语言学单元自测

I. Decide whether each of the following statements is True or False:1. One of the tasks of the historical linguists is to explore methods to reconstruct linguistic history and establish the relationship between languages.2. Language change is a gradual and constant process, therefore often indiscernible to speakers of the same generation.3. The history of the English language is divided into the periods of Old English, Middle English and Modern English.4. Middle English began with the arrival of Anglo-Saxons, who invaded the British Isles from northern Europe.5. In Old English, all the nouns are inflected to mark nominative, genitive, dative and accusative cases.6. In Old English, the verb of a sentence often precedes the subject rather than follows it.7. A direct consequence of the Renaissance Movement was the revival of French as a literary language.8. In general, linguistic change in grammar is more noticeable than that in the sound system and the vocabulary of a language.9. The sound changes include changes in vowel sounds, and in the loss, gain and movement of sounds.10. The least widely-spread morphological changes in the historical development of English are the loss and addition of affixes.11. In Old English, the morphosyntactic rule of adjective agreement stipulated that the endings of adjective must agree with the head noun in case, number and gender.12. The word order of Modern English is more variable than that of Old English.13. Derivation refers to the process by which new words are formed by the addition of affixes to the roots, stems, or words.14. “Smog” is a word formed by the word-forming process called acronymy.15. “fridge” is a word formed by abbreviation.16. Modern linguists are able to provide a consistent account for the exact causes of all types of language change.17. Sound assimilation may bring about the loss of one of two phonetically similar syllables in sequence, as in the case of change of “Engla-land” to “England”.18. Rule elaboration occurs when there is a need to reduce ambiguity and increase communicative clarity or expressiveness.19. Language change is always a change towards the simplification of language rules20. The way children acquire the language is one of the causes for language change.II. Fill in each of the following blanks with one word which begins with the letter given:21. H________ linguistics is the subfield of linguistics that studies language change.22. The historical study of language is a d________ study of language rather than a synchronic study.23. European R________ Movement separates the period of Middle English from that of modern English.24. An important set of extensive sound changes, which affected 7 long or tense vowels and which led to one of the major discrepancies between phonemic representations of words and morphemes at the end of the Middle English Period, is known as the Great V_______ Shift.25. A_______ involves the deletion of a word-final vowel segment.26. A change that involves the insertion of a consonant or vowel sound to the middle of a word is known as e__________.27. The three sets of consonant shifts that Grimm discovered became known collectively as Grimm s L ____.28. Sound change as a result of sound movement, known as m_______, involves a reversal in position of two adjoining sound segments.29. B________ is a process by which new words are formed by taking away the supposed suffixes of exiting words.30. Semantic b________ refers to the process in which the meaning of a word becomes more general or inclusive than its historically earlier denotation.31. The original form of a language family that has ceased to exist is called the p_________.32. Sound a________ refers to the physiological effect of one sound on another. In this process, successive sounds are made identical or similar to one another in terms of place or manner of articulation.33. In order to reduce the exceptional or irregular morphemes, speakers of a particular language may borrow a rule from one part of the grammar and apply it generally. This phenomenon is called i_________ borrowing.34. By identifying and comparing similar linguistic forms with similar meanings across related languages, historical linguists reconstruct the proto form in the common ancestral language. This process is called c________ reconstruction.35. The m ____ rule of adjective agreement has been lost from English.III. There are four choices following each statement. Mark the choice that can best complete the statement:36. Historical linguistics explores ________________.A. the nature of language changeB. the causes that lead to language changeC. the relationship between languagesD. all of the above37. Language change is ______________.A. universal, continuous and ,to a large extent, regular and systematicB. continuous, regular, systematic, but not universalC. universal, continuous, but not regular and systematicD. always regular and systematic, but not universal and continuous38. Modern English period starts roughly _____________.A. from 449 to 1100B. from 1500 to the presentC. from 1100 to the presentD. from 1700 to the present39. Old English dates back to the mid-fifth century when _________.A. the Norman French invaders under William the Conqueror arrived in EnglandB. the printing technology was inventedC. Anglo-Saxons invaded the British Isles from northern EuropeD. the Celtic people began to inhabit England40. Middle English was deeply influenced by ___________.A. Norman French in vocabulary and grammarB. Greek and Latin because of the European renaissance movementC. Danish languages because Denmark placed a king on the throne of EnglandD. the Celtic people who were the first inhabitants of England41. Language change is essentially a matter of change ________.A. in collocationsB. in meaningC. in grammarD. in usages42. In Old and Middle English, both /k/ and /n/ in the word “knight” were pronounced, but in modern English, /k/ in the sound /kn-/ clusters was not pronounced. This phenomenon is known as ________.A. sound additionB. sound lossC. sound shiftD. sound movement43. A change that involves the insertion of a consonant or vowel sound to the middle of a word is known as _____.A. apocopeB. epenthesisC. parenthesisD. antithesis44. Segment switch of sound positions can be seen in the example of the modern word “ bird” which comes from the old English word “bridd”. The change of the word from “bridd” to “bird” is a case of _________.A. metathesisB. sound lossC. sound additionD. apocope45. _________ is a process of combining two or more words into one lexical unit.A. DerivationB. BlendingC. CompoundingD. Abbreviation46. “Wife”, which used to refer to any woman, stands for “ a married woman” in modern English. This phenomenon is known as ________.A. semantic shiftB. semantic broadeningC. semantic elevationD. semantic narrowing47. English language belongs to _________.A. Indo-European FamilyB. Sino-Tibetan FamilyC. Austronesian FamilyD. Afroasiatic Family48. By analogy to the plural formation of the word “dog-s”, speakers started saying “cows” as the plural of “cow” instead of the earlier plural “kine”. This is the case of _________.A. elaborationB. external borrowingC. sound assimilationD. internal borrowing49. Morphologcial changes can involve __________.A. the loss of morphological rulesB. the addition of morphological rulesC. the alteration of morphological rulesD. all of the above50. The most dramatic morphological loss concerns the loss of ________.A. comparative markersB. tense markersC. gender and case markersD. none of the aboveIV. Define the following terms:51. Apocope 52. Metathesis 53. Derivation54. back-formation 55. semantic narrowing57. haplology 58. epenthesis 59. Compounding60. Blending 61. semantic broadening 62. semantic shift63. Great Vowel Shift 64. acronym 65. sound assimilationV. Answer the following questions:66. What is the purpose or significance of the historical study of language67. What are the characteristics of the nature of language change68. What are the major periods in the history of English69. As language changes over time, the meaning of a word may deviate from its original denotation. Discuss the major types of semantic changes.70. Over the years from Old English period to the Modern English period, English has undergone some major sound changes. Illustrate these changes with some examples.71. What are the most widely-spread morphological changes in the historical development of English72. What are the causes of language change Discuss them in detail.Chapter 7 Historical LinguisticsI. Decide whether each of the following statements is True or False:16. F 17. T 18. T 19. FII. Fill in each of the following blanks with one word which begins with the letter given:28. Metathesis 35. morphosyntacticIII. There are four choices following each statement. Mark the choice that can best complete the statement:46. D 48. D 49. D 50. CIV. Define the following terms:1. Apocope : Apocope is the deletion of a word-final vowel segment.2. Metathesis: Sound change as a result of sound movement is known as metathesis. It involves a reversal in position of two neighbouring sound seg-ments.3. Derivation: It is a process by which new words are formed by the addition of affixes to the roots, stems or words.4. back-formation: It is a process by which new words are formed by taking away the supposed suffix of an existing word.5. semantic narrowing: Semantic narrowing is a process in which the meaning ofa word be-comes less general or inclusive than its historically earlier meaning.6. Protolanguage: It is the original form of a language family that has ceased to exist.7. Haplology: It refers to the phenomenon of the loss of one of two phonetically similar syllables in sequence.8. Epenthesis: A change that involves the insertion of a consonant or vowel sound to the middle of a word is known as epenthesis.9. Compounding: It is a process of combining two or more than two words into one lexical unit.10. Blending: It is a process of forming a new word by combining parts of other words.11. semantic broadening: Semantic broadening refers to the process in which the meaning of a word becomes more general or inclusive than its historically earlier denota-tion.62. semantic shift: Semantic shift is a process of semantic change in which a word loses its former meaning and acquires a new, sometimes related, meaning.63. Great Vowel Shift: It is a series of systematic sound change at the end of the Middle English period approximately between 1400 and 1600 in the history of English that involved seven long vowels and consequently led to one of the major discrepancies between English pronunciation and its spelling system.64. Acronym: An acronym is a word created by combining the initials of a number of words.65. sound assimilation: Sound assimilation refers to the physiological effect of one sound on an-other. In an assimilative process, successive sounds are made identical, or more similar, to one another in terms of place or manner of articulation, or of haplology.V. Answer the following questions:66. What is the purpose or significance of the historical study of language1) Researches in historical linguistics shed light on prehistoric developments in the evolution of language and the connections of earlier and later variants of the same lan-guage and provide valuable insights into the kinship patterns of different languages.2) The identification of the changes that a particular language has undergone enables us to reconstruct the linguistic history of that language, and thereby hypothesizes its earlier forms from which current speech and writing have evolved.3) The historical study of language also en-ables them to determine how non - linguistic factors, such as social, cultural and psychological factors, interact over time to cause linguistic change.67. What are the characteristics of the nature of language changeAll living languages change with time and language change is inevitable. As a general rule, language change is universal, continuous and, to a considerable de-gree, regular and systematic. Language change is extensive, taking place in virtually all aspects of the grammar.Although language change is universal, inevitable, and in some cases, vigorous, it is never an overnight occurrence, but a gradual and constant process, often indiscernible to speakers of the same generation.68. What are the major periods in the history of EnglishThe major periods in the history of English are Old English period (roughly from 449 to 1100), Middle English period(roughly from 1100 to 1500), and Modern English period (roughly from 1500 to the pre-sent). Old English dates back tothe mid-fifth century when Anglo-Saxons invaded the British Isles from northern Europe.The pronunciation of Old English is very different from its modem form. For example, the Old English word "ham" is pronounced as /ha:m/. In terms of morphology, nearly half of the nouns are inflected to mark nomi-native , genitive, dative, and accusative cases . In addition, suffixes are added to verbs to indicate tense. Syntactical-ly , the verb of an Old English sentence precedes, hut does not follow, the subject.Middle English began when the Norman French invaders invaded England under William the Conqueror in 1066. Middle English had been deeply influenced by Norman French in vocabulary and grammar. For example, such terms as " army," " court," " defense," " faith," "prison" and "tax" came from the language of the French rulers.Modern English period starts with European renaissance move-ment. A di-rect consequence of the Renaissance movement was the revival of Latin as a literary language. In the post-Renaissance period, the "British Empire" set upEnglish-speaking colonies in many parts of the world. By the nineteenth century, English was recognized as the language of the government, the law, higher education, and business and commerce in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Today Modern English is widely used and has in fact become an important tool of international communication among peoples of different countries.69. As language changes over time, the meaning of a word may deviate from its original denotation. Discuss the major types of semantic changes.Major types of semantic changes are semantic broadening, semantic narrowing and semantic shift.Semantic broadening refers to the process in which the meaning of a word becomes more general or inclusive than its historically earlier denota-tion. Take the word "holiday" for example, The older meaning was a " holy day." Today everyone enjoys a holiday, whether he or she is religious or not.Semantic narrowing is a process in which the meaning of a word be-comes less general or inclusive than its historically earlier meaning. For ex-ample, " wife," used to mean "any woman," but now it means “married fe-males” only.Semantic shift is a process of semantic change in which a word loses its former meaning and acquires a new, sometimes related, meaning. For example, the word silly meant “happy” in Old English, and naive in Middle English, but "foolish" in Modern English.70. Over the years from Old English period to the Modern English period, English has undergone some major sound changes. Illustrate these changes with some examples.The major sound changes include changes in vowel sounds, and in the loss, gain and movement of sounds.The changes in vowel sounds can be seen in the Great Vowel Shift in the history of English, which led to one of the major dis-agreements between the pronunciation and the spelling system of Modern English. These changes involve seven long, or tense vowels, for exampleSounds do not just change, they can be lost. vowel sounds change, but some sounds simply disappeared from the general pronunciation of English. One example of sound loss is the /kn - / clusters in the word - initial position. In Old and Middle English, both /k/ and /n/ were pro-nounced, as is shown in the spelling of such words as "knight" and "knee." Although Modern English spelling of these words still keeps the initial letter k, its sound is no longer pronounced.Sound changes can also take the form of sound addition. Sound addition includes the gain or insertion of a sound, for example:spinle spindleemty emptySound change can take the form of sound movement. It involves a reversal in position of two neighbouring sound seg-ments. For example, the /r/ sound in the Old English words "bridd" ("bird") and "hros" ("horse") was moved to the right of the vowel sounds in their Modem English counterparts "bird" and "horse."71. What are the most widely-spread morphological changes in the historical development of EnglishThe most widely-spread morphological changes in the historical development of English are the loss and addition of affixes. A number of morphological rules in Old English are now lost in Modern English. Some of these rules are about derivational affixes, such as suffixes "-baere" and "-bora" . In Old English an adjective would derive if "-baere" was added to a noun, such as:lust ("pleasure") + baere lustbaere ("agreeable")But this rule has been lost in modern English.The most dramatic morphological loss concerns the loss of gender and case marking. In Old English,for example, "stn" ("stone") was marked masculine, while "gief" ("gift") and "d…or" ("wild animal") were marked respectively feminine and neuter. In modern English, the gender markers of these words have been lost.Some affixes have been added to the English morphological "-able" for example, it has been added to English since the Old English period. At first, words ending in "-able," such as "favourable" and "conceivable," were borrowed altogether from French. Then this suffix be-came a productive rule in English. It was used with other verbs to form ad-jectives. Contemporary English speakers apply this suffix rule to more stems, thus producing new adjectives such as " payable," and “washable.”are the causes of language change Discuss them in detail.Language changes are due to the following causes:1) Sound assimilation: Sound assimilation refers to the physiological effect of one sound on an-other. In an assimilative process, successive sounds are made identical, or more similar, to one another in terms of place or manner of articulation, or of haplology, the loss of one of two phonetically similar syllables in sequence. For example, the Old English word "Engla-land" ("the land of the Angles") came to be pronounced “England” through the assimilation of "la-la sounds.2) Rule simplification and regularization: Some changes are the result of simplification and regularization. The plural forms of borrowed words are usually irregular, thus complex. For example, the plural forms of "agendum", "datum", "curriculum" and "memorandum" are "agenda" , "data" , "curricula" and "mem-oranda" . The irregular plurals of these nouns have been replaced by regular plurals of "agendas", "curriculums", and "memorandums" among many speakers, thus making them simplified and regularized.3) Internal borrowing: In order to reduce the number of ex-ceptional or irregular morphemes, speakers of a particular language may bor-row a rule from one part of the grammar and apply it generally. For exam-ple, by analogy to the plural formation of "foe-s" and "dog-s", speakers started saying "cows" as the plural of "cow" instead of the earlier plural kine.4) Elaboration: Rule elaboration occurs when there is a need to reduce ambiguity and increase communicative clarity or expressiveness. If a particular grammatical feature is lost as a re-sult of a change in the phonological system, some other feature may be added in another component of the grammar.5) Social triggers: Socio-political changes such as wars, invasions, oc-cupation, colonization, and language planning and standardiza-tion policies lead to language changes. For example, in the history of English, the Norman Conquest marked the beginning of the Middle English period. And British colonial settlement, and the country' s political, cultural and economic advances in distant lands such as North America, Oceania, South Africa, and India lead to the change of English into British, American, Australian, South African and Indian varieties.6) Cultural transmission: Although a new generation has to find a way of using the language of the previous generation, it has to find expressions that canbest communicate the views and concepts of the time and the changed and ever-changing social life, and re-create the language of the community. For example, while old people tend to call a refrigerator "icebox," the younger generation is more often heard speaking of a "fridge." This tenuous transmission process adds up to the inevitable and ongoing language change and variation.7) Children's approximation toward the adult grammar:The way children acquire the language is another basic cause for lan-guage change. Children usually construct their personal grammars by themselves and generalize rules from the linguistic information they hear. Children' s grammar never models exactly after that of the adult speech community, because children are exposed to diverse linguistic infor-mation.All the above factors contribute to language changes.。

