syn tax
1. In dicate the category of each word in the follow ing senten ces. a) The old lady sudde nly left. Det A N Qual V
b) The car stopped at the end of the road.
Det N V P Det N P Det N
c) The snow might have blocked the road.
Det N Aux Aux V Det N d) He n ever appears quite mature. N Qual V Deg A
2. The following phrases include a head, a complement, and a specifier. Draw the appropriate each. a) full of people
full of people
b) a story about a sen time ntal girl
NP
ofte n read detective stories
d) the argume nt aga inst the proposals
Det
N
tree structure for
AP
VP
Qual V
NP
NP
PP
NP
e) move towards the win dow
VP
PP
Det N
3. Draw phrase structure trees for each of the followi ng senten ces.
a) The jet Ian ded.
In flP(=S)
The jet
b) Mary became very ill.
In flP(=S)
Mary
c) What will you talk about?
CP
move towards the win dow
NP Infl VP
Pst V
NP
Infl
S z
NP Infl
VP
NP
VP
VPN
What will you e talk about e
d) The apple might hit the man.
S
NP
Det N
VP
Aux V NP
Det N
NP
Det N
Infl VP
Pst
Ian ded
became very ill
e) He often reads detective stories.
S
4. The followi ng sentences contain modifiers of various types. For each senten ce, first ide ntify the modifier(s), the n draw the tree structures.
a) A frighte ned passe nger Ian ded the crippled airpla ne.
In flP(=S)
Det A
The apple might hit the man
OR
In
flP(=S)
Infl
NP
N
VP Det
V NP
Det
The
apple
might hit the
man
NP
Qual
He often reads etective stories
OR
NP
Pres Qual
He
often reads etective stories
Infl
NP
Det A N Pst V
VP
NP VP V
NP
N
In
flP(=S)
VP
V
Infl NP
N
A frighte ned passe nger Ian ded the crippled airpla ne
b) A huge moon hung in the black sky.
c) An unu sual event occurred before the meet ing.
In flP(=S)
N Pst V
An unu sual event occurred before the d) A qua int old house appeared on the grassy hill.
house appeared on the grassy hill
5. The follow ing sentences all contain conjoined categories. Draw a tree structure for each of the sentences,
a) Jim has washed the dirty shirts and pan ts.
In
flP(=S)
A huge
N Pst V
Infl
meet ing
Det P
Det A N
A qua int old In
flP(=S)
Infl NP
Det A
VP
PP
moon
NP
Det A
VP
PP
NP Det - A PP
NP VP
N CON N
OR
Jim has washed the dirty shirts and pants
N Infl V
N CON N Jim has washed the dirty shirts and pants
b) Hele n put on her clothes and went
out. S
NP VP
CON
V
OR
Hele n put on her clothes and went out
NP
In
flP(=S)
Infl VP
CON
N Pst VP
VP
\
NP
入
V P Det N
Hele n put on her clothes and went out
c)
Mary is fond of literature but tired of statistics.
Mary is fond of literature but (is) tired of statistics
OR
VP NP
/T\ I
V A P N
Mary is fond of literature but
(is) tired of statistics
d) The detective went out and the mysterious man came in.
e) Crusoe knows that spri ng will come and the snow will melt.
CON
/T\ I
In
flP(=S)
S
S
Adv
S
CON
and the mysterious man came in
The detective went out
NP
N V
VP
CON
S S NP
I
N VP
V
Crusoe knows that spri ng will come and the snow will
melt
6. The followi ng sentences all contain embedded clauses that fun ctio n as compleme nts of a verb, an
adjective, a prepositi on or a noun. Draw a tree structure for each sentence. a) You know that I hate war.
NP VP
b) He said that Tom asked whether the class was over.
NP N
S NP
Det N
A
VL A
NP
N
OR
You
know that
N
V N I
hate
war
You
know that I hate war
S
VP
S
NP
VP
C C
S
He
said that Tom asked whether the class was over
c) Gerry can 'believe the fact that Anna flun ked the En glish exam.
