Lecture 1
1. Why do linguists tend to be so critical to traditional grammar?
Traditional Grammar---broadly refers to the study of language covering the period from ancient times to the end of the 18th century .Linguistics is descriptive, not prescriptive. Linguistics regarded the spoken language as primary, not the written. It lacked autonomy. It was modeled on ancient Greek, Latin grammar. It was based on logical concepts from meaning to form, not from form to meaning. Emphasis was laid on written language. The attitude was prescriptive not descriptive.
2. What is the difference between the descriptive and the prescriptive approach to the investigation of language? Which is to be preferred and why?
Descriptive grammar refers to the structure of a language as it is actually used by speakers and writers. Prescriptive grammar refers to the structure of a language as certain people think it should be used. Both kinds of grammar are concerned with rules--but in different ways. Specialists in descriptive grammar study the rules or patterns that underlie our use of words, phrases, clauses, and sentences. On the other hand, prescriptive grammarians lay out rules about what they believe to be the “correct” or “incorrect” use of language. Descriptive grammarians generally advise us not to be overly concerned with matters of correctness: language, they say, isn't good or bad; it simply is. As the history of the glamorous word grammar demonstrates, the English language is a living system of communication, a continually evolving affair. Within a generation or two, words and phrases come into fashion and fall out again. Over centuries, word endings and entire sentence structures can change or disappear.
3. What are features of modern linguistics?
Linguistics is descriptive not prescriptive. Priority of spoken language. Priority of synchronic description. The linguist is interested in all languages.
Lecture 2
1. What branches does general linguistics include? What these branches study?
Phonetics: it studies speech sounds, including the production of speech, that is how speech sounds are actually made, transmitted and received, the sound of speech, the description and classification of speech sounds, words and connected speech.
Phonology: it studies the rules governing the structure, distribution, and sequencing of speech sounds and the shape of syllables.
Morphology: it is concerned with the internal organization of words it studies the minimal units of meaning—morphemes and word-formation processed. Syntax: it is about principles of forming and understanding correct English sentences.
Semitics: it examines how meaning is encoded in a language.
Pragmatic s: it is the study of meaning in context. it deals with particular utterance in particular situation and is especially concerned with the various ways in which the many social contexts of language performance can influence interpretation.
3. (1)Langue vs. parole Langue was considered to be the totality of a language. It was a “storehouse”, the sum of word-images stored in the minds of individuals. We may put it loosely in a formula like:
In Saussure's theory, parole refers to the individual side of speech, i.e. speaking is psychophysical, it being the actual, concrete act of speaking on the part of an individual. Parole is thus not a collective instrument; its manifestations are individual and momentary. Langue is code, parole is messag e Langue and parole are closely connected, each dependent on the other: the langue of a community can be arrived at only by a consideration of a large number of paroles, whereas parole can only be intelligible with langue in the minds of all the community members. To a linguist, langue is of primary importance as he wants to make statements which apply, not just to the speech of individuals but to the language as a whole.
(2)Synchronic vs. Diachronic linguistics.
Synchronic study of language---- refers to the study of language as a whole and the description of a particular state of a language at a given point of time in the development of language without considering its evolution and change in history.
Diachronic study of language ---- refers to the study of the process of evolution of language at various histories (historical). A diachronic description of a language traces the historical development of the language and records the changes that have taken place in it between successive points in time.
(3)Microlinguistics vs. Macrolinguistics
Microlinguistics ---- refers to the study of the structure and systems of language, including the various subjects of study of the internal structures of language, such fields as phonology, morphology, syntax.
Macrolinguistics ---- refers to the study of language from a broad angle in variou s interdisciplinary subjects, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, neurolinguistics, anthropological linguistics, mathematical linguistics, and computational linguistics
Lecture 3
1. Define language. How can you understand it?
To give the definition, language is a means of verbal communication .it is instrumental in that communicating by speaking or writing is a purposeful act. It is social and conventional in that language is a social semiotic and communication can only take effectively if all the users share a broad understanding of human interaction including such associated factors as nonverbal cues, motivation, and socio-cultural roles. Language learning and use are determined by the intervention of biological, cognitive, psychosocial and environmental factors .in short ,language distinguishes us from animals because it is far more sophisticated than any animal communication system.
2. Illustrate the differences between human language and animal communication system in terms of displacement and cultural transmission.
Displacement 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. With language, we can recall the past or anticipate the future. For example, we can refer to the first has been dead for over 2500 years .Most animals respond communicatively as soon as they are stimulated by some occurrence of communal interest. For instance, a warning cry of a bird instantly announces danger. Such animals are under “immediate stimulus control”. Human language is, unlike animal communication systems, stimulus free. What we talk about need not be triggered by any external stimulus in the world or any internal state.
Cultural transmission ---- refers to the fact that the details of the linguistic system must be learned anew by each speaker. They are not biologically transmitted from generation to generation. Though the capacity for language in human being has a genetic basis, the particular language a human being learns is a cultural fact, not a genetic one. Simply, while you may inherit brown eyes and dark hair from your parents, you do not inherit their language. You acquire a language in a culture with other speakers and not from parental genes. e.g. An infant born to Korean parents, who is adopted and brought up from birth by English speakers in the U.S, may have physical characteristics inherited from its natural parents, but it will inevitably speak English. And if the child is isolated from the society, he can’t acquire the language successfully. So language is acquired in a socio-cultural context.
3. Why is language human specific?
Firstly, human language has “design features” which animal communication system do not have, at least not in the true sense of them. Secondly, linguists
have done a lot trying to teach animals such as chimpanzees to speak a human language but have achieved nothing inspiring. Washoe, a female chimpanzee, was brought up like a human child by Beatnice and Alan Gardner. She was taught “American sign Language”, and learned a little that made the teachers happy but did mot make the linguistics circle happy, for few believed in teaching chimpanzees. Thirdly, a human child reared among animals cannot speak a human language, not even when he is taken back and taught to do so
4. List basic functions of language and define each of them by their aims
Referential Function whenever we ask people for information or tell others about our circumstances and things alike, we are using language in an attempt to share what we know and exchange what we have in our minds. This is often called "referential", or "ideational".
Interpersonal Function is concerned with interaction between the addresser and addressee in a discourse situation and the addresser's attitude toward what he speaks or writes about.
Textual Function relates our abilities to construct texts out of our utterances and writings.
The performative function is primarily to change the social status of persons; the performative function can extend to the control of reality as on some magical or religious occasions.
Emotive function is a means of getting rid of our nervous energy when we are under stress.
For example, swear words, obscenities are probably the commonest signals to be used in this way, especially when we are in an angry or frustrated state.
Phatic Communion language can serve the function of creating or maintaining social relationship between speakers.
