语言学-名词解释

语言学-名词解释

1. Language is a scientific system of arbitrary vocal symbols

used for human communication.

2. Minimal pairs are the word forms which differ from each

other only by one sound. In other words, when two different

forms re identical in every way except for one sound segment

that occurs in the same place in the string; the two words are

called minimal pairs.

3. A morpheme is the smallest linguistic unit that carries

grammatical and/or semantic meaning.

4. IPA: A phonetic transcription is an economical means for

capturing sounds on paper, that is, a method of writing down

speech sounds in a systematic and consistent way. The best-known system, the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), has

been developing since 1888.

5. SLA: second language acquisition to refer to the process

of acquiring or learning an additional language after the learner

has acquired his or her mother tongue.

6. Linguistics is the science of language for all human

societies, and is defined as the systematic study of language.

7. Diachronic study: the description of the historical

development of a language. Linguistic study in the 19th century

was primarily concerned with the diachronic description.

8. Synchronic study: the description of a particular state of a

language at a single point of time. The priority of synchronic

description is a characteristic of most twentieth-century linguistic

theories.

9. Syntagmatic relation: the relations between units which

combine to form sequences

10. Paradigmatic relation: oppositions which produce distinct

and alternative terms

11. Competence refers to the knowledge that native speakers

have of their language as system of abstract formal relations.

That is the ideal language user’s knowledge of the rules of his

language.

12. Performance refers to what we do when we speak or

listen, that is, the actual realization of this knowledge in

utterances.

13. A corpus refers to a collection of linguistic data, either

complicated as written texts or as a transcription of recorded

speech.

14. A phonetic transcription is an economical means for

capturing sounds on paper, that is, a method of writing down

speech sounds in a systematic and consistent way.

15. Phoneme is the minimum phonemic unit that is not

further analyzable into smaller units. It is the basic unit in

phonological analysis.

16. Sound patterns refer to the set of sounds that occur in a

given language, the permissible arrangements of these sounds in

words, and the processes for adding, deleting, or changing

sounds.

17. Stress is the pronunciation of a word or syllable with more

force than the surrounding words or syllables.

18. Pitch is a suprasegmental quality which extends over

individual segments and longer stretches of speech.

19. Inflection refers to the process of adding an affix to a

word or changing it in some other way according to the rules of

the grammar of a language.

20. Proverbs are normally in the form of a sentence. A

proverb is often a short sentence that people often quote and

use to give advice and state some general human life experience

and problem.

21. Synonymy: words or expressions with the same or similar

meaning are said to be synonymy.

22. Homonymy refers to cases where lexemes with the same

phonological or morphological shape have different meanings.

23. a speech act：An action performed by the use of an

utterance to communicate is called a speech act.

24. Dialect refers to any regional, social or ethnic variety of a

language.

25. Register refers to the functional variety of language that

is defined according to its use in context. Registers vary

according to the three parameters of context: field, tenor and

mode (Halliday, 1978).

26. Language planning refers to a deliberate attempt, usually

at the level of the state or government administration, to affect

language use in order to prevent or to solve some problems of

communication.

27. Hyponymy is used to refer to a specific—general

semantic relationship between lexical items.

1. What is the scope of linguistics? Answer: there are six

branches of linguistics. 1)Phonetics is the study of human speech

sounds.2)Phonology is the study of sound

patterning.3)Morphology is the study of the internal structures of

the form of words.4)Syntax is the study of sentence

structure.5)Semantics is the study of meaning.6)Pragmatics

studies how speakers use language in ways which can not be

predicted from linguistic knowledge alone.

2. What are the differences between Langue and Parole?

Please analysis the distinctions of Langue and Parole.

Answer: This distinction is proposed by Saussure in his

Course in General Linguistics.

Langue: the abstract system; a collective body of knowledge;

a kind of common reference manual; acquired by all members of

a community of speakers; relatively stable and systematic.

Parole: the particular actualities of individual utterance; the

contingent executive side of things; the relatively superficial

behavioral reflexes of knowledge; the use of language in

utterances; subject to personal or situational constraints.

3. Please describe the three kinds of Origin of Language?

Answer:1) Creation (Devine Origin) Almost every religion has

stories about how man received language from god. The divine

origin theorists propose that in the beginning there was one

language from one source, which later became corrupted into

many languages.2) Evolution:Men evolved from lower forms of

life; language, too, evolved. 3) Invention:The invention theory

believes that there is a natural connection between the forms of

language and the essence of things.

describe the semantic relations : (1)

synonymy and antonymy:

Words or expressions with the same or similar meaning are

said to be synonymous. Antonymy is the relationship of

oppositeness of meaning. (2) meronymy and hyponymy:

Meronymy is a term used to describe a part-whole relationship

between lexical items. Hyponymy is used to refer to a specific—general semantic relationship between lexical items. (3) polysemy

and homonymy: When a single lexeme has several meanings, it

is called my refers to cases where lexemes

with the same phonological or morphological shape have

different meanings.

