- 94.00 KB
- 2022-08-23 发布
- 1、本文档由用户上传,淘文库整理发布,可阅读全部内容。
- 2、本文档内容版权归属内容提供方,所产生的收益全部归内容提供方所有。如果您对本文有版权争议,请立即联系网站客服。
- 3、本文档由用户上传,本站不保证质量和数量令人满意,可能有诸多瑕疵,付费之前,请仔细阅读内容确认后进行付费下载。
- 网站客服QQ:403074932
Chapter1 IntroductionstoLinguisticsI. Choosethebestanswer.(20%)1. B Languageisasystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsusedforhuman __________A.contact B.communication C.relation D.community2. A Whichofthefollowingwordsisentirelyarbitrary? A.tree B.typewriter C.crash D.bang3. C Thefunctionofthesentence“Waterboilsat100degreesCentigrade.”is __________. A.interrogative B.directive C.informative D.performative4. C InChinesewhensomeonebreaksabowloraplatethehostorthepeoplepresentarelikelytosay“碎碎(岁岁)平安”asameansofcontrollingtheforceswhichtheybelievesfeelmightaffecttheirlives.Whichfunctionsdoesitperform? A.Interpersonal B.Emotive C.Performative D.Recreational5.C Whichofthefollowingpropertyoflanguageenableslanguageuserstoovercomethebarrierscausedbytimeandplace,duetothisfeatureoflanguage,speakersofalanguagearefreetotalkaboutanythinginanysituation? A.Transferability B.Duality C.Displacement D.Arbitrariness6.B Studythefollowingdialogue.Whatfunctiondoesitplayaccordingtothefunctionsoflanguage? —Aniceday,isn’tit? —Right!Ireallyenjoythesunlight. A.Emotive B.Phatic C.Performative D.Interpersonal7. A __________referstotheactualrealizationoftheideallanguageuser’s knowledgeoftherulesofhislanguageinutterances. A.Performance B.Competence C.Langue D.Parole8. C Whenadogisbarking,youassumeitisbarkingforsomethingoratsomeonethatexistshearandnow.Itcouldn’tbesorrowfulforsomelostloveorlostbone.Thisindicatesthedesignfeatureof__________. A.culturaltransmission B.productivity C.displacement D.duality9. A __________answerssuchquestionsashowweasinfantsacquireourfirstlanguage. A.Psycholinguistics B.AnthropologicallinguisticsC.Sociolinguistics D.Appliedlinguistics10. C __________dealswithlanguageapplicationtootherfields,particularlyeducation. A.Linguistictheory B.Practicallinguistics C.Appliedlinguistics D.ComparativelinguisticsII. Decidewhetherthefollowingstatementsaretrueorfalse.(10%)11. F Languageisameansofverbalcommunication.Therefore,thecommunicationwayusedbythedeaf-muteisnotlanguage.12. F Languagechangeisuniversal,ongoingandarbitrary.13. T Speakingisthequickestandmostefficientwayofthehumancommunicationsystems.14. F Languageiswrittenbecausewritingistheprimarymediumforalllanguages.15. F Wewereallbornwiththeabilitytoacquirelanguage,whichmeansthedetailsofanylanguagesystemcanbegeneticallytransmitted.16. F Onlyhumanbeingsareabletocommunicate.17. F F.deSaussure,whomadethedistinctionbetweenlangueandparoleintheearly20thcentury,wasaFrenchlinguist.18. F AstudyofthefeaturesoftheEnglishusedinShakespeare’stimeisanexampleofthediachronicstudyoflanguage.19. F Speechandwritingcameintobeingatmuchthesametimeinhumanhistory.20. F Allthelanguagesintheworldtodayhavebothspokenandwrittenforms.III. Fillintheblanks.(10%)21. verbal Language,broadlyspeaking,isameansof__________communication.22. productivity Inanylanguagewordscanbeusedinnewwaystomeannewthingsandcanbecombinedintoinnumerablesentencesbasedonlimitedrules.Thisfeatureisusuallytermed__________.23. metalingualfunction Languagehasmanyfunctions.Wecanuselanguagetotalkabout\nitself.Thisfunctionis__________.24. yo-he-ho Theorythatprimitivemanmadeinvoluntaryvocalnoiseswhileperformingheavyworkhasbeencalledthe__________theory.25. scientific Linguisticsisthe__________studyoflanguage.26. descriptive Modernlinguisticsis__________inthesensethatthelinguisttriestodiscoverwhatlanguageisratherthanlaydownsomerulesforpeopletoobserve.27. speech Onegeneralprincipleoflinguisticanalysisistheprimacyof__________overwriting.28. diachroniclinguistic Thedescriptionofalanguageasitchangesthroughtimeisa__________study.29. langue Saussureputforwardtwoimportantconcepts.