语言学导论部分考研真题

部分考研真题汇总（语言学导论部分）

北京外国语大学

I． Explain the following terms. 1. langue (2010)

II. Answer the following questions.

1. How do you compare the traffic light system with a human linguistic system? (2010)

提示：Both the traffic light system and human linguistic system belong to the language system. Both can convey information to human beings. The key difference lies in 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 combination 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. With duality, our language is endowed with the great productive power.

The traffic light system does not have duality, because its primary level does not have independent units which can be united freely into meaningful secondary units. One form corresponds to one meaning. That is, the red light means to stop; the green one means to pass; the yellow one means to pause for pass or stop. The traffic light system is more like animal communicative system rather than human language.

北京第二外国语大学

I．Complete each of the following statements.

1. The branch of grammar which studies the internal structure of words is called________.（2004）

2. An approach in linguistic study which attempts to lay down rules of correctness as to how language should be used is __________.（2004，2008）

3. When language is used for establishing an atmosphere or maintaining social contact rather than exchanging information or ideas, its function is ____ function. （2005， 2008，2010）

4. In Saussure’s views, the relationship between signifier (sound image) and signified (concept) is _______.（2005）

5. By ____ is meant the property of having two levels of structures, such that units of the primary level are composed of elements of the secondary level and each of the two levels has its own principles of organization. （2005）

6. By duality is meant the property of having two levels of structures, such that units of the _____level are composed of elements of the ____level and each of the two levels has its own principles of organization. （2006）

7. According to Chomsky, the object of investigation in linguistics is the ideal speaker’s _______ rather than his performance. （2006）

8. In ____ linguistics, languages are studied at a theoretical point in time: one describes a state of the language, disregarding whatever changes might be taking place. （2006）

9. The features that define our human languages can be called ____ features. （2006） 10. Human languages enable their users to symbolize objects, events and concepts which are not present (in time and space) at the moment of communication. This quality is labeled as _____.（2007， 2009）

11. Semantics and _____ investigate different aspects of linguistic meaning. （2007） 12. Chomsky initiated the distinction between ____ and performance. （2007）

13. The ____ is the minimal distinctive unit in grammar, a unit which cannot be divided without destroying or drastically altering the meaning, whether lexical or grammatical. （2008）

14. The branch of grammar which studies the internal structure of sentence is called ______.（2008， 2010）

15. Both semantics and _____ investigate linguistic meaning, but they focus on different aspect. (2009)

16. If certain linguistics tries to lay down rules for the correct use of language and settle the disputes over usage once and for all, it is _____ linguists. (2009) II. Tell if each of the following statements is true or false.

1. The most important sociological use of language is the recreational function, by which people establish and maintain their status in society. （2005）

2. “Competence” and “performance” are two distinctive terms proposed by Saussure. （2005）

3. The description of a language at some point in time is called diachronic study. （2005, 2007）

4. The distinction between “langue” and “parole” was proposed by Chomsky. （2010）

III．Complete each of the following statements using one of the given choices. 1. The actual production and comprehension of the speech by speaker of a language is called_______.（2010） a. grammar rules b. competence c. performance d. language device 2. The study of language at one point in time is a ____ study. （2010） a. historical b. synchronic c. descriptive d. diachronic IV. Answer the questions briefly.

1. Why is it difficult to define language? （2004）

2. How do you understand “displacement”, a design feature of language? （2004） 3. How do you understand “duality”, a design feature of language? （2010）

4. How do you understand the performative function of language? （2009, 2010） 5. How do you understand the distinction between langue and parole introduced by Saussure?(2009)

6. How do you understand arbitrariness? (2009)

V. Write a short essay in about 100 words according to each of the following questions.

1. How do you understand the dichotomy between competence and performance postulated by Chomsky? （2008）

2. What is phonology? And what is a phoneme? （2008）

3. How well, in your opinion, does the word “communication” represent the function

of human language? （2008）

4. How do you understand “discreteness”, a design feature of language? （2008） 提示：Charles Francis Hockett was an American linguistic theorist who developed many influential ideas of American structuralism. He (1966) isolated 13 design features that characterize human language and which distinguish it from other communication systems. Discreteness is one of them. It means that the basic units of speech (such as sounds) can be categorized as belonging to distinct categories. There is no gradual, continuous shading from one sound to another in the linguistics system, although there may be a continuum in the real physical world. Thus speakers will receive a sound as either a [p] or a [b], but not as blend, even if physically it falls somewhere between the two sounds. In other word, phonemes can be placed in distinct categories which differentiate them from one another, such as the distinct sound of [p] versus [b].

