(0099) 《英语文体学引论》复习思考题答案I. Explain in brief the following terms (10 points; in test it contains 10 terms):1. stylistics: the study or the investigation of style.2. style: the linguistic habit of a particular person(s) or characteristic of typical situations.3. dialect: a subtype of language which may be determined by geographical locality orparticular social groupings.4. morpheme: the smallest unit in a language that carries meaning.5. phoneme: the smallest sound unit in a specific language capable of semantic distinction.6. language: a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication.7. register: language determined by situation.8. acoustic phonetics: a branch of phonetics dealing with the physical properties of thespeech sounds of a language.9. auditory phonetics: the study of how the sound of speech is received by the hearer.10. syllable: a vowel sound either with or without a consonant or consonants in clusters.11. general stylistics:the investigation of the linguistic features of all kinds of language use.12. literary stylistics: the study of the linguistic features of literature in particular, such asthose of poetry, novels and dramas.13. form: the particular way of expressing the message.14. content: the message or information or the communicative value that is encoded orloaded in a linguistic expression.15. phonological analysis: it is chiefly concerned about the sound patterns of a piece ofliterature, especially those of poetry.16. lexical analysis: it is chiefly concerned about the internal structure and the stylisticcoloring and the semantic relationship of the words in the text.17. syntactical analysis: it is chiefly concerned about how the words in a text are puttogether to produce meaning and other kinds of message.18. discoursal analysis: it is concerned about how sentences are joined together to produce acohesive and coherent text.19. paralinguistic features: the vocal effects caused by different shaping of the vocal cordsand openings20. social dialect: it is determined by the social groupings that a person belongs to.21. taboo: words forbidden to be used in public because of their being dirty or offensive22. whispery voice: utterance without any vocal cord vibration at all. Emphasizing contrast.23. breathy voice: utterance where there is too much breath for the needs of the articulation.24. creaky voice: a slow crackle of vocal cord vibrations at a low pitch, like a stick being runalong a fence.25. falsetto: a switch of the voice from one vocal register to a higher one; usually found onlyin males.26. common core words: refer to those words used in everyday life.27. technical words: refer to those words used in special professions.28. standard words: words that are used in the standard dialect.29. non-standard words: words labeled as slangs, vulgarisms and colloquialisms in thedictionary. the cultural and social implications of a word simile: a comparison between two things with emphasis on the similarity or likeness between them30. spoken words: words that most often used in face-to- face, casual and everydayconversations.31. literary words: words used in formal writings or literature.32. extension: a specific word comes to mean a general idea.33. specialization: the change of the word meaning may move in the opposite direction, aword with general reference is narrowed to a specific reference.34. elevation: words of derogatory association become words of favorable association.35. degradation: neutral words or words of favorable association degenerated intoderogatory words.36. metaphor: a covert comparison37. litotes: understatement38. irony: a figure of speech that takes the form of saying or implying the opposite of whatone feels to be the case39. compound sentence: a sentence made up of two or more simple sentences, joinedtogether by conjunctions or punctuations40. periodic sentence: one that is not grammatically complete until the end is reached41. loose sentence: one that may be brought to a grammatical close before the end is reached42. elliptical sentence: one in which either the subject or the predicate or part of thepredicate is missing43. inverted sentence: one in which the subject position is filled by other sentence elements44. antithesis: a figure of speech in the formula of X conj. Y with a contrast between them45. parallelism: a rhetorical device in which two or more than two similar syntacticstructures with different words are placed side by side46. repetition: a rhetorical device in which identical words are used but not necessarily inidentical position47. deviation: violation of standard use of the language48. cataphora: If the referred item comes after the referring item in a text, then it is a case ofcataphora.49. progressive conjunction: one sentence that joined by the use of conjunctive words ofaddition or progression50. field of discourse: the topic under discussion or the nature of the activity in whichlanguage is involvedII. Answer the following questions (50 points; in test it contains 5 questions):1. What is the relationship between form and content?One way of talking about style is to make a distinction between form and content.Content is the message or information or the communicative value that is encoded orloaded in a linguistic expression. Form is the particular way of expressing the message.The form is the style which may be different from