语言学简答(期末) 3页

1.Communicationcantakemanyforms,suchassign,speech,bodylanguageandfacialexpression.Donobodylanguageandfacialexpressionshareorlackthedistinctivepropertiesofhumanlanguage?答：Onthewhole,bodylanguageandfacialexpressionlackmostofthedistinctivepropertiesofhumanlanguagesuchasduality,displacement,creativityandsoon.Bodylanguageexhibitsarbitrarinessalittlebit.Forinstance,nodmeansOK/YESforusbutinArabianworlditisequaltosayingNO.Somefacialexpressionshavenon-arbitrarinessbecausetheyareinstinctivesuchasthecryandlaughofanewborninfant.2.Doyouthinktheyaredescriptiveandprescriptive?What’syourcommentonthem?(1)Donotusemantomeanhumanityingeneral.Useperson,people,humanbeings,menandwomen,humanityandhumankind.(2)colored:ThistermisregardedasoutdatedintheUKandshouldbeavoidedasitisgenerallyviewedasoffensivetomanyblackpeople.(3)civilized:Thistermcanstillcarryracistovertoneswhichderivefromacolonialistperceptionoftheworld.ItisoftenassociatedwithsocialDarwinistthoughtandisfullofimplicitvaluejudgmentsandignoranceofthehistoryofthenon-industrializedworld.答：Theyareundoubtedlydescriptive,Guidelinesarenotrulesthatcandeterminewhetherasentenceisrightornot.Theguidelinesadviseyoutoavoidtheuseofparticularwordsthataregrammaticallycorrectbutoffensivetosomecertaingroups.Actually,theydescribethewayantisexistadvocatorsspeakandwrite.3.(1)Whatorgansareinvolvedinspeechproduction?答：Quiteafewhumanorgansareinvolvedintheproductionofspeech:theluns,thetrachea,thethroat,thenose,andthemouth.(2)WhydidGeorgeBernardShawsayhecouldspelltheword‘fish’as‘ghoti’?答：Thisisbecauseghispronouncedas[f]in‘enough’,oas[I]inwomen,andtias[ʃ]innation.(3)Howisthedescriptionofconsonantsdifferentfromthatofvowels?答：Consonantsareproducedbyaclosureinthevocaltract,orbyanarrowingwhichissomarkedthataircannotescapewithoutproducingaudiblefriction.Bycontrast,avowelisproducedwithoutsuchstricturesothatairescapesinarelativelyunimpededwaythroughthemouthornose.Thedistinctionbetweenvowelsandconsonantsliesintheobstructionofairstream.(4)Towhatextentisphonologyrelatedtophoneticsandhowdotheydiffer?答：Bothphoneticsandphonologystudyhumanspeechsoundsbuttheydifferinthelevelsofanalysis.Phoneticsstudieshowspeechsoundsareproduced,transmitted,andperceived.Phonologyisthestudyofthesoundpatternsandsoundsystemsoflanguages.Itaimstodiscovertheprinciplesthatgovernthewaysoundsareorganizedinlanguages,andtoexplainthevariationsthatoccur.(5)’Assimilationisoftenusedsynonymouslywithcoarticulation’.Discuss.答：Assimilationisaphonologicalterm,oftenusedsynonymouslywith\ncoarticulation,whichismoreofaphoneticterm.Similarly,therearetwopossibilitiesofassimilation:ifafollowingsoundisinfluencingaprecedingsound,wecallitregressiveassimilation;theconverseprocess,inwhichaprecedingsoundisinfluencingafollowingsound,isknownasprogressiveassimilation.(6)Thepronunciationoftellis[tɛ],butthatoftelleris[tɛlɚ].Discusswhythephoneme/l/isrealizedas[ɛ]and[l]respectivelyinthissituation.答：Theworldtellerisformedbyaddingasuffix–ertothebasewordtelltoformanewword.Weareallfamiliarwiththerulethatgovernstheallophonesofthephoneme/l/:whenprecedingavowel,itis[l]andwhenfollowingavowelitis[ɛ].Wenoticethattellisamonosyllabicwordwhiletellerisdisyllabic.Inapolysyllabicword,wefollowtheMaximalOnsetPrinciplefordivisionofsyllable.ByMOP,the[l]mustbeplacedintheonsetpositionofthesecondsyllableinsteadofthecodapositionofthefirstsyllable.Thus,thephoneme[l]isrealizedasitshouldbebeforethevowelinthesecondsyllable.Thesameistruewithtelling,falling,andmanyothers.4.Thefollowingwordscontaindifferentformsofthenegativeprefixin-.Groupthedataaccordingtothevariantsandtrytodeterminewhichkindsofbasewordtakewhichkindsofprefixvariantandwhatkindofmechanismiswordresponsibleforthevariation.Formulatearuleandthentestitagainstwordsthatareformedinthiswaybutarenotmentionedhere.