S
NP
Aux
VP
Neg V
Gerry d) Chris was happy that his father bought him a Rolls-Royce. S NP can not believe VP
VL Chris e) The childre n argued over whether bats had wings. S CP was
A C NP VP CP
Det VP z\
V P
NP
The childre n argued over whether bats had 7. Each of the follow ing sentences contains a relative clause. Draw
win gs
the deep structure and the surface structure
VP
trees for each of the sentences.
a)
The essay that he wrote was too long.
Surface Structure
Pst
b) The dog that he keeps bites.
Deep structure
wrote that was
too long
Det
NP
NP
NP
The
essay that was too long
Deep structure
The essay he
CP
S
NP N
VP V
CP
S
Infl VP
AP Deg
he wrote e
Surface Structure
c) Herbert found the man she loved.
Deep structure
VP
The
dog NP
he keeps that
bites
The
dog NP
NP
that he Pres V
keeps NP
bites
CP
S
S
Infl VP
Surface Structure
CP
C
S
d) The girl whom he ofte n quarrels with majors in lin guistics.
CP
C
S
N Infl V
S
NP
Herbert
found the man she loved who
Herbert
N Infl V
found NP N
e
Deep structure
CP
S
NP
N
Det
The girl
VP
V PP
CP
CP
C
PP
V
he ofte n quarrels with whom
majors
Surface Structure
S
in lin guistics
S
NP
PP
NP
NP
ofte n quarrels with e majors in lin guistics
8. The derivati ons of the followi ng senten ces in volve the inversion tran sformatio n. Give the deep structure and the surface structure trees for each of these sentences. a) Would you come tomorrow?
Deep structure
CP
b) Can you pass me the n ewspaper?
Deep structure
Surface structure
The girl whom he
would
you
would
come
Adv
tomorrow
you
come
tomorrow
you
pass me the
n ewspaper
S
NP
Surface structure CP
C
S
NP
Infl
N
AdvP Adv
AdvP CP
S
NP N NP Det N
can
c) Should the stude nts report the in cide nt?
d) What did you eat for lun ch?
Deep structure
CP
Can
C
you pass me the n ewspaper
Deep structure
the stude nts should report
the in cide
nt
should the
stude nts
e report
the in cide
nt
NP
I
N
e) Who should this be reported to ?
Deep structure
Surface structure
CP
you did eat what for lunch
Surface structure
NP
this
should be reported to whom
p
N
—
—
nfl
be reported to
whom should this
f) What
NP
I
N
what
e
was Hele n bringing to the
party?
Deep structure
CP
VP
NP
Infl
Helen was bringing what
Surface structure
CP
VP
Infl NP
was
Infl
Helen
/ NP
V I
N
I
bringing e
NP
P
to
NP
Det N
the party
PP
NP
Det N
to the party
1. Q: What is the scope of linguistics? The scope of linguistics can be illustrated as: 1) General linguistics: the study of language as whole. It deals with the basic concepts, theories, descriptions, models and methods applicable in any linguistic study. 2) Phonetics: the study of sounds used in communication. 3) Phonology: the study about how sounds are put together and used to convey meaning in communication. 4) Morphology: the study of the way in which symbols/morphemes are arranged to form words. 5) Syntax: the study of the rules about the combination of words to form permisible sentences. 6) Semantics: the study of meaning. 7) Pragmatics: the study of meaning in the context of use. And the Interdisciplinary branches. 1) Sociolinguistics 2) Psycholingu istics …………… 2. Q: What makes modern linguistics different from traditional grammar? Modern linguistics differs from traditional grammar in several basic ways: firstly, modern linguistics is descriptive, it describes the language as it is; while traditional grammar is prescriptive, it
一、填空题:（每空1 分，本大题共10 分） 1. （）语言学是在19世纪逐步发展和完善的，它是语言学 走上独立发展道路的标志。 2. 人的大脑分左右两半球，大脑的左半球控制（ 掌管不需要语言的感性直观思维。 3. 进入20世纪以后，语言研究的主流由历史比较语言学转为 （）。 4. 俄语属于印欧语系的（ 5. 一个音位包含的不同音素或者具体表现出来的音素叫做 （）。 6. 语言中最单纯、最常用、最原始和最能产的词是（ 7. 现代大多数国家的拼音文字的字母，大多直接来源于（）字 母。 8. 言外之意之所以能够被理解是因为（）起了补充说明的 作用。 9. 方言在社会完全分化的情况下，有可能发展成（? ）?； 在社会高度统一的情况下，会逐渐被共同语消磨直到同化。 10. 南京方言的“兰”、“南”不分，从音位变体的角度来说，[n ]和[l]是 属于（）变体。 二、单项选择题: 码填在题干上的括号内。（每小题1 分，本大题共15 分）
