语言学教程测试题及答案(26页).doc
-语言学教程测试题及答案-第 25 页Chapter 1 Introductions to LinguisticsI. Choose the best answer. (20%)1. Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human _A. contact B. communication C. relation D. community2. Which of the following words is entirely arbitrary? A. tree B. typewriter C. crash D. bang3. The function of the sentence “Water boils at 100 degrees Centigrade.” is _. A. interrogative（疑问） B. directive C. informative D. performative4. In Chinese when someone breaks a bowl or a plate the host or the people present are likely to say“碎碎（岁岁）平安”as a means of controlling the forces which they believes feel might affect their lives. Which functions does it perform? A. Interpersonal B. Emotive C. Performative D. Recreational5. Which of the following property of language enables language users to overcome the barriers caused by time and place, due to this feature of language, speakers of a language are free to talk about anything in any situation? A. Transferability B. Duality C. Displacement D. Arbitrariness6. Study the following dialogue. What function does it play according to the functions of language? A nice day, isnt it? Right! I really enjoy the sunlight. A. Emotive B. Phatic C. Performative D. Interpersonal7. _ refers to the actual realization of the ideal language users knowledge of the rules of his language in utterances. A. Performance B. Competence C. Langue D. Parole8. When a dog is barking, you assume it is barking for something or at someone that exists hear and now. It couldnt be sorrowful for some lost love or lost bone. This indicates the design feature of _. A. cultural transmission B. productivity C. displacement D. duality9. _ answers such questions as how we as infants acquire our first language. A. Psycholinguistics B.Anthropological linguisticsC. Sociolinguistics D. Applied linguistics10. _ deals with language application to other fields, particularly education. A. Linguistic theory B. Practical linguistics C. Applied linguistics D. Comparative linguisticsII. Decide whether the following statements are true or false. (10%)11. Language is a means of verbal communication. Therefore, the communication way used by the deaf-mute is not language.F12. Language change is universal, ongoing and arbitrary.TF?13. Speaking is the quickest and most efficient way of the human communication systems.FT?14. Language is written because writing is the primary medium for all languages.F15. We were all born with the ability to acquire language, which means the details of any language system can be genetically transmitted.F16. Only human beings are able to communicate.F17. F. de Saussure, who made the distinction between langue and parole in the early 20th century, was a French linguist.F Swiss18. A study of the features of the English used in Shakespeares time is an example of the diachronic study of language.F19. Speech and writing came into being at much the same time in human history.F20. All the languages in the world today have both spoken and written forms.FIII. Fill in the blanks. (10%)21. Language, broadly speaking, is a means of _verbal_ communication.22. In any language words can be used in new ways to mean new things and can be combined into innumerable sentences based on limited rules. This feature is usually termed _creativity_.23. Language has many functions. We can use language to talk about itself. This function is _metalingual function_.24. Theory that primitive man made involuntary vocal noises while performing heavy work has been called the _yo-he-ho_ theory.25. Linguistics is the _scientific_ study of language.26. Modern linguistics is _descriptive_ in the sense that the linguist tries to discover what language is rather than lay down some rules for people to observe.27. One general principle of linguistic analysis is the primacy of _speech_ over writing.28. The description of a language as it changes through time is a _diachronic_linguistic_ study.29. Saussure put forward two important concepts. _langue_ refers to the abstract linguistic system shared by all members of a speech community.30. Linguistic potential is similar to Saussures langue and Chomskys _competence_.IV. Explain the following terms, using examples. (20%)31. Design feature Design feature: It refers to the defining properties of human language that tell the difference between human language and any system of animal communication.32. Displacement Displacement: It means that human languages enable their users to symbolize objects, events and concepts, which are not present (in time and space) at the moment of communication.33. Competence Competence: It is an essential part of performance. It is the speakers knowledge of his or her language; that is, of its sound structure, its words, and its grammatical rules. Competence is, in a way, an encyclopedia of language. Moreover, the knowledge involved in competence is generally unconscious. A transformational-generative grammar is a model of competence.34. Synchronic linguisticsSynchronic linguistics: It refers to the study of a language at a given point in time. The time studied may be either the present or a particular point in the past; synchronic analyses can also be made of dead languages, such as Latin. Synchronic linguistics is contrasted with diachronic linguistics, the study of a language over a period of time.V. Answer the following questions. (20%)35. Why do people take duality as one of the important design features of human language? Can you tell us what language will be if it has no such design feature? （南开大学，2004）Duality makes our language productive. A large number of different units can be formed out of a small number of elements for instance, tens of thousands of words out of a small set of sounds, around 48 in the case of the English language. And out of the huge number of words, there can be astronomical number of possible sentences and phrases, which in turn can combine to form unlimited number of texts. Most animal communication systems do not have this design feature of human language. If language has no such design feature, then it will be like animal communicational system which will be highly limited. It cannot produce a very large number of sound combinations, e.g. words, which are distinct in meaning.36. Why is it difficult to define language? （北京第二外国语大学，2004） It is difficult to define language, as it is such a general term that covers too many