问答论述专题训练
1. Why 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.
Secondly, linguists have done a lot trying to teach animals such as chimpanzees to speak a human language but have achieved nothing inspiring. Washoe, a female chimpanzee, was brought up like a human child by Beatnice and Alan Gardner. She was taught “American sign language”, and learned a little that made the teachers happy but did not make the linguists 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 do so.
2. What are the four maxims of the cooperative principle? How does the violation of these maxims give rise to conversational implicatures.
The maxim of quantity
1. Make your contribution as informative as required (for the current purpose of the exchange) .
2. Do not make your contribution more informative than is required.
The maxim of quality
1. Do not say what you believe to be false.
2. Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence.
The maxim of relation
Be relevant.
The maxim of manner
1. Avoid obscurity of expression.
2. Avoid ambiguity.
3. Be brief ( avoid unnecessary prolixity) .
4. Be orderly.
How does the flouting of the maxims give rise to conversational implicatures?
A: Do you know where Mr. Smith lives?
B: Somewhere in the southern suburbs of the city.
This is said when both A and B know that B does know Mr. Smith' s address. Thus B does not give enough information that is required, and he has flouted the maxim of quantity. Therefore, such conversational implicature as "I do not wish to tell you where Mr. Smith lives" is produced.
A: Would you like to come to our party tonight?
B: I'm afraid I' m not feeling so well today.
This is said when both A and B know that B is not having any health problem that will prevent him from going to a party. Thus B is saying something that he himself knows to be false and he is violating the maxim of quality. The conversational implicature " I do not want to go to your party tonight" is then produced.
A: The hostess is an awful bore. Don't you think?
B: The roses in the garden are beautiful, aren't they?
This is said when both A and B know that it is entirely possible for B to make a comment on the hostess. Thus B is saying something irrelevant to what A has just said, and he has flouted the maxim of relation. The conversational implicature "I don't wish to talk about the hostess in such a rude manner" is produced.
A: Shall we get something for the kids?
B: Yes. But I veto I - C - E - C - R - E - A - M.
This is said when both A and B know that B has no difficulty in pronouncing the word "ice-cream." Thus B has flouted the maxim of manner. The conversational implicature "I don’t want the kids to know we are talking about ice-cream" is then produced.
3. What makes traditional grammar different from modern linguistics?
Modern linguistics started with the publication of F. de Saussure’s “Course in General Linguistics” in the early 20th century. So Saussure is often described as “father of modern linguistics”.
The general approach traditionally formed to the study of language before that is roughly referred to as “traditional grammar.” They differ in several basic ways:
Firstly, linguistics is descriptive while traditional grammar is prescriptive. A linguist is interested in what is said, not in what he thinks ought to be said. He describes language in all its aspects, but does not prescribe rules of “correctness”.
Secondly, modern linguistics regards the spoken language as primary, not the written. Traditional grammarians, on the other hand, tend to emphasize, may be over-emphasize, the importance of the written word, partly because of its permanence.
Then, modern linguistics differs from traditional grammar also in that it does not force languages into a Latin-based framework. To modern linguists, it is unthinkable to judge one language by standards of another. They are trying to set up a universal framework, but that would be based on the features shared by most of the languages used by mankind.
4. What are the criteria of classifying English consonants?
1) by place of articulation
a. bilabial such as [p],[b],[m],[w]
b. labiodental such as [f],[v]
c. dental such as [θ],[ ]
d. alveolar such as [t],[d],[s],[z],[n],[l],[r]
e. palatal such as [∫], [ ],[ t∫ ], [d ], [ ]
f. velar such as [k], [g], [ ]
g. glottal such as [h]
2) by manner of articulation
a. Stops such as [p],[b],[t],[d],[k],[g]
b. Fricatives such as [f],[v],[s],[z],[ θ],[ ], [∫ ], [ ], [h]
c. Afficates such as [t∫], [d ]
d. Liquids such as [l], [r]
e. Nasals such as [n],[m],[ ]
f. Glides such as [w], [j]
5. What are the possible categories of synonyms?
Synonymy can be divided into the following groups:
Dialectal synonyms (地域性同义词): Dialectal synonyms are words which have more or less the same meaning and are used in different regional dialects such as petroleum in British English and gasoline in American English. Dialectal synonyms can also be found within British, or American English itself. For example, "girl" is called "lass" or "lassie" in Scottish dialect.
Stylistic synonyms文体同义词): Stylistic synonyms are words which have the same meaning but differ in style, or degree of formality. Some of the stylistic synonyms tend to be more formal, others tend to be casual , and still others are neutral in style, for example, old man, daddy, dad, father, male parent.
Synonyms that differ in their emotive or evaluative meaning :感性或评价方面不同的同义词They are words that have the same meaning but express different emotions of the user. The emotions of the user indicate the attitude or bias of the user toward what he is talking about, such as thrifty and miser.
Collocational synonyms搭配上的区别的同义词): Some synonyms differ in their collocation. That is, they go together with different words, for example: accuse. . . of, charge. . . with, rebuke. .-for.
Semantically different synonyms(语意上的差别): They refer to the synonyms that differ slightly in what they mean. For example, "amaze" and "astound" are very close in meaning to the word "surprise," but they have very subtle differences in meaning. While amaze suggests confusion and bewilderment, "astound" implies difficulty in believing.
6．Comment on the following topic: Definitions of language.
