2005级语言学概论期末考试题A卷

西南大学课程考核命题单

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《语言学概论》课程试题 A 卷

A. borrowing patterns from the mother tongue

B. extending patterns form the target language, e.g. by analogy

C. expressing meanings using the words and grammar which are already known

D. all the above three

3. Language serves the ________ function when it is used to express the speaker’s feeling

or attitude or to arouse a certain feeling or attitude in the hearer.

A. interpersonal

B. informative

C. emotive

D. directive

4. In the sentence “Can I have a bite to drink?” the speaker may not have a problem with

competence, but with________.

A. performance

B. utterance

C. syntax

D. context

5. The expression “Colorful ideas sleep furiously” is an example of______.

A. rapport talk

B. indexical language

C. an ungrammatical but acceptable sentence

D. a grammatical but unacceptable sentence

6. The four major modes of semantic change are_______.

A. extension, narrowing, elevation and degradation

B. extension, generalization, elevation and degradation

C. extension, narrowing, specialization and degradation

D. extension, elevation, amelioration and degradation

7. Language serves the _______ function when it is used to talk about language itself.

A. recreational

B. metalingual

C. phatic

D. performative

8.Which of the following describes the morphemes in the word “unimaginative”?

________.

A. un-im-ag-in-at-ive

B. un-imaginative

C. un-imagin-ative

D. unimagin-ative

9. The Cooperative Principle that language users are believed to follow was initially

proposed by_________.

A. Grice

B. Austin

C. Chomsky

D. Saussure

10. The Whorf Hypothesis claims that_______.

A. language is full of “rich points”, whose meanings are difficult to translate into another

language

B. abstract terms are easily translatable

C. accents are part of identity

西南大学课程考核命题单(试题 A 卷)

D. language influences culture-specific ways of knowing

11. The expression “time is a commodity” is an example of_______.

A. The Whorf Hypothesis

B. A metaphoric system

C. A non-standard variety

D. A rich point

12. _______are bound morphemes because they cannot be used as separate words.

A. Roots

B. Stems

C. Affixes

D. Compounds

13. The relation between the two words “buy” and “sell” can be described as____.

A. gradable antonymy

B. converse antonymy

C. complementary antonymy

D. synonymy

14. The last phoneme in the word “hang” is a_______.

A. glottal

B. palatal

C. dental

D. nasal

15. Three places of articulation that involve the teeth and/or the lips are_____.

A. palatal, velar, glottal

B. bilabial, labiodental, interdental

C. stop, fricative, affricative

D. nasal, lateral, semi vowel

16. The syllabic structure of the word “achieved” is ______.

A. VCCVCC

B. VCVCC

C. VCVVCVC

D. VCCVCVC

17. _______ is a type of phonological process by which one sound takes on some or all the characteristics of a neighboring sound.

A. Assimilation

B. Transformation

C. Code-switching

D. interference

18. _______ refers to the use of a native language pattern or rule which leads to an error or inappropriate form in the target language.

A. Interlanguage

B. Positive transfer

C. Negative transfer

D. Overgeneralization

19. In the sentence “I took my big brown cat to the vet yesterday”, which of the following does not appear? _______.

A. Adjective

B. Preposition

C. Adverb

D. Conjunction

20. _______ is that part of the meaning of word or phrase that relates it to phenomena in the real world or in a fictional or possible world.

A. Connotation

B. Affective meaning

C. Denotation

D. Sense

《语言学概论》课程试题 A 卷

Ⅱ. Match each of the following terms in Column A with one of the appropriate definitions in Column B. Write the corresponding letter on your ANSWER SHEET. (15 Points)