I. Decide whether each of the following statements is True or False.⒈The linguistic ability of human beings depends primarily on the structure of the vocal cords.⒉Human beings are the only organisms in which one particular part of the left half of the brain is larger than the corresponding part of the right half.3.The case of Phineas Gage suggests that if our language ability is located in the brain， it is clear that it is not situated right at the front.⒋In general， the right side of the brain controls voluntary movements of，and responds to signals from， the left side of the body， whereas the left side controls voluntary movements of， and responds to signals from， the right side of the body.nguage functions are believed to be lateralized primarily in the left hemisphere of the brain.6.The language we speak determines the way we perceive the world and therefore the nature of thought.7.Human beings can not think without language， just as they can not speak without thinking.8.If a language lacks a word， its speakers will not be able to grasp its concept.9.Generally speaking， left hemisphere is responsible for language and speech，analytic reasoning， associative thought， etc.， while the right hemisphere is responsible for perception of nonlinguistic sounds，holistic reasoning，recognition of musical melodies， etc.nguage by no means determines the ways we perceive the objective world，but by its convenience， availability， and habitual use， does influence the perceptions of human being.II. Fill in each of the blanks below with one word which begins with the letter given.11.P_________ is the study of language in relation to the mind.12.The most important part of the brain is the outside surface of the brain，called the cerebral c_________， which is the decision-making organ of the body.13.The brain is divided into two roughly symmetrical halves， called h_________，one on the right and one on the left.14.The localization of cognitive and perceptual functions in a particular side of the brain is called l__________.15.Brain lateralization is g__________ programmed， but takes time to develop.16.In addition to the m________ area which is responsible for physical articulation of utterances， three areas of the left hemisphere are vital to language， namely，Broca’s area，Wernicke’s area and the angular gyrus.17.The relationship between the name and the meaning of a word is quite a______________.18.When language and thought are identical or closely parallel to each other，we may regard thought as s________ speech and speech as o__________ thought.19.Because languages differ in many ways， Whorf believed that speakers of different languages perceive and experience the world differently， relative to their linguistic background. This notion is called linguistic r__________.20.The basic essentials of the first language are acquired in the short period from about age two to puberty， which is called the c____ period for first language acquisition.21.The strong version of Sapir-Whorf hypothesis has two aspects： linguistic d_______ and linguistic relativism.III. There are four choices following each statement. Mark the choice that can best complete the statement.22.Human linguistic ability largely depends on the structure and dynamics of _________.23.Psychologists， neurologists and linguists have concluded that， in addition to the motor area which is responsible for physical articulation of utterances，24.The ____ age for the acquisition of the first language coincides with the period of brain lateralization.25. Linguistic ____ is the brain’s neurological specialization for lan guage.26. Our linguistic ability is a ________ gift of the species’ gene program.27.________shows that if our language ability is located in the brain， it is28.The most important part of the brain is the outside surface of the brain，called _________.29.According to lateralization theory， which of the following is not the primary function of the left hemisphere of the brain？30._______ is commonly held to be an evolutionary precondition of the development of superior intelligence as well as a precondition of language acquisition.31.The dichotic listening research shows that the left hemisphere is not superior in nature.32.nguage disorder resulting from a damage to _________ in the brain reveals word-finding difficulties and problems with syntax.34.In 1874， the young German physician Carl Wernicke published his discovery in a paper which contributed to the hypothesis that __________.35.__________ is the language center primarily responsible for converting a visual stimulus into an auditory form and vice versa.36.The neurobiologist Eric Lenneberg is a major proponent of the idea that ________.V. Answer the following questions.55. What are the biological foundations of language？56. What are the major mental functions under the control of each hemisphere？57. What can we do by means of dichotic listening tests？58. What is the safe conclusion from Genie's case？59. How are language and thought related to each other？Suggested AnswersI. Decide whether each of the following statements is True or False.II.Fill in each of the blanks below with one word which begins with the letterIII. There are four choices following each statement. Mark the choice that canIV. Explain the following terms.38.Psycholinguistics： Psycholinguistics is the study of language in relation to the mind.39.Brain lateralization：The localization of cognitive and perceptual functions in aparticular hemisphere of the brain is calledbrain lateralization.40.Dichotic listening： a research technique which has been used to study how the brain controls hearing and language， with which subjects wear earphones and simultaneously receive different sounds in the right and left ear， and are then asked to repeat what they hear. Dichotic listening research makes use of the generally established fact that anything experienced on the right-hand side of the body is processed in the left hemisphere of the brain， and vice versa. A basic assumption， thus， would be that a signal coming in the right ear will go to the left hemisphere and a signal coming in the left ear will go to the right hemisphere.41.Broca's area： It refers to the frontal lobe in the left cerebral hemisphere，which is vital to language. This area is discovered by Paul Broca， a French surgeon and anatomist.42.Angular gyms： The angular gyrus lies behind Wernicke's area. The angular gyrus is the language center responsible for converting a visual stimulus into an auditory form and vice versa. This area is crucial for the matching of a spoken form with a perceived object， for the naming of objects， and for the comprehension of written language， all of which require connections between visual and speech regions.43.Cerebral plasticity： According to Lenneberg， prior to the end of the critical period， both hemispheres are involved to some extent in language and one can take over if the other is damaged. This neurological flexibility is called cerebral plasticity.44.Linguistic determinism： a theory put forward by the American anthropological linguists Sapir and Whorf， which states that the way people view the world is determined by the structure of their native language.45.Sub-vocal speech： a term used to refer to thought when thought and language are identical or closely parallel to each other.46.Cerebral cortex： the outside surface of the brain which receives messages from all the sensory organs and where human cognitive abilities reside.47.Linguistic lateralization：It refers the brain’s neurological specialization for language.48.Right ear advantage： The speech signals presented in the right ear goes directly to the left brain， while the speech signals in the left ear must first go to the right hemisphere， from where it is transferred to the left side of the brain for processing. Since the speech signals in the left ear takes a non-direct route and a longer time before processing than a linguistic signal received through the right ear， linguistic stimuli heard in the left ear are reported less accurately than those heard in the right ear. This phenomenon is called the right ear advantage.49.Critical period hypothesis： The critical period hypothesis refers to a period in one's life extending from about age two to puberty， during which the human brain is most ready to acquire a particular language and language learning can proceed easily， swiftly， and without explicit instruction.50.Sapir-Whorf hypothesis： a theory put forward by the American anthropological linguists Sapir and Whorf which states that the way people view the world is determined wholly or partly by the structure of their native language.51.Linguistic relativism： Whorf believed that speakers of different languages perceive and experience the world differently， relative to their linguistic back-ground， hence the notion oflinguistic relativism.52.Overt thought： When language and thought are identical or closely parallel to each other，we may regard speech as "overt thought.”53.Intrapersonal communication： It means that language users use language to facilitate thinking， speech behavior and action for the individual.54.Interpersonal communication： It means language users use language to convey information， thoughts and feelings from one person to another， or to control each other's behavior.V. Answer the following questions.55.What are the biological foundations of language？Of all organisms， human beings are the only spontaneous creators and users of highly sophisticated languages that permit the communication of a wide range of knowledge and ideas. Evidently， our linguistic ability does not depend primarily on the structure of our vocal cords， for other mammals also have vocal cords. Human linguistic ability largely depends， instead， on the structure and dynamics of thehuman brain. As far as is currently known， human beings are the only organisms in which one particular part of the left half of the brain is larger than the corresponding part of the right half. This has led to the belief that human language is biologically， or more exactly， neurologically， based.56. What are the major mental functions under the control of each hemisphere？Psychological research suggests that both hemispheres perform important mental functions and they differ only in the manner in which they treat incoming stimuli. For example， the right hemisphere processes stimuli more holistically and the left hemisphere more analytically.Brain lateralization for major mental functions under the control of each hemisphere is given as follows：（1） Left hemisphere Right hemispherelanguage and speech perception of nonlinguistic sounds analytic reasoning holistic reasoningtemporal ordering visual and spatial skillsreading and writing recognition of patternscalculation recognition of musical melodiesassociative thoughtBecause each cerebral hemisphere has unique functional superiority， it is accurate to think of the hemispheres as complementarily specialized.57.What can we do by means of dichotic listening tests？Dichotic listening research makes use of the generally established fact that anything experienced on the right-hand side of the body is processed in the left hemisphere of the brain， and vice versa. A basic assumption， thus， would be that a signal coming in the right ear will go to the left hemisphere and a signal coming in the left ear will go to the right hemisphere. By means of dichotic listening tests，we can analyze the characteristics of incoming stimuli processed by the individual hemispheres.Dichotic listening test can show that the left hemisphere is not superior for processing all sounds， but only for those that are linguistic in nature， thus providing evidence in support of the view that the left side of the brain is specialized for language and that it is where language centers reside.58.What is the safe conclusion from Genie's case？A safe conclusion from Genie's case is that the language faculty of an average human being degenerates after the critical period and consequently， most linguistic skills cannot develop.59.How are language and thought related to each other？Language and thought may be viewed as two independent circles overlapping in some parts， where language and thought are consistent with each other and one never occurs without the other. When language and thought are identical or closely parallel to each other， we may regard thought as "sub-vocal speech"， and speech as "overt thought". In such a case， speaking and thinking take place simultaneously.（素材和资料部分来自网络，供参考。

