语言学概论作业习题

语言学概论课外单元练习（1）

Language

State the nature of language briefly with examples.

Why is it said that the language system is unique to human beings? What are the characteristics of human language? What are the social functions of language?

Do animals other than humans have their own languages? Exemplify how animals communicate with each other.

Can language be viewed only as a system of communication? Why not?

How did language come into being? What is the relationship between the origin of language and the origin of human beings?

9. Rewrite 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 10. Fill 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:_________ __________ ___________

____________ _________________.

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.

（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. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

语言学概论课外单元练习（2）

Linguistics

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1.Explain the following definition of linguistics: Linguistics is the scientific study of language.

2.What are the major branches of linguistics? What does each of them study? What makes modern linguistics different from traditional grammar? Point out three aspects . 3.Is modern linguistics mainly synchronic or diachronic? Why?

4.Which enjoys priority in modern linguistics, speech or writing? Why?

5.How is Saussure‘s distinction between langue and parole similar to Chomsky‘s distinction between competence and performance?

6.What characteristics of language do you think should be included in a good, comprehensive definition of language?

7.What features of human language have been specified by C. Hockett to show that it is essentially different from any animal communication system?

8.What is the main task for a linguist? State the importance of linguistics. 9.Why is ―duality‖ regarded as an important feature of human language? 10.Fill in the right word according to the explanations. （1）_____________ the scientific study of language.

（2）_____________ the study of the interlinguistic relationships among different linguistic elements of

language.

（3）____________the study of universal features of language

（4）____________ the study of a particular language at the particular point of time.

（5）____________ the study of the structure and both the syntactic and semantic rules of a language （6）the study of the rules or principles prescribed for people to follow when they use a language. （7）___________the study of language is relation to other sciences

（8）the study of the nature of human language and the human mind through the study of the U.G.

11.Say the following are true or false. If it is false correct it. （1）Sociolinguistics relates the study of language to Psychology.

（2）In modern linguistics, synchronic study seems to enjoy priority over diachronic study.

（3）In the past, traditional grammarians tended to over-emphasize the importance of the written word. （4）Langue is relatively stable, it does not change frequently.

（5）Performance is the actual realization of this knowledge in linguistic communication.

（6）Saussure‘s distinction took a sociological view of language and his notion of langue is a matter of

social conventions.

（7）Early grammars were based on ―high‖（religious, literary）written language. （8）The study of language as a whole is often called applied linguistics. （9）Language is a complicated entity with multiple layers and facets. （10）To explain what language is seems to be a na?ve and simple question.

（11）Language bears certain features distinguishing it from means of communication other forms of life

may possess, such as bird songs and bee dances.

语言学概论课外单元练习（3）

Phonetics

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

What are the two major media of communication? Of the two, which one is primary and why? What are the three branches of phonetics? How do they contribute to the study of speech sounds? Draw a picture for the speech organs of human beings.

Where are the articulatory apparatus of a human being contained? What is voicing and how is it caused?

What criteria are used to classify English vowels?

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7. What is the function of the nasal cavity ? How does it perform the function?

8. Describe the various parts in the oral cavity which are involved in the production of speech sounds? 9. Explain with examples how broad transcription and narrow transcription differ? 10. How are the English consonants and vowels classified?

11. Give the phonetic symbol for each of the following sound descriptions:

（1） voiced palatal affricate

（2） voiceless labiodental fricative （3） voiced alveolar stop （4） front close short （5） back semi-open long （6） voiceless bilabial stop （7） tense front mid vowel （8） lateral liquid

（9） lax high back vowel （10）voiced bilabial oral stop （11）mid central lax vowel （12）low front vowel （13）palatal glide

（14）voiced interdental fricative （15）voiced affricate

（16）velar nasal consonant （17）low back vowel

（18）high back tense vowel （19）mid back lax vowel

（20）voiceless interdental fricative

12.Give the phonetic features of each of the following sounds: ［d］ ［l］ ［t∫］ ［w］ ［u］ ［?］ ［b］ ［v］ ［a:］ ［m］ ［r］ ［i:］ 13. Draw a tongue chart for the basic English vowels.

