英语语言学试题库.doc

英 语 语 言 学
Ⅰ.Directions：Read each of the following statements carefully，Decide which of the four choices completes the statement and put the letter A,B,C or D in the brackets.
1.There are ( )main areas of phonetic study.
A.2 B.3 C.4 D.5
ANSWER:B

2.The term( )linguistics may be defined as a way of referring to the approach which studies language change over various periods of time and at various historical stages.
A.synchronic B.diachronic C.comparative D.historical comparative
ANSWER:B

3.Foreign language learning always contain ( )
A language historical process learning B.input and language learning
C inter language in language learning D.grammar and language learning
ANSWER:BCD

4.The way in which people address each other depends on their age, sex, social group, and personal relationship. The English system of address forms frequently used includes first name, last name, title+ last name, ( )and kin term.
A title+ first name B title+ title
C title alone D first name+ last name+ title
ANSWER:C

5.Features of the language in fictions are: ( )
A stress and metrical patterning B speech and thought presentation
C prose style D analysis of the text
ANSWER:BC

6. Which of the following best states the behaviorist view of child language acquisition? ( )
A Language acquisition is a process of habit formation
B Language acquisition is the species-specific property of human beings
C Children are born with an innate ability to acquire language
D Humans are equipped with the neural prerequisites for language and language use
ANSWER:A

7.Words can be identified in terms of ( )
A a minimum free form B stability
C relative uninterruptibility D variable or not
ANSWER:ABC

8.Which is not the features of language? ( )
A arbitrariness B duality
C creativity D replacement
ANSWER:D

9.Approachers to syntax can be: ( )
A the traditional approach B the structural approach
C the functional approach D the generative approach
ANSWER:ABCD

10.Predication analysis is a way to analyze( )meaning.
A phoneme B word C phrase D sentence
ANSWER:D

11.Lexical change cannot be a result of ( )
A phonological change B semantic change
C analogical change D orthographic change
ANSWER:C

12.The words that contain only one morpheme are called ( )
A bound morphemes B roots C free morphemes D affixes
ANSWER:B

13.( ) is the study of language in relation to the mind.
A Psycholinguistics B Sociolinguistics C Linguistics D Semantics
ANSWER:A

14.Which belongs to the main branches of linguistics? ( )
A phonetics B metalingy C morphology D syntax
ANSWER:ACD

15.Which doesn’t belong to the main branches of linguistics? ( )
A phonetics B morphology C metalingy D syntax
ANSWER:C

16.Voicing as a quality of speech sounds is caused by the vibration of ( )
A the velum B the vocal cords C the glottis D the uvula
ANSWER:B

17.Sense of “word” contains: ( )
A a physically definable unit B the common factor underlying a set of forms
C an essential former of sentences D a grammatical unit
ANSWER:ABD

18.Different functional speech varieties known as are expected in, say, a church sermon, a diplomatic encounter, a family dinner, or a sports broadcast.
A registers B styles C dialects D accents
ANSWER:A

19.Which is not the features of language? ( )
A arbitrariness B duality
C creativity D replacement
ANSWER:D

20.We study psycholinguistics because ( )
A to know about psychological reality of linguistic structures
B to help the aphasics
C to produce findings which lead to the modification of theoretical ideas
D to make it a new tool for studying psychology
ANSWER:AC

Ⅱ.Directions: Judge whether each of the following statements is true or false. Put a T for true or F for false in the brackets(2%×10=20%).
1.Realations between meanings of words can be synonymy, antonymy or hyponymy.( )
ANSWER:T