things. Thus, definitions for it all have their own special emphasis, and are not totally free from limitations.VI. Analyze the following situation. (20%)37. How can a linguist make his analysis scientific? （青岛海洋大学，1999） It should be guided by the four principles of science: exhaustiveness, consistency, economy and objectivity and follow the scientific procedure: form hypothesis collect data check against the observable facts come to a conclusion.I.15 BACCC 610 BACACII.1115 FFTFF 1620 FFFFFIII.21. verbal 22. productivity / creativity23. metalingual function 24. yo-he-ho25. scientific 26. descriptive27. speech 28. diachronic linguistic29. langue 30. competence Chapter 2 Speech SoundsI. Choose the best answer. (20%)1. Pitch variation is known as _ when its patterns are imposed on sentences. A. intonation B. tone C. pronunciation D. voice2. Conventionally a _ is put in slashes (/ /). A. allophone B. phone C. phoneme / D. morpheme3. An aspirated p, an unaspirated p and an unreleased p are _ of the p phoneme. A. analogues B. tagmemes C. morphemes D. allophones4. The opening between the vocal cords is sometimes referred to as _. A. glottis 声门 B. vocal cavity C. pharynx D. uvula5. The diphthongs that are made with a movement of the tongue towards the center are known as _ diphthongs.? A. wide B. closing C. narrow D. centering6. A phoneme is a group of similar sounds called _. A. minimal pairs B. allomorphs C. phones D. allophones7. Which branch of phonetics concerns the production of speech sounds? A. Acoustic phonetics B. Articulatory phonetics C. Auditory phonetics D. None of the above8. Which one is different from the others according to places of articulation? A. n B. m C. b D. p9. Which vowel is different from the others according to the characteristics of vowels? A. i: B. u C. e D. i 10. What kind of sounds can we make when the vocal cords are vibrating? A. Voiceless B. Voiced C. Glottal stop D. ConsonantII. Decide whether the following statements are true or false. (10%)11. Suprasegmental phonology refers to the study of phonological properties of units larger than the segment-phoneme, such as syllable, word and sentence.T12. The air stream provided by the lungs has to undergo a number of modification to acquire the quality of a speech sound.T13. Two sounds are in free variation when they occur in the same environment and do not contrast, namely, the substitution of one for the other does not produce a different word, but merely a different pronunciation.T14. p is a voiced bilabial stop.F15. Acoustic phonetics is concerned with the perception of speech sounds.F16. All syllables must have a nucleus but not all syllables contain an onset and a coda.T17. When pure vowels or monophthongs are pronounced, no vowel glides take place.T18. According to the length or tenseness of the pronunciation, vowels can be divided into tense vs. lax or long vs. short.T19. Received Pronunciation is the pronunciation accepted by most people.F 20. The maximal onset principle states that when there is a choice as to where to place a consonant, it is put into the coda rather than the onset.FIII. Fill in the blanks. (20%)21. Consonant sounds can be either _voiceless_ or _voiced_, while all vowel sounds are _voiced_.22. Consonant sounds can also be made when two organs of speech in the mouth are brought close together so that the air is pushed out between them, causing _friction_.23. The qualities of vowels depend upon the position of the _tongue_ and the lips.24. One element in the description of vowels is the part of the tongue which is at the highest point in the mouth. A second element is the _height_ to which that part of the tongue is raised.25. Consonants differ from vowels in that the latter are produced without _obstruction_.26. In phonological analysis the words fail / veil are distinguishable simply because of the two phonemes /f/ - /v/. This is an example for illustrating _minimal pairs_.27. In English there are a number of diphthongs_, which are produced by moving from one vowel position to another through intervening positions.28. Coarticulation_ refers to the phenomenon of sounds continually show the influence of their neighbors.29. _Phonemes_ is the smallest linguistic unit.30. Speech takes place when the organs of speech move to produce patterns of sound. These movements have an effect on the _air stream_ coming from the lungs.IV. Explain the following terms, using examples. (20%)31. Sound assimilation Sound assimilation: Speech sounds seldom occur in isolation. In connected speech, under the influence of their neighbors, are replaced by other sounds. Sometimes two neighboring sounds influence each other and are replaced by a third sound which is different from both original sounds. This process is called sound assimilation.32. Suprasegmental feature Suprasegmental feature: The phonetic features that occur above the level of the segments are called suprasegmental features; these are the phonological properties of such units as the syllable, the word, and the sentence. The main suprasegmental ones includes stress, intonation, and tone.33. Complementary distribution Complementary distribution: The different allophones of the same phoneme never occur in the same phonetic context. When two or more allophones of one phoneme never occur in the same linguistic environment they are said to be in complementary distribution.34. Distinctive featuresDistinctive features: It refers to the features that can distinguish one phoneme from another. If we can group the phonemes into two categories: one with this feature and the other without, this feature is called a distinctive feature.V. Answer the following questions. (20%)35. What is acoustic phonetics?（中国人民大学，2003）Acoustic phonetics deals with the transmission of speech sounds through the air. When a speech sound is produced it causes minor air disturbances (sound waves). Various instruments are used to measure the characteristics of these sound waves.36. What are the differences between voiced sounds and voiceless sounds in terms of articulation?（南开大学，2004） When the vocal cords are spread apart, the air from the lungs passes between them unimpeded. Sounds produced in this way are described as voiceless; consonants p, s, t are produced in this way. But when the vocal cords are drawn together, the air from the lungs repeatedly pushes them apart as it passes through, creating a vibration effect. Sounds pr
