generallinguistics普通语言学简介

Linguistics语言学，the study of human language。

包括Theoretical linguistics，Applied linguistics，Sociolinguistics，Cognitive linguistics和Historical linguistics。

这里主要考Theoretical linguistics，包括:
1.Lexis词汇学, the study of what is a word and where words come from
2.Semantics语义学，the study of meaning in a language
3.Phonetics语音学，the study of speech sounds (voice).
4.Phonology音位学/音系学,the study of how sounds are put together and used to convey meaning in communication
5.Morphology形态学，the study of the structure and form of words and phrases
6.Syntax句法学，the study of the rules, or "patterned relations" that govern the way the words in a sentence come together，与morphology形态学并称grammer语法学
7.Stylistics文体学，the study of style used in literary, and verbal language and the effect the writer/speaker wishes to communicate to the reader/hearer.
8.Pragmatics语用学，generally the study of natural language understanding, and specifically the study of how context influences the interpretation of meanings.
补充：general linguistics, the study of the structure and development of language in general
Chapter 1 Introduction
Ⅰ. Decide whether each of the following statements is True or False:
1. Linguistics is generally defined as the scientific study of language. T
2. Linguistics studies particular language, not languages in general. F
3. A scientific study of language is based on what the linguist thinks. F
4. In the study of linguistics, hypotheses formed should be based on language facts and checked against the observed facts. T
5. General linguistics is generally the study of language as a whole. T
6. General linguistics, which relates itself to the research of other areas, studies the basic concepts, theories, descriptions, models and methods applicable in any linguistic study. T
7. Phonetics is different from phonology in that the latter studies the combinations of the sounds to convey meaning in communication. T
8. Morphology studies how words can be formed to produce meaningful sentences. F
9. The study of the ways in which morphemes can be combined to form words is called morphology. T
10. Syntax is different from morphology in that the former not only studies the morphemes, but also the combination of morphemes into words and words into sentences. T
11. The study of meaning in language is known as semantics. T
12. Both semantics and pragmatics study meanings. T
13. Pragmatics is different from semantics in that pragmatics studies meaning not in isolation, but in context. T
14. Social changes can often bring about language changes. T
15. Sociolinguistics is the study of language in relation to society. T
16. Modern linguistics is mostly prescriptive, but sometimes descriptive. T
17. Modern linguistics is different from traditional grammar.
18. A diachronic study of language is the description of language at some point in time. T
19. Modern linguistics regards the written language as primary, not the written language.
20. The distinction between competence and performance was proposed by F. de Saussure. F
Ⅱ. Fill in each of the following blanks with one word which begins with the letter given:
21. Chomsky defines “competence” as the ideal user’s k__________ of the rules of his language.
22. Langue refers to the a__________ linguistic system shared by all the members of a speech
community while the parole is the concrete use of the conventions and application of the rules.
23. D_________ is one of the design features of human language which refers to the phenomenon that language consists of two levels: a lower level of meaningless individual sounds and a higher level of meaningful units.
24. Language is a system of a_________ vocal symbols used for human communication.
25. The discipline that studies the rules governing the formation of words into permissible sentences in languages is called s________.
26. Human capacity for language has a g_______ basis, but the details of language have to be taught and learned.
27. P _______ refers to the realization of langue in actual use.
28. Findings in linguistic studies can often be applied to the settlement of some practical problems. The study of such applications is generally known as a________ linguistics.
29. Language is p___________ in that it makes possible the construction and interpretation of new signals by its users. In other words, they can produce and understand an infinitely large number of sentences which they have never heard before.
30. Linguistics is generally defined as the s _______ study of language.
Ⅲ. There are four choices following each statement. Mark the choice that can best complete the statement: 31. If a linguistic study describes and analyzes the language people actually use, it is said to be _______.