Column A

1. sequential rules

2. stem

3. exocentric construction

4. minimal pairs

5. bilingualism

6. displacement

7. complementary distribution

8. variable words

9. the paradigmatic relation

10. hyponymy

Column B

A. those that can take inflective endings

B. one formed by two different words which are identical in every way except for one sound

segment which occurs in the same place in the string

C. the one holding between elements replaceable with each other at a particular place in a

structure, or between one element present and the others absent

D. the situation where at least two languages are used side by side by an individual or by a

group of speakers, with each having a different role to play

E. the name for meaning inclusiveness, referring to a paradigmatic relation between a more

specific lexeme and a more general one

F. the rules which govern the combination of sounds in a particular language

G. one whose distribution is not functionally equivalent to any of its constituents, with no

noticeable center in it

H. any morpheme or combination of morphemes to which an affix can be added

I. the phenomenon that human language can cope with any subject whatever, and it does not

matter how far away the topic of conversation is in time and space

J. the phenomena that allophones occur in different phonetic environments

西南大学课程考核命题单(试题 A 卷)

Ⅲ. GAP FILLING，Choose the right word from the given list to

fill in each of the blanks in the passage. Write the corresponding letter on your ANSWER SHEET. (20 Points)

WORD LIST:

A. before

B. books

C. community

D. development

E. discourse

F. feeling

G. flexible

H. history

I. imitation

J. justified

K. language L. linguistic M. modeled N. ordinary O. primary

P. reflection Q. spoken R. style S. ungrammatical T. written

There is a widespread impression that the (1) word is the norm or model of human speech while the spoken word is a more or less faulty (2). It is not hard to see how such a feeling originated. Written (3), particularly if printed, is in general composed by the more gifted and careful members of a (4), and people take more pains with their (5) in writing than in speaking. Then again, the content of books is as a rule more interesting and valuable than that of (6)speech. In the experience of most of use conversation is trivial and (7), while written (8) has some value and is usually correct. So the (9) has spread abroad that the language of (10)is the norm on which speech should be (11) and by which it must be judged, and to a certain extent this feeling is (12).

As a matter of fact, however, whether we think of the (13) of human speech in general or of the (14)experience of the individual speaker, (15)language is the (16) phenomenon, and writing is only a more or less imperfect (17)of it. We all learn to understand speech(18) we learn to read, and to speak before we learn to write. We all hear more language than we read, and speak a great deal more than we write. Spoken language is ordinarily more (19) than written language; it leads the way in linguistic (20), while written language follows at a greater or less interval.

《语言学概论》课程试题 A 卷

IV. READING COMPREHENSION. Read the following passages and answer each of the questions based on them. Choose the correct answer and write the corresponding letter on the ANSWER SHEET.

(20 Points)

Passage One (Questions 1-5)

Let us consider some specific issues involved in this argument. It has been established that speakers of a language have a command of various “codes” that can be defined as a set of restriction rules that determine the choice of phonological, syntactic, and lexical items in sentences. These restriction rules form a code by virtue of the fact that they are related to the same set of variables such that, given the presence of a particular variable, it will then require a specifiable set of rules determining the choice of these items in speech. For examp le, the choice of address form in English (using the title “Mr.” followed by last name), the choice of a particular phonological variant (the “-ing” ending of the progressive form of verbs), and the choice of certain lexical equivalents (“Good Morning” vs.“Hi”) are all determined by the same social variable which relates to the status relation between the speaker and listener. (Contrast the utterance “Good morning Mr. Gibbs! How is your work coming along” with “Hi, John! How's your work comin’ along?” - both of which are possible for the same speaker, but he would not use both under the same situation: they belong to different codes.) The choice of “Tu” and “V ous” in French (and in German along analogous lines) is determined by specifiable social factors between two interlocutors. In Thai (and several other languages) it is impossible to carry out a conversation without explicitly encoding certain relations that hold between speaker and listener (status, age, degree of friendship, family ties, etc.).

These selection rules, and others of this type, are as necessary a part of the linguistic competence of a speaker as those with which we are more familiar in syntax such as accord in gender, number, and tense, and it would seem to be entirely arbitrary to exclude them from a description that deals with linguistic competence.

Finally, I would like to mention one other specific issue which argues against a restricted

西南大学课程考核命题单(试题 A 卷)

view of linguistic competence. One would certainly insist that any serious account of linguistic competence would include the derivation of the meaning of a (well formed) sentence. Central to such an account is that fact that speakers of a language are capable of recognizing whether two sentences have the same meaning, that is, that they are paraphrases of each other.

1. “Restriction rules” refer to ones that ____.