__________referstotheabstractlinguisticsystemsharedbyallmembersofaspeechcommunity.30. competence LinguisticpotentialissimilartoSaussure’slangueandChomsky’s__________. Chapter2 SpeechSoundsI. Choosethebestanswer.(20%)1. A Pitchvariationisknownas__________whenitspatternsareimposedonsentences. A.intonation B.tone C.pronunciation D.voice2. C Conventionallya__________isputinslashes(//). A.allophone B.phone C.phoneme D.morpheme3. D Anaspiratedp,anunaspiratedpandanunreleasedpare__________ofthepphoneme. A.analogues B.tagmemes C.morphemes D.allophones4. A Theopeningbetweenthevocalcordsissometimesreferredtoas __________. A.glottis B.vocalcavity C.pharynx D.uvula5. A Thediphthongsthataremadewithamovementofthetonguetowardsthecenterareknownas__________diphthongs. A.wide B.closing C.narrow D.centering6. D Aphonemeisagroupofsimilarsoundscalled__________. A.minimalpairs B.allomorphs C.phones D.allophones7. B Whichbranchofphoneticsconcernstheproductionofspeechsounds? A.Acousticphonetics B.Articulatoryphonetics C.Auditoryphonetics D.Noneoftheabove8. A Whichoneisdifferentfromtheothersaccordingtoplacesofarticulation? A.[n] B.[m] C.[b] D.[p]9. B Whichvowelisdifferentfromtheothersaccordingtothecharacteristicsofvowels? A.[i:] B.[u] C.[e] D.[i]10. B Whatkindofsoundscanwemakewhenthevocalcordsarevibrating? A.Voiceless B.Voiced C.Glottalstop D.ConsonantII. Decidewhetherthefollowingstatementsaretrueorfalse.(10%)11. T Suprasegmentalphonologyreferstothestudyofphonologicalpropertiesofunitslargerthanthesegment-phoneme,suchassyllable,wordandsentence.12. T Theairstreamprovidedbythelungshastoundergoanumberofmodificationtoacquirethequalityofaspeechsound.13. T Twosoundsareinfreevariationwhentheyoccurinthesameenvironmentanddonotcontrast,namely,thesubstitutionofonefortheotherdoesnotproduceadifferentword,butmerelyadifferentpronunciation.14. F [p]isavoicedbilabialstop.15. F Acousticphoneticsisconcernedwiththeperceptionofspeechsounds.16. T Allsyllablesmusthaveanucleusbutnotallsyllablescontainanonsetandacoda.17. T Whenpurevowelsormonophthongsarepronounced,novowelglidestakeplace.18. T Accordingtothelengthortensenessofthepronunciation,vowelscanbedividedintotensevs.laxorlongvs.short.19. F ReceivedPronunciationisthepronunciationacceptedbymostpeople.20. F Themaximalonsetprinciplestatesthatwhenthereisachoiceastowheretoplaceaconsonant,itisputintothecodaratherthantheonset.III. Fillintheblanks.(20%)\n21. voiced,voiceless,voiced Consonantsoundscanbeeither__________or__________,whileallvowelsoundsare__________.22. friction Consonantsoundscanalsobemadewhentwoorgansofspeechinthemoutharebroughtclosetogethersothattheairispushedoutbetweenthem,causing__________.23. tongue Thequalitiesofvowelsdependuponthepositionofthe__________andthelips.24. height Oneelementinthedescriptionofvowelsisthepartofthetonguewhichisatthehighestpointinthemouth.Asecondelementisthe__________towhichthatpartofthetongueisraised.25. obstruction Consonantsdifferfromvowelsinthatthelatterareproducedwithout__________.26. minimalpairs Inphonologicalanalysisthewordsfail/veilaredistinguishablesimplybecauseofthetwophonemes/f/-/v/.Thisisanexampleforillustrating__________.27. diphthongs InEnglishthereareanumberof__________,whichareproducedbymovingfromonevowelpositiontoanotherthroughinterveningpositions.28. Co-articulation __________referstothephenomenonofsoundscontinuallyshowtheinfluenceoftheirneighbors.29. Phonemes __________isthesmallestlinguisticunit.30. airstream Speechtakesplacewhentheorgansofspeechmovetoproducepatternsofsound.Thesemovementshaveaneffectonthe__________comingfromthelungs.Chapter3LexiconI. Choosethebestanswer.