语言学概论课外单元练习（4）

Phonology

1. How do phonetics and phonology differ in their focus of study?

2. What is a phone? How is it different from a phoneme ? How are allophones related to the phoneme? 3. What is a minimal pair and what is a minimal set ? Why is it important to identify the minimal set in a

language?

4. Explain with examples the sequential rule, the assimilation rule, and the deletion rule. 5. State the functions of stress in a language with examples.

6. What are suprasegmental features? How do the major suprasegmental features of English function in

conveying meaning?

7. A phonetic symbol is actually a ―cover term‖ for a composite of distinct phonetic properties or features.

Define each of the symbols below by marking a ―+‖ or a ―---‖ for each given feature: a ―+‖, if the property is present, a ―---‖ , if it is absent:

Sound segments: u э a: i ? u: i: ou ei Phonetic features: High Low

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Back Tense Round

Sound segments: f n g θ z t l Phonetic features: Stop Nasal Voiced Labial Alveolar Velar Liquid fricative

8.Distinguish and transcribe the following sounds in groups. （1）【p】in pit , tip and spit

（2）【l】in lesson and people （3）【n】in ten and tenth （4）【k】in key and scheme （5）【t】in team and steam

9.Fill in the proper word according to the explanations. （1）the frequency of vibration in the musical sound of the voice.（ ）. （2）a special emphasis on a sound or a sound group.（ ）. （3）the length of silence between parts of utterance.（ ）.

（4）the smallest structured sound unit made up of a rule-governed sequence of phonemes.（ ）. （5）the phonetic process in which two phonemes ,adjacent to each other, become identical.（ ） .

语言学概论课外单元练习（5）

Morphology

1. What does morphology study? How do we define morphology?

2. Distinguish between phonologically and morphologically conditioned allomorphs, and between

inflectional and derivational affixes, and between free and bound morphemes. Give examples. 3. Dissect the following words into morphemes:

Description/ underdevelopment/ photosynthetic /anatomy /radiation/ geography /philharmonic defrosted/ refreshment /demobilized /conducting/ suppression /circumspect/ dialogue deformed /combination

4. Try to find out the meaning of the following roots in English and give two or three words that contain

each of them:

hydro chron demo dur agr kilo nym ped rupt gress poly syn 5. State the morphological rules that govern the use of the given derivational affixes

Example: --er This suffix is added to a verb to form a noun indicating the agent that carries out the action, e. g. writer---writer

--ant --ment --sub --en --en --ee --ful --some --wise --un 6. Explain the formation and meaning of the following compounds:

Example: nightcap------ noun formed by combining two nouns, meaning a drink one takes before going to bed.

cat‘s paw tablecloth green-eyed green born update jet lag bootleg built-in cockpit

good-for-nothing

7. Write out the proper word or words according to the explanations:

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（1）the smallest meaningful unit which can be used independently.（ ） （2）each of the phonetic forms or variants.（ ） （3）the different morphs of one morpheme.（ ）

（4）the smallest linguistic unit that carries meaning.（ ） （5）words whose membership can be regularly expanded.（ ） （6）all the words of a given language.（ ）

（7）the way how morphemes are combined to form new words.（ ）

8. Point out the derivational and inflectional morphemes in the following words and give their meanings:

teacher shorter breaks books girl‘s careless usefulness irregular Marxist readers wanted loved houses buses studied business

9. divide the following words into separate morphemes by placing a ―+‖ between each two morphemes:

reconstruction sociolinguistics tourists readings morphophonemic predetermination endearment girls independent replacement grandparents generalization derivational television retroactive psycholinguistic befriended unpalatable

10. Think of five English suffixes, give their meanings and explain what bases or stems they may be

suffixed to.