Identifying function Our use of language can tell our listener or reader a great deal about ourselves, in particular, about our regional origins, social background, and level of education, occupation, age, sex, and personality.
The recreational function of a language is often overlooked because it seems restrictive in purpose and supposedly limited in usefulness. However, no one will deny the use of language for the sheer joy of using it.
5. Arbitrariness, Duality of structure, Displacement,Discreteness, Cultural transmission.
Arbitrariness refers to the fact that the forms of linguistic signs bear no natural relationship to their meaning. Take the case of the English word “man”. In Chinese “rén”
Duality refers to the property of having two levels of structures, units of the primary level being composed of elements of the secondary level and each level having its own principles of organization.For instance, tens of thousands of words out of a small set of sounds, around 48 in the case of the English language.
Creativity----the speaker is able to combine the basic linguistic units to form an infinite set of sentences, most of which are never produced or heard before. Creativity is a universal property of human language. For example, we can write a sentence like the following and go on endlessly:This is the dog that chased the cat that killed the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that Tom built.
Lecture 4
1. How do phonetics and phonology differ from each other? And how are they related to each other?
Phonetics-- general, descriptive, and classificatory. It studies speech sounds as they are.
Phonology-- concerned with the sound system of language, studies the functioning of the speech sounds. Phonetics provides the means for describing speech sounds; phonology studies the ways in which speech sounds form system and patterns. Phonetics is of general nature; it is the branch of linguistics ,studying the characteristics of speech sounds and provides methods for their description ,classification , and transcription without reference to the function of speech sounds in a particular language ,while phonology is language specific . It deals with speech sounds within the context of a particular language; it is concerned with the working and functioning of speech sounds in a language. Phonologist studies what he believes are meaningful sounds related with their semantic features, morphological features, and the way they are conceived and printed in the depth of the mind. Phonological knowledge permits a speaker to produce sounds which form meaningful utterances, to recognize a foreign “accent”, to make up new words, to add the appropriate phonetic segments to form plurals and past tenses, to know what is and what is not a sound in one’s language.
2 Illustrate phone, phoneme and allophone by examples. How is a phone different from a phoneme?
A phone is a phonetic unit or segment. The speech sounds we hear and produce during linguistic communication are all phones. But phones do not necessarily distinguish meaning.
When we hear the following words produced: pit, spit, tip, feel, leaf, the phones we have heard are [ph] (as in pit), [p] (as in spit), [p?] (as in tip), [s], [t], [f], [i:], [i], [l].
A phoneme is a phonological unit; it is a unit that is of distinctive value. So a phoneme is the smallest unit of sound in a language which can distinguish two words. It is an abstract unit. It is not any particular sound but rather it is represented or realized by a certain phone in a certain phonetic context. We use slant lines “/ /” pan and ban differ only in their initial sounds /p/ and /b/.
Allophone: the different phones that represent or are derived from one phoneme are called the allophones of that phoneme. For example: /p/ is a phoneme, but it may be pronounced as phones [ph], [p], [p?] .So [ph], [p], [p?] are the allophones of the same phoneme /p/.
3. Explain the sequential rules, assimilation rules and deletion rule by examples.
Assimilation rule It assimilates one segment to another by “copying” a feature of a sequential phoneme, thus making the two phones more similar. When a phoneme is realized differently in actual connected speech from what it usually is, as a result of being near some other phonemes belonging to a neighboring word, assimilation takes place “in” may be pronounced differently as [in], or [i?] or [im], when occurring in different phonetic contexts: indiscrete alveolar [in], inconceivable velar [i?] ,input bilabial [im]
The deletion rule It tells us when a sound is to be deleted although it is orthographically represented. e.g. “g” is mute in “sign”, “design”. It is pronounced in their corresponding derivat ives “signature”, “designation”. The rule is: delete a [g] when it occurs before a final nasal consonant.
4 Minimal pairs
When two different forms are identical in every way except for one sound segment which occurs in the same place in the string, the two words are said to have formed a minimal pair.
Lecture 5
1 What does morphology study?
It studies morphemes and their different forms and the way they combine in word formation (the study of the internal structure of words, and the rules by which words are formed).
2 What are the main features of morpheme?
(1) Morphemes cannot be broken down any further into recognizable or meaningful parts. In other words, a morpheme can’t be divided without altering or destroying its meaning.
(2) A word may consist of one morpheme or more than one morpheme, while a morpheme may not necessarily represent a word.
(3) Morpheme is also a two-fact language unit, which possesses both sound and meaning.
(4) Morpheme is not identical with a syllable for syllable has nothing to do with meaning.
3 Free morpheme, Bound morpheme
Free morpheme, if a morpheme can constitute a word (free form) by itself, it is called a free morpheme.
Bound morpheme, If a morpheme has meaning only when connected with at least another morpheme, it is bound. Traditionally, these prefix and suffix morphemes have been called bound morphemes.
Lecture 6
1 Do you think that morphology and syntax should be treated as separate areas of study? Give your views and support them with reasons.
Morphology & Syntax
(1) A principle distinction between morphology and syntax, is that the former is concerned with the internal composition of a word, whereas the latter is concerned with combinations of words
(2) From a nineteen-century linguistic perspective,
morphology is the science of the forms of language and more abstractly, of the formatives(构形成分) that give form to words.
Syntax, by contrast, is concerned not with formation or forms or formatives but with comparatively insubstantial notions of order or arrangement, in keeping with the etymology of the term. Syntax is thus outside the scope of linguistic morphology, because of the abstract nature of the elements whose arrangement it deals with.
(3) Morphology is considered to be part of syntax, both may be grouped together as grammar.
(4) Since sentence is usually regarded as the largest grammatical unit of a language, syntax has long been the center of grammatical study.
(5) Different linguistics theories differ in their treatment of sentence structure. Conclusion: There are arguments in favor of morpheme-based grammar and there are arguments against it. The same is true of the more traditional
word-based grammar.
2. Explain and exemplify IC analysis.
IC analysis is one of the structuralist grammars. It is a major feature of Bloomfieldian descriptivism.
This approach works through the different levels of structure within a sentence in a series of steps.
At each level, a construction is divided into its major constituents, which are termed immediate constituents, and the process continues until no further divisions can be made. The constituents in the last step are called ultimate constituents. In general, the division is binary. IC analysis can be represented in different ways.
3. Syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations
Syntagmatic: a linear relationship between the signs present in the sentence. (the relation between one item and others in a sequence) .
Paradigmatic is a particular one in that it denotes a relationship between a sign in a sentence and a sign not in a sentence. (A word may be said to have paradigmatic relations with words that could be substituted for it in the sentence.)
4. Rheme vs. Theme
Rheme refers to information that is new. The nucleus, or the core of the utterance ---- what the speaker states about, or in regard to the starting point of the utterance
Theme the known (or given) information --- information that is not new to the reader or listener.