首都师范大学

I. Match the terms with their definitions.

1. prescriptive study of language g. approach that aims at laying down rules (2010)

北京航空航天大学

I. Answer the following questions.

1. What makes language unique to human beings? (2010)

大连海事大学

I．Choose the correct answer.

1. _____ refers to the fact that languages are organized in terms of two levels. (2004) A. Duality B. Displacement C. Productivity D. Arbitrariness

2. N. Chomsky defines ____ as the ideal user’s knowledge of the rules of his language, and _____ the actual realization of this knowledge in linguistic communication. (2004)

A. langue, parole B. competence, performance C. grammar, speech D. language, writing

3. _____ is different from semantics in that it studies the use of language in communication, particularly between sentences and the context and situation in which they are used. (2004) A. Pragmatics B. Semantics C. Grammar D. functional 4. What is morphology? (2005)

A. The study of the rules governing the sounds that form words. B. The study of the rules governing sentence formation. C. The study of the rules governing word formation.

D. The study of the rules of grammatical units of a language.

II. Explain each of the following pairs of terms with examples if necessary. 1. prescriptive and descriptive grammar (2005) III. Short answers to the following questions.

1. What prescriptive rules for the “proper” use of English are not obeyed in the

following sentences? (2005)

(a) That’s the girl I gave my roller skates to.

(b) He wanted to simply borrow your car for an hour. IV. Essay questions.

1. Develop the following topic into a 200-300 word essay: The difference between the prescriptive approach and the descriptive approach and the significance in language learning. (2005)

2. Write an essay on the unique properties of human language in about 250 words, discussing in what ways these features are restricted to human language and unlikely to be found in animal communication systems. (2008)

V. Mark the following statements with T if it is true or F if it is false.

1. Different from pragmatics, semantics deals with meaning without reference to the users and communicative functions of sentences. (2008)

VI. Match each term in Column A with its definition in Column B. (2009) Column A

1. phatic communion Column B

A. the use of speech to maintain social relations, e. g. Pleased to meet you. VII. Explain the following terms. 1. Sociolinguistics(2009)

河南大学

I. Lexicology.

1. Explain the following terms. Phoneme (2009)

郑州大学

I. Define the following terms. 1. linguistic competence (2006) 2. morpheme (2005) 3. phatic function (2006)

II. Answer the following questions.

1. What are the seven basic functions of human language? Describe them and give brief explanation for each of them. (2006)

2. Wardhauge (1977) defines language as “a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication.” Please elaborate this definition. (2005)

3. What are the similarities and differences between Saussure’s distinction of “Langue vs. Parole” and Chomsky’s distinction of “Competence vs. Performance”? (2005)

III. True or False questions. If a certain statement is false, please state the reason very briefly.

1. In the history of any language the writing system always came into being before the spoken form. (2005)

2. Linguistics is the course of language. (2006)

3. Historical linguistics equals to the study of synchronic study. (2006) 4. The smallest meaningful unit of language is allomorph. (2006) 5. Semantics is the main part of linguistics. (2006)

IV. Complete each statement with the best choice out of the four options.

1. The term ____ linguistics may be defined as a way of referring to the approach which studies language change over various periods of time and at various historical stages. (2006)

A. synchronic B. diachronic C. comparative D. historical comparative 2. As modern linguistics aims to describe and analyze the language people actually use, and not to lay down rules for “correct” linguistic behavior, it is said to be ____. (2006)

A. prescriptive B. sociolinguistics C. descriptive D. psycholinguistic

3. The branch of linguistics that studies how context influences the way speakers interpret sentences is called _____. (2006) A. semantics B. pragmatics C. sociolinguistics D. psycholinguistics

北京师范大学

I. Define the following terms. 1. langue (2004) 2. parole (2004)

II. Try to discuss as many as possible the design features of human language. (2004)

III. Compare and contrast the following pairs of terms. 1. synchronic and diachronic studies of language (2005)

IV. What are the design features of language? Please explain them with examples. (2005)

北京外国语大学

I. Explain the following terms briefly. 1. morpheme (2004) 2. langue (2010) 3. phoneme (2010)

II. Answer the following questions.

1. Who proposed the distinction between competence and performance? What is the significance of this distinction in linguistic studies? (2004)

2. How do you compare the traffic light system with a human linguistic system? (2010)

大连外国语学院

I. Mark the following statements with T if they are true and F if they are false. 1. Parole is the actual use of speaking by the members of a community. (2004) 2. Parole is the actual phenomena or data of utterances. (2003)

3. Linguistics is generally defined as a scientific study of a particular language. (2003) 4. Synchronic linguistics refers to approach which studies language over various

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