Example: --er meaning ―doer of ‖, making an agentive noun, is added to verbs, as shown in the following: reader, ―one who reads‖, speaker ―one who speaks‖

语言学概论课外单元练习（6）

Syntax

1. Examine each of the following sentences and indicate if it is a simple, coordinate, complex or compound

complex sentences:

（1）Jane did it because she was asked to.（2）The soldiers were warned to remain hidden and not to expose themselves.（3）David was never there, but his brother was. （4）She leads a tranquil life in the country. （5）Unless I hear from her, I won‘t leave this town..

2. Use the appropriate phrase structure rules to draw a labeled constituent structure tree diagram for each

of the following sentences:

（1）A clever magician fooled the audience. （2）The tower on the hill collapsed in the wind.

（3）They knew that the senator would win the election.

3. For each of the following two sentences , draw a tree diagram of its underlying structure that will reveal

the difference in the relationship between John/Mary and the verb ―see ‖: （1） Mary advised John to see the dentist. （2）Mary promised John to see the doctor.

4. The formation of many sentences involves the operation of syntactic movement. The following

sentences are believed to have derived from their D—structure representations. Show the D—structure for each of these sentences.

（1） The leader of the majority party was severely criticized by the media. （2） The man threw the rake away in the yard.. （3） What can robot do for us?

（4）Will the new shop owner hire her?

5. Draw on your linguistic knowledge of English and paraphrase each of the following sentences in two

different ways to show how syntactic rules account for the ambiguity of sentences: （1） Smoking cigarettes can be nauseating. （2） Tony is a dirty street fighter.

（3） After a two-day debate, they finally decided on the helicopter.

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（4） The man is too heavy to move.

（5）The little girl saw the big man with the telescope.

6. Because languages have recursive properties, there is no limit to the potential length of sentences, and

the set of sentences of any language is infinite. Give two examples to show the recursive properties of sentences.

7. Write down the embedded sentences below:

（1） The girls pleaded for Mary to leave them alone. （2） I found my wife writing a letter to her friend.

（3） Who told the teacher that I wouldn‘t attend his lecture? （4） I know the man who is standing there.

（5） For us to master a foreign language is very useful.

（6） Give this book to the students whom we were just talking about.

8.Explain the deep structure and surface structure, and account for the relations between the two kinds of structures>

语言学概论课外单元练习（7）

Semantics

1. What are the major views concerning the study of meaning? 2. What is sense and what is reference? How are they related?

3. How can words opposite in meaning be classified? To which category does each of the following pairs

of antonyms belong?

Left/right far/near vacant/occupied father/daughter north /south doctor/patient dark/bright ugly/beautiful

4. Identify the relations between the following pairs of sentences:

（1） Tom‘s wife is pregnant. / Tom has a wife. （2） He likes swimming. / He likes sports.

（3） My sister will soon be divorced. / My sister is a married woman. （4）He speaks English. / He speaks a foreign language.

5. Try to analyze the following sentences in terms of predication analysis:

（1） The man sells ice-cream. （2） Is the baby sleeping? （3） It is snowing

（4） The tree grows well.

6.Write out the proper word or words according to the explanations:

（1）a sense relation between a pair of words, in which the meaning of a word is included in the meaning of

the other.（ ）

（2）the symbol refers to the linguistic elements.（ ）

（3）an approach adopted by structural semantists in describing the meaning of words and phrases

（4）the kind of analysis which involves the breaking down of predications into their

constituents—arguments and predication.（ ）

8. Pick out from the following pairs the homonyms and the homophones:

Style/stile hear/here bank/bank know/no hare/hair ear/ear tale/tail bear/bear soul/sole one/won tear/tare dear/deer

9. Indicate which among the following are complementary pairs, which are gradable pairs, and which are

relational pairs:

Larger/smaller asleep/awake parents/children legal/illegal false/true start/end fail/pass strong/weak beautiful /ugly trainer/trainee pregnant/sterile rude/polite ask/answer

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for/against.