Chapter 3：MorphologyI. Decide whether each of the following statements is True or False:1. Morphology studies the internal structure of words and the rules by which words are formed.2.Words are the smallest meaningful units of language.3. Just as a phoneme is the basic unit in the study of phonology, so is a morpheme the basic unit in the study of morphology.4. The smallest meaningful units that can be used freely all by themselves are free morphemes.5. Bound morphemes include two types: roots and affixes.6. Inflectional morphemes manifest various grammatical relations or grammatical categories such as number, tense, degree, and case.7. The existing form to which a derivational affix can be added is called a stem, which can be a bound root, a free morpheme, or a derived form itself.8. Prefixes usually modify the part of speech of the original word, not the meaning of it.9. There are rules that govern which affix can be added to what type of stem to form a new word. Therefore, words formed according to the morphological rules are acceptable words.10. Phonetically, the stress of a compound always falls on the first element, while the second element receives secondary stress.II. Fill in each blank below with one word which begins with the letter given:11. M ____ is the smallest meaningful unit of language.12. The affix “-ish” in the word boyish conveys a g____ meaning.13. B___________ morphemes are those that cannot be used independently but have to be combined with other morphemes, either free or bound, to form a word.14. Affixes are of two types: inflectional affixes and d__________ affixes.15. D________ affixes are added to an existing form to create words.16. A s______ is added to the end of stems to modify the meaning of the original word and it may case change its part of speech.17. C__________ is the combination of two or sometimes more than two words to create new words.18. The rules that govern which affix can be added to what type of stem to forma new word are called m___________ rules.19. In terms of morphemic analysis, d_______________ can be viewed as the addition of affixes to stems to form new words.20. A s______ can be a bound root, a free morpheme, or a derived form itself to which a derivational affix can be added.III. There are four choices following each statement. Mark the choice that can best complete the statement:21. The morpheme “vision” in the common word “television” is a(n) ______.A. bound morphemeB. bound formC. inflectional morphemeD. free morpheme22. The compound word “bookstore” is the place where books are sold. This indicates that the meaning of a compound __________.A. is the sum total of the meaning of its componentsB. can always be worked out by looking at the meanings of morphemesC. is the same as the meaning of a free phrase.D. None of the above.23. The part of speech of the compounds is generally determined by the part of speech of __________.A. the first elementB. the second elementC. either the first or the second elementD. both the first and the second elements.24. _______ are those that cannot be used independently but have to be combined with other morphemes, either free or bound, to form a word.A. Free morphemesB. Bound morphemesC. Bound wordsD. Words25. _________ is a branch of grammar which studies the internal structure of words and the rules by which words are formed.A. SyntaxB.GrammarC. MorphologyD. Morpheme26. The meaning carried by the inflectional morpheme is _______.A. lexicalB. morphemicC. grammaticalD. semantic27. Bound morphemes are those that ___________.A. have to be used independentlyB. can not be combined with other morphemesC. can either be free or boundD. have to be combined with other morphemes.28. ____ modify the meaning of the stem, but usually do not change the part of speech of the original word.A. PrefixesB. SuffixesC. RootsD. Affixes29. _________ are often thought to be the smallest meaningful units of language by the linguists.A. WordsB. MorphemesC. PhonemesD. Sentences30. “-s” in the word “books” is _______.A. a derivative affixB. a stemC. an inflectional affixD. a rootIV. Define the following terms:31. morphology 32. inflectional morphology33. derivational morphology 34. morpheme35. free morpheme 36. bound morpheme37. root 38. affix39. prefix 40. suffix41. derivation 42. CompoundingV. Answer the following questions:43. What are the main features of the English compounds44. Discuss the types of morphemes with examples.Chapter 3 MorphologyI. Decide whether each of the following statements is True or False:l.T 2.F 3.T 4.T 5.T 6.T 7.T 8.F 9.F 10.TII. Fill in each blank below with one word which begins with the letter given:11. Morpheme 12. grammatical 13. Bound 14. derivative 15.Derivative16. suffix 17. Compounding 18. morphological 19. derivation 20. stemIII. There are four choices following each statement. Mark the choice that can best complete the statement:2l.D 22.D 23.B 24.B 25.C 26. C 27. D 28. A 29. B 30. CIV. Define the following terms:31. Morphology: Morphology is a branch of grammar which studies the internal structure of words and the rules by which words are formed.32. inflectional morphology: The inflectional morphology studies the inflections33. derivational morphology: Derivational morphology is the study of word- formation.34. Morpheme: It is the smallest meaningful unit of language.35. free morpheme: Free morphemes are the morphemes which are independent units of meaning and can be used freely all by themselves or in combination with oth-er morphemes.36. bound morpheme: Bound morphemes are the morphemes which cannot be used indepen-dently but have to be combined with other morphemes, either free or bound, to form a word.37. Root: A root is often seen as part of a word; it can never stand by itself al-though it bears clear, definite meaning; it must be combined with another root or an affix to form a word.38. Affix: Affixes are of two types: inflectional and derivational. Inflectional affixes manifest various grammatical relations or grammatical categories, while derivational affixes are added to an existing form to create a word.39. Prefix: Prefixes occur at the begin-ning of a word . Prefixes modify the meaning of the stem, but they usually do not change the part of speech of the original word.40. Suffix: Suffixes are added to the end of the stems; they modify the meaning of the original word and in many cases change its part of speech.41. Derivation: Derivation is a process of word formation by which derivative affixes are added to an existing form to create a word.42. Compounding: Compounding can be viewed as the combination of two or sometimes more than two words to create new words.V. Anwser the following questions:43. What are the main features of the English compounds ?Orthographically a compound can be written as one word, two separate words with or without a hyphen in between. Syntactically, the part of speech of a compound is determined by the last element. Semantically, the meaning of a compound is idiomatic, not calcu-lable from the meanings of all its components. Phonetically, the word stress of a compound usually falls on the first element.44. Discuss the types of morphemes with examples.Free morphemes: They are the independent units of meaning and can be used freely all by themselves, for ex ample, “book-” in the word “bookish”.Bound morphemes: They are those that cannot be used independently but have to be combined with other morphemes, either free or bound, to form a word such as “-ish” in “bookish”. Bound morphemes can be subdivided into roots and affixes.A root is seen as part of a word; it can never stand by itself although it has a clear and definite meaning, such as “gene-” in the word “generate”. Affixes are of two types: inflectional and derivational. Inflectional morphemes manifest various grammatical relations or grammatical categories such as “-s” in the word “books” to indicate plurality of nouns. Derivational affixes are added to an existing form to create a word such as “mis-” in the word “misinform”. Derivational affixes can also be divided into prefixes and suffixes. Prefixesoccur at the beginning of a word such as “dis- ” in the word “dislike”, while suffixes occur at the end of a word such as “-less” in the word “friendless”.。

