pursue用法英语语言学概论重难点提示笔记

2021年1月19日发(作者：tui)



































































































































。

《英语语言学概论》重、难点提示



Questions & Answers on Key Points of Linguistics
《英语语言学概论》重、难点问与答

1.1.







What is language?
“
Language
is
system
of
arbitrary
vocal
symbols
used
for
human
communication.
It
is
a
system,
since
linguistic elements are arranged systematically, rather than randomly. Arbitrary, in the sense
that
there
is
usually
no
intrinsic
connection
between
a
work
(like
“
book
”
)
and
the
object
it
refers
to. This explains and is explained by the fact that different languages have different
“
books
”
:
“
book
”
in English,
“
livre
”
in French, in Japanese, in Chinese,
“
check
”
in Korean. It is symbolic,
because
words
are
associated
with
objects,
actions,
ideas
etc.
by
nothing
but
convention.
Namely,
people
use
the
sounds
or
vocal
forms
to
symbolize
what
they
wish
to refer
to.
It
is
vocal,
because
sound
or
speech
is
the
primary
medium
for
all
human
languages,
developed
or
“
new
”
.
Writing
systems
came much later than the spoken forms. The fact that small children learn and can only learn to
speak
(and
listen)
before
they
write
(and
read)
also
indicates
that
language
is
primarily
vocal,
rather
than
written.
The
term
“
human
”

in
the
definition
is
meant
to
specify
that
language
is
human
specific.

1.2.







What are design features of language?
“
Design
features
”

here
refer
to
the
defining
properties
of
human
language
that
tell
the
difference
between human language and any system of animal communication. They are arbitrariness, duality,
productivity, displacement, cultural transmission and interchangeability
1.3.







What is arbitrariness?
By
“
arbitrariness
”
,
we
mean
there
is
no
logical
connection
between
meanings
and
sounds
(see
I
.1).
A dog might be a pig if only the first person or group of persons had used it for a pig. Language
is therefore largely arbitrary. But language is not absolutely seem to be some sound-meaning
association,
if
we
think
of
echo
words,
like
“
bang
”
,
“
crash
”
,
“
roar
”
,
which
are
motivated
in
a
certain
sense.
Secondly,
some
compounds
(words
compounded
to
be
one
word)
are
not
entirely
arbitrary
either.
“
Type
”
and
“
write
”
are opaque or unmotivated words, while
“
type-writer
”
is less so, or more
transparent or motivated than the words that make it. So we can say
“
arbitrariness
”
is a matter
of degree.

is duality?
Linguists refer
“
duality
”
(of structure) to the fact that in all languages so far investigated,
one
finds
two
levels
of
structure
or
patterning.
At
the
first,
higher
level,
language
is
analyzed
in
terms
of
combinations
of
meaningful
units
(such
as
morphemes,
words
etc.);
at
the
second,
lower
level,
it
is
seen
as
a
sequence
of
segments
which
lack
any
meaning
in
themselves,
but
which
combine
to
form
units
of
meaning.
According
to
Hu
Zhanglin
et
al.
(p.6),
language
is
a
system
of
two
sets
of structures, one of sounds and the other of meaning. This is important for the workings of
language. A small number of semantic units (words), and these units of meaning can be arranged
and rearranged into an infinite number of sentences (note that we have dictionaries of words,
but no dictionary of sentences!). Duality makes it possible for a person to talk about anything
within
his
knowledge.
No
animal
communication
system
enjoys
this
duality,
or
even
approaches
this
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honor.

is productivity?
Productivity refers to the ability to the ability to construct and understand an indefinitely
large number of sentences in one
’
s native language, including those that has never heard before,
but that are appropriate to the speaking situation. No one has ever said or heard
“
A red-eyed
elephant
is
dancing
on
the
small
hotel
bed
with
an
African
gibbon
”
,
but
he
can
say
it
when
necessary,
and he can understand it in right register. Different from artistic creativity, though,
productivity never goes outside the language, thus also called
“
rule-bound creativity
”
(by
y).

is displacement?
“
Displacement
”
, as one of the design features of the human language, refers to the fact that one
can talk about things that are not present, as easily as he does things present. In other words,
one
can
refer
to
real
and
unreal
things,
things
of
the
past,
of
the
present,
of
the
future.
Language
itself can be talked about too. When a man, for example, 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.
When
a
dog
is
barking,
however,
you
can
decide
it
is
barking
for
something
or
at
someone
that exists now and there. It couldn
’
t be bow wowing sorrowfully for dome lost love or a bone
to be lost. The bee
’
s system, nonetheless, has a small share of
“
displacement
”
, but it is an
unspeakable tiny share.