10. Which of the following sentences belong to illustrative language and which to metalanguage?

（1） Yellow is the color of my true lover‘s hair. （2） ―Yellow‖ is a color word. （3） A horse is an animal.

（4） ―Horse‖ contains the semantic property of ―animal‖. （5） Everybody likes flowers.

（6） ―Flowers‖ is spelled f-l-o-w-e-r-s.

语言学概论课外单元练习（8）

Pragmatics

1. 2. 3. 4.

What does pragmatics study? How dose it differ from traditional semantics? How is the notion of context interpreted?

How are sentence meaning and utterance meaning related, and how do they differ?

Try to think of contexts in which the following sentences can be used for other purposes than just stating facts:

（1）the room is messy.

（2）I can‘t work under untidy circumstances. （3）It would be good if she had a green skirt on.

5. What are the five types of illocutionary speech acts Searle has specified? What is the illocutionary point

of each type?

6. What are the four maxims of the CP?

7. How does the violation of these maxims give rise to conversational implicatures? 8. Write out the proper word or words according to the explanations （1）utterances used to ―do‖ things or perform acts.（ ） （2）the act of saying something.（ ）

（3）the act performed in saying something; its force is identical with the speaker‘s intention. （4）the act performed or resulting from saying something; it‘s the consequence of , or the change brought

about by the utterance.（ ）

9. Imagine contexts in which the following sentences can be used for other purposes than just stating facts:

（1） The room needs cleaning. （2） It is cold here. （3） It is Sunday today.

（4） My watch has stopped again.

10. How do the following exchanges of conversation illustrate the politeness principle?

（1） A: The dress she is wearing is beautiful, isn‘t it?

B: The pattern is nice>

（2） A: Are you going to use your car this evening?

B: It has got a flat tyre, I‘m afraid

11. Explain the following terms:

（1） Speech act theory （2） The CP （3） The PP

12. According to Austin, what are the three acts a person is possibly performing while making an utterance?

Give an example.

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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, emotions 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 (finite 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

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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, \

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.

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The textbook refers to Linguistics: A Course Book edited by Hu Zhuanglin, Beijing University Press, 2001.

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（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)

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 nothing 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)

Linguistics（Exercise 2）

1. Explain the following definition of linguistics: Linguistics is the scientific study of language.

The word ―language‖ preceded by the zero article in English implies that linguistics studies not any particular language, but languages in general. The word ?study‘ does not mean ?learning‘, but ?investigation‘ or ?examination‘. The word ?scientific‘ refers to the way in which language is studied. A scientific study is one based on the systematic investigation of data, conducted with reference to some general theory of language structure. The process of linguistic study can be summarized as follows:

First, certain linguistic facts are observed, which are found to display some similarities, and generalizations are made about them; next, based on these generalizations, hypotheses are formulated to account for these facts; then, the hypotheses are tested by further observations; finally a linguistic theory is constructed about what language is and how it works.

2. What are the major branches of linguistics? What does each of them study? What makes modern linguistics different from traditional grammar? Point out three aspects.

The major branches of linguistics and their study on PP. 17-20.

It is generally believed that the beginning of modern linguistics was marked by the publication of F. de Saussure‘s Course in General Linguistics in 1919. Before that language had been studied for centuries, called ―traditional grammar‖. Modern linguistics differs from traditional grammar in several basic ways:

Firstly, modern linguistics is descriptive while traditional grammar is prescriptive. (PP.23-24)

Second, modern linguistics regards the spoken language as primary, not the written. Traditional grammar tended to emphasize the importance of the written word. Before the invention of sound recording, it was difficult for people to deal with utterances which existed only for seconds.

Thirdly, modern linguistics differs from traditional grammar also in that it does not force languages into a Latin-based framework. In the past, it was assumed that Latin provides a universal framework into all languages fit. As a result, other languages were forced to fit into the Latin patterns and categories. Modern linguistics try to set up a universal grammar based on the features shared by most of the languages used by human beings.