5. TG-grammar in1957 in Syntactic Structures, which has transformed linguistics from a relatively obscure discipline of interest mainly to language teachers and future missionaries into a major social science of direct relevance to psychologists, sociologists, philosophers and others.
Lecture 7
1. What are the major views concerning the study of meaning? (1). Referential theory of meaning (the naming theory) .The meaning of an expression is what it refers to, or stands for. Expressions or words are "names" or "labels" for things. E.g. man, furniture, fish, China --- whose main function is precisely that of naming or labeling. They are meaningful in that they each refer to an individual or a collection of living beings or objects existing in the reality. There is a one-to-one correspondence between name and object.
(2). Mentalist theory of meaning, There has been a tendency to adopt a mentalist approach in their treatment of meaning by a group of modern linguists headed by Chomsky since 1960's. They view the primary function of language as the communication of ideas and have adopted the assumption, as a working basis for linguistic inquiry, that the data needed about language can be supplied by direct resort to intuition. It states that the meaning of an expression is the idea, or concept associated with it in the mind of anyone who knows it. It attempts to explain the meaning of words in terms of the image in the speaker's / hearer's mind. Two of the best-known theories of it are the “sign " theory of Saussure and the semiotic triangle of Ogden and Richards. According to Saussure's sign theory, a linguistic sign consists of a signifier and a signified. They can be more strictly regarded as a sound image (signifier) and a concept (signified) , which are linked by a psychological associative bond, that is, both the noise we make and the objects of world we talk about are mirrored in some way by conceptual entities. Two of the best-known theories of it are the “sign " theory of de Saussure and the semiotic triangle of Ogden and Richards.
When we hear a sound, e. g. dog, the image or concept of the dog will be mirrored in our mind, and the image will be the meaning of the expression
(3)Behaviorist theory of meaning. This theory was very popular during the 1920's to 1960's. It has great influence in the fields of psychology, philosophy and linguistics. Its representat ive is L. Bloomfield of America. This theory states that the meaning of an expression is either the stimulus that evokes it or the response that it evokes, or a combination of both, on particular occasions of utterance. He illustrated his views with a famous account of Jack and Jill, trying to define meaning in terms of the behaviorist point of view ---
stimulus-and-response point of view. E.g. Jill is hungry. She sees an apple and gets Jack to fetch it for her by speaking to him. He interpreted this in terms of stimulus and response with the diagram.Jill Jack
S------------r~~~~~s----------R
Here S means practical events (physical) which precede the act of speech, i.e. Jill's hunger. It is termed as a stimulus. And r refers to a linguistic response of Jill to this stimulus. Jill expresses this response by speaking to Jack. The sound waves reaching Jack result in creating a linguistic stimulus in him, which is indicated by a small letter s. R refers to the eventual physical response Jack makes in getting the apple for Jill. Thus, Bloomfield argued that meaning consists in the relation between speech (which is shown by r----- s) and the practical events S and R that precede and follow it. In this way, he wanted to contrast his theory with the mentalistic theories which involve thoughts, concepts, images, etc.
But to interpret meaning in terms of the relation between speech and physical entities and events needs to know other 'predisposing factors' concerning the
speaker and hearer. This is a task Bloomfield found too difficult to accomplish and thus he did not pursue.
(4)Contextual theory of meaning. The Operational theory or Meaning-is-use Theory of meaning. Representatives--- L. Wittgenstein, S. Chase and J. R. Firth. Explains that the meaning of an expression is determined by, if not identical with, its use in language. The famous English linguists Chase and Firth advocated that the true meaning of a word is to be found by observing what a man does with it, not what he says about it. The German philosopher Wittgenstein goes a step further. He boldly asserted that the meaning of a word is its use.
2. How do you understand ambiguity?
Ambiguity refers to the linguistic phenomenon in which one linguistic expression allows more than one understandings or interpretations. E.g. the office of the president is vacant.
Basically, ambiguity can be classified into two types: A. Lexical ambiguity:1) words with more than one sense. She can’t bear children. 2) Some words are ambiguous. He put it in the boot.
3) A single word, with several different meanings which are not closed related. Mug-- He had a mug./ He had an ugly mug. 4) A word with several very closely related senses is ambiguous.
B. Syntactic ambiguity. Structural ambiguity is concerned with the syntactic representation of sentences. It occurs when more than one syntactic structure can be associated with a sequence of words. E.g. 1) American history teacher 3. How would you describe the oddness of the following sentences, using semantic feature?
A. The television drank my water.
B. His dog writes poetry.
4. synonymy, antonymy, polysemy, homonymy, hyponymy Polysemy: The same word may have two or more different meanings. This is known as polysemy; such a word is polysemic.
Homonymy: Lexical items which have the phonological or spelling norm, but differ in meaning are called homonyms. Such a linguistic phenomenon, i.e. identity of form and diversity of meaning is referred to as homonymy.
Hyponymy: It refers to the sense relation between a more general, more inclusive word and a specific word. The word is more general in meaning is called the superordinate and the more specific words are called its hyponyms. Hyponyms of the same superordinate are co-hyponyms to each other. E.g flower-----rose, tulip, carnation, lily. Animal----dog, cat, tiger, lion
Antonymy: The term antonymy is used for oppositeness of meaning. Words that are opposite in meaning are antonyms. Oppositeness can be found on different dimensions. Root contrast derivative contrast semantic contrast (1) gradable (2) complementary (3) converses~
Synonymy---sameness of meaning
Style: the same cognitive meaning but different stylistic meaning.
(1) cast (literary, biblical) .throw (general). Chuck (slang)
Dialect---geographical variation
Register—varieties of a language according to their topic and context of use.
E.g. you can’t cancel your room reservation. No cancellations can be accepted.
Lecture 8
1. What does pragmatics study?P20
How does pragmatics differ from semantics, and utterance meaning from sentence meaning? 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 meaning . 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.
How does a sentence meaning differ from an utterance meaning? A sentence meaning is often 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 utterance meaning 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 statement, 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, t he 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.
2. What are the five illocutionary speech acts Searle specifies? (1) Representatives(阐述类)---- stating or describing ,saying what the speaker believes to be true.
The earth is flat.
（2）directives (指令类)----trying to get the hearer to do something
Don’t touch that.
(3) commissives (承诺类) -----committing the speaker himself to some future course of action
E.g: I promise to come.
(4) expressives ( 表达类) ----expressing feelings or attitude towards an existing state.
e.g : I’m sorry for the mess I have made.
(5) declaration ( 宣布类)---- bringing about immediate changes by saying something
Priest: I now pronounce you husband and wife.
Referee: you are out!