1. 在二十世纪，对哲学、人类学、心理学、社会学等学科产生重大影响 的语言学流派是（） A.历史比较语言学 B.心理语言学 C.结构主义语言学 D.社会语言学 2. “人有人言，兽有兽语”中的“言”属于（） A.语言 B.言语 C.言语行为 D.言语作品 3. “我爱家乡”中“爱”和“家乡”（） A.是聚合关系。 B.是组合关系。 C.既是聚合关系又是组合关系。 D. 4. 一种语言中数量最少的是 A.音素 B.音位 C.语素 D.音节 5. 英语的man—→men采用的语法手段是 A. 屈折变化 B.变换重音的位置 C. 变化中缀 D.异根 6. 在汉语普通话中没有意义区别功能的声学特征是（） A.音高 B.音强 C.音长 D.音质 7. [ε]的发音特征是 A.舌面前高不圆唇 B.舌面后高不圆唇 C.舌面前半高不圆唇 D.舌面前半低不圆唇 8. 构成“语言、身体”这两个词的语素的类型（） A.都是成词语素 B.都是不成词语素 C.“语”和“言”是成词语素，“身”和“体”是不成词语素 D.“语”和“言”是不成词语素，“身”和“体” 9. 广义地说，汉语动词词尾“着”、“了”、“过”属于语法范畴中的 （）
树形图详细讲解 网上的相对理想的树形图答案，注意正两 点： 1. 短语和中心词在一竖线上 2. 含有形容词修饰语的名词短语的画法 NP Det N A N a little boy 1. Indicate the category of each word in the following sentences. a) The old lady suddenly left. Det A N Qual V b) The car stopped at the end of the road. Det N V P Det N P Det N c) The snow might have blocked the road. Det N Aux Aux V Det N d) He never appears quite mature. N Qual V Deg A 2. The following phrases include a head, a complement, and a specifier. Draw the appropriate tree structure for each. a) full of people AP A P N
full of people b) a story about a sentimental girl NP NP PP Det N P NP Det A N a story about a sentimental girl c) often read detective stories VP Qual V NP A N often read detective stories
《新编简明英语语言学教程》第二版练习题参考答案 Chapter 1 Introduction 1. How do you interpret the following definition of linguistics: Linguistics is the scientific study of language. 答：Linguistics is based on the systematic investigation of linguistic data, conducted with reference to some general theory of language structure. In order to discover the nature and rules of the underlying language system, the linguists has to collect and observe language facts first, which are found to display some similarities, and generalizations are made about them; then he formulates some hypotheses about the language structure. The hypotheses thus formed have to be checked repeatedly against the observed facts to fully prove their validity. In linguistics, as in any other discipline, data and theory stand in a dialectical complementation, that is, a theory without the support of data can hardly claim validity, and data without being explained by some theory remain a muddled mass of things. 2. What are the major branches of linguistics? What does each of them study? 答：The major branches of linguistics are: (1) phonetics: it studies the sounds used in linguistic communication; (2) phonology: it studies how sounds are put together and used to convey meaning in communication; (3) morphology: it studies the way in which linguistic symbols representing sounds are arranged and combined to form words; (4) syntax: it studies the rules which govern how words are combined to form grammatically permissible sentences in languages;
1. Anthropological Study of Linguistics: aims to look at the relationships between language and culture in a speech community. For this reason, it can alternatively be called anthropological linguistics. More specifically, practitioners of the field want to know more about a given community by examining the correlation between the tradition of the community, beliefs, and social behavior of community members and their language use in different contexts of communication. Communication: is an information process taking place between at least two parties or persons. Communicative Competence:is a sociolinguistic rule put forward by Dell Hymes in contrast with the “competence” vs. “performance” dichotomy in theoretic linguistics. Context of Situation: is a framework put forward by Firth. This theory has the following elements (Firth, 1950: 43-44 [Palmer, 1981: 53-54]). A. The relevant features of the participants: persons, personalities: (i) The verbal action of the participants. (ii) The non-verbal action of the participants. B. The relevant objects. C. The effects of the verbal action.