Chapter 7： Historical LinguisticsI. Decide whether each of the following statements is True or False:1. One of the tasks of the historical linguists is to explore methods to reconstruct linguistic history and establish the relationship between languages.2. Language change is a gradual and constant process, therefore often indiscernible to speakers of the same generation.3. The history of the English language is divided into the periods of Old English, Middle English and Modern English.4. Middle English began with the arrival of Anglo-Saxons, who invaded the British Isles from northern Europe.5. In Old English, all the nouns are inflected to mark nominative, genitive, dative and accusative cases.6. In Old English, the verb of a sentence often precedes the subject rather than follows it.7. A direct consequence of the Renaissance Movement was the revival of French as a literary language.8. In general, linguistic change in grammar is more noticeable than that in the sound system and the vocabulary of a language.9. The sound changes include changes in vowel sounds, and in the loss, gain and movement of sounds.10. The least widely-spread morphological changes in the historical development of English are the loss and addition of affixes.11. In Old English, the morphosyntactic rule of adjective agreement stipulated that the endings of adjective must agree with the head noun in case, number and gender.12. The word order of Modern English is more variable than that of Old English.13. Derivation refers to the process by which new words are formed by the addition of affixes to the roots, stems, or words.14. “Smog” is a word formed by the word-forming process called acronymy.15. “fridge” is a word formed by abbreviation.16. Modern linguists are able to provide a consistent account for the exact causes of all types of language change.17. Sound assimilation may bring about the loss of one of two phonetically similar syllables in sequence, as in the case of change of “Engla-land” to “England”.18. Rule elaboration occurs when there is a need to reduce ambiguity and increase communicative clarity or expressiveness.19. Language change is always a change towards the simplification of language rules20. The way children acquire the language is one of the causes for language change.II. Fill in each of the following blanks with one word which begins with the letter given:21. H________ linguistics is the subfield of linguistics that studies language change.22. The historical study of language is a d________ study of language rather than a synchronic study.23. European R________ Movement separates the period of Middle English from that of modern English.24. An important set of extensive sound changes, which affected 7 long or tense vowels and which led to one of the major discrepancies between phonemic representations of words and morphemes at the end of the Middle English Period, is known as the Great V_______ Shift.25. A_______ involves the deletion of a word-final vowel segment.26. A change that involves the insertion of a consonant or vowel sound to the middle of a word is known as e__________.27. The three sets of consonant shifts that Grimm discovered became known collectively as Grimm s L ____.28. Sound change as a result of sound movement, known as m_______, involves a reversal in position of two adjoining sound segments.29. B________ is a process by which new words are formed by taking away the supposed suffixes of exiting words.30. Semantic b________ refers to the process in which the meaning of a word becomes more general or inclusive than its historically earlier denotation.31. The original form of a language family that has ceased to exist is called the p_________.32. Sound a________ refers to the physiological effect of one sound on another. In this process, successive sounds are made identical or similar to one another in terms of place or manner of articulation.33. In order to reduce the exceptional or irregular morphemes, speakers of a particular language may borrow a rule from one part of the grammar and apply it generally. This phenomenon is called i_________ borrowing.34. By identifying and comparing similar linguistic forms with similar meanings across related languages, historical linguists reconstruct the proto form in the common ancestral language. This process is called c________ reconstruction.35. The m ____ rule of adjective agreement has been lost from English.III. There are four choices following each statement. Mark the choice that can best complete the statement:36. Historical linguistics explores ________________.A. the nature of language changeB. the causes that lead to language changeC. the relationship between languagesD. all of the above37. Language change is ______________.A. universal, continuous and ,to a large extent, regular and systematicB. continuous, regular, systematic, but not universalC. universal, continuous, but not regular and systematicD. always regular and systematic, but not universal and continuous38. Modern English period starts roughly _____________.A. from 449 to 1100B. from 1500 to the presentC. from 1100 to the presentD. from 1700 to the present39. Old English dates back to the mid-fifth century when _________.A. the Norman French invaders under William the Conqueror arrived in EnglandB. the printing technology was inventedC. Anglo-Saxons invaded the British Isles from northern EuropeD. the Celtic people began to inhabit England40. Middle English was deeply influenced by ___________.A. Norman French in vocabulary and grammarB. Greek and Latin because of the European renaissance movementC. Danish languages because Denmark placed a king on the throne of EnglandD. the Celtic people who were the first inhabitants of England41. Language change is essentially a matter of change ________.A. in collocationsB. in meaningC. in grammarD. in usages42. In Old and Middle English, both /k/ and /n/ in the word “knight” were pronounced, but in modern English, /k/ in the sound /kn-/ clusters was not pronounced. This phenomenon is known as ________.A. sound additionB. sound lossC. sound shiftD. sound movement43. A change that involves the insertion of a consonant or vowel sound to the middle of a word is known as _____.A. apocopeB. epenthesisC. parenthesisD. antithesis44. Segment switch of sound positions can be seen in the example of the modern word “ bird” which comes from the old English word “bridd”. The change of the word from “bridd” to “bird” is a case of _________.A. metathesisB. sound lossC. sound additionD. apocope45. _________ is a process of combining two or more words into one lexical unit.A. DerivationB. BlendingC. CompoundingD. Abbreviation46. “Wife”, which used to refer to any woman, stands for “ a married woman” in modern English. This phenomenon is known as ________.A. semantic shiftB. semantic broadeningC. semantic elevationD. semantic narrowing47. English language belongs to _________.A. Indo-European FamilyB. Sino-Tibetan FamilyC. Austronesian FamilyD. Afroasiatic Family48. By analogy to the plural formation of the word “dog-s”, speakers started saying “cows” as the plural of “cow” instead of the earlier plural “kine”. This is the case of _________.A. elaborationB. external borrowingC. sound assimilationD. internal borrowing49. Morphologcial changes can involve __________.A. the loss of morphological rulesB. the addition of morphological rulesC. the alteration of morphological rulesD. all of the above50. The most dramatic morphological loss concerns the loss of ________.A. comparative markersB. tense markersC. gender and case markersD. none of the aboveIV. Define the following terms:51. Apocope 52. Metathesis 53. Derivation54. back-formation 55. semantic narrowing 56.protolanguage57. haplology 58. epenthesis 59. Compounding60. Blending 61. semantic broadening 62. semantic shift63. Great Vowel Shift 64. acronym 65. sound assimilationV. Answer the following questions:66. What is the purpose or significance of the historical study of language ?67. What are the characteristics of the nature of language change ?68. What are the major periods in the history of English ?69. As language changes over time, the meaning of a word may deviate from its original denotation. Discuss the major types of semantic changes.70. Over the years from Old English period to the Modern English period, English has undergone some major sound changes. Illustrate these changes with some examples.71. What are the most widely-spread morphological changes in the historical development of English ?72. What are the causes of language change Discuss them in detail.Chapter 7 Historical LinguisticsI. Decide whether each of the following statements is True or False:l.T 2.T 3.T 4.F 5.F 6.T 7.F 8.F 9.T 10.F11.T 12.F 13.T 14.F 15.F 16. F 17. T 18. T 19. F 20.TII. Fill in each of the following blanks with one word which begins with the letter given:21.Historical 22.diachronic 23.Renaissance 24.Vowel 25.Apocope 26.epenthesis w 28. Metathesis 29.Backformation 30.broadening 31.protolanguage32.assimilation 33.internal parative 35. morphosyntacticIII. There are four choices following each statement. Mark the choice that can best complete the statement:36.D 37.A 38.B 39.C 40.A 41.C 42.B 43.B 44.A 45.C46. D 47.A 48. D 49. D 50. CIV. Define the following terms:1. Apocope : Apocope is the deletion of a word-final vowel segment.2. Metathesis: Sound change as a result of sound movement is known as metathesis. It involves a reversal in position of two neighbouring sound seg-ments.3. Derivation: It is a process by which new words are formed by the addition of affixes to the roots, stems or words.4. back-formation: It is a process by which new words are formed by taking away the supposed suffix of an existing word.5. semantic narrowing: Semantic narrowing is a process in which the meaning ofa word be-comes less general or inclusive than its historically earlier meaning.6. Protolanguage: It is the original form of a language family that has ceased to exist.7. Haplology: It refers to the phenomenon of the loss of one of two phonetically similar syllables in sequence.8. Epenthesis: A change that involves the insertion of a consonant or vowel sound to the middle of a word is known as epenthesis.9. Compounding: It is a process of combining two or more than two words into one lexical unit.10. Blending: It is a process of forming a new word by combining parts of other words.11. semantic broadening: Semantic broadening refers to the process in which the meaning of a word becomes more general or inclusive than its historically earlier denota-tion.62. semantic shift: Semantic shift is a process of semantic change in which a word loses its former meaning and acquires a new, sometimes related, meaning.63. Great Vowel Shift: It is a series of systematic sound change at the end of the Middle English period approximately between 1400 and 1600 in the history of English that involved seven long vowels and consequently led to one of the major discrepancies between English pronunciation and its spelling system.64. Acronym: An acronym is a word created by combining the initials of a number of words.65. sound assimilation: Sound assimilation refers to the physiological effect of one sound on an-other. In an assimilative process, successive sounds are made identical, or more similar, to one another in terms of place or manner of articulation, or of haplology.V. Answer the following questions:66. What is the purpose or significance of the historical study of language1) Researches in historical linguistics shed light on prehistoric developments in the evolution of language and the connections of earlier and later variants of the same lan-guage and provide valuable insights into the kinship patterns of different languages.2) The identification of the changes that a particular language has undergone enables us to reconstruct the linguistic history of that language, and thereby hypothesizes its earlier forms from which current speech and writing have evolved.3) The historical study of language also en-ables them to determine how non - linguistic factors, such as social, cultural and psychological factors, interact over time to cause linguistic change.67. What are the characteristics of the nature of language changeAll living languages change with time and language change is inevitable. As a general rule, language change is universal, continuous and, to a considerable de-gree, regular and systematic. Language change is extensive, taking place in virtually all aspects of the grammar.Although language change is universal, inevitable, and in some cases, vigorous, it is never an overnight occurrence, but a gradual and constant process, often indiscernible to speakers of the same generation.68. What are the major periods in the history of EnglishThe major periods in the history of English are Old English period (roughly from 449 to 1100), Middle English period(roughly from 1100 to 1500), and Modern English period (roughly from 1500 to the pre-sent). Old English dates back to the mid-fifth century when Anglo-Saxons invaded the British Isles from northern Europe.The pronunciation of Old English is very different from its modem form. For example, the Old English word "ham" is pronounced as /ha:m/. In terms of morphology, nearly half of the nouns are inflected to mark nomi-native , genitive, dative, and accusative cases . In addition, suffixes are added to verbs to indicate tense. Syntactical-ly , the verb of an Old English sentence precedes, hut does not follow, the subject.Middle English began when the Norman French invaders invaded England under William the Conqueror in 1066. Middle English had been deeply influenced by Norman French in vocabulary and grammar. For example, such terms as " army," " court," " defense," " faith," "prison" and "tax" came from the language of the French rulers.Modern English period starts with European renaissance move-ment. A di-rect consequence of the Renaissance movement was the revival of Latin as a literary language. In the post-Renaissance period, the "British Empire" set upEnglish-speaking colonies in many parts of the world. By the nineteenth century, English was recognized as the language of the government, the law, higher education, and business and commerce in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Today Modern English is widely used and has in fact become an important tool of international communication among peoples of different countries.69. As language changes over time, the meaning of a word may deviate from its original denotation. Discuss the major types of semantic changes.Major types of semantic changes are semantic broadening, semantic narrowing and semantic shift.Semantic broadening refers to the process in which the meaning of a word becomes more general or inclusive than its historically earlier denota-tion. Take theword "holiday" for example, The older meaning was a " holy day." Today everyone enjoys a holiday, whether he or she is religious or not.Semantic narrowing is a process in which the meaning of a word be-comes less general or inclusive than its historically earlier meaning. For ex-ample, " wife," used to mean "any woman," but now it means “married fe-males” only.Semantic shift is a process of semantic change in which a word loses its former meaning and acquires a new, sometimes related, meaning. For example, the word silly meant “happy” in Old English, and naive in Middle English, but "foolish" in Modern English.70. Over the years from Old English period to the Modern English period, English has undergone some major sound changes. Illustrate these changes with some examples.The major sound changes include changes in vowel sounds, and in the loss, gain and movement of sounds.The changes in vowel sounds can be seen in the Great Vowel Shift in the history of English, which led to one of the major dis-agreements between the pronunciation and the spelling system of Modern English. These changes involve seven long, or tense vowels, for exampleSounds do not just change, they can be lost. vowel sounds change, but some sounds simply disappeared from the general pronunciation of English. One example of sound loss is the /kn - / clusters in the word - initial position. In Old and Middle English, both /k/ and /n/ were pro-nounced, as is shown in the spelling of such words as "knight" and "knee." Although Modern English spelling of these words still keeps the initial letter k, its sound is no longer pronounced.Sound changes can also take the form of sound addition. Sound addition includes the gain or insertion of a sound, for example:spinle spindleemty emptySound change can take the form of sound movement. It involves a reversal in position of two neighbouring sound seg-ments. For example, the /r/ sound in the Old English words "bridd" ("bird") and "hros" ("horse") was moved to the right of the vowel sounds in their Modem English counterparts "bird" and "horse."71. What are the most widely-spread morphological changes in the historical development of English?The most widely-spread morphological changes in the historical development of English are the loss and addition of affixes. A number of morphological rules in Old English are now lost in Modern English. Some of these rules are about derivational affixes, such as suffixes "-baere" and "-bora" . In Old English an adjective would derive if "-baere" was added to a noun, such as:lust ("pleasure") + baere lustbaere ("agreeable")But this rule has been lost in modern English.The most dramatic morphological loss concerns the loss of gender and case marking. In Old English,for example, "stn" ("stone") was marked masculine, while "gief" ("gift") and "d…or" ("wild animal") were marked respectively feminine and neuter. In modern English, the gender markers of these words have been lost.Some affixes have been added to the English morphological system.Take "-able" for example, it has been added to English since the Old English period. At first, words ending in "-able," such as "favourable" and "conceivable," were borrowed altogether from French. Then this suffix be-came a productive rule in English. It was used with other verbs to form ad-jectives. Contemporary English speakers apply this suffix rule to more stems, thus producing new adjectives such as " payable," and “washable.”72.What are the causes of language change Discuss them in detail.Language changes are due to the following causes:1) Sound assimilation: Sound assimilation refers to the physiological effect of one sound on an-other. In an assimilative process, successive sounds are made identical, or more similar, to one another in terms of place or manner of articulation, or of haplology, the loss of one of two phonetically similar syllables in sequence. For example, the Old English word "Engla-land" ("the land of the Angles") came to be pronounced “England” through the assimilation of "la-la sounds.2) Rule simplification and regularization: Some changes are the result of simplification and regularization. The plural forms of borrowed words are usually irregular, thus complex. For example, the plural forms of "agendum", "datum", "curriculum" and "memorandum" are "agenda" , "data" , "curricula" and "mem-oranda" . The irregular plurals of these nouns have been replaced by regular plurals of "agendas", "curriculums", and "memorandums" among many speakers, thus making them simplified and regularized.3) Internal borrowing: In order to reduce the number of ex-ceptional or irregular morphemes, speakers of a particular language may bor-row a rule from one part of the grammar and apply it generally. For exam-ple, by analogy to the plural formation of "foe-s" and "dog-s", speakers started saying "cows" as the plural of "cow" instead of the earlier plural kine.4) Elaboration: Rule elaboration occurs when there is a need to reduce ambiguity and increase communicative clarity or expressiveness. If a particular grammatical feature is lost as a re-sult of a change in the phonological system, some other feature may be added in another component of the grammar.5) Social triggers: Socio-political changes such as wars, invasions, oc-cupation, colonization, and language planning and standardiza-tion policies lead to language changes. For example, in the history of English, the Norman Conquest marked the beginning of the Middle English period. And British colonial settlement, and the country' s political, cultural and economic advances in distant lands such as North America, Oceania, South Africa, and India lead to the change of English into British, American, Australian, South African and Indian varieties.6) Cultural transmission: Although a new generation has to find a way of using the language of the previous generation, it has to find expressions that can best communicate the views and concepts of the time and the changed andever-changing social life, and re-create the language of the community. For example, while old people tend to call a refrigerator "icebox," the younger generation is more often heard speaking of a "fridge." This tenuous transmission process adds up to the inevitable and ongoing language change and variation.7) Children's approximation toward the adult grammar:The way children acquire the language is another basic cause for lan-guage change. Children usually construct their personal grammars by themselves and generalize rules from the linguistic information they hear. Children' s grammar never models exactly after that of the adult speech community, because children are exposed to diverse linguistic infor-mation.All the above factors contribute to language changes.。

语言学自测试题及答案一、选择题（每题2分，共20分）1. 语言学是研究什么的科学？A. 语言的起源B. 语言的规律C. 语言的演变D. 语言的应用答案：B2. 语音学是研究什么的学科？A. 语言的起源B. 语言的规律C. 语言的发音D. 语言的应用答案：C3. 以下哪个选项不是语言学的分支？A. 语音学B. 句法学C. 心理学D. 语用学答案：C4. 语言的最小意义单位是什么？A. 音素B. 词C. 语素D. 句子5. 以下哪个选项是社会语言学的研究内容？A. 语言的起源B. 语言的规律C. 语言与社会的关系D. 语言的应用答案：C6. 语言的语音系统是什么？A. 音位B. 音素C. 音节D. 语素答案：A7. 以下哪个选项是心理语言学的研究内容？A. 语言的起源B. 语言的规律C. 语言与心理的关系D. 语言的应用答案：C8. 以下哪个选项是计算语言学的研究内容？A. 语言的起源B. 语言的规律C. 语言与计算机的关系D. 语言的应用答案：C9. 语言的语法系统是什么？B. 句法C. 语义D. 语用答案：B10. 以下哪个选项不是语言学的研究方法？A. 观察法B. 实验法C. 调查法D. 演绎法答案：D二、填空题（每题2分，共20分）1. 语言学的主要研究对象是______。