A. establish various codes

B. are used to analyze sentences

C. are related to the same set of variables

D. determine the choice of items in sentences

2. The examples in the first paragraphs show _____.

A. speakers of a language have a command of various "codes"

B. a specifiable set of rules determine the choice of linguistic items in speech

C. the choice of lexical items depends on the relation between the speaker and listener

D. it is impossible to carry out a conversation without explicitly encoding certain relations

3. In this passage the author mainly deals with _____.

A. what makes up a speaker's linguistic competence

B. how to derive the meaning of a well-formed sentence

C. how to choose an appropriate linguistic item in speech

D. what determines the choice of linguistic items in speech

4. The fact that speakers of a language are capable of recognizing whether two sentences have the same meaning shows that _____.

A. a speaker's linguistic competence is restricted

B. the two sentences are paraphrases of each other

C. the linguistic competence includes the ability to derive the meaning of a sentence

D. the meaning of a sentence depends on the choice of appropriate linguistic items

5. The passage above is _____.

《语言学概论》课程试题 A 卷

A. a support of the author's argument in the preceding section

B. an introduction to the author's idea in the following section

C. a description of the relation between language and society

D. an argument of the author's view on linguistic competence

Passage Two (Questions 6-10)

Language learning begins with listening. Individual children vary greatly in the amount of listening they do before they start speaking, and late starters are often long listeners. Most children will “obey” spoke n instructions some time before they can speak, though the word “obey” is hardly accurate as a description of the eager and delighted cooperation usually shown by the children. Before they can speak, many children will also ask questions by gesture and by making questioning noises.

Any attempt to trace the development from the noises babies make to the first spoken words leads to considerable difficulties. It is agreed that they enjoy making noises, and that during the first few months one or two noises sort themselves out as particularly indicative of delight, distress, sociability, and so on. But since these cannot be said to show the baby’s intention to communicate, they can hardly be regarded as early forms of language. It is agreed, too, that from about three months they play with sounds for enjoyment, and that by six months they are able to add new sounds to their store. This self-imitation leads on to deliberate imitation of sounds made or words spoken to them by other people. The problem then arises as to the point at which one can say that these imitations can be considered as speech.

It is a problem we need not get our teeth into. The meaning of a word depends on what a particular person means by it in a particular situation; and it is clear that a c hild means by a word will change as the gains more experience of the world. Thus the use, at say even months, of “mama” as a greeting for his mother can not be dismissed as a meaningless sound simply because he also uses it at other times for his father, his dog, or anything else he likes.

Playful and apparently meaningless imitation of what other people say continues after the child has begun to speak for himself. I doubt, however, whether anything is gained when parents cash in on this ability in an attempt to teach new sounds.

西南大学课程考核命题单(试题 A 卷)

6. Before children start speaking, they ______.

A. need equal amount of listening

B. need different amounts of listening

C. are all eager to cooperate with the adults by obeying spoken instructions

D. can’t understand and obey the adult’s oral instructions

7. Children who start speaking late _______.

A. may have problems with their hearing

B. probably do not hear enough language spoken around them

C. usually pay close attention to what they hear

D. often take a long time in learning to listen properly

8. A baby’s first noises is a(n) ______.

A. reflection of this moods and feelings

B. early form of language

C. sign that he means to tell you something

D. imitation of the speech of adults

9. The problem of deciding at what point a baby’s imitations can be considered as speech is _______.

A. important because words have different meanings for different people

B. not especially important because the change-over takes place gradually

C. one that can never be properly understood because the meaning of words changes with age

D. one that should be completely ignored because children’s use of words is often meaningless

10. It is implied in the passage that ______.

A. parents can never hope to teach their children new sounds

B. children no longer imitate people after they begin to speak

C. children who are good at imitating learn new sounds more quickly

D. even after they have learnt to speak children still enjoy imitating

《语言学概论》课程试题 A 卷

V. Answer the following questions, each in 80 to 150 words. Write your answer on the ANSWER SHEET. (25 Points)

1. How is linguistics different from traditional grammar? (10 Points)

2.What have you learned from the course of linguistics? (15 Points)