Lecture 9
1. what contributions has sociolinguistics provided to the field of language teaching?
第一章语言和语言学 第一节语言的客观存在形式 一、语言： 1．语言是一种社会现象，不是一种物质实体。 2．言语交际是一个编码（说话）和解码（听话）的过程。 （语言的客观存在形式首先表现为人与人之间的口头交际行为，有声的口头语言，即口语） 3．语言的客观存在形式跟语言学家研究的语言是不完全一模一样的。 二、口语和书面语的主要差别： 1．口语：是有声的口头语言。 2．书面语：是经过加工提炼和发展了的口语书面形式。 3．口语是第一性的，书面语是第二性的。 4．书面语比口语更精练、更精确。 5．书面语比口语省略成份少一些。（多了一些成份） 三、口语与书面语的关系： 1．口语是第一性的，书面语是第二性的。 2．书面语反过来影响和促进口语的发展。 3．口语、书面语基本是一致的。（一般情况下） 四、书面语产生具有重大的历史意义： 书面语的产生克服了口语的时间、空间的限制，是人类进入文明社会的标志。 五、语言和民族： 1．语言是民族的重要标志，但不是最可靠的标志。 （1）在绝大多数情况下一个民族使用一种语言。 （2）也有一个民族使用多种语言。（犹太民族） （3）不同民族使用同一种语言。（满族、汉族） （4）尽管语言是最直观的，最容易识别民族的标志，从目前了解到的情况来看，“共同的历史文化传统和由此产生的民族认同感”，也许是维系一个“民族”的最根本的因素。 因而也是确定一个民族的最根本的标准。不能单凭“互相理解程度”来区分语言和方言。（） 六、语言与种族的关系： 语言和种族没有必然的联系，但不是完全没有联系。特别就“语系”而言，两者之间的联系还是比较明显的。（汉语、汉藏语系都有声调） 七、语言和种族没有必然联系的根本原因是：语言能力和生理因素、心理因素有关，但是语言不是一种生理现象，也不是一种心理现象，不是先天遗传的，它是一种社会现象，完全是在一定的语言环境中后天获得的，所以语言和种族没有必然联系。 八、语言的客观存在形式：口语、书面语。语言的客观存在形式首先表现为有声的口头语言即口语， 而当出现了文字以后，又表现为有形的书面语言即书面语。 口语和书面语都有两个方面：一方面是表示一定意义的声音或图形，这是一种物理现象；另一方面则是由声音或图形（字）表示的意义，那是一种心理现象，或者说是思维活动的结果和感情流露。 第二节语言的性质 一、语言和言语 瑞士语言学家索绪尔是杰出的代表和集其大成的学者。 他的《普通语言学教程》（1916）开创了20世纪现代语言学的新局面。 1．什么是语言、言语？ （1）言语：指说话这种行为和说出来的具体的话。 特色：a.具有个人因素（嗓音、用词等）。
《语言学概论》复习要点 重点名词概念：语言学、普通语言学、专语语言学、共时语言学、历时语言学 一、语言学、语言学的对象和任务 二、语言学在科学体系中的地位 三、语言学的基本类别 根据研究的对象的不同，语言学分为共时语言学和历时语言学、专语语言学和普通语言学。 四、语言学流派 各个语言学流派的观点、代表人物有所了解即可，注意布拉格学派、哥本哈根学派以及美国结构语言学派（也称美国描写语言学）都属于结构主义学派，是这一学派的三个分支。关于语言学流派的具体内容阐述，不作考试要求。 第一章言语的社会功能 本章须明确两个大的要点：语言的社会功能，即交际工具和思维工具；语言是一种社会现象。 主要名词概念：语言、社会、社会现象 第一节语言是人类最重要的交际工具 一、语言是人类社会的交际工具 1．语言的交际功能：语言是人类区别于其它动物的一个重要标志。语言是联系社会成员的桥梁和纽带，是社会成员互相之间交际和交流思想的工具，也是协调社会成员行动一致的工具。 2．语言是一种社会现象：语言是一种社会现象，和人类社会有着十分紧密的联系，没有人类社会，就没有语言，人类社会以外的社会无所谓语言。所谓社会现象是指那些与人类共同体的产生、存在和发展等活动密切联系的现象。不同的民族有不同的语言，不同的地域有不同的语言，同时社会的变化也给语言以极大的影响，而离开了人类社会，就无所谓语言可言了。总之，语言就是一种社会现象，同社会的关系非常密切，其产生、发展等都要受到社会的影响。 语言不是自然现象，一方面，语言同社会有着十分紧密的联系，社会的发展变化直接影响着语言的发展变化，也就是说，语言的发展变化是受制于社会的；另一方面，从语言的音义联系看语言不是自然现象，而是社会约定俗成的，没有必然的本质的联系，如果语言是自然现象，世界上的语言应该一样的，没有区别的，而实际上世界上的语言多种多样，而且许多语言中还有方言，这说明语言决不是自然现象。 3．语言是一种特殊的社会现象：语言不但是社会现象，而且是一种特殊的社会现象。语言作为社会现象的特殊性主要表现在，社会现象可分为经济基础和上层建筑两大类，任何一种社会现象，要么属于经济基础，要么属于上层建筑，而语言既不属于经济基础，也不属于上层建筑，这两者的变化都不会从本质上影响语言。所以，从本质上看，语言是人类共同的交际工具，不分阶级、阶层，一视同仁地为全社会的成员服务，没有阶级性，具有全民性特点。4．语言没有阶级性：可从这样几个方面思考，首先是看语言工具的服务对象，是为特定的阶级服务还是为大众服务。其次是结合语言自身的结构考察，观察语言在哪一方面体现了阶级性特征没有。再次是看语言产生的社会环境，语言产生于没有阶级的社会，社会上连阶级都没有，语言作为社会的产物更谈不上有阶级性了。 二、语言是人类最重要的交际工具 人类传递信息，进行交际和交流思想，除了使用语言外，还可以使用文字、旗语、红绿灯、电报代码、数学符号以及身势、表情等，在一定场合使用，可以弥补语言的一些不足，但是这些交际工具使用范围有限，有的仅用于特定的范围，最重要的是，这些交际工具，都离不开语言，都是在语言的基础上产生的，是辅助语言进行交际的，没有语言，这些手段的存在没有任何意义。 一般掌握：语言和说话的关系 第二节语言是思维的工具 一、语言和思维的关系 语言不但是人类的交际工具，同时也是人类思维的工具，是认识成果的贮存所。思维过程离不开语言，需要借助语言来进行比较、分析、综合等一系列活动，需要借助语言来形成思想，利用语言把它储存在头脑中，再借助语言把思想表达出来，传达给听话人，同时使听话人产生思想。而且人类思维的成果－概念，还可以通过词语固定下来。总之，思维活动的过程不可能离开语言而单独进行，思维离不开语言，必须借助语言材料才能进行。语言也离不开思维，二者是互相依存，共同发展的。 二、思维能力是全人类共同的，语言是各民族不同 思维能力没有民族性，全人类都有，但不同民族的思维方式是不同的，有差别的，这从不同民族的语言的差异方面可以看出来。不同的语言之间很少有意义、功能、色彩等都完全对应等同的词语。第二章语言是符号系统 本章要注意语言是符号、语言符号的任意性特点、语言的层级体系三大要点。 主要名词概念：符号、语言符号、任意性、线条性、二层性、组合关系、聚合关系 第一节语言符号的性质和特点 一、什么是符号 1．符号的含义：符号就是由一定的形式构成的表示一定意义的记号或标记，包括形式和意义两个方面，其作用是指称现实现象。2．符号的构成：符号是由形式和意义两个部分构成的结合体。形式就是符号外在的形状、结构，它是以某种物质的方式存在的，或者是声音，或者是线条，或者是色彩，等等。意义就是符号所代表的具体内容，任何一个符号，都有一定的意义，形式和意义在一定的符号系统中是密不可分的统一体，不能割裂二者之间的关系。形式和意义互相依存，谁也离不开谁。 二、语言符号及其特点 1．语言符号：从本质上看，语言也是一种符号，也有形式和意义两个方面，具有符号的一切特点。 语言符号又不同于一般符号。可从以下几个方面认识理解，首先，语言符号是声音和意义的结合体，是说的和听的；其次，一般符号的构成比较简单，而语言符号却是非常复杂的，可分不同的层级；再次，一般符号由于构造简单，因而只能表达有限的内容，而且这种内容是简单而固定的，语言符号则可以表达丰富多彩的意义；最后，语言符号具有以少驭多的生成机制，具有生成新的结构
一、填空题:（每空1 分，本大题共10 分） 1. （）语言学是在19世纪逐步发展和完善的，它是语言学 走上独立发展道路的标志。 2. 人的大脑分左右两半球，大脑的左半球控制（ 掌管不需要语言的感性直观思维。 3. 进入20世纪以后，语言研究的主流由历史比较语言学转为 （）。 4. 俄语属于印欧语系的（ 5. 一个音位包含的不同音素或者具体表现出来的音素叫做 （）。 6. 语言中最单纯、最常用、最原始和最能产的词是（ 7. 现代大多数国家的拼音文字的字母，大多直接来源于（）字 母。 8. 言外之意之所以能够被理解是因为（）起了补充说明的 作用。 9. 方言在社会完全分化的情况下，有可能发展成（? ）?； 在社会高度统一的情况下，会逐渐被共同语消磨直到同化。 10. 南京方言的“兰”、“南”不分，从音位变体的角度来说，[n ]和[l]是 属于（）变体。 二、单项选择题: 码填在题干上的括号内。（每小题1 分，本大题共15 分）