(20%)1. A Nouns,verbsandadjectivescanbeclassifiedas__________. A.lexicalwords B.grammaticalwords C.functionwords D.formwords2. A Morphemesthatrepresenttense,number,genderandcasearecalled__________morpheme. A.inflectional B.free C.bound D.derivational3. C Thereare__________morphemesintheworddenationalization. A.three B.four C.five D.six4. B InEnglish–iseand–tionarecalled__________. A.prefixes B.suffixes C.infixes D.stems5. B Thethreesubtypesofaffixesare:prefix,suffixand__________. A.derivationalaffix B.inflectionalaffix C.infix D.back-formation6. B __________isawayinwhichnewwordsmaybeformedfromalreadyexistingwordsbysubtractinganaffixwhichisthoughttobepartoftheoldword. A.affixation B.back-formation C.insertion D.addition7. C ThewordTBisformedinthewayof__________. A.acronymy B.clipping C.initialism D.blending8. A Thewordslikecomsatandsitcomareformedby__________. A.blending B.clipping C.back-formation D.acronymy9. D Thestemofdisagreementsis__________. A.agreement B.agree C.disagree D.disagreement10. B Allofthemaremeaningfulexceptfor__________. A.lexeme B.phoneme C.morpheme D.allomorphII. Decidewhetherthefollowingstatementsaretrueorfalse.(10%)11. F Phonetically,thestressofacompoundalwaysfallsonthefirstelement,whilethesecondelementreceivessecondarystress.12. T Foreasinforetellisbothaprefixandaboundmorpheme.13. F Basereferstothepartofthewordthatremainswhenallinflectionalaffixesareremoved.14. T Inmostcases,prefixeschangethemeaningofthebasewhereassuffixeschangetheword-classofthebase.15. T Conversionfromnountoverbisthemostproductiveprocessofaword.16. F Reduplicativecompoundisformedbyrepeatingthesamemorphemeofaword.17. T Thewordswhimper,whisperandwhistleareformedinthewayofonomatopoeia.18. F Inmostcases,thenumberofsyllablesofawordcorrespondstothenumberofmorphemes.19. F Back-formationisaproductivewayofword-formations.\n20. F Inflectionisaparticularwayofword-formations.III. Fillintheblanks.(20%)21. initialism,acronym An__________ispronouncedletterbyletter,whilean__________ispronouncedasaword.22. vocabulary Lexicon,inmostcases,issynonymouswith__________.23. solid,hyphenated,open Orthographically,compoundsarewritteninthreeways:__________,__________and__________.24. morpheme Allwordsmaybesaidtocontainaroot__________.25. close,open Asmallsetofconjunctions,prepositionsandpronounsbelongto__________class,whilethelargestpartofnouns,verbs,adjectivesandadverbsbelongsto__________class.26. back-formation __________isareverseprocessofderivation,andthereforeisaprocessofshortening.27. conversion __________isextremelyproductive,becauseEnglishhadlostmostofitsinflectionalendingsbytheendofMiddleEnglishperiod,whichfacilitatedtheuseofwordsinterchangeablyasverbsornouns,verbsoradjectives,andviceversa.28. morpheme Wordsaredividedintosimple,compoundandderivedwordsonthe__________level.29. derivative,compound Awordformedbyderivationiscalleda__________,andawordformedbycompoundingiscalleda__________.30. affix,boundroot Boundmorphemesareclassifiedintotwotypes:__________and__________.Chapter4 SyntaxI. Choosethebestanswer.(20%)1. D Thesentencestructureis________. A.onlylinear B.onlyhierarchical C.complex D.bothlinearandhierarchical2. C Thesyntacticrulesofanylanguageare____innumber. A.large B.small C.finite D.infinite3. D The________rulesaretherulesthatgroupwordsandphrasestoformgrammaticalsentences. A.lexical B.morphological C.linguistic D.combinational4. D Asentenceisconsidered____whenitdoesnotconformtothegrammati¬calknowledgeinthemindofnativespeakers. A.right B.wrong C.grammatical D.ungrammatical5. D A__________intheembeddedclausereferstotheintroductorywordthatintroducestheembeddedclause. A.coordinator B.particle C.preposition D.subordinator6. A Phrasestructureruleshave____properties. A.recursive B.grammatical C.social D.functional7. D Phrasestructurerulesallowustobetterunderstand_____________. A.howwordsandphrasesformsentences. B.whatconstitutesthegrammaticalityofstringsofwords C.howpeopleproduceandrecognizepossiblesentences D.alloftheabove.8. D Theheadofthephrase“thecityRome”is__________. A.thecity B.Rome C.city D.thecityRome9. B Thephrase“ontheshelf”belongsto__________construction. A.endocentric B.exocentric C.subordinate D.coordinate10. A Thesentence“Theywerewantedtoremainquietandnottoexposethemselves.”isa__________sentence. A.simple B.coordinate C.compound D.complexII. Decidewhetherthefollowingstatementsaretrueorfalse.(10%)11. T Universallyfoundinthegrammarsofallhumanlanguages,syntacticrulesthatcomprisethesystemofinternalizedlinguisticknowledgeofalanguagespeakerareknownaslinguisticcompetence.12. T Thesyntacticrulesofanylanguagearefiniteinnumber,butthereisnolimittothenumberofsentencesnativespeakersofthatlanguageareabletoproduceandcomprehend.\n13. T Inacomplexsentence,thetwoclausesholdunequalstatus,onesubordinatingtheother.14. T Constituentsthatcanbesubstitutedforoneanotherwithoutlossofgrammaticalitybelongtothesamesyntacticcategory.15. F Minorlexicalcategoriesareopenbecausethesecategoriesarenotfixedandnewmembersareallowedfor.16. F InEnglishsyntacticanalysis,fourphrasalcategoriesarecommonlyrecognizedanddiscussed,namely,nounphrase,verbphrase,infinitivephrase,andauxiliaryphrase.17. T InEnglishthesubjectusuallyprecedestheverbandthedirectobjectusuallyfollowstheverb.18. F Whatisactuallyinternalizedinthemindofanativespeakerisacompletelistofwordsandphrasesratherthangrammaticalknowledge.19. T Anounphrasemustcontainanoun,butotherelementsareoptional.20. T Itisbelievedthatphrasestructurerules,withtheinsertionofthelexicon,generatesentencesatthelevelofD-structure.III. Fillintheblanks.(20%)21. simple A__________sentenceconsistsofasingleclausewhichcontainsasubjectandapredicateandstandsaloneasitsownsentence.22. sentence A__________isastructurallyindependentunitthatusuallycomprisesanumberofwordstoformacompletestatement,questionorcommand.23. subject A__________maybeanounoranounphraseinasentencethatusuallyprecedesthepredicate.24. predicate Thepartofasentencewhichcomprisesafiniteverboraverbphraseandwhichsayssomethingaboutthesubjectisgrammaticallycalled__________.25. complex A__________sentencecontainstwo,ormore,clauses,oneofwhichisincorporatedintotheother.26. embedded Inthecomplexsentence,theincorporatedorsubordinateclauseisnormallycalledan__________clause.27. open Majorlexicalcategoriesare__________categoriesinthesensethatnewwordsareconstantlyadded.28. Adjacency __________conditiononcaseassignmentstatesthatacaseassignorandacaserecipientshouldstayadjacenttoeachother.29. Parameters __________aresyntacticoptionsofUGthatallowgeneralprinciplestooperateinoneway oranotherandcontributetosignificantlinguisticvariationsbetweenandamongnatural languages.30. CASE Thetheoryof__________conditionexplainsthefactthatnounphrasesappearonlyinsubjectandobjectpositions.Chapter5Meaning[Mainlytakenfromlxm1000w’sexercises.–icywarmtea]I. Choosethebestanswer.(20%)1. A Thenamingtheoryisadvancedby________. A.Plato B.Bloomfield C.GeoffreyLeech D.Firth2. B “Weshallknowawordbythecompanyitkeeps.”Thisstatementrepresents_______. A.theconceptualistview B.contexutalism C.thenamingtheory D.behaviorism3. D WhichofthefollowingisNOTtrue? A.Senseisconcernedwiththeinherentmeaningofthelinguisticform. B.Senseisthecollectionofallthefeaturesofthelinguisticform. C.Senseisabstractanddecontextualized. D.Senseistheaspectofmeaningdictionarycompilersarenotinterestedin. 4. D “CanIborrowyourbike?”