语言学练习题chapter1

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.

A. Chomsky

B. Saussure

C. Bloomfield

D. John Lyons

3. Word Completion

Directions: Fill in the blanks with the most suitable words.

1) Design features, a framework proposed by the American

linguist Charles Hockett, refer to the ________

properties of human language that distinguishes it from

any animal system of communication.

2) ________ refers to the phenomenon that the sounds in a