新编简明英语语言学教程第二版-练习题-参考答案.pdf

新编简明英语语言学教程第二版 练习题 参考答案Chapter 1 Introduction1.How do you interpret the following definition of linguistics:Linguistics is thescientific study of language.答：Linguistics is based on the systematic investigation of linguistic data,conducted with reference to some general theory of language structure.In order todiscover the nature and rules of the underlying language system,the linguists hasto collect and observe language facts first,which are found to display somesimilarities,and generalizations are made about them;then he formulates somehypotheses about the language structure.The hypotheses thus formed have to bechecked repeatedly against the observed facts to fully prove their validity.Inlinguistics,as in any other discipline,data and theory stand in a dialecticalcomplementation,that is,a theory without the support of data can hardly claimvalidity,and data without being explained by some theory remaina muddled massofthings.2.What are the major branches of linguistics What does each of them study答：The major branches of linguistics are:(1)phonetics:it studies the sounds used in linguistic communication;(2)phonology:it studies how sounds are put together and used to convey meaningin communication;(3)morphology:it studies the way in which linguistic symbols representingsounds are arranged and combined to form words;(4)syntax:it studies the rules which govern how words are combined to formgrammatically permissible sentences in languages;(5)semantics:it studies meaning conveyed by language;(6)pragmatics:it studies the meaning in the context of language use.3.In what basic ways does modern linguistics differ from traditional grammar答：The general approach thus traditionally formed to the study of language overthe years is roughly referred to as“traditional grammar.”Modern linguisticsdiffers from traditional grammar in several basic ways.Firstly,linguistics is descriptive while traditional grammar is prescriptive.Second,modem linguistics regards the spoken language as primary,not the written.Traditionalgrammarians,ontheotherhand,tendedtoemphasize,maybeover-emphasize,the importance of the written word,partly because of itspermanence.Then,modem linguistics differs from traditional grammar also in that it does notforce languages into a Latin-based framework.4.Is modern linguistics mainly synchronic or diachronic Why答：In modem linguistics,a synchronic approach seems to enjoy priority over adiachronic one.Because people believed that unless the various states of a languagein different historical periods are successfully studied,it would be difficult todescribe the changes that have taken place in its historical development.5.For what reasons does modern linguistics give priority tospeech rather thantowriting1答：Speech and writing are the two major media of linguistic communication.Modemlinguistics regards the spoken language as the natural or the primary medium of humanlanguage for some obvious reasons.From the point of view of linguistic evolution,speech is prior to writing.The writing system of any language is always“invented”by its users to record speech when the need arises.Even in todays world there arestill many languages that can only be spoken but not written.Then in everydaycommunication,speech plays a greater role than writing in terms of the amount ofinformation conveyed.And also,speech is always the way in which every nativespeaker acquires his mother tongue,and writing is learned and taught later whenhe goes to school.For modern linguists,spoken language reveals many true featuresof human speech while written language is only the“revised”record of speech.Thus their data for investigation and analysis are mostly drawn from everyday speech,which they regard as authentic.6.How is Saussures distinction between langue and parole similar to Chomskysdistinction between competence and performance答：Saussures distinction and Chomskys are very similar,they differ at leastin that Saussure took a sociological view of language and his notion of langue isa matter of social conventions,and Chomsky looks at language from a psychologicalpoint of view and to him competence is a property of the mind of each individual.7.What characteristics of language do you think should be included in a good,comprehensive definition of language答：First of all,language is a system,.,elements of language are combinedaccording to rules.Second,language is arbitrary in the sense that there is no intrinsic connectionbetween a linguistic symbol and what the symbol stands for.Third,language is vocal because the primary medium for all languages is sound.Fourth,language ishuman-specific,i.e.,itisverydifferent fromthecommunication systems other forms of life possess.8.What are the main features of human language that have been specified by C.Hockettto show that it is essentially different from animal communication system答：The main features of human language are termed design features.They include:1)Arbitrariness Language is arbitrary.This