is cultural transmission?
This
means
that
language
is
not
biologically
transmitted
from
generation
to
generation,
but
that
the details of the linguistic system must be learned anew by each speaker. It is true that the
capacity for language in human beings (N. Chomsky called it
“
language acquisition device
”
, or
LAD) has a genetic basis, but the particular language a person learns to speak is a cultural one
other
than
a
genetic
one
like
the
dog
’
s
barking
system.
If
a
human
being
is
brought
up
in
isolation
he cannot acquire language. The Wolf Child reared by the pack of wolves turned out to speak the
wolf
’
s roaring
“
tongue
”
when he was saved. He learned thereafter, with no small difficulty, the
ABC of a certain human language.

is interchangeability?
(1)







Interchangeability means that any human being can be both a producer and a receiver of
messages. We can say, and on other occasions can receive and understand, for example,
“
Please
do something to make me happy.
”
Though some people (including me) suggest that there is sex
differentiation
in
the
actual
language
use,
in
other
words,
men
and
women
may
say
different
things,
yet in principle there is no sound, or word or sentence that a man can utter and a woman cannot,
or
vice
versa.
On
the
other
hand,
a
person
can
be
the
speaker
while
the
other
person
is
the
listener
and
as
the
turn
moves
on
to
the
listener,
he
can
be
the
speaker
and
the
first
speaker
is
to
listen.
It is turn-taking that makes social communication possible and acceptable.
(2)







Some
male
birds,
however,
utter
some
calls,
which
females
do
not
(or
cannot?),
and
certain
kinds of fish have similar haps mentionable. When a dog barks, all the neighboring dogs bark.
Then people around can hardly tell which dog (dogs) is (are0
“
speaking
”
and which listening.
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。


do linguists say language is human specific?
First of all, human language has six
“
design features
”
which animal communication systems do not
have, at least not in the true sense of them (see I .2-8). Let
’
s borrow C. F. Hocket
’
s Chart that
compares human language with some animals
’
systems, from Wang Gang (1998,p.8).
Secondly, linguists
have done
a lot trying to teach animals
such
as chimpanzees
to
speak a human
language
but
have
achieved
nothing
inspiring.
Beatnice
and
Alan
Gardner
brought
up
Washoe,
a
female
chimpanzee, like a human child. She was taught
“
American sign Language
”
, and learned a little
that made the teachers happy but did mot make the linguistics circle happy, for few believed in
teaching chimpanzees.
Thirdly, a human child reared among animals cannot speak a human language, not even when he is
taken back and taught to lo to so (see the
“
Wolf Child
”
in I.7)

functions does language have?
Language
has
at
least
seven
functions:
phatic,
directive,
Informative,
interrogative,
expressive,
evocative
and
per
formative.
According
to
Wang
Gang
(1988,p.11),
language
has
three
main
functions:
a tool of communication, a tool whereby people learn about the world, and a tool by which people
learn about the world, and a tool by which people create art. M .A. ay, representative
of the London school, recognizes three
“
Macro- Functions
”
: ideational, interpersonal and textual
(see! 11-17;see HU Zhuanglin et al., pp10-13, pp394-396).

1.







11What is the phatic function?
The
“
phatic function
”
refers to language being used for setting up a certain atmosphere or
maintaining social contacts (rather than for exchanging information or ideas). Greetings,
farewells,
and
comments
on
the
weather
in
English
and
on
clothing
in
Chinese
all
serve
this
function.
Much
of
the
phatic
language
(e.g.
“
How
are
you?
”

“
Fine,
thanks.
”
)
Is
insincere
if
taken
literally,
but it is important. If you don't say
“
Hello
”
to a friend you meet, or if you don
’
t answer his
“
Hi
”
, you ruin your friendship.

1.12.







What is the directive function?
The
“
directive function
”
means that language may be used to get the hearer to do something. Most
imperative sentences perform this function, e.g.,
“
Tell me the result when you finish.
”
Other
syntactic structures or sentences of other sorts can, according to and
’
s
“
indirect speech act theory
”
(see Hu Zhuanglin et al., pp271-278) at least, serve the purpose of
direction too, e.g.,
“
If I were you, I would have blushed to the bottom of my ears!
”


is the informative function?
Language serves an
“
informational function
”
when used to tell something, characterized by the
use of declarative sentences. Informative statements are often labeled as true (truth) or false
(falsehood). According
to
’
s
“
Cooperative
Principle
”
(see Hu Zhuanglin et al., pp282-283),
one ought not to violate the
“
Maxim of Quality
”
, when he is informing at all.

is the interrogative function?
When
language
is
used
to
obtain
information,
it
serves
an
“
interrogative
function
”
.
This
includes
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。

all
questions
that
expect
replies,
statements,
imperatives
etc.,
according
to
the
“
indirect
speech
act theory
”
, may have this function as well, e.g.,
“
I
’
d like to know you better.
”
This may bring
forth
a
lot
of
personal
information.
Note
that
rhetorical
questions
make
an
exception,
since
they
demand no answer, at least not the reader
’
s/listener
’
s answer.

