语言学第一章练习

Exercises

Chapter I Invitations to Linguistics

I. Fill in the blanks.

1. Language, broadly speaking, is a means of _______ communication.

2. In many language words can be used in new ways to mean things and can be combined into innumerable sentences based on limited rules. This feature is usually termed _____.

3. Language has many functions. We can use language to talk about itself. This function is _____.

4. Theory that primitive man made involuntary vocal noises while performing heavy work has been called the ________ theory.

5. The theory that language arose from instinctive emotional cries, expressive of pain or joy has been called the ________ theory.

6. The theory that language arose from -human beings instinctive need for contact with his companion has been called the _________ theory.

7. Linguistics is the scientific study of _________.

8. Modern linguistic is ________ in the sense that the linguist tries to discover what language is rather than lay down some rules for people to observe.

9. One general principle of linguistic analysis is the primacy of _________ over writing.

10. The description of a language as it changes through time is a _______ study.

11. Saussure put forward two important concepts. ________ refers to the abstract linguistic system shared by all members of a speech community.

12. Linguistic potential is similar to Saussure ' s langue and Chomsky ' s ______.

13. language is a system of _____ ______ symbols used for human communication.

14. Linguistics is generally defined as the ______ study of ______.

15. If a linguistic study describes and analyzes the language people actually use, it is said to be ______; if it aims to lay down rules for "correct" behavior, it is said to be ______.

16. In modern linguistics, ______ study seems to enjoy priority over ______ study. The reason is that successful studies of various states of a language would be the foundations of a historical study.

17. Langue refers to the ______ linguistic system shared by all the members of a speech community; and parole refers to the ______ of langue in actual use.

18. Chomsky defines competence as the ideal user's ______ of the rules of his language, and performance, the actual ______ of this knowledge in linguistic communication.

19. "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet". This famous quotation from Shakespeare illustrates that language has the design feature of ______.

20 The property of ______ of language provides a speaker with an opportunity to talk about a wide range of things, free from barriers caused by separation in time and place.

21. Language is a system, which consists of two sets of structures, one of ______, and the other of ______. This double articulation of language enables its users to talk about anything within their knowledge.

22. An English speaker and a Chinese speaker are both able to use language, but they are not mutually intelligible, which shows that language is culturally ______.

II . Choose the best answer.

1. Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human ______

A. contact B .communication

C. relation

D. community

2. Language is________.

A. instinctive

B. non-instinctive

C. static

D. genetically transmitted

3. A linguist regards the changes in language and languages use

A. unnatural

B. something to be feared

C. natural

D. abnormal