语言学第1章练习

Exercises for Chapter One

I. Spell the terms according to their definitions and the initial letters given.

1.A_______ refers to the fact that the forms of linguistic signs bears no natural

relationship to their meaning.

2.D_______ means that human languages enable their users to symbolize objects,

events and concepts which are not present (in time and space) at the moment of communication.

3.The p___________ function of language is primarily to change the social status of

persons, as in marriage ceremonies, the sentencing of criminals, the blessing of children, the naming of a ship at a launching ceremony, and the cursing of enemies.

4.P_________ is the study of meaning in context.

5. A language user’s underlying knowledge about the system of rules is called his

linguistic c__________. And p__________ refers to the actual use of language in concrete situations.

II. Judge whether the following statements are true or false.

1.Onomatopoeic words are not arbitrary at all.

2.Arbitrariness of language makes it potentially creative, and conventionality of

language makes learning a language laborious.

3.By creativity we mean language is resourceful because of its displacement.

4.For most people the interpersonal function is predominantly the major role of

language.

5.Diachronic linguistics is the study of a language through the course of its history. III. Multiple choice.

1. Which of the following is NOT a design feature of language?

A. arbitrariness

B. duality

C. conventionality

D. displacement

2. When someone says “Nice day”in a conversation, he is using language for __________.

A. informative function

B. performative function

C. Phatic communion

D. metalingual function.

3. _________ studies the rules governing the structure, distribution, and sequencing of speech sounds and the shape of syllables.

A. phonetics

B. phonology

C. semantics

D. syntax

4. The distinction between langue and parole is proposed by _________.

A. Naom Chomsky

B. Ferdinand de Saussure

C. Michel Halliday

D. Leonard Bloomfield

5.

IV. Define the following terms:

linguistics, arbitrariness, duality, displacement, pragmatics, sociolinguistics, synchronic linguistics, diachronic linguistics, langue, competence.

IV. Answer the following questions:

1.In what ways is human language different from animal means of communication?

2.What’s the difference between descriptive linguistics and prescriptive linguistics?