is the expressive function?
The
“
expressive
function
”

is
the
use
of
language
to
reveal
something
about
the
feelings
or
attitudes
of the speaker. Subconscious emotional ejaculations are good examples, like
“
Good heavens!
”

“
My
God!
”

Sentences
like
“
I
’
m
sorry
about
the
delay
”

can
serve
as
good
examples
too,
though
in
a
subtle
way.
While
language
is
used
for
the
informative
function
to
pass
judgment
on
the
truth
or
falsehood
of statements, language used for the expressive function evaluates, appraises or asserts the
speaker
’
s own attitudes.

is the evocative function?
The
“
evocative function
”
is the use of language to create certain feelings in the hearer. Its
aim
is,
for
example,
to
amuse,
startle,
antagonize,
soothe,
worry
or
please.
Jokes
(not
practical
jokes, though) are supposed to amuse or entertain the listener; advertising to urge customers
to purchase certain commodities; propaganda to influence public opinion. Obviously, the
expressive and the evocative functions often go together, i.e., you may express, for example,
your personal feelings about a political issue but end up by evoking the same feeling in, or
imposing it on, your listener. That
’
s also the case with the other way round.

is the per formative function?
This means people speak to
“
do things
”
or perform actions. On certain occasions the utterance
itself as an
action
is more
important
than
what words
or sounds constitute
the uttered sentence.
When asked if a third Yangtze Bridge ought to be built in Wuhan, the mayor may say,
“
OK
”
, which
means more than speech, and more than an average social individual may do for the construction.
The
judge
’
s
imprisonment
sentence,
the
president
’
s
war
or
independence
declaration,
etc.,
are
per
formatives as well (see
’
s speech Act Theory, Hu Zhuanglin, 271-278).

is linguistics?
“
Linguistics
”
is the scientific study of language. It studies not just one language of any one
society, but also the language of all human beings. A linguist, though, does not have to know
and use a large number of languages, but to investigate how each language is constructed. He is
also concerned with how a language varies from dialect to dialect, from class to class, how it
changes
from
century
to
century,
how
children
acquire
their
mother
tongue,
and
perhaps
how
a
person
learns or should learn a foreign language. In short, linguistics studies the general principles
whereupon all human languages are constructed and operate as systems of communication in their
societies or communities (see Hu Zhuanglin et al., pp20-22)

makes linguistics a science?
Since
linguistics
is
the
scientific
study
of
language,
it
ought
to
base
itself
upon
the
systematic,
investigation of language data, which aims at discovering the true nature of language and its
underlying system. To make sense of the data, a linguist usually has conceived some hypotheses
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。

about the language structure, to be checked against the observed or observable facts. In order
to
make
his
analysis
scientific,
a
linguist
is
usually
guided
by
four
principles:
exhaustiveness,
consistency, and objectivity. Exhaustiveness means he should gather all the materials relevant
to the study and give them an adequate explanation, in spite of the complicatedness. He is to
leave
no
linguistic
“
stone
”

unturned.
Consistency
means
there
should be
no
contradiction
between
different parts of the total statement. Economy means a linguist should pursue brevity in the
analysis when it is possible. Objectivity implies that since some people may be subjective in
the
study,
a
linguist
should
be
(or
sound
at
least)
objective,
matter-of-face,
faithful
to
reality,
so that his work constitutes part of the linguistics research.

are the major branches of linguistics?
The study of language as a whole is often called general linguistics ( Zhuanglin et al.,
1988;Wang Gang,
1988). But
a linguist
sometimes
is
able
to
deal
with only one
aspect of
language
at
a
time,
thus
the
arise
of
various
branches:
phonetics,
phonology,
morphology,
syntax,
semantics,
sociolinguistics,
applied
linguistics,
pragmatics,
psycholinguistics,
lexicology,
lexicography,
etymology, etc.

are synchronic and diachronic studies?
The description of a language at some point of time (as if it stopped developing) is a synchrony
study
(synchrony).
The
description
of
a
language
as
it
changes
through
time
is
a
diachronic
study
(diachronic).
An
essay
entitled
“
On
the
Use
of
THE
”
,
for
example,
may
be
synchronic,
if
the
author
does
not
recall
the
past
of
THE,
and
it
may
also
be
diachronic
if
he
claims
to
cover
a
large
range
or period of time wherein THE has undergone tremendous alteration (see Hu Zhuanglin et al.,
pp25-27).

is speech and what is writing?
(1)







No one needs the repetition of the general principle of linguistic analysis, namely,
the
primacy
of
speech
over
writing.
Speech
is
primary;
because
it
existed
long
long
before
writing
systems
came
into
being.
Genetically
children
learn
to
speak
before
learning
to
write.
Secondly,
written
forms
just
represent
in
this
way
or
that
the
speech
sounds:
individual
sounds,
as
in
English
and French as in Japanese.
(2)







