语言学练习题chapter1

Chapter One Language

1. Define the following terms

1) discreteness 2) design features

3) arbitrariness 4) duality

5) displacement 6) cultural transmission

7) the imaginative function of language 8) the personal function of language

9) the heuristic function of language 10) language

2. Multiple Choice

Directions: In each question there are four choices. Decide which one would be the best answer to the question or to complete the sentence best.

1) Which of the following words is entirely arbitrary?

A. tree

B. crash

C. typewriter

D. bang

2) The function of the sentence “Water boils at 100 degrees Centigrade” is ________.

A. interrogative

B. directive

C. informative

D.

performative

3) In Chinese when someone breaks a bowl or a plate the host or the people

present are likely to say sui sui ping an (every year be safe and happy) as a means of controlling the forces which the believers feel might affect their lives. Which function does it perform?

A. Interpersonal.

B. Emotive. C Performative. D.

Recreational.

4) Which of the following properties of language enables language users to

overcome the barriers causedby time and place, due to this feature of

language, speakers of a language are free to talk about anything in any situation?

A. interchangeability.

B. Duality.

C. Displacement.

D. Arbitrariness.

5) 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. Peformative.

D.

Interpersonal.

6) Unlike animal communication systems, human language is .

A. stimulus free

B. stimulus bound

C. under immediate stimulus control

D. stimulated by some occurrence of communal interest.

7) Which of the following is the most important function of language?

A. interpersonal function

B. performative function

C. informative function

D. recreational function

8) In different languages, different terms are used to express the animal

“狗”, this shows the nature of --- of human language.

A arbitrariness

B cultural transmission

C displacement

D discreteness

9) Which of the following disciplines are related to applied linguistics?

A. statistics

B. psycholinguistics

C. physics

D. philosophy

10) has been widely accepted as the father of modem linguistics.

A. Chomsky

B. Saussure

C. Bloomfield

D. John Lyons

3. Word Completion

Directions: Fill in the blanks with the most suitable words.

1) Design features, a framework proposed by the American linguist Charles

Hockett, refer to the ________ properties of human language that

distinguishes it from any animal system of communication.

2) ________ refers to the phenomenon that the sounds in a language are

meaningfully distinct. For instance, the difference between the sounds /p/

and /b/ is not actually very great, but when these sounds are part of a

language like English, they are used in such a way that the occurrence of

one rather than the other is meaningful.

3) 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 p_______ or c________.

4) Language has many functions. We can use language to talk about language

itself. This function is m________ function.

5) Cultural transmission refers to the fact that language is c________

transmitted. It is passed on from one generation to the next through teaching

and learning, rather than by i_________.

6) One general principle of linguistic analysis is the primacy of ________ over

writing.

7) The ________ function refers to the use of language to communicate knowledge

about the world, to report events, to make statements, to give accounts,

to explain relationships, to relay messages and so on.

8) The ________ function refers to language used to ensure social maintenance.

Phatic communion is part of it. The term phatic communion introduced by

the anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski refers to language used for

establishing an atmosphere or maintaining social contact rather than for

exchanging facts.

9) Language is a system of arbitrary symbols used for human

Communication.

10) Language has two levels. They are ______ level and ______ level.

11) Language is a ________ because every language consists of a set of rules

which underlie people’s actual speech or writing.

12) The _ function refers to language used in an attempt to control events

once they happen.

13) The design features of language are (1) (2) (3)