1. 在二十世纪，对哲学、人类学、心理学、社会学等学科产生重大影响 的语言学流派是（） A.历史比较语言学 B.心理语言学 C.结构主义语言学 D.社会语言学 2. “人有人言，兽有兽语”中的“言”属于（） A.语言 B.言语 C.言语行为 D.言语作品 3. “我爱家乡”中“爱”和“家乡”（） A.是聚合关系。 B.是组合关系。 C.既是聚合关系又是组合关系。 D. 4. 一种语言中数量最少的是 A.音素 B.音位 C.语素 D.音节 5. 英语的man—→men采用的语法手段是 A. 屈折变化 B.变换重音的位置 C. 变化中缀 D.异根 6. 在汉语普通话中没有意义区别功能的声学特征是（） A.音高 B.音强 C.音长 D.音质 7. [ε]的发音特征是 A.舌面前高不圆唇 B.舌面后高不圆唇 C.舌面前半高不圆唇 D.舌面前半低不圆唇 8. 构成“语言、身体”这两个词的语素的类型（） A.都是成词语素 B.都是不成词语素 C.“语”和“言”是成词语素，“身”和“体”是不成词语素 D.“语”和“言”是不成词语素，“身”和“体” 9. 广义地说，汉语动词词尾“着”、“了”、“过”属于语法范畴中的 （）
名词解释 1、词汇 是一种语言中所有的词和成语等固定用语的总汇 2、音位的自由变体 有些音位在同一语言环境中，可以自由替换，而又不能区别词义，不受前面其他音位的影响，没有任何条件的限制 3，语言 语言是社会现象，是社会交际工具。同时是心里现象，是人类思维的工具 4，自源文字 是在某种语言的基础上自发产生并逐步完善的文字 5，同化和异化 同化现象是指，一个音位受相邻音位的影响儿而又在某个区别特征或音位整体上的趋同现象；异化现象，是指两个本来相同或相近的音位，如果连着发音有困难，则其中一个发生变化，变得跟邻近的音不同或不相近 6，黏着语 没有词的内部屈折，每一个语法范畴义都有一个粘附语素来表示，而一个粘附语素也只表示一种语法范畴义的语言类型 7，语音 即语言的声音，是语言符号系统的载体，人的发音器官发出，负载着一定的语言定义。语言依靠语音实现他的社会功能 8音质音位 以因素为材料，从音质的角度分析音位 9形态 同一个词与不同的词组合就有不同的变化。这些不同的变化形成一个聚合，叫做词形变化，或者叫做形态 10仿意词 是分别将外语中的构词材料按外语中的次序译成本民族语，使构词成分的选择和构词结构的选择与外语一一对应 12区别特征 具有区别音位的语音特征叫区别特征，也叫区别性特征 13符号 社会全体成员共同约定，用来表示某种意义的记号、标记、它包括形式和内容两个方面。它的作用是指称社会现实现象 14，小学 中国传统文学又称小学，包括分析字形的文字学，研究字音的音韵学，解释字义的训诂学，它们是围绕解释和解读先秦典籍展开研究的，因此又被称为经学的附庸 15，言内意外 用语言表达思想时留下的一些意义空白或将真实意义隐含在另一种说法中，或用一种意义采用不同说法以获取不同的效果 16文字 有两个意思，一个是指一个一个的字，一是指语言的视觉符号体系 17国际音标 是国际语音协会于1888年制定并开始使用的，不带民族特色。它的制定原则是：
广州大学 2012年研究生入学考试试题（全日制专业学位硕士） 招生领域：教育硕士 科目名称：语言学基础 科目代码：928 Ⅰ.Define the following terms (4 points each, 20%) 1. functional linguistics 2. minimal pair 3. consonant 4. syntax 5. synonymy Ⅱ. Indicate whether the following statements are true or false (1 point each, 10%) 1. In modern linguistic studies, the written form of language is given more emphasis than the spoken form for a number of reasons. 2. Voicing is a phonological feature that distinguishes meaning in both Chinese and English. 3. The part of a sentence which comprises an infinite verb or a verb phrase is grammatically called predicate. 4. The smallest meaningful unit of language is allomorph. 5. Human language is arbitrary. 6. All normal children have equal ability to acquire their first language. 7. In most cases, the illocutionary force of “freeze!” is a warning. 8. Linguistics is the course of language. 9. In English, pitch and length constitute intensity which seems to determine stress. 10. Tense and reference are two terms often encountered in the study of meaning. 1
英语语言学试题（1） I. Directions: Read each of the following statements carefully. Decide which one of the four choices best completes the statement and put the letter A, B, C or D in the brackets. (2%×10=20%) 1、As modern linguistics aims to describe and analyze the language people actually use, and not to lay down rules for "correct" linguistic behavior, it is said to be ___. A、prescriptive B、sociolinguistic C、descriptive D、psycholinguistic 2、Of all the speech organs, the ___ is/are the most flexible. A、mouth B、lips C、tongue D、vocal cords 3、The morpheme "vision" in the common word "television" is a(n) ___. A、bound morpheme B、bound form C、inflectional morpheme D、free morpheme 4、A ___ in the embedded clause refers to the introductory word that introduces the embedded clause. A、coordinator B、particle C、preposition D、subordinator 5、"Can I borrow your bike?" _____ "You have a bike." A、is synonymous with B、is inconsistent with C、entails D、presupposes 6、The branch of linguistics that studies how context influences the way speakers interpret sentences is called ___. A、semantics B、pragmatics C、sociolinguistics D、psycholinguistics 7、Grammatical changes