《新编简明英语语言学教程》第二版-练习题-参考答案

¡¶Ð±à¼òÃ÷Ó¢ÓïÓïÑÔѧ½Ì³Ì¡·µÚ¶þ°æÁ·Ï°Ìâ²Î¿¼´ð°¸Chapter1Introduction1.Howdoyouinterpretthefollowingdefinitionoflinguistics:Linguisticsisthescientificstudyoflanguage.´ð£ºLinguisticsisbasedonthesystematicinvestigationoflinguisticdata,conductedwithreferencetosomegeneraltheoryoflanguagestructure.Inordertodiscoverthenatureandrulesoftheunderlyinglanguagesystem,thelinguistshastocollectandobservelanguagefactsfirst,whicharefoundtodisplaysomesimilarities,andgeneralizationsaremadeaboutthem;thenheformulatessomehypothesesaboutthelanguagestructure.Thehypothesesthusformedhavetobecheckedrepeatedlyagainsttheobservedfactstofullyprovetheirvalidity.Inlinguistics,asinanyotherdiscipline,dataandtheorystandinadialecticalcomplementation,thatis,atheorywithoutthesupportofdatacanhardlyclaimvalidity,anddatawithoutbeingexplainedbysometheoryremainamuddledmassofthings.2.Whatarethemajorbranchesoflinguistics?Whatdoeseachofthemstudy?´ð£ºThemajorbranchesoflinguisticsare:(1)phonetics:itstudiesthesoundsusedinlinguisticcommunication;(2)phonology:itstudieshowsoundsareputtogetherandusedtoconveymeaningincommunication;(3)morphology:itstudiesthewayinwhichlinguisticsymbolsrepresentingsoundsarearrangedandcombinedtoformwords;(4)syntax:itstudiestheruleswhichgovernhowwordsarecombinedtoformgrammaticallypermissiblesentencesinlanguages;(5)semantics:itstudiesmeaningconveyedbylanguage;(6)pragmatics:itstudiesthemeaninginthecontextoflanguageuse.3.Inwhatbasicwaysdoesmodernlinguisticsdifferfromtraditionalgrammar?´ð£ºThegeneralapproachthustraditionallyformedtothestudyoflanguageovertheyearsisroughlyreferredtoas¡°traditionalgrammar.¡±Modernlinguisticsdiffersfromtraditionalgrammarinseveralbasicways.Firstly,linguisticsisdescriptivewhiletraditionalgrammarisprescriptive.Second,modemlinguisticsregardsthespokenlanguageasprimary,notthewritten.Traditionalgrammarians,ontheotherhand,tendedtoemphasize,maybeover-emphasize,theimportanceofthewrittenword,partlybecauseofitspermanence.Then,modemlinguisticsdiffersfromtraditionalgrammaralsointhatitdoesnotforcelanguagesintoaLatin-basedframework.4.Ismodernlinguisticsmainlysynchronicordiachronic?Why?´ð£ºInmodemlinguistics,asynchronicapproachseemstoenjoypriorityoveradiachronicone.Becausepeoplebelievedthatunlessthevariousstatesofalanguageindifferenthistoricalperiodsaresuccessfullystudied,itwouldbedifficulttodescribethechangesthathavetakenplaceinitshistoricaldevelopment.5.Forwhatreasonsdoesmodernlinguisticsgiveprioritytospeechratherthantowriting?´ð£ºSpeechandwritingarethetwomajormediaoflinguisticcommunication.Modemlinguisticsregardsthespokenlanguageasthenaturalortheprimarymediumofhumanlanguageforsomeobviousreasons.Fromthepointofviewoflinguisticevolution,speechispriortowriting.Thewritingsystemofanylanguageisalways¡°invented¡±byitsuserstorecordspeechwhentheneedarises.Evenintoday'sworldtherearestillmanylanguagesthatcanonlybespokenbutnotwritten.Thenineverydaycommunication,speechplaysagreaterrolethanwritingintermsoftheamountofinformationconveyed.Andalso,speechisalwaysthewayinwhicheverynativespeakeracquireshismothertongue,andwritingislearnedandtaughtlaterwhenhegoestoschool.Formodernlinguists,spokenlanguagerevealsmanytruefeaturesofhumanspeechwhilewrittenlanguageisonlythe¡°revised¡±recordofspeech.Thustheirdataforinvestigationandanalysisaremostlydrawnfromeverydayspeech,whichtheyregardasauthentic.6.HowisSaussure'sdistinctionbetweenlangueandparolesimilartoChomsky'sdistinctionbetweencompetenceandperformance?´ð£ºSaussure'sdistinctionandChomsky'sareverysimilar,theydifferatleastinthatSaussuretookasociologicalviewoflanguageandhisnotionoflangueisamatterofsocialconventions,andChomskylooksatlanguagefromapsychologicalpointofviewandtohimcompetenceisapropertyofthemindofeachindividual.7.Whatcharacteristicsoflanguagedoyouthinkshouldbeincludedinagood,comprehensivedefinitionoflanguage?´ð£ºFirstofall,languageisasystem,i.e.,elementsoflanguagearecombinedaccordingtorules.Second,languageisarbitraryinthesensethatthereisnointrinsicconnectionbetweenalinguisticsymbolandwhatthesymbolstandsfor.Third,languageisvocalbecausetheprimarymediumforalllanguagesissound.Fourth,languageishuman-specific,i.e.,itisverydifferentfromthecommunicationsystemsotherformsoflifepossess.8.WhatarethemainfeaturesofhumanlanguagethathavebeenspecifiedbyC.Hocketttoshowthatitisessentiallydifferentfromanimalcommunicationsystem?´ð£ºThemainfeaturesofhumanlanguagearetermeddesignfeatures.Theyinclude:1)ArbitrarinessLanguageisarbitrary.Thismeansthatthereisnologicalconnectionbetweenmeaningsandsounds.Agoodexampleisthefactthatdifferentsoundsareusedtorefertothesameobjectindifferentlanguages.2)ProductivityLanguageisproductiveorcreativeinthatitmakespossibletheconstructionandinterpretationofnewsignalsbyitsusers.Thisiswhytheycanproduceandunderstandaninfinitelylargenumberofsentences,includingsentencestheyhaveneverheardbefore.3)DualityLanguageconsistsoftwosetsofstructures,ortwolevels.Atthelowerorthebasiclevelthereisastructureofsounds,whicharemeaninglessbythemselves.Butthesoundsoflanguagecanbegroupedandregroupedintoalargenumbero