英语语言学试题（1） I. Directions: Read each of the following statements carefully. Decide which one of the four choices best completes the statement and put the letter A, B, C or D in the brackets. (2%×10=20%) 1、As modern linguistics aims to describe and analyze the language people actually use, and not to lay down rules for "correct" linguistic behavior, it is said to be ___. A、prescriptive B、sociolinguistic C、descriptive D、psycholinguistic 2、Of all the speech organs, the ___ is/are the most flexible. A、mouth B、lips C、tongue D、vocal cords 3、The morpheme "vision" in the common word "television" is a(n) ___. A、bound morpheme B、bound form C、inflectional morpheme D、free morpheme 4、A ___ in the embedded clause refers to the introductory word that introduces the embedded clause. A、coordinator B、particle C、preposition D、subordinator 5、"Can I borrow your bike?" _____ "You have a bike." A、is synonymous with B、is inconsistent with C、entails D、presupposes 6、The branch of linguistics that studies how context influences the way speakers interpret sentences is called ___. A、semantics B、pragmatics C、sociolinguistics D、psycholinguistics 7、Grammatical changes may be explained, in part, as analogic changes, which are ___ or generalization. A、elaboration B、simplification C、external borrowing D、internal borrowing 8、___ refers to a marginal language of few lexical items and straightforward grammatical rules, used as a medium of communication. A、Lingua franca B、Creole C、Pidgin D、Standard language 9、Psychologists, neurologists and linguists have concluded that, in addition to the motor area which is responsible for physical articulation of utterances, three areas of the left brain are vital to language, namely, ___ . A、Broca's area, Wernicke's area and the angular gyrus B、Broca's area, Wernicke's area and cerebral cortex C、Broca's area, Wernicke's area and neurons D、Broca's area, Wernicke's area and Exner's area 10、According to Krashen, ___ refers to the gradual and subconscious development of ability in the first language by using it naturally in daily communicative situations. A、learning B、competence C、performance D、acquisition II. Directions: Fill in the blank in each of the following statements with one word, the first letter of which is already given as a clue. Note that you are to fill in One word only, and you are not allowed to change the letter given. (1%×10=10%) 11、Chomsky defines "competence" as the ideal user's k_______ of the rules of his language. 12、The four sounds /p/,/b/,/m/ and /w/have one feature in common, i.e, they are all b______ . 13、M_______ is a branch of grammar which studies the internal structure of words and the rules by which words are formed. 14、A s______ is a structurally independent unit that usually comprises a number of words to form a complete statement, question or command. 15、Synonyms that are mutually substitutable under all circumstances are called c______ synonyms. 16、The illocutionary point of r_____ is to commit the speaker to something's being the case, to the truth of what has been said. 17、Words are created outright to fit some purpose. Such a method of enlarging the vocabulary is known as word c______.