【答案】In fact, it is very difficult to give this question a satisfactory definition. The various definitions given to language so far have pointed out some aspects of the essence of language, but all of them have left out something. The multi-faceted nature of language should be taken into consideration when it is defined.
(1) Language must be a system, since elements in it are arranged according to certain rules; they cannot be combined at will. If language were not systematic, it could not be learned or used consistently.
(2) Language is arbitrary in the sense that there is no intrinsic connection between the word “book” and the thing we use to write with. The fact that different languages have different words for it speaks strongly for the arbitrary nature of language.
(3) This also explains the symbolic nature of language: words are associated with objects, actions, ideas by convention.
(4) Language is primarily vocal, since that the primary medium is sound for all languages, no matter how well developed are their writing systems. All evidence shows that writing systems came much later than the spoken forms and that they are only attempts to capture sounds and meaning on paper.
(5) Language is human-specific; that is, it is very different from the communication systems other forms of life possess. It is far more sophisticated than any animal communication system.
Therefore, most linguists have agreed on such a definition: language is a system of
arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication.
7. Define SEMANTICS and PRAGMATICS and list at least two topics discussed in each branch. And then talk about their division of labor.
【答案】Semantics examines how meaning is encoded in a language. It is not only concerned with meanings of words as lexical items, but also with levels of language below the word and above it, such as meaning of morphemes and sentences. The key concepts in this branch include semantic components, denotation of words, sense relations between words, sense relations between sentences such as entailment and presupposition.
On the other hand, Pragmatics is the study of meaning in context. It deals with particular utterances in particular situations and is especially concerned with the various ways in which the many social contexts of language performance can influence interpretation. It regards speech performance as primarily a social act ruled by various social conventions. There are some key concepts such as reference, force, effect, and cooperative principles.
Their division of labor could be seen from the difference between the sentence meaning and the utterance meaning. The study of the sentence meaning is the job of Semantics, and the sentence meaning is often seen as the abstract, intrinsic property of the sentence itself in terms of predication; therefore, it is abstract and de-contextualized. However, the study of the utterance meaning is the job of Pragmatics. A sentence becomes an utterance when it is actually uttered by people in the course of communication, and an utterance should be considered in the situation in which it is actually uttered or used.
In a word, Semantics studies the abstract and constant meaning of a sentence, while Pragmatic studies the meaning of that sentence when it is used in a particular context.
8. Saussure puts forward the concept of langue and parole, and Chomsky puts forward the concept of competence and performance Please dwell upon the differences and similarities, if any, of the two pairs: langue and parole vs. competence and performance.
【答案】According to F. de Saussure, langue refers to the abstract linguistic system shared by all members of a speech community; while parole refers to the realization of langue in actual use.
For Chomsky, a fundamental distinction between linguistic competence and performance should be made. A language user’s underlying knowledge about the system of rules is called linguistic competence. And performance refers to the actual use of language in concrete situations. In light with this, competence 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 but his performance is often influenced by psychological and social factors, and thus would involve imperfections such as slips of tongue, false starts, unnecessary pauses, and so on. Thus, the point is that a speaker’s performance does not always match his competence.
Saussure’s distinction is somewhat similar with Chomsky’s in the sense that they both refer to the constant factor which underlies the utterances that constitute parole/ performance. However, their difference is quite obvious. Saussue’s language is a social product, a set of conventions for a speech community. Chomsky regards competence as a property of the mind of each individual. Saussrue looks at language more from a sociological point of view while Chomsky looks at it more from a psychological point of view.
9. Why do we say that a meaning of a sentence is not the sum total of the meanings of all its components?
The meaning of a sentence is not the sum total of the meanings of all its components because it cannot be worked out by adding up all the meanings of its constituent words. For example;
(A) The dog bit the man.
(B) The man bit the dog.
If the meaning of a sentence were the sum total of the meanings of all its components, then the above two sentences would have the same meaning. In fact they are different in meanings.
As we know, there are two aspects to sentence meaning: grammatical meaning and semantic meaning. The grammatical meanings of “the dog” and “the man” in (A) are different from the grammatical meanings of “the dog” and “the man” in (B). The meaning of a sentence is the product of both lexical and grammatical meaning. It is the product of the meaning of the constituent words and of the grammatical constructions that relate one word syntagmatically to another.
10. Violation of Maxims and implicature
According to Grice, conversational implicature arises due to violation of maxims. Read the following sentences, judge which maxim is violated and state the implicature.
(1) Kids are Kids. (2) Smith is a lion.
(3) Mary: “The boss is a liar. He promised to pay me $ 3,000 dollars for extra work, but I get nothing till now.”
John: “Well, what should we have for dinner?”
(4) “硕鼠硕鼠，无食我黍！三岁贯女，莫我肯顾。”—— 《诗经·硕鼠》
(5) Jenny: “In which city did Paul work?"
Thomas: “Somewhere in Spain."
【答案要点】
1. Violation of the first Quantity Maxim: Make your contribution as informative as is required
Children are young, hence naughty.
2. Violation of First Quality Maxim: Do not say what you believe to be false.
He is strong and brave.
3. Violation of Relation Maxim: To be relevant.
John refuses to speak ill of the boss by evading the topic.
4. Violation of the second Manner maxim: Avoid ambiguity
The mouse both refers to the animal and the covert officials.
5. Violation of the Quantity Maxim.
When Quantity Maxim conflicts with Quality Maxim, we usually give up the former. In the conversation, Thomas was not quite sure of Paul’s working place. Therefore, he chose to say something true but not quite accurate.
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