case to case although the meaningmay remain the same. For example, the Chinese term 开始may be expressed indifferent English words, such as start, begin and commence, but each suggests a differentstyle.2. What are the differences between language and speech?Another way of talking about style is to make a distinction between language and speech, which may be translated in Chinese as 语言and 言语. This distinction was firstproposed by Saussure, the founder of the modern linguistics. According to Saussure,there are four major differences between language and speech.A. Language is abstract whereas speech is concrete. Language is abstract in the sensethat it has only psychological instead of physical existence. Language is notsomething that you can bring to the classroom and examine under the microscope,not something you can hear, see, smell , touch or taste. Speech is concrete in thesense that it has physical properties. Either can be heard in the spoken form or seenin the written form.B. Language is potential whereas speech is actual. Language is potential in the sensethat it is a kind of can-mean system, while speech is something that has an actualmeaning.C. Language is code whereas speech is message(语言是一个代码系统，言语才是信息). Language is a set of symbols that can be used to transmit information. Speechis the actual use of the language in an act of communication in a particular situationfor a particular purpose. It carries a real message.D. Language is stable and systematic whereas speech is subject to personal andsituational constraint. For example, the word book in the English language alwaysrefers to some printed matter. But in speech it may be used to refer to anything thatthe speaker wants to refer to by the use of it as long as it is understandable. Thecommon example is the sentence: He is a walking dictionary(a kind of book)meaning that he is very knowledgeable.3. What is the methodology of stylistic analysis? What are the levels of stylistic analysis?The major methodology for stylistic analysis is linguistic analysis. It tries to be objective or scientific in its analysis. According to the advocates of this methodology, anyone using this methodology to analyze a given text of literature will reach roughly the same conclusion.Levels of analysisSince stylistic analysis is a kind of linguistic analysis, naturally, how many levels of structure we have in a language correspondingly how many levels of structure at which we may do stylistic analysis.1) PhonologicalPhonological analysis is chiefly concerned about the sound patterns of a piece of literature, especially those of poetry.2) LexicalLexical analysis is chiefly concerned about the internal structure and the stylistic coloring and the semantic relationship of the words in the text.3) SyntacticalSyntactical analysis is chiefly concerned about how the words in a text are put together to produce meaning and other kinds of message.4) DiscoursalDiscoursal analysis is concerned about how sentences are joined together to producea cohesive and coherent text.4. Define paralinguistic features. What are they?Definition: the vocal effects caused by different shaping of the vocal cords and openings.Kinds and the corresponding stylistic effects.1) Whispery voice: utterance without any vocal cord vibration at all. Emphasizingcontrast.2) Breathy voice: utterance where there is too much breath for the needs of thearticulati on, the effect being one of mild ‘puffing and blowing’. Expressing surprise and astonishment.3) Creaky voice: a slow crackle of vocal cord vibrations at a low pitch, like a stickbeing run along a fence.4) Falsetto: a switch of the voice from one vocal register to a higher one; usually foundonly in males.5. What are the three ways of studying the sound of language?A. articulatory phoneticsThe study of the sounds of a language with special attention to the speaker: the movement of the lungs, vocal cords, tongue, the lips and other organs which produce and control the noisy outward breathing.B. acoustic phoneticsThe study of the physical properties of the sound waves in the air when being transmitted from the speaker to the hearer.C. auditory phoneticsThe study of how the sound of speech is received by the hearer6. What are the four typical meters in English poetry?In English poetry, stress is usually used in the realization of meter. The followings are the four most typical meters.1) Iamb: Iamb is a metric foot consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by astressed syllable.2) Trochee: Trochee is a metric foot consisting of a stressed syllable followed by anunstressed syllable.3) Anapest: Anapest is a metric foot composed of two unstressed syllables followed byone stressed one.4) Dactyl: Dactyl is a metric foot composed of one stressed syllable followed by twounstressed ones7. What is the relationship between sound and meaning?According to Saussure, the relationship between sound and meaning is arbitrary in the sense that why a certain meaning takes a particular sound has no reason and it is completely accident. But in literature, the writers always try to arrange the words in sucha way as to make the patterns of sound to directly suggest the meaning.8. What is the relationship between style and the choice of words, according to thestylisticians?The stylisticians’ attitude: they lay emphasis on the adaptability to the