答案：语言2. 语言学的分支包括______、______、______等。

答案：语音学、句法学、语用学3. 语言的最小语音单位是______。

答案：音素4. 语言的最小意义单位是______。

答案：语素5. 语言的语法系统包括______和______。

答案：词法、句法6. 社会语言学研究的是______。

答案：语言与社会的关系7. 心理语言学研究的是______。

答案：语言与心理的关系8. 计算语言学研究的是______。

答案：语言与计算机的关系9. 语言的语义系统包括______和______。

答案：词汇语义、句法语义10. 语言的语用系统包括______和______。

Chapter I IntroductionI. Decide whether each of the following statements is True or False:1. Linguistics is generally defined as the scientific study of language.2.Linguistics studies particular language, not languages in general.3. A scientific study of language is based on what the linguist thinks.4. In the study of linguistics, hypotheses formed should be based on language facts and checked against the observed facts.5. General linguistics is generally the study of language as a whole.6. General linguistics, which relates itself to the research of other areas, studies the basic concepts, theories, descriptions, models and methods applicable in any linguistic study.7. Phonetics is different from phonology in that the latter studies the combinations of the sounds to convey meaning in communication.8. Morphology studies how words can be formed to produce meaningful sentences.9. The study of the ways in which morphemes can be combined to form words is called morphology.10. Syntax is different from morphology in that the former not only studies the morphemes, but also the combination of morphemes into words and words into sentences.11. The study of meaning in language is known as semantics.12. Both semantics and pragmatics study meanings.13. Pragmatics is different from semantics in that pragmatics studies meaning not in isolation, but in context.14.Social changes can often bring about language changes.15. Sociolinguistics is the study of language in relation to society.16. Modern linguistics is mostly prescriptive, but sometimes descriptive.17. Modern linguistics is different from traditional grammar.18. A diachronic study of language is the description of language at some point in time.19 Modern linguistics regards the written language as primary, not the written language.20. The distinction between competence and performance was proposed by F. de Saussure.II. Fill in each of the following blanks with one word which begins with the letter given:21. Chomsky defines “ competence” as the ideal user’s k__________ of the rules of his language.ngue refers to the a__________ linguistic system shared by all the members of a speech community while the parole is the concrete use of the conventions and application of the rules.23.D_________ is one of the design features of human language which refers to the phenomenon that language consists of two levels: a lower level of meaningless individual sounds and a higher level of meaningful units.nguage is a system of a_________ vocal symbols used for human communication.25. The discipline that studies the rules governing the formation of words into permissible sentences in languages is called s________.26. Human capacity for language has a g ____ basis, but the details of language have to be taught and learned.27. P ____ refers to the realization of langue in actual use.28. Findings in linguistic studies can often be applied to the settlement of some practical problems. The study of such applications is generally known as a________ linguistics.nguage is p___________ in that it makes possible the construction and interpretation of new signals by its users. In other words, they can produce and understand an infinitely large number of sentences which they have never heard before.30. Linguistics is generally defined as the s ____ study of language.III. There are four choices following each statement. Mark the choice that can best complete the statement.31. If a linguistic study describes and analyzes the language people actually use, it is said to be ______________.A. prescriptiveB. analyticC. descriptiveD. linguistic32.Which of the following is not a design feature of human languageA. ArbitrarinessB. DisplacementC. DualityD. Meaningfulness33. Modern linguistics regards the written language as ____________.A. primaryB. correctC. secondaryD. stable34. In modern linguistics, speech is regarded as more basic than writing, because ___________.A. in linguistic evolution, speech is prior to writingB. speech plays a greater role than writing in terms of the amount of information conveyed.C. speech is always the way in which every native speaker acquires his mother tongueD. All of the above35. A historical study of language is a ____ study of language.A. synchronicB. diachronicC. prescriptiveD. comparative36.Saussure took a (n)__________ view of language, while Chomsky looks at language from a ________ point of view.A. sociological…psychologicalB.psychological…sociologicalC. applied… pragmaticD.semantic and linguistic37. According to F. de Saussure, ____ refers to the abstract linguistic system shared by all the members of a speech community.A. paroleB. performanceC. langueD. Language38. Language is said to be arbitrary because there is no logical connection between _________ and meanings.A. senseB. soundsC. objectsD. ideas39. Language can be used to refer to contexts removed from the immediate situations of the speaker. This feature is called_________,A. displacementB. dualityC. flexibilityD. cultural transmission40. The details of any language system is passed on from one generation to the next through ____ , rather than by instinct.A. learningB. teachingC. booksD. both A and BIV. Define the following terms:41. Linguistics42. Phonology43. Syntax44. Pragmatics45. Psycholinguistics 46. Language47. Phonetics48. Morphology9.Semantics50. Sociolinguistics51. Applied Linguistics52.Arbitrariness 53 Productivity54.Displacement55.Duality 56. Design Features57. Competence58 Performance59. Langue60 ParoleV. Answer the following questions as comprehensively as possible. Give examples for illustration if necessary:61. Language is generally defined as a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication. Explain it in detail.62. What are the design features of human language Illustrate them with examples.63. How is modern linguistics different from traditional grammar?64. How do you understand the distinction between a synchronic study and a diachronic study?65. Why does modern linguistics regard the spoken form of language as primary, not the written ?66. What are the major distinctions between langue and parole?67. How do you understand competence and performance?68. Saussure’s distinction between langue and parole seems similar to Chomsky’s distinction between competence and performance. What do you think are their major differences?69. Do you think human language is entirely arbitrary? Why?I. Decide whether each of the following statements is True or False:l.T 2.F 3.F 4.T 5.T 6.F 7.T 8.F 9.T 10.F 11.T 12.T 13.T 14.T 15.T 16.F 17.T 18.F 19.F 20.FII. Fill in each of the following blanks with one word which begins with the letter given:21. knowledge 22. abstract 23. Duality 24. arbitrary 25. syntax 26.genetic 27. Parole 28. applied 29. productive 30. scientific (or systematic)III. There are four choices following each statement. Mark the choice that can best complete the statement.3l.C 32.D 33.C 34.D 35.B 36.A 37.C 38.B 39.A 40.DIV. Define the following terms:41. Linguistics: Linguistics is generally defined as the scientific study of language.42. Phonology: The study of how sounds are put together and used in communication is called phonology.43. Syntax: The study of how morphemes and words are combined to form sentences is called syntax. .44. Pragmatics: The study of meaning in context of use is called pragmatics .45. Psycholinguistics: The study of language with reference to the workings of mind is called psycholinguistics.46. Language: Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication.47. Phonetics: The study of sounds which are used in linguistic communication is called phonetics .48. Morphology: The study of the way in which morphemes are arranged to form words is called morphology.49. Semantics: The study of meaning in lan-guage is called semantics.50. Sociolinguistics: The study of language with reference to society is called sociolinguistics,.51. Applied linguistics: In a narrow sense, applied linguistics refers to the application of linguistic principles and theories to language teaching and learning, especially the teaching of foreign and second languages. In a broad sense, it refers to the application of linguistic findings to the solution of practical problems such as the recovery of speech ability.52. arbitrariness: It is one of the design features of language. It means that there is no logical connection between meanings and sounds53. Productivity: Language is productive or creative in that it makes possible the con-struction and interpretation of new signals by its users.54. Displacement: Displacement means that language can be used to refer to things which are present or not present, real or imagined matters in the past, present, or future, or in far-away places. In other words, language can be used to refer to contexts removed from the immediate situations of the speaker55. Duality: The duality nature of language means that language is a system, which consists of two sets of structure, or two levels, one of sounds and the other of meanings..56. Design features: Design features refer to the defining properties of human language that distinguish it from any animal system of communication57. Competence: Chomsky defines competence as the ideal user’s knowledge of the rules of his language,58. Performance: performance is the actual realization of the knowl-edge of the rules in linguistic communication.59. langue : Langue refers to the abstract linguistic system shared by all the members of a speech community; Langue is the set of conventions and rules whichlanguage users all have to follow; Langue is relatively stable, it does not change frequently60. Parole: Parole refers to the realization of langue in actual use; parole is the concrete use of the conventions and the application of the rules; parole varies from person to person, and from situation to situation.V. Answer the following questions as comprehensively as possible. Give examples for illustration if necessary:61. Language is generally defined as a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication. Explain it in detail.First of all, language is a system, because elements of language are com-bined according to rules. Secondly, language is arbitrary because there is no intrinsic connection between form and meaning, or between the sign and what it stands for. Different languages have different words for the same ob-ject in the world. This fact is a good illustration of the arbitrary nature of language. This also explains the symbolic nature of language: words are just symbols; they are associated with objects, actions, ideas, etc. by conven-tion . Thirdly, language is vocal because the primary medium is sound for all languages, no matter how well - developed their writing systems are.The term "human" in the definition indicates that language is possessed by human beings only and is very different from the communication systems of other living creatures. The term "communication" means that language makes it possible for its users to talk to each other and fulfil their commu-nicative needs.62. What are the design features of human language Illustrate them with examples.1) ArbitrarinessAs mentioned earlier, the arbitrary property of language means that there is no logical connection between meanings and sounds. For instance, there is no nec-essary relationship between the word elephant and the animal it symbolizes. In addition, different sounds are used to refer to the same object in different languages , and even within the same language, the same sound does not refer to the same thing. However, language is not entirely arbitrary. There are words which are created in the imitation of sounds by sounds, such as crash, bang inEnglish. Besides, some compound words are also not entirely arbitrary. But the non-arbitrary words are quite limited in number.The arbitrary nature of language makes it possible for language to have an unlimited source of expressions.2) ProductivityLanguage is productive or creative in that it makes possible the con-struction and interpretation of new signals by its users. This is why they can produce and understand an infinitely large number of sentences, including sentences that they have never said or heard before. They can send messages which no one else has ever sent before.Productivity is unique to human language. Most animal communication systems appear to be highly restricted with respect to the number of different signals that their users can send and receive.3) DualityThe duality nature of language means that language is a system, which consists of two sets of structure, or two levels, one of sounds and the other of meanings. At the lower or the basic level, there is the structure of sounds, which are meaningless, discrete, individual sounds. But the sounds of language can be combined according to rules into units of meaning such as morphemes and words, which, at the higher level, can be arranged into sentences. This duality of structure or dou-ble articulation of language enables its users to talk about anything within their knowledge. No animal communication system has duality or even comes near to possessing it.4) DisplacementDisplacement means that language can be used to refer to things which are present or not present, real or imagined matters in the past, present, or future, or in far-away places. In other words, language can be used to refer to contexts removed from the immediate situations of the speaker. Animal calls are mainly uttered in response to immediate changes of situation.5) Cultural transmissionHuman beings were born with the ability to acquire language, but the details of any language are not genetically transmitted or passed down by instinct. They have to be taught and learned, but animal call systems are geneticallytrans-mitted .63. How is modern linguistics different from traditional grammar ?Traditional gram-mar is prescriptive; it is based on "high "(religious, literary) written lan-guage . It sets grammatical rules and imposes the rules on language users. But Modern linguistics is descriptive; It collects authentic, and mainly spoken language data and then it studies and describes the data in an objective and scientific way.64. How do you understand the distinction between a synchronic study and a diachronic study ?The description of a language at some point in time is a Synchronic study; the de-scription of a language as it changes through time is a diachronic study.A synchronic study of language describes a language as it is at some particular point in time, while a diachronic study of language is the study of the historical development of language over a period of time.65. Why does modern linguistics regard the spoken form of language as primary, not the written ?First, the spoken form is prior to the writ-ten form and most writing systems are derived from the spoken form of lan-guage.Second, the spoken form plays a greater role than writing in terms of the amount of information conveyed and it serves a wider range of purposesFinally, the spoken form is the medium through which we acquire our mother tongue.66. What are the major distinctions between langue and parole?The distinction between langue, and parole was made by the famous Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure early this century. Langue refers to the abstract linguistic system shared by all the members of a speech community, and parole refers to the realization of langue in actual use. Langue is the set ofconventions and rules which language users all have to follow while parole is the concrete use of the conventions and the application of the rules. Langue is abstract; it is not the language people actually use, but parole is concrete; it refers to the naturally occurring language events. Langue is relatively stable, it does not change frequently; while parole varies from person to person, and from situation to situation.67. How do you understand competence and performance ?American linguist N. Chomsky in the late 1950’s proposed the distinction between competence and performance. Chomsky defines competence as the ideal user’s knowledge of the rules of his language. This internalized set of rules enables the language user to produce and understand an infinitely large number of sentences and recognize sentences that are ungrammatical and ambiguous. According to Chomsky, performance is the actual realization of this knowledge in linguistic communication. Although the speaker’s k nowledge of his mother tongue is perfect, his performances may have mistakes because of social and psychological factors such as stress, embarrassment, etc.. Chomsky believes that what linguists should study is the competence, which is systematic, not the performance, which is too haphazard.68. Saussure’s distinction between langue and parole seems similar to Chomsky’s distinction between competence and performance. What do you think are their major differences?Although Saussure’s distinction and Chomsky’s are very similar, they differ at least in that Saussure took a sociological view of language and his notion of langue is a mater of social conventions, and Chomsky looks at language from a psychological point of vies and to him, competence is a property of the mind of each individual.69. Do you think human language is entirely arbitrary? Why?Language is arbitrary in nature, it is not entirely arbitrary, because there are a limited number of words whose connections between forms and meanings can be logically explained to a certain extent, for example, the onomatopoeia, words which are coined on the basis of imitation of sounds by sounds such as bang,crash,etc.. Take compounds for another example. The two elements “photo” and “copy” in “photocopy” are no n-motivated, but the compound is not arbitrary.。