In
contrast
to
speech,
spoken
form
of
language,
writing
as
written
codes,
gives
language
new scope and use that speech does not have. Firstly, messages can be carried through space so
that people can write to each other. Secondly, messages can be carried through time thereby, so
that people of our time can be carried through time thereby, so that people of our time can read
Beowulf,
Samuel
Johnson,
and
Edgar
A.
Poe.
Thirdly,
oral
messages
are
readily
subject
to
distortion,
either intentional or unintentional (causing misunderstanding or malentendu), while written
messages allow and encourage repeated unalterable reading.
(3)







Most
modern
linguistic
analysis
is
focused
on
speech,
different
from
grammarians
of
the
last century and theretofore.

are the differences between the descriptive and the prescriptive approaches?
A linguistic study is
“
descriptive
”
if it only describes and analyses the facts of language, and
“
prescriptive
”
if it tries to lay down rules for

“
correct
”
language behavior. Linguistic studies
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before this century were largely prescriptive because many early grammars were largely
prescriptive because many early grammars were based on
“
high
”
(literary or religious) written
records.
Modern
linguistics
is
mostly
descriptive,
however.
It
(the
latter)
believes
that
whatever
occurs in natural speech (hesitation, incomplete utterance, misunderstanding, etc.) should be
described in the analysis, and not be marked as incorrect, abnormal, corrupt, or lousy. These,
with changes in vocabulary and structures, need to be explained also.

is the difference between langue and parole?
F. De Saussure refers
“
langue
”
to the abstract linguistic system shared by all the members of a
speech community and refers
“
parole
”
to the actual or actualized language, or the realization
of langue. Langue is abstract, parole specific to the speaking situation; langue not actually
spoken
by
an
individual,
parole
always
a
naturally
occurring
event;
langue
relatively
stable
and
systematic, parole is a mass of confused facts, thus not suitable for systematic investigation.
What
a
linguist
ought
to
do,
according
to
Saussure,
is
to
abstract
langue
from
instances
of
parole,
I. e. to discover the regularities governing all instances of parole and make than the subject
of
linguistics.
The
langue-parole
distinction
is
of
great
importance,
which
casts
great
influence
on later linguists.

is the difference between competence and performance?
(1)







According
to
N.
Chomsky,
“
competence
”

is
the
ideal
language
user
’
s
knowledge
of
the
rules
of his language, and
“
performance
”
is the actual realization of this knowledge in utterances.
The former enables a speaker to produce and understand an indefinite number of sentences and to
recognize grammatical mistakes and ambiguities. A speaker
’
s competence is stable while his
performance is often influenced by psychological and social factors. So a speaker
’
s performance
does not always match or equal his supposed competence.
(2)







Chomsky
believes
that
linguists
ought
to
study
competence,
rather
than
performance.
In
other words, they should discover what an ideal speaker knows of his native language.
(3)







Chomsky
’
s
competence- performance
distinction
is
not
exactly
the
same
as,
though
similar
to,
F.
de
Saussure
’
s
langue-parole
distinction.
Langue
is
a
social
product,
and
a
set
of
conventions
for
a
community,
while
competence
is
deemed
as
a
property
of
the
mind
of
each
individual.
Sussure
looks
at
language
more
from
a
sociological
or
sociolinguistic
point
of
view
than
N.
Chomsky
since
the latter deals with his issues psychologically or psycholinguistically.

is linguistic potential? What is actual linguistic behavior?
M.
A.
K.
Halliday
made
these
two
terms,
or
the
potential-behavior
distinction,
in
the
1960s,
from
a functional point of view. There is a wide range of things a speaker can do in his culture, and
similarly there are many things he can say, for example, to many people, on many topics. What
he
actually
says
(i.e.
his
“
actual
linguistic
behavior
”
)
on
a
certain
occasion
to
a
certain
person
is what he has chosen from many possible injustice items, each of which he could have said
(linguistic potential).


what
way
do
language,
competence
and
linguistic
potential
agree?
In
what
way
do
they
differ?
And their counterparts?
Langue, competence and linguistic potential have some similar features, but they are innately
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different (see 1.25). Langue is a social product, and a set of speaking conventions; competence
is
a
property
or
attribute
of
each
ideal
speaker
’
s
mind;
linguistic
potential
is
all
the
linguistic
corpus or repertoire available from which the speaker chooses items for the actual utterance
situation. In other words, langue is invisible but reliable abstract system. Competence means
“
knowing
”
, and linguistic potential a set of possibilities for
“
doing
”
or
“
performing actions
”
.
They
are
similar
in
that
they
all
refer
to
the
constant
underlying
the
utterances
that
constitute
what
Saussure,
Chomsky
and
Halliday
respectively
called
parole,
performance
and
actual
linguistic
behavior. Paole, performance and actual linguistic behavior enjoy more similarities than
differences.