Chapter 2：Phonology I. Decide whether each of the following statements is True or False: 1. Voicing is a phonological feature that distinguishes meaning in both Chinese and English. F 2. If two phonetically similar sounds occur in the same environments and they distinguish meaning, they are said to be in complementary distribution. T 3. A phone is a phonetic unit that distinguishes meaning. 4. English is a tone language while Chinese is not. 5. In linguistic evolution, speech is prior to writing. 6. In everyday communication, speech plays a greater role than writing in terms of the amount of information conveyed. 7. Articulatory phonetics tries to describe the physical properties of the stream of sounds which a speaker issues with the help of a machine called spectrograph. 8. The articulatory apparatus of a human being are contained in three important areas: the throat, the mouth and the chest. 9. Vibration of the vocal cords results in a quality of speech sounds called voicing. 10. English consonants can be classified in terms of place of articulation and the part of the tongue that is raised the highest. 11. According to the manner of articulation, some of the types into which the consonants can be classified are stops, fricatives, bilabial and alveolar. 12. Vowel sounds can be differentiated by a number of factors: the position of tongue in the mouth, the openness of the mouth, the shape of the lips, and the length of the vowels. 13. According to the shape of the lips, vowels can be classified into close vowels, semi-close vowels, semi-open vowels and open vowels. 14. Any sound produced by a human being is a phoneme. 15. Phones are the sounds that can distinguish meaning. 16. Phonology is concerned with how the sounds can be classified into different categories.
《语言学概论》学习辅导书参考答案（导言） 一、名词解释（20分，每小题4分） 1.语言学：就是以语言为研究对象的科学，研究语言的本质、语言的结构和发展规律。 2.小学：指我国传统的语文学，包括文字学、音韵学、训诂学三方面的内容。 3.专语语言学：也叫具体语言学、个别语言学，以一种（或几种有联系的）语言为研究对象，研究某一种语言的结构。 4.共时语言学：以同时的、静态分析的方法，研究语言相对静止的状态，描写分析语言在某一个时期、某一个阶段的状况，是从横向的方面研究语言。 5.历时语言学：从历时的、动态的角度研究语言发展的历史，观察一种语言的各个结构要素在不同发展阶段的历史演变，是从纵向的方面研究语言的历史。 二、填空题（20分，每空1分） 1.中国印度古希腊-罗马具有悠久的历史文化传统，是语言的三大发源地。 2.文字学音韵学训诂学是我国传统的语文学。 3.研究语言的结构，主要是研究语音词汇和语义语法三个部分。 4.运用语言传递信息的过程，可分为编码发送传递接收解码五个过程 5.专语语言学可以从纵向和横向研究语言，由于研究角度不同，所以又分为历时语言学和共时语言学 6.历史比较语言学的建立，标志着语言学开始走上独立发展的道路。 7.布隆菲尔德的代表著作《语言论》，是美国结构主义语言学的奠基性著作。 8.索绪尔被称为现代语言之父，其代表作有《普通语言学教程》 三、问答题（60分，每小题10分） 1.古代的语言研究和今天的语言研究有哪些不同？ ①研究对象不同：古代的语言学主要以书面语为主要研究材料，不重视口头语言的研究，而今天的语言学则十分重视口语研究，如制定语言规范，确立共同语的各方面标准等，都要依据口语的研究成果； ②研究目的不同：古代语言学研究语言，主要是给政治、哲学、宗教、历史、文学方面的经典著作作注解，比如我国古代的语文学主要就是围绕阅读先秦经典著作的需要来研究文言的，而现代语言学的研究目的主要是分析语言的结构，以此探讨语言发展的共同规律。 2．语言交际过程分哪几个阶段？请举例具体说明 可分为编码、发送、传递、接收、解码五个阶段。编码就是发话人利用词语组织语句；发送就是把思维成果变成话语，通过发音器官表达出来；传递就是通过空气振动形成声波，把话语传达给受话人；接收是受话人利用听觉器官感知对方所说的话；解码则经过大脑的思维把声波还原成语言，理解对方话语的含义，从而完成信息传递接收。如果受话人收到语言信息有所反馈，那么上述五个阶段则又重复一遍，只是发话人与受话人调换了。 3.“语言学既是一门古老的科学，又是一门年轻的科学；既与社会科学有密切的联系，有与自然科学有密切的联系。”怎样理解这段话的含义？ 语言是伴随着人类一起出现的，是人类社会生活必不可少的，所以人类很早就注意到了语言的重要性，很早就注意研究语言，所以语言学是古老的，但语言学直到18世纪下半叶，产生了历史比较语言学，后来又建立了语言学的各个部门，语言研究才发展成为一门独立的学科，同其它学科相比，语言学的确是十分年轻的。语言是社会现象，与社会的政治、经济、文化、历史等密切相关，而语言的发生又与物理、生理、心理等学科密切相关，而现代社会语言与语言的信息处理（如机器翻译、语码转换等）又涉及到数学、计算机科学，所以语言学既与社会科学有密切的联系，又与自然科学有密切的联系。正因为如此，随着语言学与别
练习1 1. There is no logical connection between meaning and sounds. A dog might be a pig if only the first person or group of persons had used it for a pig. This is one of the design features of language.A. duality B. arbitrariness C. productivity D. displacement 2. Language is a system of two sets of structures, one of sounds and the other of meaning. This is . It makes people possible to talk everything within his knowledge. A. duality B. arbitrariness C. productivity D. displacement 3. ___ refers to the ability to construct and understand an indefinitely large number of sentences in one’s native language, including