Chapter 6：PragmaticsI. Decide whether each of the following statements is True or False:1. Both semantics and pragmatics study how speakers of a language use sentences to effect successful communication2. Pragmatics treats the meaning of language as something intrinsic and inherent.3. It would be impossible to give an adequate description of meaning if the context of language use was left unconsidered.4. What essentially distinguishes semantics and pragmatics is whether in the study of meaning the context of use is considered.5. The major difference between a sentence and an utterance is that a sentence is not uttered while an utterance is.6. The meaning of a sentence is abstract, but context-dependent.7. The meaning of an utterance is decontexualized, therefore stable.8. Utterances always take the form of complete sentences9. Speech act theory was originated with the British philosopher John Searle.10. Speech act t heory started in the late 50’s of the 20th century.11. Austin made the distinction between a constative and a performative.12. Perlocutionary act is the act of expressing the speaker’s intention.II. Fill in each blank below with one word which begins with the letter given:13. P_________ is the study of how speakers of a language use sentences to effect successful communication.14. What essentially distinguishes s_______ and pragmatics is whether in the study of meaning the context of use is considered.15. The notion of c_________ is essential to the pragmatic study of language.16. If we think of a sentence as what people actually utter in the course of communication, it becomes an u___________.17. The meaning of a sentence is a_______, and decontextualized.18. C________ were statements that either state or describe, and were thus verifiable.19. P________ were sentences that did not state a fact or describe a state, and were not verifiable.20. A l_________ act is the act of uttering words, phrases, clauses. It is the act of conveying literal meaning by means of syntax, lexicon and phonology.21. An i__________ act is the act of expressing the speaker’s intention; it is the act performed in saying something.22. A c_________ is commit the speaker himself to some future course of action.23. An e________ is to express feelings or attitude towards an existing state.24. There are four maxims under the cooperative principle: the maxim of q_______, the maxim of quality, the maxim of relation and the maxim of manner.III. There are four choices following each statement. Mark the choice that can best complete the statement:25. _________ does not study meaning in isolation, but in context.A. PragmaticsB. SemanticsC. Sense relationD. Concept26. The meaning of language was considered as something _______ in traditional semantics.A. contextualB. behaviouristicC. intrinsicD. logical27. What essentially distinguishes semantics and pragmatics is whether in the study of meaning _________ is considered.A. referenceB. speech actC. practical usageD. context28. A sentence is a _________ concept, and the meaning of a sentence is often studied in isolation.A. pragmaticB. grammaticalC. mentalD. conceptual29. If we think of a sentence as what people actually utter in the course of communication, it becomes a(n) _________.A. constativeB. directiveC. utteranceD. expressive30. Which of the following is true ?A. Utterances usually do not take the form of sentences.B. Some utterances cannot be restored to complete sentences.C. No utterances can take the form of sentences.D. All utterances can be restored to complete sentences.31. Speech act theory did not come into being until __________.A. in the late 50’s of the 20the centuryB. in the early 1950’sC. in the late 1960’sD. in the early 21st century.32. __________ is the act performed by or resulting from saying something; it is the consequence of, or the change brought about by the utterance.A. A locutionary actB. An illocutionary actC. A perlocutionary actD. A performative act33. According to Searle, the illocutionary point of the representative is ______.A. to get the hearer to do somethingB. to commit the speaker to something’s being the caseC. to commit the speaker to some future course of actionD. to express the feelings or attitude towards an existing state of affairs.34. All the acts that belong to the same category share the same purpose, but they differ __________.A. in their illocutionary actsB. in their intentions expressedC. in their strength or forceD. in their effect brought about35. __________ is advanced by Paul GriceA. Cooperative PrincipleB. Politeness PrincipleC. The General Principle of Universal GrammarD. Adjacency Principle36. When any of the maxims under the cooperative principle is flouted, _______ might arise.A. impolitenessB. contradictionsC. mutual understandingD. conversational implicaturesIV. Define the terms below:37. pragmatics 38. context 39. utterance meaning40. sentence meaning 41. constative 42. performative43. locutionary act 44. illocutionary act45. perlocutionary act 46. Cooperative PrincipleV. Answer the following questions as comprehensively as possible. Give examples for illustration if necessary:47. How are semantics and pragmatics different from each other ?48. How does a sentence differ from an utterance ?49. How does a sentence meaning differ from an utterance meaning?50. Discuss in detail the locutionary act, illocutionary act and perlocutionary act.51. Searle classified illocutionary act into five categories. Discuss each of them in detail with examples.52. What are the four maxims under the cooperative principle ?53. How does the flouting of the maxims give rise to conversational implicatures ?Chapter 6 PragmaticsI. Decide whether each of the following statements is True or False:l. F 2. F 3.T 4.T 5.F 6.F 7.F 8.F 9.F 10.T 11.T 12.FII. Fill in each blank below with one word which begins with the letter given:13. Pragmatics 14. semantics 15. context 16. utterance 17. abstract18.Constatives 19. Performatives 20. locutionary 21. illocutionary22. commissive 23. expressive 24. quantityIII. There are four choices following each statement. Mark the choice that can best complete the statement:25. A 26.C 27.D 28.B 29.C 30.B31.A 32.C 33.B 34.C 35. A 36.DIV. Define the terms below:37. pragmatics: Pragmatics can be defined as the study of how speakers of a language use sentences to effect successful communication.38. Context: Generally speaking, it consists of the knowledge that is shared by the speak-er and the hearer. The shared knowledge is of two types: the knowledge of the language they use, and the knowledge about the world, including the general knowledge about the world and the specific knowledge about the situ-ation in which linguistic communication is taking place.39. utterance meaning: the meaning of an utterance is concrete, andcontext-dependent. Utterance is based on sentence meaning; it is realization of the abstract meaning of a sentence in a real situation of communication, or simply in a context.40. sentence meaning: The meaning of a sentence is of-ten considered as the abstract, intrinsic property of the sentence itself in terms of a predication.41. Constative: Constatives were statements that either state or describe, and were verifi-able ;42. Performative: performatives, on the other hand, were sentences that did not state a fact or describe a state, and were not verifiable. Their function is to perform a particular speech act.43. locutionary act: A locutionary act is the act of uttering words, phrases, clauses. It is the act of conveying literal meaning by means of syntax, lexicon and phonol-ogy.44. illocutionary act: An illocutionary act is the act of expressing the speaker's intention; it is the act performed in saying something.45. perlocutionary act: A perlocutionary act is the act per-formed by or resulting from saying something; it is the consequence of, or the change brought about by the utterance; it is the act performed by saying something.46. Cooperative Principle: It is principle advanced by Paul Grice. It is a principle that guides our conversational behaviours. The content is : Make your conversational contribution such as is required at the stage at which it occurs by the accepted purpose or the talk exchange in which you are engaged.V. Answer the following questions as comprehensively as possible. Give examples for illustration if necessary:47. How are semantics and pragmatics different from each other ?Traditional semantics studied meaning, but the meaning of language was considered as something intrinsic, and inherent, i.e. a property attached to language itself. Therefore, meanings of words, meanings of sentences were all studied in an isolated manner, detached from the context in which they were used. Pragmatics studies meaning not in isolation, but in context. The essential distinction between semantics and pragmatics is whether the context of use is considered in the study of mean-ing . If it is not considered, the study is restricted to the area of traditional semantics; if it is considered, the study is being carried out in the area of pragmatics.48. How does a sentence differ from an utterance?A sentence is a grammatical concept. It usually consists of a subject and predicate. An utterance is the unit of communication. It is the smallest linguistic unit that has a communicative value. If we regard a sentence as what people actually utter in the course of communication, it becomes an utterance. Whether “Mary is beautiful.” is a sentence or an utterance de-pends on how we look at it. If we regard it as a grammatical unit or a self-contained unit in isolation, then it is a sentence. If we look at it as something uttered in a certain situation with a certain purpose, then it is an utterance. Most utter-ances take the form of complete sentences, but some utterances are not, and some cannot even be restored to complete sentences.49. How does a sentence meaning differ from an utterance meaning ?A sentence meaning is of-ten considered as the intrinsic property of the sentence itself in terms of a predication. It is abstract and independent of context. The meaning of an utterance is concrete, and context-dependent. The utterancemeaning is based on sentence meaning; it is realization of the abstract meaning of a sentence in a real situation of communication, or simply in a context. For example, “There is a dog at the door”. The speaker could utter it as a matter- of- fact state-ment, telling the hearer that the dog is at the door. The speaker could use it as a warning, asking the hearer not to approach the door. There are other possibilities, too. So, the understanding of the utterance meaning of “There is a dog at the door” de-pends on the context in which it is uttered and the purpose for which the speaker utters it.50. Discuss in detail the locutionary act, illocutionary act and perlocutionary act.A locutionary act is the act of uttering words, phrases, clauses. It is the act of conveying literal meaning by means of syntax, lexicon and phonol-ogy. An illocutionary act is the act of expressing the speaker's intention; it is the act performed in saying something. A perlocutionary act is the act per-formed by or resulting from saying something; it is the consequence of, or the change brought about by the utterance; it is the act performed by saying something. For example:You have left the door wide open.The locutionary act performed by the speaker is that he has uttered all the words " you,' " have," " door," " left," " open," etc. and expressed what the word literally mean.The illocutionary act performed by the speaker is that by making such an utterance, he has expressed his intention of asking the hearer to close the door.The perlocutionary act refers to the effect of the utterance. If the hearer understands that the speaker intends him to close the door and closes the door, the speaker has successfully brought about the change in the real world he has intended to; then the perlocutiohary act is successfully per-formed .51. Searle classified illocutionary act into five categories. Discuss each of them in detail with examples.1) representatives: representatives are used to state, to describe, to report, etc.. The illocutionary point of the representatives is to commit the speaker to something's being the case, to the truth of what has been said. For example:(I swear) I have never seen the man before.(I state) the earth is a globe.2) directives: Directives are attempts by the speaker to get the hearer to do some-thing. Inviting, suggesting, requesting, advising, warning, threatening, or-dering are all specific instances of this class.For example:Open the window!3) commissives: Commissives are those illocutionary acts whose point is to commit the speaker to some future course of action. When the speaker is speaking, he puts himself under obligation. For example:I promise to come.I will bring you the book tomorrow without fail.4) expressives: The illocutionary point of expressives is to express the psychological state specified in the utterance. The speaker is expressing his feelings or attitude towards an existing state of affairs, e.g. apologizing, thanking, congratulating. For example:I'm sorry for the mess I have made.5) declarations: Declarations have the characteristic that the successful performance of such an act brings about the correspondence between what is said and reality. For example:I now declare the meeting open.52. What are the four maxims under the cooperative principle ?The maxim of quantity1. Make your contribution as informative as required (for the current purpose of the exchange) .2. Do not make your contribution more informative than is required.2. The maxim of quality1. Do not say what you believe to be false.2. Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence.2. The maxim of relationBe relevant..The maxim of manner1. Avoid obscurity of expression.2. Avoid ambiguity.3. Be brief ( avoid unnecessary prolixity) .4. Be orderly.53. How does the flouting of the maxims give rise to conversational implicatures ?A: Do you know where Mr. Smith lives?B: Somewhere in the southern suburbs of the city.This is said when both A and B know that B does know Mr. Smith' s address. Thus B does not give enough information that is required, and he has flouted the maxim of quantity. Therefore, such conversational implica-ture as "I do not wish to tell you where Mr. Smith lives" is produced.A: Would you like to come to our party tonight?B: I'm afraid I' m not feeling so well today.This is said when both A and B know that B is not having any health problem that will prevent him from going to a party. Thus B is saying some-thing that he himself knows to be false and he is violating the maxim of qual-ity. The conversational implicature " I do not want to go to your party tonight" is then produced.A: The hostess is an awful bore. Don't you think?B: The roses in the garden are beautiful, aren't they ?This is said when both A and B know that it is entirely possible for B to make a comment on the hostess. Thus B is saying something irrelevant to what A has just said, and he has flouted the maxim of relation. The conver-sational implicature "I don't wish to talk about the hostess in such a rude manner" is produced.A: Shall we get something for the kids?B: Yes. But I veto I - C - E - C - R - E - A - M.This is said when both A and B know that B has no difficulty in pro-nouncing the word "ice-cream." Thus B has flouted the maxim of manner. The conversational implicature "I don’t want the kids to know we are talking about ice-cream" is then produced.。