is phonetics?
“
Phonetics
”
is the science which studies the characteristics of human sound-making, especially
those sounds used in speech, and provides methods for their description, classification and
transcription
(see
Hu
Zhuanglin
et
al.,
pp39-40),
speech
sounds
may
be
studied
in
different
ways,
thus
by
three
different
branches
of
phonetics.
(1)
Articulatory
phonetics;
the
branch
of
phonetics
that examines the way in which a speech sound is produced to discover which vocal organs are
involved and how they coordinate in the process. (2) Auditory phonetics, the branch of phonetic
research from the hearer
’
s point of view, looking into the impression which a speech sound makes
on the hearer as mediated by the ear, the auditory nerve and the brain. (3) Acoustic phonetics:
the study of the physical properties of speech sounds, as transmitted between mouth and ear.
Most phoneticians, however, are interested in articulator phonetics.

are the vocal organs formed?
The vocal organs (see Figure1, Hu Zhuanglin et al., p41), or speech organs, are organs of the
human body whose secondary use is in the production of speech sounds. The vocal organs can be
considered as consisting of three parts; the initiator of the air-stream, the producer of voice
and the resonating cavities.

is place of articulation?
It
refers
to the
place in
the mouth
where, for
example,
the obstruction
occurs,
resulting
in
the
utterance of a consonant. Whatever sound is pronounced, at least some vocal organs will get
involved. g. Lips, hard palate etc., so a consonant may be one of the following (1) bilabial:
[p,
b,
m];
(2)
labiodental:
[f,
v];
(3)
dental:
[,];
(4)
alveolar:
[t,
d,
l,
n.s,
z];
(5)
retroflex;
(6) palato-alveolar: [,]; (7) palatal: [j]; (8) velar [k, g,]; (9) uvular; (10) glottal: [h].
Some
sounds
involve
the
simultaneous
use
of
two
places
of
articulation.
For
example,
the
English
[w] has both an approximation of the two lips and those two lips and that of the tongue and the
soft palate, and may be termed
“
labial- velar
”
.

is the manner of articulation?
The
“
manner of articulation
”
literally means the way a sound is articulated. At a given place
of articulation, the airstreams may be obstructed in various ways, resulting in various manners
of
articulation,
are
the
following:
(1)
plosive:
[p,
b,
t,
d,
k,
g];
(2)
nasal:
[m,
n,];
(3)
trill;
(4) tap or flap; (5) lateral: [l]; (6) fricative: [f, v, s, z]; (7) approximant: [w, j]; (8)
affricate: [].
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。


do phoneticians classify vowels?
Phoneticians, in spite of the difficulty, group vowels in 5 types: (1) long and short vowels,
e.g.,[i:,]; (4) rounded and unround vowels,e.g.[,i]; (5) pure and gliding vowels, e.g.[I,].

is IPA? When did it come into being ?
The IPA, abbreviation of
“
International Phonetic Alphabet
”
, is a compromise system making use
of symbols of all sources, including diacritics indicating length, stress and intonation,
indicating phonetic variation. Ever since it was developed in 1888, IPA has undergone a number
of revisions.

is narrow transcription and what is broad transcription?
In
handbook
of
phonetics,
Henry
Sweet
made
a
distinction
between
“
narrow
”

and
“
broad
”

transcriptions,
which
he
called
“
Narrow
Romic
”
.
The
former
was
meant
to
symbolize
all
the
possible
speech
sounds,
including even the most minute shades of pronunciation while Broad Romic or transcription was
intended
to
indicate
only
those
sounds
capable
of
distinguishing
one
word
from
another
in
a
given
language.

is phonology? What is difference between phonetics and phonology?
(1)








“
Phonology
”
is the study of sound systems- the invention of distinctive speech sounds
that
occur
in
a
language
and
the
patterns
wherein
they
fall.
Minimal
pair,
phonemes,
allophones,
free variation, complementary distribution, etc., are all to be investigated by a phonologist.
(2)







Phonetics, as discussed in I.28, is the branch of linguistics studying the
characteristics
of speech sounds and provides methods for
their
description,
classification
and
transcription.
A
phonetist
is
mainly
interested
in
the
physical
properties
of
the
speech
sounds,
whereas
a
phonologist
studies
what
he
believes
are
meaningful
sounds
related
with
their
semantic
features,
morphological
features, and
the
way they
are
conceived
and printed in the depth
of the
mind
phonological
knowledge
permits
a
speaker
to
produce
sounds
which
from
meaningful
utterances,
to recognize a foreign
“
accent
”
, to make up new words, to add the appropriate phonetic segments
to from plurals and past tenses, to know what is and what is not a sound in one
’
s language.

is a phone? What is a phoneme? What is an allophone?
(1)







