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..Chapter1InvitationstoLinguistics1.Definethefollowingterms:designfeature:thedistinctivefeaturesofhumanlanguagethatessentiallymakehumanlanguagedistinguishablefromlanguagesofanimals.function:therolelanguageplaysincommunication(e.g.toexpressideas,attitudes)orinparticularsocialsituations(e.g.religious,legal).synchronic:saidofanapproachthatstudieslanguageatatheoretical‘point’intime.diachronic:saidofthestudyofdevelopmentoflanguageandlanguagesovertime.prescriptive:tomakeauthoritarianstatementaboutthecorrectnessofaparticularuseoflanguage.descriptive:tomakeanobjectiveandsystematicaccountofthepatternsanduseofalanguageorvariety.arbitrariness:theabsenceofanyphysicalcorrespondencebetweenlinguisticsignalsandtheentitiestowhichtheyrefer.duality:thestructuralorganizationoflanguageintotwoabstractlevels:meaningfulunits(e.g.words)andmeaninglesssegments(e.g.sounds,letters).displacement:theabilityoflanguagetorefertocontextsremovedfromthespeaker’simmediatesituation.phaticcommunion:saidoftalkusedtoestablishatmosphereormaintainsocialcontact.metalanguage:alanguageusedfortalkingaboutlanguage.macrolinguistics:abroadconceptionoflinguisticenquiry,includingpsychological,cultural,etc.competence:unconsciousknowledgeofthesystemofgrammaticalrulesinalanguage.performance:thelanguageactuallyusedbypeopleinspeakingorwriting.langue:thelanguagesystemsharedbya“speechcommunity”.parole:theconcreteutterancesofaspeaker.2.Consultatleastfourintroductorylinguisticstextbooks(notdictionaries),andcopythedefinitionsof“language”thateachgives.Aftercarefullycomparingthedefinitions,writeapaperdiscussingwhichpointsrecurandexplainingthesignificanceofthesimilaritiesanddifferences..amongthedefinitions.ANSWER:Allthedefinitionsshouldnotexcludethedescriptionofdesignfeaturesthathavebeenmentionedinthiscoursebook.Alsoitwillbebetterifotherdesignfeatures,say,interchangeabilityorculturaltransmissionisincluded.Butitseemsimpossibletogiveanunimpeachabledefinitiononlanguage,becausethefacetspeoplewanttoemphasizeareseldomunanimous.Tocompareseveraldefinitionscanmakeyourealizewheretheargumentis.3.CanyouthinkofsomewordsinEnglishwhichareonomatopoeic?ANSWERS:creak:thesoundmadebyabadlyoileddoorwhenitopens.cuckoo:thecallofcuckoo.bang:asuddenloudnoise.roar:adeeploudcontinuingsound.buzz:anoiseofbuzzing.hiss:ahissingsound.neigh:thelongandloudcrythatahorsemakes.mew:thenoisethatagullmakes.bleat:thesoundmadebyasheep,goatorcalf.4.Doyouthinkthatonomatopoeiaindicatesanon-arbitraryrelationshipbetweenformandmeaning?ANSWER:4.NomatteryousayYesorNo,youcannotdenythatonomatopoeianeedsarbitrariness.Beforewefeelawordisonomatopoeicweshouldfirstknowwhichsoundthewordimitates.JustaswhatissaidinChapterOne,inordertoimitatethenoiseofflyingmosquitoes,therearemanychoiceslikemurmurousandmurderous.Theybothbearmoreorlessresemblancetothegenuinenaturalsound,butmurmurousisfortunatelychosentomeanthenoisewhilemurderousischosentomeansomethingquitedifferent.Theyarearbitraryassignifiers.5.AstorybyRobertLouisStevensoncontainsthesentence“Asthenightfell,thewindrose.”Couldthisbeexpressedas“Asthewindrose,thenightfell?”Ifnot,why?Doesthisindicateadegreeofnon-arbitrarinessaboutwordorder?(Bolinger,1981:15)5.Yes.Itisacaseinpointtoillustratenon-arbitrarinessaboutwordorder.Whenthetwopartsinterchange,thefocusandthemeaningofthesentenceisforcedtochange,becauseclausesoccurringinlinearsequencewithouttimeindicatorswillbetakenasmatchingtheactualsequenceofhappening.Thewriter’soriginalintentionisdistorted,andwecanfeeliteffortlesslybyreading.Thatiswhysystemic-functionalistsandAmericanfunctionaliststhinklanguageisnotarbitraryatthesyntacticlevel...6.Doesthetrafficlightsystemhaveduality?Canyouexplainbydrawingasimplegraph?6.Trafficlightdoesnothaveduality.Obviously,itisnotadouble-levelsystem.Thereisonlyone-to-onerelationshipbetweensignsandmeaningbutthemeaningunitscannotbedividedintosmallermeaninglesselementsfurther.Sothetrafficlightonlyhastheprimarylevelandlacksthesecondarylevellikeanimals’calls.ANSWER:Red→stopGreen→goYellow→getreadytogoorstop7.Therecursivenatureoflanguageprovidesatheoreticalbasisforthecreativityoflanguage.Canyouwritearecursivesentencefollowingtheexampleinsection1.3.3.ANSWER:TodayIencounteredanoldfriendwhowasmyclassmatewhenIwasinelementaryschoolwheretherewasanappleorchardinwhichweslidtoselectripeapplesthat…8.Communicationcantakemanyforms,suchassign,speech,bodylanguageandfacialexpression.Dobodylanguageandfacialexpressionshareorlackthedistinctivepropertiesofhumanlanguage?ANSWER:Onawhole,bodylanguageandfacialexpressionlackmostofthedistinctivepropertiesofhumanlanguagesuchasduality,displacement,creativityandsoon.Bodylanguageexhibitsarbitrarinessalittlebit.Forinstance,nodmeansOK/YESforusbutinArabianworlditisequaltosayingNO.Somefacialexpressionshavenon-arbitrarinessbecausetheyareinstinctivesuchasthecryandlaughofanewborninfant.9.Doyouagreewiththeviewthatnolanguageisespeciallysimple?ANSWER:Yes.Allhumanlanguagesarecomplicatedsystemsofcommunication.Itisdecidedbytheirshareddesignfeatures.10.WhatdoyouthinkofBertrandRussell’sobservationofthedoglangu