situation.Standard, non-standard, black, dialectal, slang, archaisms are equally good in their expressiveness. There is no distinction of one being superior and other being inferior.9. How many kinds of word meanings may be classified? And what are they?According to the linguists, a word has various kinds of meaning. The first kind of meaning is denotative meaning.1) Denotative (概念意义)The kind of meaning we can get from the dictionary. It can also be termed asdictionary meaning, conceptual meaning, logical meaning and referential meaning.This is the most basic meaning that we understand a word has.2) Stylistic = social (社会意义)The kind of meaning associated with a particular social situation in which a particular word is often used. e.g begin, start, commence3) Affective meaning(情感意义)It is the emotional, attitudinal and evaluative coloring of a word. e.g. cunning and clever. Both mean the skillful handling of a delicate or difficult situation. But they reveal different attitudes and evaluation of the speaker.4) Collocative (搭配意义)Some words may have the same dictionary meaning, but they collocate with different words, as shown by the pair or synonyms of pretty and handsome.5) Connotative (内涵意义)the cultural and social implications of a word.10. What are the three basic components of the English vocabulary?The three basic components of the English vocabularyA Anglo-Saxona. Members of the familyb. Parts of the bodyc. Natured. Timee. One-syllabled verbsB Frencha. Government and Lawb. Army and military activitiesc. Religiond. CostumesC Latina. Medicineb. Lawc. Theologyd. Sciencee. Literature11. Functionally speaking, what are the four types of English sentences?1) Declarative 2) Interrogative3) Exclamatory 4) Imperative12. What are the conjunctions used in combining English sentences?1) Progressive conjunction (推进性连接): by the use of conjunctive words of additionor progression, such as and, furthermore, moreover, etc.2) Contrastive conjunction (对照性连接): by the use of conjunctive words of contrastor transition, such as but, whereas, while, on the contrary, on the other hand, etc.3) Temporal conjunction (时间性连接): by the use of conjunctive words of temporalsequence, such as then, later, afterwards, at last, or finally, etc13. What are the gestures may be used in a casual conversation?Facial expressions, eye-contact, body positions, distance, physical touch, sound modification, clothing, and environment14. What are the three types of substitution? Can you give some examples?A. Nominal substitution (名词性替代)1) The meaning of o ne/ones e.g. You bought a red pencil, I’d like a blue one.2) The use of the “same”Example:A: I want a cup of teaB: The same.3) The use of “kind, sort”. e.g. American food is not the same as the English kind.B. Verbal substitution (动词性替代)Do you like Chinese food?Yes, I do.He likes Chinese food. So do I.C. Clausal substitution (分句性替代)1) The use of “so” “not”Example: A: Do you think he will come tomorrow?B: Yes, I think so./ No, I think not.2) LimitationClausal substitution applies only to sentences, where the predicate verb of amain clause is one of the following verbs:believe, be afraid, expect, fear, hope, imagine, say, tell, think, suppose.15. What is the relationship between dialect and register?Another way of talking about style, is to make a distinction between dialects and registers.A: Speaker orientedDialects are speaker oriented. What kind of speaker speaks what kind of dialect.Dialects may be regional or social. Regional dialect (地域方言)is determined by the geographical locality the speaker lives in. The social dialect is determined by the social groupings that a person belongs to.B: Situation orientedRegister is situational oriented. Register is the language determined by situation, and because of this we have such registers as formal English, informal English, classroom English, legal English, etc.16. Name at least five kinds of figures of speech in English.Simile, metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, irony, overstatement, etc.17. Can you give some examples of rhetorical questions?Idea: a rhetorical question is one which does not really need an answer, or the answer is obviousExamples:Is that a reason for despair?Can any one doubt the wisdom of this action?Is no one going to defend me?What difference does it make then?18. What are the stylistic features of the Bible?1. 1. Biblical simplicity2. Full of balanced sentences3. The use of concrete words4. Short paragraphs5. Heavy use of and to begin a new paragraph6. Syntactical features1) simple and complete sentences2) the use of old forms of personal pronouns3) the second personal pronoun take the verb of –est as in shouldest,gavest,etc.,and the third person doth and hath which are absent in other styles of writing4) negation takes the form of“verb+not” without the use of auxiliaries19. What are the five kinds of reference in the English language?According to relative positions of the referring item and the referred item, reference may be classified into the following kinds.1) Anaphora(后照应)In a case of reference, if the referred item (a word or a phrase) come before the referring item in a text, then it is a case of anaphora.Example: Mr. Wang is an engineer, he graduated from Beijing University.2) Cataphora(前照应)On the other hand, if the referred item comes after the referring item in a text, then it is a case of cataphora. As in the