may be explained, in part, as analogic changes, which are ___ or generalization. A、elaboration B、simplification C、external borrowing D、internal borrowing 8、___ refers to a marginal language of few lexical items and straightforward grammatical rules, used as a medium of communication. A、Lingua franca B、Creole C、Pidgin D、Standard language 9、Psychologists, neurologists and linguists have concluded that, in addition to the motor area which is responsible for physical articulation of utterances, three areas of the left brain are vital to language, namely, ___ . A、Broca's area, Wernicke's area and the angular gyrus B、Broca's area, Wernicke's area and cerebral cortex C、Broca's area, Wernicke's area and neurons D、Broca's area, Wernicke's area and Exner's area 10、According to Krashen, ___ refers to the gradual and subconscious development of ability in the first language by using it naturally in daily communicative situations. A、learning B、competence C、performance D、acquisition II. Directions: Fill in the blank in each of the following statements with one word, the first letter of which is already given as a clue. Note that you are to fill in One word only, and you are not allowed to change the letter given. (1%×10=10%) 11、Chomsky defines "competence" as the ideal user's k_______ of the rules of his language. 12、The four sounds /p/,/b/,/m/ and /w/have one feature in common, i.e, they are all b______ . 13、M_______ is a branch of grammar which studies the internal structure of words and the rules by which words are formed. 14、A s______ is a structurally independent unit that usually comprises a number of words to form a complete statement, question or command. 15、Synonyms that are mutually substitutable under all circumstances are called c______ synonyms. 16、The illocutionary point of r_____ is to commit the speaker to something's being the case, to the truth of what has been said. 17、Words are created outright to fit some purpose. Such a method of enlarging the vocabulary is known as word c______.
27.书面语：书面语是用文字记录的语言形式，它是文字产生或在口语的基础上产生的，书面语是经过加工、提炼和发展了的口语的书面形式。 26.口语：就是有声的口头语言，任何一种语言都有口头存在形式。它是书面产生的基础。 28．语言相关论：语言相关论是萨丕尔和沃尔夫提出的关于语言与思维关系的观点，主张语言决定思维，不同的语言就有不同的思维方式。 29．大脑语言功能临界期：大脑语言功能临界期是指大脑的单侧化，大脑左半球的分区以及语言的遗传机制，都只提供人具有语言能力的潜在可能性，这些潜能必须在一定期限内被一定的语言环境激活才可能起作用。26．语言符号的所指 :语言符号的所指是符号的形式所指的意义内容。 29．机器翻译：通过计算机把一种语言自动翻译成另一种或多种自然语言的信息处理技术。 26.语音：语音是人的发音器官发出的、用于人与人之间交际并表达一定意义的声音。 27.词：词是最小的、有意义的、能够独立运用的语言单位。 28.语用：语用指语言运用，即人们在一定的交际环境中对语言的实际运用。 29.文字：文字是记录语言的书写符号系统。 27．单纯词：单纯词是由一个构词语素构成的词。 29．屈折：屈折是通过词的内部发生语音的交替变换来改变词的语法意义的手段。 28．意译词：是用本族语言的构词材料和规则构成新词，把外语中某个词的意义翻译过来。 27.仿译词：是用本族语言的语素逐个对译外语原词的语素造成的词，它不仅把原词的词义翻译过来，而且保持了原词的内部构成方式。 29．主谓词组：两个成分之间具有被说明和说明关系的词组是主谓词组。 27．复辅音：一个音节内处于同一个肌肉紧张的渐强阶段或渐弱阶段上的两个或两个以上辅音的组合。 27.双语现象：某一言语社团使用两种或多种语言的社会现象，具体而言是社团内的全体成员或部分成员双语并用的现象。 28.亲属语言：从同一种语言中分化出来的各个语言叫亲属语言，亲属语言之间具有历史同源关系。 26．调位：利用音节内的音高差别来起辩义作用的语音单位叫做调位，调位是一种非音质音位，依附在音位的组合序列上。 29.词组：实词与实词之间具有直接联系的相对独立的词群。 28．语素：语素是语言中音义结合的最小单位。 28．词尾：附着在词干后的，能改变词的语法形式，但不能构成新词的语素。 29．语素：音义结合的最小语言单位。 26．词类：词类是词在语法上的分类。它指可以替换出现在语法结构某些共同组合位置上的词的类，即具有聚合关系的词的类。 27．词法：（1）词法主要描写词的形态特征和词形变化规则。例如，俄语的名词在形式上有单数和复数的区别，有阳性、阴性、中性等性的区别，有主格、宾格、属格等格的区别，这些都是典型的词法现象。（2）由于印欧语言中构词单位、构词方式和词类都与词的形态变化相关，因此构词和词类问题也成为词法的一部分。27．语法意义：语法意义是语法形式所体现的意义，是语言中通过一类形式或功能所获得的意义。二者相辅相成，不可分离。如“动词+名词”有动宾关系的意义，汉语所有的同类组合都是如此，这种意义就是一种语法意义。 27.语法形式：语法形式就是能体现表达某种语法意义的形式。表示某一类语法意义或者有共同作用的形式，如词类形式、组合形式、虚词形式，就是语法形式。语法形式不是个别的语音形式和词语形式，但能产生某一类意义或者有共同作用的语音表现形式或者词形变化形式也是语法形式。 27.语法手段：根据语法形式的共同特点所归并的语法形式的基本类别叫做语法手段。语法手段可分为词法手段和句法手段两大类。通过词形的变化来表现语法意义的形式是词法手段；通过结构的变化来表现语法意义的形式是句法手段；例如英语名词后加s表示复数，英语动词后面加ed表示过去时，就是词法手段中的词形变化。 28．自源文字：自源文字指独立发展起来的文字。如古埃及文字、苏美尔文字、汉字，这些文字的形体、体系都是由最早使用该文字的人们独创的。 29．语音合成（1）语音合成是语音信息处理研究中的主要工作。 （2）语音合成就是让计算机模拟人的发音器官的动作并发生类似的声音。如汉语的语音合成目前已初步实现自动生成声韵调结合的音节。 26．句子:句子是词或词组按一定规则组合成的、能表达相对完整的意义、前后有较大停顿并带有一定的语气和句调的语言单位。 27．异化：语流中两个相同或相近的音，其中一个因受另一个影响而变得不相同或不相近。