means that there is no logical connection betweenmeanings and sounds.A good example is the fact that different sounds are used torefer to the same object in different languages.2)Productivity Language is productive or creative in that it makes possible the constructionand interpretation of new signals by its users.This is why they can produce andunderstand an infinitely large number of sentences,including sentences they havenever heard before.3)Duality Language consists of two sets of structures,or two levels.At the lower orthe basic level there is a structure of sounds,which are meaningless by themselves.But the sounds of language can be grouped and regrouped into a large number of units1of meaning,which are found at the higher level of the system.4)Displacement Language can be used to refer to things which are present or not present,realor imagined matters in the past,present,or future,or in far-away places.In otherwords,language can be used to refer to contexts removed from the immediatesituations of the speaker.This is what“displacement”means.5)Cultural transmission While human capacity for language has a genetic basis,.,we were all born withthe ability to acquire language,the details of any language system are notgenetically transmitted,but instead have to be taught and learned.9.What are the major functions of language Think of your own examples forillustration.答：Three main functions are often recognized of language:the descriptive function,the expressive function,and the social function.The descriptive function is the function to convey factual information,which canbe asserted or denied,and in some cases even verified.For example:“China is alarge country with a long history.”Theexpressivefunctionsuppliesinformationabouttheusersfeelings,preferences,prejudices,and values.For example:“I will never go window-shoppingwith her.”The social function serves to establish and maintain social relations betweenpeople.For example:“We are your firm supporters.”Chapter 2 Speech Sounds1.What are the two major media of linguistic communication Of the two,which oneis primary and why答：Speech and writing are the two major media of linguistic communication.Of the two media of language,speech is more primary than writing,for reasons,please refer to the answer to the fifth problem in the last chapter.2.What is voicing and how is it caused答：Voicing is a quality of speech sounds and a feature of all vowels and someconsonants in English.It is caused by the vibration of the vocal cords.3.Explain with examples how broad transcription and narrow transcription differ答：The transcription with letter-symbols only is called broad transcription.Thisis the transcription normally used in dictionaries and teaching textbooks forgeneral purposes.The latter,.the transcription with letter-symbols together withthe diacritics is called narrow transcription.This is the transcription needed andused by the phoneticians in their study of speech sounds.With the help of thediacritics they can faithfully represent as much of the fine details as it isnecessary for their purpose.In broad transcription,the symbol l is used for the sounds l in the fourwords leaf li:f,feel fi:l,build bild,and health hel.As a matter offact,the sound l inall these four sound combinations differs slightly.The lin li:f,occurring before a vowel,is called a dear l,and no diacritic is needed1to indicate it;the 1 in fi:l and bild,occurring at the end of a word or beforeanother consonant,is pronounced differently from the clear 1 as in“leaf”.Itis called dark and in narrow transcription the diacritic is used to indicateit.Then in the sound combination hel,the sound l is followed by the Englishdental sound,its pronunciation is somewhat affected by the dental sound thatfollows it.It is thus called a dental l,and in narrow transcription the diacritic、is used to indicate it.It is transcribed as hel.Another example is the consonant p.We all know that p is pronounceddifferently in the two words pit and spit.In the word pit,the sound p is pronouncedwith a strong puff of air,but in spit the puff of air is withheld to some extent.In the case of pit,the p sound is said to be aspirated and in the case of spit,the p sound is unaspirated.This difference is not shown in broad transcription,but in narrow transcription,a small raised“h”is used toshow aspiration,thuspit is transcribed as pht and spit is transcribed as spt.4.How are the English consonants classified答：English consonants can be classified in two ways:one is in terms of mannerof articulation and the other is in terms of place of articulation.In terms of mannerof articulation the English consonants can be classified into the following types:stops,fricatives,affricates,liquids,nasals and glides.In terms of place ofarticulation,it can be classified into following types:bilabial,labiodental,dental,alveolar,palatal,velar and glottal.5.What criteria are used to classify the English vowels答：Vowels may be distinguished as front,central,and back