英语语言学练习题含答案

Ⅰ. Decide whether each of the following statements is True or False:

1. Linguistics is generally defined as the scientific study of language.

2. Linguistics studies particular language, not languages in general.

3. A scientific study of language is based on what the linguist thinks.

4. In the study of linguistics, hypotheses formed should be based on language facts and checked against the observed facts.

5. General linguistics is generally the study of language as a whole.

6. General linguistics, which relates itself to the research of other are as, studies the basic concepts, theories, descriptions, models and me thods applicable in any linguistic study.

7. Phonetics is different from phonology in that the latter studies the combinations of the sounds to convey meaning in communication.

8. Morphology studies how words can be formed to produce meaning ful sentences.

9. The study of the ways in which morphemes can be combined to fo rm words is called morphology.

10. Syntax is different from morphology in that the former not only st udies the morphemes, but also the combination of morphemes into words and words into sentences.

11. The study of meaning in language is known as semantics.

12. Both semantics and pragmatics study meanings.

13. Pragmatics is different from semantics in that pragmatics studies

meaning not in isolation, but in context.

14. Social changes can often bring about language changes.

15. Sociolinguistics is the study of language in relation to society.

16. Modern linguistics is mostly prescriptive, but sometimes descripti ve.

17. Modern linguistics is different from traditional grammar.

18. A diachronic study of language is the description of language at s ome point in time.

19. Modern linguistics regards the written language as primary, not t he written language.

20. The distinction between competence and performance was propo sed by F. de Saussure.

Ⅱ. Fill in each of the following blanks with one word which begins wi th 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 concret

e use o

f the conventions and application of the rules.

23. D_________ is one of the design features of human language wh ich refers to the phenomenon that language consists of two levels: a

lower level of meaningless individual sounds and a higher level of me aningful units.

24. Language is a system of a_________ vocal symbols used for hu man communication.

25. The discipline that studies the rules governing the formation of w ords into permissible sentences in languages is called s________.

26. Human capacity for language has a g_______ basis, but the deta ils 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 settleme nt of some practical problems. The study of such applications is gene rally known as a________ linguistics.

29. Language is p___________ in that it makes possible the construc tion and interpretation of new signals by its users. In other words, th ey can produce and understand an infinitely large number of sentenc es which they have never heard before.

30. Linguistics is generally defined as the s _______ study of languag e.

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 a