A. prescriptive
B. analytic
C. descriptive
D. linguistic
32. Which of the following is not a design feature of human language?
A. Arbitrariness
B. Displacement
C. Duality
D. Meaningfulness
33. Modern linguistics regards the written language as _______.
A. primary
B. correct
C. secondary
D. stable
34. In modern linguistics, speech is regarded as more basic than writing, because _______.
A. in linguistic evolution, speech is prior to writing
B. speech plays a greater role than writing in terms of the amount of information conveyed
C. speech is always the way in which every native speaker acquires his mother tongue
D. All of the above
35. A historical study of language is a _______ study of language.
A. synchronic
B. diachronic
C. prescriptive
D. comparative
36. Saussure took a(n) _______ view of language, while Chomsky looks at language from a ________ point of view.
A. sociological…psychological
B. psychological…sociological
C. applied…pragmatic
D.semantic…linguistic
37. According to F. de Saussure, _______ refers to the abstract linguistic system shared by all the mem- bers of a speech community.
A. parole
B. performance
C. langue
D. Language
38. Language is said to be arbitrary because there is no logical connection between _______ and meanings.
A. sense
B. sounds
C. objects
D. ideas
39. Language can be used to refer to contexts removed from the immediate situations of the speaker. This feature is called _______,
A. displacement
B. duality
C. flexibility
D. cultural transmission
40. The details of any language system is passed on from one generation to the next through _______, rather than by instinct.
A. learning
B. teaching
C. books
D. both A and B
Ⅳ. Define the following terms:
41. Linguistics
42. Phonology
43. Syntax
44. Pragmatics
45. Psycholinguistics
46. Language
47. Phonetics
48. Morphology
49. Semantics
50. Sociolinguistics
51. Applied Linguistics
52. Arbitrariness
53. Productivity
54. Displacement
55. Duality
56. Design Features
57. Competence
58. Performance
59. Langue
60. Parole
Ⅴ. Answer the following questions as comprehensively as possible. Give examples for illustration if necessary:
61. Language is generally defined as a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human commu- nication. Explain it in detail.
62. What are the design features of human language? Illustrate them with examples.
63. How is modern linguistics different from traditional grammar?
64. How do you understand the distinction between a synchronic study and a diachronic study?
65. Why does modern linguistics regard the spoken form of language as primary, not the written?
66. What are the major distinctions between langue and parole?
67. How do you understand competence and performance?
68. Saussure’s distinction between langue and parole seems similar to Chomsky’s distinction between competence and performance. What do you think are their major differences?
69. Do you think human language is entirely arbitrary? Why?
Chapter 2 Phonology
Ⅰ. Decide whether each of the following statements is True or False:
1. V oicing is a phonological feature that distinguishes meaning in both Chinese and English.
2. If two phonetically similar sounds occur in the same environments and they distinguish meaning, they are said to be in complementary distribution.
3. A phone is a phonetic unit that distinguishes meaning.
4. English is a tone language while Chinese is not.
5. In linguistic evolution, speech is prior to writing.
6. In everyday communication, speech plays a greater role than writing in terms of the amount of information conveyed.
7. Articulatory phonetics tries to describe the physical properties of the stream of sounds which a speaker issues with the help of a machine called spectrograph.
8. The articulatory apparatus of a human being are contained in three important areas: the throat, the mouth and the chest.
9. Vibration of the vocal cords results in a quality of speech sounds called voicing.
10. English consonants can be classified in terms of place of articulation and the part of the tongue that is raised the highest.
11. According to the manner of articulation, some of the types into which the consonants can be classified are stops, fricatives, bilabial and alveolar.
12. V owel sounds can be differentiated by a number of factors: the position of tongue in the mouth, the openness of the mouth, the shape of the lips, and the length of the vowels.
13. According to the shape of the lips, vowels can be classified into close vowels, semi-close vowels, semi-open vowels and open vowels.
14. Any sound produced by a human being is a phoneme.
15. Phones are the sounds that can distinguish meaning.
16. Phonology is concerned with how the sounds can be classified into different categories.
17. A basic way to determine the phonemes of a language is to see if substituting one sound for another results in a change of meaning.
18. When two different forms are identical in every way except for one sound segment which occurs in the same place in the strings, the two words are said to form a phonemic contrast.
