英语语言学知识要点

Exercises for Lecture 1 Introduction2009年09月20日15:05I. <blank filling>1. By ‘scientific’ is meant linguistics is based on the s ystematic investigation of linguistic data,conducted with reference to some general theory of language structure.2. In his study of a language a linguist usually tries to collect and observe language facts,make generalizations, formulate hypotheses, and fully prove the validity of these hypotheses.3. General linguistics deals with the study of language as a whole.4. General linguistics studies the basic concepts, theories, descriptions, models and methodsapplicable in any linguistic study, in contrast to those branches of study which relatelinguistics to the research of other areas.5. The difference between general linguistics and a linguistic branch such as semantics lies inthe fact that general linguistics studies language as a whole, whereas a linguistic branch such as semantics deals with the particular area. For instance, semantics studies the particularaspect of language, or meaning.6. Linguistics includes phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics,sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, and applied linguistics and so on.7. There are different independent branches of linguistics because language is a complicatedentity with multiple layers and facets, so it is hardly possible for the linguists to deal with it all at once. They have to concentrate on one aspect of it at a time.8. Phonetics is the study of sounds used in linguistic communication.9. Phonology deals with how sounds are put together and used to convey meaning incommunication.10. Morphology is the study of the way in which linguistic symbols are arranged and combined to form words.11. Syntax is the study of the rules of the combination of words to form grammaticallypermissible sentences in languages.12. Semantics is the study of meaning.13. Pragmatics is the study of meaning in context of language use.14. Sociolinguistics is the study of the social aspects of language and its relation with society.15. Psycholinguistics is the study of the relation of language to psychology.16. Findings in linguistic studies can often be applied to the solution of such practical problemsas the recovery of speech ability. The study of such applications is generally known as applied linguistics. But in a narrow sense applied linguistics refers to the application of linguistic theories and principles to language teaching, especially the teaching of foreign and second languages.17. Descriptive linguistics is a linguistic study which aims to describe and analyze the languagepeople actually use.18. Prescriptive linguistics is a linguistic study which aims to lay down rul es for “correct andstandard” behavior in using language, i.e. to tell people what they should say and what they should not say.19. Modern linguistics is mainly descriptive.20. The aim of prescriptive linguistics is to lay down rules for “c orrect and standard” behavior inusing language, or to set models for language users to follow.21. The task of modern linguistic is to describe the language people actually use, whether it is“c orrect” or not.22. The difference between prescriptive and descriptive linguistics is that prescriptive linguistics is to lay down rules for language users, whereas descriptive linguistics is to describe the language phenomena as they are. Therefore, the former is subjective, while the latter is objective and more scientific.23. Modern linguistics is supposed to be objective, because it aims to describe language as it is.24. Synchronic linguistics is the description of a language at some point of time in history.25. Diachronic linguistics is the description of a language as it changes through time. It is alsotermed historical linguistics.26. The difference between synchronic and diachronic linguistics is that the former deals withlanguage at some point of time in history, while the latter over a period of time.27. Modern linguistics favors synchronic approach because it is less difficult and concerned withthe current existence of language.28. The two major media of linguistic communication are speech and writing.29. Modern linguistics regards as primary speech, or the spoken language.30. F. de Saussure is regarded as the founder of modern linguistics.31. Langue refers to the abstract linguistic system shared by all the members of a speechcommunity. It is the set of conventions and rules which language users all have to abide by.32. Parole refers to the realization of langue in actual use. It is the concrete use of theconventions and the application of the rules, or the naturally occurring language events.33. Langue is the abstract linguistic system whereas parole is concrete and is the realization oflangue in actual use. Langue is relatively stable, while parole varies from person to person and from situation to situation.34. According to Chomsky, competence is the ideal user’s knowl edge of the rules of hislanguage.35. According to Chomsky, performance is the actual realization of the ideal user’s knowledgeof the rules of his language in linguistic communication.36. N. Chomsky proposed the distinction between competence and performance.37. Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, who is famous for his syntactic studies all over theworld, and who focuses on the ideal user’s knowledge of the rules of his language.38. Saussure’s langue and parole and Chomsky’s competence and p erformance differ in that theformer takes a sociological view of language, whereas the latter a psychological perspective.39. The difference between traditional grammar and modern linguistics is that traditionalgrammar is prescriptive while modern linguistics is descriptive, that traditional grammartended to emphasize the importance of writing while modern linguistics gives priority tospeech, and that traditional grammar forced languages into a Latin-based framework while modern linguistics does not.40. Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication.41. According to Sapir, language is a purely human and non-instinctive method ofcommunicating ideas, emotions and desires by means of voluntarily produced symbols.42. According to Hall, language is ‘the institution whereby humans communicate and i nteractwith each other by means of habitually used oral-auditory symbols.’43. According to Chomsky, language is ‘a set (finite or infinite) of s entences, each finite inl ength and constructed out of a finite set of elements.’44. Design features refer to the defining properties of human language that distinguish it fromany animal system of communication.45. Productivity refers to the fact that language makes possible the construction andinterpretation of new signals by its users, which is why they can produce and understand an infinitely large number of sentences, including sentences they have never heard before. This feature is unique to human language.46. Displacement is the property that language can be used to refer to things which are present or not present, real or imagined matters in the past, present, or future, or in far-away places. This feature provides speakers with an opportunity to talk about a wide range of things, free from barriers caused by separation in time and place.47. Double articulation refers to the duality of structure, the fact that language is a system, whichconsists of two sets of structures, or two levels. At the lower or the basic level there is astructure of sounds, which are meaningless by themselves. But the sounds of language can be grouped and regrouped into a large number of units of meaning, which are found at the higher level of the system.II. <true or false>Identify whether the following statements are true (T) or false (F).1. Linguistics is the systematic study of language.True.2. Linguistics deals with a particular language.False.Linguistics studies not any particular language, e.g. English, Chinese, Russian, Arabic, and Latin, but it studies languages in general.3. Linguistics is scientific because it is helpful to language use.False.Linguistics is scientific because it is based on the systematic investigation of linguistic data, conducted with reference to some general theory of language structure.4. The task of a linguist is to discover the nature and rules of the underlying language system.True.5. Linguistics is generally divided into general and specific linguistics.False.We have general linguistics and applied linguistics. We do not have specific linguistics.6. General linguistics deals with the general aspects of language application.False.General linguistics deals with language as a whole, not with language application in particular.7. General linguistics does not study theories of language.False.General linguistics does study theories of language.8. Phonetics studies human sound patterning and the meaning of sounds in communication.False.Phonetics studies the way human sounds are produced.9. Phonology studies how a sound is produced.False.Phonology studies human sound patterning and the meaning of sounds in communication.10. Morphology is the study of sentences.False.Morphology is the study of the rules of word formation.11. Syntax is the study of the rules of words.False.Syntax is the study of the rules of the combination of words to form grammatically permissible sentences in languages.12. Semantics is the study of word meaning.False.Semantics is the study of meaning.13. Pragmatics is the study of meaning in context of language use.14. Sociolinguistics deals with the relation between language and society.True.15. Psycholinguistics deals with the relation of language to psychology.True.16. Applied linguistics means the language application to specific areas.False.It means the application of findings in linguistic studies to the solution of such practical problems as the recovery of speech ability, or, in a narrow sense, the application of linguistic theories and principles to language teaching, especially the teaching of foreign and second languages.17. Modern linguistics aims at prescribing models for language users to follow.False.Modern linguistics aims at describing language as it is.18. Synchronic linguistics deals with a series of language phenomena at the same time.False.It deals with language phenomena over a period of time.19. Diachronic linguistics is also called historical linguistics.True.20. Langue means competence.False.They are similar, but differ in that the former is related to sociology and is a matter of social conventions, while the latter is concerned with psychology and is a property of the mind of each individual.21. Parole is a French word; it means the concrete language events.True.22. F. de Saussure was a Swiss linguist.23. N. Chomsky is an American linguist.True.24. According to Chomsky, the internalization of a set of rules about his language enables a speaker to produce and understand an infinitely large number of sentences and recognize sentences that are ungrammatical and ambiguous.True.25. Chomsky regards competence as an act of doing things with a sentence.False.He regards it as an internalized set of rules of the learner’s language.26. Performance is the focus of Chomsky’s linguistic study.False.Competence, instead.27. Details of language system are genetically transmitted.False.They are not transmitted, but have to be taught and learned instead.28. Displacement of language means language use in a far-away place.False.Displacement of language means language use not subject to time and place.29. Arbitrariness of language means language can be used freely.False.Arbitrariness means language is arbitrary by nature, i.e. there is no logical connection between meanings and sounds. But language is not entirely arbitrary; certain words are motivated, which make up only a small percentage of the vocabulary of a language, though.30. Duality of language means language is a two-level system.True.。