《新编语言学教程》课后答案

Chapter1Introduction1.Definethefollowingtermsbriefly.(1)linguistics:thescientificorsystematicstudyoflanguage.(2)language:asystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsusedforhumancommunication.(3)arbitrariness:theabsenceofsimilaritybetweentheformofalinguisticsignandwhatitrelatestoinreality,e.g.theworddogdoesnotlooklikeadog.(4)duality:thewaymeaninglesselementsoflanguageatonelevel(soundsandletters)combinetoformmeaningfulunits(words)atanotherlevel.(5)competence:knowledgeofthegrammarofalanguageasaformalabstractionanddistinctfromthebehaviorofactuallanguageuse,i.e.performance.(6)performance:Chomsky’stermforactuallanguagebehaviorasdistinctfromtheknowledgethatunderliesit,orcompetence.(7)stylistics:thestudyofhowliteraryeffectscanberelatedtolinguisticfeatures.(8)phaticcommunion:Languageisusedtoestablishanatmosphereormaintainsocialcontactbetweenthespeakerandthehearer.(9)functionalism:thestudyoftheformsoflanguageinreferencetotheirsocialfunctionincommunication.(10)formalism:thestudyoftheabstractformsoflanguageandtheirinternalrelations.(11)synchroniclinguistics:thestudyoflanguageandspeechastheyareusedatagivenmomentandnotintermsofhowtheyhaveevolvedovertime.(12)diachroniclinguistics:thestudyoflinguisticchangeovertimeincontrasttolookingatlanguageasitisusedatagivenmoment.2.No,languageishuman-specific.Humanlanguagehassevendesignfeatures,includingarbitrariness,duality,productivity,interchangeability,displacement,specializationandculturaltransmission.Thesefeaturesarefoundutterlylackingindogs’orpigs’noisesandthussethumanlanguageapartfromanimalcrysystems.3.Arbitrarinessreferstothefactthatthereisnologicalorintrinsicconnectionbetweenaparticularsoundandthemeaningitisassociatedwith.Forexample,forthesameanimaldog,inEnglishwecallit/d0g/,inChineseas“gou”,but“yilu”inJapanese;itbarkswowwowinEnglishbutwangwanginChinese.Ofcourse,onomatopoeticwordssuchas“quack-quack”and“bang”areexceptions,butwordslikethesearerelativelyfewcomparedwiththetotalnumberofwordsinalanguage.4.Ahumanbabydoesnotspeakanylanguageatbirth.Whatlanguagethebabyisgoingtospeakisdeterminedbythecultureheisborninto.AChinesebabybornandbroughtupinLondonbyanEnglishfamilywillspeakEnglish,whileanEnglishchildbroughtupinBeijingbyaChineseauntwillspeakChinese.Thatistosay,languagecannotbetransmittedthroughheredity.Itisculturallytransmitted.5.Firstly,linguisticsdescribeslanguagesanddoesnotlaydownrulesofcorrectnesswhiletraditionalgrammaremphasizescorrectness.Secondly,linguisticsregardsthespokenlanguageasprimary,whiletraditionalgrammaremphasizesthepriorityofthewrittenlanguage.Thirdly,traditionalgrammarisbasedonLatinandittriestoimposetheLatincategoriesandstructuresonotherlanguages,whilelinguisticsdescribeseachlanguageonitsownmerits.6.Adescriptiveapproachattemptstotellwhatisinthelanguagewhiletheprescriptiveapproachtellspeoplewhatshouldbeinthelanguage.Mostmodernlinguisticsisdescriptive,whereastraditionalgrammarsareprescriptive.7.Synchroniclinguisticsstudieslanguageatoneparticulartimewhilediachroniclinguisticsstudieslanguagedevelopmentsthroughtime.Synchroniclinguisticsfocusesonthestateoflanguageatanypointinhistorywhilediachroniclinguisticsfocusesonthedifferencesintwoormorethantwostatesoflanguageoverdecadesorcenturies.8.No,humanlanguagehasthedesignfeatureofspecialization.Itreferstothefactthatmandoesnothaveatotalphysicalinvolvementintheactofcommunication.Forexample,amothercantellastorytoherchildwhileslicingupacake.However,wolvescanonlyrespondtoastimulusandistotallyinvolvedphysicallyinthecommunicationprocess.Thus,awolfcannothavealanguagesimilartoman’s,eventhoughitcouldexpressathousanddifferentemotions.Besides,theaspectofproductivityalsodistinguisheshumanlanguagefromwolf’spostures.Chapter2TheSoundsofLanguage1.Defineeachofthefollowingtermsbriefly.(1)articulator:thetongue,lips,andvelum,whichchangetheshapeofthevocaltracttoproducedifferentspeechsounds.(2)assimilation:aphonologicalprocesswherebyasoundbecomesphoneticallysimilar(oridentical)toaneighboringsound,e.g.avowelbecomes[+nasal]whenfollowedbya[+nasal]consonant.(3)consonant:aspeechsoundproducedbypartialorcompleteclosureofpartofthevocaltract,thusobstructingtheairflowandcreatingaudiblefriction.Consonantsaredescribedintermsofvoicing,placeofarticulation,andmannerofarticulation.(4)elision:theleavingoutofasoundorsoundsinspeech.(5)intonation:thevariationinpitchandstresswhichgivesbeatandrhythmtothetunethevoiceplaysinordinaryspeech.(6)phoneme:theabstractelementofasound,identifiedasbeingdistinctiveinaparticularlanguage.(7)phonetics:thestudyoflinguisticspeechsounds,howtheyareproduced,howtheyareperceived,andtheirphysicalproperties.(8)phonology:thestudyoftheabstractsystemsunderlyingthesoundsoflanguage.(9)stress:theprominencegiventocertainsoundsinspeech.(10)voicing:thevibrationinthelarynxcausedbyairfromthelungspassingthroughthevocalcordswhentheyarepartlyclosed;speechsoundsaresaidtobeeithervoicedorvoiceless.(11)voiceless:Whenthevocalcordsarespreadapart,theairstreamfromthelungsisnotobstructedatthespacebetweenvocalcordsandpassesfreely.Thesoundsproducedinthiswayaredescribedasvoicelesssounds.(1