example:I was introduced to them; it was John Leathwall and his wife.3) Exophora(外照应)If the interpretation of an item in a text depends on something in the immediate environment, then it is a case of exophora.Example: Did the gardener water those plants?4) Paraphora(平行照应)An item which refers to something in another text.Example: He is the Shylock Holmes in our class.5) Homophora(自照应)When the class is composed of only one member, then any mention of it is a case of homophora.Example: The moon moves around the earth.20. What are the three factors of register?1) Field of discourse —the topic under discussion or the nature of the activity inwhich language is involved.2) Tenor of discourse —the kind of social relationships between the participants in aconversation.3) Mode of discourse —the medium along which the message is being transmitted.21. Give examples to illustrate power relationship and solidarity relationship.Power relationship is a kind of vertical relationship in the sense that the two participants in the conversation hold unequal authority. For example, the relations between boss and employee, or between parents and children, or between teacher and students.Solidarity relationship is a horizontal relationship in that participants in a conversation hold equal authority. For example, the relations between playmates, classmates, friends, etc.22. What are the non-linguistic features of casual conversation?1) Unpreparedness or low degree of preparedness2) Frequent change of roles3) Monitoring4) Simultaneity in space and time5) Topic drifting6) Channel limitation7) Gestures23. What are the linguistic features of the language of news reporting?In news reporting one can find some characteristics in syntax, lexis, and textual structure.A. SyntaxThere is a heavy use of complex sentences and a heavy use of non-finite verb phrases. The subjects of sentences are usually very complicated. Compared with the verb phrases in the previous discussed varieties, the composition of the verb phrases in newspaper reporting is even simpler, mainly simple present or past tense. The structure of the noun phrases in news reporting is very complicated. There is a remarkable increase in the number of modifiers for an average sentence in the variety of newspaper reporting. And the modifiers themselves tend to be more complicatedly structured.B. LexisThere is rare use of pronouns, but by contrast, there is a remarkable increase of the use of proper nouns. The degree of complication in the aspect of word structure is about the same as that in public speech. Both in terms of the number of letters in an average word and the number of morphemes in an average word. Although the word structure in the style of newspaper reporting tends to be complicated, it is ever ready to use short instead of big word wherever possible, especially in headlines.Compound words are used frequently. Moreover, non phrases which actually express actions or state and heavily used, and they are derived from verb phrases in order to make the sentences more compact and save space without lowering the amount of information conveyed.C. Textual structureIn textual structure, one of the most outstanding characteristic is straightforwardness.24. What are the linguistic features of the language of advertisement?A. Syntax:In terms of syntax, the language of advertisement is simple in structure for easy understanding, and colloquial in style for familiarity, intimacy and solidarity. There is a higher frequency of imperative and interrogatives. As to structure, according to statistics, we have the lowest rate of occurrence of passive in comedies, the second lowest is in ads. There is also a heavy use of pre-modifiers, possessive’s,comparative and superlative adjectivesB. Lexis:There is a heavy use of compounds. Simple, short, inner structure and a highpercentage of active, affirmative, commendatory and large quantities of propernames could be found in the vocabulary of advertisement.C. Rhetorical devices:One can easily find a lot of parallelism, reiteration and alliteration.25. What is the relationship between literary language and ordinary language?1) The kind of language people use in daily conversation is the ultimate source of thelanguage of literature.2) Ordinary language follows the norm of convention, and the purpose is to beunderstood fully.3) Literary language is not the mechanical copy of ordinary language, but refined andprocessed.4) Literary language has some linguistic deviation.III. Stylistic analysis (20 points):1. Explain the connotative meaning of the italicized words or expressions in the followingsentences (12 points; in test it may or may not appear; it contains 3 words or expressions):1) Don’t trust her; she is a snake in the grass.Snake is a kind of animal, because of prejudice and cultural conventions now oftenused to refer to a person who is cunning and untrustworthy2) The enemy will attack us tomorrow morning, but we are still not well prepared. TheDamocles’ sword is hanging over us.Damocles’ sword is an allusion to Greek mythology. Damocles was invited to abanquet in the court. In the midst of the entertainment, Damocles looked up and sawsuspended above his head by a single thread a naked sword. By extension, it comesto mean an immediate danger.3) We have to consult him, you know, he is the real Titan in our class.Titan is a name used