3. Is modern linguistics mainly synchronic or diachronic? Why?

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Different rates of variation are, in acoustic term, different frequencies, and in auditory terms, are different pitches (degree of highness and lowness of sound or quality of sound). Pitch variations are called tones, and languages using tones are tone languages.

Tone language is a language that distinguishes meanings among words of similar form by variations in pitch and tone. The best-known example is the Chinese dialects of Mandarin and Cantonese, such as the form ―ma‖ has five tones with different meanings: 吗,妈,嘛,马,骂.

3) Intonation

Intonation is the use of changing pitch to convey syntactic information, i.e. the rise or fall of the pitch in speaking, which could affect the meaning of what is said.

The grammatical functions of intonation:

a) It may indicate different sentence types by pitch direction. b) It may indicate connotative meanings.

I cannot eat anything. (I can eat nothing. I can only eat some particular ones)

c) It may impose different structure on the sentence by dividing the sentence into different intonation units.

He didn‘t come because of Mary. Those who sold quickly made a profit.

d) It may make part of a sentence prominent by placing the nucleus on the part concerned. e) It has attitudinal function, expressing the speaker‘s feelings or attitudes.

7. A phonetic symbol is actually a “cover term” for a composite of distinct phonetic properties or features. Define each of the symbols below by marking a “+” or a “---” for each given feature: a “+”, if the property is present, a “---” , if it is absent: Sound segments: u e a: i ? u: i: Phonetic features High + - - + - + - Low - - + - + - - Back + - + - - + - Tense - - + - - + + Round + - - - - + - Sound ? f n g z t l segments Phonetic features Stop - - + - - + - Nasal - + - - - - - Voiced - + + - + - + Labial + - - - - - - Alveolar - + - - + + + Velar - - + - - - - Liquid - - - - - - + Fricative - - - + + - - Supplementary material: the phonetic features of English diphthongs

According to the direction of gliding, diphthongs can be central or closing. According to the position of the more prominent element in the diphthong, we have divided diphthong into falling diphthongs (if the prominent element comes first) and rising diphthongs (if the less prominent comes first). Diphthongs can be wide (if the glide implies a more radical movement of the speech organs) and narrow (if the two vocalic elements occupy neighbouring positions on the vowel chart). Diphthongs can be opening (if the degree of

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aperture increases with the glide) or closing (if the less prominent vowel is closer than the first). Centring Falling Narrow Opening ?? + + + + ?? + + + - ?? + + + + ?? - + - - ?? - + - - e? - + + - ?? - + + - ?? - + - - 8. Distinguish and transcribe the following sounds in groups. （1）【p】in pit , tip and spit

（2）【l】in lesson and people （3）【n】in ten and tenth （4）【k】in key and scheme （5）【t】in team and steam

9. Fill in the proper word according to the explanations. （1）the frequency of vibration in the musical sound of the voice.（pitch）. （2）a special emphasis on a sound or a sound group.（stress）. （3）the length of silence between parts of utterance.（pause）.

（4）the smallest structured sound unit made up of a rule-governed sequence of phonemes.（syllable）. （5）the phonetic process in which two phonemes ,adjacent to each other, become identical.（assimilation）.

Morphology（Exercise 5）

1. What does morphology study? How do we define morphology?

Phonology refers to the study of the internal structure of words and the rules by which words are formed.

2. Distinguish between phonologically and morphologically conditioned allomorphs, and between inflectional and derivational affixes, and between free and bound morphemes. Give examples.

Morphophonemics is an intermediary level of analysis between phonology and morphology in which the phonological regularities in the framework of morphology, especially the systematic phonological variants of morphemes and the conditions of their occurrence are described. 1) Phonological conditioning of allomorphs. The distribution of the allomorphs of a morpheme is stated in terms of their phonetic environment, e.g. the phonetic variations of the past tense morphemes, -ed, as /d/ in stayed, /t/ in heaped, and /id/ in needed. 2) Morphological conditioning of allomorphs. The morphologically conditioned allomorphs of a morpheme are regarded as irregular in contrast to the phonologically conditioned allomorphs which are regarded as regular. For instance, it is the particular morphemes rather than the sounds of the words that determine the plural forms of nouns. E.g. child: children, foot: feet.