those that he has never heard before, but that are appropriate to the speaking situation .A. duality B. arbitrariness C. productivity D. displacement 4. __ __ refers to the fact that one can talk about things that are not present, as easily as he does things present. The dog couldn’t be bow-wowing sorrowfully for some lost love or a bone to be lost. A. duality B. arbitrariness C. productivity D. displacement 5. ______ means language is not biologically transmitted from generation to generation, but the linguistic system must be learnt anew by each speaker. A. duality B. Arbitrariness C. interchangeability D. cultural transmission 6. ______ means that any human being can be both a producer and a receiver of messages. A. duality B. Arbitrariness C. interchangeability D. cultural transmission 7. To say “How are you.” “Hi” to your friends is the ____ __of language. A. directive function B. informative function C. phatic function D. interrogative function 8. “Tell me the result when you finish.” If you want to get your hearer to do something, y ou should use the _____ of language. A. directive function B. informative function C. phatic function D. interrogative function 9. A linguist regards the changes in language and language use as __ ___. A. unnatural B. something to be feared C. natural D. abnormal 10. A linguist is interested in ___A. speech sounds only B. all sounds C. vowels only 11. Which of the following sounds is a voiceless bilabial stop? A. [t] B. [m] C. [b] D. [p 12. Which of the following sounds is a voiced affricate? A. [y] B. [t∫] C. [z] D. [dЗ] 13. Which of the following sounds is a central vowel? A. [ ? ] B. [ i ] C. [ou] D. [a: ] 14. In the following sounds , ______ is a palatal fricative ? A. [ s ] B. [∫] C. [ l ] D. [θ] 15. In the following sounds, _____ is a voiceless affricative? A. [dЗ] B. [v] C. [t∫] D. [θ] 16. In English if a word begins with a [ l ] or [ r ],then the next sound must be a __ __. A. fricative B. nasal sound C. semi-vowel D. vowel 17. Of the “words” listed below___ is not an English word A. [r∧b ] B. [ l? b ] C. [m?sta:∫] D. [lm?p] 18. ___ are produced when the obstruction created by the speech organs is total and audibly released. A. Back vowels B. Stops C. Fricatives D. Glides 19. The International Phonetic Association devised the INTERNATIONAL PHONETIC ALPHABET in _____. A. 1965 B. 1957 C. 1888 D. 1788 20. ___ is a phonological unit , and it is a unit that is of distinctive value. A. Phone B. Phoneme C. Allophone D. Sound 1. [ f ] is a dental consonant. F 2. Phonology studies the characteristics of speech sounds and provides methods for their description, classification and transcription. F 7. The three / p / are allophones. T 3. Phoneme is a phonological unit. T 4. Phone is a phonetic unit. T
syntax 1. Indicate the category of each word in the following sentences. a) The old lady suddenly left. Det A N Qual V b) The car stopped at the end of the road. Det N V P Det N P Det N c) The snow might have blocked the road. Det N Aux Aux V Det N d) He never appears quite mature. N Qual V Deg A 2. The following phrases include a head, a complement, and a specifier. Draw the appropriate tree structure for each. a) full of people AP A P N full of people b) a story about a sentimental girl NP NP PP Det A N a story about a sentimental girl c) often read detective stories VP Qual V NP
A N often read detective stories d) the argument against the proposals NP NP PP Det N the argument against the proposals e) move towards the window VP V PP P Det N move towards the window 3. Draw phrase structure trees for each of the following sentences. a) The jet landed. InflP(=S) NP Infl VP Det N Pst V The jet landed b) Mary became very ill. InflP(=S) NP Infl VP N Pst V AP
