasted with diachronic linguistics, the study of a language over a period of time.

V.

35.

Duality makes our language productive. A large number of different units can be formed out of a small number of elements –for instance, tens of thousands of words out of a small set of sounds, around 48 in the case of the English language. And out of the huge number of words, there can be astronomical number of possible sentences and phrases, which in turn can combine to form unlimited number of texts. Most animal communication systems do not have this design feature of human language.

If language has no such design feature, then it will be like animal communicational system which will be highly limited. It cannot produce a very large number of sound combinations, e.g. words, which are distinct in meaning.

36.

It is difficult to define language, as it is such a general term that covers too many things. Thus, definitions for it all have their own special emphasis, and are not totally free from limitations.

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