语言学概论(本科)期末复习要点 导言部分 一、语言学、语言学的对象和任务 1．语言学是以语言作为研究对象的科学，它以人类的语言为研究对象。语言学的基本任务是研究语言的规律，具体地说，语言学研究语言的性质、作用、结构，语言的发展变化，使人们懂得有关语言的理性知识，从而提高学习语言和运用语言的水平。 2．中国、印度、希腊－罗马是语言学的三大发源地。 3．我国的小学：小学是我国古代语文学的统称，由训诂学、文字学、音韵学三部分组成。训诂学解释字义，文字学分析字形，音韵学研究字音。 二、语言学在科学体系中的地位 1．语言的研究和其它科学的关系十分密切，不仅与社会科学有联系，而且与自然科学也有十分密切的联系。语言学是一门古老的科学，又是一门年轻的科学。 2．语言交际的过程：语言交际过程可分“编码－发送－传递－接收－解码”五个阶段。 三、语言学的基本类别 根据研究的对象的不同，语言学可以分为以下几类：共时语言学和历时语言学、专语语言学和普通语言学、。各类语言学下面还可以进一步细分，如专语语言学下面可分汉语语言学（例如现代汉语、古代汉语、近代汉语、汉语史等）、英语语言学、俄语语言学等等，普通语言学下面可分语音学、词汇学、语义学、语法学、修辞学等等。 四、语言学流派 比较重要的语言学流派主要有：历史比较语言学、结构语言学、布拉格学派、哥本哈根学派、美国描写语言学派、转换-生成学派、系统-功能学派、社会语言学。各个语言学流派的观点、代表人物有所了解即可，注意布拉格学派、哥本哈根学派以及美国结构语言学派（也称美国描写语言学）都属于结构主义学派，是这一学派的三个分支。关于语言学流派的具体内容阐述，请浏览《语言学网络课件》中的“望远镜”板块。 第一章语言的社会功能 本章需要明确的要点是：第一，语言的两大社会功能；第二，语言是一种社会现象。第一节语言是人类最重要的交际工具1．语言的交际功能：语言是联系社会成员的桥梁和纽带。 2．语言是一种社会现象：弄清楚语言是一种社会现象的内涵，语言不是自然现象，而是社会现象，是一定社会的产物，同社会的关系非常密切。 3．语言是一种特殊的社会现象：没有阶级性，具有全民性特点。语言是人类最重要的交际工具 第二节语言是思维的工具 1．语言和思维的关系 思维活动的过程不可能离开语言而单独进行，思维离不开语言，语言也离不开思维，二者是互相依存，共同发展的。 2．思维能力是全人类共同的，语言是各民族不同 本节其它一些问题可一般了解：一、儿童学习语言的过程，二、思维不能离开语言的实验根据，三、关于聋哑人的思维，聋哑人失去语言能力对他的思维能力的发展产生了严重的消极影响，四、人类思维在机器中的再现。 第二章语言是符号系统 本章有三大要点：语言是符号、语言的任意性特点、语言的层次性第一节语言符号的性质和特点一、什么是符号 1．符号的含义：符号是人们用来指代某种事物的标记。符号是由一定的形式构成的表示一定意义的记号或标记，它包括形式和意义两个方面，指称现实现象。如： 2．符号的构成：符号是由形式和意义两个部分构成的结合体。 二、语言符号及其特点 1．语言符号：从本质上看，语言也是一种符号，也有形式和意义两个方面。注意语言符号同一般符号的区别。 2．语言符号的特点：语言符号具有任意性和线条性的特点 第二节语言符号的系统性一、语言的层级体系 弄清楚语言层级，各个层级的构成及其特点，以及语言二层性的核心。 二、组合关系和聚合关系 1．组合关系：组合关系就是两个同一性质的结构单位（比如音位和音位、词与词等）按照线性的顺序组合起来的关系，也
2019广州大学考研619汉语综合考试与827阅读与写 作复习全析（含真题） 《2019广州大学考研619汉语综合考试复习全析（含历年真题，共三册）》由鸿知广大考研网依托多年丰富的教学与辅导经验，组织官方教学研发团队与广州大学优秀研究生共同合作编写而成。全书内容紧凑权威细致，编排结构科学合理，为参加2019广州大学考研的考生量身定做的必备专业课资料。 《2019广州大学考研619汉语综合考试复习全析（含历年真题）》全书编排根据广州大学考研参考书目： 1．《语言学纲要》，叶蜚声、徐通锵，北京大学。 2、《现代汉语》（增订版），黄伯荣、廖序东主编，高等教育出版社。 3、《古代汉语》，王力主编，中华书局。 结合提供的往年广大考研真题内容，帮助报考广州大学考研的同学通过广大教材章节框架分解、配套的课后/经典习题讲解及相关985、211名校考研真题与解答，帮助考生梳理指定教材的各章节内容，深入理解核心重难点知识，把握考试要求与考题命题特征。 通过研读演练本书，达到把握教材重点知识点、适应多样化的专业课考研命题方式、提高备考针对性、提升复习效率与答题技巧的目的。同时，透过测试演练，以便查缺补漏，为初试高分奠定坚实基础。 适用院系： 人文学院：语言学及应用语言学、汉语言文字学 资料选购适用科目：
619汉语综合考试（自命题） 本书包括以下几个部分内容： Part 1 - 考试重难点与笔记： 通过总结和梳理《现代汉语》（黄伯荣增订五版）、《古代汉语》（王力校订重排本）、《语言学纲要》（叶蜚声、徐通锵北大修订版）各章节复习和考试的重难点，建构教材宏观思维及核心知识框架，浓缩精华内容，令考生对各章节内容考察情况一目了然，从而明确复习方向，提高复习效率。该部分通过归纳各章节要点及复习注意事项，令考生提前预知章节内容，并指导考生把握各章节复习的侧重点。 Part 2 - 教材配套课后/经典习题与解答 针对教材《现代汉语》（黄伯荣增订五版）经典课后习题配备详细解读，以供考生加深对教材基本知识点的理解掌握，做到对广大考研核心考点及参考书目内在重难点内容的深度领会与运用。 Part 3 - 名校考研真题详解汇编： 根据教材内容和考试重难点，精选本专业课考试科目相关的名校考研真题，通过研读参考配套详细答案检测自身水平，加深知识点的理解深度，并更好地掌握考试基本规律，全面了解考试题型及难度。 Part 4 - 广州大学历年考研真题： 汇编广大考研专业课考试科目的2014-2017年考研真题试卷，方便考生检查自
I.第一单元 A定义 1Design features of language. The features that define our human languages can be called design features, including arbitrariness, duality, creativity, displacement. 2. Functions of language Informative, Interpersonal（maintain social relations）, Performative, Emotive, Phatic communion寒暄语，Recreational，Metalinguistic元语言功能 3.Main branches of linguistics Phonetics: the description, classification and transcription of speech sounds语音学 Phonology: the study of speech sounds of a language as a system音系学 Morphology: the internal structures of words形态学 Syntax: the internal structures of sentences.句法学 Semantics: the study of meaning as encoded in language.语义学 Pragmatics: the study of language use, meaning in context.语用学 B 填空 1 Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication. 