5. In 1967, linguist Grice proposed the term of the

cooperative principle and its maxims. Then please describe the

cooperative principle and its : According to

cooperative principle, the participants in a conversation normally

communicate in a maximally efficient, rational and cooperative

way. They should speak sincerely, relevantly and clearly, while

providing sufficient information.

Four maxims:(1)The maxim of qualityTry to make your

contribution one that is true, especially: (i) do not say what you

believe to be false and (ii) do not say that for which you lack

adequate evidence.(2)The maxim of your

contribution as informative as is required for the current

purposes of the exchange and (ii) do not make your contribution

more informative than is required.(3)The maxim of

your contribution relevant.(4)The maxim of

perspicuous, and specifically: (i) Avoid obscurity of

expression; (ii) Avoid ambiguity; (iii) Be brief (avoid unnecessary

prolixity) and (iv) Be orderly.

6. What are the major differences between acquisition and

language learning?

Acquisition is called as the spontaneous internalization of

rules and formulas. First language acquisition is also called

mother tongue acquisition. Acquisition takes place in the speech

community where one’s first language or second language is

spoken. It is often natural, without much focus on form. The

learning of English by speakers of other languages in the United

States is an example of second language acquisition.

Foreign language learning is usually takes place in the

speech community where one’s first language is spoken. It is a

conscious process through formal school-like settings and

requires time for processing, for example, the learning of English

in China.

7. Is the language arbitrary? Please analyze the concept of

arbitrariness.

Answer: Language is Arbitrary Saussure regards the linguistic

sign as a two-sided psychological entity. Concept and sound-image are replaced by signified所指and signifier能指respectively.

Arbitrariness is the result of the need to express and code a wide

range of meanings. The speaker of a language, based upon the

convention established in the speech community, associates

linguistic signs with things and concepts. For example, there is

no connection between the word tree and the plant it signifies. It

can equally be called shù in Chinese and arbre in French.

8. What is register? And please describe its three parameters.

Answer: Register refers to the functional variety of language

that is defined according to its use in context. Registers vary

according to the three parameters of context: field, tenor and

mode.

(1) Field refers to the social action. It involves what is

happening, the nature of the social action that is taking place and

what the participants are engaged in. Field is the linguistic

reflection of the role of the language use with a definite purpose

in the situation in which a text has occurred. (2) Tenor refers the

role structure. It involves: who is taking part, the nature of the

participants, their status and roles, and the type of role

relationship between the participants.

(3) Mode refers to the linguistic channel and the rhetorical

mode. Mode reflects the relationship of the language use to the

medium of transmission. (Halliday, 1978)

9. What are the Politeness Principle and its maxims?

Answer: Leech (1983:132) develops the face theory further

and formulates the politeness principle.

a) Tact maxim：Minimize cost to other; Maximize cost of self

b) Generosity maxim：Minimize benefit to self; Maximize

praise of other

c) Approbation maxim：Minimize dispraise of other;

Maximize dispraise of self

d) Modesty maxim：Minimize disagreement between self

and other; Maximize sympathy between self and other

e) Agreement maxim：Minimize disagreement between self

and other; Maximize agreement between self and other

f) Sympathy maxim: Minimize antipathy between self and

other; Maximize sympathy between self and other.

10. Please analyze the distinctions between Free and bound

morphemes.

Answer: If a morpheme can constitute a word (free form) by

itself, it is called a free morpheme, like room, bottle, stand, large.

If a morpheme has meaning only when connected with at least

another morpheme, it is bound, like un- in unlucky, and the plural

–s in bags.

A bound morpheme is also called an affix in the sense that it

is always added to another morpheme. Affixes can be further

divided into prefixes, suffixes and infixes. e.g. dis- in disorder;

mini- in minibus; en- in ensure;-ful, in useful; -less in careless; -e-

in men and women; -i- in mice and lice; -ee- in feet and teeth.

11. Specifically, what do the inflectional morphemes include

in modern English, and what do these inflectional morphemes

indicate? Answer: Inflectional morphemes include in modern

English indicate case and number of nouns, tense and aspect of

verbs, and degree of adjectives and adverbs. Specially, modern

English inflectional morphemes include:

-’s, indicating the possessive case of nouns;

-(e)s, indicating the plural form of noun;

-(e)s, indicating the simple present tense of verbs sgreeing

with a third person sigular subject;

-ed, indicationg the past tense of verbs;

-ing, indicating the progressive aspect of verbs;

-er, indicating the comparative degree of adjectives and

adverbs;

-est, indicating the superlative degree of adjectives and

adverbs.

12. Please explain the Nature of Language as clearly as you

can.

Answer: The nature of language has 6 characteristics:

1) Language is Systematic; 2) Language is Symbolic; 3)

Language is Arbitrary;4) Language is primarily vocal;

5) Language is Human Specific;6) Language is Used for

Communication.

13. What are the major differences between Speech and

Writing?

Answer: Linguists regard the spoken languages as primary,

not the written.