The distinction between inflectional and derivational affixes (PP.86-88) The distinction between free and bound morphemes (PP.84-85) 3. Dissect the following words into morphemes:

Description → describ(e) + -tion; underdevelopment →under- + develop + -ment; Photosynthetic → photo + syn- + -thetic; anatomy →ana- + tomy Radiation →radi(o) + -(a)tion; geography →geo- + -graphy philharmonic → phil- + harmonic; defrosted → de- + frost + -ed;

refreshment → re- + fresh + -ment; demobilized →de- + mobil(e) + -ize + -ed;

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conducting →conduct + -ing; suppression →sup- + press + -tion; circumspect →circum + spect dialogue → dia-+ logue

deformed → de- + form + -ed; combination → combin(e) + -ation;

4. Try to find out the meaning of the following roots in English and give two or three words that contain each of them:

Hydro (of water or liquid; of hydrogen): hydrogen, hydroelectric, hydrotherapy; Chron (of or relating to time): chronology, chronicle, chronometer; Demo (of people or population): democracy, demography, demotic; Dur (lasting for a time): during, durable, duration;

Agr (of or relating to land): agriculture, agrarian, agronomy; Kilo (thousand): kilometer, kilogram, kilowatt;

Nym (relating to young female): nymph, nymphet, nympho; Ped (of child): pedagogy, pedant;

(of foot): pedal, expedition, quadruped, pedestrian; Rupt (break): interrupt, corrupt, bankrupt;

Gress (go, walk): progress, congress, retrogress; Poly (many): polygamy, polysyllable, polytheism; Syn (together): syndrome, synthesis, syntax;

5. State the morphological rules that govern the use of the given derivational affixes

Example: --er This suffix is added to a verb to form a noun indicating the agent that carries out the action, e. g. writer---writer

--ant: added to verbs to form nouns meaning ?agentive and instrumental‖, e.g. inhabitant, disinfectant. --ment: added to verbs to form nouns meaning ?state, action‘, e.g. amazement, enjoyment;

sub-: a prefix added to adjectives meaning ?lower than or less than‘, e.g. subconscious, subculture; --en: added to adjectives to form verbs (transitive or intransitive) meaning ?causative‘ or ?become X‘, e.g. deafen, sadden;

--ee: added to verbs to form personal nouns with ?passive‘ meaning, e.g. employee, interviewee;

--ful: added to nouns (chiefly abstract) to form gradable adjectives meaning ?having X‘, or ?giving X‘, e.g. useful, helpful;

--some: added to nouns or verbs to form adjectives meaning ?producing, like to‘, e.g. handsome, troublesome;

--wise: added to nouns to form nongradable adverbs meaning a) ?in the manner of …‘, b) ?as far as…is concerned‘, e.g. crabwise, weather-wise;

un-: a prefix added to adjectives or participles meaning ?the opposite of …‘, e.g. unfair, unexpected; More knowledge about prefixes and suffixes on Quirk, R. et al. 1985. A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. Longman. PP. 1539-1558

6. Explain the formation and meaning of the following compounds:

Example: nightcap------ noun formed by combining two nouns, meaning a drink one takes before going to bed.

Cat‘s paw: a noun formed by two nouns with genitive case, meaning ?a person who is used by others to do something risky or unpleasant‘.

Tablecloth: a noun formed by combining two nouns, meaning ?cloth for covering a table‘. Green-eyed: an adjective formed by combining two adjectives, meaning ?jealous‘.

Green horn: a noun formed by combining an adjective and a noun, meaning ?inexperienced or easily deceived person‘.

Update: a verb formed by combining an adverb and a verb, meaning ?bring up to date, modernize‘.