2 Langue vs parole (Saussure) C 翻译terms D topic Qs 1 Important distinction in linguistics Descriptive (native speakers) vs prescriptive （rules for correct uses of language）studies Synchronic (used at a particular point) vs diachronic studies (changes over time) Langue vs parole (Saussure)--Langue (language) is the language system: social, essential, stable; Parole (speech) is the actual use of the language system: individual, accidental, unstable Competence vs performance--Competence is the underlying knowledge about one’s language; Performance is the actual use of that knowledge in language use situations. Syntagmatic （组合关系）vs paradiamatic relations（聚合关系） Modern linguistics 第二课 QUESTIIONS 1Phonetics (divisions; speech organs;) The three branches of phonetics Articulatory phonetics: the study of sound production
第一章语言的社会功能 语言的功能与语言学的功用要区分开来。 向外看：交际工具 向内看：思维工具 第一节语言是人类最重要的交际工具 一、语言和说话（言语） 句子的数目可以无限。 句子的长度可以无限。（我知道你不知道我知道你不知道……） 无限的句子中包含着有限的词和为数不多的规则，学话就是掌握这套材料和规则。 说话的单位是句子，语言的单位是从音位到句子的各级单位。 二、语言是人类社会的交际工具 社会：生活在一个共同的地域中、说同一种语言、有共同的风俗习惯和文化传统的人类共同体。 没有社会，语言就失去了存在的价值和基础。没有语言，人与人之间的联系就会中断，社会就会解体。 三、语言是人类最重要的交际工具 文字是记录语言的工具，是辅助性的。 旗语，一些代码或标志是在语言文字基础上的交际工具，具有特定的服务领域，如红绿灯之于交通。 表情、身体姿势以及身体距离等也能传达一定的信息，这种信息的不以语言为基础，在交际中也有重要作用，可以补充语言的不足。 当人在谈话时，如果他把双臂抱在胸前，就说明他想要在自己和对方之间设立“障碍”，是一种抗拒的表示。动物式的领地观念仍然存在于人类头脑中，在公共场合人们都会尽量保持“安全距离”。在两个人说话时，如果一个人一只脚前伸，另一个人两脚平放，说明前者处于支配地位，因为他侵入了后者的“地盘”。在饭馆里，人们喜欢背靠墙壁，而面对开阔的位子，是因为他们喜欢“背后被保护”，同时视野开阔，“利于逃跑”。 手语分两种，如果是作为第一语言来使用，比如聋哑人，属于语言；如果只是暂时的方便使用，仍有自己的第一语言，属于辅助语。 第二节语言是思维的工具 萨丕尔——沃尔夫假说认为语言决定思维，但现在一般认为语言与思维是互相独立的，语言是思维的工具，而且是最主要的工具。要注意区分工具和行为本身。作为工具，语言对思维有非常重要的作用。 一、思维离不开语言 一般认为，东亚国家（中日韩）的小孩数学水平要高于欧洲国家，许多人从家庭教育、教学方法等方面找原因。有实验显示这与这些语言的不同的组织数字方式有关：
精品文档 Linguistics: I. Directions: Read each of the following statements carefully. Decide which one of the four choices best completes the statement and put the letter A, B, C or D in the brackets 1. ( ) The study of language as a whole is often called __________ linguistics. A. particular B. general C. ordinary D. generative 2. ( ) __________ can be simply defined as the speech sounds we use when speaking a language. A. Phones B. Sounds C. Phonemes D. Speech sounds 3. ( ) The two clauses in a __________ sentence are structurally equal parts of the sentence. A. simple B. complete C. complex D. coordinate 4. ( ) The goal of __________ is to explore the nature of language variation and language use among a variety of speech communities and indifferent social situations. A. psycholinguistics B. sociolinguistics C. historical linguistics D. general linguistics 5. ( ) A __________ vowel is one that is produced with the front part of the tongue maintaining the highest position. A. back B. central C. front D. middle 6. ( ) The open, back and long vowel is __________. A.［ɑ：］ B.［?：］ C.［?：］ D.［u:］ 7. ( ) Language change is universal, continuous and, to a considerable extent __________. A. regular but not systematic B. irregular and systematic C. regular and systematic D. irregular but systematic 8. ( ) A scientific study of language is based on the __________ investigation of language data. A. symbolic B. systemic C. systematic D. system 9. ( ) __________ are sometimes called “semivowels”. A. vowels B. fricative C. glides D. nasals 10. ( ) __________ is a typical tone language. A. English B. Chinese C. French D. American English 11. ( ) A sentence is considered __________ when it conforms to the grammatical knowledge in the mind of native speakers. A. right B. wrong C. grammatical D. ungrammatical 12. ( ) The number of the lexical items in the minor lexical categories is __________ and no new members are allowed for. A. large B. small C. limitless D. fixed 13. ( ) Human beings are the only species that learns and acquires language__________ explicit instruction. A. with B. without C. within D. through 14. ( ) According to F. de Saussure, __________ refers to the abstract linguistic system shared by all