Chapter 1 Language and linguistics

Chapter 1 Language and Linguistics

I.TEM-8 专区
1. Arbitrariness of language was first discussed by______.
A. Chomsky B. Halliday C. Firth D. Saussure
2. Which branch of study can not be included in the scope of linguistics?
A. Syntax B. Pragmatics C. Phonetics D. Anthropology
3. The distinction of langue and parole is made by____. [06 年真题]
A. Hall B. Sapir C. Chomsky D. Sassure
4. _____ is the study of the relationship between symbols and their interpreter.
A. Syntax B. Semantics C. Pragmatics D. Sociolinguistics
5. ⊙The _____ function of language is one of the most powerful uses of language
because it is crucial in changing the emotional status of an audience for or against
someone or something.
A. performative B. phatic C. recreational D. emotive
6. The term_____ may be defined as a way of referring to the approach which
studies language changes over various periods of time and at various historical
stages.
A. synchronic linguistics B. comparative linguistics
C. diachronic linguistics D. historical comparative linguistics
7. ______ examines how meaning is encoded in a language.
A. Semantics B. Syntax C. Pragmatics D. Morphology
8. Saussure distinguishes the linguistic competence of the speaker as _____.
A. parole B. language C. system D. langue
9. The fundamental distinction between competence and performance is discussed
by______.
A. Chomsky B. Saussure C. Bloomfield D. Austin
10. What are the dual structures of language?
A. Sounds and letters B. Sounds and meaning
C. Letters and meaning D. Sounds and symbols
11. Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A. Language is a means of verbal communication.
B. Language is some arbitrary symbols.
C. The language system is unique to human beings.
D. Language is yet to be understood.
12. ______ studies the sound systems in a certain system.
A. Phonetics B. Phonology C. Semantics D. Syntax
13. The study of how sounds are put together and used to convey meaning in

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 communication is ______. [大纲样题]
A. general linguistics B. phonology C. semantics D. morphology
14. The founder of modern linguistics is ______
A. Chomsky B. Halliday C. Bloomfield D. Saussure
15. Modern linguistics focuses on the present day language, and it will be possible to
describe language from a _______ perspective.
A. sociological B. synchronic C. diachronic D. psychological
16. General linguistics is the scientific study of ______.
A. language of a certain individual B. the English language
C. human languages in general D. the system of a particular language
17. ______ studies how speech sounds are made ,transmitted and received.
A. Phonetics B. Phonology C. Phoneme D. Phonics
18. ______ is concerned with the study of the actual use of language in
communication.
A. Sociolinguistics B. Semantics C. Pragmatics D. Synchronic linguistics
19. Productivity is one of the ______ features
A. distinctive B. design C. suprasegmental D. pragmatic
20. ⊙The function of the sentence “Lovely weather, isn’t it ?” is ________.
A. informative B. phatic C. performative D. recreational
21. Once the notion of ______ was taken into consideration, semantics spilled into
pragmatics.
A. meaning B. context C. form D. content
22. ⊙Which of the following is NOT the function of language?
A. Metalingual function B. Interpersonal function
C. Emotive function D. Cultural transmission
23. We can refer to Confucius, even though he has been dead for over 2,500 years.
This feature of language is called _____.
A. duality B. creativity C. arbitrariness D. displacement
24. ⊙Which function of language is also called ideational function in the framework
of functional grammar?
A. Informative function B. Interpersonal function
C. Emotive function D. Recreational function
25. _______ investigates the interrelation of language and mind.
A. Psycholinguistics B. Sociolinguistics
C. Anthropological linguistics D. Computational linguistics
26. Morphology is concerned with _____
A. the meaning of words B. the pronunciation of words
C. the internal organization of words D. the combination of words into sentences
27. ⊙The sentence “You should never use cliché in writing” is ______
A. descriptive B. prescriptive C. obligatory D. narrative
28. If a study focuses on Shakespearean language, it is _____ study.
A. diachronic B. synchronic C. systematic D. pragmatic
29. Which of the following is NOT Saussure’s field of study?
A. Linguistics B. Sociology C. Psychology D. Anthropology

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30. ______ is the major concern of semantics.
A. Meaning B. Words C. Sentence structures D. Phrase structure rules
31. Syntax is the study of ______. [05 年真题]
A. language functions B. sentence structures
C. textual organization D. word formation
32. Which of the following is NOT a distinctive feature of human language? [05 真]
A. Arbitrariness B. Productivity C. Cultural transmission D. Finiteness
33. _______ refers to the study of the internal structure of words and the rules of
word formation. [07 年真题]
A. Phonology B. Morphology C. Semantics D. Sociolinguistics
34. The study of language meaning is known ad _____.
A. Semantics B. Pragmatics C. Syntax D. Lexicon
35. _______ studies the sound system of language and the functioning of the speech
sounds.
A. Phone B. Phonetics C. Phonology D. Morphology