1) Speech is prior to writing historically.2) Genetically,

children always learn to speak before they learn to write.

This is not to deny the importance of writing:

1) With writing, messages can be carried through space.2)

With writing, messages can be carried through time.

3) Oral messages are subject to misunderstanding distortion.

Everything considered, speech is believed to be more

representative of human language than writing. Written

language has a life of its own. Speech has the restriction of both

time and space.

14. What are the major differences between Competence

and Performance?

Answer: This distinction was proposed by American linguist

Chomsky in the 1950s.

Competence refers to the knowledge that native speakers

have of their language as system of abstract formal relations.

That is the ideal language user’s knowledge of the rules of his

language.

Performance refers to what we do when we speak or listen,

that is, the actual realization of this knowledge in utterances.

A speaker’s competence is stable but his performance is

often influenced by psychological and social factors.

16. What may language varieties include? Describe them

clearly.

Answer: Language varieties may include lingua franca, pidgin,

and creole.

(1) Lingua franca通用语------ the general term that serves as

a means of communication between different groups of speakers.

It can be internationally used language like English, or the mother

tongue of one of the groups.

(2) Pidgin洋泾浜------ a contact language that arises in

situations where speakers of different languages can not

understand each other’s first language or native language and,

thus, need to develop a common means of communication.

Linguistically, pidgins are characterized by a limited vocabulary,

a greater use of paraphrase and metaphor, a simplified

phonological system, and a reduced morphology and syntax.

(3) Creole 克里奥尔语------ creoles are former pidgins whose

functional and grammatical limitations and simplification have

been eliminated and which now function as full-fledged,

standardized native languages.

17. What is dialect and its subdivisions of a language?

Answer: Dialect refers to any regional, social or ethnic variety

of a language. All languages spoken by more than one small

homogeneous community are found to consist of two or more

dialects.

Dialects are subdivisions of a language.

1) Regional Dialects --- the language variety used in a

geographical region. When people are separated from each

other geographically, dialectal diversity develops.

2) Social Dialects --- is used to describe differences in speech

associated with various social groups or classes. Whereas

regional dialects are geographically based, social dialects

originate among social groups and are related to a variety of

factors. Social dialect could be further distinguished by gender,

age, ethnic group, religion, and class.

3) Standard Dialect--- refers to a special variety of language

that has no connection with a particular region or social class.

18. What are register and the three parameters?

Answer: Register refers to the functional variety of language

that is defined according to its use in context. Registers vary

according to the three parameters of context: field, tenor and

mode (Halliday, 1978).

(1) Field refers to the social action. It involves what is

happening, the nature of the social action that is taking place and

what the participants are engaged in. Field is the linguistic

reflection of the role of the language use with a definite purpose

in the situation in which a text has occurred. (2) Tenor refers the

role structure. It involves: who is taking part, the nature of the

participants, their status and roles, and the type of role

relationship between the participants.

(3) Mode refers to the linguistic channel and the rhetorical

mode. Mode reflects the relationship of the language use to the

medium of transmission.

15. What are the Leech’s Seven Types of Meaning? Describe

them clearly.

Answer: According to Leech (1981), there exist seven types

of meaning, five of which are included in the associative meaning.

(1) Conceptual meaning: 概念意义it is called “denotative”or

“cognitive”meaning. This refers to the definition given in the

dictionary. For example, man can be defined by the contrastive

features [+Human], [+Male], [+Adult], as distinct from girl, which

can be defined as [+Human], [-Male], [-Adult].

(2) Associative meaning:联想意义it refers to the meaning

associated with the conceptual meaning, which can be further

divided into following five types.

(i) Connotative meaning. 内涵意义This is the communicative

value attributed to an expression over and above is purely

conceptual meaning. For example, woman with unappreciable

properties such as frail, prone to tears, cowardly, irrational,

inconstant, as well as virtues like gentle, compassionate,

hardworking, sensitive.

(ii) Social meaning: it is refers o what is communicated of the

social circumstances of language use, including variations like

dialect, time, topic, and style.

(iii) Affective meaning:情感意义it is what is communicated of

the feelings and attitudes of the speaker/ writer towards the

listener/reader/and /or what he or she is talking about. E.g. idiot

conveys one’s despise or describes sth. as “marvelous”to

express o ne’s positive evaluation.

(iv) Reflected meaning: it is the meaning when we associate

one sense of an expression with another. For example, the word

dear in certain context is used in the sense ―expensive‖ but also

alludes to the sense of ―beloved‖.

(v) Collocative meaning搭配意义: This refers to what is

communicated though association with words which tends to

occur in the environment of another words. Both pretty and

handsome can be used to mean “good-looking”but differ in

the range of nouns with which they can co-occur or collocate. For

example, pretty can go with girl, woman, flower, garden, color,

village, etc. while handsome can collocate with boy, man, car, car,

vessel, overcoat, airliner, typewriter, etc.

(3) Thematic meaning 主题意义This is what is communicated

by the way in which the message is organized in terms of order

and emphasis.