_______“Youhaveabike.” A.issynonymouswith B.isinconsistentwith C.entails D.presupposes5. B ___________isawayinwhichthemeaningofawordcanbedissectedintomeaningcomponents,calledsemanticfeatures. A.Predicationanalysis B.Componentialanalysis C.Phonemicanalysis D.Grammaticalanalysis6. C “Alive”and“dead”are______________.\n A.gradableantonyms B.relationalantonyms C.complementaryantonyms D.Noneoftheabove7. A _________dealswiththerelationshipbetweenthelinguisticelementandthenon-linguisticworldofexperience. A.Reference B.Concept C.Semantics D.Sense8. C ___________referstothephenomenonthatwordshavingdifferentmeaningshavethesameform. A.Polysemy B.Synonymy C.Homonymy D.Hyponymy9. D Wordsthatarecloseinmeaningarecalled______________. A.homonyms B.polysemies C.hyponyms D.synonyms10. A Thegrammaticalityofasentenceisgovernedby_______. A.grammaticalrules B.selectionalrestrictions C.semanticrules D.semanticfeaturesII. Decidewhetherthefollowingstatementsaretrueorfalse.(10%)11. F DialectalsynonymscanoftenbefoundindifferentregionaldialectssuchasBritishEnglishandAmericanEnglishbutcannotbefoundwithinthevarietyitself,forexample,withinBritishEnglishorAmericanEnglish. 12. F Senseisconcernedwiththerelationshipbetweenthelinguisticelementandthenon-linguisticworldofexperience,whilethereferencedealswiththeinherentmeaningofthelinguisticform.13. T Linguisticformshavingthesamesensemayhavedifferentreferencesindifferentsituations.14. F Insemantics,meaningoflanguageisconsideredastheintrinsicandinherentrelationtothephysicalworldofexperience.15. T Contextualismisbasedonthepresumptionthatonecanderivemeaningfromorreducemeaningtoobservablecontexts. 16. T Behavioristsattemptedtodefinethemeaningofalanguageformasthesituationinwhichthespeakeruttersitandtheresponseitcallsforthinthehearer. 17. F Themeaningofasentenceisthesumtotalofthemeaningsofallitscomponents. 18. T Mostlanguageshavesetsoflexicalitemssimilarinmeaningbutrankeddifferentlyaccordingtotheirdegreeofformality.19. T “Itishot.”isano-placepredicationbecauseitcontainsnoargument. 20. T Ingrammaticalanalysis,thesentenceistakentobethebasicunit,butinsemanticanalysisofasentence,thebasicunitispredication,whichistheabstractionofthemeaningofasentence.III. Fillintheblanks.(20%)21. Semantics __________canbedefinedasthestudyofmeaning.22. direct Theconceptualistviewholdsthatthereisno__________linkbetweenalinguisticformandwhatitrefersto.23. Reference __________meanswhatalinguisticformreferstointhereal,physicalworld;itdealswiththerelationshipbetweenthelinguisticelementandthenon-linguisticworldofexperience.24. synonyms Wordsthatarecloseinmeaningarecalled__________.25. homophones Whentwowordsareidenticalinsound,butdifferentinspellingandmeaning,theyarecalled__________.26. Relational __________oppositesarepairsofwordsthatexhibitthereversalofarelationshipbetweenthetwoitems.27. Componential __________analysisisbaseduponthebeliefthatthemeaningofawordcanbedividedintomeaningcomponents.28. selectional Whetherasentenceissemanticallymeaningfulisgovernedbyrulescalled__________restrictions,whichareconstraintsonwhatlexicalitemscangowithwhatothers.29. argument A(n)__________isalogicalparticipantinapredication,largelyidenticalwiththenominalelement(s)inasentence.30. naming Accordingtothe__________theoryofmeaning,thewordsinalan¬guagearetakentobelabelsoftheobjectstheystandfor.Chapter8LanguageinUseI. Choosethebestanswer.