A
“
phone
”
is a phonetic unit or segment. The speech sounds we hear and produce during
linguistic
communication
are
all
phones.
When
we
hear
the
following
words
pronounced:[pit],
[tip],
[spit], etc., the similar phones we have heard are [p] for one thing, and three different[p]
’
s,
readily making possible the
“
narrow transcription or diacritics
”
. Phones may and may not
distinguish
meaning.
A
“
phoneme
”

is
a
phonological
unit;
it
is
a
unit
that
is
of
distinctive
value.
As
an
abstract
unit,
a
phoneme
is
not
any
particular
sound,
but
rather
it
is
represented
or
realized
by a certain phone in a certain phonetic context. For example, the phoneme[p] is represented
differently in [pit], [tip] and [spit].
(2)







The
phones
representing
a
phoneme
are
called
its
“
allophones
”
,
i.
e.,
the
different
(i.e.,
phones)
but
do
not
make
one
word
so
phonetically
different
as
to
create
a
new
word
or
a
new
meaning
thereof. So the different[p]
’
s in the above words are the allophones of the same phoneme[p]. How
a
phoneme
is
represented
by
a
phone,
or
which
allophone
is
to
be
used,
is
determined
by
the
phonetic
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。

context in which it occurs. But the choice of an allophone is not random. In most cases it is
rule-governed; these rules are to be found out by a phonologist.

are minimal pairs?
When two different phonetic forms are identical in every way except for one sound segment which
occurs
in
the
same
place
in
the
string
,
the
two
forms(i.
e.,
word)
are
supposed
to
form
a
“
minimal
pair
”
,
e.g.,
“
pill
”

and
“
bill
”
,
“
pill
”

and
“
till
”
,
“
till
”

and
“
dill
”
,
“
till
”

and
“
kill
”
,
etc.
All
these
words together constitute a minimal set. They are identical in form except for the initial
consonants.
There are many minimal pairs
in English, which makes
it relatively easy
to know what
are English phonemes. It is of great importance to find the minimal pairs when a phonologist is
dealing with the sound system of an unknown language(see Hu Zhuanglin et al., pp65-66).

is free variation?
If two sounds occurring in the same environment do not contrast; namely, if the substitution of
one for the other does not generate a new word form but merely a different pronunciation of the
same word, the two sounds then are said to be in
“
free variation
”
. The plosives, for example,
may
not
be
exploded
when
they
occur
before
another
plosive
or
a
nasal
(e.
g.,
act,
apt,
good
morning).
The minute distinctions may, if necessary, be transcribed in diacritics. These unexploded and
exploded plosives are in free
variation.
Sounds in free
variation
should
be assigned to the same
phoneme.

is complementary distribution?
When two sounds never occur in the same environment, they are in
“
complementary distribution
”
.
For
example,
the
aspirated
English
plosives
never
occur
after[s],
and
the
unsaturated
ones
never
occur initially. Sounds in complementary distribution may be assigned to the same phoneme. The
allophones of[l], for example, are also in complementary distribution. The clear[l] occurs only
before a vowel, the voiceless equivalent of[l] occurs only after a voiceless consonant, such as
in the words
“
please
”
,
“
butler
”
,
“
clear
”
, etc., and the dark[l] occurs only after a vowel or as
a syllabic sound after a consonant, such as in the words
“
feel
”
,
“
help
”
,
“
middle
”
, etc.

is the assimilation rule? What is the deletion rule?
(1)
The
“
assimilation
rule
”

assimilates
one
segment
to
another
by
“
copying
”

a
feature
of
a
sequential
phoneme,
thus
making
the
two
phones
more
similar.
This
rule
accounts
for
the
raring
pronunciation
of the nasal[n] that occurs within a word. The rule is that within a word the nasal consonant[n]
assumes
the
same
place
of
articulation
as
the
following
consonant.
The
negative
prefix
“
in-
“

serves
as a good example. It may be pronounced as [in],
or [im] when occurring in different phonetic
contexts: e. g., indiscrete-[



](alveolar)
inconceivable-[



](velar)
input-[
‘
imput](bilabial)
The
“
deletion
rule
”

tells
us
when
a
sound
is
to
be
deleted
although
is
orthographically
represented.
While the letter
“
g
”
is mute in
“
sign
”
,
“
design
”
and
“
paradigm
”
, it is pronounced in their
corresponding derivatives:
“
signature
”
,
“
designation
”
and
“
paradigmatic
”
. The rule then can be
stated as: delete a [g] when it occurs before a final nasal consonant. This accounts for some
of the seeming irregularities of the English spelling (see Dai Weidong ,pp22-23).
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。


is suprasegmental phonology? What are suprasegmental features?
“
Suprasegmental phonology
”
refers to the study of phonological properties of linguistic units
larger than the segment called phoneme, such as syllable, word and sentence.
Hu
Zhuanglin
et
al.,(p,73)
includes
stress,
length
and
pitch
as
what
they
suppose
to
be
“
principal
suprasegmental

features
”
, calling the concurrent patterning of three
“
intonation
”
. Dai
Weidong(pp23-25) lists three also, but they are stress, tone and intonation.

