2. When the obstruction created by the speech organ is complete, the speech sound produced with the obstruction audibly released and the air passing out again is called a(n)_____.
3. In its history of development, English has dropped quite a few of its _____ affixes; thus in terms of word endings, it is simpler than some other languages such as Russian,French, and German.
6. According to Paul Grice, the Cooperative Principle is nearly always observed but the maxims are often violated. Most of these violations give rise to _____.
10. According to the _____ view of language acquisition, children are believed to gradually assume correct forms of the language of their community when their “bad” speech gets corrected and when their good speech gets positively reinforced.
Ⅱ.Directions:Fill in the blank in each of the following statemengs with one word, the letter of which is already given as a clue
1. Design features refer to the defining properties of human language that distinguish it from any a_____ system of communication.
animal
[解析] 本质特征指将人类语言同其他动物语言区分开来的本质属性。
2. A p_____ is a phonetic unit. It does not necessarily distinguish meaning.
phone
[解析] 音素是一个语音单位,并不区分单词意思。
3. Phonetically, the s_____ of a compound always falls on the first element.
stress
[解析] 从语音上来看,合成词的重读通常落在第一个单词上。
4. Structurally, a sentence is an independent unit which usually contains a number of words to form a complete statement, question or command. Normally a sentence consists of at least a subject and its p_____.
7. The history of English lexical expansion is one that is characterized with heavy b_____ and word formation.
borrowing
[解析] 英语词汇扩展的历史以大量的借词和构词为特点。
8. S_____ variation in a person's speed, or writing, usually ranges on a continuum from casual to formal according to the type of communicative situation.
Stylistic
[解析] 个人的速度和书面语变化通常会依据交际场合从随意向正式逐渐变化,这叫风格变化。
9. The notion that speakers of different languages perceive and experience the world differently is called linguistic r_____.
relativism
[解析] 说不同语言的人以不同的方式感知并认识世界,这叫语言相对主义。
10. At some point in the late part of the first year or the early part of the second year, the babbling stage gradually gives way to the earliest recognizable stage of language, often referred to as the o_____ stage.
one-word
[解析] 在孩子一周岁后期和两周岁初期,儿语阶段逐渐变成早期可以识别的语言阶段,通常叫单词句阶段。
Ⅲ.Directions:Judge whether each of the following statements is true or false
1. Modern linguistics regards the spoken language as primary, not the written.
T
[解析] 现代语言学主要研究口语,而非书面语。
2. Tones can distinguish meaning just like phonemes.
T
[解析] 正如音位一样,音调也能区分意思。
3. Prefixes occur at the beginning of a word and modify the meaning of the stem, but do not change the part of speech of the original word.
T
[解析] 前缀通常加在词干的前面,改变单词的意思,不改变原来单词的词性。
4. Traditionally, two major types of sentences are distinguished, namely, simple sentence and complex sentence.
F Traditionally, three major types of sentences are distinguished, namely, simple sentence, coordinate sentence and complex sentence.
[解析] 从传统意义上来说,主要有三种句型,简单句、并列句和复杂句。
5. Predication analysis is a way to analyze sentence meaning.
T
[解析] 述谓分析是用于分析句子意思的方法。
6. Stating, believing, swearing and hypothesizing are among the most typical of the representatives.
T
[解析] 陈述、相信、发誓以及假设是典型的陈述类言外行为。
7. The Old English word “Engla-land” came to be pronounced “England” through the assimilation of “la-la” sounds.
Ⅳ.Directions:Explain the following terms and give examples for illustration where appropriate
1. parole
Parole is the concrete use of the conventions and the application of the rules, which is the realization of langue in actual use. When a Chinese speaks English with an Englishman, then the language employed is parole.
2. tone
Tone refers to pitch variations, which are caused by the differing rates of vibration of the vocal cords and can distinguish meaning just like phonemes. For example, there are four tonesin Chinese. The first tone is level, the second rise, the third fall-rise and the fourth fall.
3. free morpheme
Free morpheme refers to the independent unit of meaning and can be used freely all by themselves, for example, “book-” in the word “bookish”.
4. combinational rule
Combinational rule refers to the a rule system of grammatical knowledge that group words and phrases too form grammatical sentences. On the one hand, these combinational rules must be small in number so as not to create extra burdens on the human memory. On the other hand, these rules must be powerful enough to yield all the possible sentences, and rule out the impossible ones. One combinational rule is that a sentence consists of a noun phrase and a verb phrase.
5. reference
Reference refers to the concept of the object in the real world and deals with the relationship between the linguistic element and the non-linguistic world of experience. For example, when we talk about “There is a dog barking outside”, the reference here is the concept of dog in our mind.
6. context
Context refers to the knowledge shared by the speaker and the hearer: 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 situation in which linguistic communication is taking place.
7. the Great Vowel Shift
The Great Vowel Shift refers to the set of extensive sound changes that involve seven long or tense vowels, which occurred at the end of the Middle English period, approximately between 1400 and 1600and has changed considerably from Middle English to Modern English. For example, in Middle English, five is pronounced as [fi: v], but it changed into [faiv] in Modern English.
8. speech community
Speech community is a term in sociolinguistics and linguistic anthropology for a group of people who use the same variety of a language and who share specific rules for speaking and for interpreting speech. We may say blacks are the speech community of Black English.
9. lateralization
Brain lateralization refers to the localization of cognitive and perceptual functions in a particular hemisphere of the brain.For example, the left hemisphere has primary responsibility for language.
10. acculturation
Acculturation is a process in which members of one cultural group adopt the beliefs and behaviors of another group. For example, when Asians immigrate to America and try to adapt themselves to native culture, then they are undergoing the process of acculturation.
Ⅴ.Directions:Answer the following questions
1. Explain the following definition of language: Language is a system of arbitrary symbols used for human communication.
This definition of language is short, but it has captured the main features of language. First of all, language is a system, i.e., elements of language are combined according to rules. This explains why “iblk” is not a possible sound combination in English. Second, language is arbitrary in the sense that there is no intrinsic connection between words and the objects they refer to. For example, there is no logical relationship between “pen” and the thing we use to write with.Third, language is vocal because the primary medium is sound for all languages, no matter how well developed their writing systems are. Fourth, the term “human” in the definition is meant to specify that language is human specific, i.e., it is very different from the communication systems other forms of life possess, such as bird songs and bee dances.
2. Explain the three acts a speaker might be performing when speaking according to John Austin's new model of speech act theory.
According to John Austin's new model of speech act theory, a speaker might be performing three acts simultaneously when speaking: locutionary act, illocutionary act and perlocutionary act. A locutionary act is the act of uttering word, phrases, clauses. It is the act of conveying literal meaning by means of syntax, lexicon and phonology. 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 performed by or resulting from saying something; it is the consequence of, or the change brought about by utterance; it is the act performed by saying something. (2) Take You have left the door wide open for example. The locutionary act performed by the speaker is that he has uttered all the words “you”, “have”, “door”, “open”, etc. and expressed what the words literally mean. The illocutionary act performed by the speaker is that by making such an utterance he has expressed his intention of speaking, i.e., asking someone to close the door. The perlocutionary act refers to the effect of the utterance, which might be the hearer closing the door if getting the point.
PART ONE
Ⅰ.Directions:Read each of the following statements