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《新编简明英语语言学教程》第二版练习题参考答案Chapter1Introduction1.Howdoyouinterpretthefollowingdefinitionoflinguistics:Linguisticsisthescientificstudyoflanguage.答：Linguisticsisbasedonthesystematicinvestigationoflinguisticdata,conductedwithreferencetosomegeneraltheoryoflanguagestructure.Inordertodiscoverthenatureandrulesoftheunderlyinglanguagesystem,thelinguistshastocollectandobservelanguagefactsfirst,whicharefoundtodisplaysomesimilarities,andgeneralizationsaremadeaboutthem;thenheformulatessomehypothesesaboutthelanguagestructure.Thehypothesesthusformedhavetobecheckedrepeatedlyagainsttheobservedfactstofullyprovetheirvalidity.Inlinguistics,asinanyotherdiscipline,dataandtheorystandinadialecticalcomplementation,thatis,atheorywithoutthesupportofdatacanhardlyclaimvalidity,anddatawithoutbeingexplainedbysometheoryremainamuddledmassofthings.2.Whatarethemajorbranchesoflinguistics?Whatdoeseachofthemstudy?答：Themajorbranchesoflinguisticsare:(1)phonetics:itstudiesthesoundsusedinlinguisticcommunication;(2)phonology:itstudieshowsoundsareputtogetherandusedtoconveymeaningincommunication;(3)morphology:itstudiesthewayinwhichlinguisticsymbolsrepresentingsoundsarearrangedandcombinedtoformwords;(4)syntax:itstudiestheruleswhichgovernhowwordsarecombinedtoformgrammaticallypermissiblesentencesinlanguages;(5)semantics:itstudiesmeaningconveyedbylanguage;(6)pragmatics:itstudiesthemeaninginthecontextoflanguageuse.3.Inwhatbasicwaysdoesmodernlinguisticsdifferfromtraditionalgrammar?答：Thegeneralapproachthustraditionallyformedtothestudyoflanguageovertheyearsisroughlyreferredtoas“traditionalgrammar.”Modernlinguisticsdiffersfromtraditionalgrammarinseveralbasicways.Firstly,linguisticsisdescriptivewhiletraditionalgrammarisprescriptive.Second,modemlinguisticsregardsthespokenlanguageasprimary,notthewritten.Traditionalgrammarians,ontheotherhand,tendedtoemphasize,maybeover-emphasize,theimportanceofthewrittenword,partlybecauseofitspermanence.Then,modemlinguisticsdiffersfromtraditionalgrammaralsointhatitdoesnotforcelanguagesintoaLatin-basedframework.4.Ismodernlinguisticsmainlysynchronicordiachronic?Why?答：Inmodemlinguistics,asynchronicapproachseemstoenjoypriorityoveradiachronicone.Becausepeoplebelievedthatunlessthevariousstatesofalanguageindifferenthistoricalperiodsaresuccessfullystudied,itwouldbedifficulttodescribethechangesthathavetakenplaceinitshistoricaldevelopment.5.Forwhatreasonsdoesmodernlinguisticsgiveprioritytospeechratherthantowriting?答：Speechandwritingarethetwomajormediaoflinguisticcommunication.Modemlinguisticsregardsthespokenlanguageasthenaturalortheprimarymediumofhumanlanguageforsomeobviousreasons.Fromthepointofviewoflinguisticevolution,speechispriortowriting.Thewritingsystemofanylanguageisalways“invented”byitsuserstorecordspeechwhentheneedarises.Evenintoday'sworldtherearestillmanylanguagesthatcanonlybespokenbutnotwritten.Thenineverydaycommunication,speechplaysagreaterrolethanwritingintermsoftheamountofinformationconveyed.Andalso,speechisalwaysthewayinwhicheverynativespeakeracquireshismothertongue,andwritingislearnedandtaughtlaterwhenhegoestoschool.Formodernlinguists,spokenlanguagerevealsmanytruefeaturesofhumanspeechwhilewrittenlanguageisonlythe“revised”recordofspeech.Thustheirdataforinvestigationandanalysisaremostlydrawnfromeverydayspeech,whichtheyregardasauthentic.6.HowisSaussure'sdistinctionbetweenlangueandparolesimilartoChomsky'sdistinctionbetweencompetenceandperformance?答：Saussure'sdistinctionandChomsky'sareverysimilar,theydifferatleastinthatSaussuretookasociologicalviewoflanguageandhisnotionoflangueisamatterofsocialconventions,andChomskylooksatlanguagefromapsychologicalpointofviewandtohimcompetenceisapropertyofthemindofeachindividual.7.Whatcharacteristicsoflanguagedoyouthinkshouldbeincludedinagood,comprehensivedefinitionoflanguage?答：Firstofall,languageisasystem,i.e.,elementsoflanguagearecombinedaccordingtorules.Second,languageisarbitraryinthesensethatthereisnointrinsicconnectionbetweenalinguisticsymbolandwhatthesymbolstandsfor.Third,languageisvocalbecausetheprimarymediumforalllanguagesissound.Fourth,languageishuman-specific,i.e.,itisverydifferentfromthecommunicationsystemsotherformsoflifepossess.8.WhatarethemainfeaturesofhumanlanguagethathavebeenspecifiedbyC.Hocketttoshowthatitisessentiallydifferentfromanimalcommunicationsystem?答：Themainfeaturesofhumanlanguagearetermeddesignfeatures.Theyinclude:1)ArbitrarinessLanguageisarbitrary.Thismeansthatthereisnologicalconnectionbetweenmeaningsandsounds.Agoodexampleisthefactthatdifferentsoundsareusedtorefertothesameobjectindifferentlanguages.2)ProductivityLanguageisproductiveorcreativeinthatitmakespossibletheconstructionandinterpretationofnewsignalsbyitsusers.Thisiswhytheycanproduceandunderstandaninfinitelylargenumberofsentences,includingsentencestheyhaveneverheardbefore.3)DualityLanguageconsistsoftwosetsofstructures,ortwolevels.Atthelowerorthebasiclevelthereisastructureofsounds,whicharemeaninglessbythemselves.Butthesoundsoflanguagecanbegroupedandregroupedintoalargenumberofunitsofmeaning,whicharefoundatthehigherlevel