II. 真题实战

1. Define the following terms

1) design features (中山大学 2003 年、湖南师范大学 2003 年考研题)
2) arbitrariness (中山大学 2000 年、山东大学 2001 年、南开大学 2003 年考研题)
3) duality (南开大学 2001 年、北师大 2004 年考研题)
4) displacement (南开大学 2004 年、上海外国语大学 2000 年考研题)
5) cultural transmission (清华大学 2001、中国人民大学 2002、武汉大学 2003)
6) descriptive linguistics vs. linguistics (同济大学 2000 年、南开大学 2004 年)
7) synchronic vs. diachronic perspective (同济大学 1999 年、北师大 2003 考研题)
8) langue and parole (同济大学 1999 年、浙江大学 2002 考研题)

2. Multiple choices
1) Which of the following disciplines are related to applied linguistics?
A. statistics B. psycholinguistics C. physics
D. philosophy E. geology F. education (湖南师大 2003)
2) ____has been widely accepted as the forefather of modern linguistics.
A. Chomsky B. Saussure C. Bloomfield D. John Lyons (东南大学 2000)
3) When a man is crying to a woman about something, it might be something that had
occurred, or something that is occurring, or something that is to occur. It is one of
the design features of language—_______.
A. Arbitrariness B. Productivity C. Duality D. Displacement
4) User can understand and produce sentences they have never heard before. For
example, a red-eyed elephant is dancing on the hotel bed with an African gibbon.
None of those who have heard had difficulty in understanding. _______ is unique
to human language.
A. Arbitrariness B. Productivity C. Duality D. Displacement
5) The English sounds themselves are limited in number, but once they combine to

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 form units of meaning (morphemes/words), there could be endless words. Words
can combine to form endless sentences. As for sentences, they can combine to form
endless texts. If we compare this feature of the human language with animal
languages, we can see the latter lack such______.
A. productivity B. cultural transmission C. duality D. displacement
6).The fact that different sounds are used to refer to the same object in different
languages can be a good example to show one of the design features of language—
_______. A. Arbitrariness B. Productivity C. Duality D. Displacement
7) If a human being is brought up in isolation he can’t acquire language. The wolf-
child reared by the wolves turns out to speak the wolf’s roaring “tongue” when he
was saved. And it is difficult for him to acquire human language. This indicates that
language is ______
A. culturally transmitted B. arbitrary C. productive D. multilayered

3. Word Completion
1) The design features of language are (1) __________, (2) _________, (3) _______,
(4) ________, (5) _________ and (6) __________. （大连外语学院 2001/2002）
2) Language is a _______ of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication.
（中山大学 2003 年考研题）
3) By saying “language is arbitrary”, we mean that there is no logical connection
between meaning and ______.
4) ____ is the branch of linguistics which studies the form of words. （ 北 二 外
2001）
5) In Saussure’s view, the relationship between signifier (sound image) and signified
(concept) is ______. （北京第二外国语学院 2001 年考研题）
6) The distinction between langue and parole is made by the Swiss linguist F. de
Saussure. The distinction between competence and performance is made by the
American linguist _______.（中山大学 2003 年考研题）

4. True or False Questions

1) ( ) The relation between form and meaning in human language is natural.
（大连外国语学院 2002 年考研题）
2) ( ) The reason for French to use cheval and for English to use horse to refer to the
same animal is inexplicable. （东南大学 2003 年考研题）
3) ( ) Most animal communication systems lack the primary level of articulation.
（东南大学 2003 年考研题）
4) ( ) Descriptive linguists are concerned with how languages work, not with how
they can be improved. （大连外国语学院 2000 年考研题）

5. Short Essay Questions

★ 1) Displacement, arbitrariness, productivity, cultural transmission, discreteness
and duality are sometimes listed as the 6 core features of human language.
Choose 3 out of the 6 and explain with examples what they mean. （ 北外
2002 年考研题）

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 2) What’s the distinction between synchronic and diachronic studies? Is it easy to
draw a sharp line between them if we look at language closely?
（东南大学 2000 年考研题）
3) What is the major difference between Saussure’s distinction of language and
parole and Chomsky’s distinction of competence and performance? What
should be studies in linguistics in your opinion and why?
（华中科技大学 2002 年考研题）
4) What are the major branches of linguistics? What does each of them study?
★ 5) Discuss the following picture and the saying by relating to the arbitrariness of
language.

A Rose is still a rose by any other name?

★ 6) How is the language of traffic lights different from human language?