语言学简答题 3页

lWhyisproductivityuniquetolanguage?Theproductivityoflanguageisthepropertywhichenablesitsuserstoconstructandunderstandanindefinitelylargenumberofutterances,includingthenovelutterancesthattheyhaveneversaidnorheardbefore.Thisfeatureisuniquetohumanlanguagebecausemostanimalcommunicationsystemsappeartobehighlyrestrictedwithrespecttothenumberofdifferentsignalsthattheiruserscansendandreceive.Forexample,agibboncallsystemlacksproductivity,forgibbonsdrawalltheircallsfromalimitedrepertoire,whichisrapidlyexhausted,makinganynoveltyimpossible;andbeedancingisusedonlytoindicatenectarsources,whichistheonlykindofmessagethatcanbesentthroughthedancing.lHowisSaussure'sdistinctionbetweenlangueandparolesimilartoChomsky'sdistinstionbetweencompetenceandperformance?AccordingtoF·deSaussure,languereferstotheabstractlinguisticsystemsharedbyallthemembersofaspeechcommunityandparolereferstotherealizationoflangueinactualuse.Chomskydefinescompetenceastheidealuser'sknowledgeoftherulesofhislanguage,andperformancetheactualrealizationofthisknowledgeinlinguisticcommunication.FromthesedefinitionswefindthatbothSaussureandChomskymakethedistinctionbetweentheabstractlanguagesystemandtheactualuseoflanguage.Theirpurposeistosingleoutthelanguagesystemforseriousstudy.lWhatarethemajorbranchesoflinguistics?Whatdoeseachofthemstudy?Themajorbranchesoflinguisticsincludephonetics,phonology,morphology,syntax,semantics,pragmatics,sociolinguistics,psycholinguisticsandappliedlinguistics.Phoneticsstudieshowspeechsoundsareproducedandclassified.Phonologystudieshowsoundsformsystemsandfunctiontoconveymeaning.Morphologystudieshowmorphemesarecombinedtoformwords.Syntaxstudieshowmorphemesandwordsarecombinedtoformsentences.Semanticsstudiesmeaning(inabstraction).Pragmaticsstudiesmeaningincontextofuse.Sociolinguisticsstudieslanguagewithreferencetosociety.Psycholinguisticsstudieslanguagewithreferencetotheworkingsofthemind.Appliedlinguisticsstudiestheapplicationoflinguisticprinciplesandtheoriestolanguageteachingandlearning.lWhyissyntaxregardedasasystemofrules?Asamajorcomponentofgrammar,syntaxconsistsofasetofabstractrulesthatallowwordstobecombinedwithotherwordstoformgrammaticalsentences.Asentenceisconsideredgrammaticalwhenitconformstothegrammaticalknowledgeinthemindofnativespeakers.If,ontheotherhand,asentenceviolatesaruleaccordingtowhichwordsareorganized,thennativespeakerswilljudgeittobeanimpossiblesentenceofthatlanguage.Universallyfoundinthegrammarsofallhumanlanguages,syntacticrulescomprisethesystemofinternalizedlinguisticknowledgeofalanguagespeaker.Foranynaturallanguage,itisthesetofrulesthatmakesitpossibleforthespeakerstoproduce,comprehendandmemorizethevastnumberofsentencesoftheirnativelanguage.lWhatmakesmodernlinguisticsdifferentfromtraditionalgrammer?Traditionalgrammarisbasedon“high”(religious,literary)writtenlanguage.Itisprescriptive.Itsetsmodelsforlanguageuserstofollow.Ittellsthelearnerwhatheshouldsay,orwhatissupposedtobecorrectusage.Ontheotherhand,modernlinguisticsismostlydescriptive.Modernlinguisticsissupposedtobescientificandobjectiveandthetaskoflinguistsissupposedtodescribethelanguagepeopleactuallyuse,beit"correct"ornot.Itsinvestigationsandanalysisarebasedonauthentic,andmainlyspokenlanguagedata.lWhatisafreemorpheme?Whatisaboundmorpheme?Andhowaretheydifferentfromeachother?Freemorphemesaremorphemeswhichareindependentunitsofmeaningandcanbeusedfreelyallbythemselves,suchashelp,table,able,etc.Boundmorphemesaremorphemesthatcannotbeusedbythemselves,butmustbecombinedwithothermorphemes,eitherfreeorbound,toformaword,suchas“-en”in“enlarge”,“dis-”in“disable”,“im-”in“impossible”.lWhatdolangueandparolemeanrespectively?AccordingtoF·deSaussure,languereferstotheabstractlinguisticsystemsharedbyallthemembersofaspeechcommunity,andparolereferstotherealizationoflangueinactualuse.Langueisthesetofconventionsandruleswhichlanguageusersallhavetoabideby;itisabstract.Paroleistheconcreteuseoftheconventionsandtheapplicationoftherules;itisconcrete.lWhyisthewordorderinModernEnglishmorerigidthanthatinOldEnglish?ThewordorderinModernEnglishismorerigidthanthatinOldEnglish.ThisisbecauseinModernEnglishtherearenolongertheelaboratemorphologicalsystemusedinOldEnglish,suchasthecasemarkingsystem,tohelptoindicategrammaticalrelations.Therefore,itisnolongerpossibletoidentifythefunctionalrolesofnounsbytheirinflectionalendings.Thefunctionalnotionsofsubjectandobjecthavetobeindicatedlargelybythesyntacticpositionofnounsinalinearorder,resultinginasystemwithstricterconstraintsonwordorder.lWhatcharacteristicsoflanguagedoyouthinkshouldbeincludedinagood,comprehensivedefinitionoflanguage?a.Languageisarule-governedsystem.b.Languageisbasicallyvocal.c.Languageisarbitrary.d.Languageisusedforhumancommunication.lWhataresuprasegmentalfeatures?HowdothemajorsuprasegmentalfeaturesofEnglishfunctioninconveyingmeaning?Thephonologicalfeaturesthatoccurabovethesoundsegmentallevelarecalledsuprasegmentalfeatures.Themajor\nsuprasegmentalfeaturesofEnglishincludewordstress,sentencestressandintonation.Thesuprasegmentalfeaturesdistinguishmeaning.lWhatisBroca'sareaandwhatwouldhappenifanydamagewereinflicteduponit?In1861,aFrenchsurgeonandanatomistPaulBrocadiscoveredthatsomewhereinthefrontallobeintheleftcerebralhemispherehadsomethingtodowithspeechdifficulty.ThisplaceisnowknownasBroca'sarea.Accordingtohisclaimin1865,anydamagetositesintheleftcerebralhemispherewillresultinapatient'slanguagedisorder,whereasdestructionofcorrespondingsitesintherighthemisphereleavelinguisticcapacitiesintact.Thereforeifanydamageisinflicteduponthisarea,itwillresultinwordfindingdifficultiesandproblemswithsyntax.lStatebrieflyyourunderstandingofthedifferencesbetweenthetermacquisitionandthetermlearninginlanguageacquisitionstudy?ThedistinctionbetweenacquisitionandlearningwasproposedbytheAmericanSLAscholarStephenKrashenontheassumptionthattheyaredifferentprocesses.Acquisitionreferstothegradualandsubconsciousdevelopmentofabilityinthefirstlanguagebyusingitnaturallyindailycommunicativesituations.Learning,however,isdefinedasaconsciousprocessofaccumulatingknowledgeofasecondlanguageusuallyobtainedinschoolsettings.Itisrecognizedthatchildrenacquiretheirnativelanguagewithoutexplicitlearning,whileasecondlanguageismorecommonlylearnedbuttosomedegreemayalsobeacquired,dependingontheenvironmentalsettingandtheinputreceivedbytheL2learner.Arulecanbelearnedbeforeitisinternalized(i.e.acquired),buthavinglearnedaruledoesnotnecessarilyprecludehavingtoacquireitlater.lWhyislanguagedefinedasasystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsusedforhumancommunication?Shortasitis,thisdefinitionhascapturedthemainfeaturesoflanguage.Firstofall,languageisasystem,i.e.,elementsoflanguagearecombinedaccordingtorules.Iflanguagewerenotconstructedaccordingtocertainrules,itcouldnotbelearnedorusedconsistently.Second,languageisarbitraryinthesensethatthereisnointrinsicconnectionbetweenawordandthethingweusetowritewith.Thefactthatdifferentlanguageshavedifferentwordsforthesameobjectisagoodillustrationofthearbitrarynatureoflanguage.Third,languageisvocalbecausetheprimarymediumissoundforalllanguages,nomatterhowwelldevelopedtheirwritingsystemsare.Allevidencepointstothefactthatwritingsystemscameintobeingmuchlaterthanthespokenformsandthattheyareonlyattemptstocapturesoundsandmeaningonpaper.Finally,theterm"human"inthedefinitionismeanttospecifythatlanguageishumanspecific,i.e.itisverydifferentfromthecommunicationsystemsotherformsoflifepossess,suchasbirdsongsandbeedances.lWhatisuniversalgrammar?Universalgrammar,alsoknownastheprinciples-and-parameterstheory,isasystemoflinguisticknowledgeandahumanspecies-specificgiftwhichexistsinthemindorbrainofanormalhumanbeing.Itsgeneralprinciplesincludecaseconditionandadjacencycondition,theformerrequiresthatanounphrasemusthavecaseandcaseisassignedbyverborprepositiontotheobjectposition,orbyauxiliarytothesubjectposition;thelatterstatesthatacaseassignorandacaserecipientshouldstayadjacenttoeachother,whichexplainswhynootherphrasalcategorycanintervenebetweenaverbanditsdirectobject.Theparametersontheotherhandincludesadjacencyparameteranddirectionalityparameter.Theformeraccountsforthespecificwordorderpatternsofacertainlanguage,thelatterconcernsthedirectionalityofcaseassignment.lWhatisthenatureoflanguagechangeinhistoricallinguistics?Ontheonehand,languagechangeisinevitable.Asageneralrule,languagechangeisuniversal,continuousand,toaconsiderabledegree,regularandsystematic.Languagechangeisextensive,takingplaceinvirtuallyallaspectsofthegrammar—inphonology,morphology,syntax,lexiconandsemantics.Whenlanguagechangeisinprogress,phonemes,morphemes,words,andgrammaticalrulesmaybeborrowed,added,lost,oraltered,andmeanwhile,themeaningofindividuallexicalitemsorstringsofwordsmayexpand,narrow,orshift.Ontheotherhand,thoughlanguagechangeisuniversalandevenvigorousinsomecases,thetruthofthematteristhatitisneveranovernightoccurrence.Thehistoricaldevelopmentofalanguageishardlyasuddentransformationofonelanguageintoanotherlanguage,butagradualandconstantprocess,oftenindiscernibletospeakersofthesamegeneration.lWhat'sthedifferencebetweentheinstrumentalmotivationandtheintegrativemotivationofthelearner's?Usually,adultsaremotivatedtolearnasecondlanguagebecauseofacommunicativeneed.Theymaylearnasecondlanguageinordertouseitfunctionallywhentheyintendtouseitasaninstrumentforthepurposeof,forinstance,securingadesirablejoborpassinganimportantexamination,orsociallywhentheyintendtouseitasameanstointegratethemselveswiththesecondlanguagecommunity.Incertainsituationsanintegrativemotivationmaybemorepowerfulinfacilitatingsuccessfulsecondlanguagelearning,butinothersituationsinstrumentalmotivationsmaycountformore.Wherethetargetlanguagefunctionsasaforeignlanguage(usedinalimitedenvironmentsuchasinschool),thelearnerislikelytobenefitfromanintegrativemotivation;butwherethetargetlanguagefunctionsasasecondlanguage(usedasaprimarymeansofcommunicationinthecommunityofthelearner),aninstrumentalmotivationismoreeffective.lWhatarethemaindesignfeaturesofhumanlanguage?herearemanydefiningpropertiesofhumanlanguagethatdistinguishitfromanyanimalsystemofcommunication,hereonlyafewtomention:Arbitrarinessmeansthatthereisnologicalconnectionbetweenmeaningsandsounds,thisnatureenableslanguagetohaveanunlimitedsourceofexpressions;Productivitymakesitsuserspossibletoconstructandinterpretanynewsignals,bymeansofwhichtheycanproduceandunderstandaninfinitelylargenumberofsentences,includingsentencestheyhaveneverheardbefore;Dualitymeanslanguageconsistsoftwosetsofstructures,ortwolevels;atthelowerorthebasiclevelthereisastructureofsounds,whicharemeaningless,buttheycanbegroupedandregroupedintoalargenumberofunitsofmeaningsuchasmorphemesandwords,whicharefoundatthehigherlevelofthesystem;Displacementdesignatesthatlanguageusersmayrefertothingswhicharepresentornotpresent,realorimaginedmattersinthepast,present,orfuture,orinfarawayplaces;Atlast,culturaltransmissionimpliesthatlanguageisculturallytransmitted.\nlHowmanymorphemesarethereintheEnglishlanguage?Statewhattheyareandillustratehowtheywork.TherearetwotypesofmorphemesintheEnglishlanguage:freemorphemesareindependentunitsofmeaningandcanbeusedfreelyallbythemselvessuchashelp,table,room,etc.;boundmorphemesarethosethatcannotbeusedindependentlybuthavetobecombinedwithothermorphemes,eitherfreeorbound,toformaword,itincludestwotypes:arootisoftenseenaspartofaword;itcanneverstandbyitselfalthoughitbearsclear,definitemeaning,itmustbecombinedwithanotherrootoranaffixtoformaword.Forexample,theroot“geo”bearsthemeaningof“theearth”,whenitcombineswithanotherroot“-ology”,meaning“abranchoflearning”;affixesaremorphemesthatareaddedtoanalreadyexistingmorphemetoformanewwordwhilechangingitsmeaningandgrammaticalrelations.Itconsistsofbothinflectionalaffixesandderivationalaffixes.lWhatisthedifferencebetweenapidginandcreole?Apidginisavarietyoflanguagethatisgenerallyusedbynativespeakersofotherlanguagesasamediumofcommunicationusedforsomepracticalpurposes.Itisasimplifiedlanguagewithreducedvocabularies,originatingmostoftenfromthehigherdominantlanguageandanabsenceofgrammaticalfeaturessuchascase,tense,moodandvoice,etc.Ontheotherhand,acreolelanguageisoriginallyapidginthathasbecomeestablishedasanativelanguageinsomespeechcommunity.Thatis,whenapidgincomestobeadoptedbyapopulationasitsprimarylanguage,andchildrenlearnitastheirfirstlanguage,thenthepidginlanguageiscalledacreole.Incontrastwithapidgin,creolesarefullydevelopedlanguagesascompleteineverywayasotherlanguages.Whenapidginbeginstoplaytheroleofatradelanguage,itundergoesconsiderableexpansionofitsvocabularyandgrammarandbeginstoacquirerulescomparableinnatureandcomplexitywiththerulesofanyotherhumannaturallanguage,thenitbecomesacreole.lWhatarethetwomajorfunctionsoflanguage?Languagecanservetwomajorfunctions,namely,interpersonalcommunicationandinterpersonalcommunication.First,languagefunctionsasameansofinterpersonalcommunicationwhenlanguageusersuseittoconveyinformation,thoughtsandfeelingsfromonepersontoanotherortocontroleachother'sbehavior.Secondly,itfunctionsasameansofintrapersonalcommunicationwhenitisusedasameanstofacilitatethinking,speechbehaviorandactionfortheindividual.