I.Decide whether each of the following statements is True or False.⒈Sociolinguistics is the sub-discipline of linguistics that studies social contexts.⒉Language as a means of social communication is a homogeneous system with a homogeneous group of speakers.⒊Language use varies from one speech community to another，from one regional group to another，from one social group to another，and even from one individual to another.⒋The goal of sociolinguistics is to explore the na ture of language variation and language use among a variety of speech communities and in different social situations.5.The linguistic markers that characterize individual social groups may serve as social markers of group membership.6.From the sociolinguistic perspective，the term “speech variety”can not be used to refer to standard language，vernacular language，dialect or pidgin.7Functional speech varieties are known as regional dialects.8.The most distinguishable linguistic feature of a regional dialect is its grammar and uses of vocabulary.9.Geographical barriers are the only source of regional variation of language.10.A person’s social backgrounds do not exert a shaping influence on his choice of linguistic features.11.Two speakers of the same language or dialect use their language or dialect in the same way.12.Every speaker of a language is，in a stricter sense，a speaker of a distinct idiolect.13.The standard language is a better language than nonstandard languages.14.A lingua franca can only be used within a particular country for communication among groups of people with different linguistic backgrounds.15.Pidgins are linguistically inferior to standard languages.16.A pidgin usually reflects the influence of the higher，or dominant，language in its lexicon and that of the lower language in their phonology and occasionally syntax.17.The major difference between a pidgin and a creole is that the former usually has its native speakers while the latter doesn’t.18.Bilingualism and diglossia mean the same thing.19.The kind of name or term speakers use to call or refer to someone may indicate something of their social relationship to or personal feelings about that individual.20.The use of euphemisms has the effect of removing derogatory overtones and the disassociative effect as such is usually long-lasting.II. Fill in each of the blanks below with one word which begins with the letter given.21.The social group isolated for any given study is called the speech c________.22.Speech v_________ refers to any distinguishable form of speech used by a speaker or group of speakers.23.From the sociolinguistic perspective，a speech variety is no more than a d__________ variety of a language.nguage standardization is also called language p_______.25.Social variation gives rise to s_________ which are sub-divisible into smaller speech categories that reflect their socioeconomic，educational，occupational background，etc.26.S_______ variation in a person’s speech or writing usually ranges on a continuum from casual or colloquial to formal or polite according to the type of communicative situation.27.A regional dialect may gain status and become standardized as the national or o________ language of a country.28.The standard language is a s_________，socially prestigious dialect of language.nguage varieties other than the standard are called nonstandard，or v_______ languages.30.A pidgin typically lacks in i_______ morphemes.31.Linguistic taboo reflects s_________ taboo.32.The avoidance of using taboo language mirrors social attitudes，emotions and value judgments and has nol_________ basis.III. There are four choices following each statement. Mark the choice that can best complete the statement.33. _______ is concerned with the social significance of language variation and language use in different speech communities.A. PsycholinguisticsB. SociolinguisticsC. Historical linguisticsD. General linguistics34. The most distinguishable linguistic feature of a regional dialect is its _____.A. use of wordsB. use of structuresC. accentD. morphemes35. ____ is speech variation according to the particular area where a speaker comes from.A. Regional variationB. Language variationC. Social variationD. Register variation36. _______ are the major source of regional variation of language.A. Geographical barriersB. Loyalty to and confidence in one’s native speechC. Physical discomfort and psychological resistance to changeD. Social barriers37. _________ means that certain authorities，such as thegov­ernment choose，a particular speech variety，standardize it and spread the use of it across regional boundaries.A. Language interferenceB. Language changesC. Language planningD. Language transfer38. _________ in a person’s speech or writi ng usually ranges on a continuum from casual or colloquial to formal or polite according to the type of communicative situation.A. Regional variationB. Changes in emotionsC. Variation in connotationsD. Stylistic variation39. A ____ is a variety of language that serves as a medium of com­munication among groups of people for diverse linguistic back­grounds.A. lingua francaB. registerC. CreoleD. national language40. Although _______ are simplified languages with reduced grammatical features，they are rule-governed，like any human language.A. vernacular languagesB. creolesC. pidginsD. sociolects41. In normal situations，____ speakers tend to use more prestigious forms than their ____ counterparts with the same social back­ground.A. female；maleB. male；femaleC. old；youngD. young；old42. A linguistic ____ refers to a word or expression that is prohibit­ed by the "polite" society from general use.A. slangB. euphemismC. jargonD. tabooIV. Define the following terms.43. sociolinguistics44. speech community45. speech variety46. language planning47. idiolect48. standard language49. nonstandard language50. lingua franca51. pidgin52. Creole53. diglossia54. Bilingualism55. ethnic dialect56. Sociolect57. register58. slang59. taboo60. euphemismV. Answer the following questions as comprehensively as possible. Give examples for illustration if necessary.61. Discuss with examples that the speech of women may differ from the speech of men.62. Discuss with examples some of the linguistic differences between Standard English and Black English.63. What is a linguistic taboo？What effect does it have on our use of language？Suggested AnswersI. Decide whether each of the following statements is True or False.1. F2. F3. T4. T5. T6. F7. F8. F9. F10. F11. F12. T13. F14. F15. F16. T17. F18. F19. T20. FII. Fill in each of the blanks below with one word which begins with the letter given.21. community22. variety23. dialectal24. planning25. sociolects26. Stylistic27. official28. superposed29. vernacular30. inflectional31. social32. linguisticIII. There are four choices following each statement. Mark the choice that can best complete the statement.33.-37. BCAAC38.-42. DACADIV. Define the following terms.43.Sociolinguistics：Sociolinguistics is the study of language in social contexts.44.Speech community：The social group isolated for any given study is called the speech community or a speech community is a group of people who form a community and share the same language or a particular variety of language. The important characteristic of a speech community is that the members of the group must，in some reasonable way，interact lin­guistically with other members of the community. T hey may share closely re­lated language varieties，as well as attitudes toward linguistic norms.45.Speech variety：Speech variety，also known as language variety，refers to any distin­guishable form of speech used by a speaker or group of speakers. The distinctive characteristics of a speech variety may be lexical，phonological，morphological，syntactic，or a combination of linguistic features.nguage planning：Language standardization is known as lan­guage planning. This means that certain authoritie s，such as the government or government agency of a country，choose a particular speech variety and spread the use of it，including its pronunciation and spelling systems，across regional boundaries.47.Idiolect：An idiolect is a personal dialect of an individual speaker that com­bines aspects of all the elements regarding regional，social，and stylistic variation，in one form or another. In a narrower sense，what makes up one’s idiolect includes also such factors as voice quality，pitch and speech rhythm，which all contribute to the identifying features in an individual's speech.48.Standard language：The standard language is a superposed，socially prestigious dialect of language. It is the language employed by the government and the judiciary system，used by the mass media，and taught in educational institutions，in­cluding school settings where the language is taught as a foreign or second language.49.Nonstandard language：Language varieties other than the standard are called nonstandard languages.50. Lingua franca：A lingua franca is a variety of language that serves as a medium of com­munication among groups of people for diverse linguistic backgrounds.51.Pidgin：A pidgin is a variety of language that is generally used by native speak­ers of other lang uages as a medium of communication.52.Creole：A Creole language is originally a pidgin that has become established as a native language in some speech community.53.Diglossia：Diglossia usually describes a situation in which two very different vari­eties o f language co-exist in a speechcommunity，each with a distinct range of purely social function and appropriate for certain situations.54.Bilingualism：Bilingualism refers to a linguistic situation in which two standard lan­guages are used either by an individual or by a group of speakers，such as the inhabitants of a particular region or a nation.55.Ethnic dialect：Within a society，speech variation may come about because of different ethnic backgrounds. An ethnic language variety is a so­cial dialect of a language，often cutting across regional differences. An eth­nic dialect is spoken mainly by a less privileged population that has experi­enced some form of social isolation，such as racial discrimina­tion or segregation.56.Sociolect：Social dialects，or sociolects，are varieties of language used by people belonging to particular social classes.57.Register：Registers are language varieties which are appropriate for use in particular speech situations，in contrast to language varieties that are associated with the social or regional grouping of their customary users. Format reason，registers are also known as situational dialects.58.Slang：Slang is a casual use of language that consists of expressive but non-standard vocabulary，typically of arbitrary，flashy and often ephemeral coinages and figures of speech characterized by spontaneity and sometimes by raciness.59.Taboo：Taboo，or rather linguistic taboo，denotes any pro­hibition by the polite society on the use of particular lexical items to refer to objects or acts.60.Euphemism：A euphemism，then，is a mild，indirect or less of­fensive word or expression substituted when the speaker or writer fears more direct wording might be harsh，unpleasantly direct，or offensive.V. Answer the following questions as comprehensively as possible. Give examples for illustration if necessary.61. Discuss with examples that the speech of women may differ from the speech of men.In normal situations，female speakers tend to use more prestigious forms than their male counterparts with the same general social background. For example，standard English forms such as "I did it" and "he isn't" can be found more often in the speech of females，while the more colloquial "I done it" and "he ain't" occur more frequently in the speech of males.Another feature often associated with so-called women's language is politeness. Usually，tough and rough speeches have connotations of mas­culinity and are not considered to be desirable feminine qualities. In gener­al，men's language is more straightforward，less polite，and more direct，and women's language is more indirect，less blunt，and more circumlocuto­ry.This phenomenon of sex-preferential differentiation is also reflected in the relative frequency with which males and females use the same lexical items. For example，certain words that are closely associated with women may sound typically feminine as a result of that association. For example，some English adjectives like "lovely"，"nice"，"darling" and "cute" occur more often in female speeches and therefore cause feminine association. Fe­males have also been shown to possess a greater variety of specific color terms than males，inspite of the fact that men do not necessarily possess less acute color perception than women. On the other hand，males have the reputation of possessing a larger vocabulary in traditionally male-dominated domains such as sports，hunting and the military.A request in English such as "Close the door when you leave" can be phrased in a number of ways ranging from a harsh command to a very polite request：a. Close the door when you leave.b. Please close the door when you leave.c. Would you please close the door when you leave？d. Could you close the door when you leave？Although the above options are all available to both men and women，it is usually the more polite forms that are selected by female speakers. In general，females are found to use more questions than declarative statements in comparison with males.62. Discuss with examples some of the linguistic differences between Standard English and Black English.One of the most prominent phonological characteristics of Black English is the frequent simplification of consonant clusters at the end of words when one of the two consonants is an alveolar /t/，/d/，/s/，or /z/. The application of this simplification rule may delete the past-tense morpheme，so "past "and "passed "are both pronounced like "pass."Another salient characteristic of Black English phonological system con­cerns the deletion of some word-final stop consonants in words like "side" and "borrowed." Speakers ofBlack English frequently delete these word-fi­nal stops，pronouncing “side” like “sigh” and “borrowed” like “borrow.”One prominent syntactic feature is the frequent absence of various forms of the copula "be" in Black English，which are required of Standard Eng­lish. Compare the following expressions in Black English and Standard Eng­lish：（1）Black EnglishStandard EnglishThey mine.They' re mine.You crazy.You re crazy.Another distinctive syntactic feature of Black English is the systematic use of die expression "it is" where Standard English uses "there is" in the sense of “there exists”：Is it a Mr. Johnson in this office？Another aspect of Black English is the use of double negation constructions. Whenever the verb is negated，the indefinite pronouns "something"，"some­body"，and "some" become the negative indefinites "nothing"，"nobody"，and "none"，for example：He don't know nothing. （He doesn't know anything.）63. What is a linguistic taboo？What effect does it have on our use of language？A linguistic taboo refers to a word or expression that is prohibited by the "polite" society from general use. Obscene，profane，and swear words are all taboo words that are to be avoided entirely，or at least avoided in mixed company.In sociolinguistics，a linguistic taboo，denotes any pro­hibition on the use of particular lexical items to refer to objects or acts. As language use is contextualized in particular social settings，linguistic taboo originates from social taboo. When an act is taboo，reference to this act may also become taboo. Taboo words and expressions reflect the particular social customs and views of a particular culture.As linguistic taboo reflects social taboo，certain words are more likely to be avoided，for examples，the words related to sex，sex organs and ex­crement in many cultures. The avoidance of using taboo language mirrors social attitudes，emo­tions and value judgments，and has no linguistic basis.The avoidance of using taboo language has led to the creation of euphemisms. A euphemism is a mild，indirect or lessof­fensive word or expression substituted when the speaker or writer fears more direct wording might be harsh，unpleasantly direct，or offensive. For exam­ple，we say "portly" instead of "fat".In many cultures，people avoid using direct words that pertain to death or dying because it is the subject that everyone fears and is unpleasant to talk about. In the English-speaking world，for example，people do no t “die”，but “pass away”.Euphemisms involve a wide range of fields. Although the use of euphemisms has the effect of removing derogatory overtones，the disassociative effect is never long-lasting. Often when the negative connotation of a word is recognized in its euphemistic form，a new euphemism will have to be sought for. However，an excessive use of euphemism may have negative effects. As a matter of fact，many euphemisms have become clichés that are to be avoided in formal speech and writing. They also tend to be wordy and to give writing a timidquality. In addition，euphemism can be evasive or even deceitful. Because they are often improperly used to obscure the intended meaning，many people find them offensive and prefer plain language.。

