语言学考试重点全

语言学重点

Semantics

1. Sense relation between sentences(简答、语料分析)

A.X is synonymous with Y

X: He was a bachelor all his life. Y: He never married all his life.

B.X is inconsistent with Y

X: John is married Y: John is a bachelor

C.X entails Y

X: A boy had broken the window Y: A child had broken the window.

D.X presuppose Y

X: John’s bike needs repairing Y: John has a bike

E.X is a contradiction

X: John is neither alive nor dead

F.X is semantically anomalous

X: The table has had intentions Y: The golf kicked him.

2. Sentence Meaning: Katz’s Semantic Theory(essay question)

I. Structure of the theory and its aims

{Grammatical classification}

dictionary (semantic markers) Katz’s theory semant ic information

Projection rules [distinguishers]

Universally applicable metalanguage

ⅡKatz’s dictionary

--2 types of semantic information

--(semantic markers)语义标记: which are the links binding the vocabulary together and are responsible for the lexical relations;

--[distinguisher] 辨义成分: the word-specific semantic information that identifies the lexical items.

Ⅲprojection rules

--projection rules: to give rules showing how the meanings of lexical items build up into the meaning of phrases and phrases up to sentences.

amalgamation process （合并）

--PR use trees to structure the amalgamation of word meaning into phrase meaning and phrase meaning into sentence meaning.

selection restrictions

--AS the PR successively amalgamate readings, the selection restrictions will limit the final output.

3. Referential theory (简答)

①Linguistic symbols stand for things, the linguistic symbol(word) and the things they refer to are not related directly, the linguistic symbol and the things it stand for are arbitrary. Different linguistic symbols are used in different languages to refer to the same thing. For example, they are related via concept. For the speaker and listener to reach mutual understanding, they have to have the same concept of the target things.

②There is a direct relation between linguistic symbol and the concept because

linguistic symbol symbolizes concept, and linguistic symbol can express concept.

③there is a direct relation between things and the concept because concepts are abstract mental representation of the things the physical or imaginary world.

4 Proposition:def: the unit of meaning which constitutes the subject-matter of a statement in the form of simple declarative sentence.

5. Propositional logic:

def: the study of truth conditions for propositions, that is, how the truth of composite proposition is determined by the truth value of its constituent propositions and the connections between them.

6. truth value: def: a sentence’s being true or false is called its truth value

7. truth value table(简答，给出子命题求复合命题，根据子命题真假判断复合命

Pragmatics

1.Pragmatics: the study of the use of the language in communication, particularly

the relationship between sentences and the contexts and the situations in which they are used.

2. Speech Act Theory put forward by Austen and Searle(简答, 语料分析)

2.1 Austin’s 3-part distinction of speech act

Speech actin utterance as a functional unit in communication. According Austin, an utterance performs 3 acts simultaneously

---locutionary act: ~is the saying of something, which is meaningful and can be understood.

---illocutionary act: ~ is the using the utterance to perform a function.

---perlocutionary act: the results or effects that are produced by means of saying.

2.2 Searle's 2-part distinction theory

According Searle, each utterance has two meanings:

---propositional meaning: the basic literal meaning an utterance bears, which is conveyed by particular words and structure which an utterance contains.

---illocutionary force: the intended effects the utterance or written text has on its listener or reader.

--5 types of illocutionary forces（语料分析）

1)assertives: sentences that commit the speaker to the truth of something.

I guess he had got it.

I think the film is moving.

2)directive: try to get the listener to do something

please give me some advice.

My shoes have worn out.