Jet lag: a noun formed by combining two nouns, meaning ?delayed physical effects of tiredness after a long flight by plane‘.

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Bootleg: a verb or an adjective formed by combining two nouns, meaning ?smuggle; make and sell illegally‘ as a verb, ?smuggled, made and sold illegally‘ as an adjective.

Built-in: an adjective formed by combining a participle and a preposition, meaning ?constructed to form part of a structure‘.

Cockpit: a noun formed by combining two nouns, meaning ?compartment for the pilot and crew of an aircraft or a spaceship, or driver‘s seat‘.

Good-for-nothing: an adjective formed by combining an adjective, a preposition and a pronoun, meaning ?(person who is ) worthless or lazy‘.

7. Write out the proper word or words according to the explanations:

（1）the smallest meaningful unit which can be used independently.（free morpheme） （2）each of the phonetic forms or variants.（ ）

（3）the different morphs of one morpheme.（allomorphs）

（4）the smallest linguistic unit that carries meaning.（morpheme）

（5）words whose membership can be regularly expanded.（open class） （6）all the words of a given language.（vocabulary）

（7）the way how morphemes are combined to form new words.（word-formation）

8. Point out the derivational and inflectional morphemes in the following words and give their meanings:

teacher shorter breaks books girl‘s careless usefulness irregular Marxist readers wanted loved houses buses studied business

Students are required to analyze the words according to the answer to above questions.

9. Divide the following words into separate morphemes by placing a “+” between each two morphemes:

reconstruction sociolinguistics tourists readings morphophonemic predetermination endearment girls independent replacement grandparents generalization derivational television retroactive psycholinguistic befriended unpalatable (cf. question 3)

10. Think of five English suffixes, give their meanings and explain what bases or stems they may be

suffixed to.

Example: --er meaning ―doer of ‖, making an agentive noun, is added to verbs, as shown in the following: reader, ―one who reads‖, speaker ―one who speaks‖

Syntax（Exercise 6）

1. Examine each of the following sentences and indicate if it is a simple (A), coordinate (B), complex (C) or compound complex (D) sentences: （1）Jane did it because she was asked to. (C)

（2）The soldiers were warned to remain hidden and not to expose themselves. (A) （3）David was never there, but his brother was. (B) （4）She leads a tranquil life in the country. (A)

（5）Unless I hear from her, I won‘t leave this town. (C)

2. Use the appropriate phrase structure rules to draw a labeled constituent structure tree diagram for each of the following sentences:

（1）A clever magician fooled the audience. （2）The tower on the hill collapsed in the wind.

（3）They knew that the senator would win the election.

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3. For each of the following two sentences, draw a tree diagram of its underlying structure that will reveal the difference in the relationship between John/Mary and the verb “see”: (1) Mary advised John to see the dentist.

Mary advised that John should see the dentist.

（2）Mary promised John to see the doctor.

Mary promised John that Mary would see the doctor.

（Students can draw tree diagrams according to their underlying meanings.）

4. The formation of many sentences involves the operation of syntactic movement. The following sentences are believed to have derived from their D—structure representations. Show the D—structure for each of these sentences.

(1) The leader of the majority party was severely criticized by the media. The D-structure: The media severely criticized the leader of the majority. (2) The man threw the rake away in the yard.

The D-structure: The man threw the rake away in the yard.

(3) What can robot do for us? The D-structure: Robot can do what for us. （4）Will the new shop owner hire her?

The D-structure: The new shop owner will hire her.

5. Draw on your linguistic knowledge of English and paraphrase each of the following sentences in two different ways to show how syntactic rules account for the ambiguity of sentences: (1) Smoking cigarettes can be nauseating. a) The action of smoking can be nauseating.

b) Cigarettes that are giving out smoke can be nauseating. (2) Tony is a dirty street fighter.

a) Tony is a fighter against dirty street. b) Tony is a street fighter who is dirty.

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