语言学课后练习之练习(1)Language
language
the nature of language briefly with examples.
is it said that the language system is unique to human
beings?
are the characteristics of human language?
are the social functions of language?
animals other than humans have their own languages?
ify how animals communicate with each other.
language be viewed only as a system of
communication? Why not?
did language come into being? What is the
relationship between the origin
of language and the origin of human beings?
e each of the following lists of words into natural
order.
(1)Five /the /fresh /potatoes
(2)Pretty /American /girls /the two
(3)Airlines /brand /France-made /new /the two
(4)Fashions /Chinese /the /latest /three
(5)Beginning /hardworking /two /the /workers
in the blanks with the proper words.
(1)_______ function means language can be used to “do”
things.
(2)_______ function means the use of language to reveal
something about the feelings and attitudes of the speaker.
(3)Most imperative sentences are associated with _______
function.
(4)The sentence “What’s it like?” shows ______ function.
(5)Greetings shows _______ function.
(6)“We are most grateful for this.” shows______ function.
(7)Propaganda shows ________ function.
(8)________ refers to contexts removed from the immediate
of the speaker.
(9)For________, reference is not the only, not even the
primary goal of communication.
(10)Halliday’s metafunctions include ________, ___________,
_____________.
(11)Linguistics should include at least five
parameters:_________
_________________.
. the following are true or false. If it is false correct it
(1)Language distinguishes us from animals because it is
far more sophisticated than any animals communication system.
(2)There is not a certain degree of correspondence
between the sequence of clauses and the actual happenings.
(3)The theories discussed in the textbook about the
origins of language are not at most a speculation.
(4)The definition,“ Language is a tool for human
communication.” has no problem.
(5)The definition, “language is a set of rules”, tells
nothing about its functions.
(6)Hall, like Sapir, treats language as a purely human
institution.
(7)Chomsky’s definition about language is the same as
Sapir’s.
语言学课外单元补充习题答案
Language(Exercise 1)
__________ ___________ ____________
1. State the nature of language briefly with examples.
Answer: modern linguists have proposed various definitions
of language such as: Language is “a purely human and non-instinctive method of communicating ideas, emotion s and
desires by means of voluntarily produced symbols.” (Sapir, 1921)
Language is “the institution whereby humans communicate and
interact with each other by means of habitually used oral-auditory arbitrary symbols.” (Hall, 1968) Language is “a set (fin
ite or infinite) of sentences, each finite in length and constructed
out of a finite set of elements.” (Chomsky, 1957)
“语言是人跟人互通信息,用发音器官发出来的,成系统的行为的方式。”(赵元任)
Each of these definitions has its own special emphasis.
However, there is a generally accepted definition: Language is a
system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human
communication. The definition has captured main features of
human language: (i) language is a system; (ii) language is
arbitrary; (iii) language is vocal; (iv) language is human-specific;
and (v) language is to communicate. (Students should illustrate
these points more clearly)
2. Why is it said that the language system is unique to human
beings?
That language is human specific means that language is
different from the communication systems other forms of life
have, such as bird songs and bee dances. (More about this point
can be found in the illustration of the design features of language)
3. What are the characteristics of human language?
Human language is characterized by its design features,
which refers to the defining properties of human language which
distinguish it from animal communication system. American
linguist Charles Hockett specified 13 features (some of them
discussed in our textbook):
1. Mode of communication: vocal-auditory;
2. Rapid Fading: Message does not linger in time or space
after production.
3. Interchangeability: individuals who use a language can
both send and receive any permissible message within that
communication system.
4. Feedback: users of a language can perceive what they are
transmitting and can make corrections if they make errors.
5. Specialization: the direct-energetic consequences of
linguistic signals are usually biologically trivial; only the
triggering effects are important.
6. Semanticity: there are associative ties between signal
elements and features in the world; in short, some linguistic
forms have denotations.
7. Arbitrariness: there is no logical connection between the
form of the signal and its meaning.
8. Discreteness: messages in the system are made up of
smaller, repeatable parts; the sounds of language (or cheremes
of a sign) are perceived categorically, not continuously.
9. Displacement: linguistic messages may refer to things
remote in time and space, or both, from the site of the
communication.
10. Productivity: users can create and understand completely
novel messages. 1) In
a language, new messages are freely coined by blending,
analogizing from, or transforming old ones. This says that every
language has grammatical patterning. 2) In a language, either
new or old elements are freely assigned new semantic loads by
circumstances and context. This says that in every language new
idioms constantly come into existence.