《新编简明英语语言学教程》第二版第1-3章练习题参考答案 Chapter 1 Introduction P13 1. How do you interpret the following definition of linguistics: Linguistics is the scientific study of language？ 答：Linguistics is based on the systematic investigation of linguistic data, conducted with reference to some general theory of language structure. In order to discover the nature and rules of the underlying language system, the linguists has to collect and observe language facts first, which are found to display some similarities, and generalizations are made about them; then he formulates some hypotheses about the language structure. The hypotheses thus formed have to be checked repeatedly against the observed facts to fully prove their validity. In linguistics, as in any other discipline, data and theory stand in a dialectical complementation, that is, a theory without the support of data can hardly claim validity, and data without being explained by some theory remain a muddled mass of things. 2. What are the major branches of linguistics What does each of them study 答：The major branches of linguistics are: (1) phonetics: it studies the sounds used in linguistic communication; (2) phonology: it studies how sounds are put together and used to convey meaning in communication; (3) morphology: it studies the way in which linguistic symbols representing sounds are arranged and combined to form words; (4) syntax: it studies the rules which govern how words are combined to form grammatically permissible sentences in languages; (5) semantics: it studies meaning conveyed by language; (6) pragmatics: it studies the meaning in the context of language use. 3. In what basic ways does modern linguistics differ from traditional grammar 答：The general approach thus traditionally formed to the study of language over the years is roughly referred to as “t raditional gramma r.” Modern linguistics differs from traditional g rammar in several basic ways. Firstly, linguistics is descriptive while traditional grammar is prescriptive. Second, modem linguistics regards the spoken language as primary, not the written. Traditional grammarians, on the other hand, tended to emphasize, maybe over-emphasize, the importance of the written word, partly because of its permanence. Then, modem linguistics differs from traditional grammar also in that it does not force languages into a Latin-based framework. 4. Is modern linguistics mainly synchronic or diachronic Why 答：In modem linguistics, a synchronic approach seems to enjoy priority over a diachronic one. Because people believed that unless the various states of a language in different historical periods are successfully studied, it would be difficult to describe the changes that have taken place in its historical development. 5. For what reasons does modern linguistics give priority to speech rather than to writing 答：Speech and writing are the two major media of linguistic communication. Modem linguistics regards the spoken language as the natural or the primary medium of human language for some obvious reasons. From the point of view of linguistic evolution, speech is prior to writing. The writing system of any langu age is always “invented” by its users to record spee ch when the need arises. Even in today's world there are still many languages that can only be spoken but not written. Then in everyday communication, speech plays a greater role than writing in terms of the amount of information conveyed. And also, speech is always the way in which every native speaker acquires his mother tongue, and writing is learned and taught later when he goes to school. For modern linguists, spoken language reveals many true features of human speech while written language is only the “revised” record of spe ech. Thus their data for investigation and analysis are mostly drawn from everyday speech, which they regard as authentic.