语言学练习题(附答案) Chapter 1 Language

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.