戴炜栋新编简明英语语言学教程第二版课后题答案

达聪 • 2022年7月25日 pm6:25 • 升学考研

戴炜栋《新编简明英语语言学教程》（第2版）笔记和课后习题（含考研真题）详解

遵循该教材的章目编排，共分12章，每章由三部分组成：第一部分为复习笔记（中英文对照），总结本章的重点难点；
第二部分是课后习题详解，对该书的课后思考题进行了详细解答；
第三部分是考研真题与典型题详解，精选名校经典考研真题及相关习题，并提供了详细的参考答案。
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第一章导言【课后习题详解】

How do you interpret the following definition of linguistics: Linguistics is the scientific study of language.
What are the major branches of linguistics? What does each of them study?
In what basic ways does modern linguistics differ from traditional grammar?
Is modern linguistics mainly synchronic or diachronic? Why?
For what reasons does modern linguistics give priority to speech rather than to writing?
How is Saussure’s distinction between langue and parole similar to Chomsky’s distinction between competence and performance?
What characteristics of language do you think should be included in a good, comprehensive definition of language?
What are the main features of human language that have been specified by C. Hockett to show that it is essentially different from animal communication system?
What are the major functions of language? Think of your own examples for illustration.

【参考答案】

Linguistics is a scientific study of language because it follows the methodology of other scientific study:

First of all, it is based on full and systematic collection and investigation of linguistic data, which display some similarities, and generalizations are made about them.

Then linguists formulate some hypotheses about the language structure. The hypotheses thus formed have to be checked repeatedly against the observed facts to fully prove their validity. In linguistics, as in any other discipline, data and theory stand in a dialectical complementation, that is, a theory without the support of data can hardly claim validity, and data without being explained by some theory remain a muddled mass of things.

Linguistics includes Micro-Linguistics and Macro-Linguistics.
Branches of Micro-Linguistics:

(1) Phonetics: it studies the sounds used in linguistic communication;

(2) Phonology: it studies how sounds are put together and used to convey meaning in communication;

(3) Morphology: it studies the way in which linguistic symbols representing sounds are arranged and combined to form words;

(4) Syntax: it studies the rules which govern how words are combined to form grammatically permissible sentences in languages;

(5) Semantics: it studies meaning conveyed by language;

(6) Pragmatics: it studies the meaning in the context of language use.

Branches of Macro-Linguistics:

(1) Psycholinguistics: it studies language and its relation with psychology.

(2) Sociolinguistics: it studies all social aspects of language and its relation with society form the core of the branch.

(3) Applied linguistics: it studies the applications of language to the solution of practical problems. Narrowly, it is the application of linguistic theories and principles to language teaching, especially the teaching of foreign and second languages.

(4) Other branches，such as computational linguistics, neurolinguistics.

Modern linguistics differs from traditional grammar in several basic ways.

(1) Modern linguistics is descriptive while traditional grammar is prescriptive.

(2) Modern linguistics regards the spoken language as primary, not the written. Traditional grammarians, on the other hand, tended to emphasize, or over-emphasize, the importance of the written documents especially the Greek or Roman Classical works, partly because of its permanence.

(3) Modern linguistics differs from traditional grammar also in that it does not force languages into a Latin-based grammar framework.

In modern linguistics, a synchronic approach seems to enjoy priority over a diachronic one. Because people believe that unless the various states of a language in different historical periods are successfully studied, it would be difficult to describe the changes that have taken place in its historical development.
Speech and writing are the two major media of linguistic communication. Modern linguistics regards the spoken language as the natural or the primary medium of human language.

Modern linguistics gives the spoken language priority for some obvious reasons:

(1) From the point of view of linguistic evolution, speech is prior to writing. The writing system of any language is always “invented” by its users to record speech. Even in today’s world there are still many languages that can only be spoken but not written.

(2) In everyday communication, speech plays a greater role than writing in terms of the amount of information conveyed. People use much more oral language in daily life than using written language.

(3) Speech is always the way in which every native speaker acquires his or her mother tongue, while writing is learned and taught later, when he or she goes to school.

(4) For modern linguists, spoken language reveals many true features of human speech while written language is only the “revised” record of speech. Thus their data, for investigation and analysis are mostly drawn from everyday speech, which they regard as authentic.

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戴炜栋《新编简明英语语言学教程》辅导资料

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①In Saussure’s definition, langue refers to the abstract linguistic system shared by all the members of a speech community, and parole refers to the realization of langue in actual use.

②Similar to Saussure’s distinction, Chomsky’s definition about competence is the ideal user’s knowledge of the rules of his language, and performance is the actual realization of this knowledge in linguistic communication.

③Both the notion of langue and competence refer to the abstract and ideal nature of language within a human being, and parole and performance point to the actual language use. Similar to Saussure, Chomsky thinks that what linguists should study is the ideal speaker’s competence, not his performance.

Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication. The definition of language should include five essential factors of language: systematic, arbitrary, vocal, symbolic and most importantly human-specific.

First of all, language is a system, i. e. , linguistic elements are arranged systematically rather than randomly.

Second, language is arbitrary in the sense that there is no intrinsic connection between a linguistic symbol and what the symbol stands for.

Third, language is vocal because the primary medium for all languages is sound or speech.

Fourth, words are just symbols; they are associated with objects, actions, ideas, etc. by convention.

Fifth, language is human-specific, i. e. , it is very different from the communication systems other forms of life possess.

(1) Arbitrariness

This means that there is no logical connection between meanings and sounds. A good example is the fact that different sounds are used to refer to the same object in different languages. But it is not entirely arbitrary at all levels. Some words, such as the ones created in the imitation of sounds by sounds are motivated in a certain degree.

(2) Productivity

Language is productive or creative in that it makes possible the construction and interpretation of new signals by its users. This is why they can produce and understand an infinitely large number of sentences, including sentences they have never heard before.

(3) Duality

Language is a system, which consists of two sets of structures, or two levels. At the lower or the basic level there is a structure of sounds, which are meaningless by themselves. But the sounds of language can be grouped and regrouped into a large number of units of meaning, which are found at the higher level of the system.

(4) Displacement

Language can be used to refer to things which are present or not present, real or imagined matters in the past, present, or future, or in far-away places. This property provides speakers with an opportunity to talk about a wide range of things, free from barriers caused by separation in time and place.

(5) Cultural Transmission

Language is culturally transmitted. It cannot be transmitted through heredity.

(6) Interchangeability

Interchangeability refers to the fact that man can both produce and receive messages, and his roles as a speaker and a hearer can be exchanged at ease.

The three major functions of language are the descriptive function, the expressive function and the social function.

The descriptive function is also referred to as the cognitive, or referential function. It is assumed to be the primary function of language. It is the function to convey factual information which can be asserted or denied, and in some cases even verified. E. g. “The disaster is the most serious one the country has ever seen.”

The expressive function is also called the emotive or attitudinal function. It supplied information about the user’s feelings, preferences, prejudices and values. The example is “I will never go there for the rest of my life.”

The social function is also referred to as the interpersonal function. It serves to establish and maintain social relations between people, e. g. “How are you doing recently?”

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