is morphology?
“
Morphology
”

is
the
branch
of
grammar
that
studies
the
internal
structure
of
words,
and
the
rules
by which words are formed. It is generally divided into two fields: inflectional morphology and
lexical/derivational morphology.

is inflection/inflexion?
“
Inflection
”
is the manifestation of grammatical relationships through the addition of
inflectional
affixes,
such
as
number,
person,
finiteness,
aspect,
and
case,
which
does
not
change
the grammatical class of the items to which they are attached.

is a morpheme? What is an allomorph?
(1)







The
“
morpheme
”
is the smallest unit in terms of relationship between expression and
content, a unit which cannot be divided without destroying or drastically altering the meaning,
whether it is lexical or grammatical. The word
“
boxes
”
, for example, has two morphemes:
“
box
”
and
“
-es
”
,
neither
of
which
permits
further
division
or
analysis
if
we
don
’
t
wish
to
sacrifice
meaning.
Therefore a morpheme is considered the minimal unit of meaning.
(2)







Allomorphs,
like
allophones
vs.
phones,
are
the
alternate
shapes
(and
thus
phonetic
forms)
of
the
same
morphemes.
Some
morphemes,
though,
have
no
more
than
one
invariable
form
in
all
contexts,
such as
“
dog
”
,
“
cat
”
, etc. The variants of the plurality
“
-s
”
make the allomorphs thereof in the
following examples: map-maps, mouse-mice, sheep-sheep etc.

is a free morpheme? What is a bound morpheme?
A
“
free morpheme
”
is a morpheme that constitutes a word by itself, such as
‘
bed
”
,
“
tree
”
,etc. A
“
bound morpheme
”
is one that
appears with
at least another morpheme, such
as
“
-s
”
in
“
beds
”
,
“
-al
”

in
“
national
”
and so on. All monomorphemic words are free morphemes. Those polymorphemic words
are either compounds (combination of two or more free morphemes )or derivatives (word derived
from free morphemes).

is a root ? What is a stem? What is an affix?
A
“
root
”

is
the
base
form
of
a
word
that
cannot
be
further
analyzed
without
total
loss
of
identity.
In other words, a
“
root
”
is that part of the word left when all the affixes are removed.
“
Internationalism
”
is a four- morpheme derivative which keeps its free morpheme
“
nation
”
as its
root when
“
inter-
”
,
“
-al
”
and
“
-ism
”
are taken away.
A
“
stem
”
is any morpheme or combination of morphemes to which an affix can be added. It may be
the same as , and in other cases, different from, a root. For example, in the word
“
friends
”
,
“
friend
”
is both the root and the stem, but in the word
“
friendships
”
,
“
friendships
”
is its stem,
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。

“
friend
”
is its root. Some words (i. e., compounds ) have more than one root ,e. g.,
“
mailman
”
,
“
girlfriend
”
,ect.
An
“
affix
”
is the collective term for the type of formative that can be used, only when added
to another morpheme(the root or stem). Affixes are limited in number in a language, and are
generally classified into three subtypes: prefix, suffix and infix, e. g. ,
“
mini-
”
,
“
un-
”
,
ect.(prefix);
“
-ise
”
,
“
-tion
”
, ect.(suffix).

are open classes? What are closed classes?
In English, nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs make up the largest part of the vocabulary.
They are
“
open
–
class words
”
, since we can regularly add new lexical entries to these classes.
The other syntactic categories are, for the most part, closed classes, or closed-class words.
The number of them is hardly alterable, if they are changeable at all.

is lexicon? What is word? What is lexeme? What is vocabulary? Lexicon? Word? Lexeme?
Vocabulary?
“
Lexicon
”
, in its most general sense, is synonymous with vocabulary. In its technical sense,
however, lexicon deals with the analysis and creation of words, idioms and collocations.
“
Word
”

is a unit of expression which has universal intuitive recognition by native-speakers, whether
it is expressed in spoken or written form. This definition is perhaps a little vague as there
are
different
criteria
with
regard
to
its
identification
and
definition.
It
seems
that
it
is
hard
,
even impossible, to define
“
word
”
linguistically. Nonetheless it is universally agreed that the
following
three
senses
are
involved
in
the
definition
of
“
word
”
,
none
of
which,
though,
is
expected
to
cope
with
all
the
situations:
(1)a
physically
definable
unit
,e.
g.,[it
iz
‘
w