2.Both assimilation and alienation can happen during phonological processes.( )
ANSWER:T
3.Phone is a phonological unit.( )
ANSWER:F
4.The division of English into Old English, Middle English, and Modern English is nonconventional and not arbitrary.( )
ANSWER:F
5.The first pragmatic theory is Conversational Implicature.( )
ANSWER:F
6.Father of modern linguistics is Swiss F. de Saussure.( )
ANSWER:F
7.In the history of any language the writing system always came into being before the spoken form.( )
ANSWER:F
8.There is merely little difference between data retrieval and information retrieval.( )
ANSWER:F
9.If a child is deprived of linguistic environment, he or she is unlikely to learn a language successfully later on.( )
ANSWER:T
10. There is no difference between data retrieval and information retrieval.( )
ANSWER:F
11.Language refers to the abstract innate system, however, parole refers to the outcome or what we actually utter/write.( )
ANSWER:T
12.There are some relations between language and culture, language and society, but they are not deserved to spend a lot of time studying.( )
ANSWER:F
13.Language acquisition is a hot research topic today, and social, cultural, personal factors are also observed to be affecting.( )
ANSWER:T
14.Linguistic forms having the same sense may have different references in different situations while linguistic forms with the same reference always have the same sense.
( )
ANSWER:F
15.Realations between meanings of words can be synonymy, antonymy or hyponymy.( )
ANSWER:T
16.A compound is the combination of two words.( )
ANSWER:F
17. Both assimilation and alienation can happen during phonological processes.( )
ANSWER:T
18.Synchronic describes language by analyzing its development through different period of time, while diachronic describes phenomenon of language of a certain period.( )
ANSWER:F
19.Language refers to the abstract innate system, however, parole refers to the outcome or what we actually utter/write.( )
ANSWER:T
20.The meaning of a sentence is always the sum total of the words in that sentence.( )
ANSWER:F

Ⅲ.Directions: Explain the following terms(3%×5=15%).
1. displacement
ANSWER: Displacement，as one of the design features of the human language，refers to the fact that one can talk about things that are not present，as easily as he does things presently.

2.cultural transmission
ANSWER: It means that language is not biologically transmitted from generation to generation，but that the details of the linguistic system must be learned anew by each speaker.

3.category
ANSWER:Category, in some approaches refers to classes and functions in its narrow sense, more specifically, it refers to the defining properties of general units.

4.arbitrariness
ANSWER: One design feature of human language,which refers to the face that the forms of linguistic signs bear no natural relationship to their meaning.

5.Vowl:
ANSWER: Are sound segments produced without such obstruction,so no turbulence of a total stopping of the air can be perceived.

6. lexicon:
ANSWER: A list of all the words in a language assigned to various lexical categories and provided with semantic interpretation.

7. linguistics
ANSWER: Linguistics is the scientific study of language, it studies not just one language of any one society，but the language of all human beings.

8.word
ANSWER: Word is a unit of expression that has universal intuitive recognition by native speakers, whether it is expressed in spoken or written form.

Ⅳ.Briefly answer the following questions
1.Please list the 4 design features of language
ANSWER:①arbitrariness ②duality ③creativity ④displacement

2. Why do linguists say language is human specific?
ANSWER: First of all，human language has six “design features” which animal communication systems 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.
Thirdly，a human child reared among animals cannot speak a human language，not even when he is taken back and taught to lo to so.

3.What does phonology study？What is the difference between phonetics and phonology？
ANSWER: Phonology studies the rules governing the structure, distribution, and sequencing of speech sounds and the shape of syllables.
Phonetics is the study of sounds that the human voice is capable of creating whereas Phonology is the study of a subset of those sounds that constitute language and meaning. The first focuses on chaos while the second focuses on order.

4.List the seven functions of human languages.
ANSWER: ①Informative function ②Interpersonal function ③Performative function ④Metalingual function ⑤Phatic communion function ⑥Recreational function
⑦Emotive function

Ⅴ.Translation
1.In linguistics, it refers to the study of the rules governing the way words are combined to form sentences in a language ,or simply, the study of the formation of sentences.
ANSWER:在语言学上,它是指在一种语言中,对指导文字组合进而形成句子规则的研究,或简言之,是对句子构成的研究.