according to whichpart of the tongue is held highest.To further distinguish members of each group,we need to apply another criterion,.the openness of the mouth.Accordingly,weclassify the vowels into four groups:close vowels,semi-close vowels,semi-openvowels,and open vowels.A third criterion that is often used in the classificationof vowels is the shape of the lips.In English,all the front vowels and the centralvowels are unfounded vowels,i.e.,without rounding the lips,and all the back vowels,with the exception of a:,are rounded.It should be noted that some front vowelscan be pronounced with rounded lips.6.A.Give the phonetic symbol for each of the following sound descriptions:1)voiced palatal affricate 2)voiceless labiodental fricative 3)voiced alveolar stop 4)front,close,short 5)back,semi-open,long 6)voiceless bilabial stop B.Give the phonetic features of each of the following sounds:1)t 2)l 3)4)w 5)6)答：A.(1)(2)f (3)d (4)(5):(6)p B.(1)voiceless alveolar stop (2)voiced alveolar liquid (3)voiceless palatal affricate (4)voiced bilabial glide (5)back,close,short (6)front,open17.How do phonetics and phonology differ in their focus of study Who do you thinkwill be more interested in the difference between,say,l and,ph and p,a phonetician or a phonologist Why答：(1)Both phonology and phonetics are concerned with the same aspect of language the speech sounds.But while both are related to the study of sounds,theydiffer in their approach and focus.Phonetics is of a general nature;it is interestedin all the speech sounds used in all human languages:how they are produced,howthey differ from each other,what phonetic features they possess,how they can beclassified,etc.Phonology,on the other hand,aims to discover how speech soundsin a language form patterns and how these sounds are used to convey meaning inlinguistic communication.(2)A phonologist will be more interested in it.Because one of the tasks ofthe phonologists is to find out rule that governs the distribution of l and,ph and p.8.What is a phone How is it different from a phoneme How are allophones relatedto a phoneme答：A phone is a phonetic unit or segment.The speech sounds we hear and produceduring linguistic communication are all phones.A phoneme is not any particular sound,but rather it is represented or realized by a certain phone in a certain phoneticcontext.The different phones which can represent a phoneme in different phoneticenvironments are called the allophones of that phoneme.For example,the phoneme/l/in English can be realized as dark,clear l,etc.which are allophones ofthe phoneme/l/.9.Explain with examples the sequential rule,the assimilation rule,and the deletionrule.答：Rules that govern the combination of sounds in a particular language are calledsequential rules.There are many such sequential rules in English.For example,if a word beginswith a l or a r,then the next sound must be a vowel.That is why lbik lkbiare impossible combinations in English.They have violated the restrictions on thesequencing of phonemes.The assimilation rule assimilates one sound to another by“copying”a featureof a sequential phoneme,thus making the two phones similar.Assimilation ofneighbouring sounds is,for the most part,caused by articulatory or physiologicalprocesses.When wespeak,we tend to increase the ease of articulation.This“sloppy”tendency may become regularized as rules of language.We all know that nasalization is not a phonological feature in English,.,itdoes not distinguish meaning.But this does not mean that vowels in English are nevernasalized in actual pronunciation;in fact they are nasalized in certain phoneticcontexts.For example,the i:sound is nasalized in words like bean,green,team,and scream.This is because in all these sound combinations the i:sound is followedby a nasal n or m.The assimilation rule also accounts for the varying pronunciation of thealveolar nasal n in some sound combinations.The rule is that within a word,the1nasal n assumes thesame place of articulation as the consonant that follows it.We know that in English the prefix in-can be added to ma adjective to make the meaningof the word negative,.discreet indiscreet,correct incorrect.But the nsound in the prefix in-is not always pronounced as an alveolar nasal.It is so inthe word indiscreet because the consonant that follows it,.d,is an alveolarstop,but the n sound in the word incorrect is actually pronounced as a velar nasal,.;this is because the consonant that follows it is k,which is a velar stop.So we can see that while pronouncing the sound n,we are“copying”a featureof the consonant that follows it.Deletion rule tells us when a sound is to be deleted although it is orthographicallyrepresented.We have noticed that in the pronunciation of such words as sign,design,and paradigm,there is no g sound although it is represented in spelling by theletter g.But in their corresponding forms signature,designation,and paradigmatic,the g represented by the letter g is pronounced.The rule can be stated as:Deletea g