](phonological),
“
It is wonder
”
(orthographic); (2) the common factor underlying a set of forms (see what is the
common
factor
of
“
checks
”
,
“
checked
”
,
“
checking
”
,
etc.);
(3)
a
grammatical
unit(look
at
(1)
again;
every word plays a grammatical part in the sentence).
According to Leonard Bloomfield, a
word is a
minimum
free
form
(compare:
a sentence is
a
maximum
free form, according to Bloomfield ). There are other factors that may help us identify words:
(1)
stability
(no
great
change
of
orthographic
features);
(2)relative
uninterruptibility
(we
can
hardly
insert
anything between two
parts
of
a word
or
between
the letters). To make the category
clearer
we
can
subclassify
words
into
a
few
types:
(1)
variable
and
invariable
words(e.
g.,-mats,
seldom-?);
(2)
grammatical
and
lexical
words(e.
g.
to,
in
,etc.,
and
table,
chair,
ect.
By
“
lexical
words
”
we mean the words that carry a semantic content, e.g., nouns, verbs, adjectives and many
adverbs; (3) closed-class and open-class words(see I.47).
In
order
to
reduce
the
ambiguity
of
the
term
“
word
”

,the
term
“
lexeme
”

is
postulated
as
the
abtract
unit
which
refers
to
the
smallest
unit
in
the
meaning
system
of
a
language
that
can
be
distinguished
from
other smaller units. A
lexeme
can occur in many different
forms in
actual
spoken or written
texts.
For
example,
“
write
”

is
the
lexeme
of
the
following
words:
“
write
”
,
“
write
”
,
“
wrote
”
,
“
writing
”
,
and
“
written.
”

“
Vocabulary
”
usually refers to all words or lexical items a person has acquired about technical
or/and
untechnical
things.
So
we
encourage
our
students
to
enlarge
their
vocabulary.
“
vocabulary
”

is also used to mean word list or glossary.

is collocation?
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。

“
Collocation
”

is
a
term
used
in
lexicology
by
some
linguists
to
refer
to
the
habitual
co-occurrences
of
individual
lexical
items.
For
example,
we
can
“
read
”

a
“
book
”
;
“
correct
”

can
narrowly
occur
with
“
book
”
which is supposed to have faults, but no one can
“
read
”
a
“
mistake
”
because with regard to
co-occurrence these two words are not collocates.

is syntax?
“
Syntax
”
is the study of the rules governing the ways in which words, word groups and phrases
are combined to form sentences in a language, or the study of the interrelationships between
sentential elements.
is a sentence?
L.
Bloomfield
defines
“
sentence
”

as
an
independent
linguistic
form
not
included
by
some
grammatical
marks in any other linguistic from, i. e., it is not subordinated to a larger linguistic form,
it is a structurally independent linguistic form. It is also called a maximum free form.

are syntactic relations?
“
Syntactic relations
”
refer to the ways in which words, word groups or phrases form sentences;
hence three kinds of syntactic relations: positional relations, relations of substitutability
and relations of co- occurrence.
(1)








“
Positional relation
”
, or
“
word order
”
, refers to the sequential arrangement to words
in
a
language.
It
is
a
manifestation
of
a
certain
aspect
of
what
F.
de
Saussure
called
“
syntagmatic
relations
”
, or of what other linguists call
“
horizontal relations
”
or
“
chain relations
”
.
(2)








“
Relations
of
substitutability
”

refer
to
classes
or
sets
of
words
substitutable
for
each
other grammatically in same sentence structures. Saussure called them
“
associative relations
”
.
Other people call them
“
paradigmatic/vertical/choice relations
”
.
(3)







By
“
relations of co- occurrence
”
, one means that words of different sets of clauses may
permit
or
require
the
occurrence
of
a
word
of
another
set
or
class
to
form
a
sentence
or
a
particular
part of a sentence. Thus relations of co-occurrence partly belong to syntagmatic relations and
partly to paradigmatic relations.

is IC analysis? What are immediate constituents(and ultimate constituents)?
“
IC
analysis
”

is
a
new
approach
of
sentence
study
that
cuts
a
sentence
into
two(or
more)
segments.
This
kind
of
pure
segmentation
is
simply
dividing
a
sentence
into
its
constituent
elements
without
even
knowing
what
they
really
are
.
What
remain
of
the
first
cut
are
called
“
immediate
constituents
”
,
and what are left at the final cut are called
“
ultimate constituents
”
. For example,
“
John left
yesterday
”
can be thus segmented:
“
John| left | | yesterday
”
. We get two immediate constituents
for the first cut (|), and they are
“
John
”
and
“
left yesterday
”
. Further split(||) this sentence
generates three
“
ultimate constituents
”
:
“
John
”
,
“
left
”
and
“
yesterday
”
.

are endocentric and exocentric constructons?
“
Endocentric construction
”
is one whose distribution is functionally equivalent to that of one
or
more
of
its
constituents,
i.
e.,
a
word
or
a
group
of
words,
which
serves
as
a
definable
“
centre
”

or
“
head
”
. Usually noun phrases, verb phrases and adjective phrases belong to endocentric types
because the constituent items are subordinate to the head.
“
Exocentric construction
”
, opposite
of endocentric construction, refers to a group of syntactically related words where none of the
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