(20%)1. D Whatessentiallydistinguishessemanticsandpragmaticsiswhetherinthestudyofmeaning\n_________isconsidered. A.reference B.speechact C.practicalusage D.context2. B Asentenceisa_________concept,andthemeaningofasentenceisoftenstudiedinisolation. A.pragmatic B.grammatical C.mental D.conceptual3. C Ifwethinkofasentenceaswhatpeopleactuallyutterinthecourseofcommunication,itbecomesa(n)_________. A.constative B.directive C.utterance D.expressive4. B Whichofthefollowingistrue? A.Utterancesusuallydonottaketheformofsentences. B.Someutterancescannotberestoredtocompletesentences. C.Noutterancescantaketheformofsentences. D.Allutterancescanberestoredtocompletesentences.5. A Speechacttheorydidnotcomeintobeinguntil__________. A.inthelate50’softhe20thecentury B.intheearly1950’s C.inthelate1960’s D.intheearly21stcentury6. C __________istheactperformedbyorresultingfromsayingsomething;itistheconsequenceof,orthechangebroughtaboutbytheutterance. A.Alocutionaryact B.Anillocutionaryact C.Aperlocutionaryact D.Aperformativeact7. B AccordingtoSearle,theillocutionarypointoftherepresentativeis______. A.togetthehearertodosomething B.tocommitthespeakertosomething’sbeingthecase C.tocommitthespeakertosomefuturecourseofaction D.toexpressthefeelingsorattitudetowardsanexistingstateofaffairs8. C Alltheactsthatbelongtothesamecategorysharethesamepurpose,buttheydiffer__________. A.intheirillocutionaryacts B.intheirintentionsexpressed C.intheirstrengthorforce D.intheireffectbroughtabout9. A __________isadvancedbyPaulGrice A.CooperativePrinciple B.PolitenessPrinciple C.TheGeneralPrincipleofUniversalGrammar D.AdjacencyPrinciple10.D Whenanyofthemaximsunderthecooperativeprincipleisflouted,_______mightarise. A.impoliteness B.contradictions C.mutualunderstanding D.conversationalimplicaturesII. Decidewhetherthefollowingstatementsaretrueorfalse.(10%)11.F Pragmaticstreatsthemeaningoflanguageassomethingintrinsicandinherent.12. T Itwouldbeimpossibletogiveanadequatedescriptionofmeaningifthecontextoflanguageusewasleftunconsidered.13. T Whatessentiallydistinguishessemanticsandpragmaticsiswhetherinthestudyofmeaningthecontextofuseisconsidered.14. F Themajordifferencebetweenasentenceandanutteranceisthatasentenceisnotutteredwhileanutteranceis.15. F Themeaningofasentenceisabstract,butcontext-dependent.16. F Themeaningofanutteranceisdecontexualized,thereforestable.17. F Utterancesalwaystaketheformofcompletesentences18. F SpeechacttheorywasoriginatedwiththeBritishphilosopherJohnSearle.19. T Speechacttheorystartedinthelate50’softhe20thcentury.20. T Austinmadethedistinctionbetweenaconstativeandaperformative.III. Fillintheblanks.(20%)21. context Thenotionof__________isessentialtothepragmaticstudyoflanguage.22. utterance Ifwethinkofasentenceaswhatpeopleactuallyutterinthecourseofcommunication,itbecomesan__________.23. abstract Themeaningofasentenceis__________,anddecontexualized.24. Constatives werestatementsthateitherstateordescribe,andwerethusverifiable.25. Performatives weresentencesthatdidnotstateafactordescribeastate,andwerenotverifiable.\n26. locutionary A(n)__________actistheactofutteringwords,phrases,clauses.Itistheactofconveyingliteralmeaningbymeansofsyntax,lexiconandphonology.27. illocutionary A(n)__________actistheactofexpressingthespeaker’sintention;itistheactperformedinsayingsomething.28. commissive A(n)_________iscommitthespeakerhimselftosomefuturecourseofaction.29. expressive A(n)________istoexpressfeelingsorattitudetowardsanexistingstate.30. quantity Therearefourmaximsunderthecooperativeprinciple:themaximof__________,themaximofquality,themaximofrelationandthemaximofmanner. WhyisSaussurehailedasthefatherofmodernlinguistics?Saussurewasthefirsttonoticethecomplexitiesoflanguage.Hebelievedthatlanguageisasystemofsigns.Tocommunicateideas,signsmustbepartofasystemofsigns,calledconventions.Heheldthatthesignistheunionofaform(signifier)andanidea(signified),anditisthecentralfactoflanguage.Byprovidinganswerstoquestionsconcerningmanyaspectsoflanguage,Saussuremadecleartheobjectofstudyforlinguisticsasascience.Hisideasonthearbitrarynatureofsign,ontherelationalnatureoflinguisticunits,onthedistinctionoflangueandparoleandofsynchronicanddiachroniclinguistics,etc.pushedlinguisticsintoabrandnewstage.