2.Computer is an electronic machine that can be used to manipulate data according to a series of instruction stored in its memory and which can perform complex tasks in a very short time.
ANSWER:计算机是一种电子机器，它可以根据存放在内存里的一系列程序操控数据，并可以在非常短的时间内完成复杂的任务。

3.Speech sounds had existed long before writing was invented, and even today, in some parts of the world, there are still languages that have no writing systems.
ANSWER:语音在书面写作发明以前便早已存在了，即使到了今天，世界上一些地方，仍然还只是存在语言而没有书写系统。

4. The fact that over the years numerous dictionaries have been produced with a view to explaining the meaning of words also bears witness to its long tradition.
ANSWER:多年以来,无数的词典多次提出以期解释“word”含义的事实,也见证了其悠久的历史.

5.Language is a product of human intelligence, created anew in each individual by operations that lie far beyond the reach of will or consciousness.
ANSWER:语言是人类智慧的产物,通过运作被每个个体重新建构,而这种运作是远非意志或意识所及的.

6.It is hard to define “word” in the scientific sense. Nevertheless, it is agreed that three senses are involved in defining “word”, none of which, of course, is satisfactory to cope with all the situation.
ANSWER:很难从科学意义上定义“单词”，不过，在定义“单词”时，人们普遍认同有三个含义应包含其中——当然，它们中任何一个都不能单独令人满意地应对所有情况。

7.It has long been recognized that language is an essential and important part of a given culture and that the impact of culture upon a given language is something intrinsic and indispensable.
ANSWER:人类早就认识到，语言是某种特定文化既基本又重要的一部分，所以对某种特定语言的文化冲击是内在的，不可避免的。

8.Meaning has always been a central topic in human scholarship, though the term “semantics” has only a history of a little over a hundred years.
ANSWER:“语义”一直是人类学问的核心议题,尽管”语义学”仅有一百年左右的历史.

9.Computer is an electronic machine that can be used to manipulate data according to a series of instruction stored in its memory and which can perform complex tasks in a very short time.
ANSWER:计算机是一种电子机器，它可以根据存放在内存里的一系列程序操控数据，并可以在非常短的时间内完成复杂的任务。

10.It has long been recognized that language is an essential and important part of a given culture and that the impact of culture upon a given language is something intrinsic and indispensable.
ANSWER:人类早就认识到，语言是某种特定文化既基本又重要的一部分，所以对某种特定语言的文化冲击是内在的，不可避免的。

Ⅵ.Answer and analyse
1、What makes linguistics a science？
ANSWER: Since linguistics is the scientific study of language，it ought to base itself upon the systematic，investigation of language data which aims at discovering the true nature of language and its underlying system. To make sense of the data，a linguist usually has conceived some hypotheses about the language structure，to be checked against the observed or observable facts. In order to make his analysis scientific, a linguist is usually guided by four principles: exhaustiveness，consistency，and objectivity. Exhaustiveness means he should gather all the materials relevant to the study and give them an adequate explanation，in spite of the complicatedness. He is to leave no linguistic “stone” unturned; Consistency means there should be no contradiction between different parts of the total statement; Economy means a linguist should pursue brevity in the analysis when it is possible; Objectivity implies that since some people may be subjective in the study，a linguist should be（or sound at least）objective，matter-of-face，faithful to reality，so that his work constitutes part of the linguistics research.

2、Describe the process of language perception, comprehension and production.
ANSWER: Language perception is language awareness of things through the physical senses，language comprehension is one of the three strand of psycholinguistic research, which studies the understanding of language, language production is a goal-directed activity, in the sense that people speak and write in order to make friends, influence people，convey information and so on.
From the perspective of psycholinguistic analysis, language use in terms of perception, comprehension and production follows a certain pattern which involves the coordination of various language centers.
When we speak, words are drawn from Wernicke's area and transferred to Broca's area, which determines the details of their form and pronunciation. The appropriate instructions are then sent to the motor area which controls the vocal tract to physically articulate the words.
When we hear something and try to comprehend it, the stimulus from the auditory cortex is transmitted to Wernicke's area, where it is then interpreted.
When we perceive a visual image, a message is sent to the angular gyrus, where it is converted into a visual pattern.

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