I.Decide whether each of the following statements is True or False.令狐采学⒈Sociolinguistics is the sub-discipline of linguistics that studies social contexts.⒉Language as a means of social communication is a homogeneous system with a homogeneous group of speakers.⒊Language use varies from one speech community to another，from one regional group to another，from one social group to another，and even from one individual to another.⒋The goal of sociolinguistics is to explore the nature of language variation and language use among a variety of speech communities and in different social situations.5.The linguistic markers that characterize individual social groups may serve as social markers of group membership.6.From the sociolinguistic perspective，the term “speech variety”can not be used to refer to standard language，vernacular language，dialect or pidgin.7Functional speech varieties are known as regional dialects.8.The most distinguishable linguistic feature of a regional dialect is its grammar and uses of vocabulary.9.Geographical barriers are the only source of regional variation of language.10.A person’s social backgrounds do not exert a shaping influence on his choice of linguistic features.11.Two speakers of the same language or dialect use their language or dialect in the same way.12.Every speaker of a language is，in a stricter sense，a speaker of a distinct idiolect.13.The standard language is a better language than nonstandard languages.14.A lingua franca can only be used within a particular country for communication among groups of people with different linguistic backgrounds.15.Pidgins are linguistically inferior to standard languages.16.A pidgin usually reflects the influence of the higher，or dominant，language in its lexicon and that of the lower language in their phonology and occasionally syntax.17.The major difference between a pidgin and a creole is that the former usually has its native speakers while the latter doesn’t.18.Bilingualism and diglossia mean the same thing.19.The kind of name or term speakers use to call or refer to someone may indicate something of their social relationship to or personal feelings about that individual.20.The use of euphemisms has the effect of removing derogatory overtones and the disassociative effect as such is usuallylong-lasting.II. Fill in each of the blanks below with one word which begins with the letter given.21.The social group isolated for any given study is called the speech c________.22.Speech v_________ refers to any distinguishable form of speech used by a speaker or group of speakers.23.From the sociolinguistic perspective，a speech variety is no more than a d__________ variety of a language.nguage standardization is also called language p_______.25.Social variation gives rise to s_________ which are sub-divisible into smaller speech categories that reflect their socioeconomic，educational，occupational background，etc.26.S_______ variation in a person’s speech or writing usually ranges on a continuum from casual or colloquial to formal or polite according to the type of communicative situation.27.A regional dialect may gain status and become standardized as the national or o________ language of a country.28.The standard language is a s_________，socially prestigious dialect of language.nguage varieties other than the standard are called nonstandard，or v_______ languages.30.A pidgin typically lacks in i_______ morphemes.31.Linguistic taboo reflects s_________ taboo.32.The avoidance of using taboo language mirrors social attitudes，emotions and value judgments and has no l_________ basis.III. There are four choices following each statement. Mark the choice that can best complete the statement.33. _______ is concerned with the social significance of language variation and language use in different speech communities.A. PsycholinguisticsB. SociolinguisticsC. Historical linguisticsD. General linguistics34. The most distinguishable linguistic feature of a regional dialect is its _____.A. use of wordsB. use of structuresC. accentD. morphemes35. ____ is speech variation according to the particular area where a speaker comes from.A. Regional variationB. Language variationC. Social variationD. Register variation36. _______ are the major source of regional variation of language.A. Geographical barriersB. Loyalty to and confidence in one’s native speechC. Physical discomfort and psychological resistance to changeD. Social barriers37. _________ means that certain authorities，such as thegov­ernme nt choose，a particular speech variety，standardize it and spread the use of it across regional boundaries.A. Language interferenceB. Language changesC. Language planningD. Language transfer38. _________ in a person’s speech or writing usually ranges on a continuum from casual or colloquial to formal or polite according to the type of communicative situation.A. Regional variationB. Changes in emotionsC. Variation in connotationsD. Stylistic variation39. A ____ is a variety of language that serves as a medium ofcom­munication among groups of people for diverse linguistic back­grounds.A. lingua francaB. registerC. CreoleD. national language40. Although _______ are simplified languages with reduced grammatical features，they are rule-governed，like any human language.A. vernacular languagesB. creolesC. pidginsD. sociolects41. In normal situations，____ speakers tend to use more prestigious forms than their ____ counterparts with the same socialback­ground.A. female；maleB. male；femaleC. old；youngD. young；old42. A linguistic ____ refers to a word or expression that is prohibit­ed by the "polite" society from general use.A. slangB. euphemismC. jargonD. tabooIV. Define the following terms.43. sociolinguistics44. speech community45. speech variety46. language planning47. idiolect48. standard language49. nonstandard language50. lingua franca51. pidgin52. Creole53. diglossia54. Bilingualism55. ethnic dialect56. Sociolect57. register58. slang59. taboo60. euphemismV. Answer the following questions as comprehensively as possible. Give examples for illustration if necessary.61. Discuss with examples that the speech of women may differ from the speech of men.62. Discuss with examples some of the linguistic differences between Standard English and Black English.63. What is a linguistic taboo？What effect does it have on our use of language？Suggested AnswersI. Decide whether each of the following statements is True or False.1. F2. F3. T4. T5. T6. F7. F8. F9. F10. F11. F12. T13. F14. F15. F16. T17. F18. F19. T20. FII. Fill in each of the blanks below with one word which begins with the letter given.21. community22. variety23. dialectal24. planning25. sociolects26. Stylistic27. official28. superposed29. vernacular30. inflectional31. social32. linguisticIII. There are four choices following each statement. Mark the choice that can best complete the statement.33.-37. BCAAC38.-42. DACADIV. Define the following terms.43.Sociolinguistics：Sociolinguistics is the study of language in social contexts.44.Speech community：The social group isolated for any given study is called the speech community or a speech community is a groupof people who form a community and share the same language or a particular variety of language. The important characteristic of a speech community is that the members of the group must，in some reasonable way，interact lin­guistically with other members of the community. They may share clos ely re­lated language varieties，as well as attitudes toward linguistic norms.45.Speech variety：Speech variety，also known as language variety，refers to any distin­guishable form of speech used by a speaker or group of speakers. The distinctive characteristics of a speech variety may be lexical，phonological，morphological，syntactic，or a combination of linguistic features.nguage planning：Language standardization is known aslan­guage planning. This means that certain authorities，such as the government or government agency of a country，choose aparticular speech variety and spread the use of it，including its pronunciation and spelling systems，across regional boundaries.47.Idiolect：An idiolect is a personal dialect of an individual speaker th at com­bines aspects of all the elements regarding regional，social，and stylistic variation，in one form or another. In a narrower sense，what makes up one’s idiolect includes also such factors as voice quality，pitch and speech rhythm，which all contribute to the identifying features in an individual's speech.48.Standard language：The standard language is a superposed，socially prestigious dialect of language. It is the language employed by the government and the judiciary system，used by the mass media，and taught in educational institutions，in­cluding school settings where the language is taught as a foreign or second language.49.Nonstandard language：Language varieties other than the standard are called nonstandard languages.50. Lingua franca：A lingua franca is a variety of language that serves as a medium of com­munication among groups of people for diverse linguistic backgrounds.51.Pidgin：A pidgin is a variety of language that is generally used by native speak­ers of other languages as a medium of communication.52.Creole：A Creole language is originally a pidgin that has become established as a native language in some speech community.53.Diglossia：Diglossia usually describes a situation in which two very different vari­eties of language co-exist in a speech community，each with a distinct range of purely social function and appropriate for certain situations.54.Bilingualism：Bilingualism refers to a linguistic situation in which two standard lan­guages are used either by an individual or by a group of speakers，such as the inhabitants of a particular region ora nation.55.Ethnic dialect：Within a society，speech variation may come about because of different ethnic backgrounds. An ethnic language variety is a so­cial dialect of a language，often cutting across regional differences. An eth­nic dialect is spoken mainly by a less privileged population that has experi­enced some form of social isolation，such as racial discrimina­tion or segregation.56.Sociolect：Social dialects，or sociolects，are varieties of language used by people belonging to particular social classes.57.Register：Registers are language varieties which are appropriate for use in particular speech situations，in contrast to language varieties that are associated with the social or regional grouping of their customary users. Format reason，registers are also known as situational dialects.58.Slang：Slang is a casual use of language that consists of expressive but non-standard vocabulary，typically of arbitrary，flashy and often ephemeral coinages and figures of speech characterized by spontaneity and sometimes by raciness.59.Taboo：Taboo，or rather linguistic taboo，denotes anypro­hibition by the polite society on the use of particular lexical items to refer to objects or acts.60.Euphemism：A euphemism，then，is a mild，indirect or less of­fensive word or expression substituted when the speaker or writer fears more direct wording might be harsh，unpleasantly direct，or offensive.V. Answer the following questions as comprehensively as possible. Give examples for illustration if necessary.61. Discuss with examples that the speech of women may differ from the speech of men.In normal situations，female speakers tend to use more prestigious forms than their male counterparts with the same general social background. For example，standard English forms such as "I did it" and "he isn't" can be found more often in the speech of females，while the more colloquial "I done it" and "he ain't" occur more frequently in the speech of males.Another feature often associated with so-called women's language is politeness. Usually，tough and rough speeches have connotations of mas­culinity and are not considered to be desirable feminine qualities. In gener­al，men's language is more straightforward，less polite，and more direct，and women's language is more indirect，less blunt，and more circumlocuto­ry.This phenomenon of sex-preferential differentiation is also reflected in the relative frequency with which males and females use the same lexical items. For example，certain words that are closely associated with women may sound typically feminine as a result of that association. For example，some English adjectives like "lovely"，"nice"，"darling" and "cute" occur more often in female speeches and th erefore cause feminine association. Fe­males have also been shown to possess a greater variety of specific color terms than males，in spite of the fact that men do not necessarily possess less acute color perception than women. On the other hand，males have the reputation of possessing a larger vocabulary in traditionally male-dominated domains such as sports，hunting and the military.A request in English such as "Close the door when you leave" can be phrased in a number of ways ranging from a harsh command to a very polite request：a. Close the door when you leave.b. Please close the door when you leave.c. Would you please close the door when you leave？d. Could you close the door when you leave？Although the above options are all available to both men and women，it is usually the more polite forms that are selected by female speakers. In general，females are found to use more questions than declarative statements in comparison with males.62. Discuss with examples some of the linguistic differences between Standard English and Black English.One of the most prominent phonological characteristics of Black English is the frequent simplification of consonant clusters at the end of words when one of the two consonants is an alveolar /t/，/d/，/s/，or /z/. The application of this simplification rule may delete the past-tense morpheme，so "past "and "passed "are both pronounced like "pass."Another salient characteristic of Black English phonological system con­cerns the deletion of some word-final stop consonants in words like "side" and "borrowed." Speakers of Black English frequently delete these word-fi­nal stops，pronouncing “side” like “sigh” and “borrowed” like “borrow.”One prominent syntactic feature is the frequent absence of various forms of the copula "be" in Black English，which are required ofStandard Eng­lish. Compare the following expressions in Black English and Standard Eng­lish：（1）Black EnglishStandard EnglishThey mine.They' re mine.You crazy.You re crazy.Another distinctive syntactic feature of Black English is the systematic use of die expression "it is" where Standard English uses "there is" in the sense of “there exists”：Is it a Mr. Johnson in this office？Another aspect of Black English is the use of double negation constructions. Whenever the verb is negated，the indefinite pronouns "something"，"some­body"，and "some" become the negative indefinites "nothing"，"nobody"，and "none"，for example：He don't know nothing. （He doesn't know anything.）63. What is a linguistic taboo？What effect does it have on our use of language？A linguistic taboo refers to a word or expression that is prohibited by the "polite" society from general use. Obscene，profane，and swear words are all taboo words that are to be avoided entirely，or at least avoided in mixed company.In sociolinguistics，a linguistic taboo，denotes any pro­hibition on the use of particular lexical items to refer to objects or acts. As language use is contextualized in particular social settings，linguistic taboo originates from social taboo. When an act is taboo，reference to this act may also become taboo. Taboo words andexpressions reflect the particular social customs and views of a particular culture.As linguistic taboo reflects social taboo，certain words are more likely to be avoided，for examples，the words related to sex，sex organs and ex­crement in many cultures. The avoidance of using taboo language mirrors social attitudes，emo­tions and value judgments，and has no linguistic basis.The avoidance of using taboo language has led to the creation of euphemisms. A euphemism is a mild，indirect or less of­fensive word or expression substituted when the speaker or writer fears more direct wording might be harsh，unpleasantly direct，or offensive. For exam­ple，we say "portly" instead of "fat".In many cultures，people avoid using direct words that pertain to death or dying because it is the subject that everyone fears and is unpleasant to talk about. In the English-speaking world，for example，people do not “die”，but “pass away”. Euphemisms involve a wide range of fields. Although the use of euphemisms has the effect of removing derogatory overtones，the disassociative effect is never long-lasting. Often when the negative connotation of a word is recognized in its euphemistic form，a new euphemism will have to be sought for. However，an excessive use of euphemism may have negative effects. As a matter of fact，many euphemisms have become clichés that are to be avoided in formal speech and writing. They also tend to be wordy and to give writing a timid quality. In addition，euphemism can be evasive or even deceitful. Because they are often improperly used to obscure the intended meaning，many people find them offensive and prefer plain language.。

语言学自测试题及答案一、选择题（每题2分，共10分）1. 语言学研究的主要对象是什么？A. 文学作品B. 语言C. 历史D. 社会答案：B2. 以下哪项不是语言学的分支学科？A. 语音学B. 语法学C. 修辞学D. 心理学答案：D3. 语言的最小意义单位是什么？A. 音素B. 词C. 语素D. 句子答案：C4. 语言的交际功能不包括以下哪项？A. 信息传递B. 情感表达C. 命令与请求D. 艺术欣赏答案：D5. 以下哪个术语是用来描述语言随时间变化的现象？A. 语言演变B. 语言接触C. 语言习得D. 语言规划答案：A二、填空题（每空1分，共10分）1. 语言学中，______是指语言的声音系统，它包括音素、音节等。

答案：语音学2. 语言学家将语言的结构分为______和______两个层面。

答案：音系学，语法学3. 语言的______功能是指通过语言来表达个人的情感、态度等。

答案：表达4. 双语现象指的是一个人能够流利使用______种以上的语言。

答案：两5. 语用学是研究语言在______中的使用，包括语境、言语行为等。

答案：交际三、简答题（每题5分，共20分）1. 简述语言学的定义及其研究范围。

答案：语言学是研究人类语言的科学，它涵盖了语音、语法、语义、语用等多个方面，旨在揭示语言的结构、功能和发展规律。

2. 描述语言的语音和语法两个基本要素。

答案：语音是语言的声音表现形式，包括音素、音节、重音等；语法是语言的规则系统，涉及词的构成、词序、句法结构等。

3. 解释什么是语言的交际功能，并给出一个实例。

答案：语言的交际功能是指语言作为交流思想和信息的工具，使人们能够相互理解和沟通。

例如，通过语言，人们可以询问信息、表达观点、进行辩论等。

4. 讨论语言演变的原因及其对语言发展的影响。

答案：语言演变可能由社会、文化、技术等多种因素引起，它会导致新词汇的产生、旧词汇的消失、语法结构的变化等，从而影响语言的发展和多样性。