19. The rules governing the phonological patterning are language specific.
20. Distinctive features of sound segments can be found running over a sequence of two or more phonemic segments.
Ⅱ. Fill in each of the following blanks with one word which begins with the letter given:
21. A_______ refers to a strong puff of air stream in the production of speech sounds.
22. A_______ phonetics describes the way our speech organs work to produce the speech sounds and how they differ.
23. The four sounds /p/, /b/, /m/ and /w/ have one feature in common, i.e., they are all b_______ sounds.
24. Of all the speech organs, the t_______ is the most flexible, and is responsible for varieties of articulation than any other.
25. English consonants can be classified in terms of manner of articulation or in terms of p_______ of articulation.
26. When the obstruction created by the speech organs is total or complete, the speech sound produced with the obstruction audibly released and the air passing out again is called a s________.
27. S_________ features are the phonemic features that occur above the level of the segments. They include stress, tone, intonation, etc.
28. The rules that govern the combination of sounds in a particular language are called s_______ rules.
29. The transcription of speech sounds with letter-symbols only is called broad transcription while the transcription with letter-symbols together with the diacritics is called n_________ transcription.
30. When pitch, stress and sound length are tied to the sentence rather than the word in isolation, they are collectively known as i_________.
31. P___________ is a discipline which studies the system of sounds of a particular language and how sounds are combined into meaningful units to effect linguistic communication.
32. The articulatory apparatus of a human being are contained in three importa nt cavities: the pharyngeal
cavity, the o_______ cavity and the nasal cavity.
33. T_______ are pitch variations, which are caused by the differing rates of vibration of the vocal cords and which can distinguish meaning just like phonemes.
34. Depending on the context in which stress is considered, there are two kinds of stress: word stress and s_________ stress.
Ⅲ. There are four choices following each statement. Mark the choice that can best complete the statement: 35 Of all the speech organs, the _______ is/are the most flexible.
A. mouth
B. lips
C. tongue
D. vocal cords
36. The sounds produced without the vocal cords vibrating are ____ sounds.
A. voiceless
B. voiced
C. vowel
D. consonantal
37. __________ is a voiced alveolar stop.
A. /z/
B. /d/
C. /k/
D. /b/
38. The assimilation rule assimilates one sound to another by “copying”a feature of a sequential phoneme, thus making the two phones ____________.
A. identical
B. same
C. exactly alike
D. similar
39. Since /p/ and /b/ are phonetically similar, occur in the same environments and they can distinguish meaning, they are said to be ___________.
A. in phonemic contrast
B. in complementary distribution
C. the allophones
D. minimal pair
40. The sound /f/ is _________________.
A. voiced palatal affricate
B. voiced alveolar stop
C. voiceless velar fricative
D. voiceless labiodental fricative
41. A ____ vowel is one that is produced with the front part of the tongue maintaining the highest position.
A. back
B. central
C. front
D. middle
42. Distinctive features can be found running over a sequence of two or more phonemic segments. The phonemic features that occur above the level of the segments are called _______.
A. phonetic components
B. immediate constituents
C. suprasegmental features
D. semantic features
43. A(n) ___________ is a unit that is of distinctive value. It is an abstract unit, a collection of distinctive phonetic features.
A. phone
B. sound
C. allophone
D. phoneme
44.The different phones which can represent a phoneme in different phonetic environments are called the ____ of that phoneme.
A. phones
B. sounds
C. phonemes
D. allophones
Ⅳ. Define the terms below:
45. phonology
46. phoneme
47. allophone
48. international phonetic alphabet 49. intonation 50. phonetics
51. auditory phonetics
52. acoustic phonetics
53. phone
54. phonemic contrast
55. tone
56. minimal pair
Ⅴ. Answer the following questions as comprehensively as possible. Give examples for illustration if necessary:
57. Of the two media of language, why do you think speech is more basic than writing?
58. What are the criteria that a linguist uses in classifying vowels?
59. What are the major differences between phonology and phonetics?
60. Illustrate with examples how suprasegmental features can affect meaning.
61. In what way can we determine whether a phone is a phoneme or not?。