11. Cultural transmission: the conventions of a language are
learned by interacting with more experienced users.
12. Duality (of Patterning): a large number of meaningful
elements are made up of
a conveniently small number of meaningless but message-differentiating elements.
13. Prevarication: linguistic messages can be false, deceptive,
or meaningless.
14. Reflexiveness: In a language, one can communicate about
communication.
15. Learnability: A speaker of a language can learn another
language.
(Charles Hockett, 1966, "The Problem of Universals in
Language".)
Among them, arbitrariness, duality, productivity,
displacement are the crucial and central properties of language.
4. What are the social functions of language?
Language serves various social functions as follows:
1) phatic: language is used for establishing an atmosphere
for further communication or maintaining social contact rather
than for exchanging information, such as greetings, farewells and
comments on the weather.
2) directive: language is used to get the hearer to do
something.
3) informative: language is the instrument of thought, is to
give information or record the facts.
4) interrogative: language is used to get information from
others.
5) expressive: language is used to convey the user’s feelings
or attitudes.
6) evocative: language is used to create certain feelings in
the hearer.
7) performative: language can be used to perform certain
acts.
(Students are required to list other functions of language and
give some examples)
5. Do animals other than humans have their own languages?
Animals have their own communication systems which may
be different from human languages. For instance, a bee can tell
other bees the location, direction, distance or quality of the food
source by performing a dance on a wall of the hive. An ant can
convey information to its partners through its feelers.
6. Exemplify how animals communicate with each other.
See the answer to the question 5 (list more examples about
other animals).
7. Can language be viewed only as a system of
communication? Why not?
The statement that language is a system of communication
does not clarify the
nature of language. Language is a complicated notion. A
proper definition should be based on the structures, features and
functions of language. Moreover, if language is defined merely
as a system of communication, then language is not unique to
humans. (More on this see the answers above.)
8. How did language come into being? What is the
relationship between the origin of language and the origin of
human beings?
There are many theories about the origin of language. Four
theories are introduced in the textbook1(PP. 9-19). You can find
more information about this problem on the internet, or in the
library.
The relationship between the origin of language and the
origin of human beings is an open question. Students can discuss
it according to your understanding.
9. Rewrite each of the following lists of words into natural
order.
Five /the /fresh /potatoes: The five fresh potatoes
Pretty /American /girls /the two: The two pretty American
girls
Airlines /brand /France-made /new /the two: The two new
brand France-made airlines
Fashions /Chinese /the /latest /three: The latest three
Chinese fashions
Beginning /hardworking /two /the /workers: The two
beginning hardworking workers
10. Fill in the blanks with the proper words.
(1)Performative function means language can be used to
“do” things.
(2)Emotive/expressive function means the use of
language to reveal something about the feelings and attitudes of
the speaker.
(3)Most imperative sentences are associated with
directive function.
(4)The sentence “What’s it like?” shows interrogative
function.
(5)Greetings shows phatic function.
(6)“We are most grateful for this.” shows expressive
function.
(7)Propaganda shows evocative function.
(8)Displacement refers to contexts removed from the
immediate of the speaker.
(9)For Jakobson, reference is not the only, not even the
primary goal of communication.
(10)Halliday’s metafunctions include Ideational,
Interpersonal and Textual functions.
(11)Linguistics should include at least five
parameters:_________
_________________.
11. Say the following are true or false. If it is false correct it
1) Language distinguishes us from animals because it is far
more sophisticated
than any animals communication system. (T)
2) There is not a certain degree of correspondence between
the sequence of
clauses and the actual happenings. (F) The order of clauses
are always matching the actual sequence of happenings.
3) The theories discussed in the textbook about the origins
of language are not at
most a speculation. (F) (more about this on P.10)
1The textbook refers to Linguistics: A Course Book edited by
Hu Zhuanglin, Beijing University Press, 2001.
4) The definition“Language is a tool for human
communication.” has no problem.(F) The definition just focuses
on the function of language, which does not include the nature
and features of language.
5) The definition, “language is a set of rules”, tells no thing
about its functions. (T)
6) Hall, like Sapir, treats language as a purely human
__________ ___________ ____________
institution. (F) (See the answer to the question 1)
7) Chomsky’s definition about language is the same as
Sapir’s. (F) (See the answer to the question 1)
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