答：Therearefivegroupsofwordsaccordingtotheirvariationonpronunciation:[In]:inharmonic,ingenious,inoffensive,indifferent,inevitable,innumerable;[In]or[Iŋ]:incomprehensible,incompetent,inconsistent;[Im]:impenetrable,impossible,immobile;[Il]:illiterate,illegal,illogical;[Ir]:irresponsible,irresistible,irregular.Itisclearthatthefirstsoundofthebasewordgovernsthedistributionofthevariants,becausethefinalconsonantoftheprefixin-mustassimilatetothefirstsegmentofthebaseword.Asaresultofthis,wefind[Im]beforelabialconsonantslike[m]or[p],[Il]beforethelateral[I],[Ir]before[r].Whenthefirstconsonantofthebasewordisthevelarconsonant[k],itis[Iŋ]inrapidspeechand[In]incarefulspeech.Inallothercases[In]isalwaysthecase.5.Foreachoftheunderlinedconstructionsorwordgroups,dothefollowing.Statewhetheritisheadedornon-headed.Ifheaded,stateitsheadword.Namethetypeofconstructions.(a)Ducksquack.答：non-headed,independentclause(b)Theladderintheshedislongenough.答：non-head,prepositionalphrase.(c)Isawabridgedamagedbeyondrepair.答：headed;headword-damaged;adjectivalgroup(d)Singinghymnsisforbiddeninsomecountries.答：headed;headword-singing;gerundialphrase.(e)Hishandsomefaceappearedinthemagazine.Aladyofgreatbeautycameout.答：headed;headword-face;nominalgroup.(f)Heenjoysclimbinghighmountains.答：non-headed;prepositionalphrase.(h)Themannoddedpatiently.答：non-headed;independentclause.\n(i)Amanrousedbytheinsultdrewhissword.答：headed;headword-roused.Adjectivalphrase.6.Analysethepoembelowfromthesemanticpointofview,takingaspecialaccountofsenserelations.答：Thispoemisabouttheuseoftheword‘colored’.Theauthorcleverlymakesuseof‘colored’inthesenseof‘differentcolors’toopposetheproactivetorefertoblackpeopleas‘colored’.Thisshowsfromanotherpointofviewthat‘colored’isnotasuperordinateto‘red’,‘green’,‘yellow’,etc.7.Somepeoplemaintainthattherearenotruesynonyms.Iftwowordsmeanreallythesame,oneofthemwilldefinitelydieout.Anexampleoftenquotedisthedisuseoftheword‘wireless’,whichhasbeenreplacedby‘radio’.Doyouagree?Ingeneralwhattypeofmeaningwearetalkingaboutwhenwesaytwowordsaresynonymouswitheachother?答:Itistruethattherearenoabsolutesynonyms.Whenwesaytwowordsaresynonymouswitheachother,weusuallymeantheyhavethesameconceptualmeaning.8.TheBritishlinguist……Wecantreatmale/female,married/single,alive/deadasgradableantonymsonoccasions.Someonecanbeverymaleormoremarriedandcertainlymoredeadthanalive.Commentonit.答：Itisnotadvisabletotellbeginnersoflinguisticsthatthedistinctionbetweengradableantonymsandcomplementaryantonymsisrelative.Theexpression‘moredeadthatalive’isnotatruecomparative.9.Ifyouasksomebody‘Canyouopenthedoor?’heanswers‘Yes’butdoesnotactuallydoit,whatwouldbeyouraction?Why?Trytoseeitinthelightofspeechacttheory.答：Iwouldbeangrywithhim.‘Canyouopenthedoor’isnormallyarequestofthehearertodoitratherthanaquestionabouthisability.Thefactthatheanswers‘Yes’butdoesnotactuallydoitshowsthathedeclinesmyrequest.10.Aisreadingthenewspaper.WhenBasks‘What’sonTVtonight?’heanswers‘Nothing.’WhatdoesAmeaninnormalsituations?Thinkoftwosituationsinwhichthisinterpretationof‘Nothing’willbecancelled.答：Normally‘Nothing’heremeans‘Nothinginteresting,’IfAaddsafter‘Nothing’‘Theworkersareonstrike’or‘There’sgoingtobeablackouttonight’,thentheinterpretationof‘Nothinginteresting’willbecancelled.