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一、Explain-the-fllowing-terms

1． Linguistic relativity

【答案】 This is one of two points in Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. It states that similarity between languages is relative , the greater their structural differentiation is , the more diverse their conceptualization of the world is. For example, not every language has the same set of words for the colors ; in Spanish there is no word that corresponds to the English meaning of “blue”.

2． functional morpheme

【答案】 This is a subtype of free morphemes, which one consists largely of the functional words in language such as conjunctions, prepositions, articles and pronouns, for example, “and, about when on , near, the” an so on.

3． Register

【答案】 It is a speech variety used by a particular group of people , usually sharing the same occupation （e.g. doctors, lawyers） or the same interests. A particular register often distinguishes itself from others by having a number of distinctive words, by using words or phrases in a particular way, and sometimes by special grammatical constructions （e.g. legal language）.

4． Achievement test

【答案】 Achievement test is a test which measures how much of a language someone has learned with reference to a particular course of study or program of instruction.

5． Conversational implicature

【答案】 Conversational implicature refers to a type of implied meaning, which is deduced on the basis of the conventional meaning of words together with the context, under the guidance of the CP and its maxims. For example, the implicature of He is a tiger could probably be he has some characteristics of a tiger.

二、Short-answer-questions

6． How do you understand syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations?

【答案】 In Saussure‟s view, language is a system of signs, each of which consists of two parts: signified and signifier. And the relationships between these two parts are arbitrary. Syntagmatic relation is a relation between elements that form part of the same form , sequence , construction , etc. e.g. between s, p, and r in a form such as spring, or between a subject and a verb in constructions such as

Bill hunts. The syntagmatic relation is also called horizontal relation or chain relation. Paradigmatic relation is a relation holding between elements replaceable with each other at a particular place in a structure. The paradigmatic relation is also called vertical relation or choice relation.

7． Why is Saussure hailed as the father of modem linguistics?

【答案】 Saussure was the first to notice the complexities of language. He believed that language is a system of signs. To communicate ideas, signs must be part of a system of signs, called conventions. He held that the sign is the union of a form （signifier ） and an idea （signified ） , and it is the central fact of language.

By providing answers to questions concerning many aspects of language, Saussure made clear the object of study for linguistics as a science. His ideas on the arbitrary nature of sign, on the relational nature of linguistic units , on the distinction of langue and parole and of synchronic and diachronic linguistics , etc. pushed linguistics into a brand new stage.

8． Please explain the original idea in the speech act theory.

Motorist : My car needs new exhaust system.

Mechanic : I‟ll be busy with this other car all day.

【答案】 Speech act theory, originally proposed by Austin, is a philosophical explanation of the nature of linguistic communication.

Austin made a distinction between what he called “constatives” and “performatives”. Constatives were statements that either state or describe, and were thus verifiable; performatives, on the other hand, were sentences that did not state a fact or describe a state, and were not verifiable.

Later on, for a variety of reasons, Austin gave up his initial distinction between constatives and performatives. He set up another model to explain the way acts were performed by means of language. According to his new model, a speaker might be performing three acts simultaneously when speaking: locutionary act, illocutionary act, and perlocutionary act.

9． How is the illocutionary act different from the perlocutionary act?

【答案】 An illocutionary act is the act of expressing the speaker^ intention; it is the act performed in saying something. Thus, if someone says “Morning”，we can ask questions like “What did he mean?” and the answer could be “He offered a greeting.”

A perlocutionary act, however, is the effect of the utterance. By telling somebody something the speaker may change the opinion of the hearer on something, or mislead him, or surprise him, or induce him to do something, and so on. Therefore，the perlocutionary act of the saying “Morning” could be to keep friendly relations with the hearer.

三、Essay-question

10．Discuss sense, denotation and reference, using Chinese examples to illustrate your points.是古月壮麟《语言学教程》中的概念）

【答案】 Sense is concerned with the inherent meaning of the linguistic expression. It is the collection of all the features of the linguistic form; it is abstract and de-contextualized. It is the aspect of meaning dictionary compilers are interested in. For example , the word “狗” in Chinese is given the definition of “哺乳动物，种类很多，听觉嗅觉都很敏锐， 善于看守门户，有的可以训练成军犬、

警犬” .This does not refer to any particular dog that exists in the real world, but applies to any animal that meets the features described in the definition. So this is the sense of the word dog.

Reference means what a linguistic expression refers to in the real, physical world; it deals with the relationship between the linguistic element and the non-linguistic world of experience. If we say “这只

we must be talking about a certain dog existing in the situation; the word “狗” here refers to 狗真可爱”，

a dog known to both the speaker and the hearer. This is the reference of the word “ 狗” in this particular situation.

Denotation refers to the relationship between an expression and its extension. The term extension of an expression is the set of things which could be possibly be the referent of that expression. So the extension of the word “狗” is “所有种类的狗” .Thus, the relationship between the word “狗” and “所有种类的狗” is denotation, that is，the word “狗” denotes “ 所有种类的狗”.

Furthermore , the differences between the three terms are discussed as follows.

Sense and reference are two different but related aspects of meaning. Two expressions may refer to the same referent but have different senses. For example, in sentences “1949 年 10 月 1 日，毛泽东在天安门城楼上宣布： 今天，中华人民共和国成立了! ” and “1949年10月1日，那位伟大的领袖在天安门城楼上宣布：今天，中 华人民共和国成立了! ”，expressions “毛泽东” and “那位伟大的领袖” refer to the same person （have the same referent） but with different senses. There is also another difference between sense and reference. To some extent, all words have senses，but not every word has a referent. Some words like “和”，“但是”，“假如”，“的” do not refer to an^hing. Therefore, the meaning if an expression will arise both from its sense and its reference.

Both reference and denotation refer to the relationship between a linguistic expression and the world , but there are also differences. Denotation refers to the relationship between a linguistic expression and a set of possible referents of that expression in the world; while reference is used for the relationship between a linguistic expression and a particular entity in the world. For example , in the sentence “一只云鹊飞进了房间”，the expression “一只云鹊” refers to the lark in that particular situation , while denotes to the whole class 66 ^99 . Another difference is that denotation is a stable relationship in a language which is not dependent on any one use of a word. Reference, on the other hand is a moment by moment relationship: what entity somebody refers to by using the word “云雀” depends on the situation.

11．How are affixes classified?

【答案】 Considering the free and bound morpheme, affix is the collective term for the type of formative that can be used only when added to another morpheme, so it is naturally bound.

Depending on their position with reference to the root or stem of the word, affixes are generally classified into three subtypes , namely , prefix , suffix , and infix. For examples , “para-” as prefix , “-tion” as suffix, and “-bloomingly-” in word “abso-bloomingly-luty” as infix.

Affix can also be classified depending on the distinction between inflectional affixes and derivational affixes. The formal often only add a minute grammatical function to the stem and do not change the word class of the word they attach to; while the latter are very productive in making new words and often change the lexical meaning. For instances, “-s” in words “toys”, “walks” and “John's ” is inflectional affixes, while “-tion” is a derivational affix in word “recitation”.