to refer to a class of gods huge in physical size. By extension,it comes to mean a person of great strength or influence.4) News from Pentagon today says …Pentagon is a huge building in Washington in which the U.S. Department ofDefense exercises its functions, now often used to refer to the ministry itself5) She knows nothing about the cruelty of the world. She is a lily.Lily is a flower and by cultural conventions a symbol of purity and innocence in thewest.6) Hamlet, according to some psycho-analysis theory, is a character who has theOedipus complex.According to psycho-analysis theory, Oedipus complex refers to the sexual love of an infant for the parent of the opposite sex, with jealousy of the other parent, often in an unconscious way. In this play, Hamlet is believed to have this kind of hidden desire. Actually, he seems to attempt to kill his father and marry his mother in his unconscious mind.7) He is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Don’t believe what he says.A wolf is a wild animal that looks like a large dog and that kills and eats otheranimals. Here wolf is used to refer to persons who are cruel and untrustworthy.8) The doctor told him it is not cancer, however, it is only a white lie.A lie is something that someone says which they know is untrue. A white lie is a liethat is not very serious, deliberately made, usually is used to comfort others.9) He is always ready to help people when they are in need. He’s a real Robin Hood.Robin Hood is a legendary outlaw of medieval England. He is said to take money form the rich and give it to the poor. By extension, it comes to mean any person ready to defend the interest of the poor and innocent.10) Their policy is all sticks and no carrots.One uses carrot to refer to something that is offered to people in order to persuade them to do something. The word “stick” is used to refer to harsher persuasion.11) China never stands on the side of Chauvinism.Chauvin was a soldier under the command of Napoleon who had blind worship for Napoleon. By extension, it comes to mean a kind of narrow minded patriotism.12) Children are flowers of our countryFlowers here are the symbol of young, lovely things. Here the sentence means that children are the future of our country.2. What possible social relationships exist between the participants in the followingsentences? (12 points; in test we may have the same pattern)1) Excuse me, could you tell me the right time, please?2) What time is it, please?3) What’ the time?Sentence 1) shows a high degree of politeness and formality which may most probably appear in a conversation between strangers with great social distance in between.Sentence 2) still shows some degree of politeness and formality which may be in a conversation between acquaintances. Sentence 3) is a direct question without taking care of politeness. This is characteristic of conversations between friends or classmates orfamily members.3. Indicate what kind of figures of speech is used in the following examples? (8 points, intest we may have 2 sentences)The young hunter was as strong as a lion. (simile)Life is but a brief candle. (metaphor)from the cradle to the grave (metonymy)Many hands make light work. (synecdoche)She’s as old as a mountain. (hyperbole)A victorious defeat (oxymoron)He is a fool. He never knows where his personal interest lies. His whole heart is concerned about the interest of other people. (irony)Belinda smiled, and all the world was gay. (overstatement / hyperbole)The drunkard loves his bottle better than his wife. (metonymy)My love is a red, red rose. (metaphor)4. Try to analyze the following sentence and point out its stylistic value (12 points)1) Sentences can be classified into different kinds, e.g., according to their structures,various functions they apply, or according to the rhetorical effects they achieve. For example, Rhetorically speaking, we may have periodic, loose, elliptical, and inverted sentence. A periodic sentence is one that is not grammatically complete until the end is reached. Being the opening sentence of a novel, the reader may expect a serious one. And when the reader reads the beginning of the long sentence, they find an emphatic construction. And the first words are rather big and formal words, like “universally”, and “acknowledged”. Also, there is a word “truth”. From thes e words the reader’s suspense is risen and they would feel an immediate and strong interest in finding out what the universal truth is. While they are reading the long sentence, they feel more and more tense and serious till the very end of this sentence. But, out of their expectancy, they find the truth is the common one —money and wife. Because of the prolonged suspense, the reader would feel a sudden relaxation and ridiculous recreation. This sentence-building skill serves effectively and sets down the basic tone of the novel —being funny enough.2) This is indeed a very significant line in terms of its clause structure.Firstly, we may notice that the three clauses are short in length and simple in structure and arranged in chronological order. This generates a feeling that the acts of coming, seeing and conquering were simple, and were completed one after another in quick succession.Secondly, we can see that the three clauses have the same structure, i.e., they。
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